THE SCENE: When a group of Ragnar Lodbrok’s soldiers go searching for food, they run across a decrepit farmstead occupied only by an old lady and a young woman whose beauty literally defies belief.
THE TEXT: They said that they were the servants of Ragnar Lodbrok, and they wanted to be about their business—“and we want you to work with us.” The old woman answered that her hands were very stiff. “But formerly I could do my work well enough, and I have a daughter who will work with you. She’ll come home soon. Her name is Kraka. Things have gotten to the point now that I can hardly manage to control her.”
Now Kraka had gone with the livestock in the morning, and she saw that many large ships had come to the land. She began to wash herself – though the old woman had forbidden her to do that, because she didn’t want for men to see her beauty, for she was the loveliest of all women. He hair was so long that it touched the ground behind her, and as fair as the finest silk.
Then Kraka came home. The cooks had made a fire, and Kraka saw that men had come whom she had not seen before. She looked at them, and they looked at her, and then they asked Grima, “is that beautiful girl your daughter?”
“It’s no lie,” said Grima, “she is my daughter.”
“You two must be incredibly unlike,” they said, “as hideous as you are. We have never seen a maiden so beautiful, and we don’t think that she looks anything like you, because you are the greatest monstrosity.”
Grima answered, “You can’t see the resemblance in me now. My looks aren’t what they used to be.”
– The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok, 13th Century AD
[Kraka by Mårten Eskil Winge]
