Читать книгу Saga of Halfred the Sigskald - Felix Dahn - Страница 5

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And thus had Halfred now, for many years, roamed about as a Viking and as a Skald, and had won fame and red gold; and once more he again celebrated the Yule feast at home in his hall.

And there were very many hundred men assembled there in the Mead hall which he had fitted up. All his sailing comrades, and very many Icelanders, and many foreign guests, from Austrvegr, and even from Hylmreck, and Dyflin, on the western sea. Among them also the Skald, Vandrad, from Tiunderland.

And the Bragi cup[3] passed round, and many men vowed vows thereon, and many a one pledged himself to daring deeds, which he would perform before Midsummertide, or die. Halfred also, as well as the guests, had drunk a great deal of mead; more than he was wont to drink, as he himself, afterwards, earnestly told me.

[3. Cup sacred to Bragi, the god of poetry. At the Yule feast the heathen were wont, while the Bragi cup was passing round, to pledge themselves by vows to the performance of deeds of special danger or renown. They swore upon the Bragi cup, or upon the boar's head, which was the principal dish of the feast.]

And this also the heathen point to in him as a miraculous gift of his father Oski; that he could drink far far more than other men, in fact—and they hold him therein very lucky—as many horns full as he chose, without the heron of forgetfulness[4] sweeping through his dizzied brain.

[4. A poetical expression of the Edda for the beginning of drunkenness.]

But this is foolishly said, for even I can scare away the heron, if I, after each draught, think quietly to myself, and do not propose many toasts; for such attract the heron.

Halfred had now certainly emptied many horns; but as yet he had vowed no vow. Silent and grave he sat in the seat of the honour, as befitted the host; exhorted the tardy drinkers—there were not however many of them—by sending the cup bearer to them, with the drinking horn; and smiled quietly, when many a one vowed vows which he would never fulfil.

Then arose from his seat Vandrad the Skald, from Tiunderland, and stood upon the second step of the dais, and spoke. Halfred had vanquished him five times, and yet the Skald was a faithful loving friend to him—

"Vows have here been now vowed by many

Guests of small worth.

But Halfred, the Lord of the mead hall,

Still holds his thoughts hidden.

I laud him, most lofty,

No vows hath he need of,

His name may content him.

Yet I miss in the mead hall

One thing to the mighty,

To the man is awanting

A maiden to wife.

What rapture if only,

From the high seat of honour,

The horn to us, downward,

The dazzling white hand

Of the nobly born Princess,

Harthild, should hold."

All the guests kept silence when Vandrad had spoken. Halfred looked proudly down upon him, and very gently, he told me later, he felt the veins in his temples swell, as, smiling, he asked the Skald—but it was the smile of a king, not a child's smile—

"And what then of Harthild,

Her beauty and fame,

Canst thou here sound the praise,

In Halfred's mead hall?"

Then said Vandrad—

"For all that thou knowest,

Thou far roaming Viking,

Hast thou never heard Harthild's

Descent and renown

Proclaimed on the harp?

From Upsala's ancient

Deep rooted stem

The maiden is sprung.

Hartstein the Haggard,

Men call her father,

The powerful monarch

Of far spreading fame.

His daughter close guarded

He haughtily holds;

All wooers rejecting,

Who cannot excel him

In throwing the hammer.

And no less the maiden

All men avoideth,

Man-like her own mood.

With good cause she boasteth

Herself in deep riddles

Above all the Skalds

Skilful to be.

'Breaker of men's wits'

In dread and in envy,

They call her in Nordland.

To every wooer

Who fain her proud spirit

In wedlock would bind,

Tells she the same

Close sealed riddle;

For none—not the wisest—

Has ever yet solved it.

Then scornfully laughing,

With her sharp scissors,

—For so runs the statute—

To shame him, she sheareth

From the hero his hair."

Then Halfred's temple veins swelled fearfully. He shook back the thick black locks which flowed down even to his shoulders, and drained off a deep drinking horn. Then he sprang from his seat, and seized the Bragi cup, on which vows were wont to be vowed. Once more he paused, set down the Bragi cup again, and asked—

"But Skald, say now, quickly,

—Oft hast thou seen her—

This men avoider.

Beautiful is she?

This breaker of men's wits,

Would the bride's wreath become her?"

Vandrad replied—

"Nor soft nor gentle,

Is she, nor lovely,

But proud and stately

Stands her tall form.

Nor could another

Carry so fitly

The crown of a king."

Then Halfred again took up the Bragi cup, strode forward to the highest step which led to his seat of honour, and paused where exactly in the centre was burned into the oaken floor a circle, in red runes, so small that a man could only tread therein with one foot. Halfred kneeled down, planted his left foot within the circle, and lifted the Bragi cup in his right hand, high above his head.

And all were very eager to hear what he would now say; for this was the strongest, the most solemn form in which vow could be vowed. And Halfred said—

"Ere yet the on coming

Midsummer tide

Shall sink in the sea,

Will I bring Harthild,

The daughter of Hartstein,

Here as my wife,

To dwell in my hall,

Or hold me shall Hell.

"Her wit-breaking sayings

Will I lay bare,

Her runic riddles

Will I unfold.

Unshamed, and unshaven,

These black locks shake freely.

Her man-despising

Maiden mood quelling,

My wedded wife

Will force her to be.

The breaker of men's wits

Will I break in.

A right noble heir

Of all that I own

She shall here, in my hall,

Soon cherish, my son.

And softly shall sing him

To sleep with the songs

Of his father's great deeds,

Or hold me shall Hell."

Thus ended the Yule feast, at that time; for all the guests started up from their seats with a great uproar, in a confused throng, and drank to Halfred, and shouted that this was the best and most admirable vow which in the memory of man had been vowed in the north.

And the tumult was so great that Halfred had to command silence from the dais, and very soon to send round the parting cup to the uproarious heroes.

And Halfred told me that when, under the light of the stars, he crossed the court to his dwelling-house, he repented of his vow. Not because he feared King Hartstein's hammer-throwing, or dreaded his daughter's riddle. But because it is always wiser for a man to see a maiden, before he determines to make her his wife.