Grim Aegir Travel Through Earth / Resist Blades

A trumpet sounded, and then the ranks closed together, with battle-cries and shouts of encouragement and a great clashing of weapons. First there was a sharp volley of arrows, and then fighting at close quarters as each side charged towards the other. Many things and events happened at the same moment, yet must be told one by one.

Mondul the dwarf was not in the battle, but he was standing on a certain hill, shooting arrows from his bow and making a terrible slaughter. Both sides charged so fiercely that there was no need to question their ferocity. Knut Boil and Torfi the Strong came against Grim Aegir. Both of them were strong and sorcerous, and they battled him all day long. Their fighting was so fierce that men had to watch out that they didn’t get too close.

The king’s berserks fought hard and broke through Hrolf’s ranks, so that everyone retreated. Many a good warrior never returned to his own kingdom. There was no helm so stout, nor shield so thick, that it did not have to yield before their blows. Hrolf’s army was on the verge of fleeing. Hrolf and Stefnir had advanced into King Eirek’s ranks and done great damage there, before they saw the berserks charging.

[...]

Now there was a fierce battle. King Eirek and Brynjolf killed many men. Mondul shot King Eirek through the arm with a shaft. Hrolf and Stefnir renewed their fierce attacks, because the battle had turned against them badly. They came to the place where Grim and Torfi and Knut had fought each other, and the ground was torn up. Their encounter had ended with Knut dead and Torfi crippled by his wounds. Grim was exhausted, yet by then he had killed even more men. Hrolf and Stefnir both struck at him at the same time, but he escaped down into the earth, as if into water.

Now we must relate what was happening at the same time, as Sturlaug and Eirek were fighting on the other wing of the army. Each one broke through the opposing ranks with powerful blows and mighty spear-thrusts. There was a tremendous slaughter.

[...]

Now Tjosnir and Sturlaug met. Each struck at the other, but neither was wounded. Sturlaug chopped away all of Tjosnir’s shield, but had to retreat before Tjosnir’s mighty blows. Mondul saw this. He nocked an arrow on his bowstring and shot a barbed arrow into Tjosnir’s eye, so that it sank a long way up the shaft. Tjosnir gripped the shaft and tore out the arrow with his eye on it. Sturlaug was waiting for that, and at that moment he hewed Tjosnir apart in the middle, so that each half fell down. Now Sturlaug saw how Thord had done him such great damage that his forces were at the point of fleeing, and some were killed. He sought out where Thord was, but Thord turned to face him. Their combat was both fierce and long, until Sturlaug landed a direct hit on Thord. It landed on his bald head and failed no more than usual. The blow was so great that it split Thord’s head and his whole torso all the way through, so that he fell to the ground in two pieces. Sturlaug had accomplished an incredible deed. He dropped his long knife, and it pierced down into the earth and was never found. The books are in great disagreement concerning this event, for it is said in the Saga of Sturlaug and many other sagas that Sturlaug died of an illness at home in Ringerike and was buried in a mound there. But here it is said that after Thord’s fall, Grim Aegir came up out of the earth behind Sturlaug and struck him in the spine with a blade, chopping him in two at the middle. We don’t know which is closer to the truth.

Eirek his son saw this, because he was standing nearby. In his fury, he struck at Grim with his sword. The sword hit him on the shoulder and crashed against it as if it had struck a rock, but it didn’t cut. Grim turned to face Eirek and spewed such hot venom in his face that Eirik fell down dead at once.

[...]

Hrolf saw Mondul come running. He seized a sword that lay on the field and swung at Grim’s leg with both hands, but it didn’t cut any more than if it had hit a stone. Mondul dashed back to the slain bodies and found Hreggvid’s Gift. He smeared his spittle on the edge and dragged the sword to where they were wrestling, because he couldn’t manage to carry or swing the sword on account of its weight. He managed to drag the sword onto Grim’s calves from behind, severing the tendons in his legs, and Grim fell. The dwarf said, “Hold him, Hrolf, so that he can’t get loose.”

Grim struggled hard and forced his way down into the earth, but Hrolf used his strength and held him back. Then Grim said, “You’ve got great luck, Hrolf, and you’ll become famous for killing me and for the mighty deeds that you’ve accomplished in Russia. A mound must be raised after me and set facing the sea, and all who dock there when they reach land will find certain death. I’ve set many deadly traps for you, because my heart warned me for a long time about what has happened now. I sent Vilhjalm to you to betray you, but you were destined to live longer. You wouldn’t have beaten me if that wicked dwarf hadn’t been there to guide you.”


- The Saga of Hrolf the Walker (Göngu-Hrólfs saga), Chapters 31 and 33