THE SCENE: The sons of Ragnar Lodbrok had many adventures in their day, but none were so perilous – or so bizarre – as their conflict against a holy cow. Fortunately, the crippled Ívar the Boneless had a cunning plan.
THE TEXT: [King Eystein] had great faith in one cow, and they called her Síbilja. She had been sacrificed to so much that men could not stand before her bellowing. As soon as the brothers saw King Eystein’s force, they thought that it wouldn’t be too powerful to deal with. Suddenly, the cow was turned loose, and she charged in front of the ranks and bellowed horribly, and there was such great confusion among the fighters who heard it that they fought each other.
Ívar saw her charge and heard the hideous bellowing which was coming out of her. Ívar spoke with his carriers, telling them that they should bear him forward so that he might be closer to the front: “When you see the cow come at us, cast me at her, and it shall go one way or the other—that I shall lose my life, or she shall have her bane. Now you must take one mighty elm-tree and carve it into the shape of a bow, along with arrows.” And when this strong bow was brought to him along with the great arrows that they had made, they did not seem to them usable as weapons to anyone.
And when this wonder took place, those who bore Ívar saw that he drew his bow as if he held a weak elm branch, and it seemed as if he drew the arrow point back past his bow. Then they heard a louder twang from his bow than they had ever head before. And then they saw that the arrows flew as swift as if he had shot a crossbow, and then they saw it happen that the arrows came to sit in each of Síbilja’s eyes. And then she fell, but after that she went on headfirst, and her bellowings were much worse than before. And when she came at them, he commanded them to cast him at her, and he became to them as light as if they cast a little child, because they were not very near the cow when they cast him. And then he came down heavily upon the cow Síbilja, and he became then as heavy as a boulder when he fell on her, and every bone in her was broken, and she received her death.
Then Ívar encouraged them to wreak great harm upon those they had fought. “And now it seems to me that the most violent of them is gone, since the cow is slain.”
– The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok and his Sons, 13th Century AD
