Heimskringla | Page 6

not be seen for a
handsome appearance. His father was Helge Hvasse (the Sharp); and
his mother was Aslaug, a daughter of Sigurd the worm- eyed, who
again was a son of Ragnar Lodbrok. It is told of Sigurd that when he
was only twelve years old he killed in single combat the berserk
Hildebrand, and eleven others of his comrades; and many are the deeds
of manhood told of him in a long saga about his feats. Sigurd had two
children, one of whom was a daughter, called Ragnhild, then twenty
years of age, and an excellent brisk girl. Her brother Guthorm was a
youth. It is related in regard to Sigurd's death that he had a custom of
riding out quite alone in the uninhabited forest to hunt the wild beasts
that are hurtful to man, and he was always very eager at this sport. One
day he rode out into the forest as usual, and when he had ridden a long
way he came out at a piece of cleared land near to Hadeland. There the
berserk Hake came against him with thirty men, and they fought.
Sigurd Hjort fell there, after killing twelve of Hake's men; and Hake
himself lost one hand, and had three other wounds. Then Hake and his
men rode to Sigurd's house, where they took his daughter Ragnhild and
her brother Guthorm, and carried them, with much property and
valuable articles, home to Hadeland, where Hake had many great farms.
He ordered a feast to be prepared, intending to hold his wedding with
Ragnhild; but the time passed on account of his wounds, which healed
slowly; and the berserk Hake of Hadeland had to keep his bed, on
account of his wounds, all the autumn and beginning of winter. Now
King Halfdan was in Hedemark at the Yule entertainments when he
heard this news; and one morning early, when the king was dressed, he
called to him Harek Gand, and told him to go over to Hadeland, and

bring him Ragnhild, Sigurd Hjort's daughter. Harek got ready with a
hundred men, and made his journey so that they came over the lake to
Hake's house in the grey of the morning, and beset all the doors and
stairs of the places where the house-servants slept. Then they broke into
the sleeping-room where Hake slept, took Ragnhild, with her brother
Guthorm, and all the goods that were there, and set fire to the
house-servants' place, and burnt all the people in it. Then they covered
over a magnificent waggon, placed Ragnhild and Guthorm in it, and
drove down upon the ice. Hake got up and went after them a while; but
when he came to the ice on the lake, he turned his sword-hilt to the
ground and let himself fall upon the point, so that the sword went
through him. He was buried under a mound on the banks of the lake.
When King Halfdan, who was very quick of sight, saw the party
returning over the frozen lake, and with a covered waggon, he knew
that their errand was accomplished according to his desire. Thereupon
he ordered the tables to be set out, and sent people all round in the
neighbourhood to invite plenty of guests; and the same day there was a
good feast which was also Halfdan's marriage-feast with Ragnhild, who
became a great queen. Ragnhild's mother was Thorny, a daughter of
Klakharald king in Jutland, and a sister of Thrye Dannebod who was
married to the Danish king, Gorm the Old, who then ruled over the
Danish dominions.

6. OF RAGNHILD'S DREAM.
Ragnhild, who was wise and intelligent, dreamt great dreams. She
dreamt, for one, that she was standing out in her herb-garden, and she
took a thorn out of her shift; but while she was holding the thorn in her
hand it grew so that it became a great tree, one end of which struck
itself down into the earth, and it became firmly rooted; and the other
end of the tree raised itself so high in the air that she could scarcely see
over it, and it became also wonderfully thick. The under part of the tree
was red with blood, but the stem upwards was beautifully green and the
branches white as snow. There were many and great limbs to the tree,
some high up, others low down; and so vast were the tree's branches
that they seemed to her to cover all Norway, and even much more.

7. OF HALFDAN'S DREAM.
King Halfdan never had dreams, which appeared to him an
extraordinary circumstance; and he told it to a man called Thorleif
Spake (the Wise), and asked him what his advice was about it. Thorleif
said that what he himself did, when he wanted to