The remainder of the saga is occupied with a variety of narratives, of comparatively little interest. What ultimately became of the fatal sword Tirfing is not mentioned; and we are left to infer, that, according to the prediction, it caused the extinction of the entire race of Hervor.
Many are the wonderful tales of swords in these old northern romances. They were generally manufactured by the dveryar, or dwarfs, who were celebrated for their skill as smiths and jewellers. The sword sometimes owed its excellence as much to magic as to the temper and finish it had acquired at the hands of the workman. On Tirfing, certain runes or magic characters were engraved--a custom which was observed in the manufacture of swords for many ages. The sword of the celebrated Gustavus Adolphus was covered with a number of hieroglyphs and astrological characters, which have been the theme of many learned dissertations. The story of the sword Mimung, made by Velint (the prototype of Wieland the blacksmith), is a fair specimen of this class of marvels.
Wada, who lived in Sealand, had a son called Velint, one of the most excellent smiths that ever lived. His father, hearing of the great skill of the smith Mimer, in Hunaland, sent him thither in his ninth year, where he learnt the trade at the same time with the celebrated Sigurd (Siegfried). Afterwards he prosecuted his study with the dwarfs in a mountain, and there attained the perfection of his art. His father was killed by the fall of a rock, occasioned by an earthquake, which his tremendous snoring produced. Velint proceeded to the court of Nidung, King of Waringia, living in Jutland, at whose court he was challenged by the smith Amilias to a trial of his skill. The latter fabricated a suit of armour. Velint, in seven days, forged the sword Mimung, with which, in the king's presence, he cut asunder a thread of wool, floating on the water. But finding the faulchion heavy and unwieldy, he sawed it in pieces, and, in a mixture of milk and meal, forged it in a red-hot fire for three days, and, at the end of thirteen, produced another sword, which cut through a whole ball of wool floating on the water. Still he was not satisfied with its excellence, but committed it again to the flames, and, after several weeks, having separated every particle of dross from the metal, fabricated a faulchion of such exquisite perfection, that it split in two a whole bundle of wool, floating on the water. The smith Amilias, trusting to the impenetrability of his breastplate and helmet, sat down upon a bench, and bade his rival strike at him with the sword. But Velint split him to the navel; and, when he complained that he felt as if cold iron had passed through his entrails, Velint desired him to shake himself a little, upon which his body fell to the ground in two pieces.
BRUCE AND WYLD PRINTERS, 84, FARRINGDON STREET, LONDON.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1]: Erik, Abel, and Christopher I.
[Footnote 2]: "Thing" (pronounced "Ting"), a court of justice: also, the name of the ancient Scandinavian parliaments, or assemblies of the states of the realm, at which, generally, all the freemen of the nation had a right to attend. They were usually held in the open air. The "Danehof," or Dane-court, mentioned farther on, was a similar institution, at which were present the king and his nobles, the principal clergy, burghers, and peasants.--Tr.
[Footnote 3]: The "marsk" anciently filled an office similar to that of the modern marshal, or field-marshal.--Tr.