The Relation of the Hrólfs Saga Kraka and the Bjarkarímur to Beowulf: A Contribution To The History Of Saga Development In England And The; Scandinavian CountriesOlson, Oscar Ludvig
History
The Relation of the Hrólfs Saga Kraka and the Bjarkarímur to Beowulf: A Contribution To The History Of Saga Development In England And The; Scandinavian Countries
Halfdan's name has become Harald; Hroar's and Helgi's names have become
Harald and Halfdan; Earl Sævil has become Siward, King of Sweden; Signy
has become a daughter of Karl, governor of Gautland, and wife of Harald
(Frothi's brother). Envy and the quarrelsomeness of Frothi's wife and
Harald's wife cause Frothi to engage men to murder Harald. Frothi tries
to avoid suspicion of being the author of the crime, but in vain; the
people believe he is guilty. When he seeks the boys of the murdered
king, to put them out of the way, their foster-parents bind the claws of
wolves under the boys' feet and let them run about and fill a
neighboring morass and the snow-covered ground with their tracks,
whereupon the children of bond-women are put to death and the children's
bodies torn to pieces and strewn about. This is done to give the
impression that the boys have been torn to pieces by wolves. Then the
boys are concealed in a large hollow oak, where food is brought them
under the pretence that they are dogs. Dogs' names are also applied to
them. The episode with the witch is present, but other men and women
with superhuman power are not introduced. The whereabouts of the boys
begins to be bruited about, and Ragnar, their foster-father, flees with
them to Fyen. He is captured and admits that he has the boys in his
protection; but he begs the king not to injure them, calls attention to
the foulness of doing them harm, and promises, in case they make any
disturbance in the kingdom, to report the matter to the king. Frothi,
whose severity Ragnar thus transforms into mildness, spares the boys,
and for many years they live in security. When they are grown up, they
go to Seeland. Their friends urge them to avenge their father's death,
and this they promise to do. Ragnar, when he hears of this, reports it
to the king in accordance with his promise, whereupon the king proceeds
against them with an army. In desperation, the boys pretend insanity;
and, as it is considered shameful to attack people who are insane, the
king again spares them. But in the night the boys set fire to his hall,
after having stoned the queen to death; and Frothi, having hid himself
in a secret underground passage, perishes from the effects of smoke and
gas. The boys share the crown, ruling the kingdom by turns.
Before proceeding further, it would be well to have a summary of the
relations of the Danish kings concerned, up to the last stage of
development, the stage with which we are dealing; and this summary is
best supplied by quoting the following from Olrik's _Danmarks
Heltedigtning:[127]--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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