Hadko’s death
Hadko was twenty years old then. In his twenty-first year, Hadko died.
Whether due to the envy of his father’s glory, or the memory of how he had fled from the awakened bear, Hadko tried his luck once more: to slay a bear in single combat, bring it to the bear feast, and be recognized as a hero among the people.
He found a bear’s den, awoke the beast, but in the one single movement on which everything depended, he missed. Hadko was not standing at the right distance, and therefore his spear did not plunge into the bear but only grazed the animal’s hide. The bear stood on its hind legs, embraced the Blizzard Man, and ravaged his back with its claws. The beast then left the dead body untouched; it merely left its abode behind and disappeared into the taiga.
It was Voipel wh
