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Exhausted by their previous superhuman efforts and by the bailing of their water-logged vessel, the men were
too weak to land when they at last reached the Orkney Islands, and had to be carried ashore by Björn and
Frithiof, who gently laid them down on the sand, bidding them rest and refresh themselves after all the
CHAPTER XV. 122
hardships they had endured.
"Tired indeed are all on board, All the crew of Frithiofs men, Scarce supported by a sword, Can they raise
themselves again. Björn takes four of them ashore, On his mighty shoulders wide, Frithiof singly takes twice
four, Places them the fire beside. 'Blush not, ye pale ones, The sea's a valiant viking; 'Tis hard indeed to fight
Against the rough sea waves. Lo! there comes the mead horn On golden feet descending, To warm our frozen
limbs. Hail to Ingeborg!'" TEGNÉR, Frithiof Saga (Spalding's tr.).
The arrival of Frithiof and his men had been seen by the watchman of Angantyr's castle, who immediately
informed his master of all he had seen. The jarl exclaimed that the ship which had weathered such a gale
could be none but Ellida, and that its captain was doubtless Frithiof, Thorsten's gallant son. At these words
one of his Berserkers, Atlé, caught up his weapons and strode out of the hall, vowing that he would challenge
Frithiof, and thus satisfy himself concerning the veracity of the tales he had heard of the young hero's courage.
[Sidenote: Atlé's challenge.] Although still greatly exhausted, Frithiof immediately accepted Atlé's challenge,
and, after a sharp encounter, threw his antagonist, whom he would have slain then and there had his sword
been within reach. Atlé saw his intention, and bade him go in search of a weapon, promising to remain
motionless during his absence. Frithiof, knowing that such a warrior's promise was inviolable, immediately
obeyed; but when he returned with his sword, and found his antagonist calmly awaiting death, he relented, and
bade Atlé rise and live.
"With patience long not gifted, Frithiof the foe would kill, And Angurvadel lifted, But Atlé yet lay still. This
touched the hero's soul; He stayed the sweeping brand Before it reached its goal, And took the fall'n one's
hand." TEGNÉR, _Frithiof Saga_(Spalding's tr.).
Together these doughty warriors then wended their way to Angantyr's halls, where they found a festal board
awaiting them, and there they ate and drank, sang songs, and recounted stories of thrilling adventure by land
and by sea.
At last, however, Frithiof made known his errand. Angantyr said that he owed no tribute to Helgé, and would
pay him none; but that he would give the required sum as a free gift to his old friend Thorsten's son, leaving
him at liberty to dispose of it as he pleased. Then, since the season was unpropitious, and storms continually
swept over the sea, the king invited Frithiof to tarry with him; and it was only when the gentle spring breezes
were blowing once more that he at last allowed him to depart.
After sailing over summer seas, wafted along by favorable winds for six days, Frithiof came in sight of his
home, Framnäs, which had been reduced to a shapeless heap of ashes by Helgé's orders. Sadly steering past
the ruins, he arrived at Baldershage, where Hilding met him and informed him that Ingeborg was now the wife
of Sigurd Ring. When Frithiof heard these tidings he flew into a Berserker rage, and bade his men destroy all
the vessels in the harbor, while he strode up to the temple alone in search of Helgé. He found him there before
the god's image, roughly flung Angantyr's heavy purse of gold in his face, and when, as he was about to leave
the temple, he saw the ring he had given Ingeborg on the arm of Helgé's wife, he snatched it away from her. In
trying to recover it she dropped the god's image, which she had just been anointing, into the fire, where it was
rapidly consumed, and the rising flames soon set the temple roof in a blaze.
Frithiof, horror-stricken at the sacrilege which he had involuntarily occasioned, after vainly trying to
extinguish the flames and save the costly sanctuary, escaped to his ship and waiting companions, to begin the
weary life of an outcast and exile.
"The temple soon in ashes lay, Ashes the temple's bower; Wofully Frithiof goes his way, Weeps in the
morning hour." TEGNÉR, Frithiof Saga (Spalding's tr.).
CHAPTER XV. 123
[Sidenote: Frithiof an exile.] Helgé's men started in pursuit, hoping to overtake and punish him; but when they
reached the harbor they could not find a single seaworthy craft, and were forced to stand on the shore in
helpless inactivity while Ellida's great sails slowly sank beneath the horizon. It was thus that Frithiof sadly
saw his native land vanish from sight; and as it disappeared he breathed a tender farewell to the beloved
country which he never expected to see again.
"'World-circle's brow, Thou mighty North! I may not go Upon thine earth; But in no other I love to dwell;
Now, hero-mother, Farewell, farewell!
"'Farewell, thou high And heavenly one, Night's sleeping eye, Midsummer sun. Thou clear blue sky, Like
hero's soul, Ye stars on high, Farewell, farewell!
"'Farewell, ye mounts Where Honour thrives, And Thor recounts Good warriors' lives. Ye azure lakes, I know
so well, Ye woods and brakes, Farewell, farewell!
"'Farewell, ye tombs, By billows blue, The lime tree blooms Its snow on you. The Saga sets In judgment-veil
What earth forgets; Farewell, farewell!
"'Farewell the heath, The forest hoar I played beneath, By streamlet's roar. To childhood's friends Who loved
me well, Remembrance sends A fond farewell!
"'My love is foiled, My rooftree rent, Mine honour soiled, In exile sent! We turn from earth, On ocean dwell,
But, joy and mirth, Farewell, farewell!'" TEGNÉR, Frithiof Saga (Spalding's tr.).
After thus parting from his native land, Frithiof took up the life of a pirate, rover, or viking, whose code was
never to settle anywhere, to sleep on his shield, to fight and neither give nor take quarter, to protect the ships
which paid him tribute and sack the others, and to distribute all the booty to his men, reserving for himself
nothing but the glory of the enterprise. Sailing and fighting thus, Frithiof visited many lands, and came to the
sunny isles of Greece, whither he would fain have carried Ingeborg as his bride; but wherever he went and
whatever he did, he was always haunted by the recollection of his beloved and of his native land.
[Sidenote: At the court of Sigurd Ring.] Overcome at last by homesickness, Frithiof returned northward,
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