Skuld

Skuld turned her husband, Hjörvarðr, against her half-brother, King Hrólf Kraki. She was the daughter of Helgi Halvdansson and an álf-spirit, and had great skill in sorcery. She used galdrar and gerningar to hide the raising and movement of her army from Hrólf and his champions. She performed a great seiðr and summoned álfar, nornir, and other vile creatures. Her host grew so powerful that no mortal army could withstand it. The dead were also raised to fight for her.

Skuld’s forces approached Hrólf’s camp and settled beside it without being seen. Her spells cast the camp into lassitude. Hrólf’s men ignored the enemy and occupied themselves with sexual games with their women. Skuld remained in an unusually large tent with strange fittings. Within a black tent, she sat on a seiðr platform. When her forces encircled the camp, Hrólf’s men eventually broke free of their weakness and went out to meet them.

Boðvarr bjarki, Hrólf’s berserkr champion, was absent from the field. A huge bear appeared in his place. It fought at Hrólf’s side, killed everyone in its path, and seemed unaffected by missiles. One of Hrólf’s champions thought that Boðvarr had deserted the king. He found Boðvarr in his tent and persuaded him to join the battle. Boðvarr said that he could help Hrólf more by remaining there. When he finally entered the fighting, the bear disappeared. Skuld’s sorcery had no effect while the bear was visible.

A wolf-grey boar, as large as a young bull, came from Skuld’s army. Arrows flew from every bristle, killing the men who opposed it. Her sorcery continued to overwhelm the battlefield. A storm of galdrar swept over the remains of Hrólf’s army, and the shield-wall broke. Hrólf fell with Boðvarr and all his champions. Skuld survived, though most of her army had been destroyed, and took control of the kingdom. Those who later avenged Hrólf and his men defeated and killed her.