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THE OLD LAY OF BIARKI
[BIARKAMÓL HIN FORNU]

IN A famous passage of his great book on the History of the Norwegian Kings (Heimskringla), Snorri relates how, early at morn, before the fatal battle of Stiklastad (1030), King Ólaf the Saint asked his skald (Thórmóth Kólbrunarskálld) to intone a song; whereupon he recited the Old Biarkamól (Biarkamól hin fornu) so that all the army could hear it, and all were pleased; and the men called the lay the Exhortation of the Housecarls1 (Húskarla hvot). In the Legendary Saga of Ólaf we are told, furthermore, that when the king asked Thórmóth what boon he desired, that loyal heart asked for naught better than to be allowed to go before his king in battle, and that it might be granted to him not to survive his lord. “This answer is in the very spirit of the Biarkamól;”2 as was the poem singularly well chosen, from out of the many Thórmóth no doubt knew, to fit the occasion, for it is a high song of devotion unto death—and every one felt the king’s to be a Lost Cause.

 Unfortunately, only inconsiderable fragments have come down to us of this proud lay, though once it was known all over the North. For a conception of the whole poem we are now dependent on Saxo’s spirited, but very free and wordy, translation into Latin hexameters,3 and on the prolix and novelistic account of the late Hrólfs saga kraka. Taking these as his basis, aided by a strong poetic imagination, and with a profound knowledge of Old Norse poetry as a corrective, the Danish scholar, Axel Olrik, essayed to reconstruct the lay in its original form. As to the success of this difficult piece of restoration, one may question a detail, here and there, and yet agree that it is in the main true to the type, and rejoice in the successful p. 4 restoration of a noble poem. For its meter Olrik chose the málaháttr, irregularly varying with fornyrthislag, which is seen in the few rests preserved. As to structure the poem consists of three long and chiefly lyrical parts of about equal size, separated from one another by brief dramatic interludes. In this decided preponderance of lyric over dramatic elements, as also in the leisurely breadth of the lyric passages, the lay reminds one of the Anglo-Saxon epics rather than of the poems of the Edda with their firmer structure and more energetic movement—whether now this be due to Danish origin or to the early date of the Icelandic lay used by Saxo. This is estimated by Olrik to be from about 900; but other scholars incline to a much later date (ca. 1200).

 Putting together the accounts of Saxo and of the saga, the action is as follows: The great hero-king Hrólf kraki,5 the son of Helgi (and nephew of Hróar), is assailed in his hall at Leire during the night by his vassal Hiorvarth, the ruler of the Gauts, who is incited to this treachery by his wife Skuld, Hrólf’s own sister (or daughter). Hialti, a youthful champion in Hrólf’s hird, arouses the inmates, and with taunting speeches exhorts them to fight and die for their generous lord, rallying them again and again. After a bitter struggle, Hiorvarth bursts through the castle gate, Hrólf falls, but his warriors continue to fight. The castle is fired, it seems by Hrólf’s own men. Meanwhile, Biarki, his greatest champion, who has risen from poverty and finally married Hrólf’s sister Hrút, lies in the hall in profound sleep, superinduced by Skuld’s magic. He wakes at Hialti’s third call and plunges into battle. But it is too late. Biarki sinks at his beloved chieftain’s head, Hialti at his feet. When the battle dies down the mortally wounded Biarki is found by Hrút and made to see Óthin riding over the battle field. Dying, he defies him.6

 The king remains throughout in the background, yet is the invisible center, worthy of the loyalty unto death of such warriors. They but reflect his glory—Biarki, towering up over the p. 5 rest of them, the stern warrior, unyielding in death and defying even the king of the gods; beside him, brisk and steadfast, Hialti, his younger companion at arms, whose ringing alarums are thrice repeated, thanks to the happy retarding device of Biarki’s magic sleep. Sharp lights fall even on the lesser characters, living and dead—on wicked Skuld, “by evil norns for ill created,” and her husband Hiorvarth, swayed by her “to his kin to be false, his king to betray”; on the fierce warrlor Agnar who “laughs toward death”; on wretched King Hrœrek and gold-greedy King Athisl. Scelles of the present and the past flit by Hialti’s and Biarki’s inner vision, in their supreme hour—the glorious and deed-filled life of the housecarls in field and in banquet hall, under the eyes of the hero-king. Through their speeches we sense the hurly-burly, and feel the progress, of the battle. We learn of all the noble qualities which the upstanding, manly warrior-life of old allowed to unfold, and above all we appreciate that there may be glory in defeat.

 (He relapses into sleep; but Hialti exhorts the housecarls and plunges into battle with his king:)

 (The tide of battle turns against Hrólf and he falls. Hialti continues:)

 (Hialti and his men fire the castle. They discover Biarki in profound sleep:)

 (As Biarki still tarries, Hialti once more rallies his warriors:)

 (Biarki’s wife Hrút has found her mortally wounded husband on the battle field, where the conflict is now dying down.)

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Footnotes

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1 The housecarls of the Scandinavian kings correspond to the hird of the Anglo-Saxons. They formed the bodyguard of select warriors.

2 Axel Olrik, The Heroic Legends of Denmark (English trans., 1916) p. 169.

3 Gesta Danorum, book II.

4 Among other things, it may be doubted whether the lay was a pure dialogue poem and not, as were the oldest lays, interspersed with narrative.

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5 The matter of Hrólf’s rise, but not his fall, is briefly alluded to in various passages of Bēowulf.

6 For a detailed and searching analysis the reader is referred to Olrik’s work, pp. 202 f.

p. 5

7 (Or Hild), one of the Valkyries. In Snorri’s account, the beginning is as follows:

The day has come, claps the cock his wings: ’tis time for thralls to go to their tasks. Awake, ye friends, be aye awake, all ye best men of Athil’s board.

Hár the hard-gripping, Hrólf the bowman, men of noble race who never flee; I wake you not to wine nor to women’s converse, but rather to the hard game of Hild.

 But for reasons, fully discussed by Olrik, op. cit., pp. 183 f, these stanzas cannot have been the beginning of the Old Biarkamól.

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8 It is uncertain whether he thinks guests are coming or ironically bids the enemies welcome with fire (cf. stanza 11).

9 Almost all the phrases in this stanza, and many others in the following exhortation, recur verbally in Wīglāf’s exhortation of Bēowulf’s men to support him against the dragon (Bēowulf, 11, 2663-2660); and much occurs of the same import in the Battle of Maldon.

10 Equivalent to Anglo-Saxon Heoroweard. Other names, in the lay, have the following Anglo-Saxon equivalents: Helgi, Hālga; Hróar, Hrōthgār; Hrólf, Hrōthulf; the Gauts (Gautar), Gēatas; Hrœrek, Hrēthrīk; Ingiald, Ingeld; Athils, Ēadgils.

11 Helmets adomed with chains of rings.

12 Skioldungs (Anglo-Saxon, Scyldingas), the royal race of Denmark, whose progenitor is Skiǫld (Anglo-Saxon, Scyld).

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13 Cf. the magic runes fettering Sigrdrífa, Sigrdrífumǫl, Prose after stanza 4.

14 In Saxo: igne ursos arcere licet. Possibly, an allusion to Biarki’s name, which is a “short-name” for a name compounded with -biǫrn, “bear.” He has by some scholars been identified with Bēowulf.

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15 In order to purchase peace.

16 One of the valkyries; hence, “Hild’s-play,” a kenning for “battle.”

17 I.e., Hrólf.—The allusion is to an expedition of Hrólf to King Athils of Sweden. When treacherously pursued by Athils on the Fýri Plains (i.e., the region of Upsala) Hrólf stopped him by scattering gold rings which Athils and his men greedily picked up.

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18 Biarki himself.

19 Cf. Hákonarmól, stanza 4.

20 I.e., the golden arm-ring, by reminding warriors of the generosity of their lord, will cause them to fight more spiritedly.

21 A kenning, it seems, for “warrior.”

22 Agnar’s sword. Its name signifies “the sword owned by Hók.”

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23 One who possesses second-sight can make others see what he sees by letting them look through his bended arm supported on his hip. The victory-runes are the same, apparently, as those referred to in Sigrdrífumól, stanza 7.

24 Óthin, who has been aiding the enemy and is now collecting the dead warriors for Valholl. He rides the eight-footed steed Sleipnir. Cf. Grímnismól, stanza 44.

25 Old Norse Hleithrar, the capital of the Danish kingdom in prehistoric times.

26 Hialti.