Five composition principles of the ‘heroic mode of combat’ can be distilled from the observations on Vǫlsunga saga:
(I) taciturnity on combat actions: Fighting is narrated in a general overview and with repetitive phrases, while individual manoeuvres are hardly ever described. Even large battles are summarized with a few sentences.
(II) emphasis on psychic characteristics: More important than physical deeds are the mental qualities of a warrior. Courage in combat, bravery even in the face of death and cold-heartedness against the enemy are at the centre of interest. As Gustav Neckel put it: “Die alten Stoffe […] erwärmen sich viel weniger für den Waffengang als für die Heldengesinnung”. (Neckel, 1915, p. 32)
(III) tendency to exaggeration: In the ‘heroic mode of combat’, exaggeration shows mostly in the vast numbers of foes a single hero can take on. Different from the ‘adventurous mode of combat’, but similar to the ‘knightly mode’, quantity is more important here than quality.
(IV) vulnerability of the hero: In contrast to the ‘adventurous mode of combat’, the protagonists of the ‘heroic mode’ face the danger of death when they go into battle, either in the fighting itself, or by execution after being captured. Sigmundr's death after his meeting with Óðinn emphasises this. No matter how favoured by fate a warrior might be, he will not be spared when his time has come.
(V) cruelty: physical violence takes on extreme forms. In contrast to the gory mutilations of the ‘adventurous mode of combat’, this is not only the case in combat, or against hostile warriors. Helpless victims are tortured and killed, among them children, innocent wayfarers or captured enemies. The methods used can be of atrocious inventiveness. At least for a modern reader, there seems to be no ironic undertone to the violence, and the scenes convey a rather grim mood.
a) Comparison: Hálfs saga ok hálfsrekka
Are there other sagas in which the ‘heroic mode of combat’ is applied? We may consider Hálfs saga ok hálfsrekka as an example. The text refers to several battles, of which not a
single is recounted in detail (I: taciturnity). To measure the ferocity of a battle, only the huge loss of men is mentioned, as was the case in Vǫlsunga saga:
• ok attu þeir oruztu ok þa fell Josur kongr fyrer ok aller bændr þes herads. þui heiter þat Kuena herad at þar bygdu ekíur eínar epter. (Seelow, 1981, p. 171 / ch. 2) • þa komu Halfs rekar til orustu þeir sem uid skíp haufdu uerit. þar fell mikill hlutur
Halfs reka. oruztan hellzt allt til nætur adr Jnst(einn) fell. (Seelow, 1981, p. 185 / ch. 8)
• Þa gengu þeir Ulf syner ok Vtst(einn) utt ok baurduzt. hann drap alla Vlfsonu ok Geck sidan jn fyrer kong (Seelow, 1981, p. 189 / ch. 9)
The last example displays the composition principle (III: exaggeration). However, the prose text is hardly more than a framework for the surrounding skaldic stanzas, which follow the standards of the genre. They mention the warrior's bravery and the number of men he killed, but they don't recount any details of the fight:
þig ueít eg manna miklu fremstan einn sníallaztan er þu atta uott
(Seelow, 1981, p. 189 / ch. 9)
Smaller skirmishes are not fought between equally prepared parties, but are asymmetrical acts of homicide (V: cruelty):
• Epter þat kom Kollur med lid mikit i Stord ꜳ laun ok laugdu elld j hus Gunualldz roga. Gunualldr geck utt ok uar drepin. (Seelow, 1981, p. 171 / ch. 2)
• Reidar kongr sat sofandi j hasætínu en Æsa sat j kníam honum. Híorleifr kongr lagdi j bríost honum ok geck siþan til skíps epter lidi sínu [...] En Reidar k(ong) let hann heíngía daudan ꜳ galga þann er hann hafdi honum ætlad. (Seelow, 1981, p. 176 / ch. 3)
Like the heroes of Vǫlsunga saga, King Hálfr's men know no fear of death. When they face it willingly, they have one last joke on their lips (II: psychic characteristics). Though not a combat scene, a short sequence onboard their ship demonstrates this: þeir fengu storm
mikin j hafi. skíp þeira uard ecki ausít. þa uar þat rads tekit at hluta menn fyrer bord en þess þurftí ecki þuiat huer baud sinum felaga fyrer bord at fara. en er þeir stígu fyrer bord þa mælltu þeir. stra laust er fyrer stock(un)um. (Seelow, 1981, p. 178 / ch. 6)
Finally, the composition principle (IV: vulnerability) is very obviously applied. Hálfr and his men, after whom the saga is called, find their death at the hands of King Ásmundr. He betrays them, lays fire to their hall while they are asleep, and kills those who try to escape. Like in Vǫlsunga saga, a heroic life ultimately leads to a gruesome death.
While the majority of the references to combat in Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka fit neatly to the ‘heroic mode of combat’, there is one exception:
foru tueír menn at sækia uatn til lækíar er fell af biargí fram. þar sa þeir brun míga ok saugdu Híorleifi kongi. Siþan heiter kongr brodd spíot j elldi ok skaut til hans. [...] Þa toku þeir uattn en Þussín skauty inn j biargit. þa er þau satu uid elld þꜳ kuad þuss af biargí annat hlíod [...] Þa skaut Híorleifr hínu sama spiotí j auga þuí traulli. (Seelow, 1981, pp. 172-173 / ch. 2)
The scene shifts to resemble the ‘adventurous mode of combat’. It takes place at the southern edge of the Finnmark, that is, at the borders to the realm of the supernatural, and the enemy (or rather, victim) attacked by Hjörleif is a troll (IV: supernatural and II: exaggeration). For the only time in Hálfs saga, the inflicted injury is precisely described. The troll is mutilated, his eye being taken out with a red-hot spear (I: graphic violence) – again, a reflection of the Polyphem motif.