The Saga of Ivarr in Riki

[CaptainChewbacca]

I finally got around to translating this story my father's father told me, thought I'd post it here.

This is the story of my family, of the House of Canut, as written by Peter, third son of David, son of Newell, son of Porter, son of Hans, out of Norway by Ambrosius Haklanger. This story was first told to me by Newell son of Porter in his sixty-first year, my fifth, and I write this in the year of our Lord 2005.

Long ago, when the world was young,
In the far-north lived the men of Ilsjaard.

The men of Ilsjaard were virtuous and strong,
They worshiped the Alfather, and kept his rule.
But the dark one rose up against man,
For the son of Alfather had been born of woman,
He had lived as a man,
And this was unjust to the Dark One, for he had no equal lore.

One day dark one said to the Alfather
"Come, give us leave that we may be born of woman,
For your knowledge of men means we cannot tempt them as well as you."

But the Alfather was shrewd.
He said "For I was born of a woman
Who gave herself to me freely,
So shall you be served."

The Dark One was in a rage,
For he could not find a woman to give herself to him,
Not in the truth of his form.
He said to the Alfather "This is also unjust,
For I am not of good form. Give me leave
That I may win a bride as the men of Ilsjaard do."

This was the law of Ilsjaard,
And so the Alfather could not bind the
Dark One to a law different than that of man.

So the Dark One appeared to Ivarr of Canut,
A hunter of the wastes, as were all of house Canut.
The Dark one appeared wreathed in flame, and
He wore black leathers with iron links upon his chest.
The ground creaked under his weight, but Ivarr was unafraid.

The Dark One said "Lo, Ivarr Canut. I have come to seek
Your woman for my own. We shall battle,
And I will claim her from you."

But Ivarr Canut was quick of wit,
And bowed his head. "Dark One, if it please you,
Bid me go home, that I may gather my hammer and leathers
And give you great battle of noble standing."
This pleased the Dark One, for his vanity knew no bounds.
So Ivarr ran to his hold, and sought the elders,
Chief among them Orn Canut, Father of Ivarr's father, Arut.

Quickly, he told Orn of the Dark One's decree,
And Orn raised a great cry;
"Gather all the elders of the holds and bring some lambs,
That we may offer them in prayer!"
And this was done before the shadows grew too long.

All the elders came;
Refer of Barak, Hildir the Sjoni of Dord, Kolli of the Far-Hills,
And three elders of the Southlands.
They slew the lambs and offered a prayer to the Alfather.
Orn cried out "Alfather, be upon us!
Give to Ivarr victory over the Dark One."
And they prayed for a night and a day.

After this time, a fire consumed the lambs,
And the voice of the Alfather spoke.
"I have heard your prayers, and I am saddened in my folly.
Though I cannot take back my oath to the Dark One,
I may swear a new Oath to Ivarr of Canut."

Ivarr fell to his knees "Me, Alfather? You will swear an oath to me?"
But Alfather was amongst them suddenly, a man clothed in white.
Such was his greatness that none could look upon him.
Alfather bent down and placed his hand on Ivarr's shoulder.
"Yes, Ivarr. To you I swear that while you battle the Dark One,
My strength shall be yours, that you will bind the elements of the earth
With the body of man, the soul of a warrior, and my very heart."
At this Orn stood, and sent the youths nearby
To gather the elements and placed them around Ivarr:
Fire to Flesh, Sand to Stone, Wood to Water, Blood to Bone.
Then, when all this had been done, a great light shone,
So great that none could look at it, save Ivarr.
When the light was gone, Ivarr stood there,
Ss a man yet unlike any before.

His face shone with a light of such vigour and strength
That it terrified men and awed them at once.
He took his hammer in his hand, and his hammer thrummed
Like a bowstring with the strength of the Alfather.

And so Ivarr went out to meet the Dark One,
In the valley of Mist at the brook where the tall stones stood.
"Here I am, Dark One!" Ivarr called.
"Face me, for you shall not take my woman!"

And the Dark One was afraid, for he saw the light
Of the Alfather within him, and feared his fury.
The Dark One stood off a ways, and drew his bow,
A flaming barb on the string of ebony.
Before he could fire, Ivarr picked up his sling,
And with a stone from the river he broke the ebon string,
Fouling the bow.

This enraged the Dark One,
Who took his club and charged at Ivarr.
Ivarr was not afraid, and he held his hammer high
As he ran to the Dark One.
Ahead of him a shadow rose, for the Dark One
Was three and a half spans high and two wide,
And about him was black fire.

The Dark One swung mightily,
But Ivarr brought his hammer up to ward off the blow.
A mighty roar split the air, and for a day's walk
There were no creatures living, save the Dark One and Ivarr.
The ground shook with their battle,
As first the Dark One and then Ivarr struck each other.
Whole trees were felled, and the tall stones were cast down.
But after a day and a night, the Dark One stood,
And said "I am cheated! I am not fighting man, but the Alfather!
I cannot win until the end-time has come!"

Ivarr said "So shall it then be!" and raised his hammer again.
The Dark One stepped back "No, I am in this day beaten,
But as I am cheated, I shall return again to seek my bride!"
And Alfather heard the Dark One's oath, and held him to it.
From that day on, Ivarr was known as Ivarr in Riki,
Such was his victory.

And so, every hundredyear, from that time to now,
The Dark One seeks the house of Canut, to take a bride from its women.
And every hundredyear, the Elders of Canut pray to the Alfather.
Every hundredyear a man of Canut will strive with the Dark One;
May he ever overcome the Dark One, lest it be the end-time of days.
And so, young one, our family has kept this charge,
Every hundredyear, from that day until this one.
And we will always win, until we loose,
At which point the end of days will begin.

So when you walk through the world, hold your head high,
For the same blood which Ivarr Canut shed that day in the valley of Mist
Flows through your veins, as the blood of Orn the Younger,
And Erik Ordigskeggi, and Viddar Kamban, and all the others who have fought,
Even my grandfather, Hans Jarnsida.
And perhaps, one day, one of you will hear the call of the Alfather,
Then you will go up and battle, knowing
His strength will be with you until the end.

So, thoughts? Old Norse isn't my best language.

[Steve]

I think it's rather good. Nice, cool mythology.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Thanks, I'm glad I got it right. Grandpa only tells the stories in the old tongue. Plus, no one freaks out if they think the story is fiction.

[LadyTevar]

It would be interesting to see how close the next battle is... and who will be the chosen fighter.

[CaptainChewbacca]

It would be interesting to see how close the next battle is... and who will be the chosen fighter.

Well, we just finished a hundredyear, so the next battle isn't until at least August 5, 2104. If you're wondering about the dates, sometimes he'd wait 101 or 102 years, hoping for an advantage. The longest between hundredyears was actually 105 years.

[LadyTevar]

It would be interesting to see how close the next battle is... and who will be the chosen fighter.

Well, we just finished a hundredyear, so the next battle isn't until at least August 5, 2104. If you're wondering about the dates, sometimes he'd wait 101 or 102 years, hoping for an advantage. The longest between hundredyears was actually 105 years.

I'm assuming you weren't the Chosen One, then.

[darthdavid]

Neat stuff.