THE SCENE: The mundane task of dream interpretation comically generates greater and greater anger as Hord, the foster-father to King Ivar, refuses to give the king the answer he wants (with catastrophic consequences).
THE TEXT: Then the king woke up and he had Hord, his foster-father, summoned. Hord stood on a rock down off the head of the pier, and the king lay on the after-deck and loosened the long edges of this tent so that they could converse.
The king was not in good spirits and said, “Come on board the ship, Hord, and interpret my dream.”
Hord said that he would not come aboard – “and your dream needs no interpretation. You yourself can understand what it is: more than likely, in only a little while, the rulership of Sweden and Denmark will change. Now the Hel-greed has come upon you, so that you think that all kingdoms must lie under your rule. But you don’t realize that it will come to pass that you’ll be dead, and your enemies will seize the kingdom.”
The king said, “Come here and speak your wicked prophecies.”
Hord said “Here I will stand and speak them from here.”
The king said, “Who was Halfdan the Valiant among the Aesir?”
Hord said, “He was Balder among the Aesir, whom all the gods mourned, and not like you.”
“You speak well,” said the king, “Come here and tell your tidings.”
Hord said “Here I will stand and speak them from here.”
The king inquired, “Who was Hraerek among the Aesir?”
Hord said, “He was Hoenir, the most timid of the Aesir, and yet bad to you.”
“Who was Helgi the Keen among the Aesir?” said the king.
Hord said, “He was Hermod, the best of the brave, and not useful to you.”
The king said, “who was Gudrod among the Aesir?”
Hord said, “Heimdall he was, the dullest of all the Aesir, and yet bad to you.
The king said, “Who am I among the Aesir?”
Hord said, “You must be that serpent that is the worst of all, called the Midgard Serpent.”
The king replied, very angry, “If you’re telling me that I am doomed to die, then I tell you that you will not live long, for I recognize you where you stand, you great ogre. Come close to the Midgard Serpent, and we two will fight each other.”
Then the king leaped from the afterdeck, and he was so angry that he leaped out from under the edges of his tent. And Hord stepped off the rock and out into the sea. Those men who had the watch on the king’s ship saw the last of the king and Hord, and they never came up again.
– Sogubrot, 13th Century AD
