might seem to attach to the king and his warriors in withdrawing from a
combat with such a creature and allowing it, unopposed, to perform its
Yule-tide depredations and depart. The saga-man did not intend to
be-little Hrolf Kraki; he intended to magnify Bjarki by introducing a
monster for him to overcome that it was no shame for other mortals to
avoid. Nor is it accidental that the reader is informed of the
troll-nature of the dragon in a statement made by Hott to Bjarki. It
serves to make it plain that Bjarki also knew what kind of monster the
dragon was. This places in the strongest relief his courage in
undertaking voluntarily, nay against the express command of the king, to
attack the beast, and his prowess in felling it without difficulty. What
single feat could he have performed, or in what manner could he have
performed it, to reflect greater credit on himself? The cowardly Hott he
had to have with him also, in order that the blood-drinking episode
might be introduced; but Hott's childish actions encumbered him at a
time when they would be very provoking and it might be necessary for
Bjarki to have command of all his resources to gain a victory.

In the scene that follows the slaying of the dragon, it seems at first
sight that an incongruous element has been introduced. That Hott is
compelled to eat some of the dragon's heart is good saga-material, as is
evident from the similar episode in the _Volsungasaga_ (i.e., Sigurd's
eating some of Favnir's heart); but the dragon is also a troll, and
there is no sanction in saga-literature for eating a troll's heart and
drinking a troll's blood to gain strength and courage. Trolls have
always been regarded as detestable beings; and in drinking the blood of
a troll, it might seem that one would acquire detestable qualities. But,
on the one hand, the difficulty, if indeed story-tellers of the time
regarded the matter as presenting a difficulty, was unavoidable without
a reconstruction of the whole story; on the other hand, so far as the