Auðunar þáttr vestfirska

A man named Audun was from the Westfjords and had little wealth. He set out from the western fjords overseas with the support of Thorstein, a worthy farmer, and of Thorir the steersman, who had spent the winter there with Thorstein. Audun was there as well and worked for Thorir, and in return, he received passage abroad and Thorir’s care as payment.

Before he boarded ship, Audun placed most of what he owned in his mother’s care, and provision was made for her for three years.

They sailed out and had a good voyage. Audun spent the winter with Thorir the steersman, who had a farm in Moeri. The following summer they travelled to Greenland and stayed there through the winter.

It is told that Audun bought a polar bear there, a great treasure, and paid for it with all he owned. The next summer they returned to Norway and made good progress. Audun had the animal with him and now meant to go south to Denmark to meet King Svein and give him the bear.

When he came south into the land where the king was he went ashore from the ship, led the animal after him, and took lodging. Word soon reached King Harald that a polar bear had arrived there, a great treasure, and that it belonged to an Icelander. The king at once sent men for him.

When Audun came before the king, he greeted him well, and the king received his greeting graciously and then asked:

“Is it true that you possess this great treasure, a polar bear?”

He replied that he did indeed own such a beast.

The king said, “Will you sell us the bear for the price you paid for it?”

He answered, “I will not, lord.”

“Will you then accept twice that price from me? That would be fair, if you gave all your property for it.”

“I will not, lord,” he said.

The king asked, “Will you give it to me, then?”

“No, lord.”

“What do you intend to do with it?”

“To travel to Denmark,” he said, “and give it to King Svein.”

King Harald said, “Which is it: are you so foolish a man that you have not heard of the hostility between our countries? Or do you trust your luck so greatly that you think you will reach him with such a treasure, when others cannot travel there safely even when necessity drives them?”

Audun answered, “Lord, that lies in your power. But I will agree to nothing other than what I have already resolved.”

Then the king said, “Why should you not go your way as you wish, then? Come back to me when you return, and tell me how King Svein rewards you for the bear. It may be that you are a man of good fortune.”

“I promise you that,” said Audun.

He then travelled south along the coast, east into the Vik, and from there to Denmark. By that time every penny of his money was spent, and he had to beg food both for himself and for the animal.

He came to King Svein’s steward, a man named Aki, and asked him for provisions for them both. “I intend,” he said, “to give the bear to King Svein.”

Aki said he would sell him supplies if he wished. Audun said he had nothing to pay with. “Yet I would still like it to come about,” he said, “that I might deliver the animal to the king.”

“I will provide you with the supplies you need to reach the king,” said Aki, “but in return I shall own half the bear. You must consider that the animal will die on your hands, since it requires much food and your money is gone, and it is to be expected that you would then have nothing of the beast.”

When Audun considered this, it seemed to him there was something in what the steward said, and they agreed on this: that he would sell Aki half the bear, and the king should afterward determine the value of the whole.

They were now to go both together to meet the king, and so they did. They went together before the king and stood before the table.

The king wondered who this man might be, whom he did not recognize, and then asked Audun, “Who are you?”

He answered, “I am an Icelander, lord. I have come from Greenland and now from Norway, and I intended to bring you this polar bear. I bought it with all my property, and now great difficulty has come upon me, for I now own only half the animal,” and he then told the king what had passed between himself and Aki, his steward.

The king said, “Is it true, Aki, what he says?”

“It is true,” he said.

The king said, “And did it seem fitting to you, when I had set you in a position of authority, to hinder or obstruct a man who undertook to bring me a treasure and paid for it with all he owned, when King Harald thought it better to let him go in peace, though he is our enemy? Consider, then, how justly that was done on your part, and how well you might deserve death for it. But I shall not do that. Instead, you shall leave the land at once and never again come into my sight.

“And to you, Audun, I give such thanks as if you had given me the whole animal. Stay here with me.”

He accepted this and remained with King Svein for a time.