Randvér

The son of king Jörmunrekkr. His father desired to wed Svanhildr and sent him to the court of king Jónakr to woo her and bring her to be his wife. Jörmunrekkr's counselor Bikki went with him. When Randvér had come to the court of Jónakr, Svanhildr was given into his hands, and he would have brought her to father, but Earl Bikki said that it was a better thing for Randvér to wed Svandhildr, since he and she were both young, whereas Jörmunrekkr was old. Bikki's counsel pleased them well.

When they returned home, Bikki reported the matter to the king. Straightway, Jörmunrekkr commanded that his son be seized and led to the gallows. Then Randvér took his hawk and plucked off his feathers, and bade that it be sent so to his father; after which he was hanged. But when King Jörmunrekkr saw the hawk, suddenly it came home to him that even as the hawk was featherless and powerless to fly, so was his kingdom shorn of its might, since he was old and childless.

References

Sources

  • Skáldskaparmál, 41.
  • Völsunga saga, 41.