Appear to Hrolf

King Hrolf and his men go on their way now and ride the whole day nearly. And as night fell, they find a farm and came to the door. There before them stands Farmer Hrani, who offers them every hospitality and says things have not gone so very differently to how he expected, on their travels. The king confirms that and says there’s no smoke in this man’s eyes.

“Here are some weapons I want to give you,” says Farmer Hrani.

The king said, “These are monstrous weapons.” It was a shield, a sword and a coat of mail. But King Hrolf would not take the weapons.

Hrani bristles at this, to the brink of losing his temper, and feels he’s been done a great dishonour here. “You are not being so clever in this matter, King Hrolf, as you probably think you are,” said Hrani, “and you are never as wise as you imagine.” The farmer took great offence at this snub.

There was no chance of a night’s lodging now, and they just want to ride on their way, even though the night is dark. The displeasure is plain to see in Hrani’s face, and he thinks he’s been vastly underrated, when they wouldn’t accept gifts from him, and he does nothing to stop them riding off as they like. They ride away now, leaving him like that, and nothing was said by way of farewells.

And before they’d got very far, Bodvar Bjarki halts. He spoke thus: “Sense comes late to fools, and so it comes to me now. I fear we’ve not been terribly wise, for we turned down what we should have taken, and chances are we’ve turned down victory.”

King Hrolf says, “I suspect the same, because this must have been old Odin, and he certainly was a one-eyed man.”

“Let’s turn back as fast as we can,” says Svipdag, “and see.”

They go back now, and by then both farm and farmer had disappeared.

“There’s no point looking for him,” says King Hrolf, “as he’s an evil spirit.”

They go on their way now, and nothing is told of their journey till they come to Denmark, to their own land, and they settle down quietly now.

Bodvar advised the king not to get into too many battles after that. It seemed more likely, to him, that they wouldn’t be attacked much if they stayed put, but he said he was afraid he didn’t know whether the king would be victorious from now on, if it was put to the test at all.

King Hrolf says, “Luck rules each man’s life, not that evil spirit.”

Bodvar said, “Leaving you is the last thing we’d do, if it’s up to us, but all the same, I have a strong feeling that it won’t be long before grave news comes to us all.”

They leave the matter there, and from this expedition they earned great fame.


- The Saga of Hrolf Kraki and his Champions (Hrólfs saga kraka), Part 6, Chapter 46