Lögberg - 30.07.1936, Blaðsíða 10

10
LÖGBERG, FIMTUDAGINN 30. JÚEl, 1936
Audtm and His
White Bear
(Auðnar >áttr vestfirzka)
Translated by
George W. Dasent
There was a man named Audun,
an Icelander and westfirther; his
means were small, but his good-
ness was well known. This Aud-
un once sailed from Iceland with
a Norseman whose name was
Thorir, but before he went he
made over almost all his goods to
his mother, and after all they
were not more than enough to
keep her for two years. After
that they put to sea with a fair
breeze, and soon made Norway.
Audun stayed with Thorir that
winter, the next summer thev
both sailed out to Greenland, and
were there the next winter. There
Audun bought a white bear well
tamed, and he gave for the beast
all the money he had—for it was
the greatest treasure of a bear'
that had ever been heard of.
Next summer they sailed back
to Norway, and had a good vov-
age; as for Thorir, the captain,
he went back to his own house;
but Audun got himself a passage
east to The Bay in the Cattegat,
and took his bear with him, and
looked about for a lodging while
he staved there, for he meant to
make his way south to Denmark,
and give the bear to King Sweyn.
But just then the war and strife
between King Harold and Sweyn
was at its height. Tt happened.
too, that Harold was then in the
town whither Audun came, and
he soon heard how an Icelander
had come from Greenland with
such a tame white bear! The
king sent at once for Audun, so
he went before the king and greet-
ed him. The king took his words
well, and asked:
“Hast thou that white bear
which is such a treasure?”
“I have,” said Audun.
The king said: “Wilt thou sell
us the beast for the same price
thou gavest for it?”
“I will not do that, lord,” said
Audun.
“Wilt thou,” says the king,
“that I give thee twice as much,
and that is fairer, if indeed thou
gavest for it all thy money?”
“I will not do that, lord,” he
said.
“Wilt thou give it me, then?”
says the king.
“That, too, I will not do,” says
the Icelander.
“What wilt thou do with it,
then?” said the king.
“Audun answers: “What I have
already made up my mind to do;
go south to Denmark, and give it
to King Sweyn.”
Then King Harold said: “Is it
now that thou art so ignorant a
man that thou hast not heard of
all this war and strife which is
between the lands here, or dost
thou think thy luck so great that
thou wilt be able to bring this-
treasure to King Sweyn when
others cannot get to his land
without trouble, even when need
forces them to go ?”
Audun answers: “Lord, this
now lies in your power, but I will
say yes to no other way than the
one I have already spoken of, and
made up my mind to follow.”
Then the king said: “I see no
reason why thou shouldst not go
as thou pleasest, but I make this
bargain that thou comest here to
me when thou gettest back, and
tellest me how King Sweyn re-
warded thee for the beast. May
be thou art a man of luck.”
“I’ll give you my word to do
that,” said Audun. And away he
went, and g'ot a passage south to
Denmark. But when he got there
every pennv of his money was
spent, and he had to beg for food
both for his bear and himself. So
he went to a bailiff of the king,
whose name was Auki, and
begged him to get him some food,
that he might feed himself and
the bear, which he meant to give
to King Sweyn.
Auki answers: “I will sell thee
food, if thou wilt.”
“I have nothing to give for it
now,” said Audun; “but I would
be glad to hit upon some way of
bringing the beast to the king,
for it were great scathe if so prec-
ious a thing were to die on my
hands.”
Auki said: “Ye’ll both of you
need much food before ye get to
the king. And now ITl make thee
this offer: I will feed ye both till
then, but then I must have half
the beast; and what thou hast
for he did not know him,-
Audun answers: “I am a man
from Iceland, new come from
Norway, but before that I came
from Greenland. My errand
hither was to give you this white
bear, which I bought out there
in Greenland with all my goods;
but a great change has befallen
me, for now I own no. more than
half the beast.”
After that he told the king the
when he was coming back he took
a great sickness, and lay long a-
bed. AU the money was spent
which Sweyn had given him, and
his companions went on and left
him. At last he rose from his
sickness, and was quite thin and
weak, nor had he a penny to
buy food. Then he took a beg-
gar’s wandering, and went along
begging his food, till he came back
to Denmark about Easter, to a
whole story, and all that passed ] town where King Sweyn happen-
between him and Auki.
“Then the king said: “Is this
true, Auki, what he says?”
“True it is,” says Auki.
Then the king said: “And
thoughtest thou it fell to thee,
when I had set thee over my
goods and given thee great place, 1
to tax and toll w.hat an outlander
ed to be. By this time Audun had
his hair close cropped, and scarce
a ragi to his back, vile and poor in
every way; and so he dared not
show himself among the throng
of men. He hung about the
cloisters of the church, and
thought to choose his time to
| meet the king when he went to
] Nones; but when he saw'the king
and a stranger had unc erta en to | comjng ancj p,js train so bravely
bring me as a treasure w o gave . dressed> was ashamed to show
for it all h:s goo s anc t a oo j^jj^ggjj hefore their eyes. But
when our greatest foes thought it . when the kj had gat down tQ
good to let him go on h.s way m j the board; Audun went and t00k
peacer Think, now, how faith-
less it was in thee to do such a
thing, and see what a great dif-
ference there is between thee and
Harold, when he gave him safe
conduct, And now it were meet
thou shouldst lose, not only thy
goods, but thy life also; and
though I will not slay thee this
time, still thou shalt go away at
once on the spot a beggar from
my realm, and never come more
unto my sight. But for thee, Ice-
lander, as thou hast given me the
whole of the beast, and that worth
far more than the food which
Auki sold, but which he ought to
haye gúven thee, I accept it, and
ask thee to stay here with me.”
Then Audun thanked the king
for his words and invitation, and
stayed there awhile, but Auki
went away unhappy, and lost
great goods because he coveted
that which did not belong to him
Audun had only been with king
Sweyn a little while when he said
now to look at is this—that thou ; he was eager to go away. The
wilt not have even half of it ifJking was rather slow in answer
it starves to death on thy hands.”
,Audun thought this choice hard,
but still could see nothing better
for it as things stood; so they
struck a bargain, and he agreed
to sell Auki hal.f the bear, on con-
dition that they started for where
the king was at once, and should
reckon the worth on both sides,
first of the food which Auki gave
him, and then of the beast; and
that Auki should pay Audun so
much as was over, if the king
thought half the bear worth more
than the food. So they went both
of them till they found King
Sweyn. He greeted Auki, the
bailiff, well, but asked the man
who came with him who he was,
ing him
“What wilt thou do, then?” he
asked, “if thou wilt not be with
us r

he
“I will go south to Rome,
says.
Then the king said: “Hadst
thou not taken such good counsel,
I had been very angry at thy
eagerness to go away, but now
thou shalt not be thwarted in the
least.”
So the king gave him much
silver, and settled all about his
journey, and put him in the way
of going in company with other
pilgrims, and bade him come to
see him when he came back.
So Audun went south; but
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his meat outside under the wall
of the hall, as is pilgrims’ wont,
so long as they have not thrown
away staff and scrip. And now
he made up his mind to throw
himself in the king’s way as he
went to even-song; but, so bold
as this seemed to him earlier in
the day, just half as bold again
must he have been to let the king
see him now that they had well
drunk. So, when Audun saw
them coming, he turned short off
and ran away to hide himself.
But the king thought he caught
a glimpse of a man, and as he
came out of church, and all his
train had come inside their lodg>-
ing, he turned round and went out
again, and called out with a loud
voice as soon as he was out of
doors:
“If there be any man near here,
as methinks there is, who wishes
to see me, and has hardly heart to
do so, let him come forward now
and let himself be seen.”
Then Audun came forward, and
fell at the king’s feet. The king
knew him at once, and took him
by the hand and bade him wel-
come.
“And now,” he says, “thou art
greatly changed since we saw one
another last, for I scarce knew
thee!”
So the king led him into the
hall there and then; but all the
king’s trajn laughed at Audun as
soon as they saw him. But the
king said:
“Ye have no need to laugh at
him, vile and mean though he
seems to ye to look on; he hath
seen better to his soul’s health
than ye, and therefore to God’s
eye he will seem bright and fair.”
Then the king made them get
ready a bath, and waited on him
with hi5 own hands, and gave
him afterwards good clothes, and
made much of him in every way.
So Audun soon got back his
strength and health, for he was
young in years, and there he
stayed awhile. He knew, too,
how to behave himself among the
crowd of men; he was an easy-
tempered, word - weighing man,
and not given to gossip. So all
men liked him, and as for King
Sweyn he was most gracious to
him.
So it fell out one day, when
springtide was drawing on, that
they two were talking together,
and all at once the king said:
“Sooth to say, Audun, I have
never yet repaid thee in a way
thou wouldest like by a gift in
return for the white bear. And
now, if thou wilt, thou shalt be
free to stay long here with me,
and I will make thee my hench-
man; and, at the same time, treat
thee honourably in all things.”
Audun answers: “God thank
you, lord, for your generous offer,
and for all the honour you show
me, but I have set my heart on
sailing out to Iceland.”
“This seems to me a most won-
derful choice,” said the king.
“Then Audun said, “I can’t bear
to think that I am sitting here
with you in great honour and
happiness, while my mother
tramps about on the beggar’s
path out yonder in Iceland; for
naw the time is up, during which
I gave her means to live, before
I sailed away from home.”
“Spoken like a good man and
true,” answers the king, “and no
doubt thou wilt be a man of luck.
This was thq^ only thing which
would not have misliked me, if
thou hadst asked leave to go away.
But now stay here awhile with
me, till the ships are being got
ready.”
So Audun stayed. But, one day,
when the spring was near at hand,
King Sweyn went down from the
town to the landing-place, and
then they saw men busy fitting
out their ships for various lands,
t—east to Russia, or to Saxony, to
Sweden, or to Norway. So Audun
and the king came to a fair ship,
and men were hard at work on
her; she was a merchantman of
fine size.
Then the king said, “What
thinkest thou, Audun, of this
ship?”
He saíd, “She was fine enough.’’
“Now, said the king, “I will
repay thee for the bear, and give
thee this ship with a full lading of
all that I know is handiest in Ice-
land.”
Audu,n thanked the king, as
well as he could, for this gift; but
when time went on, and the ship
was ready for sea, they two went
down again to the strand, King
Sweyn and Audun. Then the king
spoke:
“Since thou wilt go away from
me, Icelander, nothing shall now
be done to hinder thee; but I
have heard tell that your land is ill
of for havens, and that there are
great shoals and risks for ships;
and now, if things do not turn
out well, it may be that thy ship
goes to pieces, and thy lading will
be lost; little then will be left
to show that thou hast met King
Sweyn, and given him a thing of
great price.”
As he said this the king put
into his hand a big leathern bag,
full of silver, and said: “Thou
wilt not be now altogether penni-
less though thy ship goes to
pieces, if thou only holdest this.”
“May be, too,” the king went
on to say, “that thou losest this
money also, what good will it then
have been to thee that thou gav-
est King Sweyn thy treasure?”
As he said this the king drew a
ring of gold from his arm, and
gave it to Audun; that was a
thing of costly price, and the king
went on:
“Though things go so ill, that
thy ship goes to pieces, and all
thy goods and money lost, still
thou wilt not be penniless, if thou
comest to land with this ring, for
it is often the wont of men to
bear their gold about them, when
they are in risk of shipwreck, and
so it will be seen that thou hast
met King Sweyn Wolfson, if thou
holdest fast the ring, though thou
losest the rest of thy goods. And
now I will give tbpe this bit of
advice, never to part with this
ring, for I wish th'ee to enjoy it
to the uttermost, unless thou
thinkest thyself bound to repay
so much goodness to some great
man as to deem it right that thou
shouldest give him a great treas-
ure. When thou findest such an
one give him the ring, for it is
worth a great man’s while to own
it; and now farewell, and luck
follow thy voyage.” That was
what King Sweyn said.
After that Audun put to sea,
and ran into a haven in Norway
and as soon as he heard where
King Harold was he set out to
find him, as he had given his
word. So Audun came before
King Harold and greeted him, and
the king took his greeting kindly.
“Sit here now and drink with
us,” said the king.
So Audun sat and drank. Then
King Harold asked: “Well, how
did King Sweyn repay thee for
the white bear?”
“In that wise, lord,” says Aud-
un, “that he took it when I gave
it.”
“In that wise I had repaid thee
myself,” says the king. “What
more did he give thee?”
“He gave me silver to go south
on pilgrimage.”
The king answers: “King
Sweyn has given many a man be-
fore now silver to go south on
pilgrimage, or to help his need,
though he had not brought him
things of price. What hast thou
more to say?”
“He asked me,” answers Audun,
to beconfe his henchman, and to
give me great honor if I stayed
with him.”
“That was well spoken,” says
the king; “but he must have re-
paid thee with more still.”
Audun said: “He gave me a big
merchantman, full laden with the
best of freight.”
“That was a noble gift,” says
the king, “but I would have given
thee as much; or did he give thee
anything more?”
Audun answers: “He gave me,
besides, a leathern bag full of sil-
ver, and said I would then not be
penniless if I held fast to it,
though my ship went to pieces off
Iceland.”
“That was nobly thought of,”
answers the king, “and that I
would not have done. I should
have thought myself free if I had
given thee ship and lading. Gave
he aught besides?”
“Yes, lord, he did,” says Audun ;
“he gave me this ring which I
have on my arm, and said it
might so happen that I lost all my
goods and the ship too, and yet
he said I should not be penniless
if I still had the ring. He bade
me also not part with the ring
unless I thought I owed so much
to some great man for his good-
ness that I ought to give it him;
but now I have found that man,
for it was in your power, lord, to
take my bear from me, and my
life too, but you let me go in
peace to Denmark when no one
else could get thither.”
The king took the ring blithelv,
and gave Audun good gifts in re-
turn before they parted. So Aud-
un sailed to Iceland that very
summer, and all thought him the
luckiest of men.”
The Classical Literature
of Iceland
By DR. RICHARD BECK
Prof. of Scandinavian Languages
and Literatures, University
of North Dakota.
In the hall of literary fame Ice-
land has a niche all its own. Its
sagas and Eddas have an honor-
able place among the world’s clas-
sics. The story of how this catne
about, of how Iceland became the
treasure-house of ancient Ger-
manic and Scandinavian lore, is
as fascinating as it is unusual;
but must be passed over here in
preference to a brief consideration
of the historical and literary sig-
nificance of Old Icelandic litera-
ture.
Of the Icelandic sagas, the large
group commonly referred to as
Sagas of Icelanders (Islendinga
sogur), some thirty-five in num-
ber, has the widest appeal. Al-
though, generally speaking, dat-
ing in their written form from
the twelfth and the thirteenth
century, these sagas are popular
reading even today. They tell of
people who lived in Iceland. In
the words of Dame Bertha Phill-
potts: “AIl the Sagas of Ice-
landers are alike in this, that they
are prose narratives dealing with
real personages.” They are also
similar in this respect that their
authorship is shrouded in mvs-
tery. They differ, on the other
hand, not only in length, value,
and interest, but also in faithful-
ness to historical fact. There is
likewise considerable variety in
their subject matter, although
they center nearly always around
tragic issues and end on a tragic
note; the tragedy is, however, re-
lieved by touches of humor and
romance. Nevertheless, only one
of the Sagas of Icelanders is a
comedy, The Story of the Con-
federates (Bandamanna saga),
full of rollicking fun, a clever and
vigorous satire on the political
leaders of the day. Let no one
think, however, that just because
they are tragic in theme, these
sagas make dull reading; like all
true tragedies, told with literary
artistrý, they move the reader and
fennoble him.
The historicity of the Sagas of
Icelanders is still a subject of de-
bate. They have been weighed in
the balance of the most searching
criticism. The result is excellent-
ly summarized in the following
words of one who can speak with