Icelandic Saga - Ragnar's Saga (chap 19 & 20 end) lyrics

Ragnar Lodbrok Saga: Chapter 19 & 20 Chris Van Dyke Translation Chapter 19 It came to pa** that in this one land a certain king had two sons. He took sick and breathed his last, and his sons wished to drink a funeral feast for him. They decreed that all men could come there to the feast that had heard of it in the next three winters. Now this was heard widely throughout the land. And in these three winters they prepared the feast. And when the summer came when they would drink the funeral feast and the time which was appointed arrived, the feast turned out to be so very lled with men that none knew of its precedent it was so large, and many great halls were prepared and many tents set up outside. And when the rst evening was far on its way, a man came into the hall. This man was large that none were as large, and from his attire it could be seen that he had been with noble men. And when he came into the hall, he went before the brothers and spoke to them and asked where they would direct him to sit. He pleased them well and they told him to sit on the upper bench. He needed the space of two men. And as soon as he had sat down, drink was brought to him as to other men, but there was not a horn so large that he might not drink it off in one drink, and all thought they could discern that they were all as nothing compared to him. Then it happened that another man came to the feast. He was rather larger than the one before. Both men had low-hanging hoods. And when this man came before the high-seat of the young kings, he spoke handsomely and asked them to direct him to a seat. They said that this man should sit farther in than the other on the bench. Now he went to his seat, and together they took up so much room that ve men had to rise up for them. And he who came rst was the smaller drinker. And the second one drank so quickly that he poured nearly every horn into himself, and men did not nd that he became drunk, and it seemed he held his seat-mates in contempt, and he turned his back to them. He who came rst said that they should have a game together—“and I will go rst.” He shoved the other with his hand and spoke a verse: Speak of your great achievements, educate us, I ask you— have you seen the ravens shudder on the branch, bloated with blood? You have more often been otherwise: found in the high-seat rather than gathering bloody carrion for birds of war in the dale! Now it seemed to him who sat on the outside that he was challenged by such a direct verse, and he spoke a verse in reply: Be silent at once, you called a stay-at-home; you are content with very little, you have never done what I may boast of! You have not fattened the sun-seeking-b**h with the drink of sword's play, but gave up the harbor horses; what is troubling you? Now he who came first answered: We let the strong cheek of the horses of the sea§ run to the waves, the sides of our bright mail splattered with blood. The she-wolf feasted, the hunger of the eagles was sated on the blood from men's reddened necks, while we seized the hard meal of the sh's land. Now he who came second spoke: Very little I saw of you when the swift wading horses found the brewing white plain before them; and with weak courage you hid from the ravens, near the mast when we turned our red-prows again to the land. And then the one who came first spoke: It does us no honor to quarrel about what we have done greater than the other, over ale in the high-seat. You stood upon the sword-stag as waves bore it through the sound, and I sat in the birth as the red prow rode into harbor. Now he who came second answered: We were both companions of Bjorn at the sword-din,‡\ we were proven warriors when we strove for Ragnar; I bear the wound in my side from the heroes' beaks§\ in the land of the Bolgars— neighbor, sit further in beside me! In the end they knew each other and were together there at the feast. Chapter 20 There was a man named Ogmund, , who was called Ogmund in Dane. He journeyed one day along with ve ships, and lay anchor at Samsey in Munarvag. Then it is said that the cooks went to land to prepare the meat, and other men went into the woods to entertain themselves. There they found an ancient tree-man, and it was forty feet in height and covered with moss, but they could still make out all of him, and they discussed among themselves who might have sacriced to this great god. And then the tree-man spoke: It was long ago when the offspring of the sea-king journeyed on the way here in the tongues of landings across the bright salty trail; since then, I have been responsible for guarding this place. And thus the warriors, sons of Lodbrok, set me thus near the southern salt-sea; in the southern parts of Samsey they sacriced to me, prayed for the d**hs of men. They bade the man* stand near the thorn-bush, covered in moss, as long as the strand endured. Clouds weep upon each of my cheeks, for now neither fresh nor clothing shelters me. And that seemed wondrous to them, and afterwards they spoke of it to other men.