The
minstrel sings about the saga of Finn and his sons. Hildeburth, a Danish
princess married to Finn, the Frisian king, lost both her son and her
brother in a battle at Finn's hall with the Danes. The battle was
indecisive, and a truce was called. Under an agreement, the remaining
Danes were to be quartered at the Frisians' hall; Finn agreed to honor
the Danes with tribute, treating them as equals with the Frisians and
their allies, the Jutes. A funeral pyre was built and the corpses from
the battle were burnt.
That
winter the Danes lived uneasily with the Frisians. They were homesick
and resentful, and they also wanted revenge. When spring came they
renewed the feud. Finn was killed and his home looted, and Hildeburh his
widow was taken back to Denmark.
Analysis
This is one of several
digressions in the poem. It gives more insight into the many feuds that
took place between the different clans in the region. It also shows how
such feuds might be settled, and how they tended to break out again
before long.
|