ARFUR · Track 9

Enginn hestur

Old Icelandic

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Lyrics

Göngu-Hrólfr! Of stór fyrir hest! Göngu-Hrólfr! Of stór fyrir hest! Göngu-Hrólfr! Of stór fyrir hest! Göngu-Hrólfr! Of stór fyrir hest! Rollo gengur, engin hestur ber hann, Rollo brýtur Frakkland með fótum sínum, Konungur býður land, ekki bardaga, Ný jörð fæðist úr göngu minni. Rollo gengur, engin hestur ber hann, Rollo brýtur Frakkland með fótum sínum, Konungur býður land, ekki bardaga, Ný jörð fæðist úr göngu minni. Þeir hlógu að mér í Noregi, Of stór, of þungur, gangandi jötunn, En fætur mínir báru mig yfir höf, Fætur mínir tóku það sem hestar gátu ekki. Karl konungur bauð mér frið og land, Ef ég kyssti fót hans eins og þræll, Ég sendi mann minn í staðinn fyrir mig, Hann kastaði konunginum til jarðar. Rollo gengur, engin hestur ber hann, Rollo brýtur Frakkland með fótum sínum, Konungur býður land, ekki bardaga, Ný jörð fæðist úr göngu minni. Rollo gengur, engin hestur ber hann, Rollo brýtur Frakkland með fótum sínum, Konungur býður land, ekki bardaga, Ný jörð fæðist úr göngu minni. Ég kraup ekki, ég beygði mig ekki, Ah-ah-ah-aaaah... Normandí fæddist af stolti mínu — ekki af undirgefni! Rollo gengur, engin hestur ber hann, Rollo brýtur Frakkland með fótum sínum, Konungur býður land, ekki bardaga, Ný jörð fæðist úr göngu minni. Rollo gengur, engin hestur ber hann, Rollo brýtur Frakkland með fótum sínum, Konungur býður land, ekki bardaga, Ný jörð fæðist úr göngu minni. Normandí lifir, ganga mín lifir, Normandí lifir, ganga mín lifir. Normandí lifir, ganga mín lifir, Normandí lifir, ganga mín lifir.

Göngu-Hrólfr! Too large for a horse! Göngu-Hrólfr! Too large for a horse! Göngu-Hrólfr! Too large for a horse! Göngu-Hrólfr! Too large for a horse! Rollo walks, no horse carries him, Rollo breaks France with his feet, The king offers land, not battle, A new realm is born out of my walking. Rollo walks, no horse carries him, Rollo breaks France with his feet, The king offers land, not battle, A new realm is born out of my walking. They laughed at me in Norway, Too large, too heavy, a walking giant, But my feet carried me across seas, My feet took what horses could not. King Charles offered me peace and land, If I kissed his foot like a thrall, I sent my man in my place, He threw the king to the ground. Rollo walks, no horse carries him, Rollo breaks France with his feet, The king offers land, not battle, A new realm is born out of my walking. Rollo walks, no horse carries him, Rollo breaks France with his feet, The king offers land, not battle, A new realm is born out of my walking. I did not kneel, I did not bow, Ah-ah-ah-aaaah... Normandy was born of my pride — not of submission! Rollo walks, no horse carries him, Rollo breaks France with his feet, The king offers land, not battle, A new realm is born out of my walking. Rollo walks, no horse carries him, Rollo breaks France with his feet, The king offers land, not battle, A new realm is born out of my walking. Normandy lives, my walking lives, Normandy lives, my walking lives. Normandy lives, my walking lives, Normandy lives, my walking lives.

Story Behind The Song

Rollo, the first ruler of Normandy, is identified in Icelandic tradition with Hrólfr, son of Rögnvaldr of Møre. Heimskringla explains his byname Göngu-Hrólfr, Hrólfr the Walker: he was so large that no horse could carry him, so he went on foot. After years of Norse raiding on the Seine, King Charles the Simple granted him land around Rouen in 911, at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, in exchange for allegiance and the defence of the river against other raiders. That grant became Normandy. The scene with the foot comes from Dudo of Saint-Quentin, writing about a century later. Homage required kissing the king's foot. Rollo would not stoop to it and told one of his men to do it for him; the man lifted the foot to his mouth instead of bending, and tipped the king onto his back. Dudo was writing for Rollo's descendants, so the anecdote flatters them, and it may be exactly the kind of story a court invents. The song uses it the way Dudo intended, as proof that the terms were accepted without submission. Rollo's descendant William took England in 1066.

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