Ivar the Viking / A romantic history based upon authentic facts of the third and fourth centuries

by Paul B. Du Chaillu

Hjorvard and all the other powerful chiefs who had taken oaths at the preceding Yule sacrifice at Dampstadir had not forgotten them; they were making most extensive preparations for war and conquest. Hjorvard was chiefly the cause of the great upheaval. A warlike message had gone to every inhabited place of the land, and every youth wanted to be among those who were going.

Every man who was bound by law to furnish a war-ship or more had been summoned to do so by all the Hersirs. Hjorvard gathered a fleet of several hundred vessels. The greatest enthusiasm prevailed among those who were to follow him. Many doughty champions of the North had come to join his standard, for they knew that victory would follow him. They came from the shores of the present Norway, of the Cattegat, the islands of the Baltic, and the southern shores of that sea. They all knew that they were the chosen of the gods, and were to be victorious.

Weapon Things, or meetings, had taken place everywhere. At these all the freemen were obliged to come and show sword, spear, an axe, a shield, all in perfect order. Each Bondi had to be ready at the place where the war arrow had summoned him, and had to show one bow and two dozen arrows for every bench of the ship or ships he was obliged to furnish.

Hjalmar arrived at Dampstadir from Engel with one hundred ships; the fleets of several of his kinsmen joined him the next day with two hundred ships more. Among these were the berserk Sigvaldi, who came with twenty ships; Tryggvy with fifteen, Trividil with nine. Starkard came with a single skeid manned only with berserks who had constantly the berserk fury upon them. Helsing came with three ships, with a crew composed in great part of skilful archers and slingmen, or stone-throwers. These men came north of the present Christiania fjord. Sigmund and Sigurd also arrived, to the great joy of Ivar and Hjalmar, with fifty fine vessels each. Every one of these had a crew of two hundred and twenty men. The sea before Dampstadir seemed to be like a forest of masts.

There was nothing in the world which the Vikings thought more of than their ships. Upon them they lavished their wealth and skill. They all vied with each other as to who should have the finest craft. Hjorvard’s dragon-ship was the most powerful of all the warships assembled before Dampstadir, and his pennant, which floated at its masthead, was embroidered with gold, and in the centre was the representation of Hugin and Munin, the ravens of Odin.

On the eve of their departure, Ivar and Hjalmar went to a sibyl called Helge, who, by rubbing with her hands the bodies of men who were setting out for war, could find out the vulnerable spot that would be wounded unless she protected it by her incantations. The foster-brothers themselves wore charmed chain-armor, which no weapons could penetrate. During the absence of Hjorvard, Sigrlin was to rule over the estates.

The horns for the departure sounded; the ships soon afterwards were on their way south, and in a short time were out of sight of the shores of Gotland. New accessions of ships were constantly made on the way, and after a sail of two days the fleet reached Hleidra, the head burg of Halfdan, the powerful ruler of Zeeland. This burg was situated on the arm of the sea which is known to-day under the name of the Roskilde fjord.

There they met an equally powerful fleet, which Halfdan had summoned. The vessels were so numerous that the sound between the present Helsinor and Helsingborg on the Swedish coast was but a forest of masts, and the sea could not be seen.

Halfdan received Hjorvard, his kinsman, and the high-born men who had come with him, with great honor. There was great feasting and drinking for several days.

Here the ships were joined by a most imposing fleet of more than one thousand sail from Svithjod, manned by most valiant men. Then fleet after fleet arrived; some came from the beautiful and powerful island of Funen, from the present island of Bornholm—in a word, from every island of the Baltic and Cattegat, and also many vessels from the peninsula of Jutland. At the Lime fjord, a large arm of the sea on the northern part of Jutland, the fleets of all the Hersirs of the present Norway, and those living on the Cattegat, were waiting for the coming of the fleets of the Baltic. When all the vessels reached the Lime fjord, they found there a fleet of over two thousand craft assembled. The vessels composing the expedition were of all sizes, from the great dragon-ships to the small skutas; many of these latter were intended for shallow water. There were also a very great number of provision ships, and others to carry horses. Horses were always used by the Vikings to reconnoitre the land after they had landed.