第39章 LETTER VIII.(2)

Arngrim happened to have a beautiful daughter,named Asdisa,with whom the inflammable Berserk of course fell in love.Not daring openly to refuse him,Arngrim told his would-be son-in-law,that before complying with his suit,he must consult his friends,and posted off to Helgafell,where dwelt the Pagan Pontiff Snorre.The result of this conference was an agreement on the part' of Styr to give his daughter to the Berserk,provided he and his brother would CUT a road through the lava rocks of Biarnarhaf.Halli and Leikner immediately set about executing this prodigious task;while the scornful Asdisa,arrayed in her most splendid attire,came sweeping past in silence,as if to mock their toil.The poetical reproaches addressed to the young lady on this occasion by her sturdy admirer and his mate are still extant.In the meantime,the other servants of the crafty Arngrim had constructed a subterranean bath,so contrived that at a moment's notice it could be flooded with boiling water.Their task at last concluded,the two Berserks returned home to claim their reward;but Arngrim Styr,as if in the exuberance of his affection,proposed that they should first refresh themselves in the new bath.No sooner had they descended into it,than Arngrim shut down the trap-door,and having ordered a newly-stripped bullock's hide to be stretched before the entrance,gave the signal for the boiling water to be turned on.Fearful were the struggles of the scalded giants:Halli,indeed,succeeded in bursting up the door;but his foot slipped on the bloody bull's hide,and Amgrim stabbed him to the heart.His brother was then easily forced back into the seething water.

The effusion composed by the Tumultuous One on the occasion of this exploit is also extant,and does not yield in poetical merit to those which I have already mentioned as having emanated from his victims.

As soon as the Pontiff Snorre heard of the result of Arngrim Styr's stratagem,he came over and married the Lady Asdisa.Traces of the road made by the unhappy champions can yet be detected at Biarnarhaf,and tradition still identifies the grave of the Berserks.

Connected with this same Pontiff Snorre is another of those mysterious notices of a great land in the western ocean which we find in the ancient chronicles,so interwoven with narrative we know to be true,as to make it impossible not to attach a certain amount of credit to them.This particular story is the more interesting as its denouement,abruptly left in the blankest mystery by one Saga,is incidentally revealed to us in the course of another,relating to events with which the first had no connection.

[Footnote:From internal evidence it is certain that the chronicle which contains these Sagas must have been written about the beginning of the thirteenth century.]

It seems that Snorre had a beautiful sister,named Thured of Froda,with whom a certain gallant gentleman--called Bjorn,the son of Astrand--fell head and ears in love.

Unfortunately,a rich rival appears in the field;and though she had given her heart to Bjorn,Snorre--who,we have already seen,was a prudent man--insisted upon her giving her hand to his rival.Disgusted by such treatment,Bjorn sails away to the coasts of the Baltic,and joins a famous company of sea-rovers,called the Jomsburg Vikings.In this worthy society he so distinguishes himself by his valour and daring that he obtains the title of the Champion of Breidavik.After many doughty deeds,done by sea and land,he at last returns,loaded with wealth and honours,to his native country.

In the summer-time of the year 999,soon after his arrival,was held a great fair at Froda,whither all the merchants,"clad in coloured garments,"congregated from the adjacent country.Thither came also Bjorn's old love,the Lady of Froda;"and Bjorn went up and spoke to her,and it was thought likely their talk would last long,since they for such a length of time had not seen each other."But to this renewal of old acquaintance both the lady's husband and her brother very much objected;and "it seemed to Snorre that it would be a good plan to kill Bjorn."So,about the time of hay-making,off he rides,with some retainers,to his victim's home,having fully instructed one of them how to deal the first blow.Bjorn was in the home-field (tun),mending his sledge,when the cavalcade appeared in sight;and,guessing what motive had inspired the visit,went straight up to Snorre,who rode in front,"in a blue cloak,"and held the knife with which he had been working in such a position as to be able to stab the Pontiff to the heart,should his followers attempt to lift their hands against himself.Comprehending the position of affairs,Snorre's friends kept quiet.

"Bjorn then asked the news."Snorre confesses that he had intended to kill him;but adds,"Thou tookest such a lucky grip of me at our meeting,that thou must have peace this time,however it may have been determined before."The conversation is concluded by an agreement on the part of Bjorn to leave the country,as he feels it impossible to abstain from paying visits to Thured as long as he remains in the neighbourhood.Having manned a ship,Bjorn put to sea in the summer-time "When they sailed away,a north-east wind was blowing,which wind lasted long during that summer;but of this ship was nothing heard since this long time."And so we conclude it is all over with the poor Champion of Breidavik!Not a bit of it.He turns up,thirty years afterwards,safe and sound,in the uttermost parts of the earth.