Ragnar Lodbrok Saga: Chapter 13 & 14
Chris Van Dyke Translation
Chapter 13
Then they decided among themselves that they should harry in the Southern Kingdom. And Sigurd Snake in Eyes, Randalin's son, went with his brothers on every raid after that. In these raids they strove against every town which was strong, and they fought so that none could prevail against them.
And then they heard that there was one town that was both strong and full of hardy men. And then Ivar said that he wanted to head for there. And this is said of what the town was called and who ruled over it: the chieftain was called Vil, and his namesake was a town called Vifilsborg. Then they traveled with war-shields so that they desolated all the towns that they happened upon, until they came to Vifilsborg. The chief was not at home in his town, and many of his troops were away with him.
Then they set up their tents on the plains that were about the town. They were peaceful during the day when they came to the town, and they held a talk with the townsmen. Ragnar's sons asked the townsmen whether they would rather give up the town, and in return they would all be granted peace, or rather test their forces and their hardihood, and their men would then receive no quarter.
But they responded quickly and said that the town would never be so overcome. “But before that happens, you must try us and show us your valor and zeal.” Then the night pa**ed. And the very next day they went to strive against the town but could not overcome it. They sat around the town for half a moon and they strove every day with different strategies, that they might get the town.
But it happened that they were no nearer victory after a long while, and they then decided to turn away from there. And when the townsmen became aware that they were planning to turn away from there, then they went out to the town walls and spread out their valuable cloth and all those clothes, which were the finest in the town, over the town walls and they laid out their gold and their valuables, which were the most expensive in the town. And then one of their troop took to words and spoke:
“We thought that these men, the sons of Ragnar, and their troops were hardy men, but we can see that they have not come nearer to victory than others.” Then after that they shouted at them and beat upon their shields and egged them on the best they could. And when Ivar heard that, he was so greatly startled that he fell into a great sickness, so that he might not stir, and they had to wait until it came about that he either recovered or he died. He lay there all that day until evening, and spoke not a word. And then he spoke with those men who were with him, saying that they should tell Bjorn, Hvitserk and Sigurd and all the wisest men that he wanted to hold a talk with them.
And when they all came and were in one place, those who were the greatest leaders among the troops, then Ivar asked if they had devised any tactic which was likely to succeed more than those which they had tried before. But they all answered that they did not have such wit in these matters that they might devise a tactic which would be successful. “Now, as often, you are the one whose advice might be useful.”
Ivar answered thus: “One plan has come to me in my mind, which we have not tried. There is a large forest not far from here, and now, when night falls, we shall travel from our tents secretly to the forest, but we will leave our war-tents standing here, and when we come to the forest, each man shall bind branches for himself. And when that is done, we shall attack the town from all sides and strike fire in the wood, and there will then be a great blaze, and the town-walls will then lose their lime because of the fire. And we shall then bring up our war-slings and see how hardy they are.”
And thus it was done: they traveled to the forest, and they were there as long as Ivar deemed necessary. Then they attacked to the town in accordance with his arrangements, and then when they had struck fire in the large pile of wood there was so great a blaze that the walls could not stand it and they lost their lime. Then Ivar's troops brought their war-slings up to the town and broke a large gap in the walls, and a battle began. And as soon as the two forces stood evenly opposed in battle, then the troops of townsmen fell, and some fled before them, and some, in the end, fled to their ships. They k**ed every man's child who was in the town, and they took all the goods and burnt the town before they went on their way.
Chapter 14
How they held course from there until they came to the town called Lúna. By then they had broken nearly every town and every castle in all the Southern Kingdom, and they were then so famous in all that region that there was no child, however young, that did not know their name. Then they planned not to let up until they had come to Romaborg, because that town was then both very mighty and full of men, and famous and rich. But they did not quite know how long a distance it was to that town, and they had such a large troop that they could not supply provisions for them.
And when they were at the town of Lúna they discussed the journey amongst themselves. Then there came a man, who was old and cunning. They asked what sort of man he was, and he said that he was a poor beggar and had, for all his life, journeyed across the land.
“You must then know many things you can tell us, which we want to know.”
The old man answered: “I do not know of anything that I will be unable to tell you, whatever land you want to ask of.”
“We want you to tell us how far it is to Romaborg from here.”
He answered: “I can show you something to indicate that. You may see here these ancient iron shoes, which I have on my feet, and these others, which I carry on my back, which are now worn out. But when I set out from there, I bound these worn-out ones on my feet, which I now have on by back, and at that time both sets were new. I have been on the road ever since.”
And when the old man had said that, they thought that they could not continue on the way to Rome, as they had intended amongst themselves. And then they turned away with their warriors and captured many towns which had never been captured before, and proof of this can be seen to this day.