“Here thou, Vitting Helfredson,
Thou art a warrior bold;
Thou shalt hie forward to Birting’s land,
And demand the tribute gold.
“With thee shall Vidrik Verlandson,
And Diderik knight of Bern;
Of all my troop they are best at blows,
And most for battle yearn.”
They set themselves upon their steeds,
And away they rode like wind;
The knights they roared, and their steeds they gored,
For wroth were they in mind.
The watchman stood on the battlement
From whence he far could see:
“Yonder I warriors three espy
Who wrathful seem to be.
“The one is Vitting Helfredson
Who lost his steed last year;
That a rugged guest he’ll prove to us
We have full cause to fear.
“The second is Vidrik Verlandson,
As the tongs and hammer shew;
The third is Diderik Van Bern,
All warriors good, I trow.”
They left their steeds in the castle yard,
To the castle strode they in;
Then might each man by their faces see
A fray would soon begin.
Upon the porter they laid their hands,
And him to pieces hew’d;
Then in they strode to the high, high hall,
And before the King they stood.
Then up rose Ifald the King in rage,
And thus the King did cry:
“O, whence are come the ill-starr’d loons
Before my board I spy?”
Then answered the skinker of the King,
Who skinkèd wine and mead:
“Our sharp spears, if we ply them well,
Will drive them out with speed.”