Robbers are as eager as buzzards
Ronja, the Robber's Daughter“Robbers are as eager as buzzards” is Noddle-Pete’s warning about the robbers’ appetite for silver, recalled by Ronia when she tells Birk about the mine he once showed him. It gives the pair a reason to keep the mine secret—and lets their future together begin with a plan that does not depend on becoming robbers.
Origin and Meaning
Noddle-Pete’s phrase is attached to a story of gratitude: a little gray dwarf showed Birk the silver mine long ago in return for his life. Ronia recounts that history to Birk and explains that Noddle-Pete swore the mine was real. Its nuggets, she says, could be as large as cobblestones, though she allows that the mine might still prove to be a fairy tale.
The image of buzzards gives the warning a blunt, comic force. Robbers, in Noddle-Pete’s formulation, hurry toward the prospect of silver with the eagerness of scavengers. The comparison is not merely a colorful description: it names the danger that would follow if the mine’s location became common knowledge.
Secrecy and Their Future
Ronia knows where the mine is and proposes that she and Birk ride there one day to see it. Birk does not reject the possibility; he insists there is no hurry and warns her to keep the information secret, since otherwise all the robbers would rush to collect the silver. The phrase thus becomes the reason for a practical agreement between them: knowledge of the mine is to be shared privately, not announced to the robber bands.
Ronia recognizes the wisdom behind Birk’s caution by comparing him to Noddle-Pete and repeating the warning. She says that this is why she must tell no one but Birk. The saying links the dwarf’s earlier generosity to the pair’s present trust: the mine is a possible resource, but guarding its location matters as much as finding it.
Significance
The exchange follows Birk’s oath not to become a robber. Ronia imagines the two of them as miners, offering a future based on work in the silver mine rather than on the robber’s life they have refused. Yet neither treats the imagined wealth as an immediate solution. Birk says they can manage without silver for the time being and points out that life in Bear’s Cave requires other things.
The warning therefore holds promise and restraint together. The mine may offer the siblings a way to provide for themselves, but the eagerness the saying describes makes secrecy essential; for now, their life in Bear’s Cave comes first. The proverb carries their knowledge of the robber world into a different kind of future, one they can plan together without rushing toward riches.
