HIÁLMARS DEATH SONG

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HIÁLMAR S DEATH SONG

LIKE THE Vikarsbálk and Hildibrand s Death Song, this essentially monologic lay belongs to a category which forms a masculine counterpart to the feminine retrospective poems of the Edda, such as Helreith Brynhildar and Guthrúnarhvët: at the point of death, or in the beyond, the speaker lets pass in review the events of his life. This conventional situation conditions a lyric-elegiac mood; which finds especially beautiful, if somewhat facile and not very original, expression in our poem. And inasmuch as there is stress laid on the melancholy nevermore of lovers beset by a tragic fate, rather than on deeds of valor, we may even speak of a quasi-Romanticism. Indeed, external reasons likewise point to thirteenth-century origin, when medieval influences made themselves felt in the upper levels of Northern society, and French romances and lais were being translated voluminously.

Two versions exist, both derived from one now lostthe one in a MS of the Hervarar saga; the other, both longer and better, in the Orvar Odds saga, which accordingly has been rendered here. However, the lay does not fit organically into the latter saga.

Piecing together the accounts in both sagas, the story of Hiálmar is as follows: Angantýr, a ferocious Viking chief, makes a Yuletide vow that he will wed beautiful Ingibiorg, the daughter of King Yngvi at Uppsala in Sweden, or else die. But when he appears there, the princess rejects him in favor of Hiálmar, right-hand man of the king, whom she loves. Thereupon Angantýr challenges Hiálmar to single combat, next summer, on the island of Samsey. There, Hiálmar and his companion at arms, the redoubtable Orvar Odd (or Sóti), encounter Angantýr and his eleven berserker brothers. Hiálmar slays Angantýr, notwithstanding the latter s invincible sword Tyrfing, but is mortally wounded himself. Orvar Odd (or Sóti), protected by a magic silk shirt, is the sole survivor.

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SÓTI said:

1
What ails thee, Hiálmar?Thy hue is pale.
Great wounds, I ween,do weary thee;
thy helmet is hewn,thy hauberk eke:
at an end is now,atheling, thy life!

HIÁLMAR said:

2
Wounds have I sixteen,is slit my byrnie,
dim grows my sight,I see no longer:
to my heart did hew,venom-hardened,
Angantýr s swordslashing sharply.

3
Shall fair ladiesnever learn that I,
from blows me shielding,backward turned me;
nor shall everIngibiorg taunt me,
in Sigtúna 1 sitting,that from sword-blows I fled.

4
Unwilling nowise,from women s converse,
from their sweet songsI with Soti fared,
hastened to jointhe host to eastward,
went the last time forthfrom friends so dear.

5
Led me the white-browedliege s daughter
to the outmost endof Agnafit.2
Is borne out thusthat back I would not
wend from this war:so the wise maid said.

6
From Ingibiorgcame ill-hap swiftly
I fared forth, then,on fated day:
a lasting sorrowto the lady, this,
since not e er aftereach other we ll see.

7
To have and to holdI had five manors;
on that land to livemisliked me, though.
Now, robbed of life,I lie here, spent,
by the sword wounded,on Sáms-isle s shore.

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8
Take with thee, Sotimy wish it is
my helm and hauberkto the hall of the king.
Will it wring the heartof the ruler s daughter
when shattered she seeswhat shielded my breast.

9
The red-gold ringfrom my right arm draw,
to Ingibiorg bring it,in her bower sitting.
Will yearn for methe young maiden,
since not e er aftereach other we ll see.

10
I see sittingin Sigtúna hall
the women who warned meof wending thence.
Will not ever afterale nor warriors
Hiálmar gladdenhere in this life.

11
Quaff with the kingthe crowd of housecarls
their ale gladlyin Uppsala;
doth the mead manymen overcome,
but me overmasterhere many wounds.

12
Flies from the Souththe famished raven,
flieth with himthe fallow eagle;
on the flesh of the fallenI shall feed them no more:
on my body bothwill batten now.

Footnotes

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1 Between Uppsala and the present Stockholm.

2 This is a low flat point south of the present Stockholm.

SÓTI said:
1	What ails thee, Hiálmar?Thy hue is pale. Great wounds, I ween,do weary thee; thy helmet is hewn,thy hauberk eke: at an end is now,atheling, thy life!
HIÁLMAR said:
2	Wounds have I sixteen,is slit my byrnie, dim grows my sight,I see no longer: to my heart did hew,venom-hardened, Angantýr s swordslashing sharply.
3	Shall fair ladiesnever learn that I, from blows me shielding,backward turned me; nor shall everIngibiorg taunt me, in Sigtúna 1 sitting,that from sword-blows I fled.
4	Unwilling nowise,from women s converse, from their sweet songsI with Soti fared, hastened to jointhe host to eastward, went the last time forthfrom friends so dear.
5	Led me the white-browedliege s daughter to the outmost endof Agnafit.2 Is borne out thusthat back I would not wend from this war:so the wise maid said.
6	From Ingibiorgcame ill-hap swiftly I fared forth, then,on fated day: a lasting sorrowto the lady, this, since not e er aftereach other we ll see.
7	To have and to holdI had five manors; on that land to livemisliked me, though. Now, robbed of life,I lie here, spent, by the sword wounded,on Sáms-isle s shore.
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8	Take with thee, Sotimy wish it is my helm and hauberkto the hall of the king. Will it wring the heartof the ruler s daughter when shattered she seeswhat shielded my breast.
9	The red-gold ringfrom my right arm draw, to Ingibiorg bring it,in her bower sitting. Will yearn for methe young maiden, since not e er aftereach other we ll see.
10	I see sittingin Sigtúna hall the women who warned meof wending thence. Will not ever afterale nor warriors Hiálmar gladdenhere in this life.
11	Quaff with the kingthe crowd of housecarls their ale gladlyin Uppsala; doth the mead manymen overcome, but me overmasterhere many wounds.
12	Flies from the Souththe famished raven, flieth with himthe fallow eagle; on the flesh of the fallenI shall feed them no more: on my body bothwill batten now.