THE SCENE: In an interesting tale of Viking manners, the legendary King Hrolf Kraki offers a stranger whatever seat he wants at the banquet table… so long as he can force the person already sitting there to move.
THE TEXT: Then I heard about Hrolf Kraki, his generosity and kindness, fame and feats, and the prowess of his champions: that they weren’t like anyone else you could name, for strength or any skill. I became eager to meet this king and his men. So off I went, taking my comrades along too, till I came to Denmark and King Hrolf. I went before him and I greeted him. And he received me well and asked who I was, and I told him. He asked what I wanted, and I said I wanted to stay the winter with him. And he said he never refused food to any man and he wasn’t going to start with me and my band.
“I asked then where I should sit. He told me to sit wherever I could make a space and pull a man off his seat. I said I was much obliged. I was very confident. I went straight for the place where Bodvar Bjarki sat. The king had ordered them not to fight back. So I grabbed hold of Bodvar and braced my feet against the footboard. I hunched my shoulders and strained with my arms. I tried then with all my strength, but he sat perfectly still and there was no way I could budge him. And one moment he was red as blood, and the next white as bast, or blue as death, or pale as a corpse, just like that, he kept turning all these colours.
“Next I took hold of Hjalti the Gallant. Each of us strove as well as we could. I managed jerk him to the edge of the dais, but then he always righted himself and sat back down again before I could. This went on a while, till I gave up. Next I settled on Hvitserk the Keen and gave it my best shot. I jerked him forwards and likewise each of the others. In this way I went right around the hall and pulled everyone out of their seats. After that I and my men could sit where we wanted. We all got the most important seats. There was real grandeur apparent in everything there, and hospitality, and it seems to me like the best place anywhere. But when summer came, I went to King Hrolf and thanked him for my winter stay, and I said that I must be off now. And he begged me to stay, but I wasn’t content there.
– The Tale of Toki Tokason, 14th Century AD
