They have sucked me;
Soon shall I be a corpse;
I will die among them.’
“He died, and was taken away. Ella saw that it was Ragnar. But Ella pondered how he should succeed in retaining his realm, and wondered how the sons of Ragnar would receive the news of their father’s death. He had a ship made ready, and appointed a wise and hardy man to command it; he manned the ship well, and told the men that he sent them to Ivar and his brothers to tell them of the fall of their father; most of them had little mind to go. Ella said: ‘Notice carefully how each of the brothers receives this news; then go your way when you get a fair wind.’ He had them so well equipped that they needed nothing; their journey was prosperous.
“The messengers (of Ella) came with their men to the burg, where the sons of Ragnar were enjoying a feast, and went into the hall where they drank, and to the high-seat, in which Ivar (the eldest of Ragnar’s sons) sat. Sigurd (snake-eye) and Hvitserk the bold sat playing chess, while Björn jarnsida (ironside) was sharpening a spear-shaft on the floor. When the messengers came up to Ivar they greeted him respectfully; he answered their greeting, and asked whence they were and what tidings they had to tell. Their leader said they were Enskir menn (English men), and that Ella had sent them with the tidings of the fall of their father Ragnar. Hvitserk and Sigurd immediately dropped the chessboard, and listened attentively to this news. Björn stood on the floor of the hall, leaning on his spear-shaft. Ivar inquired of them minutely how his death had occurred. They told all that had taken place after he came to England till he lost his life. When it was told that Ragnar had said ‘the pigs would grunt,’ Björn moved his hands on the spear-shaft, and grasped it so firmly that the print of his fingers could be seen on it afterwards; when the messengers had finished, Björn shook his spear so that it brake in two. Hvitserk had in his hand a chess-piece which he had taken, and squeezed it so hard that blood started out from under each of his nails; and Sigurd had a knife in his hand and was trimming his nails at the time, and listened so attentively that he felt nothing until the knife had cut him to the bone, and did not move. Ivar inquired about everything as minutely as he could, while his face became red, blue and pale by turns, and his features were so distorted that all his skin became swollen on account of the anger in his breast. Hvitserk began to speak, and said they could most speedily commence their revenge by killing the messengers of King Ella. Ivar said: ‘That shall not be; they shall go in peace wherever they like, and if they lack anything they may tell me, and I will give it to them.’ When they had performed their errand they went out of the hall to their ship, and with a fair wind sailed out to sea, and returned in safety to Ella.
“When the messengers of Ella had gone, the brothers met to talk over how they should avenge their father. Ivar said: ‘I will not take part in or gather men for that, because Ragnar met with the fate I anticipated. His cause was bad; he had no reason to fight against King Ella, and it has often happened that when a man wanted to be overbearing and wrong others it has been the worse for him; I will take wergild from King Ella if he will give it.’ When his brothers heard this they became very angry, and said they would never so disgrace themselves, even on his recommendation. ‘People will say that our prowess is departed if we do not avenge our father. We have been all over the world on warfare, and slain many innocent men. That shall not be; we will fit out every seaworthy ship in Denmark; every man who is able to carry a shield against Ella shall go with us.’ Ivar said he and the ships he commanded, except his own ship, should remain behind. When people heard that Ivar was not going, the brothers obtained fewer men, but nevertheless went. As soon as they landed in England Ella heard of it, and had his horn blown, and bade all who were willing to follow him; he got so many men that no man could number them, and went against them. They met, and Ivar was not in that battle, the end of which was that Ragnar’s sons fled, and Ella got the victory. During the flight Ivar said: ‘I will not go back; I will try whether King Ella will give me some honour or not; I will rather take wergild from him than be again defeated like this.’ Hvitserk said they could not prevent him from doing what he liked, but they would never take wergild. Ivar said he would leave them, and asked them to rule over their realm and send him as much movable property as he wanted. When he had said this he took leave of them and went to Ella, and when he came before him he saluted him, and said: ‘I have come to you and want to be reconciled to you, and get as much honour as you will give me; I see that I cannot defeat you, and will rather get from you such honour as you will give me than lose more men or my own life.’ Ella answered: ‘Some say thou art not to be trusted, and that thou often speakest fair when thou thinkest foul, and it is not easy to be a match for thee and thy brothers.’ Ivar said: ‘I ask for little; if thou grantest it I swear never to go against thee.’ The king asked what he wanted. Ivar answered: ‘I want thee to give me as much of thy land as an oxhide stretches over, and this ground shall be marked out; I want no more, and thou wilt do me no honour if thou wilt not do this.’ Ella said: ‘I cannot see that it will do us harm if thou ownest so much of my land, and I will give it thee if thou wilt swear not to fight against me; I fear not thy brothers if thou art faithful to me.’ It was accordingly agreed that Ivar should swear not to fight against him, nor give any advice to harm him, and in return he obtained as much English land as the largest oxhide he could procure stretched over. Ivar got the hide of a bull, and had it soaked and stretched three times; then he had it cut into very thin strips, and the fleshy side separated from the hairy side; and when the strips were joined the length of the thong was astonishing. He stretched this out on a broad field, and the ground surrounded by it was so large that a great burgh could stand on it, and on the outskirts he had ground marked out for large burgh-walls; he engaged many workmen, and had many houses built on that field, and raised a great burgh called[[394]] Lundúnaborg,[[395]] which is the greatest and most famous of all burghs in all the Northern lands. He used all the loose property for making this burgh; he was so liberal that he gave gifts with both hands, and his wisdom was so renowned that all came to him for advice in difficulties; he settled all disputes to the satisfaction of the parties, and was so beloved that he had a friend in every man; he helped Ella much in ruling the land, and settled many matters for him without the king requiring to look at it afterwards. And when he was thought to be the owner of all wisdom he sent men to his brothers to ask them for gold and silver, as much as he wanted to have. Messengers came to the brothers, told their errand, and how it had fared with Ivar, for no one knew what devices he had in his mind; the brothers saw that his mind was not as it used to be. They sent as much as he wanted; and when the messengers returned to Ivar, he gave all that he had received to the leading men in the country, and thus drew them away from King Ella, so that they all promised to be quiet in case of war. When he had done this he sent men to tell his brothers that he wanted them to levy a host in all the lands which belonged to their realm, and bring every man they could get. When the brothers got this message they knew that he now thought it likely they would be victorious. They gathered men from Denmark, Gautland, and all the realms they ruled over, and having drawn together an enormous host, they sailed to England, and stopped neither night nor day, as they did not want their journey to be heard of. The news, however, reached Ella, who summoned his men, but got few, for Ivar had drawn many from him. Ivar went to him and said he would do what he had sworn, but could not rule over his brothers’ doings, though he might see them and find out if they would withdraw the host and do no more harm. He went to them and urged them to go forward and engage in a battle, for the king had much fewer men. They answered that he need not urge them on, as their mind was the same. Ivar told King Ella that they were so eager and incensed that they would not listen to his words. ‘When I wanted to reconcile you they remonstrated; I will do as I swore, and not fight against thee; I and my men will be quiet while the battle goes as it may.’ Ella saw the host of the brothers, which ran forward in great haste. Ivar said: ‘Now, King Ella, array thy men, as I foresee they will make a severe attack for some time.’ When they met there was a great fight, and the sons of Ragnar rushed fiercely forward through the ranks of Ella’s host, and they were so eager that they only thought of doing as much as they could, and the battle was both long and hard. At last Ella and his men fled, and he was taken. Ivar was present, and told them how to slay him. He said: ‘Now it is time to remember what kind of death he chose for our father; the man who is best skilled in wood-carving shall mark an eagle as deep as he can on his back, and that eagle shall be reddened with his blood.’ The man who was told to do this did as Ivar said. Ella got so deep a wound by this that he died, and now it seemed to them they had avenged their father. Ivar said he would give them his part in their realm, but rule England himself.
“Thereupon Hvitserk, Björn and Sigurd went home to their realm, and Ivar remained and ruled over England. After this their host was less concentrated, and they made warfare in various countries. Once Hvitserk, when his mother Randalin was old, made warfare in eastern lands, and such an overwhelming force met him that he could not raise his shield, and was captured. He chose as the means of his death that a pyre should be made of human heads, and he be burnt on it; and thus he died. When Randalin heard this, she sang:
‘A son whom I owned
Met death in the eastern lands;
Hvitserk was he called,