The Story of the Slaying of the Ymurwurm as told by Svidar, son of Svipdag, son of Svipol, son of Svidrir, son of Svid, who saw all of these things and did not forget them.
Hear you now the story of the Slaying of the Ymurwurm. It is the story of our fathers. It is the tribute of our children. Listen now to the story of the Slaying of the Ymurwurm.
In the days that Oskarl was Jarl there came an early winter that froze the Heim and killed the crops before they could be harvested. Then from the Mountains came the greatest of the Wurms, a Linnorm of Flame, who had slept from the dawn of time. He was driven from the peaks by the Wind of the North which blows exceedingly cold and interrupted his great slumber.
So the Wurm flew in the skies above Greathearth and chastened the Heim with his fiery breath and demanded tribute of Oskarl and his mighty men. But Oskarl would not be cowed and instead climbed a high hill above his hearth, and thereupon buried the point of his spear in the ground and thus held a Meet with the Wurm.
Said Oskarl, "You have come here in search of tribute. This I would not give, even had I any to give. For the same wind which has driven you from the cliffs, has swept also this entire Heim and killed our crop and herd before it."
Then the Wurm said. "You surely would give, had you any to give. For I am Ymur, the mighty and if not, I would burn you and all the Heim before me, and I would eat your daughters and make sport of your sons."
So Oskarl stared long at the Ymurwurm and it stared back until the silence was broken by laughter.
"Who laughs?" demanded the Ymurwurm and Oskarl together.
Then Thokrea the Lathspeaker stepped from the cave where she had been hiding, for the hill upon which Oskarl had driven his spearpoint was hers, though he knew it not. And when she came from the cave, they saw that it was her and the blood in both of them froze thicker than the Draugr Sea in Winter.
Hear you now the story of the Slaying of the Ymurwurm. It is the story of our fathers. It is the tribute of our children. Listen now to the story of the Slaying of the Ymurwurm.
In the days that Oskarl was Jarl there came an early winter that froze the Heim and killed the crops before they could be harvested. Then from the Mountains came the greatest of the Wurms, a Linnorm of Flame, who had slept from the dawn of time. He was driven from the peaks by the Wind of the North which blows exceedingly cold and interrupted his great slumber.
So the Wurm flew in the skies above Greathearth and chastened the Heim with his fiery breath and demanded tribute of Oskarl and his mighty men. But Oskarl would not be cowed and instead climbed a high hill above his hearth, and thereupon buried the point of his spear in the ground and thus held a Meet with the Wurm.
Said Oskarl, "You have come here in search of tribute. This I would not give, even had I any to give. For the same wind which has driven you from the cliffs, has swept also this entire Heim and killed our crop and herd before it."
Then the Wurm said. "You surely would give, had you any to give. For I am Ymur, the mighty and if not, I would burn you and all the Heim before me, and I would eat your daughters and make sport of your sons."
So Oskarl stared long at the Ymurwurm and it stared back until the silence was broken by laughter.
"Who laughs?" demanded the Ymurwurm and Oskarl together.
Then Thokrea the Lathspeaker stepped from the cave where she had been hiding, for the hill upon which Oskarl had driven his spearpoint was hers, though he knew it not. And when she came from the cave, they saw that it was her and the blood in both of them froze thicker than the Draugr Sea in Winter.
"I laugh because both Wurm and Man know only folly. This wind blows before it an early Winter which shall fill the entire world with ice. Neither the breath of a Wurm nor the hearthfires of Oskarl will abate it. Neither the steel of a Jarl or the teeth of Ymur will break it."
"Then we shall fight," said Oskarl, "and I shall draw what warmth I may from the blood of my foe."
And Ymur agreed saying, "What time is left to me I will pass with a warm meal in my belly, and this Jarl and his kind seem warm enough to me."
Then Thokrea laughed again, and said, "You will indeed fight and your contest will have no end. For a while it may warm you, but in the end both of you shall be likewise slain and your children after you. And still the snows will cover you and the ice shall be as a tomb."
So it was that Oskarl and Ymur fought and their children fought and so did their children after them. All fought in the manner of their grandsires. There has been no end to their contests and still the snow falls and covers all in the land of Northrun.
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