Historical Tales, Vol. 9 | Page 4

white bears, and a hog
which was small but spiteful, its bristles pointing forward and its mouth
snarling as if ready to bite anything that came before it. And the bears
did not look as gentle as before, but seemed irritated.
She interpreted this dream to mean that Rolf was coming again to
avenge the affront he had received, and that the fierce hog must stand
for Kettil, of whose character she had been told.
When Rolf now arrived King Erik received him with honor, and again
agreed to remain his friend, no matter how stormy a courtship he might
have. From Upsala he set out for Ulleraker and sent a herald to Princess

Torborg, asking speech with her. She presented herself at the top of the
wall, surrounded by armed men. King Rolf renewed his suit, and told
her plainly that if she did not accept his proposal he had come to burn
the town and slay every man within its walls.
"You shall first serve as a goatherd in West Gothland before you get
any power over me and mine," answered Torborg haughtily.
Rolf lost no time in assailing the walls, but found them stoutly
defended. The Swedes within poured boiling water and hot pitch on
their assailants, threw down stones and beams, and hurled spears and
arrows from the wall. For fourteen days the siege continued without
effect, until the Goths, weary of their hard fighting and the mockery of
the defenders, began to complain and wanted to return home. The
townspeople derided them by showing costly goods from the ramparts
and bidding them come and take them, and ridiculed them in many
other ways.
King Rolf now saw that he must take other measures. He had a cover
constructed of boards and brushwood and supported by stout beams,
making a strong roof which was set against the wall and defied all the
boiling water and missiles of the Swedes. Under its shelter a hole was
dug through the wall and soon the Goths were in the queen's citadel.
To their surprise they found it empty. Not a soul was to be seen, but in
every room they found well-cooked food and many articles of value.
"This is a fine capture," said Kettil. "Let us enjoy ourselves and divide
the spoil."
"Not so," said Rolf. "It is a lure to draw us off. I will not rest till I have
the princess in my power."
They sought the palace through and through, but no one was there.
Finally a secret passage was discovered, leading underground, and the
king entered it, the others following. They emerged in a forest where
they found Torborg and all her men and where a sharp battle began. No
warrior could have fought more bravely than the man-like princess, and

her men stood up for her boldly, but they gradually gave way before the
onset of Rolf and his tried warriors.
Rolf now bade Kettil to take Torborg prisoner, but not to wound her,
saying that it would be shameful to use arms against a woman. Kettil
sprang forward and gave the princess a sharp blow with the flat of his
sword, reviling her at the same time with rude words. In return,
Torborg gave him so hard a blow on the ear with her battle-axe that he
fell prostrate, with his heels in the air.
"That is the way we treat our dogs when they bark too loud," she said.
Kettil sprang up, burning with anger, but at the same moment Rolf
rushed forward and grasped the warlike princess in his powerful arms,
so that she was forced to surrender.
He told her that she was his prisoner, but that he did not wish to win a
wife in the viking manner and that he would leave it to her father to
judge what should be done. Taken captive in his arms, there was
nothing else for her to do, and she went with him to Upsala, where
King Erik was delighted at Rolf's success. As for the warlike princess,
she laid down her arms at her father's feet, put on a woman's garments,
and seemed glad enough to have been won as a bride in so warlike a
manner and by so heroic a wooer.
Soon after this the marriage took place, the festivities being the
grandest the court could afford and lasting for fourteen days, after
which Rolf and his followers returned home, his new queen with him.
The sagas say, as we can well believe after so strenuous a wooing, that
afterwards King Rolf and Queen Torborg lived a long and happy life.

RAGNAR LODBROK AND HIS WIVES AND SONS.
The old sagas, or hero tales of the north, are full of stories of
enchantment and strange marvels. We have