THE SCENE: If you thought your childhood was hard, compare yourself to Aslaug (daughter of Sigurd and future wife of Ragnar Lodbrok), who from the age of three had to live inside a giant harp, constantly on the run from her enemies, and subsisting on nothing but “wine-leek”.
THE TEXT: In Hlymdal, Heimir heard the news that Sigurd and Bynhild were dead. Aslaug, their daughter and Heimir’s foster-daughter, was three years old then. He now knew that enemies would seek to destroy the girl and all her family. But he grieved so much over the death of Brynhild, his foster-daughter, that he cared neither for his own kingdom or his wealth. He realized that he could not keep the girl there in secret. He had a harp made that was so large that he put the girl Aslaug inside it, along with many precious objects of gold and silver. Then he went away and traveled widely throughout the land, and at last came to the Northlands. His harp was so skillfully made that he could take it apart and put it together at the joints, and on days when he came to waterfall with no houses nearby, it was his custom to take the harp apart and bath the birth. He had a wine-leek which he gave her to eat – the nature of this leek is such that a person may survive for a long time, even if he has no other food. And when the girl cried, he would strike up his harp and she would quiet, for Heimir was accomplished at those skills which were practiced at the time. He also had many costly clothes in the harp with her, and much gold.
– The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok, 13th Century AD
[Image Credit: King Heimer and Aslaug – William Morris]
