Hi, I'm Old Norse specialist Dr. Jackson Crawford.
Among the Norse Sagas, one of the most interesting and a personal favorite, is Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks.
This saga, written in the 1200´s to 1300´s in Iceland and existing in multiple different variants,
Contains a great deal of poetry that's much older than the saga,
and one of those poems is in Old Norse usually called Hervararkviða.
But in English typically titled “The Waking of Angantýr”.
Now in this poem, Hervǫr, who is a woman who was embarked on a career as a warrior,
has broken into the grave mound of her father Angantýr and his eleven brothers, all of whom are berserkers.
And she encounters her undead father Angantýr, and asks him for the cursed sword Tyrfing
Now I have translated this poem in preparation for presenting a proposal
for translating this saga as well some more mythical sagas from my third book,
and I'm going to share with you today this poem in its entirety
it's about 21 stanzas together with the text of the saga that immediately precedes it,
and this place between the stanzas and then immediately follows it.
I'll read in English first, from my own translation and then I will follow that up with a reading of the poem in Old Norse.
“Now the next thing she saw out on the island was where the grave fire burned and she went toward it and wasn't afraid though it lay in her path.”
“She waded forward into these flames as if into darkness, until she came to the grave of the Berserkers.”
Hervǫr said “wake up Angantýr, Hervǫr wakes you, the only daughter born to you and Sváfu”
“Give me from your grave your sharp edged blade. The one the dwarves made for Sigrlama.”
“Hervarð, Hjǫrvarð, Hrani, Angantýr!”
“I awake you all under the tree roots with helmets and armor and sharp sword,“
“with shield and harness and reddened spear.”
“The sons of Arngrim are much reduced, those cruel men are nearly dust now,”
“while none of the sons Eyfura will speak with me and Munarvág.”
“Hervarð, Hjǫrvarð, Hrani, Angantýr!”
“May you all feel as though ants filled your ribs as you rot in your grave”
“unless you give me the sword that Dvalin made. It doesn't befit ghosts to bear a fine weapon”
Then Angantýr said “my daughter Hervǫr why do you call so?”
“You are only welcoming your own evil doom, you've gone crazy you're out of your wits,”
“thinking wildly, when you dare to wake up dead men”
“It wasn't my father who buried me, nor other kinsmen.”
“ Two men who lived took Tyrfing, but of them only one lives now.”
She said, “You don't speak true, may a God leave you to sit whole in your grave if you don't have Tyrfing with you.”
“You are reluctant to deliver the inheritance to your only child.”
Then the grave mound opened, and it was as though fire and flame were all over the grave, then Angantýr said,
“Hell's gate draws up, the grave mounds open, everything in flame on the island around.”
“It's an evil sight to look out of the grave. Hurry back young lady, go back to your ships.”
She said “You can't burn those flames so bright at night that the fires will terrify me.”
“This woman's heart will never tremble, even if a ghost appears before this door.”
Then Angantýr said “I tell you Hervǫr, listen to me now”
“wise daughter what will happen. Tyrfing will destroy all of your family girl, if you can believe it.”
“You'll have a son who later will have Tyrfing and place his faith in its strength.”
“Men will call that man Heiðrek. He will be the most powerful under the sun's domain.”
Then Hervǫr said, “ I seemed to be a human woman before I decided to seek your hall.”
“Give me from out of your grave the sword that hates armor, dangerous to shields, the killer of Hjálmar.”
Then Angantýr said “Hjálmar´s killer lies beneath my shoulders, covered completely by flames.”
“I know of no woman above the earth who would dare to hold that sword in hand.”
Hervǫr said “I will keep the sharp sword and take it in hand if I can have it. I do not fear the burning fire.”
“The fire seems to be dying as I look upon it”
Then Angantýr said, “You're a fool Hervǫr, but you have courage, rushing with your eyes upon the fire.”
“I would happily give you the sword from my grave, you young girl. I cannot deny your request.”
Hervǫr said “You did well son of Vikings when you gave me the sword from your grave.”
“I think it's better now Lord to have the sword than to win the whole kingdom of Norway.”
Angantýr said, “You don't know it but you're unlucky in this matter. Fully doomed woman, why do you rejoice?”
“Tyrfing will destroy all of your family girl, if you can believe it.”
She said “I will go to the ships now this girl is in good spirits. I care little, friend of princes, how my sons may later clash.”
He said “You'll own it and love it long. You'll have Hjálmar´s killer in a secret place.”
“Don't touch the edges, there's a poison on both, it's worse for human life than the cutting blade.”
“Farewell daughter, I would have quickly given you 12 men's lives.”
“Power and strength, everything good which Arngrim´s sons left behind of themselves, if you could believe it.”
She said, “I'm ready to leave. May you all dwell whole in the grave, and I will hurry away.”
“I seem more than anything to be between worlds, when around me there are fires burning.”
Now I'll read it in Old Norse with reconstructed pronunciation dating from about the time of the sagas composition.
(Please refer to text in the top right of the screen as Dr Crawford reads aloud.)
So that famous conversation between the daughter, the warrior, and her undead father,
is one of the foundations of the early chapters of the Saga of Hervǫr and Heiðreks
which I hope may one day accompany my translations of the Poetic Edda and the Saga of the Volsungs.
For now, from beautiful Colorado, I'm wishing you, all the best.