THE BOY IN THE GERMANIC HERO-SAGAS 1 



two crowns. The one who came out victorious should have both 

 kingdoms. Wermund bowed his head and wept bitterly when this 

 message came to him. 



"That is to mock my blindness and my childless old age. Whom 

 have I to fight for me ? " 



All the Danes who stood about were embarrassed in the presence 

 of the Saxon messengers. No one thought of Uffo. Suddenly a 

 strange voice was heard begging the king's leave to answer the 

 ambassadors. "In vain," it cried, "does yon stranger covet the 

 throne. The king's son will save the land for his people and the 

 crown for his father." And thereupon the dull and witless Uffo 

 took up the challenge of the Saxons; and bade them send not only 

 their king's son, but the bravest of their warriors as well, whom he 

 would withstand in single combat. The blind old Wermund could 

 not believe that this brave man was his own son, on whom he had 

 long ago ceased to rely. When asked why he had been silent and 

 inactive for so many years, the young man replied, "Why speak? 

 My father and my country have had no need of me until now." 



Uffo met the men of the Saxons at the appointed time and place. 

 His mighty arm with the magic sword "Skrep" soon dispatched his 

 two opponents. Wermund wept for joy when the good news was 

 brought to him. And, while the Saxons withdrew to bury their 

 dead, Uffo was received by the Danes with joyous songs of victory. 



StarkaSr, 1 whose elemental fierceness in later life was the topic 

 of many a story, was a kolbitr in his boyhood, and lay grovelling 

 in the ashes with apparently no thought of future great deeds. Three 

 years before he became of age, Starka9r was discovered by Vikarr, 

 a king 's son and a great warrior. Vikarr was attracted by the wonder- 

 ful size of the boy's body. He bade him rise up, measured his long 

 arms, and gave him war-garments and weapons. From that time 

 StarkaSr was in the service of Vikarr for many years, and his life as 

 a warrior began. He was later spoken of as the most celebrated of 

 all the warriors in the early stories. 



Dietleib 2 was another overgrown boy whose great bodily size was 



■ " Vlkarsbilkr, " Eddica Minora, p. 38. ■ fipriks Saga C m (petleifr). 



