Hrafnkell and Freyfaxi: The Cost of a Vow

In chapter 6, Hrafnkell speaks to Einarr at the mountain dairy, and then acts:

“Why didst thou ride on this horse which was forbidden thee, while there were plenty of others on which thou art free to ride? Now this one trespass I should have forgiven thee, if I had not used words of such earnest already. And yet thou hast manfully confessed thy guilt." But by reason of the belief that those who fulfil their vows never come to grief, he leaped off his horse, sprang upon Einarr, and dealt him his death-blow.”

Poetic account: an Icelandic saga tells of a chieftain, a horse shared with the god Freyr, and a vow that cost a young man his life. It is a saga, not an independently verified biography, and it was written down centuries after the events it describes.

Hrafnkell was a chieftain in eastern Iceland and a devoted worshipper of Freyr. He loved one roan horse above all others, called Freyfaxi in the Old Norse and “Freymane” in the translation used here. He gave half of it to Freyr and vowed to kill anyone who rode it without his leave. Einarr, the eldest son of the poor farmer Thorbjörn, came to him late in the spring looking for work. Hrafnkell gave him the sheep to watch and warned him never to ride the horse. When thirty ewes went missing, Einarr rode Freyfaxi to look for them. Hrafnkell found out and killed him, holding to the vow. Thorbjörn, Einarr’s father, refused the generous settlement Hrafnkell offered and asked for an umpire instead. The chieftain took that as an insult to his standing and ended the peace between them. Later the horse was killed, and Hrafnkell turned from the gods.

What is recorded: Hrafnkell’s love for the horse, the half he gave to Freyr and his vow. In chapter 4 he tells Einarr plainly that he is bound to kill whoever rides it. After the killing he explains it as a belief that those who keep their vows do not come to grief. Thorbjörn, poor and with many mouths to feed, had sent his capable eldest son out to earn a living. Hrafnkell offered Thorbjörn support for life; Thorbjörn wanted an umpire instead. The saga then follows a lawsuit, Hrafnkell’s defeat, the horse thrown from a rock and the temple burned. On hearing of it Hrafnkell says he thinks it vain to believe in the gods, and he never sacrifices again.

What is not recorded: any place in Vanaheimr, anything about how the dedicated horse was used in worship, or what Einarr thought. The saga is a literary work set long before it was written, so it cannot show what any real worshipper of Freyr did.