Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.09.2018, Blaðsíða 15

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Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15. september 2018 • 15
Long ago, a certain
chieftain named Már
lived at Reykhólar. His
wife, Katla, was from a good
family. Once, Már rode to
Alþingi, as was his custom,
leaving his wife at home.
One morning, during his
absence, Katla, went to bed
feeling tired and heavy, not
very long after she had risen
from it, and fell into a deep
sleep. At noon her attendants
went to her to call her, but, try
as they would, could not wake
her. Fearing she was dead, they
called her foster father. He
went to her bedside and tried
to rouse her, but quite in vain.
Looking at her closely, he said,
“She is not dead: the flame
of life is still flickering in her
bosom, but I am no more able
to wake her than you were.”
And, with these words, he sat
down beside her and kept close
watch over her for four whole
days and nights.
On the fifth day, Katla
awoke and seemed to be
overcome with sorrow, but no
one dared to ask her why. Soon
after this her husband returned
home from Alþingi, but his
wife was no longer the same.
She had changed. She neither
went to meet him, nor did she
welcome him, nor salute him
with her usual love, nor show
joy to see him safe.
Wondering at her strange
manner and grieved by it, he
asked her attendants what
had befallen her and why she
behaved this way, but they
could only tell him that she had
slept unceasingly for four days
and four nights, and on awaking
had shown this sorrow, without
ever telling anybody the reason
for it. After hearing this, Már
urged Katla to tell him what
ailed her, assuring her that she
would lighten her own sorrow
by sharing it with him. Yielding
to her husband’s appeals, she
spoke as follows:
“As you know, my husband,
I fell into a deep sleep early one
morning while you were away.
I had not slept long when there
came to my bedside a beautiful
lady, richly dressed, who spoke
sweetly to me, and telling me
that she lived at the farm Þverá,
begged me to go back with her.
As soon as I rose to comply with
her wish, she placed her gloves
in my bed, saying, ‘These shall
take your place while you are
away.’ Then we departed and
soon came to a large lake, as
clear and as smooth as glass,
upon which a gaily-painted
boat was moored. Here I parted
from the lady and wished her
Godspeed, but thanking me for
having come so far with her,
she held out her hand, as if to
bid me farewell, crying, ‘Will
you not say farewell to Alvör?’
“No sooner had I stretched
out mine in return than she
grasped it tightly, and leaping
from the shore into the skiff
with me, rowed it swiftly to
a small island that stood in
the midst of the lake. She had
all power over me and I was
unable to resist her. She saw
that I was filled with dread and
tried to calm my fears, showing
me every kindness and courtesy
while assuring me that it was
Fate alone that had compelled
her to treat me this way. ‘I will
soon take you safely home
again,’ she promised.
“When we had come to
the island, I saw a castle, more
beautiful than anything I had
ever seen or heard of before.
‘This is mine,’ said Alvör, and
leading me into it by the hand,
she took me to her own room,
where many ladies were sitting.
There she made me enter a
bath of sweet water, and when
I had bathed, she took me to a
beautiful bed which stood in the
room, covered with blankets
of the richest fabric and filled
with soft down. In this I fell
asleep after I drank a cup of
some rare wine that was handed
me. When I awoke, I found an
embroidered dress that the lady
urged me to put on. When I
was dressed, she threw her own
mantle over me, which was
daintily wrought in gold and
fur. Besides all this, she gave
me five rings of gold, a golden
band for my hair, and a costly
belt, begging me to keep them
all as gifts. She then asked me
follow her to the dining hall,
and we went there with her –
eight ladies in all.
“All the walls of the room
were adorned with cloth of
woven gold and the tables were
crowded with silver vessels and
golden horns. Around the table
sat many handsome men, all
splendidly attired. At the high
table stood a throne and near
this I saw a man, dressed in rich
silk, lying asleep on a couch.
Alvör went up and awakened
him, calling him Kári.
“He arose from his slumber,
and said to her, ‘Why have you
broken my rest? Have you no
good tidings to tell me? Or,
perchance, have you brought
Katla hither?’
“As soon as he saw that I
was in the hall, he came to me,
and taking me by the hand,
led me to the throne, where he
made me sit, taking his seat
beside me. Then Lady Alvör
pointed to us and cried out
to the guests, ‘See! the bride
and bridegroom.” Then they
all shouted with one voice,
drinking and making merry
until nightfall.
And through all this din of
revel, Alvör told me that for
that night I was to share the
bed of Kári, but I protested,
‘Never will I do this thing!
For I love my husband too
dearly to share the love of any
other.’ The lady answered, ‘If
you say no, hale and harm will
cling to you forever: be wise,
therefore, and consent!’
“Wretched though I was, I
knew didn’t know what to do
or where to turn, for neither
comfort nor aid was near, and
I was as a lamb in the midst of
a herd of wolves. They led me
to the bed in where I had slept
before and then Kári came to
me, offering me all he had, if
I would only love him. I told
him that his love was hopeless,
but he would not hear me. Then
he brought me a horn of wine;
and after he had sipped from
it, made me drink, saying, ‘I
would struggle with Helja
than see sorrow in your eyes.
Be comforted; you shall soon
return to your home.’
“With these words he lay
beside me, and whether it was
the force of his entreaties or
the beauty of his presence, or
perhaps the weight of the wine
upon my soul, I cannot tell, but
I no longer opposed his love,
though my heart was filled with
grief.
“And so in sorrow passed
two days and nights. All the
kindness of the attendants, and
the others around me, could
not comfort me. At last Kári
said to me, ‘Call the son whom
you shall bear to me by my
name, and give him this belt
of gold and this knife from his
father, whom he shall never
see, and let them be heirlooms
in his family.’ And so the belt
and knife, together with the
embroidered garments and
costly ornaments which I had
worn while with him, were
placed in a sack and I brought
them home with me.
“He said, ‘Show them to
your husband, Már, and tell him
the whole truth, though it break
your heart to do so. Let him aid
you in building a farm at Þverá,
where you shall see two small
hillocks, which shall be your
money-mounds. In that place
you shall establish a great and
noble family. Now I must leave
you, and you will never see me
again,’ he said sadly, ‘for the
hours of my life are numbered.’
“When he had finished
speaking, Lady Alvör took my
hand and led me away; and as I
left the hall I heard a loud and
echoing sound, and turning my
head to see whence it came,
beheld Kári laying dead, for his
heartstrings had broken with
sorrow. So the lady rowed me
back across the lake in the boat
and brought me home, taking
her gloves off my bed.
“As she left me she said,
‘May it fare well with you,
though you have caused but
sorrow to me in breaking
my son’s heart for love and
anguish. Enjoy all the wealth
you have, and be happy.’ And
then she disappeared.
“This is the end of my
dream. Therefore, my husband,
as you are a just and true
man, weigh my fault against
its causes and forgive me.
Truly my love for you has not
departed in the least.” Then she
showed Már all the beautiful
and costly things that she had
brought with her from Alvör’s
castle.
In the summer she gave
birth to a son, a lovely child,
who exceeded all other children
in mind and form. She called
him Kári, as she had promised
his father, but she never loved
the boy with a true mother’s
love. However, Már doted
upon him as if he had been his
own son. Soon after, they built
a new farm at Þverá, where
they found the two money-
mounds, as Kári had promised,
and, unestranged by Katla's
dream, dwelt there happily and
prosperously to a ripe old age.
This story is comes from the
collection of Jón Árnason (1819-
1888), Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og
ævintýry (Icelandic Folk Tales
and Legends), as abbreviated
and translated by George
E.J. Powell and Eiríkur
Magnússon. The language
has been modernized from the
original translation.
Katla’s dream
Katla’s dream (Kötludraumur), an engraving by Théodore Meyer-Heine based on the
original work of Jules Worms (1863)
SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER
Winnipeg, MB: An Evening with Icelandic
crime novelist Ragnar Jonasson at
McNally Robinson Booksellers. 1120
Grant Ave. 7 - 8:30 pm. Co-presented
by the Icelandic Canadian Frón and by
Lögberg-Heimskringla. Ragnar Jonasson
in conversation with Terry MacLeod and
signing the latest Ari Thor thriller Blackout
(St. Martin's Press). This event is free and
open to the public.
Ragnar Jonasson is the award winning
author of the international bestselling Dark
Iceland series and the Hidden Iceland series.
He has sold over 500,000 books worldwide.
His books have been one of the best-selling
crime novels in France since 2016. from 14
Ragnar is the winner of the Mörda Dead
Good Reader Award 2016 for Nightblind. On
its publication in the UK, The Darkness was
selected as the Sunday Times Crime Novel
of the Month and Snowblind was selected
by The Independent as one of the best
crime novels of 2015. His books have also
won praise from publications such as The
New York Times and The Washington Post.
Ragnar is the co-founder of the Reykjavík
international crime writing festival Iceland
Noir. From the age of 17, Ragnar translated
14 Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic.
Ragnar has appeared on festival panels
worldwide, and lives in Reykjavík.
Host Terry MacLeod is an independent
Emmy-nominated journalist, Queen’s
Diamond Jubilee Medal Recipient, and
former CBC Radio and TV host, presenter
and producer.
SPORTS
SUNDAY 23 SEPTEMBER
Chicago, IL: The 13th Icelandic Open
will be held at Hilldale Golf Club. Icelandic
Association of Chicago. 1 pm. Icelandair
donates a $500 gift certificate (no travel
restrictions), which will be the prize for ‘A
Hole in One’ on hole number 8. If no one hits
a hole in one, the player closest to the pin
wins the $500. Lots of other great prizes.
TGCI Open is a 9 hole tournament played
in teams of two players. Texas Scramble
format, includes cart. $35. esteinsson@
karenzupko.com, call 773-489-4621 or
online www.icelandchicago.org.
Sports
C ALENDAR OF EVENTS (continued from page 14)
Literature