NOTE: These are collected folktales, and so do not necessarily line up precisely in chronology and cause-and-effect. There are also gaps, as the tales present represent only those known to both Asta and Shade.

On the making of the Chalice of Life and the treason of Unferth

Long ago in elder days, there were seven great tribes of surpassing nobility. The king of the first was Wæls, of the second Unferth, of the third Sigilind, of the fourth Swanhild, of the fifth Hygde, of the sixth Hrothgar, of the seventh Ingeld.

In this same time, a rumor grows among the tribes of a terrible power that will come and destroy the land. None can say whence the tidings have come, but the kings take it to heart, and they ready themselves for the worst. Wæls builds in the mountains high towers of great beauty and great strength, an impregnable fastness in the frozen peaks. Unferth builds himself a sword, and folds within it the beams of the sun. Sigilind grows great trees that her people may live and hide in. Swanhild makes a fleet of the finest boats that ever sailed. Hygde draws the waters of her river into a pool, and catches the light of the moon therein, so that when the moon is full she may look ever her eye would turn. Hrothgar built a amulet out of the heart of the mountain, to warn him when the shadow was nigh. Ingeld wove the clouds into a cloak.

Now Wæls and Unferth both loved the same woman, a fine woman named Wealtheow of a lesser tribe that dwelt in the low country west of their lands. While this great forging and building and weaving happened, Unferth heard whisperings in the shadows, rumor that Wæls would try to take that which was most precious to him. No sooner was the sun-sword finished, than Wealtheow went to live in the high mountain fastness and married Wæls. Unferth deemed then that the rumor he had heard was true, and he sought to hear more, but the shadows were silent, save that, from time to time, he heard again that Wæls would take that which he valued most.

By this time, Unferth had married Wealtheow's sister, Danmere, and though he loved her not, he came to think that the rumor he heard was not merely an echo of deeds past, but a promise of deeds to come, and he was jealous to be cuckolded twice. So he sent word to all the other kings but Wæls, saying to them that he desired to craft a chalice that should give to them eternal life, and that only by the combined arts of the greatest of kings could it be done. The others came, and when they asked after Wæls, he said that Wæls had replied that he had no need of their chalice. The kings were insulted at this reply, and worked steadily with Unferth on their project.

Now Wæls saw what was passing in the low country, and he wondered why the kings were all gathered together without him. So he sent a herald down to them, but the herald was waylaid in the shadows, and returned, saying they had gathered together to make war on him. So Wæls summoned his armies, but Wealtheow begged him to forbear, and not slay the husband of her sister, so he relented. But he feared Unferth and the sun-sword. So Wæls dressed himself in rags, and went down to where the forging was happening, and, pretending to be an itinerant blacksmith, was set to work on the bellows. When the chalice was almost complete, Unferth went down to the river to bathe, and Wæls followed him. When Unferth was well out into the water, Wæls through off his rags, seized the sun-sword off the bank, and ran away.

Unferth then knew that it was the sun-sword that the shadow had spoken of, and he went again, seeking it. This time, Unferth found the Shadow, and Glauroth was its name, and terrible was it to behold. Glauroth told Unferth that the other kings had discovered that he had lied to them about Wæls, and he should prepare himself for an attack. Unferth believed him, and seized the chalice from the forge, and fled to his own country.

When the other kings saw that Unferth had stolen the chalice, they knew themselves betrayed, and went to Wæls and discovered each to the other what had passed. Then they decided to make an example of Unferth, and went north to his realm, and laid siege to his castle. Thus it was that the kings and their armies were all gone from their realms when Glauroth arose in the west, and built his terrible castle, and wrought the goblins of scraps of beasts and men, and drove the peoples from the forest and the mountains. All the land might he have conquered, but the moon rose full, and Hygde saw how they had been beset.

Then did Wæls return to his fastnesses, which were already besieged, but such was the strength of them that even without Wæls the goblins and creatures of Glauroth could not overcome them. Ingeld sought to return to his forests, but he met the forces of Glauroth at the bight above the Brittle wood, where the mountains come almost to the sea. There they checked each other, and neither could go in that direction any further.

The others Swanhild took into her ships, and bore them at the speed of the wind around to the east. Sigilind set down in the Great Wood, saying that her people knew how to fight in the forests. Hygde returned to the banks of Asalath the mighty. Hrothgar tried to return to his country in the Frodlith, but Glauroth held the cliffs there, so he set down on the Mountain Of Fire just south, where a remnant of his people had fled. Thus was Glauroth contained, but the realms of Hrothgar, Sigilind, and Ingeld were lost.

Sigilind looked to settle in the Great Wood. Hygde spoke against it, saying her people lived along all the rivers in that realm, and there would be strife between her kin and hers. "If you come here, Sigilind, I see your doom under the waning moon. You will be betrayed, and die." But Sigilind answered her proudly, "Thus speaks a queen whose people have not known sorrow, and do not wish to yield the banks of one tributary of her mighty valley to a people who have lost their home." "So be it, then," said Hygde, and gave to Sigilind and her people all the land north of the confluence of the Rivers Running and Dreams. Sigilind settled their, and she set a girdle about her realm, such that no one could find their through it but by her leave.

On Unferth's Last March, and his betrayal by Unferlind

Now for many years after Glauroth was checked in his great advance, he whispered to Unferth out of the shadows, telling him how they might rule the country together, and how he might be avenged, upon Wæls for his theft of the sun sword, upon Sigifrith, for his theft of his daughter-in-law, upon Ellesmere, for the theft of the Chalice of Life.

"What need have I of such a thing?" Glauroth said. "I who have lived since the beginning of time, who has been here since the One crafted the world and set all things in motion?"

But Unferth delayed, fearing the might of the other kings. "If even Glauroth cannot take Wæls in his fastness, what hope have I, when my sword dwells within his walls?"

"There is another sword, mightier than the sun," Glauroth said. "And I tell you, if you forge this sword, there is not a single soul can stand against you."

After a long time Unferth set to work on it, though he was not sure how he would craft it. Long it was, with a hilt that fit to two hands. Its blade was folded many times, and unpolished, so the twisted pattern of the folds shown through, and its color was very dark, but still it was unfinished. Unferth knew there was only one way to make this sword mightier than his last. So he called to him the captain of his guard, whose name was forgotten, and bounded him about with runes of great power, and hung him up by his feet above the sword, and slit his throat, so that his blood and the power of his life poured out into the sword. Then held he the sword aloft, and cried, "I name thee 'Kozdrun,'" which is "terror" in the tongue of old.

Now Unferth had a daughter named Unferlind, who loved her father and mother. Of thefts and rivalries she had no care. She detested her brother Unfermund and his abduction of Wealthelind, but her father had as yet committed no crime by which she could judge him. But when word came to her of what he had done, she was horror-struck, and she said to him, "Father, this is an evil thing which thou hast done. Repent of it. Break the sword and free the soul within."

But Unferth had become as one mad, and would not listen. Whereon Unferlind left the castle, and made her way across the mountains to the country of Ingeld, and told him that Unferth was marching. "He will seek to be avenged upon Wæls first, as the first to offend him, and no doubt when he has Wealtheow in thrall he will set aside my mother."

Ingeld knew that Unferth would seek to pass through his country to reach Wæls. "This cannot be," said Ingeld. "For only cowardice or collusion could allow such a thing, and I shall be called neither."

Then up spoke Ingmar, Ingeld's son, who said, "Father, go thou into the east, and seek though help from Swanhild, for I hear that one of her daughters is valiant at arms, and would come to our aid. As for me, I shall remain and lead Unferth on a merry chase through the mountains, for though he comes with ten thousand men, I was born in these mountains, and they love me and not him. When thou hast come with thy help, I will deliver him into thy hands."

"So be it," said Ingmar, and he put on his cloak woven of clouds, and unseen rode the river that lay between his realm and that of Unferth, until he came to the sea and the Isle of Swanhild. There he was met by Hilgard, the second daughter of Swanhild, who was conceived in like wise to the first, that is, by many lovers at once, so that none might know he was the father. Hilgard was mighty in arms. She fought with two small swords, and wore no corslet, for she disliked the weight of it, and so fast were her blades that none had ever scored against her flesh. Hilgard was beloved by a woman named Ganhilde, who fought in like wise, and was no lesser to her in skill.

Hilgard called together all those of the island who had skill at arms, and told them of Unferth's devising, and asked, "Will you have me as your captain, to make an end of this treachery?" And they answered as one man, "Yea!" So they boarded Swanhild's ships, and she herself piloted them across the sound.

Now Unferth's army was too great to lead over the mountains in direct path to Wæls's fastness, so he conceived to climb the pass that runs west of the Red Rocks, and thus reach the Gray Flats, and from their climb the Wælside Pass and approach his citadel from the east. This he did because he bethought himself that Wæls should expect attack from the west side, it being the easier route from both north and south, and because he perceived that Glauroth would not hinder his passage through the Dry Country. But his plan was known to Ingmar, and he led his men into the pass, and offered him battle ere even he had left behind the forest that mounted the lower slopes.

Now Ingmar had but few men compared to the legions of Unferth, for many of his father's people had been lost when their old country in the Leeward Marches had fallen, and Unferth had attracted many of the lesser tribes to his banner, who were impressed with his might. So he did not engage him in full, but fell on the vanguard with a small number, coming quickly and unawares in a narrow place, and then, before Unferth might realize how few had beset him, he withdrew under cover of many arrows shot from above. This was done many times, until no small number of Unferth's host had fallen, while Ingmar had lost but few.

Then Unferth put himself into the front of the vanguard, and he unsheathed Kozdrun, and even his own army quailed at the sight of it, such that none would march within many yards of him. He went forward in this wise, with his army at his back, and so the next time he was come on unawares, the host of Ingmar was struck with terror, and many dropped their weapons and stood frozen to the spot, and Unferth cut them down where they stood. The archers above would not shoot, for fear of Kozdrun, and all was confusion, and fully half of Ingmar's host lay dead before he was able to withdraw.

Thereafter Ingmar would not attack, save to send a volley of arrows down on the main host after Unferth had past, but the most of them went before Unferth, and showed themselves to him but a glimpse, so that Unferth should not give up the pursuit. In this wise they went long into the mountains, and the pass twisted about many times, and though night came, and day after it, and the pursuit never ceased, still Unferth did not come out to the Dry Country.

Thus it was that when Ingeld, with Hilgard and Ganhilde came upon the host of Unferth, they were wearied to exhaustion, and would have given up the chase of their own, but for fear of Kozdrun and the mountains that had hemmed them in. Such was the twisting and confusion of the pass, that, though Ingeld and Hilgard had entered from the south side, still they came on Unferth from the rear. The rearguard fell quickly at their onslaught, and the main body of the army fled in terror of them. Unferth, in his rage, cut many of them down as they fled, and those that passed through threw down their arms and surrendered to Ingmar.

Finally, Unferth cut his way through his army, and met the host of Hilgard by the headwaters of the Wundred River, and they quailed at the sight of his bloody sword, and the rout was checked. Then those who remained rallied behind him, and gave battle, and nought could stand before Kozdrun. Ingeld was the first to stand before Kozdrun, for terror of the blade could not overcome him, but yet his sword shattered at the first clash, and Unferth split him from skull to sternum. Then Unferth came before Hilgard and Ganhilde, and they showed no fear of him, but stood their ground and offered him battle.

"Why do you not flee?" Unferth asked them. "You are fair women, and young. Many and blissful are the years might lie before you, but against me you cannot prevail. You saw how Ingeld fell, and mightier a man is he than either of you. Kozdrun is a charmed blade, and no single soul can prevail against it."

"Despair your charm," said Hilgard. "We are two souls, that fight as one body." So saying she rushed in, and seized Kozdrun between her two swords, and at the same time Ganhilde came in from the other side, and stabbed him heart and head. Thus Unferth died, and his body fell into the Wundred River, with Kozdrun upon it, and the both were washed into the sea.

Then Hilgard and Ganhilde, with Ingmar at their side, pressed the war north even to the edge of the sea, and Unferth's mountain keep was taken, and his sons and daughter fled to the Iron Isle. But Unferlind remained in the keep of Ingmar, and she fell in love with him who had by his counsel wrought the end of Kozdrun, and the two were married.