_rímur_ of the death of Bjarki's father, says, "Björn forfölges, flygter
ud i et skær og dræbes der af jarlens mænd på et skib (en stærk
afvigelse fra sagaen)."[119] This divergence was plainly introduced to
make the story different from the story that, in substance, was replaced
and that was transferred to where Hjalti displays his courage. In the
saga, Bjarki's mother is called Bera (she-bear),[120] not Hildr, as in
the _rímur_; and that the name Bera is the earlier of the two there can
be no doubt.

Furthermore, we find in the _rímur_ another of the characteristic traces
that the author left when he tampered with the dragon story. In the
saga, in connection with Bjarki's early life, it is said that when the
bear was hunted, it killed all the dogs, but was itself soon after
killed by the men. From this the author concluded that it was death on
dogs, but could not contend successfully with men. Hence, he says,
"Bjarki was told that it had killed the herdsmen's dogs;[121] it was not
much used to contending with men." This statement must, therefore, mean,
if it means anything, that the bear was not really dangerous to men or,
at any rate, not as dangerous as one would naturally suppose. Hjalti
must have known this as well as Bjarki, for it was probably he who gave
Bjarki the information about the beast, as he did in the corresponding
situation in the saga and in the story of the slaying of the wolf. If
this was the case, the bravery that Hjalti displays in attacking the
animal suffers considerably. The statement reminds us of the situation
in the _Hrólfssaga_. Just as Hjalti knocked over a dragon that was not
dangerous because it was dead, so, in the _rímur_, he dispatched a bear
that was not particularly dangerous because "it was not much used to
contending with men." In the former instance, however, the feat was not
the real test of his courage; in the latter instance, it was.