Saber is Heithrek, son of the shieldmaiden Hervor and king Höfund. Several years before his birth, his mother had gone to claim the family blade Tyrfing from her father’s grave. Her father’s ghost had claimed that she would have a son named Heithrek, more powerful and wiser than any other under Heaven’s light. For years afterwards, she brought a reign of terror wherever she went, slaying anyone she wanted without regrets, until she decided to settle down at her grandfather’s castle, taking up more womanly interests for the time and becoming a respectable woman. Höfund, son of King Guthmund heard of her retirement, the wondrous stories of the raging shieldmaiden entrancing his heart. He asked for her hand in marriage, which she accepted.
Heithrek was born shortly after his mother settled down with her husband, his younger brother Agantyr being born right after him. While Agantyr had his father’s gentle spirit, Heithrek had the violent temper and reckless rage of his mother in her youth. Even as a boy, it was clear that much darkness lay in his black heart.
Yet, his mother loved him nonetheless, doting on him like a mother should. Her husband however, despised him, sending him to live with his foster father Gizur in hopes of calming his rage. Yet it failed, Heithrek continuing his evil acts far into his teens.
While he was gone, his father held a lavish feast but did not invite his oldest son. Enraged, Heithrek interrupted the meal with intents to cause havoc, his brother graciously inviting him to sit beside him. While Agantyr was away, Heithrek antagonized the men sitting next to him, causing them both to gradually grow angrier and angrier to one another, Agantyr breaking up their arguments multiple times. Yet, Heithrek continued, until later that night one of them killed the other by Heithrek's antagonizing. All because he enjoyed pissing off his father and his mother loved him too much to stop him.
In layman’s term, this pissed his father off enough that he gave Heithrek the boot otherwise he would kill him. Agantyr, bless his soul, was too kind to let his brother leave alone and went with him. Before they left, their mother gave Heithrek her sword, Tyrfing.
On their way down the road, the brothers' curiosity of the sword led to Heithrek unsheathing it. This was the first time the blade's curse activated on Heithrek, the unquenchable bloodlust tearing through his mind. In his madness, he cut his own brother down, only realizing what he had done once the blade had its fill. As he held his dead brother in his arms, this was the last time he wept.
For several years, he hid in the forest in shame, hunting deer to sustain his wildman lifestyle, lamenting that while his ancestors would be remembered for their greatness, he wouldn’t even be a footnote in their stories. On one day, in anger he went to his parent’s home, begging his mother to ask his father for advice, so he could become a great hero yet.
His father told him this:
“In the first place he must not aid a man who has slain his liege lord. Secondly, he must not protect a man who has slain one of his comrades. Thirdly, his wife ought not to be always leaving home to visit her relatives. Fourthly, he ought not to stay out late with his sweetheart. Fifthly, he should not ride his best horse when he is in a hurry. Sixthly, he ought not to bring up the child of a man in a better position than himself. Seventhly, let him always be cheerful towards one who comes for hospitality. Eighthly, he should never lay Tyrfing on the ground. Ninthly, he must never tell secrets to his sweetheart—Yet he will not get any benefit from this advice.”
Believing the advice to be nothing more than words of spite, he promised to deny and reject every single one of his decrees. As he left the castle, his mother gave him a gold mark, reminding him of what power the blade held, that no matter who wielded Tyrfing, it shall grant them victory.
He journeyed to Reithgotaland, ruled by King Harold, and eventually became the king of half of the country through marriage to Princess Helga. With wealth, power, and a beautiful wife and son named for the boy’s uncle, Heithrek forgot his anger and powerlust, as he had no real desire to gain anything.
Then, famine struck the lands with no end in sight, the lack of food claiming his wife’s life. The oracles claimed that to end the famine the noblest son must sacrificed to the gods. Heithrek declared Harold’s son to be the noblest, while Harold claimed the young Agantyr was the noblest. Both men didn’t want to kill their own son, but unlike Harold Heithrek did not care for what he had to do in order to save his son.
Having his men swear oaths of allegiance to him and only him alone, Heithrek stormed Harold’s castle, slaughtering all who stood in his way and staining the altars in father’s and son’s blood. The queen killed herself before she was killed by the knights. At the time, the Hunnish princess Sifka was visiting her close friends at Reithgotaland. Claiming her as one of his many prizes of war, he sent her off pregnant back to her kingdom, the son born from her being named Hlöth.
With a remarriage to a Saxon princess, he continued to grow in power. She constantly asked to visit her father’s castle, which he eagerly allowed. Upon one of these visits, he decided to surprise his father in law and wife, who had taken her step son with her, in the middle of the night.
As he entered the room she stayed in, he discovered her in the arms of another man. Calmly, he cut off a lock off the man’s hair, and packed up his young son and brought him to stay in his personal bed on his ship.
The next morning, panic ensued in the kingdom at the discovery of the missing prince, Heithrek stepping inside and pretending he had just arrived. He asked to see his son, and his wife in a panic, claimed he had died from disease. When he asked to see his grave with an unsettling look on his face, she said it would increase his grief, but he didn’t mind.
A dog was killed and wrapped in a death shroud to try and trick Heithrek, but he just remarked that his son was no different than normal. He had the man who he had found brought before him, discovering him to be a slave. While he said that the man had sent away for laying with the queen, he had brought him onto his ship, and dumped him on a lifeboat with only Tyrfing in hand, and watched as the weak willed slave impaled himself on the blade. He divorced his wife, and brought his men and son back home.
As he moved on from his wife’s betrayal, he continued his reign, taking many beautiful woman as his and threatening war with other kingdoms in exchange for tributes and a King’s only son to be raised as his thrall.
After nearly being murdered over a terrible joke involving killing a prince and countless other adventures, it was a quiet night at his castle. To entertain himself, he ordered that any crime against Reithgotaland would be instantly forgiven if they could tell a riddle that Heithrek could not answer. Many men attempted, but none were successful. In order to further entertain himself, he ordered an enemy of his, Getsumblindi to appear before him or he would have him brought to him by force. Afraid, Getsumblindi offered a sacrifice to Odin, begging for help.
When Getsumblindi finally appeared, another man was with him who claimed he was also called Getsumblindi. They were identical, that when they switched clothes and the first Getsumblindi left, no one could tell the difference.
Heithrek offered him a trial for his crimes against the crown, but Getsumblindi cut straight to telling riddles. Riddle after riddle was said, but none could prove to trump Heithrek. Until Getsumblindi asked this question.
“If you truly are the wisest King Heithrek, when Odin placed Balor upon his pyre, what did he whisper in his ear?”
Heithrek growled, and responded that whatever had been said was scandalous and cowardly, for only Odin would know the answer as he drew his sword and lunged at Getsumblindi, revealed to be Odin in disguise.
Odin had, through his divine power assimilated the form of a falcon to attempt to escape, but Heithrek managed to clip his tail feathers, and that is why every falcon’s tail feathers are so short.
Despite Heithrek’s victory, it was already too late. The second curse had already begun, pulling every pawn into place and later that night, the curse finished. Fearing Odin’s wrath, all of Heithrek’s thralls betrayed him in the middle of the night, killing the king as he slept and stealing Tyrfing. Agantyr claimed his father’s crown, and organized a successful manhunt of his father’s killers.
And thus, the legend of Heithrek ended, his glorious death being nothing but simple betrayal.
Originally Posted by MehKitteh
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Source: Dungeon Fighter Online
