BY TORSTEN SCHWANKE
DEDICATED TO MY NIECE FENNA
CHAPTER I
Torsten, the king's son.
Once upon a time there were a king and a queen in their kingdom. They had a son named Torsten. He grew up early into a tall, strong man. All the people loved him dearly because of his goodness and his charity. However, his generosity seemed to exceed all limits and his mother often reprimanded him severely for this waste and tried to control it with all her might; but he stuck to his usual way and gave as much as he could.
When his mother died, he thought that he would now be able to exercise his generosity unhindered, and was very happy that he no longer had to listen to her reproaches. He was also completely convinced that his father was of the same opinion in this regard, since he had never reproached him about it. However, things turned out differently. The king now also began to reproach him for his excessive generosity and tried to explain to him how unwise such waste was and how it would ultimately make him completely impoverished. But neither blame nor ideas helped; Torsten stayed the same as he used to be and gave everything away when he had something.
Now his father also died. His joy had no limits when he alone was able to take control of everything that was good. He gave money to everyone who wanted it, and there were quite a lot of them, so that the wealth he had inherited from his father soon began to dwindle, although it was very large.
We don't need to waste many words: soon all of Torsten's possessions were lost, so that in the end he was left with nothing but the kingdom. At last he wanted to sell the empire in order to get money in his hand that he could give away. He actually found a buyer and got a horse loaded with gold and silver for the empire.
When Torsten sold the empire, his friends gradually began to disappear; because they saw that there was nothing left for them to get here. Now Torsten realized what a sad situation he had found himself in and he decided to leave these unfaithful friends.
He set out with everything he had and loaded what little he had on the back of a horse; he himself rode his red horse. He never wanted to sell this horse because of the good qualities it possessed.
Torsten now wandered for a long, long time over barren stretches and heaths, without knowing where he was or caring where he was going. He let the horses graze wherever he found grass in these desolate areas, but he stayed nowhere else.
Once when he let the horses rest again, he was very sad; he considered it almost certain that he would lose his life on this journey. At the same time, he also realized that he had no choice but to continue hiking.
When he had ridden a little further, he came across a farm and was very happy about it, as he had not seen anyone for such an incredibly long time. He asked for permission to stay here overnight and it was given to him without further ado.
Torsten slept here overnight; but when he woke up in the morning, all the people from the farm had disappeared. He was not a little surprised by this and naturally thought that there must be some kind of fraud behind it. So he got up and ran out of the house.
Then he saw how the farmer and all his household members were busy digging up a burial mound not far from the farm.
Torsten asked the farmer why he was acting so strangely and was half astonished to see this devastation.
The farmer replied that he had good reason to do so, because there was a man buried in the hill who had owed him two hundred pounds and had not paid them back.
The king's son tried to explain to the farmer that he would never get his money in this way, but rather would suffer even more damage by wasting time through this foolish approach.
But the farmer replied that he didn't care; he is satisfied when the dead person has no peace in the grave and will therefore never stop doing the same thing as he does today as long as he lives.
Then the king's son asked him whether he would be satisfied if someone else would pay him back the dead man's debt.
The farmer said, Yes.
Then the king's son gave him all his money.
The farmer now stopped destroying the grave and promised not to do so again in the future.
The king's son then asked the farmer to show him a path that would take him to inhabited areas where there were many people.
The farmer did this and said that after he had walked for a while along the path that led from his farm, he would come to a crossroads; he should then not take the path that lies to the east, but the other one.
The king's son thanked him for this information and rode on. When he came to the crossroads, he took the path that lay to the west. But he had not yet ridden far along the same path when he thought it would be quite funny to find out whether there was any danger in traveling the other way.
He now returned to the crossroads; and rode on along the eastern path until he came to a magnificent courtyard, which was enclosed and fortified on all sides, partly by nature and partly by human hands. However, he found a narrow footpath that led to the farm, left the horses behind and walked towards the farm.
He first came to a house and entered; for it was not locked; but no one was to be seen outside. There were seven beds in the house, all of which were very beautiful; but one was of particular splendor. In the middle of the house there was a table with plates on it. But here too, Torsten didn't see anyone. He left the house again to look after his horses; because he intended to spend the night here, although it seemed quite dangerous to him. He took the saddles off the horses and let them graze. He then took out what he needed from his luggage and also took his sword with him, which, next to the red one, was his most valuable treasure.
He then returned to the farm and went into every house he could enter. In one of them he found a store of food. He took some of it and put a generous portion on each plate on the table; then he prepared all the beds with great care. Although he believed that he could now allow himself to rest, he did not dare to use a bed, but instead chose a dark corner to rest there.
After a while Torsten heard a loud underground roar; soon the door was thrown open and someone entered with strong steps. Then Torsten heard someone say,
Someone has come here. We want to pass the time.
Another said,
That shouldn’t happen; I take him under my protection. I have so much to say here that I can control a man's life. He showed himself to be of service to us of his own free will, prepared our beds, served us food and did everything well. If he shows himself, no harm shall come to him.
At these words the king's son, who had already feared the worst, revived and calmed down. The fellows seemed to him to be quite tall, and more like giants than men; The leader in particular was an extremely large and strong giant.
Torsten stayed with them overnight. In the morning the two invited him to stay with them for a week. At the same time they said that he should have nothing to do other than prepare the food for them and make the beds. Torsten agreed and stayed there for a week.
Since the owners of the farm were very happy with Torsten, they urged him to stay with them for another year, and although his stay there seemed rather boring to him, he was persuaded to do so.
The big giant promised Torsten a generous reward and gave him all the keys to the farm except one. The giant himself always wore this on a cord around his neck.
The king's son now went into all the rooms in the court except the one to which the giant had withheld the key from him; because of all the keys that Torsten had, none of them fit the door of this room. He also tried to blow open the door; but he didn't succeed.
Torsten later noticed that the big giant went into this room every evening and every morning. When he had been in the yard for a while, he asked him why he had given him the keys to all the rooms except this one. If he had been faithful in what had been entrusted to him so far, he said, he would also be faithful in what was in this room.
The giant replied that there was nothing behind it. Let him know this; for he sees that he has been faithful to him when great things were involved. And with that he dispatched Torsten.
The king's son remained in peace on the farm for a full four years and received very generous wages for it; for the two giants were more and more pleased with him day by day. But what motivated him most to stay here for so long was that he was constantly waiting for an opportunity to find out whether there really was nothing in the mysterious room.
One morning, as he was busy making cakes, he thought about this subject again. Then a thought occurred to him. He crept to the front door of the courtyard, banged on it violently and then ran with all his might to the giants who were still lying in bed; completely frightened and with the cake dough he had been kneading in his hand, he asked if they hadn't heard anything.
They said they had heard something, but thought he had made some noise while he was working.
Torsten replied that this was definitely not the case and added that he had not dared to open the door; but someone was definitely knocking.
The giants said that he had done well not to open the door, and they themselves rose from their beds and ran to the door, only half-dressed.
But the larger giant had left the key to the mysterious room under his pillow, where he used to keep it at night, and Torsten quickly pressed it into his cake batter.
The giants now came back and were not a little upset; because, as they had predicted, they had found no one at the door. They accused Torsten of only saying this to please them; but he did not admit this at all, but said that it must have been a ghost of some kind.
The king's son soon began to try to make a key based on the pattern in the cake dough. At first he didn't want to succeed; but after much effort he managed to achieve it.
He now unlocked the forbidden door and entered the room; but the same thing was pitch black. He lit a lamp and looked around in all directions. Then he saw a girl whose hair was tied up. He first hastened to untie it and then asked it about its origin and gender.
The girl said that she was a king's daughter whom the great giant had kidnapped and wanted to force her to become his wife. Since it resisted with all its might, the giant tormented it in such a terrible way.
The poor thing had already become so thin that she was almost nothing but skin and bones; because the giant also made her suffer from hunger.
The king's son gave her food and comforted her. When evening came, he tied her hair again. He now visited her every day and gave her enough to eat; but in the evening he always attached it to his hair, so that the giant noticed nothing and had not the slightest idea of what had happened during the day.
When the fifth year had passed, Torsten told the giants that he finally wanted to leave. But they wanted to keep him at the farm at all costs.
Then Torsten demanded of the great giant that if he stayed another year, he would give him as a reward whatever was in the room into which he had not yet come, whether it was of great or little value.
The giant said he shouldn't ask for something that was completely worthless; it would be much better if he received his usual annual wage.
But the king's son did not allow himself to be dissuaded from his desire; he said that whether it was to his detriment or to his advantage, he did not want to have anything other than this as his reward. They argued about this for so long until the giant finally gave in and promised Torsten to fulfill his wish.
It probably doesn't need to be told how Torsten behaved towards the king's daughter during this year. When the year was over, the giant unlocked the room; because the king's son could no longer be persuaded to stay here any longer. The giant came out with the girl and was not a little surprised that she was so well fed; but he didn't attach any importance to the matter and instead handed the girl over to Torsten.
Torsten now prepared to leave, brought over his horses, which he had been looking after the whole time, and put his luggage in order. But with the five years' wages the latter had become so large that he believed he would not be able to take the whole thing with him.
The king's daughter told Torsten to be on his guard, because the giants planned to kill him on the way. He therefore took his good sword in his hand and put on his battle armor.
It happened just as the king's daughter had said. They had only covered a short distance when three giants came towards them and attacked Torsten; however, he fought back bravely and killed all three. While he was still completely exhausted, two other giants came up and Torsten managed to kill them too. But now two others followed, namely the big giant himself and his brother. They attacked Torsten angrily; but he soon brought down the giant's brother. This made the giant himself very mad, he threw away his weapons, rushed at the king's son and began to wrestle with him. This time Torsten couldn't hold his ground; he fell to the ground and the giant on top of him.
When the king's daughter saw the distress Torsten was in, she grabbed a short sword that one of the giants had had and cut the big giant through with it. She then helped Torsten to throw the monster away.
After all these experiences, Torsten didn't have the courage to continue his journey this time. He therefore returned with the king's daughter to the court of the giants, and although they did not like to stay there, they still thought that they should stay there for a while to wait and see whether a ship landed nearby; because the farm was right at the front of the sea. They also wanted to take as much of the giants' treasures with them as possible.
After a while they finally saw a ship come ashore. They went to the crew to negotiate. The captain of the ship was called Raudur and was a minister of the king, the girl's father.
The king had promised him his daughter if he would find her and bring her back to him.
The ship's crew was very friendly towards Torsten and the king's daughter and loaded all their belongings onto the ship; But this was a great wealth. The two of them then boarded the ship and sailed away. When they had reached the high seas, Raudur had the king's son put out alone in a boat, and the crew had to swear to him never to speak of Torsten, but to say that he himself had slain the giants and freed the king's daughter; but he could not get them to swear an oath; he could try with good words or threats. Nevertheless, Raudur believed that he had done everything well and sailed home in good mood.
But we have to say about Torsten that the boat with him was floating on the waves and he was filled with great fear. Then he heard someone say,
Do not be afraid, even if you are adrift on the sea; I'll help you.
The boat now flew along as quickly as if it were being guided by reins and it came to land just as quickly as the ship, but in a different place than this. But the person who brought the boat ashore was the dead man for whom Torsten had previously paid the debt. He said to Torsten that he had now come to the country that the girl's father ruled; he should become the king's horse boy and look after the king's red horses; but whatever is under her crib belongs to him.
The dead man then left Torsten; he went to the royal castle and became the king's horse guard. His red horse had also arrived there on the ship and was now added to the king's red horses. However, he did not allow anyone to come near him except the king's daughter and the horse guard.
When the king found his daughter again, he was filled with indescribable joy and immediately had a great feast prepared for her. Soon afterwards, Raudur would also have his wedding to the king's daughter. However, she didn't want this, but asked the king to let the horse guard tell his life story. The king agreed and the whole truth came to light.
Raudur was then killed and the ship's crew tortured. But Torsten received the king's daughter and half of the kingdom. Under the horse cribs he found an enormous amount of treasures of all kinds.
After the king's death, Torsten received the entire kingdom; he lived long and happily and was considered the most excellent king and was dearly loved by everyone until his old age.
CHAPTER II
Fenna, the wise
Once upon a time there was a man named Thrandur who was a speaker of the law. His wife had already died when this story happened, and he himself had already grown old. He was a very clever man and had two children, a son named Sigurd and a daughter named Fenna. This woman was a very intelligent woman and it was said among the people that she knew more than only the Lord's Prayer.
Once when her father was leaving, she said to him,
I suspect, father, that my hand in marriage will be asked for on this journey of yours, and I ask you not to promise it to anyone unless your life depends on it.
He promised her and then left.
Many respected men now asked for Fenna's hand in marriage; but Thrandur rejected them all.
When he had finished his business, he set out for home again, and one evening, as he was riding alone far ahead of his servants, he met a man on a dark brown horse, who had a very wild appearance. He dismounted, took the reins of Thrandur's horse and said,
Hail Thrandur!
Thrandur returned his greeting and asked him his name.
His name was Geir, he said, and he wanted to marry Fenna, the daughter of Thrandur.
Thrandur replied to him,
I can't give her to you as a wife because she wants to decide her own fate.
Then Geir drew the sword and placed it on Thrandur's chest, giving him the choice of either giving him Fenna as his wife or being killed by him immediately.
Thrandur now saw no other way out than to promise him the daughter; he said he should come to pick her up after half a month. Then Thrandur rode home, but Geir went on his way.
When Thrandur arrived home, Fenna stood in front of the house, greeted her father and said,
Is it as my spirit tells me that you have married me to a man?
He replied that this was indeed the case and said that his life depended on it.
Fenna said that it should be so; however, her spirit tells her that no great joy will come from this.
At the appointed time Geir came to fetch his wife, and he was given a friendly welcome. He said that he couldn't stay long and asked Fenna to get ready quickly because he wanted to leave again the next morning. She did this too. From her father's house she took no one with her except her brother Sigurd.
They all three said goodbye to Thrandur and rode on their way until they came to a mountain pasture where cattle were grazing.
Fenna asked Geir who owned this pasture and the cattle.
He answered her that they belonged to none other than him and her.
On the second day they came to another pasture; there were nothing but horses on it.
Fenna asked Geir who owned these horses.
He answered her that they belonged to none other than him and her. They rode like this all day long. In the evening they came to a great house; here Geir got off his horse and asked Fenna to follow him, for this, he said, was his home.
Fenna was well received here and immediately took over all the housekeeping. Geir wasn't very kind to her, but she didn't take it much to heart. Her brother Sigurd was also treated well there.
On Christmas Eve, Fenna wanted to have Geir's head washed; so people looked for him everywhere, but couldn't find him anywhere. Fenna asked Geir's foster mother, who was also in the house, whether this was a habit of his.
She said that he had never been home for Christmas in a long time and then burst into violent tears.
Fenna asked people not to look for him; when his time comes, he will come back on his own, she said.
She prepared the meal and didn't care much that Geir wasn't there.
When the meal was over and everyone had gone to bed, Fenna got up and took her brother Sigurd with her. They went down to sea, got into a boat and rowed out to an island not far away.
Fenna asked Sigurd to look after the boat while she went ashore; and this he did. Fenna then entered the island and walked inland until she came to a small but well-built house. The door stood half open; a light was burning in the room and there was a beautifully prepared bed. In this bed she saw Geir, her husband, lying, and in his arms a woman. Fenna sat on the floor next to the bed and sang a tune.
(These verses have been lost.)
She then went back to her brother and asked him to go home and not tell anyone where they had been. He promised her this too and then rowed home and they both acted as if nothing had happened.
When Christmas was over, Fenna got up early one morning and went into the room where she and Geir used to sleep when he was at home. There was Geir in there and he was walking up and down, but there was a child in the bed.
Geir asked who the child belonged to.
She answered him that it belonged to no one other than him and her, then took the child and gave it to Geir's foster mother so that she could raise it.
The year then passed without anything special happening.
At Christmas the same thing happened as the year before, only this time Fenna sat on the stool in front of the bed and sang a tune.
(These verses have also been lost.)
And when the third Christmas came, the meal was prepared again, and they looked for Geir again, but they couldn't find him, and Fenna asked his people not to look for him any further.
When the meal was over and everyone had gone to bed, Sigurd and Fenna rowed out to the island again.
Sigurd asked Fenna that he could go ashore with her this time.
She allowed him, but told him not to say a single word.
When they got to the house, Fenna asked Sigurd to wait outside while she went in. So he stayed outside. But Fenna went into the house, sat on the edge of the bed and sang the following tune,
I sit here on the edge, abandoned,
The happiness of joy faded away from me.
The clever man stole it from me,
That I can never be happy.
Another woman took my husband -
The misfortune came quite unexpectedly!
Then Geir rose and said,
It shouldn’t happen any longer.
But the woman who was lying in bed with him fainted. Fenna fetched wine and drizzled it on the unconscious woman's lips. Then she came to her senses again and it was the most beautiful girl.
Then Geir said to Fenna,
Now you have freed me from a grave trouble; because it was already the last year in which I could be freed. My father was a king and ruled over Gardariki. After my mother died, my father married an unknown woman. After they had lived together for a short time, she killed my father with poison; since I and this sister of mine, whose name is Ingeborg, did not want to obey her, she put a curse on me that I should father three children with my sister; and if I didn't get a wife who knew about all this but kept quiet about it, I would become a snake, but my sister would become an untamed foal who goes out to pasture with other horses. But now you have freed me from this misery and that is why I want to marry this sister of mine to your brother Sigurd and give her as a dowry the entire kingdom that my father owned.
They then all went back to land and went to Geir's house. Now a great feast was recently prepared and they sent for Thrandur, the father of Fenna; Sigurd and Ingeborg's engagement beer was then drunk. Sigurd then moved to Gardariki and completely subjugated it.
But Geir's stepmother was seized and tied between two horses, which tore her in two pieces.
Sigurd and Ingeborg ruled Gardariki for a long time and Geir became law speaker to Thrandur.
CHAPTER III
Torsten, the cottager's son.
Once upon a time there were a king and a queen in their kingdom. They had twelve sons, but their names are not known.
Not far from the royal palace an old man lived with his old wife in a poor hut; he had a son named Torsten.
All of these young people were already adults when this story happened.
One day, when the weather was fine, all the king's sons rode out into the forest to shoot game and birds. However, around midday one of the worst storms that could ever occur occurred. The brothers had dismounted from their horses and gone deep into the forest; when they now wanted to return, they had lost the way and became more and more lost the longer they went. They came at last to a cave in high rocks, and saw therein a large giantess, who was black and of a malicious appearance, and eleven younger giantesses, and a twelfth young woman, who appeared to them to be of a human kind.
The old giantess received the king's sons kindly and invited them to stay here; they were very happy about it; for the weather was bad, but they themselves were tired, hungry and sleepy. The giants set food before them and they ate to their hearts' content. When they had eaten and all the giantesses were outside, the human girl said to them that, as she saw, they had come into the hands of giants, they were not the first whom the giantess had conjured here and killed. She also told them that the old giantess would let eleven of them sleep with one of her daughters and one with her, but that she herself would sleep inside the cave. But as soon as she believed that they had all fallen asleep, the giantess got up, looked for a light, took a large knife and cut off each of their heads at the edge of the bed. You should therefore exercise caution and cut off the hair of the giant girls as soon as they have fallen asleep, lie down in their place in bed and put their hoods on; the giantess would not notice this mix-up in the beds and would kill her own daughters instead. But before she goes to the last bed, they all have to jump up quickly and kill her. The girl told that the giantess had kidnapped her from another kingdom to serve her and her daughters, and that she was a king's daughter.
The giantesses now came back into the cave and the old woman asked the king's sons to go to bed; but the situation with her beds is such that eleven of them each have to sleep with one of her daughters, but the twelfth has to sleep with herself.
The king's sons were satisfied with this and lay down. Then the giantesses and the human girl, whose thoughts were with the king's sons, also went to bed. The giantesses soon fell asleep and now the king's sons went to their work; they cut off the girls' hair, put their bonnets on their heads and lay down on the other side; then they waited to see what would happen and did not fall asleep.
It didn't take long before the old giantess got up and fetched a light; with this in one hand and a large knife in the other she now walked towards the beds. She placed the light on the floor of the cave, went to the first bed with her sword brandished, pulled the giant girl out over the edge of the bed and cut off her head so that it fell to the floor of the cave.
In the same way the giantess killed all her other daughters; for they were all lying at the edge of the bed.
Now the giantess was about to go to the last bed. Then the king's sons jumped to their feet at the same time, attacked the giantess and threw her to the ground. She now saw that she had been shamefully cheated by the king's sons and had killed all her daughters instead; she also immediately suspected that this plan had been hatched together by the human girl and the king's sons.
When she saw that she could not defend herself against this superior force, she cast a spell on the brothers so that they would become cattle, and as such they would come to their father's hall every day and only once within twenty-four hours, while they were eating, would they change their natural form and should receive again; but this was to happen on an island in a large lake, far from all human routes; and they should not be released from this enchantment until a man was found who would serve them in the king's hall with the same food that they themselves used to eat outside on the island.
But the giantess cast a spell on the girl so that from now on she was to draw water from a well not far from the lake into another and not to pay attention to anything else. She should not be released from this enchantment before someone can secretly sneak behind her back in such a way that she doesn't notice anything until he throws her to the ground.
The giantess said it would be difficult to be freed from both enchantments.
The king's sons then killed the giantess and burned her into cold coal; but they themselves disappeared as a result of their enchantment, and the girl with them.
We have to go back to the royal castle now.
When the king's sons did not return from hunting that evening or night, the king became uneasy about their absence. The next day, therefore, he gathered together a large number of people and sent them out to seek out his sons; but all searches were unsuccessful and they therefore gave it up, although the king was not satisfied with it.
But people soon noticed that twelve cattle came into the royal hall every day and walked around there. They fell on no one and no one cared about them. The king was somewhat disturbed by this regular visit of the cattle, and ordered them to be given various kinds of fodder; but they didn't want to eat any of it and always left after a short stay.
Torsten, the housekeeper's son, also heard, like the rest of the people, about the disappearance of the king's sons and about the visit of the twelve cattle to the royal hall, and would like to get to the bottom of these strange events. He therefore asked his parents to allow him to spend the winter with the king; because life in the hut was too boring for him, he said. The parents gave their consent and so Torsten went to the royal hall, appeared before the king and asked him to be allowed to stay with him over the winter.
The king asked him why he wanted this.
Torsten replied that he had a great desire to see man's manners and to adopt them himself; because life in the poor hut is too boring for him.
The king granted him winter residence and he now stayed in the royal palace.
Torsten often spoke to the king about the disappearance of his sons and what had become of them; he then often talked about the twelve cattle that came to the castle every day and asked the king what the deal was with these animals.
The king said he did not know; however, it seemed strange to him that they appeared there day after day, and he would give special favor to anyone who could find out where they came from.
Torsten decided to investigate the matter with the cattle more closely and followed them one day as they left the hall again. But they ran so fast that he could only follow them with the utmost effort of his strength in order not to lose sight of them. Finally the cattle came to a lake and they all immediately plunged into it except for the one at the back, which lingered a little on the land, just as if it wanted to wait for Torsten, while the others swam to the island in the lake.
When Torsten came to the lake, the cow made him understand that he should sit on its back, and he did so. The cow then swam with him to the island and then ran ahead to a hut that was there.
When Torsten came to the hut, he saw twelve cow robes lying in front of it, but inside there were twelve men sitting at a meal. He immediately thought that these were the king's sons and that they were enchanted. He then went into the hut, but he neither spoke to the men nor did they speak to him or even among themselves. They gave him bread and wine from their food; he accepted both, but did not enjoy it, but hid it.
When the king's sons had eaten, they left the hut again and put on their cow robes. Then they jumped into the lake and swam away; however, one cow remained behind, Torsten climbed onto its back and got across the lake in this way. When he was back in the country, the cattle ran away so quickly that he soon lost sight of them.
He walked there for a while until he came across a woman who was busy drawing water from one well into another, a task that seemed completely ridiculous and foolish to him. Torsten didn't notice the same until he threw her backwards to the ground. It was as if the woman had fainted; for not a single member moved. Torsten therefore took water from the other well and splashed the unconscious woman's face with it. She immediately recovered and thanked Torsten with the most beautiful words for freeing her from the spell that had been placed on her, and told him how everything had happened and what happened to the cattle that had not left them earlier could be released from their enchantment before they were served the same food among the people that they themselves used to enjoy on the island when they had left the cow's robe.
Torsten then went home and took the girl with him; he gave it to his parents and asked them to accommodate her in the hut for a while and to treat her in the best possible way.
Torsten then went to the King's Hall and didn't say much about his experiences. But when the cattle appeared again the next day, he set before them the bread and wine that he had received in the tent the day before, and they all ate both. As soon as they had eaten it, they lay down and the cow's robe fell away from them.
Torsten quickly summoned the king and asked him to see if he didn't know these men lying on the ground.
The king immediately recognized his sons. They were splashed with water and soon became fully conscious. There was now an extremely joyful reunion between the king and his sons.
Torsten then fetched the king's daughter, whom he had left in his parents' hut, and she and the king's sons talked about all their experiences and how Torsten had released them all from their enchantment.
The king then held a large banquet to celebrate the arrival of his sons and the king's daughter. At this meal, Torsten asked for the king's daughter's hand in marriage, and she gladly gave it to him. Then the king turned the banquet into a wedding feast for Torsten and the king's daughter and invited them to stay with him as long as they wanted, since he owed and rewarded him for the life and liberation of his sons.
But the king's sons made it known that they wanted to give up all their rights to the kingdom after their father's death to Torsten in order to thank him and the king's daughter for saving their lives and liberating them. The king also agreed to this, and so Torsten took over the kingdom after the king's death and ruled it with his queen.
CHAPTER IV
The song of Torsten, Thorarin's son
Thorarin lives in the valley of the sun,
Almost blind, but with a peasant sense
Mindful of pride and honor.
As a young man he once sailed through
From Iceland's coast all over the place
To the east and the west seas.
The wild sense of the sailor era
His heart is still ready to fight.
Nobody can mock him.
The small farm, the horse breeding
Worried the son who never curses:
Friendly, but hard-boiled.
The following applies to every wall in the room:
Shield follows spear, ax follows shield,
The old man once ran it.
Now the son practices every day
That the sun may shine on him,
That there is no rust on it.
The black bread, the good porridge,
Day after day feeds the two,
They owe it to the horses.
Strong in the fighting game, fast in the race,
They win in the duel,
Where blood was never shed.
Thorarin and Torsten:
Nobody should so great be before!
Two hours ride from the stud farm,
Where yellow gorse blooms on the slope,
The courtyard is broad and shiny,
Where Bjarni reigns as a great man,
That no one can hold a candle to,
Because he has the richest court.
Three servants of his servants
The power seduces to arrogance,
Who gave to their Lord.
Thorhall and Thorvard together
All around the valley are known
For vainglorious pursuits.
The third is called Horse-Thord,
Because he looks after the stallions locally,
Where Bjarni mostly rides.
Many a neighbor senses the vain pride
He sprouts wood from such service
And stupidity happily accompanies.
On an early summer day,
When dew still lay on the meadows,
Thord and Torsten met.
They took both stallions with them
And were excited to go for a ride,
Who should be at the gate sooner?
That was on Torsten's pasture.
He held back out of hospitality
His fast horse prudently.
This is how we got along
The groom and the farmer,
And nobody won.
The horse-Thord didn't like that.
Even if from a lower family,
He couldn't tolerate strength.
That's why he challenges Torsten
To the stallion biting in front of his house,
You’ll pay me the debt.
On the following Sunday
Many gawking people want to witness
How the two compete.
The stallions charge wildly.
Thord's black horse just whinnied
Completely forgot about biting.
That the winner is not determined
The brown horse-Thord is angry
And hits him on the nostrils.
Torsten noticed this blow
And pays back, and more so.
The black horse, inspired by pain,
Runs away as fast as he can run.
The rider barely reins him in.
The crowd cheers and rejoices.
Then Thord turns his mad horse,
Rushes over and hits Torsten,
And everyone sees it clearly.
The horsewood in his hand
Found the way to Torsten's brow,
It swells over his eyes.
Torsten tears off a scrap
From the shirt: Because I hurt myself,
I’m no longer good for fighting.
Acts like nothing happened,
Wants to go home on his way.
But he asks people
That they don't tell the father
How horse-Thord tormented his steed
And what happened today.
But there are two in the crowd,
Lusting after filth and screaming,
They are happy about everything.
Thorhall and Thorvard maliciously
Call him „Torsten Stangenhieb“
To the ridicule of the entire valley.
Thorhall, Thorvard, Thord:
You will soon regret this word!