The Story Of Frithiof The Bold Part 2

So now Frithiof sang:--

"Oft let I swim from Sogn My tarred s.h.i.+p sooty-sided, When maids sat o'er the mead-horn Amidst of Baldur's Meadows; Now while the storm is wailing Farewell I bid you maidens, Still shall ye love us, sweet ones, Though Ellidi the sea fill."

Said Biorn: "Thou mightest well find other work to do than singing songs over the maids of Baldur's Meadows."

"Of such work shall I not speedily run dry, though," said Frithiof.

Then they bore up north to the sounds nigh those isles that are called Solundir, and therewith was the gale at its hardest.

Then sang Frithiof:

"Now is the sea a-swelling, And sweepeth the rack onward; Spells of old days cast o'er us Make ocean all unquiet; No more shall we be striving Mid storm with wash of billows, But Solundir shall shelter Our s.h.i.+p with ice-beat rock-walls."

So they lay to under the lee of the isles hight Solundir, and were minded to abide there; but straightway thereon the wind fell: then they turned away from under the lee of the islands, and now their voyage seemed hopeful to them, because the wind was fair awhile: but soon it began to freshen again.

Then sang Frithiof:

"In days foredone From Foreness strand I rowed to meet Maid Ingibiorg; But now I sail Through chilly storm And wide away My long-worm driveth."

And now when they were come far out into the main, once more the sea waxed wondrous troubled, and a storm arose with so great drift of snow, that none might see the stem from the stern; and they s.h.i.+pped seas, so that they must be ever a-baling. So Frithiof sang:

"The salt waves see we nought As seaward drive we ever Before the witch-wrought weather, We well-famed kings'-defenders: Here are we all a-standing, With all Solundir hull-down, Eighteen brave lads a-baling Black Ellidi to bring home."

Said Biorn: "Needs must he who fareth far fall in with diverse hap."

"Yea, certes, foster-brother," said Frithiof. And he sang withal:

"Helgi it is that helpeth The white-head billows' waxing; Cold time unlike the kissing In the close of Baldut's Meadow!

So is the hate of Helgi To that heart's love she giveth.

O would that here I held her, Gift high above all giving!"

"Maybe," said Biorn, "she is looking higher than thou now art: what matter when all is said?"

"Well," says Frithiof, "now is the time to show ourselves to be men of avail, though blither tide it was at Baldur's Meadows."

So they turned to in manly wise, for there were the bravest of men come together in the best s.h.i.+p of the Northlands. But Frithiof sang a stave:

"So come in the West-sea, Nought see I the billows, The sea-water seemeth As sweeping of wild-fire.

Topple the rollers, Toss the hills swan-white, Ellidi wallows O'er steep of the wave-hills."

Then they s.h.i.+pped a huge sea, so that all stood a-baling. But Frithiof sang:

"With love-moved mouth the maiden Mepledgeth though I founder.

Ah! bright sheets lay a-bleaching, East there on brents the swan loves."

Biorn said: "Art thou of mind belike that the maids of Sogn will weep many tears over thee?"

Said Frithiof: "Surely that was in my mind."

Therewith so great a sea broke over the bows, that the water came in like the in-falling of a river; but it availed them much that the s.h.i.+p was so good, and the crew aboard her so hardy.

Now sang Biorn:

"No widow, methinks, To thee or me drinks; No ring-bearer fair Biddeth draw near; Salt are our eyne Soaked in the brine; Strong our arms are no more, And our eyelids smart sore."

Quoth Asmund: "Small harm though your arms be tried somewhat, for no pity we had from you when we rubbed our eyes whenas ye must needs rise early a-mornings to go to Baldu's Meadows."

"Well," said Frithiof, "why singest thou not, Asmund?"

"Not I," said Asmund; yet sang a ditty straightway:

"Sharp work about the sail was When o'er the s.h.i.+p seas tumbled, And there was I a-working Within-board 'gainst eight balers; Better it was to bower, Bringing the women breakfast, Than here to be 'mid billows Black Ellidi a-baling."

"Thou accountest thy help of no less worth than it is?" said Frithiof, laughing therewith; "but sure it showeth the thrall's blood in thee that thou wouldst fain be awaiting at table."

Now it blew harder and harder yet, so that to those who were aboard liker to huge peaks and mountains than to waves seemed the sea-breakers that crashed on all sides against the s.h.i.+p.

Then Frithiof sang:

"On bolster I sat.

In Baldur's Mead erst, And all songs that I could To the king's daughter sang; Now on Ran's bed belike Must I soon be a-lying, And another shall be By Ingibiorg's side."

Biorn said: "Great fear lieth ahead of us, foster-brother, and now dread hath crept into thy words, which is ill with such a good man as thou."

Says Frithiof: "Neither fear nor fainting is it, though I sing now of those our merry journeys; yet perchance more hath been said of them than need was: but most men would think death surer than life, if they were so bested as we be."

"Yet shall I answer thee somewhat," said Biorn, and sang:

"Yet one gain have I gotten Thou gatst not 'mid thy fortune, For meet play did I make me With Ingibiorgs eight maidens; Red rings we laid together Aright in Baldur's Meadow, When far off was the warder Of the wide land of Halfdan."

"Well," said he, "we must be content with things as they are, foster-brother."

Therewith so great a sea smote them, that the bulwark was broken and both the sheets, and four men were washed overboard and all lost.

Then sang Frithiof:

"Both sheets are bursten Amid the great billows, Four swains are sunk In the fathomless sea?

"Now, meseems," said Frithiof, "it may well be that some of us will go to the house of Ran, nor shall we deem us well sped if we come not thither in glorious array; wherefore it seems good to me that each man of us here should have somewhat of gold on him."

Then he smote asunder the ring, Ingibiorg's gift, and shared it between all his men, and sang a stave withal:

"The red ring here I hew me Once owned of Halfdan's father, The wealthy lord of erewhile, Or the sea waves undo us, So on the guests shall gold be, If we have need of guesting; Meet so for mighty men-folk Amid Ran's hall to hold them."

"Not all so sure is it that we come there," said Biorn; "and yet it may well be so."

Now Frithiof and his folk found that the s.h.i.+p had great way on her, and they knew not what lay ahead, for all was mirk on either board, so that none might see the stem or stern from amids.h.i.+ps; and therewith was there great drift of spray amid the furious wind, and frost, and snow, and deadly cold.

Now Frithiof went up to the masthead, and when he came down he said to his fellows: "A sight exceeding wondrous have I seen, for a great whale went in a ring about the s.h.i.+p, and I mis...o...b.. me that we come nigh to some land, and that he is keeping the sh.o.r.e against us; for certes King Helgi has dealt with us in no friendly wise, neither will this his messenger be friendly. Moreover I saw two women on the back of the whale, and they it is who will have brought this great storm on us with the worst of spells and witchcraft; but now we shall try which may prevail, my fortune or their devilry, so steer ye at your straightest, and I will smite these evil things with beams."