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story in Gesta Danorum ends with their reconciliation with the Byzantine
emperor. It is related that when the king learned of their heroic accom-
plishment “his desire for revenge was changed to admiration, and he
decided to remit the brave men’s punishment and reward their courage by
letting them live.” Moreover, like a king in a þáttr pardoning the prisoners
for bravery, he ‘added’ to forgiveness his “friendship and gave them a ship,
and money, and allowed them to leave” (Saxo I, 54).
It is noteworthy that of all Haraldr’s remarkable adventures Saxo had
chosen and included in Gesta Danorum this very episode. No doubt his
sources could have supplied him with many other impressive examples
from Haraldr’s expeditions in the southern lands while he was at the
emperor’s service. There are enough stories describing the future king’s
boldness and inventiveness as a leader of the Varangians, e.g. those report-
ing the brilliant stratagems which allowed him to win numerous cities and
strongholds. That preference was nevertheless given to a fabulous dragon
tale cannot be accidental and testifies that this legend must have been
very popular. This is also corroborated by the fact that the same heroic
exploit of Haraldr is mentioned in William of Malmesbury’s De gestis
regum Anglorum (II, 318), written about 1125, although in the latter work
it has undergone some notable transformations.7 First of all, in William
of Malmesbury’s account of this episode we no longer find any serpent
— it is said instead that Haraldr was thrown to a lion for having seduced
a highborn woman. Also there is no mention of any weapon at all — it is
stressed that Haraldr smothered the huge beast with his bare hands (leoni
objectus, beluam immanem nudo lacertorum nisu suffocavit). Hence, in this
version of the legend, one exotic beast is substituted for another. As to the
notion that the monster was defeated mostly “by main strength”, this may
be easily traced in the Norse variants of the story as well, for they all stress
the insignificance of the blade Haraldr used in his fight with the dragon.
Whereas one group of Old Norse sources demonstrate their fascina-
tion with the legend of Haraldr’s fight with a great serpent, the other, on
the contrary, show a clear mistrust in its authenticity. In spite of the fact
that both Heimskringla and Fagrskinna recount the episode of Haraldr’s
imprisonment in Byzantium, each of these books confines itself to the
7 If not vice versa, for considering the dating of William’s chronicle its account of the
story of Haraldr’s imprisonment may be closer to the ‘original’ legend.
THE FANTASTIC IN Í SLENDINGA ÞÆTTIR