Helgé and Halfdan
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Guerber, H. A. (Hélène Adeline)
These instructions were piously carried out when, shortly after, the aged companions breathed their last; and the great barrows having been erected, the brothers, Helgé and Halfdan, began to rule their kingdom, while Frithiof, their former playmate, withdrew to his own place at Framnäs, a fertile homestead, lying in a snug valley enclosed by the towering mountains and the waters of the ever-changing firth.
“Three miles extended around the fields of the homestead; on three sides
Valleys and mountains and hills, but on the fourth side was the ocean.
Birch-woods crowned the summits, but over the down-sloping hill-sides
Flourished the golden corn, and man-high was waving the rye-field.”
Tegnér, Frithiof Saga (Longfellow’s tr.).
But although surrounded by faithful retainers, and blessed with much wealth and the possession of the famous treasures of his hero sire, the sword Angurvadel, the Völund ring, and the matchless dragon ship Ellida, Frithiof was unhappy, because he could no longer see the fair Ingeborg daily. All his former spirits revived, however, when in the spring, at his invitation, both kings came to visit him, together with their fair sister, and once again they spent long hours in cheerful companionship. As they were thus constantly thrown together, Frithiof found opportunity to make known to Ingeborg his deep affection, and he received in return an avowal of her love.
“He sat by her side, and he pressed her soft hand,
And he felt a soft pressure responsive and bland;
Whilst his love-beaming gaze
Was returned as the sun’s in the moon’s placid rays.”
Tegnér, Frithiof Saga (Longfellow’s tr.).