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We have already met the hero Örvar-Oddr in King Heidrek’s saga, where he accompanies his friend and blood brother Hjalmar to a battle to determine whether Hjalmar is fit to wed the daughter of King Yngvi In addition to guest appearances in other sagas, Oddr is also the subject of a saga of his own, which tells of his birth and childhood, his travels to far-flung places such as Ireland and Permia (an area around the Kama River in what is now Russia), his battles with Vikings and giants, and of how he marries and becomes a king.
Örvar-Oddr’s name literally translated is “Arrow’s Point.” (Other versions of the name in modern sources are Arrow-Odd and Orvar-Odds.) His given name is Oddr (“Point”), but the rest of the moniker was added by a giant who saw some magic arrows that Oddr had in his quiver and dubbed him “Örvar-Oddr.” Unlike many ancient heroes, Oddr has two human parents and a relatively normal birth, but when he grows up, he has a hero’s strength and skill and has his family’s uncanny ability to get the wind to rise merely by hoisting a sail. Oddr also is headstrong and irreverent, a trickster at one moment and a fearsome warrior the next.
As is proper for such a hero, Oddr is the subject of a prophecy about the manner of his death: A venomous serpent hiding inside the skull of a horse named Faxi will bite him. Oddr takes measures to defeat the prophecy, but no man can defy fate. When Oddr returns to Berurjod, where he was fostered, he prods the skull of a horse that he finds lying on the beach, and as predicted, a venomous serpent strikes from underneath, and Oddr dies from the serpent’s venom.
Oddr’s saga is too long to present in its entirety in this book, and so only a select few episodes are retold here.
The Childhood of Örvar-Oddr
Once there was a man named Grim Hairy-Cheeks who lived in Hrafnista in Norway. Grim was the son of Ketil Trout, and he was a very wealthy and very well-respected man. Grim’s wife was Lofthaena, the daughter of Harald, chieftain of Oslofjord. Lofthaena was very beautiful and quite the cleverest woman in all of Norway. Grim loved her very dearly and couldn’t bear to deny her whatever she wished.
One day, Grim decided to sail to Oslofjord to attend to some business he had there. He intended to go without his wife on this particular journey because she was heavily pregnant with their first child, and he did not want anything to endanger her. But when Lofthaena heard he was leaving for Oslofjord, she demanded to go along. Grim tried to dissuade her, but Lofthaena insisted, and so Grim allowed her to come with him.
Grim fitted out two fine ships, and on the day, they were to depart, they had a fair wind. They had sailed as far as Berurjod when Lofthaena cried out. “Husband,” she said, “we must put ashore right away. My pains are upon me.”
Grim immediately ordered his ship to sail for land. They put ashore near the homestead of a man named Ingjald, who lived there with his wife and their young son, who was named Asmund. Grim sent messengers to Ingjald’s house to ask for help, and when Ingjald heard the message, he hitched his horses to a cart and went to the beach himself to see what might be done for Lofthaena and Grim.
“Please come up to my home,” Ingjald said. “We are well prepared for guests, and my wife and the other women of my household will be more than happy to help yours with her labor.”
Grim and Lofthaena gratefully accepted Ingjald’s invitation. They rode up to the house in his cart, and there Lofthaena was given into the care of Ingjald’s wife, while Grim was shown to the high seat in Ingjald’s hall to await the birth of his child. Ingjald was the most gracious of hosts; his guests lacked for nothing and were treated with great honor.
Lofthaena came through her delivery safely. Her child was a lusty boy, and all the women of the household said they had never seen a more beautiful baby. Lofthaena held her son and said, “Take him to his father so that he can get his name.”
The women took the baby to Grim, who was delighted to see his new son. Grim named him Oddr and sprinkled him with water.
After three days in Ingjald’s house, Lofthaena said that she was ready to resume the journey to Oslofjord. Grim went to Ingjald to let him know that they were leaving.
“Before you go,” said Ingjald, “won’t you honor me with a gift?”
“Most assuredly I will,” said Grim. “My wife and I are in your debt for your hospitality, and I am very wealthy. How much of my money would you like to have? Whatever you ask, it will be yours.”
“I don’t want money,” said Ingjald. “I have plenty of my own.”
“That’s fine,” said Grim. “Ask me for something else, then.”
“Give me your son to foster,” said Ingjald.
“I am willing, but first I need to ask the boy’s mother what she thinks,” said Grim.
When Grim asked Lofthaena about allowing Ingjald to foster Oddr, Lofthaena said, “Our host honors us with that request. Let Oddr stay here as Ingjald’s foster-son.”
Ingjald saw his guests down to their ship for their departure. Little Oddr stayed behind at the house with Ingjald’s wife. There was a fair wind, so Grim and Lofthaena sailed quickly and safely to Oslofjord, where they conducted their business. When this was completed, they sailed for home.
As they approached Berurjod, Grim said to Lofthaena, “Shall we go to Ingjald’s house so that you can visit your son?”
Lofthaena answered, “There is no need. I saw him before we left, and I don’t think he was sorry to see us go. Let’s continue on our way home.”
And so Grim and Lofthaena went back to Hrafnista, while Oddr stayed at Ingjald’s house and was brought up with Ingjald’s son. Ingjald raised Grim and Lofthaena’s son well. He even thought more highly of Oddr than he did of his own son.
Oddr was the strongest and best-looking of any of the boys for miles around. He learned to play sports and to shoot with a bow and arrow, although he was a very serious boy and didn’t play games like children usually do. As soon as Asmund and Oddr were old enough, they became blood brothers, and Asmund was with Oddr wherever he went.
Oddr was very fond of archery. He collected arrows from every arrow maker he could find, but he did not keep the arrows properly. He left them lying about everywhere so that people were forever tripping over them in the dark, or worse, sitting on their points by accident. This happened so often that people began to complain to Ingjald.
“You really must do something about that Oddr and his arrows,” they said. “The situation has become quite annoying, and besides, it’s dangerous.”
Ingjald agreed to speak to his foster-son about this. He went to Oddr and said, “If you’re not careful, you’re going to have a very bad reputation very soon.”
“Why is that?” said Oddr.
“You leave your arrows strewn about everywhere. People have been tripping over them and even sitting on them, and they’re so tired of this that they’ve begun to complain about it.”
“That’s no fault of mine,” said Oddr. “You’ve never made a quiver for me to put them in.”
“I’d be happy to give you a fine quiver,” said Ingjald. “Just tell me what you want.”
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll be happy about this at all,” said Oddr.
“I gave you my word,” said Ingjald. “Ask.”
“Take the black three-year-old goat that’s in your herd. Kill it and skin it, but leave the horns and the hooves attached. Make me a quiver out of that hide, and mind you keep the horns and hooves as part of the quiver.”
Ingjald saw to it that the quiver was made exactly as Oddr had requested. Oddr put all his arrows into it. It was a large quiver, bigger than anyone else had, and full of arrows that were longer and stronger than the arrows anyone else used. When the quiver was full, Oddr had himself a bow made to match the arrows.
Oddr liked to dress well. He had a fine red tunic that he liked to wear every day, and a gold headband that he put around his head. Everywhere he went, he took his quiver and bow with him. Oddr had one other peculiarity: He did not believe in the gods and refused to offer any sacrifices. “I’m strong enough to look after myself,” he would say when people asked him about this. “I don’t need a god’s help to do what needs doing.”
Asmund joined Oddr in this refusal, and in this they were both unlike their foster-father, who regularly offered sacrifices to Odin and the other gods. Asmund also joined Oddr in his boat, and the two of them often could be seen rowing up and down the coast together.
The Prophecy
Once there was a wise old woman named Heid. She had the gift of sight and would travel around the country telling people what their fates would be. One day, she went to visit one of Ingjald’s neighbors, and Ingjald heard that she was a guest there.
Ingjald went to Asmund and Oddr and said, “I have something I need you to do for me.”
“What is that?” said Oddr.
“The seeress Heid is visiting not far from here,” said Ingjald. “I’ve prepared a feast for her. I want you to invite her here so that she can tell everyone their fates.”
“Absolutely not,” said Oddr. “I don’t want that old witch anywhere near me. Don’t you dare have her in this household.”
“Very well,” said Ingjald. “Asmund can do the errand alone just as well as in your company, and he’s more obedient, anyway.”
“Don’t send Asmund by himself either,” said Oddr. “If that witch comes here, I’ll have to do something to show you how very displeased I am.”
In the end, Asmund went by himself to invite Heid to be a guest in his father’s house. Heid gladly accepted and came to Ingjald’s homestead with the fifteen boys and fifteen girls that attended her everywhere she went. When Heid arrived, Ingjald came to meet her at the door with all of the men of his household. Ingjald invited Heid inside and made sure she had everything she needed for the fortune-telling, which was to be on the day after the feast. Heid and her followers feasted well with Ingjald and his household, and when the meal was done, Ingjald and his people went to bed while Heid and her followers left the house to do the rituals needed for the fortune-telling.
In the morning, Ingjald went to Heid and said, “Did your rituals go well? Are you ready to tell us our fates?”
“They went well,” said Heid. “I am ready.”
Ingjald gathered his household together. “Sit down, everyone. We’ll go up one at a time for Heid to tell us what is in store for our futures.”
As the head of the household, Ingjald went first. He stood before the old seeress, who said, “I am glad to see you here, Ingjald. Your fate is to be respected and honored by everyone for the rest of your life.”
Ingjald was very pleased with this. He thanked Heid and went back to his seat.
Asmund took his turn next.
“I am glad to see you here, Asmund. You’ll have a good reputation far and wide. You’ll not live to a great age, but everyone will know how brave you are, and what a fine warrior.”
Asmund thanked the seeress and went back to his seat. Each person in the household took their turn hearing their fate from her, and no one left disappointed. After Heid had spoken with everyone in turn, she made some prophecies about the winter to come and about many other things. Ingjald thanked her well when she was done.
“Now,” said Heid, “are we sure that I’ve seen everyone in your household? I don’t want to leave the job unfinished.”
“I think so,” said Ingjald.
“What’s that over there on that bench?” asked Heid.
Ingjald glanced in that direction. “Oh, that’s just a cloak that someone left behind.”
“It’s an odd cloak that twitches whenever I look at it,” said Heid.
No sooner had Heid said this than the person under the cloak sat up. It was Oddr, who was furious that Ingjald had invited the seeress there against his wishes.
“Yes, this cloak twitches, because I’m right here underneath it,” said Oddr. “And I’ll tell you what I want from you: I want you to shut up and go away. You’re not wanted here. There’s nothing you can tell me about my future, so you need to leave right now.”
Oddr was holding a stick, which he showed to Heid. “See this stick? I’ll whack you with it if you breathe one word of prophecy about me.”
“I’ll not be silent,” said Heid. “It’s my duty to tell the fate of everyone who comes before me. Besides, you’d do very well to listen to me.” Then Heid spoke this prophecy:
You fail to frighten me
Oddr, Ingjald’s foster-son.
Your stick is not stronger
than my seeing,
and always I speak true.
Run and roam as you might,
on wave, on shore,
fate always finds a man
no matter where he goes.
Bound you shall be
by your destiny
to die here at Berurjod.
From the skull of Faxi
the sly serpent will strike.
Venomous fangs
will find your heel,
dealing out death to you
after you have lived a long life.
Then the seeress said, “I have this also to tell you: Your life will be many times that of other men. Three hundred years will you wander the world, and everywhere you go you will conquer. But it won’t matter how well you fight or how well everyone esteems you; the skull of the horse Faxi will be your doom, right here in Berurjod. There is no way you can escape your fate.”
“Shut up, witch!” cried Oddr. “I told you not to say anything at all about me!”
Then Oddr hit the seeress in the face with his stick, breaking her nose and covering her face with blood.
“I’ll not stay here a moment longer,” said the seeress. “Get my belongings. I’m leaving. Never have I ever been treated this way in a place where I made prophecies.”
“Please don’t leave,” said Ingjald. “Allow me to recompense you. I have many valuable gifts to give you if you stay here for three more nights.”
“The gifts I’ll take in redress for my injury,” said the seeress, “but I’ll not stay a moment longer.”
As soon as Ingjald had given the old woman the gifts he had promised, she left his house and never came back.
When the seeress had gone, Oddr went to Asmund and said, “Come with me. We have a job to do.”
Oddr and Asmund went to the stables, where they found the horse named Faxi. They bridled the horse and then led it away from the house and into the woods. They found the place that Oddr was seeking, and there they tied the horse up while the two of them dug a deep pit. By the time they were done digging, the lip of the pit was many feet above their heads. Once Oddr was satisfied that the pit was deep enough, they killed Faxi and pushed his body into the pit. Then Oddr and Asmund gathered many large stones and pushed them into the pit on top of the horse’s body. Over each layer of stones, they poured a layer of sand to seal up the cracks between the stones, and they did not stop until they had raised a large mound over the horse’s grave.
When the work was done, Oddr looked at the mound of stones and smirked. “Let’s see whether Faxi’s skull can manage to get out of that,” he said. “That’ll teach that old witch to make prophecies about me. There’s no way anything she said is going to come true.”
Oddr and Asmund returned to the house, where they went to speak to Ingjald. Oddr said to Ingjald, “Give me some ships.”
“What for?” said Ingjald. “What are you planning to do with them?”
“I’m leaving,” said Oddr. “I’m leaving, and I’m never coming back.”
“Please don’t go,” said Ingjald. “I can’t bear to see you leave.”
“You can’t sway me,” said Oddr. “I’ll not stay any longer.”
“You can’t sail a ship by yourself,” said Ingjald. “Who will go with you? Where is your crew?”
“Asmund is coming with me,” said Oddr. “We can sail just fine by ourselves.”
“It’s hard of you, Oddr, to leave me and take my son with you. Go away if you must, but let Asmund come back soon.”
“Oh, Asmund won’t come back any time before I do,” said Oddr. “And besides, this serves you right for inviting that horrid old witch here when I told you I didn’t want you to.”
And so Ingjald gave Oddr and Asmund one of his ships, and when they had prepared for their voyage, he went down to the beach to see them off.
“Good luck to you,” said Ingjald. “Good luck and a safe voyage. Maybe someday I will see you both again.”
When Oddr and Asmund had said their own farewells to Ingjald, they pushed their ship out into the surf and rowed away. Ingjald watched them until they had rowed out of sight, and then he went back to his house.
Örvar-Oddr in the Land of the Giants
One day, Oddr was traveling about and came to a steep cliff that overlooked a gorge. In the gorge was a river that was roaring along in cascading rapids. Oddr needed to get to the other side of the gorge, but he could see no way across. He decided to have a rest to think about what to do next. He had hardly sat down when something very large and very strong grabbed him about the shoulders and lifted him off the ground. A giant vulture had swooped down and snatched Oddr up in its talons, and now it was flying away with him.
The vulture flew a very long way. It sailed over the gorge and over the lands beyond. It sailed on across the sea until it came to an island that rose out of the sea in sheer cliffs. On a shelf of rock on the cliffside was the vulture’s nest, and in the nest were several hungry chicks. The vulture dropped Oddr into the nest amongst the chicks, but Oddr remained unharmed because he was wearing his magic shirt that protected him from all injuries.
Now Oddr was in an even worse plight than he had been at the cliff’s edge, for here the cliffs were absolutely sheer both above and below, and there was no way for him to climb out of his predicament. He looked over the edge of the nest and saw the sea churning below. For a moment, he thought about jumping from the nest into the water, but then thought better of it because the water was so very far away, and he had no idea in which direction he should swim to get to land or even how far away land might be. Oddr decided that for the moment he would conceal himself in a crevice near the nest and wait for an opportunity to escape.
Every day, the vulture flew away from the nest and came back with some sort of meat in its talons with which to feed its young. It brought every sort of animal and fish, and sometimes even human remains, which the chicks gobbled up greedily. Sometimes the vulture brought back cooked meat, which Oddr snatched away and ate himself.
One day, just after the vulture had dropped off several large, roasted oxen for its chicks to eat, Oddr saw a boat row up to the edge of the cliff. In the boat was a giant. The giant looked up to the place where the vulture’s nest was and said, “There it is. That’s the nest of that foul bird who keeps stealing my dinner. I had intended to feast well myself on the king’s oxen, not provide a feast for others. Now I only need to figure out how to rid myself of this pest.”
When Oddr heard the giant, he came out of his hiding place, killed all the chicks, and then stood up. He shouted down to the giant, “All your things are up here. I’ve been guarding them for you.” Then he went back into the crevice to see what would happen.
The giant climbed up the side of the cliff, took the roasted oxen from the nest, and brought them down to his boat. Then he climbed back up to the nest and said, “Oi, little man! Where are you? Come out and talk to me. Don’t be frightened; I’ll take you away from this place.”
Oddr came out of the crevice. The giant picked him up and then climbed back down the cliff and put Oddr into his boat.
The giant said to Oddr, “So, little friend, how do you think I should rid myself of that pest?”
“Set fire to the nest,” said Oddr. “When the vulture returns and flies in close to see what is going on, its feathers will catch fire. That will weaken the brute, and then we can kill it.”
And so Oddr and the giant put that plan into action. It didn’t take long for the nest to start burning, and soon the vulture returned, just as Oddr expected it would. It flew too close to the flames, setting its feathers alight. Then Oddr swooped in and killed the vulture. When the creature was dead, Oddr cut off its beak and talons. He gave them to the giant, and then the giant carried Oddr back into his boat.
As the giant rowed away from the cliff, Oddr said, “What is your name?”
“I am called Hildir,” said the giant. “I live in the Land of the Giants. My wife’s name is Hildirid, and we have a daughter named Hildigunn. Just yesterday, my wife gave birth to a fine son, and we’ve named him Godmund. I have two brothers, named Ulf and Ylfing. We’re getting ready to have a contest amongst ourselves to see which of us should be the king of the giants.”
“How will the contest be decided?” said Oddr.
“Well, the one who has done the most heroic deed and whose dog wins the dogfight at the Assembly of Giants will be made king.”
“Which of you do you think will win?” said Oddr.
“It won’t be me, I can tell you that,” said Hildir. “I’ve always lived in my brothers’ shadows, and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon.”
“If you could win, would you want to be the king?” asked Oddr.
“Oh, yes, indeed, I’d love to be king,” said Hildir, “but there’s no way that will happen. Ulf is sure to enter his pet wolf into the dogfight, and it’s never lost a fight yet; it’s that strong and that savage. Ulf also went on a journey to a faraway land and brought back the head of a great catlike thing, with orange fur and black stripes. He says it’s called a tiger, and that it’s very fierce indeed.”
“Ulf does sound like a tough competitor,” said Oddr.
“Oh, Ulf is nothing to Ylfing,” said the giant. “Ylfing’s polar bear will make mincemeat of anything anyone cares to match it with in the dogfight, and Ylfing killed a unicorn the other day and brought back its head as evidence. I haven’t done anything nearly as heroic. For that matter, I don’t even own a dog.”
“Yes, those do seem very difficult odds,” said Oddr, “but maybe if a friend helped you, you could find a way around the problem.”
The giant laughed. “Oh, you’re a funny one, you are, although there’s no denying you have good brains in that tiny head of yours. I think I’ll give you as a present to Hildigunn. You’ll make a fine toy for her, and she can take care of you and baby Godmund at the same time.”
It took hardly any time for the giant to row his boat back to his home. When they arrived, Hildir showed Oddr to his daughter and said, “This little man is yours to play with. But mind you, you must treat him well! Treat him just as well as you would your baby brother.”
Oddr looked up at Hildigunn. She was far from fully grown, but Oddr only came up to just above her knee, even though he was a very tall man indeed, and Hildigunn’s father towered over her. Hildigunn picked up Oddr and began to dandle him on her knee. She sang:
Little tiny man with down on your chin,
Baby Godmund is already bigger than you.
Then Hildigunn took Oddr and lay him down in the cradle next to baby Godmund, and Oddr saw that he was indeed smaller even than the baby giant. For a little while, Hildigunn rocked the cradle and sang lullabies to Oddr and the baby, but eventually she decided that Oddr wasn’t to sleep with Godmund but with her, so she picked Oddr up and placed him in her bed, where she hugged and kissed him all night. Oddr decided that the best strategy would be to play along with the giant girl and to wait for his chance to get away.
After a few days of playing whatever games Hildigunn asked him to play, Oddr said, “I know I seem very small indeed to you and that you think of me as a child, but among my own people, I am a grown man and am considered particularly large and strong. In fact, my people are a lot bigger and stronger than the other people who live near us, and we’re better looking, too. But for all that, we’re not any smarter than the other people are.”
Now, the giant had rescued Oddr toward the end of the summer, and so Oddr stayed that winter with the giant family. When spring came, Oddr went to Hildir and said, “I know your assembly is coming up soon. What would you give me if I could find you a dog that could best all the other dogs at the fight there?”
“If someone could give me a dog that would win that fight, I’d give that person just about anything they asked for. Do you know where I might find such a dog?”
“I certainly do,” said Oddr. “Do you know where the Vargey Islands are?”
“Yes, I know them, although I’ve never actually been there,” said Hildir.
“Well, on those islands, there is a great creature called the brown bear. In the winter, it digs itself a den and sleeps and sleeps until spring. When spring comes, it comes out of its den and goes looking for food because it is quite famished after not having eaten for so long, and because it’s so hungry, it’s also very fierce and will kill and eat anything that crosses its path. It’s not afraid of people at all; bears like that who live near farms will go right into the cattle pens, take a calf, and then run away with it to eat it in the forest. And if the farmer dares to get in the bear’s way, well, the bear thinks that fresh farmer makes just as good a meal as fresh calf does. I think if you could find one of these bears, it probably would beat your brothers’ dogs quite handily.”
Hildir said, “Your story intrigues me. Tomorrow, I want you to help me catch one of these bears, and if I become king, I will reward you as generously as I can.”
In the morning, as Hildir and Oddr were loading the giant’s boat with supplies for their journey, Hildigunn came down to the beach and asked Oddr to step aside and have a word with her.
“Will you be coming back here when your business is done?” she said.
“I don’t know,” said Oddr. “But I think it rather unlikely.”
“Oh, dear,” said Hildigunn. “I do so wish you would come back. I love you so very much, despite your small stature. Also, you should know that I am expecting a child. There’s no one else but you who could be the father, even though you’re so small that one would think it impossible. But because I love you so much, I’ll let you go wherever you want to go if that’s what you want, but you should know that if I wanted to keep you here by force, I could most certainly do it. Instead, I’ll just mourn your departure, because it’s more important that you be happy than it is for you to stay here with me, and it seems to me that you don’t want to stay. Now tell me, when the child is born, what shall I do with it?”
“If the child is a boy,” said Oddr, “keep him with you until he is ten years old and then send him to me to be trained in the ways of men. But if the child is a girl, keep her here with you always and raise her yourself. I know you will do that very well, but I have no idea how to raise a girl myself.”
Then Hildigunn said farewell to Oddr and went into the house, weeping bitterly. Oddr got into the boat, and the giant rowed them away from the shore.
Now, the giant was very strong and a very good rower, but even with calm seas, they were not making very fast progress. Oddr then decided he would use the luck of the men of Hrafnista to make their voyage go more swiftly. He hoisted a sail, and immediately a fair wind blew up. The ship leapt through the water, going twice as fast as it had been going with the giant at the oars.
The wind whipped up great waves that pitched the boat up and down. Hildir looked at the waves, and then he looked toward the shore, where it seemed that the land was jumping up and down of its own accord, which frightened Hildir greatly. Clinging to the gunwale for dear life, he went to where Oddr was standing, picked him up, and then slammed him down to the deck, pinning him there.
“I don’t know how you’re doing this thing,” roared the giant, “but whatever witchcraft it is that makes the land jump about, stop it at once, or I will kill you and throw your carcass overboard for the fish to eat.”
“What, have you never sailed before?” said Oddr. “This isn’t witchcraft; it’s just sailing. If you let me up, I can show you.”
Hildir let Oddr stand up. Oddr lowered the sail, and immediately everything was calm.
“See?” said Oddr. “Now that we’re not sailing with the wind, everything is calm. If we sail, we’ll get to our destination faster, but there will be waves, and it will look like the land is jumping. You needn’t worry, though; that’s just what things look like when you sail. Can we try it again? We can always stop if it frightens you or if you need a rest.”
Hildir agreed to let Oddr hoist the sail again now that he understood what was happening. He had also seen how much faster they had been traveling when the sail was up, and he was eager to get to the islands to catch a bear. Once the sail was up again, Hildir sat quietly near the boat’s prow and let Oddr do all the work, and in no time they had arrived at the island where they were to look for a bear.
Not far from the beach was a mountain. At the base of the mountain was a great pile of scree. Oddr said, “I’ll bet there’s a bear in there under that scree. They like to make their dens in such places. Maybe you could put your hand in there to see what you’ll find.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Hildir, who pushed his great hand into the stones and began feeling about. When he had pushed his whole arm in right up to his shoulder, he stopped and said, “I think there’s something here that might be a bear. I’m going to put on a glove before I try to grab it, though.”
Hildir put on his glove and plunged his arm back into the scree. When he brought his arm back out, he was pulling a bear along by its ears. The bear was very angry at having been pulled out of its den early. It scratched and bit, and soon Hildir’s hands were covered with cuts.
“You were right about how fierce this beast is,” said Hildir. “What do I do now?”
“Take the bear home with you, and put it somewhere safe inside your house where no one can see it and where it can’t get out. Don’t feed it anything until after the dogfight. When it’s time for your assembly, pit your bear against your brothers’ dogs. If your bear doesn’t win, then meet me back here at the same time next year so that I can give you something else to try.”
“I’d like you to meet me here at this same spot next year whatever happens at the assembly,” said the giant.
“Very well,” said Oddr. “I will be here.”
Then Hildir and Oddr said their farewells. Hildir set off for home in his boat with the bear, and Oddr went his own way.
As he had promised, Oddr returned to that place the following spring. He went a little way into the forest that was nearby, thinking that Hildir might want to kill him if the bear hadn’t won the contest as Oddr said it would. Oddr didn’t have long to wait before Hildir drew his boat up onto the beach. The giant took two chests and a great cauldron full of silver out of the boat and set them down in the place where he had promised to meet Oddr. Hildir waited for a while, but Oddr did not show himself. Hildir waited a little while more, then sighed and said, “Oddr, I do so wish you were here to take your reward. It’s really not polite for you not to meet me here when you said you would. But I can’t stay any longer. I can’t leave my kingdom unguarded. Here are two chests filled with gold and a cauldron filled with silver. I’ll put this big stone on top of them so that the wind can’t take them away, and I’ll put some other treasures here on top of the stone.
“Maybe you are waiting nearby and don’t want to show yourself, so in case you can hear me: My dog bested all the others at the assembly, and when the people saw the beak and talons of that foul vulture that we killed last year, they decided I was the most valiant of all my brothers. I’ve been made king, and I’ve you to thank for it. If you ever decide to come and visit me, I’ll treat you as a most honored guest. And I’d also like to let you know that Hildigunn had her baby. He’s a fine boy, and we’ve named him Vignir. Hildigunn says that you’re the father, but I’ll raise him like he’s my very own. I’ll teach him all the things a boy should know, and when he’s ten years old, we’ll send him to you, as Hildigunn promised she would do.”
Then the giant got back into his boat and rowed away. Oddr came out of his hiding place and saw that the giant had placed a sword, a helmet, and a shield on top of the stone. Oddr took those things off the great slab and then tried to push the stone aside, but it was so heavy that even with many strong men to help him, he would not be able to lift it. So Oddr took the weapons that the giant had left and felt very well recompensed indeed, for these were all very valuable treasures.
