61
King Eirik went to table as usual with a lot of people. When Arinbjorn noticed this, he took all his men, fully armed, to the hall when the king was sitting down to dine. Arinbjorn asked to be let in to the hall and was allowed to enter. He and Egil went in, with half their men. The other half waited outside the door.
Arinbjorn greeted the king, who welcomed him.
‘Egil is here, my lord,’ he said. ‘He has not tried to escape during the night. We would like to know what his lot will be. I expect you to show us favour. I have acted as you deserve, sparing nothing in word and deed to enhance your renown. I have relinquished all the possessions and kinsmen and friends that I had in Norway to follow you, while all your other landholders turned their backs on you. I feel you deserved this from me, because you have treated me outstandingly in many ways.’
Then Gunnhild said, ‘Stop going on about that, Arinbjorn. You have treated King Eirik well in many ways, and he has rewarded you in full. You owe much more to the king than to Egil. You cannot ask for Egil to be sent away from King Eirik unpunished, after all the wrongs he has done him.’
Arinbjorn said, ‘If you and Gunnhild have decided for yourselves, King, that Egil will not be granted any reconciliation here, the noble course of action is to allow him a week’s grace to get away, since he came here of his own accord and expected a peaceful reception. After that, may your dealings follow their own course.’
Gunnhild replied, ‘I can tell from all this that you are more loyal to Egil than to King Eirik, Arinbjorn. If Egil is given a week to ride away from here in peace, he will have time to reach King Athelstan. And Eirik can’t ignore the fact that every king is more powerful than himself now, even though not long ago King Eirik would have seemed unlikely to lack the will and character to take vengeance for what he has suffered from the likes of Egil.’
‘No one will think Eirik any the greater for killing a foreign farmer’s son who has given himself into his hands,’ said Arinbjorn. ‘If it is reputation that he is seeking, I can help him make this episode truly memorable, because Egil and I intend to stand by each other. Everyone will have to face the two of us together. The king will pay a dear price for Egil’s life by killing us all, me and my men as well. I would have expected more from you than to choose to see me dead rather than to grant me the life of one man when I ask you for it.’
Then the king said, ‘You are staking a great deal to help Egil, Arinbjorn. I am reluctant to cause harm to you if it should come to this, that you prefer to lose your own life than to see him killed. But Egil has done me plenty of wrong, whatever I may decide to do with him.’
When the king had finished speaking, Egil went before him and delivered his poem, reciting it in a loud voice, and everyone fell silent at once:
1.
| West over water I fared,
|
bearing poetry’s waves to the shore
| waves
: i.e. the mead of poetry
|
of the war-god’s heart;
| war-god
: Odin, also the god of poetry
|
my course was set.
|
I launched my oaken craft
|
at the breaking of ice,
|
loaded my cargo of praise
|
aboard my longboat aft.
|
2.
| The warrior welcomed me,
|
to him my praise is due.
|
I carry Odin’s mead
|
to England’s meadows.
|
The leader I laud,
|
sing surely his praise;
|
I ask to be heard,
|
an ode I can devise.
|
3.
| Consider, lord –
|
well it will befit –
|
how I recite
|
if my poem is heard.
|
Most men have learned
|
of the king’s battle deeds
|
and the war-god saw
|
corpses strewn on the field.
|
4.
| The clash of swords roared
|
on the edge of shields,
|
battle grew around the king,
|
fierce he ventured forth.
|
The blood-river raced,
|
the din was heard then
|
of metal showered in battle,
|
the most in that land.
|
5.
| The web of spears
|
did not stray from their course
|
above the king’s
|
bright rows of shields.
|
The shore groaned,
|
pounded by the flood
|
of blood, resounded
|
under the banners’ march.
|
6.
| In the mud men lay
|
when spears rained down.
|
Eirik that day
|
won great renown.
|
7.
| Still I will tell
|
if you pay me heed,
|
more I have heard
|
of those famous deeds.
|
Wounds grew the more
|
when the king stepped in,
|
swords smashed
|
on the shields’ black rims.
|
8.
| Swords clashed, battle-sun
| battle-sun, whetstone’s saddle
: sword
|
and whetstone’s saddle;
|
the wound-digger bit
|
with its venomous point.
|
I heard they were felled
|
Odin’s forest of oaks,
| forest of oaks
: men
|
by scabbard-icicles
| scabbard-icicles
: swords
|
in the play of iron.
|
9.
| Blades made play
|
and swords bore down.
|
Eirik that day
|
won great renown.
|
10.
| Ravens flocked
|
to the reddened sword,
|
spears plucked lives
|
and gory shafts sped.
|
The scourge of Scots
|
fed the wolves that trolls ride,
| wolves
: (in myth seen as ridden by trollwomen)
|
Loki’s daughter, Hel,
|
trod the eagle’s food.
| eagle’s food
: corpses
|
11.
| Battle-cranes swooped
|
over heaps of dead,
|
wound-birds did not want
|
for blood to gulp.
|
The wolf gobbled flesh,
|
the raven daubed
|
the prow of its beak
|
in waves of red.
|
12.
| The troll’s wolfish steed
| troll’s
…
steed
: wolf
|
met a match for its greed.
|
Eirik fed flesh
|
to the wolf afresh.
|
13.
| The battle-maiden keeps
|
the swordsman awake
|
when the ship’s wall
|
of shields breaks.
|
Shafts sang
|
and points stung,
|
flaxen strings shot
|
arrows from bows.
|
14.
| Flying spears bit,
|
the peace was rent;
|
wolves took heart
|
at the taut elm bow.
|
The war-wise king fended
|
a deadly blow,
|
the yew-bow twanged
|
in the battle’s fray.
|
15.
| Like bees, arrows flew
|
from his drawn bow of yew.
|
Eirik fed flesh
|
to the wolf afresh.
|
16.
| Yet more I desire
|
that men realize
|
his generous nature;
|
I urge on my praise.
|
He throws gold river-flame
| river-flame
: gold
|
but holds his lands
|
in his hand like a vice,
|
he is worthy of praise.
|
17.
| By the fistful he gives
|
the fire of the arm.
| fire of the arm
: gold
|
Never sparing rings’ lives
| never sparing rings’ lives
: i.e. throwing them away, being generous
|
he gives riches no rest,
|
hands gold out like sand
|
from the hawk’s coast.
| hawks coast
: wrist
|
Fleets take cheer
|
from the grindings of dwarfs.
| grindings of dwarfs
: gold
|
18.
| The maker of war
|
sheds beds for spears
| beds for spears
: shields
|
from his gold-laden arm,
|
he spreads brooches afar.
|
I speak from the heart:
|
Everywhere he is grand,
|
Eirik’s feats were heard
|
on the east-lying shore.
|
19.
| King, bear in mind
|
how my ode is wrought,
|
I take delight
|
in the hearing I gained.
|
Through my lips I stirred
|
from the depths of my heart
|
Odin’s sea of verse
|
about the craftsman of war.
|
20.
| I bore the king’s praise
|
into the silent void,
|
my words I tailor
|
to the company.
|
From the seat of my laughter
| seat of laughter
: mind
|
I lauded the warrior
|
and it came to pass
|
that most understood.
|
62
King Eirik sat upright and glared at Egil while he was reciting the poem. When it was over, the king said, ‘The poem was well delivered. Arinbjorn, I have thought about the outcome of my dealings with Egil. You have presented Egil’s case so fervently that you were even prepared to enter into conflict with me. For your sake, I will do as you have asked and let Egil leave, safe and unharmed. You, Egil, will arrange things so that the moment you leave this room, neither I nor my sons will ever set eyes upon you again. Never cross my path nor my men’s. I am letting you keep your head for the time being. Since you put yourself into my hands, I do not want to commit a base deed against you. But you can be sure that this is not a reconciliation with me or my sons, nor any of my kinsmen who wants to seek justice.’
Then Egil spoke a verse:
34.
| Ugly as my head may be,
|
the cliff my helmet rests upon,
|
I am not loathe
|
to accept it from the king.
|
Where is the man who ever
|
received a finer gift
|
from a noble-minded
|
son of a great ruler?
| great ruler
: King Harald Fair-hair
|
Arinbjorn thanked the king eloquently for the honour and friendship he had shown him. Then Arinbjorn and Egil rode back to his house. Arinbjorn had horses made ready for his men, then with one hundred of them, all fully armed, he rode off with Egil. Arinbjorn rode with the party until they reached King Athelstan, who welcomed them. The king invited Egil to stay with him for as long as he wished and be in great honour, and asked how he had got on with King Eirik.
Then Egil spoke a verse:
35.
| That niggard with justice, maker
|
of blood-waves for ravens,
|
let Egil keep his black-browed eyes;
|
my relative’s courage availed me much.
|
Now as before I rule
|
the noble seat that my helmet,
|
the sea-lords’s hat, is heir to,
| sea-lords’s hat
: cliff
|
in spite of the wound-dispenser.
| wound-dispenser
: warrior (king)
|
When they parted ways, Egil gave Arinbjorn the two gold rings weighing a mark each that King Athelstan had given him, while Arinbjorn gave Egil a sword called Dragvandil (Slicer). Arinbjorn had been given it by Egil’s brother Thorolf. Before him, Skallagrim had been given it by Egil’s uncle Thorolf, who had received it from Grim Hairy-cheeks, the son of Ketil Haeng. Ketil had owned the sword and used it in duels, and it was exceedingly sharp. Egil and Arinbjorn parted in the greatest friendship. Arinbjorn returned to King Eirik in York, where Egil’s companions and crew were left in peace to trade their cargo under his protection. As the winter progressed, they went south to meet Egil.
