And here the bard did end his song.
The Death Song of Great Lord Uulf
And the bard did sing:
King Olentzlero had Uulf put in chains and made him a slave in the west.
By day he would grind corn in their mill, and by night on a perfumed bed of feathers he would grind in sacred union with the king’s hundred daughters.
Many paid ten pieces of silver to watch his grinding by day. And they played furious music on the wing-ed harp as they laughed.
A hundred pieces of silver was paid by a select few to watch his grinding by night. And they played furious music on the wing-ed harp while they marveled.
The great creator came to Uulf in a dream. Will you not fight in my army, my child? he said.
Uulf answered, But they have made me blind, lord.
When you had eyes, you could not see, the great creator said. It is I who have made you blind so that you can see. Open your eyes and tell me what you see.
Uulf opened his eyes within his dream and said, I see an army of wenches greater than all the armies of the west, and they have enslaved your people.
The great creator said, These are the daughters of King Olentzlero, who carry your seed, an army that will grow up to enslave my people.
Uulf understood the dream and he said, I will fight in your army. I am your warrior.
When he awoke from the dream, evening had become night and the hundred daughters of the king had come to him to be grinded. He grinded them indeed. He grinded them with his hands until each was dead and his seed within her.
Only one daughter escaped and cried out for the soldiers of the west to come quickly.
Uulf, though blind, reached out into his darkness with hands that were guided by the great creator and he slew a hundred of them.
They called for one hundred archers, for after seeing that, no oaf dared approach him.
The archers let fly one hundred arrows, ninety-nine of which hit their mark, but Uulf was not undone.
And when the hundredth arrow hit its mark, Uulf, the son of oaf and angel, earth-son of the great creator, breathed his last breath.
It took one hundred arrows to slay him, they marveled. Indeed, he was the greatest of the great creator’s warriors.
All in all, in his lifetime of battles against the west and revelry, Uulf slew more than 5,000.
And here the bard did end his song.
Life Song of Great Lord Gerwargerulf
And the bard did sing:
The girl who was not slain with her sisters by Lord Uulf’s righteous hand, Grietjel, the firstborn daughter of Olentzlero the Mighty, king of the west, gave birth to a son who grew to be an oaf of great size, the tallest oaf on earth because an oaf had given birth to a child of Uulf, the earth-son of the great creator.
Gerwargerulf was a monstrous monster, this boy, but brave and strong. He became a lord in his grandfather’s armies two years before his full maturity because he was an oaf of great valor and strength — the strongest ever, after Uulf.
Like Uulf, he was a lover of the wing-ed harp. He practiced on it all day when he was not in battle — and he was a ferocious warrior who killed hundreds of oafs from the east single-handedly.
And there came a day after a battle in the east that the giant oaf dismissed his soldiers and went alone to a small hill to think about songs to play on his wing-ed harp, for this was his true passion, not war, which he only did as an occupation.
While he was deep in contemplation, Gerwargerulf heard a child’s voice. The boy was singing a song so sweetly!
When he peeped over the hill, he saw a boy of about eight dressed in the garments of his enemy the east.
The boy was there with a girl of about the same age, who was also from the east. He was singing to her a song he must have composed, for on occasion he would change a phrase and ask her if she liked it better that way.