Woven with a loving mind
Of hair—[[392]]
Wounds will not bleed
Nor will edges bite thee
In the holy garment;
It was consecrated to the gods.’
“In making his voyage to England he met with adverse gales, so that both his ships were wrecked on the coast of England, but all his men got ashore with their clothes and weapons. Thereupon he succeeded in taking villages and burghs and castles, one after the other. King Ella, who ruled England, had heard that Ragnar had left his country; he sent men to tell him when he had landed; they came and brought news of Ragnar. Ella sent messengers all over his realm, summoning every man to come that could wield a shield and ride on a horse and dared fight; he thus gathered such a large host that it was a wonder, and made ready for battle. Ella said to his men: ‘If we gain the victory in this battle, and you see Ragnar, you must not attack him with weapons, for he has sons who sooner or later will avenge his death.’ Ragnar made ready for battle, and used the cloth which Randalin had given him to be used as a coat-of-mail, and had the spear in his hand with which he slew the serpent that lay round the hall of Thóra, which no other man dared to face; he had no armour except a helmet. When they met the fight began. Ragnar had far fewer men. Many of Ragnar’s men fell after a short time, but where he went himself his foes drew back, and that day he walked through their ranks; whenever he cut or thrust at shields, coats-of-mail or helmets, his blows were so heavy that nothing stood against them, but never did any blow or shot harm him; he got no wounds, and slew many of King Ella’s men. In the end, when all Ragnar’s men had fallen, he was surrounded by shields and taken. He was asked who he was, but was silent and gave no answer. Ella said: ‘That man must be punished if he will not tell who he is; now throw him into a snake-pit and let him sit there a long time, and if he says anything by which we can see that he is Ragnar, he shall be taken away as soon as possible.’ So Ragnar was taken there and sat there a long time, and the snakes did not attack him. People said, ‘This is a great man; the weapons did not wound him to-day, and now the snakes do no harm to him.’ Ella told them to take off his outer garment, and when they had done so the snakes attacked him all over his body. He said: ‘The pigs would grunt now if they knew what the old one[[393]] is suffering;’ and though he said this they yet knew not that he was Ragnar or any other king. He sang:
‘I have fought battles
Fifty and one
Which were famous;