![]() But venturesome Ørretfangst, mighty of arm and strong of heart, would not be deterred by the words of men. Broddr, Ørretfangst’s boon companion, said they should sail north at once, for men say that lands far to the south of Svalbard are hotter than may be endured, and have no natives, and nothing that is good for trading. ![]() Ørretfangst, hawk-watchful, seabird-wise, had determined that the storm had borne them far to the south. ![]() When the sky cleared, Ørretfangst and his men found themselves near a strange coast. But no man may bid a storm, and day by day and night by night the froth-tipped horses bore them onward. Able seamen all were the prince and his men, and had they been otherwise their bones would have gone down to the bottom of the sea. Before the Thaw, the seas were lower, and their waters were locked up in the vast palaces of the Frost Giants.Īfter the raids, when Ørretfangst was returning home to Frøkvelv, a mighty storm whipped itself up from the sea. Thereafter they raided those islands that men call the Narrows, for so little of them remain above water. They raided that island that is called the sea’s pipe, for its mountains are known to issue forth smoke. In the prince’s sixth spring tilling the whale’s road, he and his men went raiding upon the islands to the south of Svalbard. And he did many great deeds, both in raids and in defending the Kingdom of Frøkvelv, and all men said that he was a wise prince, and strong in battle, a worthy leader. The seasons turned, and the prince became a man, and went out raiding. And he learned well the catechism of the True Gods, who made the land and all the good things that man may eat, and who overthrew the tyranny of the Frost Giants, and brought the Thaw upon all the lands, and made the land of Frøkvelv a fit place for a man to live. He was a strong lad, and grew up well, and was skilled with spear and sword and bow, and all men said he was the best of Frøkvelv in these things. The ørretfangst, mighty and clever, that waits hidden in stream or fjord for its prey and then strikes with a great clash of fangs, like spear on spear and shield on shield. ![]() Ørretfangst they named him, trout-trapper, after the fiercest beast of their land, which they knew by that name. And in the fullness of time he brought home a wife, a princess of the Easterlings, and with her he had a son. Okred was king in those days, son of Gilesso, and when he was a young man he sailed and traded and raided all the lands around the land of Frøkvelv, and all agreed he was a strong man and a cunning one, and a fearsome foe in battle. Know now the sad tale of the greatest and most defiled of these heroes, who strove mightily against the enemies of the gods and won much glory thereby, but in the end was ensnared in a demonic deception and brought to a base and tragic end: the tale of Ørretfangst, Prince of Frøkvelv. Did not the gods, in the frozen age before they made the world, visit Svalbard and there construct the great fortress Frøkvelv, and fill its catacombs and passageways with those seeds of wholesome grains that now grow both wild and cultivated across the land? Was not Frøkvelv wrought of godly stones and metals that hold fast against the weapons of any army? Did not they place upon the walls of Frøkvelv their protection, in magic runes that read, in the language of the gods:Īnd have not the gods been with the Svalmen since their first day, raising up heroes and warriors among them, men of renown on that land and on other lands across the great sea? The Svalmen have always been renowned as the wisest and most warlike among men, and the most blessed.
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