She has taken him to her Crystal Palace
beneath the river in the whirlpool of Staburags, from which no human
can emerge alive. Perkons reveals that this youth is Bearslayer, who
will become a noble warrior under the protection of Perkons, and
will strive mightily against the forces of evil.
At the beginning of Canto II the action goes back in time to the
Castle of Lielvarde, shortly before the Council of the Gods
described in the previous canto. The son of the Lord of Lielvarde
reveals mighty strength, killing a bear with his bare hands. This
first heroic deed wins him the name "Bearslayer." (This young man is
the hero that Perkons revealed to the other gods in Canto I.) The
youth is not the true son of the Lord of Lielvarde, but a foundling
suckled by a female bear in the forest. (Although it is not directly
explained until almost the end of the poem, it is important to know
that Bearslayer has bear's ears, and that if these are cut off he
will lose his bearlike strength.) Bearslayer was brought to
Lielvarde as a baby by Vaidelots, a Messenger of the Gods, to be
raised until he reached manhood.
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