Bearslayer : $b A free translation from the unrhymed Latvian into English heroic versePumpurs, Andrejs
General
Bearslayer : $b A free translation from the unrhymed Latvian into English heroic verse
Pumpurs, Andrejs
Epic literature, Latvian -- Adaptations; Epic poetry
The convent prioress tries to persuade Laimdota to accept
Christianity and threatens to allow her to be seized by a local
count and used as a concubine. To escape this fate Laimdota pretends
to accept Christianity but, despite this, one night armed men break
into the convent and seize her. As they are about to carry her off
an unknown warrior appears and fights all the kidnappers on his
own. He kills all except one, and rescues Laimdota. She recognizes
him as Koknesis and they flee into the mountains. Along the way
Koknesis explains how he too was tricked into going on the ship to
Germany. Once in Germany, he heard that a Baltic woman was being
held in the convent and decided to rescue her, without knowing that
it was Laimdota.
The action turns to the Northern Sea, where Bearslayer is wandering
in a ship, lost on the way to Germany to seek Laimdota. The North
Wind's Daughter hears the sailors calling upon her in song, and she
comes to them in her own ship. She says that it would be best if
they came to her island to rest, before continuing their journey,
and Bearslayer agrees. They avoid the Castle of the North Wind,
where he is sleeping, perhaps for another month. Once he is awake,
the winter will set in and they will not be able to escape because
of the ice and storms.
The island is warmed by fires from the centre of the Earth, and the
sailors enjoy a pleasant stay. Eventually the North Wind's Daughter
tells them that her father is about to wake up and that they must
leave. She warns them not to return by the route that they came by,
because Bearslayer's enemies now know that he is using that route
and may be too strong for him. She describes an alternative route,
but warns of its great dangers, including the land of the dog-snout
ogres, the Kingdom of Dreams, the Hill of Diamonds, and the
Enchanted Isle. The sailors set off in the nick of time: The North
Wind has woken up and they are involved in a fearsome storm, from
which they barely escape.
They reach the island of the Dog-Snout Ogres, where they tie up.
Bearslayer goes ashore with a party of men to cut up and share the
meat of some deer he has already killed. They are at work when
suddenly the Dog-Snouts pour out of a cave and attack them. They
tear the men apart with their teeth and even Bearslayer is scarcely
able to save himself. He is wounded and seems doomed, until he
notices that no more Dog-Snouts are coming out of their cave. He
slips in to the cave and is able to defend himself with his spear in
its narrow opening. The Dog-Snouts then bring up large boulders and
block the entrance, trapping Bearslayer inside.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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