Ingeborg, faithful to duty, replied: "My brothers now take my father's place in my life, and I cannot be happy unless I have their consent to my marriage."
In deep dejection Frithiof then set sail in Ellida, Ingeborg watching him from the shore with a heavy and foreboding heart. Hardly had the ship got under way when there arose a terrible storm, caused by two witches whom Helge had paid to use their evil power against his enemy. For days the storm raged, until it seemed that the dragon-ship must be wrecked.
"As made with defeat,
It blows more and more hard;
There is bursting of sheet,
There is splintering of yard.
O'er and o'er the half-gulfed side,
Flood succeeding flood is poured;
Fast as they expel the tide,
Faster still it rolls aboard.
Now e'en Frithiof's dauntless mind
Owned the triumph of his foe;
Louder yet than wave and wind
Thus his thundering accents flow!
'Haste and grasp the tiller,
Bjorn, with might of bear-paw!
Tempest so infuriate
Comes not from Valhalla.*
Witchcraft is a-going;
Sure, the coward Helge
Spells* the raging billows!
Mine the charge to explore.'"
[Footnote: Longfellow's translation]
*[Footnote: Valhalla, the palace of Odin, in Asgard, the home of the
gods.]
*[Footnote: Spells, bewitches]
Had the prayers of Ingeborg at length availed? Even as he was gazing out over the waters, Frithiof beheld the two witches floating before him on the back of a great whale. Then it was that his ship Ellida, intelligent and faithful as a human servant, saved him from the power of the crafty Helge. Bearing down quickly upon the evil-workers, it despatched one of them with its sharp prow, while Frithiof, with one thrust of his weapon, destroyed the other. But the vessel was filled with water, and the sailors were forced to bale continually. In this desperate plight the Orkney Islands were reached, and the exhausted crew were borne ashore. Frithiof, too, was worn with fatigue, yet he carried eight of his men at one time from the ship to safety.
When Ellida put into harbor, Earl Angantyrand his warriors were in the midst of a drinking-bout at the palace. The old attendant Halvar, while refilling the Earl's horn [Footnote: Horn, a drinking vessel, horn shaped, or made of horn.] with mead, [Footnote: Mead, a drink made of honey and water.] called the attention of the party to the incoming vessel.
"A ship that can weather such a sea must be no other than Ellida, bearing the doughty son of my good friend Thorsten," exclaimed Angantyr, rising to get a better view.
At these words of praise the keenest envy was aroused in Atle and several of his companions who were most celebrated in that realm for their skill and prowess as huntsmen and warriors; and in a body they went down to the shore to challenge the far-famed youth of Norway.
Again did the magic Angurvadel stand its owner in good stead. Atle's sword having been broken, Frithiof cast aside his own weapon, and the two men wrestled until the latter threw his opponent and stood over him victor.
"Now had I my sword, thou should'st die," cried Frithiof. "Get thy weapon," calmly replied Atle. "I give thee my word I will await thy return."
Frithiof recovered Angurvadel, but as he was about to plunge it into Atle's body he was so moved by the fearlessness of the vanquished man that he spared his life. Earl Angantyr then warmly welcomed the son of his noble friend Thorsten, and because of the memory of this friendship agreed to pay the required tribute.