The Danish History, Books I-IX eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 572 pages of information about The Danish History, Books I-IX.

The Danish History, Books I-IX eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 572 pages of information about The Danish History, Books I-IX.

“Whether thou tread the fields afoot, or spread canvas overseas, thou shalt suffer the hate of the gods, and through all the world shalt behold the elements oppose thy purposes.  Afield thou shalt fall, on sea thou shalt be tossed, an eternal tempest shall attend the steps of thy wandering, nor shall frost-bind ever quit thy sails; nor shall thy roof-tree roof thee, but if thou seekest it, it shall fall smitten by the hurricane; thy herd shall perish of bitter chill.  All things shall be tainted, and shall lament that thy lot is there.  Thou shalt be shunned like a pestilent tetter, nor shall any plague be fouler than thou.  Such chastisement doth the power of heaven mete out to thee, for truly thy sacrilegious hands have slain one of the dweller’s above, disguised in a shape that was not his:  thus here art thou, the slayer of a benignant god!  But when the sea receives thee, the wrath of the prison of Eolus shall be loosed upon thy head.  The West and the furious North, the South wind shall beat thee down, shall league and send forth their blasts in rivalry; until with better prayers thou hast melted the sternness of heaven, and hast lifted with appeasement the punishment thou hast earned.”

So, when Hadding went back, he suffered all things after this one fashion, and his coming brought disquiet upon all peaceful places.  For when he was at sea a mighty storm arose and destroyed his fleet in a great tempest:  and when, a shipwrecked man, he sought entertainment, he found a sudden downfall of that house.  Nor was there any cure for his trouble, ere he atoned by sacrifice for his crime, and was able to return into favour with heaven.  For, in order to appease the deities, he sacrificed dusky victims to the god Frey.  This manner of propitiation by sacrifice he repeated as an annual feast, and left posterity to follow.  This rite the Swedes call Froblod (the sacrifice or feast of Frey).

Hadding chanced to hear that a certain giant had taken in troth Ragnhild, daughter of Hakon, King of the Nitherians; and, loathing so ignominious a state of affairs, and utterly abominating the destined union, he forestalled the marriage by noble daring.  For he went to Norway and overcame by arms him that was so foul, a lover for a princess.  For he thought so much more of valour than of ease, that, though he was free to enjoy all the pleasures of a king, he accounted it sweeter than any delight to repel the wrongs done, not only to himself, but to others.  The maiden, not knowing him, ministered with healing tendance to the man that had done her kindness and was bruised with many wounds.  And in order that lapse of time might not make her forget him, she shut up a ring in his wound, and thus left a mark on his leg.  Afterwards her father granted her freedom to choose her own husband; so when the young men were assembled at banquet, she went along them and felt their bodies carefully, searching for the tokens she had stored up long ago.  All the rest she rejected, but Hadding she discovered by the sign of the secret ring; then she embraced him, and gave herself to be the wife of him who had not suffered a giant to win her in marriage.

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The Danish History, Books I-IX from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.