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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/24811-0.txt b/24811-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..730db4d --- /dev/null +++ b/24811-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4803 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Viking Tales, by Jennie Hall + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Viking Tales + +Author: Jennie Hall + +Illustrator: Victor R. Lambdin + +Release Date: March 12, 2008 [EBook #24811] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIKING TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +VIKING TALES + + +[Decoration] + + +[Illustration: _A map showing the journeys of the Vikings_] + + + + + VIKING TALES + _by_ + JENNIE HALL + _The Francis W. Parker School_ + _Chicago_ + + + [Illustration] + + + ILLUSTRATED + _by_ + VICTOR R. + LAMBDIN + + + RAND McNALLY & CO + + _Chicago_ _New York_ + _London_ + + + + + _Copyright, 1902,_ + By JENNIE HALL + + [Device] + Made in U.S.A. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. In the + _Pronouncing Index_ the up tack diacritical mark over a vowel is + represented by [+a], [+e], [+i] and [+o]. + + + + +_The_ Table _of_ Contents + + + PAGE + _A List of the Illustrations_ 8 + _What the Sagas Were_ 9 + + +PART I. + +_IN NORWAY_ + + The Baby 15 + The Tooth Thrall 19 + Olaf's Farm 27 + Olaf's Fight with Havard 40 + Foes'-fear 47 + Harald is King 53 + Harald's Battle 62 + Gyda's Saucy Message 71 + The Sea Fight 81 + King Harald's Wedding 89 + King Harald Goes West-Over-Seas 95 + + +PART II. + +_WEST-OVER-SEAS_ + + Homes in Iceland 103 + Eric the Red 143 + Leif and His New Land 161 + Wineland the Good 174 + + _Descriptive Notes_ 194 + _Suggestions to Teachers_ 200 + _A Reading List_ 204 + _A Pronouncing Index_ 207 + + + + +A List of the Illustrations + + + PAGE + + _A map showing the journeys of the Vikings_ Frontispiece + + "_I own this baby for my son. He shall be called Harald_" 17 + + "_He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from his + belt_" 22 + + "_I struck my shield against the door so that it made a + great clanging_" 31 + + "_Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly_" 45 + + "_He drove it into the wolf's neck_" 51 + + "_I vow that I will grind my father's foes under my heel_" 59 + + "_King Haki fell dead under 'Foes'-fear'_" 68 + + "_I will not be his wife unless he puts all of Norway + under him for my sake_" 73 + + "_Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat_" 87 + + "_I, Harald, King of Norway, take you, Gyda, for my wife_" 91 + + "_In Norway they left burning houses and weeping women_" 97 + + "_Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven afar off_" 125 + + "_Those Icelanders clapped them on the shoulders_" 137 + + "_He looked straight ahead of him and scowled_" 145 + + "_More than half the men in the hall jumped to their feet_" 147 + + "_It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before_" 153 + + "_He pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his eyes_" 167 + + "_The chief held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the cloak + to him_" 187 + + + + +What _the_ Sagas Were + + +Iceland is a little country far north in the cold sea. Men found it and +went there to live more than a thousand years ago. During the warm +season they used to fish and make fish-oil and hunt sea-birds and gather +feathers and tend their sheep and make hay. But the winters were long +and dark and cold. Men and women and children stayed in the house and +carded and spun and wove and knit. A whole family sat for hours around +the fire in the middle of the room. That fire gave the only light. +Shadows flitted in the dark corners. Smoke curled along the high beams +in the ceiling. The children sat on the dirt floor close by the fire. +The grown people were on a long narrow bench that they had pulled up to +the light and warmth. Everybody's hands were busy with wool. The work +left their minds free to think and their lips to talk. What was there to +talk about? The summer's fishing, the killing of a fox, a voyage to +Norway. But the people grew tired of this little gossip. Fathers looked +at their children and thought: + +"They are not learning much. What will make them brave and wise? What +will teach them to love their country and old Norway? Will not the +stories of battles, of brave deeds, of mighty men, do this?" + +So, as the family worked in the red fire-light, the father told of the +kings of Norway, of long voyages to strange lands, of good fights. And +in farmhouses all through Iceland these old tales were told over and +over until everybody knew them and loved them. Some men could sing and +play the harp. This made the stories all the more interesting. People +called such men "skalds," and they called their songs "sagas." + +Every midsummer there was a great meeting. Men from all over Iceland +came to it and made laws. During the day there were rest times, when no +business was going on. Then some skald would take his harp and walk to a +large stone or a knoll and stand on it and begin a song of some brave +deed of an old Norse hero. At the first sound of the harp and the +voice, men came running from all directions, crying out: + +"The skald! The skald! A saga!" + +They stood about for hours and listened. They shouted applause. When the +skald was tired, some other man would come up from the crowd and sing or +tell a story. As the skald stepped down from his high position, some +rich man would rush up to him and say: + +"Come and spend next winter at my house. Our ears are thirsty for song." + +So the best skalds traveled much and visited many people. Their songs +made them welcome everywhere. They were always honored with good seats +at a feast. They were given many rich gifts. Even the King of Norway +would sometimes send across the water to Iceland, saying to some famous +skald: + +"Come and visit me. You shall not go away empty-handed. Men say that the +sweetest songs are in Iceland. I wish to hear them." + +These tales were not written. Few men wrote or read in those days. +Skalds learned songs from hearing them sung. At last people began to +write more easily. Then they said: + +"These stories are very precious. We must write them down to save them +from being forgotten." + +After that many men in Iceland spent their winters in writing books. +They wrote on sheepskin; vellum, we call it. Many of these old vellum +books have been saved for hundreds of years, and are now in museums in +Norway. Some leaves are lost, some are torn, all are yellow and +crumpled. But they are precious. They tell us all that we know about +that olden time. There are the very words that the men of Iceland wrote +so long ago--stories of kings and of battles and of ship-sailing. Some +of those old stories I have told in this book. + + + + +_PART I_ + +[Illustration] + +_IN_ NORWAY + + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +The Baby + + +King Halfdan lived in Norway long ago. One morning his queen said to +him: + +"I had a strange dream last night. I thought that I stood in the grass +before my bower.[1] I pulled a thorn from my dress. As I held it in my +fingers, it grew into a tall tree. The trunk was thick and red as blood, +but the lower limbs were fair and green, and the highest ones were +white. I thought that the branches of this great tree spread so far that +they covered all Norway and even more." + +"A strange dream," said King Halfdan. "Dreams are the messengers of the +gods. I wonder what they would tell us," and he stroked his beard in +thought. + +Some time after that a serving-woman came into the feast hall where King +Halfdan was. She carried a little white bundle in her arms. + +"My lord," she said, "a little son is just born to you." + +"Ha!" cried the king, and he jumped up from the high seat and hastened +forward until he stood before the woman. + +"Show him to me!" he shouted, and there was joy in his voice. + +The serving-woman put down her bundle on the ground and turned back the +cloth. There was a little naked baby. The king looked at it carefully. + +"It is a goodly youngster," he said, and smiled. "Bring Ivar and +Thorstein."[2] + +They were captains of the king's soldiers. Soon they came. + +"Stand as witnesses," Halfdan said. + +Then he lifted the baby in his arms, while the old serving-woman brought +a silver bowl of water. The king dipped his hand into it and sprinkled +the baby, saying: + +"I own this baby for my son. He shall be called Harald. My naming gift +to him is ten pounds of gold." + +Then the woman carried the baby back to the queen's room. + +[Illustration: "_I own this baby for my son. He shall be called +Harald_"] + +"My lord owns him for his son," she said. "And no wonder! He is perfect +in every limb." + +The queen looked at him and smiled and remembered her dream and thought: + +"That great tree! Can it be this little baby of mine?" + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] See note about house on page 194. + +[2] See note about names on page 194. + + + + +[Illustration] + +The Tooth Thrall + + +When Harald was seven months old he cut his first tooth. Then his father +said: + +"All the young of my herds, lambs and calves and colts, that have been +born since this baby was born I this day give to him. I also give to him +this thrall, Olaf. These are my tooth-gifts to my son." + +The boy grew fast, for as soon as he could walk about he was out of +doors most of the time. He ran in the woods and climbed the hills and +waded in the creek. He was much with his tooth thrall, for the king had +said to Olaf: + +"Be ever at his call." + +Now this Olaf was full of stories, and Harald liked to hear them. + +"Come out to Aegir's Rock, Olaf, and tell me stories," he said almost +every day. + +So they started off across the hills. The man wore a long, loose coat of +white wool, belted at the waist with a strap. He had on coarse shoes +and leather leggings. Around his neck was an iron collar welded together +so that it could not come off. On it were strange marks, called runes, +that said: + +"Olaf, thrall of Halfdan." + +But Harald's clothes were gay. A cape of gray velvet hung from his +shoulders. It was fastened over his breast with great gold buckles. When +it waved in the wind, a scarlet lining flashed out, and the bottom of a +little scarlet jacket showed. His feet and legs were covered with gray +woolen tights. Gold lacings wound around his legs from his shoes to his +knees. A band of gold held down his long, yellow hair. + +It was a wild country that these two were walking over. They were +climbing steep, rough hills. Some of them seemed made all of rock, with +a little earth lying in spots. Great rocks hung out from them, with +trees growing in their cracks. Some big pieces had broken off and rolled +down the hill. + +"Thor broke them," Olaf said. "He rides through the sky and hurls his +hammer at clouds and at mountains. That makes the thunder and the +lightning and cracks the hills. His hammer never misses its aim, and it +always comes back to his hand and is eager to go again." + +When they reached the top of the hill they looked back. Far below was a +soft, green valley. In front of it the sea came up into the land and +made a fiord. On each side of the fiord high walls of rock stood up and +made the water black with shadow. All around the valley were high hills +with dark pines on them. Far off were the mountains. In the valley were +Halfdan's houses around their square yard. + +"How little our houses look down there!" Harald said. "But I can +almost--yes, I can see the red dragon on the roof of the feast hall. Do +you remember when I climbed up and sat on his head, Olaf?" + +He laughed and kicked his heels and ran on. + +[Illustration: "_He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from +his belt_"] + +At last they came to Aegir's Rock and walked up on its flat top. Harald +went to the edge and looked over. A ragged wall of rock reached down, +and two hundred feet below was the black water of the fiord. Olaf +watched him for a while, then he said: + +"No whitening of your cheek, Harald? Good! A boy that can face the fall +of Aegir's Rock will not be afraid to face the war flash when he is a +man." + +"Ho, I am not afraid of the war flash now," cried Harald. + +He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from his belt. + +"See!" he cried; "does this not flash like a sword? And I am not afraid. +But after all, this is a baby thing! When I am eight years old I will +have a sword, a sharp tooth of war." + +He swung his dagger as though it were a long sword. Then he ran and sat +on a rock by Olaf. + +"Why is this Aegir's Rock?" he asked. + +"You know that Asgard is up in the sky," Olaf said. "It is a wonderful +city where the golden houses of the gods are in the golden grove. A +high wall runs all around it. In the house of Odin, the All-father, +there is a great feast hall larger than the whole earth. Its name is +Valhalla. It has five hundred doors. The rafters are spears. The roof is +thatched with shields. Armor lies on the benches. In the high seat sits +Odin, a golden helmet on his head, a spear in his hand. Two wolves lie +at his feet. At his right hand and his left sit all the gods and +goddesses, and around the hall sit thousands and thousands of men, all +the brave ones that have ever died. + +"Now it is good to be in Valhalla; for there is mead there better than +men can brew, and it never runs out. And there are skalds that sing +wonderful songs that men never heard. And before the doors of Valhalla +is a great meadow where the warriors fight every day and get glorious +and sweet wounds and give many. And all night they feast, and their +wounds heal. But none may go to Valhalla except warriors that have died +bravely in battle. Men who die from sickness go with women and children +and cowards to Niflheim. There Hela, who is queen, always sneers at +them, and a terrible cold takes hold of their bones, and they sit down +and freeze. + +"Years ago Aegir was a great warrior. Aegir the Big-handed, they called +him. In many a battle his sword had sung, and he had sent many warriors +to Valhalla. Many swords had bit into his flesh and left marks there, +but never a one had struck him to death. So his hair grew white and his +arms thin. There was peace in that country then, and Aegir sorrowed, +saying: + +"'I am old. Battles are still. Must I die in bed like a woman? Shall I +not see Valhalla?' + +"Now thus did Odin say long ago: + +"'If a man is old and is come near death and cannot die in fight, let +him find death in some brave way and he shall feast with me in +Valhalla.' + +"So one day Aegir came to this rock. + +"'A deed to win Valhalla!' he cried. + +"Then he drew his sword and flashed it over his head and held his shield +high above him, and leaped out into the air and died in the water of +the fiord." + +"Ho!" cried Harald, jumping to his feet. "I think that Odin stood up +before his high seat and welcomed that man gladly when he walked through +the door of Valhalla." + +"So the songs say," replied Olaf, "for skalds still sing of that deed +all over Norway." + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +Olaf's Farm + + +At another time Harald asked: + +"What is your country, Olaf? Have you always been a thrall?" + +The thrall's eyes flashed. + +"When you are a man," he said, "and go a-viking to Denmark, ask men +whether they ever heard of Olaf the Crafty. There, far off, is my +country, across the water. My father was Gudbrand the Big. Two hundred +warriors feasted in his hall and followed him to battle. Ten sons sat at +meat with him, and I was the youngest. One day he said: + +"'You are all grown to be men. There is not elbow-room here for so many +chiefs. The eldest of you shall have my farm when I die. The rest of +you, off a-viking!' + +"He had three ships. These he gave to three of my brothers. But I stayed +that spring and built me a boat. I made her for only twenty oars because +I thought few men would follow me; for I was young, fifteen years old. +I made her in the likeness of a dragon. At the prow I carved the head +with open mouth and forked tongue thrust out. I painted the eyes red for +anger. + +"'There, stand so!' I said, 'and glare and hiss at my foes.' + +"In the stern I curved the tail up almost as high as the head. There I +put the pilot's seat and a strong tiller for the rudder. On the breast +and sides I carved the dragon's scales. Then I painted it all black and +on the tip of every scale I put gold. I called her 'Waverunner.' There +she sat on the rollers, as fair a ship as I ever saw. + +"The night that it was finished I went to my father's feast. After the +meats were eaten and the mead-horns came round, I stood up from my bench +and raised my drinking-horn[3] high and spoke with a great voice: + +"'This is my vow: I will sail to Norway and I will harry the coast and +fill my boat with riches. Then I will get me a farm and will winter in +that land. Now who will follow me?' + +"'He is but a boy,' the men said. 'He has opened his mouth wider than he +can do.' + +"But others jumped to their feet with their mead-horns in their hands. +Thirty men, one after another, raised their horns and said: + +"'I will follow this lad, and I will not turn back so long as he and I +live!' + +"On the next morning we got into my dragon and started. I sat high in +the pilot's seat. As our boat flashed down the rollers into the water I +made this song and sang it: + + "'The dragon runs. + Where will she steer? + Where swords will sing, + Where spears will bite, + Where I shall laugh.' + +"So we harried the coast of Norway. We ate at many men's tables +uninvited. Many men we found overburdened with gold. Then I said: + +"'My dragon's belly is never full,' and on board went the gold. + +"Oh! it is better to live on the sea and let other men raise your crops +and cook your meals. A house smells of smoke, a ship smells of frolic. +From a house you see a sooty roof, from a ship you see Valhalla. + +"Up and down the water we went to get much wealth and much frolic. After +a while my men said: + +"'What of the farm, Olaf?' + +"'Not yet,' I answered. 'Viking is better for summer. When the ice +comes, and our dragon cannot play, then we will get our farm and sit +down.' + +"At last the winter came, and I said to my men: + +"'Now for the farm. I have my eye on one up the coast a way in King +Halfdan's country.' + +"So we set off for it. We landed late at night and pulled our boat up on +shore and walked quietly to the house. It was rather a wealthy farm, for +there were stables and a storehouse and a smithy at the sides of the +house. There was but one door to the house. We went to it, and I struck +it with my spear. + +[Illustration: "_I struck my shield against the door so that it made a +great clanging_"] + +"'Hello! Ho! Hello!' I shouted, and my men made a great din. + +"At last some one from inside said: + +"'Who calls?' + +"'I call,' I answered. 'Open! or you will think it Thor who calls,' and +I struck my shield against the door so that it made a great clanging. + +"The door opened only a little, but I pushed it wide and leaped into the +room. It was so dark that I could see nothing but a few sparks on the +hearth. I stood with my back to the wall; for I wanted no sword reaching +out of the dark for me. + +"'Now start up the fire,' I said. + +"'Come, come!' I called, when no one obeyed. 'A fire! This is cold +welcome for your guests.' + +"My men laughed. + +"'Yes, a stingy host! He acts as though he had not expected us.' + +"But now the farmer was blowing on the coals and putting on fresh wood. +Soon it blazed up, and we could see about us. We were in a little feast +hall,[4] with its fire down the middle of it. There were benches for +twenty men along each side. The farmer crouched by the fire, afraid to +move. On a bench in a far corner were a dozen people huddled together. + +"'Ho, thralls!' I called to them. 'Bring in the table. We are hungry.' + +"Off they ran through a door at the back of the hall. My men came in and +lay down by the fire and warmed themselves, but I set two of them as +guards at the door. + +"'Well, friend farmer,' laughed one, 'why such a long face? Do you not +think we shall be merry company?' + +"'We came only to cheer you,' said another. 'What man wants to spend the +winter with no guests?' + +"'Ah!' another then cried out, sitting up. 'Here comes something that +will be a welcome guest to my stomach.' + +"The thralls were bringing in a great pot of meat. They set up a crane +over the fire and hung the pot upon it, and we sat and watched it boil +while we joked. At last the supper began. The farmer sat gloomily on the +bench and would not eat, and you cannot wonder; for he saw us putting +potfuls of his good beef and basket-loads of bread into our big mouths. +When the tables were taken out and the mead-horns came round, I stood up +and raised my horn and said to the farmer: + +"'You would not eat with us. You cannot say no to half of my ale. I +drink this to your health.' + +"Then I drank half of the hornful and sent the rest across the fire to +the farmer. He took it and smiled, saying: + +"'Since it is to my health, I will drink it. I thought that all this +night's work would be my death.' + +"'Oh, do not fear that!' I laughed, 'for a dead man sets no tables.' + +"So we drank and all grew merrier. At last I stood up and said: + +"'I like this little taste of your hospitality, friend farmer. I have +decided to accept more of it.' + +"My men roared with laughter. + +"'Come,' they cried, 'thank him for that, farmer. Did you ever have such +a lordly guest before?' + +"I went on: + +"'Now there is no fun in having guests unless they keep you company and +make you merry. So I will give out this law: that my men shall never +leave you alone. Hakon there shall be your constant companion, friend +farmer. He shall not leave you day or night, whether you are working or +playing or sleeping. Leif and Grim shall be the same kind of friends to +your two sons.' + +"I named nine others and said: + +"'And these shall follow your thralls in the same way. Now, am I not +careful to make your time go merrily?' + +"So I set guards over every one in that house. Not once all that winter +did they stir out of sight of some of us. So no tales got out to the +neighbors. Besides, it was a lonely place, and by good luck no one came +that way. Oh! that was fat and easy living. + +"Well, after we had been there for a long time, Hakon came in to the +feast one night and said: + +"'I heard a cuckoo to-day!' + +"'It is the call to go a-viking,' I said. + +"All my men put their hands to their mouths and shouted. Their eyes +danced. Big Thorleif stood up and stretched himself. + +"'I am stiff with long sitting,' he said. 'I itch for a fight.' + +"I turned to the farmer. + +"'This is our last feast with you,' I said. + +"'Well,' he laughed, 'this has been the busiest winter I ever spent, and +the merriest. May good luck go with you!' + +"'By the beard of Odin!' I cried; 'you have taken our joke like a man.' + +"My men pounded the table with their fists. + +"'By the hammer of Thor!' shouted Grim. 'Here is no stingy coward. He is +a man fit to carry my drinking-horn, the horn of a sea-rover and a +sword-swinger. Here, friend, take it,' and he thrust it into the +farmer's hand. 'May you drink heart's-ease from it for many years. And +with it I leave you a name, Sif the Friendly. I shall hope to drink with +you sometime in Valhalla.' + +"Then all my men poured around that farmer and clapped him on the +shoulder and piled things upon him, saying: + +"'Here is a ring for Sif the Friendly.' + +"'And here is a bracelet.' + +"'A sword would not be ashamed to hang at your side.' + +"I took five great bracelets of gold from our treasure chest and gave +them to him. + +"The old man's eyes opened wide at all these things, and at the same +time he laughed. + +"'May Odin send me such guests every winter!' he said. + +"Early next morning we shook hands with our host and boarded the +'Waverunner' and sailed off. + +"'Where shall we go?' my men asked. + +"'Let the gods decide,' I said, and tossed up my spear. + +"When it fell on the deck it pointed up-shore, so I steered in that +direction. That is the best way to decide, for the spear will always +point somewhere, and one thing is as good as another. That time it +pointed us into your father's ships. They closed in battle with us and +killed my men and sunk my ship and dragged me off a prisoner. They were +three against one, or they might have tasted something more bitter at +our hands. They took me before King Halfdan. + +"'Here,' they said, 'is a rascal who has been harrying our coasts. We +sunk his ship and men, but him we brought to you.' + +"'A robber viking?' said the king, and scowled at me. + +"I threw back my head and laughed. + +"'Yes. And with all your fingers it took you a year to catch me.' + +"The king frowned more angrily. + +"'Saucy, too?' he said. 'Well, thieves must die. Take him out, Thorkel, +and let him taste your sword.' + +"Your mother, the queen, was standing by. Now she put her hand on his +arm and smiled and said: + +"'He is only a lad. Let him live. And would he not be a good gift for +our baby?' + +"Your father thought a moment, then looked at your mother and smiled. + +"'Soft heart!' he said gently to her; then to Thorkel, 'Well, let him +go, Thorkel!' + +"Then he turned to me again, frowning. + +"'But, young sharp-tongue, now that we have caught you we will put you +into a trap that you cannot get out of. Weld an iron collar on his +neck.' + +"So I lived and now am your tooth thrall. Well, it is the luck of war. +But by the chair of Odin, I kept my vow!" + +"Yes!" cried Harald, jumping to his feet. "And had a joke into the +bargain. Ah! sometime I will make a brave vow like that." + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] See note about drinking-horns on page 195. + +[4] See note about feast hall on page 196. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Olaf's Fight With Havard + + +At another time Harald said: + +"Tell me of a fight, Olaf. I want to hear about the music of swords." + +Olaf's eyes blazed. + +"I will tell you of our fight with King Havard," he said. + +"One dark night we had landed at a farm. We left our 'Waverunner' in the +water with three men to guard her. The rest of us went into the house. +The farmer met us at the door, but he died by Thorkel's sword. The +others we shut into their beds.[5] The door at each end of the hall we +had barred on the inside so that nobody could surprise us. We were busy +going through the cupboards and shouting at our good luck. But suddenly +we heard a shout outside: + +"'Thor and Havard!' + +"Then there was a great beating at the doors. + +"'He has two hundred fighters with him,' said Grim; 'for we saw his +ships last night. Thirty against two hundred! We shall all drink in +Valhalla to-night.' + +"'Well,' I cried, 'Odin shall have no unwilling guest in me.' + +"'Nor in me,' cried Hakon. + +"'Nor in me,' shouted Thorkel. + +"And that shout went all around, and we drew out our swords and caught +up our shields. + +"'Hot work is ahead of us,' said Hakon. 'Besides, we must leave none of +this mead for Havard. Lend a hand, some one.' + +"Then he and another pulled out a great tub that sat on the floor of the +cupboard. + +"'I drink to Valhalla to-night,' cried Thorkel the Thirsty, and he +plunged his horn deep into the tub. + +"When he brought it up, his sleeve was dripping and the sweet mead was +running over from the horn. + +"'Sloven!' cried Hakon, and he struck Thorkel with his fist and knocked +him over into the cupboard. + +"He fell against the wooden wall at the back, and a carved panel swung +open behind him. He dropped down head first. In a minute he put his head +out of the hole again. We all stood staring. + +"'I think it is a secret passage,' he said. + +"'We will try it,' I answered in a whisper. 'Throw dirt on the fire. It +must be dark.' + +"So we dug up dirt from the earth floor and smothered the fire. All this +time there was a terrible shouting and hammering at the doors, but they +were of heavy logs and stood. + +"'I with four more will guard this door,' I said, pointing to the east +end. + +"Immediately four men stepped to my side. + +"'And I will guard the other,' Hakon said, and four went with him. + +"'The rest of you, down the hole!' I said. 'Close the door after you. If +luck is with us we will meet at the ships. Now Thor and our good swords +help us! Quick! The doors are giving way.' + +"So we ten men stood at the doors and held back the king's soldiers. It +was dark in the room, and the people out of doors could not tell how +many were inside. Few were eager to be the first in. + +"'Thirty swords are waiting in there to eat up the first man,' we heard +some one say. + +"We chuckled at that. + +"But the king stood in the very doorway and fought. Our five swords held +him back for a long time, but at last he pushed in, and his men poured +after him. We ran back and hid behind some tubs in a dark corner. The +king's men went groping about and calling, but they did not find us. The +room was full of shouting and running and sword-clashing; for in the +dark and the noise the men could not tell their own soldiers. More than +one fell by his friend's sword. When it was less crowded about the +doorway, I whispered: + +"'Follow me in double line. We will make for the ships. Keep close +together.' + +"So that double line of men, with swords swinging from both sides, ran +out through the dark. Swords struck out at us, and we struck back. Men +ran after us shouting, but our legs were as good as theirs. But I and +Hakon and one other were all that reached the ship. There we saw our +'Waverunner' with sail up and bow pointing to open sea. We swam out to +her and climbed aboard. Then the men swung the sail to the wind, and we +moved off. Even as we went, a spear whizzed through the air, and Hakon +fell dead; for the king and all his men were running to the shore. + +"'After them!' they were shouting. + +"Then we heard the king call to the men in his boats lying out in the +water: + +"'Row to shore and take us in.' + +"Thorkel was standing by my side. At that he laughed and said: + +"'They do not answer. He left but a handful to guard his ships. They +tasted our swords. And we went aboard and broke the oars and threw the +sails into the water. It will be slow going for Havard to-night.' + +[Illustration: "_Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly_"] + +"Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly: + + "'King Havard's ships are dead: + Olaf's dragon flies. + King Havard stamps the shore: + Olaf skims the waves. + King Havard shakes his fist. + Olaf turns and laughs.' + +"That was the end of our meeting with King Havard." + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] See note about beds on page 196. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Foes'-fear + + +Every day the boy Harald heard some such story of war or of the gods, +until he could see Thor riding among the storm-clouds and throwing his +hammer, until he knew that a brave man has many wounds, but never a one +on his back. Many nights he dreamed that he himself walked into +Valhalla, and that all the heroes stood up and shouted: + +"Welcome! Harald Halfdanson!" + +"Ah! the bite of the sword is sweeter than the kiss of your mother," he +said to Olaf one day. "When shall I stand in the prow of a dragon and +feast on the fight? I am hungry to see the world. Ivar the Far-goer +tells me of the strange countries he has seen. Ah! we vikings are great +folk. There is no water that has not licked our boats' sides. This cape +of mine came in a viking boat from France. These cloak-pins came from a +far country called Greece. In my father's house are golden cups from +Rome, away on the southern sea. Every land pours rich things into our +treasure-chest. Ivar has been to a strange country where it is all sand +and is very hot. The people call their country Arabia. They have never +heard of Thor or Odin. Ivar brought beautiful striped cloth from there, +and wonderful, sweet-smelling waters. Oh! when shall the white horses of +the sea lead me out to strange lands and glorious battles?" + +But Harald did something besides listen to stories. Every morning he was +up at sunrise and went with a thrall to feed the hunting dogs. Thorstein +taught him to swim in the rough waters of the fiord. Often he went with +the men a-hunting in the woods and learned to ride a horse and pull a +bow and throw a lance. Ivar taught him to play the harp and to make up +songs. He went much to the smithy, where the warriors mended their +helmets and made their spears and swords of iron and bronze. At first he +only watched the men or worked the bellows, but soon he could handle the +tongs and hold the red-hot iron, and after a long time he learned to +use the hammer and to shape metal. One day he made himself a spear-head. +It was two feet long and sharp on both edges. While the iron was hot he +beat into it some runes. When the men in the smithy saw the runes they +opened their eyes wide and looked at the boy, for few Norsemen could +read. + +"What does it say?" they asked. + +"It is the name of my spear-point, and it says, 'Foes'-fear,'" Harald +said. "But now for a handle." + +It was winter and the snow was very deep. So Harald put on his skees and +started for a wood that was back from shore. Down the mountains he went, +twenty, thirty feet at a slide, leaping over chasms a hundred feet +across. In his scarlet cloak he looked like a flash of fire. The wind +shot past him howling. His eyes danced at the fun. + +"It is like flying," he thought and laughed. "I am an eagle. Now I +soar," as he leaped over a frozen river. + +He saw a slender ash growing on top of a high rock. + +"That is the handle for 'Foes'-fear,'" he said. + +The rock stood up like a ragged tower, but he did not stop because of +the steep climb. He threw off his skees and thrust his hands and feet +into holes of the rock and drew himself up. He tore his jacket and cut +his leather leggings and scratched his face and bruised his hands, but +at last he was on the top. Soon he had chopped down the tree and had cut +a straight pole ten feet long and as big around as his arm. He went +down, sliding and jumping and tearing himself on the sharp stones. With +a last leap he landed near his skees. As he did so a lean wolf jumped +and snapped at him, snarling. Harald shouted and swung his pole. The +wolf dodged, but quickly jumped again and caught the boy's arm between +his sharp teeth. Harald thought of the spear-point in his belt. In a +wink he had it out and was striking with it. He drove it into the wolf's +neck and threw him back on the snow, dead. + +"You are the first to feel the tooth of 'Foes'-fear,'" he said, "but I +think you will not be the last." + +[Illustration: "_He drove it into the wolf's neck_"] + +Then without thinking of his torn arm he put on his skees and went +leaping home. He went straight to the smithy and smoothed his pole and +drove it into the haft of the spear-point. He hammered out a gold band +and put it around the joining place. He made nails with beautiful heads +and drove them into the pole in different places. + +"If it is heavy it will strike hard," he said. + +Then he weighed the spear in his hand and found the balancing point and +put another gold band there to mark it. + +Thorstein came in while he was working. + +"A good spear," he said. + +Then he saw the torn sleeve and the red wound beneath. + +"Hello!" he cried. "Your first wound?" + +"Oh, it is only a wolf-scratch," Harald answered. + +"By Thor!" cried Thorstein, "I see that you are ready for better wounds. +You bear this like a warrior." + +"I think it will not be my last," Harald said. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Harald is King + + +Now when Harald was ten years old his father, King Halfdan, died. An old +book that tells about Harald says that then "he was the biggest of all +men, the strongest, and the fairest to look upon." That about a boy ten +years old! But boys grew fast in those days for they were out of doors +all the time, running, swimming, leaping on skees, and hunting in the +forest. All that makes big, manly boys. + +So now King Halfdan was dead and buried, and Harald was to be king. But +first he must drink his father's funeral ale. + +"Take down the gay tapestries that hang in the feast hall," he said to +the thralls. "Put up black and gray ones. Strew the floor with pine +branches. Brew twenty tubs of fresh ale and mead. Scour every dish until +it shines." + +Then Harald sent messengers all over that country to his kinsmen and +friends. + +"Bid them come in three months' time to drink my father's funeral ale," +he said. "Tell them that no one shall go away empty-handed." + +So in three months men came riding up at every hour. Some came in boats. +But many had ridden far through mountains, swimming rivers; for there +were few roads or bridges in Norway. On account of that hard ride no +women came to the feast. + +At nine o'clock in the night the feast began. The men came walking in at +the west end of the hall.[6] The great bonfires down the middle of the +room were flashing light on everything. The clean smell of this +wood-smoke and of the pine branches on the floor was pleasant to the +guests. Down each side of the hall stretched long, backless benches, +with room for three hundred men. In the middle of each side rose the +high seat, a great carved chair on a platform. All along behind the +benches were the black and gray draperies. Here hung the shields of the +guests; for every man, when he was given his place, turned and hung his +shield behind him and set his tall spear by it. So on each wall there +was a long row of gay shields, red and green and yellow, and all shining +with gold or bronze trimmings. And higher up there was another row of +gleaming spear-points. Above the hall the rafters were carved and gaily +painted, so that dragons seemed to be crawling across, or eagles seemed +to be swooping down. + +The guests walked in laughing and talking with their big voices so that +the rafters rang. They made the hall look all the brighter with their +clothes of scarlet and blue and green, with their flashing golden +bracelets and head-bands and sword-scabbards, with their flying hair of +red or yellow. + +Across the east end of the hall was a bench. When the men were all in, +the queen, Harald's mother, and the women who lived with her, walked in +through the east door and sat upon this bench. + +Then thralls came running in and set up the long tables[7] before the +benches. Other thralls ran in with large steaming kettles of meat. They +put big pieces of this meat into platters of wood and set it before the +men. They had a few dishes of silver. These they put before the guests +at the middle of the tables; for the great people sat here near the high +seats. + +When the meat came, the talking stopped; for Norsemen ate only twice a +day, and these men had had long rides and were hungry. Three or four +persons ate from one platter and drank from the same big bowl of milk. +They had no forks, so they ate from their fingers and threw the bones +under the table among the pine branches. Sometimes they took knives from +their belts to cut the meat. + +When the guests sat back satisfied, Harald called to the thralls: + +"Carry out the tables." + +So they did and brought in two great tubs of mead and set one at each +end of the hall. Then the queen stood up and called some of her women. +They went to the mead tubs. They took the horns, when the thralls had +filled them, and carried them to the men with some merry word. Perhaps +one woman said as she handed a man his horn: + +"This horn has no feet to be set down upon. You must drink it at one +draught." + +Perhaps another said: + +"Mead loves a merry face." + +The women were beautiful, moving about the hall. The queen wore a +trailing dress of blue velvet with long flowing sleeves. She had a short +apron of striped Arabian silk with gold fringe along the bottom. From +her shoulders hung a long train of scarlet wool embroidered in gold. +White linen covered her head. Her long yellow hair was pulled around at +the sides and over her breast and was fastened under the belt of her +apron. As she walked, her train made a pleasant rustle among the pine +branches. She was tall and straight and strong. Some of her younger +women wore no linen on their heads and had their white arms bare, with +bracelets shining on them. They, too, were tall and strong. + +All the time men were calling across the fire to one another asking news +or telling jokes and laughing. + +An old man, Harald's uncle, sat in the high seat on the north side. That +was the place of honor. But the high seat on the south side was empty; +for that was the king's seat. Harald sat on the steps before it. + +The feast went merrily until long after midnight. Then the thralls took +some of the guests to the guest house to sleep, and some to the beds +around the sides of the feast hall. But some men lay down on the benches +and drew their cloaks over themselves. + +On the next night there was another feast. Still Harald sat on the step +before the high seat. But when the tables were gone and the horns were +going around, he stood up and raised high a horn of ale and said loudly: + +"This horn of memory I drink in honor of my father, Halfdan, son of +Gudrod, who sits now in Valhalla. And I vow that I will grind my +father's foes under my heel." + +Then he drank the ale and sat down in the king's high seat, while all +the men stood up and raised their horns and shouted: + +"King Harald!" + +And some cried: + +"That was a brave vow." + +[Illustration: "_I vow that I will grind my father's foes under my +heel_"] + +And Harald's uncle called out: + +"A health to King Harald!" + +And they all drank it. + +Then a man stood up and said: + +"Hear my song of King Halfdan!" for this man was a skald. + +"Yes, the song!" shouted the men, and Harald nodded his head. + +So the skald took down his great harp from the wall behind him and went +and stood before Harald. The bottom of the harp rested on the floor, but +the top reached as high as the skald's shoulders. The brass frame shone +in the light. The strings were some of gold and some of silver. The man +struck them with his hand and sang of King Halfdan, of his battles, of +his strong arm and good sword, of his death, and of how men loved him. + +When he had finished, King Harald took a bracelet from his arm and gave +it to him, saying: + +"Take this as thanks for your good song." + +The guests stayed the next day and at night there was another feast. +When the mead horns were going around, King Harald stood up and spoke: + +"I said that no man should go away empty-handed from drinking my +father's funeral ale." + +He beckoned the thralls, and they brought in a great treasure-chest and +set it down by the high seat. King Harald opened it and took out rich +gifts--capes and sword-belts and beautiful cloth and bracelets and gold +cloak-pins. These he sent about the hall and gave something to every +man. The guests wondered at the richness of his gifts. + +"This young king has an open hand," they said, "and deep +treasure-chests." + +After breakfast the next morning the guests went out and stood by their +horses ready to go, but before they mounted, thralls brought a horn of +mead to each man. That was called the stirrup-horn, because after they +drank it the men put their feet to the stirrups and sprang upon their +horses and started. King Harald and his people rode a little way with +them. + +All men said that that was the richest funeral feast that ever was +held. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] See note about feast hall on page 196. + +[7] See note about tables on page 196. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Harald's Battle + + +Now King Halfdan had many foes. When he was alive they were afraid to +make war upon him, for he was a mighty warrior. But when Harald became +king, they said: + +"He is but a lad. We will fight with him and take his land." + +So they began to make ready. King Harald heard of this and he laughed +and said: + +"Good! 'Foes'-fear' is thirsty, and my legs are stiff with much +sitting." + +He called three men to him. To one he gave an arrow, saying: + +"Run and carry this arrow north. Give it into the hands of the master of +the next farm, and say that all men are to meet here within two weeks +from this day. They must come ready for war and mounted on horses. Say +also that if a man does not obey this call, or if he receives this arrow +and does not carry it on to his next neighbor, he shall be outlawed +from this country, and his land shall be taken from him." + +He gave arrows to the other two men and told them to run south and east +with the same message. + +So all through King Harald's country men were soon busy mending helmets +and polishing swords and making shields. There was blazing of forges and +clanging of anvils all through the land. + +On the day set, the fields about King Harald's house were full of men +and horses. After breakfast a horn blew. Every man snatched his weapons +and jumped upon his horse. Men of the same neighborhood stood together, +and their chief led them. They waited for the starting horn. This did +not look like our army. There were no uniforms. Some men wore helmets, +some did not. Some wore coats of mail, but others wore only their +jackets and tights of bright-colored wool. But at each man's left side +hung a great shield. Over his right shoulder went his sword-belt and +held his long sword under his left hand. Above most men's heads shone +the points of their tall spears. Some men carried axes in their belts. +Some carried bows and arrows. Many had ram's horns hanging from their +necks. + +King Harald rode at the front of his army with his standard-bearer +beside him. Chain-armor covered the king's body. A red cloak was thrown +over his shoulders. On his head was a gold helmet with a dragon standing +up from it. He carried a round shield on his left arm. The king had made +that shield himself. It was of brass. The rivets were of silver, with +strangely shaped heads. On the back of Harald's horse was a red cloth +trimmed with the fur of ermine. + +King Harald looked up at his standard and laughed aloud. + +"Oh, War-lover," he cried, "you and I ride out on a gay journey." + +A horn blew again and the army started. The men shouted as they went, +and blew their ram's horns. + +"Now we shall taste something better than even King Harald's ale," +shouted one. + +Another rose in his stirrups and sniffed the air. + +"Ah! I smell a battle," he cried. "It is sweeter than those strange +waters of Arabia." + +So the army went merrily through the land. They carried no tents, they +had no provision wagons. + +"The sky is a good enough tent for a soldier," said the Norsemen. "Why +carry provisions when they lie in the farms beside you?" + +After two days King Harald saw another army on the hills. + +"Thorstein," he shouted, "up with the white shield and go tell King Haki +to choose his battle-field. We will wait but an hour. I am eager for the +frolic." + +So Thorstein raised a white shield on his spear as a sign that he came +on an errand of peace. He rode near King Haki, but he could not wait +until he came close before he shouted out his message and then turned +and rode back. + +"Tell your boy king that we will not hang back," Haki called after +Thorstein. + +King Harald's men waited on the hillside and watched the other army +across the valley. They saw King Haki point and saw twenty men ride off +as he pointed. They stopped in a patch of hazel and hewed with their +axes. + +"They are getting the hazels," said Thorstein. + +"Audun," said King Harald to a man near him, "stay close to my standard +all day. You must see the best of the fight. I want to hear a song about +it after it is over." + +This Audun was the skald who sang at the drinking of King Halfdan's +funeral ale. + +King Haki's men rode down into the valley. They drove down stakes all +about a great field. They tied the hazel twigs to the stakes in a +string. But they left an open space toward King Harald's army and one +toward King Haki's. Then a man raised a white shield and galloped toward +King Harald. + +"We are ready!" he shouted. + +At the same time King Haki raised a red shield. King Harald's men put +their shields before their mouths and shouted into them. It made a great +roaring war-cry. + +"Up with the war shield!" shouted King Harald. "Horns blow!" + +There was a blowing of horns on both sides. The two armies galloped down +into the field and ran together. The fight had begun. + +All that day long swords were flashing, spears flying, men shouting, men +falling from their horses, swords clashing against shields. + +"Victory flashes from that dragon," Harald's men said, pointing to the +king's helmet. "No one stands before it." + +And, surely, before night came, King Haki fell dead under "Foes'-fear." +When he fell, a great shout went up from his warriors, and they turned +and fled. King Harald's men chased them far, but during the night came +back to camp. Many brought swords and helmets and bracelets or +silver-trimmed saddles and bridles with them. + +"Here is what we got from the foe," they said. + +The next morning King Harald spoke to his men: + +"Let us go about and find our dead." + +[Illustration: "_King Haki fell dead under 'Foes'-fear'_"] + +So they went over all the battle-field. They put every man on his shield +and carried him and laid him on a hill-top. They hung his sword over his +shoulder and laid his spear by his side. So they laid all the dead +together there on the hill-top. Then King Harald said, looking about: + +"This is a good place to lie. It looks far over the country. The sound +of the sea reaches it. The wind sweeps here. It is a good grave for +Norsemen and Vikings. But it is a long road and a rough road to Valhalla +that these men must travel. Let the nearest kinsman of each man come and +tie on his hell-shoes. Tie them fast, for they will need them much on +that hard road." + +So friends tied shoes on the dead men's feet. Then King Harald said: + +"Now let us make the mound." + +Every man set to work with what tools he had and heaped earth over the +dead until a great mound stood up. They piled stones on the top. On one +of these stones King Harald made runes telling how these men had died. + +After that was done King Harald said: + +"Now set up the pole, Thorstein. Let every man bring to that pole all +that he took from the foe." + +So they did, and there was a great hill of things around it. Harald +divided it into piles. + +"This pile we will give to Thor in thanks for the victory," he said. +"This pile is mine because I am king. Here are the piles for the chiefs, +and these things go to the other men of the army." + +So every man went away from that battle richer than he was before, and +Thor looked down from Valhalla upon his full temple and was pleased. + +The next morning King Harald led his army back. But on the way he met +other foes and had many battles and did not lose one. The kings either +died in battle or ran away, and Harald had their lands. + +"He has kept his vow," men said, "and ground his father's foes under his +heel." + +So King Harald sat in peace for a while. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Gyda's Saucy Message + + +Now Harald heard men talk of Gyda, the daughter of King Eric. + +"She is very beautiful," they said, "but she is very proud, too. She can +both read and make runes. No other woman in the world knows so much +about herbs as she does. She can cure any sickness. And she is proud of +all this!" + +Now when King Harald heard that, he thought to himself: + +"Fair and proud. I like them both. I will have her for my wife." + +So he called his uncle, Guthorm, and said: + +"Take rich gifts and go to Gyda's foster-father[8] and tell him that I +will marry Gyda." + +So Guthorm and his men came to that house and they told the king's +message to the foster-father. Gyda was standing near, weaving a rich +cloak. She heard the speech. She came up and said, holding her head +high and curling her lip: + +"I will not waste myself on a king of so few people. Norway is a strange +country. There is a little king here and a little king there--hundreds +of them scattered about. Now in Denmark there is but one great king over +the whole land. And it is so in Sweden. Is no one brave enough to make +all of Norway his own?" + +She laughed a scornful laugh and walked away. The men stood with open +mouths and stared after her. Could it be that she had sent that saucy +message to King Harald? They looked at her foster-father. He was +chuckling in his beard and said nothing to them. They started out of the +house in anger. When they were at the door, Gyda came up to them again +and said: + +"Give this message to your King Harald for me: I will not be his wife +unless he puts all of Norway under him for my sake." + +[Illustration: "_I will not be his wife unless he puts all of Norway +under him for my sake_"] + +So Guthorm and his men rode homeward across the country. They did not +talk. They were all thinking. At last one said: + +"How shall we give this message to the king?" + +"I have been thinking of that," Guthorm said; "his anger is no little +thing." + +It was late when they rode into the king's yard; for they had ridden +slowly, trying to make some plan for softening the message, but they had +thought of none. + +"I see light through the wind's-eyes of the feast hall," one said. + +"Yes, the king keeps feast," Guthorm said. "We must give our message +before all his guests." + +So they went in with very heavy hearts. There sat King Harald in the +high seat. The benches on both sides were full of men. The tables had +been taken out, and the mead-horns were going round. + +"Oh, ho!" cried King Harald. "Our messengers! What news?" + +Then Guthorm said: + +"This Gyda is a bold and saucy girl, King Harald. My tongue refuses to +give her message." + +The king stamped his foot. + +"Out with it!" he cried. "What does she say?" + +"She says that she will not marry so little a king," Guthorm answered. + +Harald jumped to his feet. His face flushed red. Guthorm stretched out +his hand. + +"They are not my words, O King; they are the words of a silly girl." + +"Is there any more?" the king shouted. "Go on!" + +"She said: 'There is one king in Denmark and one king in Sweden. Is +there no man brave enough to make himself king of all Norway? Tell King +Harald that I will not marry him unless he puts all of Norway under him +for my sake.'" + +The guests sat speechless, staring at Guthorm. All at once the king +broke into a roar of laughter. + +"By the hammer of Thor!" he cried, "that is a good message. I thank you, +Gyda. Did you hear it, friends? King of all Norway! Why, we are all +stupids. Why did we not think of that?" + +Then he raised his horn high. + +"Now hear my vow. I say that I will not cut my hair or comb it until I +am king of all Norway. That I will be or I will die." + +Then he drank off the horn of mead, and while he drank it, all the men +in the hall stood up and waved their swords and shouted and shouted. +That old hall in all its two hundred years of feasts had not heard such +a noise before. + +"Ah, Harald!" Guthorm cried, "surely Thor in Valhalla smiled when he +heard that vow." + +The men sat all night talking of that wonderful vow. + +On the very next day King Harald sent out his war-arrows. Soon a great +army was gathered. They marched through the country north and south and +east and west, burning houses and fighting battles as they went. People +fled before them, some to their own kings, some inland to the deep woods +and hid there. But some went to King Harald and said: + +"We will be your men." + +"Then take the oath, and I will be friends with you," he said. + +The men took off their swords and laid them down and came one by one and +knelt before the king. They put their heads between his knees and said: + +"From this day, Harald Halfdanson, I am your man. I will serve you in +war. For my land I will pay you taxes. I will be faithful to you as my +king." + +Then Harald said: + +"I am your king, and I will be faithful to you." + +Many kings took that oath and thousands of common men. Of all the +battles that Harald fought, he did not lose one. + +Now for a long time the king's hair and beard had not been combed or +cut. They stood out around his head in a great bushy mat of yellow. At a +feast one day when the jokes were going round, Harald's uncle said: + +"Harald, I will give you a new name. After this you shall be called +Harald Shockhead. As my naming gift I give you this drinking-horn." + +"It is a good name," laughed all the men. + +After that all people called him Harald Shockhead. + +During these wars, whenever King Harald got a country for his own, this +is what he did. He said: + +"All the marshland and the woodland where no people live is mine. For +his farm every man shall pay me taxes." + +Over every country he put some brave, wise man and called him Earl. He +said to the earls: + +"You shall collect the taxes and pay them to me. But some you shall keep +for yourselves. You shall punish any man who steals or murders or does +any wicked thing. When your people are in trouble they shall come to +you, and you shall set the thing right. You must keep peace in the land. +I will not have my people troubled with robber vikings." + +The earls did all these things as best they could; for they were good +strong men. The farmers were happy. They said: + +"We can work on our farms with peace now. Before King Harald came, +something was always wrong. The vikings would come and steal our gold +and our grain and burn our houses, or the king would call us to war. +Those little kings are always fighting. It is better under King Harald." + +But the chiefs, who liked to fight and go a-viking, hated King Harald +and his new ways. One of these chiefs was Solfi. He was a king's son. +Harald had killed his father in battle. Solfi had been in that battle. +At the end of it he fled away with two hundred men and got into ships. + +"We will make that Shockhead smart," he said. + +So they harried the coast of King Harald's country. They filled their +ships with gold. They ate other men's meals. They burned farmhouses +behind them. The people cried out to the earls for help. So the earls +had out their ships all the time trying to catch Solfi, but he was too +clever for them. + +In the spring he went to a certain king, Audbiorn, and said to him: + +"Now, there are two things that we can do. We can become this Shockhead +Harald's thralls, we can kneel before him and put our heads between his +knees. Or else we can fight. My father thought it better to die in +battle than to be any man's thrall. How is it? Will you join with my +cousin Arnvid and me against this young Shockhead?" + +"Yes, I will do it," said the king. + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] See note about foster-father on page 197. + + + + +[Illustration] + +The Sea Fight + + +Many men felt as Solfi did. So when King Audbiorn and King Arnvid sent +out their war arrows, a great host gathered. All men came by sea. Two +hundred ships lay at anchor in the fiord, looking like strange swimming +animals because of their high carved prows and bright paint. There were +red and gold dragons with long necks and curved tails. Sea-horses reared +out of the water. Green and gold snakes coiled up. Sea-hawks sat with +spread wings ready to fly. And among all these curved necks stood up the +tall, straight masts with the long yardarms swinging across them holding +the looped-up sails. + +When the starting horn blew, and their sails were let down, it was like +the spreading of hundreds of curious flags. Some were striped black and +yellow or blue and gold. Some were white with a black raven or a brown +bear embroidered on them, or blue with a white sea-hawk, or black with +a gold sun. Some were edged with fur. As the wind filled the gaudy +sails, and the ships moved off, the men waved their hands to the women +on shore and sang: + + "To the sea! To the sea! + The wind in our sail, + The sea in our face, + And the smell of the fight. + After ship meets ship, + In the quarrel of swords + King Harald shall lie + In the caves under sea + And Norsemen shall laugh." + +In the prow stood men leaning forward and sniffing the salt air with +joy. Some were talking of King Harald. + +"Yesterday he had a hard fight," they said. "To-day he will be lying +still, dressing his wounds and mending his ships. We shall take him by +surprise." + +They sailed near the coast. Solfi in his "Sea-hawk" was ahead leading +the way. Suddenly men saw his sail veer and his oars flash out. He had +quickly turned his boat and was rowing back. He came close to King +Arnvid and called: + +"He is there, ahead. His boats are ready in line of battle. The fox has +not been asleep." + +King Arnvid blew his horn. Slowly his boats came into line with his +"Sea-stag" in the middle. Again he blew his horn. Cables were thrown +across from one prow to the next, and all the ships were tied together +so that their sides touched. Then the men set their sails again and they +went past a tongue of land into a broad fiord. There lay the long line +of King Harald's ships with their fierce heads grinning and mocking at +the newcomers. Back of those prows was what looked like a long wall with +spots of green and red and blue and yellow and shining gold. It was the +locked shields of the men in the bows, and over every shield looked +fierce blue eyes. Higher up and farther back was another wall of +shields; for on the half deck in the stern of every ship stood the +captain with his shield-guard of a dozen men. + +Arnvid's people had furled their sails and were taking down the masts, +but the ships were still drifting on with the wind. The horn blew, and +quickly every man sprang to his place in bow and stern. All were leaning +forward with clenched teeth and widespread nostrils. They were clutching +their naked swords in their hands. Their flashing eyes looked over their +shields. + +Soon King Arnvid's ships crashed into Harald's line, and immediately the +men in the bows began to swing their swords at one another. The soldiers +of the shield-guard on the high decks began to throw darts and stones +and to shoot arrows into the ships opposite them. + +So in every ship showers of stones and arrows were falling, and many men +died under them or got broken arms or legs. Spears were hurled from deck +to deck and many of them bit deep into men's bodies. In every bow men +slashed with their swords at the foes in the opposite ship. Some jumped +upon the gunwale to get nearer or hung from the prow-head. Some even +leaped into the enemy's boat. + +King Harald's ship lay prow to prow with King Arnvid's. The battle had +been going on for an hour. King Harald was still in the stern on the +deck. There was a dent in his helmet where a great stone had struck. +There was a gash in his shoulder where a spear had cut. But he was still +fighting and laughed as he worked. + +"Wolf meets wolf to-day," he said. "But things are going badly in the +prow," he cried. "Ivar fallen, Thorstein wounded, a dozen men lying in +the bottom of the boat!" + +He leaped down from the deck and ran along the gunwale, shouting as he +went: + +"Harald and victory!" + +So he came to the bow and stood swinging his sword as fast as he +breathed. Every time it hit a man of Arnvid's men. Harald's own warriors +cheered, seeing him. + +"Harald and victory!" they shouted, and went to work again with good +heart. + +Slowly King Arnvid's men fell back before Harald's biting sword. Then +Harald's men threw a great hook into that boat and pulled it alongside +and still pushed King Arnvid's people back. + +"Come on! Follow me!" cried Harald. + +Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat, and his warriors followed him. + +"He comes like a mad wolf," King Arnvid's men said, and they turned and +ran back below the deck. + +Then Arnvid himself leaped down and stood with his sword raised. + +"Can this young Shockhead make cowards of you all?" he cried. + +But Harald's sword struck him, and he fell dead. Then a big, bloody +viking of King Arnvid leaped upon the edge of the ship and stood there. +He held his drinking-horn and his sword high in his hands. + +"Ran[9] and not you, Shockhead, shall have them and me!" he cried, and +leaped laughing into the water and was drowned. + +Many other warriors chose the same death on that terrible day. + +[Illustration: "_Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat_"] + +All along the line of boats men fought for hours. In some places the +cables had been cut, and the boats had drifted apart. Ships lay +scattered about two by two, fighting. May boats sank, many men died, +some fled away in their ships, and at the end King Harald had won the +battle. So he had King Arnvid's country and King Audbiorn's country. +Many men took the oath and became his friends. All people were talking +of his wonderful battles. + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] See note about Ran on page 198. + + + + +[Illustration] + +King Harald's Wedding + + +It had taken King Harald ten years to fight so many battles. And all +that time he had not cut his hair or combed it. Now he was feasting one +day at an earl's house. Many people were there. + +"How is it, friends?" Harald said. "Have I kept my vow?" + +His friends answered: + +"You have kept your vow. There is no king but you in all Norway." + +"Then I think I will cut my hair," the king laughed. + +So he went and bathed and put on fresh clothes. Then the earl cut his +hair and beard and combed them and put a gold band about his head. Then +he looked at him and said: + +"It is beautiful, smooth, and yellow." + +And all people wondered at the beauty of the king's hair. + +"I will give you a new name," the earl said. "You shall no longer be +called Shockhead. You shall be called Harald Hairfair." + +"It is a good name," everybody cried. + +Then Harald said: + +"But I have another thing to do now. Guthorm, you shall take the same +message to Gyda that you gave ten years ago." + +So Guthorm went and brought back this answer from Gyda: + +"I will marry the king of all Norway." + +So when the wedding time came, Harald rode across the country to the +home of Gyda's father, Eric. Many men followed him. They were all richly +dressed in velvet and gold. + +For three nights they feasted at Eric's house. On the next night Gyda +sat on the cross-bench with her women. A long veil of white linen +covered her face and head and hung down to the ground. After the +mead-horns had been brought in, Eric stood up from his high seat and +went down and stood before King Harald. + +"Will you marry Gyda now?" he asked. + +[Illustration: "_I, Harald, King of Norway, take you Gyda, for my +wife_"] + +Harald jumped to his feet and laughed. + +"Yes," he said. "I have waited long enough." + +Then he stepped down from his high seat and stood by Eric. They walked +about the hall. Before them walked thralls carrying candles. Behind them +walked many of King Harald's great earls. Three times they walked around +the hall. The third time they stopped before the cross-bench. King +Harald and Eric stepped upon the platform, where the cross-bench was. + +Eric gave a holy hammer to Harald, and it was like the hammer of Thor. +Harald put it upon Gyda's lap, saying: + +"With this holy hammer of Thor's, I, Harald, King of Norway, take you, +Gyda, for my wife." + +Then he took a bunch of keys and tied it to Gyda's girdle, saying: + +"This is the sign that you are mistress of my house." + +After that, Eric called out loudly: + +"Now, are Harald, King of Norway, and Gyda, daughter of Eric, man and +wife." + +Then thralls brought meat and drink in golden dishes. They were about to +serve it to Gyda for the bride's feast, but Harald took the dish from +them and said: + +"No, I will serve my bride." + +So he knelt and held the platter. When he did that his men shouted. Then +they talked among themselves, saying: + +"Surely Harald never knelt before. It is always other people who kneel +to him." + +When the bride had tasted the food and touched the mead-horn to her lips +she stood up and walked from the hall. All her women followed her, but +the men stayed and feasted long. + +On the next morning at breakfast Gyda sat by Harald's side. Soon the +king rose and said: + +"Father-in-law, our horses stand ready in the yard. Work is waiting for +me at home and on the sea. Lead out the bride." + +So Eric took Gyda by the hand and led her out of the hall. Harald +followed close. When they passed through the door Eric said: + +"With this hand I lead my daughter out of my house and give her to you, +Harald, son of Halfdan, to be your wife. May all the gods make you +happy!" + +Harald led his bride to the horse and lifted her up and set her behind +his saddle and said: + +"Now this Gyda is my wife." + +Then they drank the stirrup-horn and rode off. + +"Everything comes to King Harald," his men said; "wife and land and +crown and victory in battle. He is a lucky man." + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +King Harald Goes West-Over-Seas + + +Now many men hated King Harald. Many a man said: + +"Why should he put himself up for king of all of us? He is no better +than I am. Am I not a king's son as well as he? And are not many of us +kings' sons? I will not kneel before him and promise to be his man. I +will not pay him taxes. I will not have his earl sitting over me. The +good old days have gone. This Norway has become a prison. I will go away +and find some other place." + +So hundreds of men sailed away. Some went to France and got land and +lived there. Big Rolf-go-afoot and all his men sailed up the great +French River and won a battle against the French king himself. There was +no way to stop the flashing of his battle-axes but to give him what he +wanted. So the king made Rolf a duke, gave him broad lands and gave him +the king's own daughter for wife. Rolf called his country Normandy, for +old Norway. He ruled it well and was a great lord, and his sons' sons +after him were kings of England. + +Other Norsemen went to Ireland and England and Scotland. They drew up +their boats on the river banks. The people ran away before them and +gathered into great armies that marched back to meet the vikings in +battle. Sometimes the Norsemen lost, but oftener they won, so that they +got land and lived in those countries. Their houses sat in these strange +lands like warriors' camps, and the Norsemen went among their new +neighbors with hanging swords and spears in hand, ever ready for fight. + +There are many islands north of Scotland. They are called the Orkneys +and the Shetlands. They have many good harbors for ships. They are +little and rocky and bare of trees. Wild sea-birds scream around them. +On some of them a man can stand in the middle and see the ocean all +about him. Now the vikings sailed to these islands and were pleased. + +[Illustration: "_In Norway they left burning houses and weeping +women_"] + +"It is like being always in a boat," they said. "This shall be our +home." + +So it went until all the lands round about were covered with vikings. +Norse carved and painted houses brightened the hillsides. Viking ships +sailed all the seas and made harbor in every river. Norsemen's thralls +plowed the soil and planted crops and herded cattle, and gold flowed +into their masters' treasure-chests. Norse warriors walked up and down +the land, and no man dared to say them nay. + +These men did not forget Norway. In the summers they sailed back there +and harried the coast. They took gold and grain and beautiful cloth back +to their homes. In Norway they left burning houses and weeping women. + +Every summer King Harald had out his ships and men and hunted these +vikings. There are many little islands about Norway. They have crags and +caves and deep woods. Here the vikings hid when they saw King Harald's +ships coming. But Harald ran his boat into every creek and fiord and +hunted in every cave and through all the woods and among the crags. He +caught many men, but most of them got away and went home laughing at +Harald. Then they came back the next summer and did the same deeds over +again. At last King Harald said: + +"There is but one thing to do. I must sail to these western islands and +whip these robbers in their own homes." + +So he went with a great number of ships. He found as brave men as he had +brought from Norway. These vikings had brought their old courage to +their new homes. King Harald's fine ships were scarred by viking stones +and scorched by viking fire. The shields of Harald's warriors had dents +from viking blows. Many of those men carried viking scars all their +lives. And many of King Harald's warriors walked the long, hard road to +Valhalla, and feasted there with some of these very vikings that had +died in King Harald's battles. But after many hard fights on land and +sea, after many men had died and many had fled away to other lands, King +Harald won, and he made the men that were yet in the islands take the +oath, and he left his earls to rule over them. Then he went back to +Norway. + +"He has done more than he vowed to do," people said. "He has not only +whipped the vikings, but he has got a new kingdom west-over-seas." + +Then they talked of that dream that his mother had. + +"King Harald was that great tree," they said. "The trunk was red with +the blood of his many battles, but higher up the limbs were fair and +green like this good time of peace. The topmost branches were white +because Harald will live to be an old man. Just as that tree spread out +until all of Norway was in its shade, and even more lands, so Harald is +king of all this country and of the western islands. The many branches +of that tree are the many sons of Harald, who shall be earls and kings +in Norway, and their sons after them, for hundreds of years." + + + + +_PART II_ + +[Illustration] + +WEST-OVER-SEAS + + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +Homes in Iceland + + +Men had been feasting in Ingolf's house. But there was no laughing and +no shouting of jokes. Ingolf sat in his high seat frowning and gloomy. +His head hung on his breast. He was staring into the fire. Now he raised +his head and looked about the hall. + +"Comrades," he said, "what shall we do? Herstein and Holmstein died by +our swords. Their kinsmen hunger to kill us. Besides, when Harald hears +of our deed, there will not be a safe place in Norway for us. He will +never let a man fight out an honest quarrel. Where shall we go?" + +A man stood up from the bench. + +"We have friends in the Shetlands," he said. "Let us find homes there." + +Then Leif, in the high seat opposite Ingolf, stood up. + +"No, not the Shetlands, my foster-brother.[10] They are crowded +already. Besides, Harald will not long keep his hands off them. Then +they will be no better than Norway. England and Ireland and Scotland are +old. My eyes ache for something new. What of that far island that Floki +found? It is empty. We could choose our land from the whole country. +There is good fishing. There are green valleys. And Butter Thorolf says +that butter drops from every weed. There are mountains and deserts where +we may find adventure. I say, let us steer for Iceland!" + +When he stopped, many of the men shouted: + +"Yes! Iceland!" + +But an old man stood up. + +"We have all laughed at that tale of Butter Thorolf's," he said. "But +Floki himself said that the sea about the island is full of ice that +pushes upon the land, that no ship can live in that water in the winter, +that great mountains of ice cover the island. Did not all his cattle die +there of hunger and cold, and did he not come back to Norway cursing +Iceland?" + +"Oh, Sighvat, you are old and fearful," called out Leif, and he laughed. + +Then he stretched himself up and threw back his head. + +"Are we afraid of ice? Have we not seen angry water before? I have been +hungry, but I have never died of it. Surely if there are fish in the sea +and grass in the valleys, we can live there. I should like to stand on a +hill and look around on a wide land and think, 'This is all ours,' and +out upon a rough sea and think, 'Far off there are our foes and they +dare not come over to us.' Besides, we shall have no Shockhead Harald to +lord it over us. We can come and go and feast and fight as we please. We +shall be our own kings. And our ships will be always waiting to take us +away, when we are weary of it. And we shall see things that other men +have never seen. I am tired of the old things. Perhaps in after days men +will make songs about 'those foster-brothers, Ingolf and Leif, who made +a new country in a wonderful land, and whose sons and grandsons are +mighty men in Iceland!'" + +Ingolf leaped up from his chair. + +"By the strong arm of Thor!" he cried, "I like the sound of it. Now I +make my vow." + +He raised his drinking-horn. + +"I vow that I will find this Iceland and pass the winter there, and that +if man can live upon it I will go back there and set up my home." + +"And I vow that I will follow my foster-brother," cried Leif. + +And many men vowed to go. + +So on the next day they began to make ready a boat. They looked her over +carefully and recalked every seam and freshly painted her and put into +her their strongest oars and made her a new sail. + +"This will be the longest voyage that she ever made," Ingolf said. + +When the work was done, they put into her great stores, axes, hammers, +fish-nets, cooking-kettles, kegs of ale, chests of hard bread, chests of +smoked meat, brass kettles full of flour, skin bottles of water. They +stowed these things away in the ends of the ship. When they were ready +they put in four head of cattle. + +"We shall need the milk and perhaps the meat," Ingolf said. + +Many men wished to go, but Ingolf had said: + +"There is little room to spare and little food and drink. I have planned +for half a year. But perhaps we must be sailing longer than that. Our +food may run short. We must not have extra mouths to feed. There are +thirty oars in our boat. I will take only one man for every oar, and +Leif and I will steer." + +So they started off. Leif stood in the prow leaning forward and looking +far ahead, and he sang: + + "What does the swimming dragon smell? + A stormy sea, an empty land, + Hunger, darkness, giants, fire. + Leif and his sword do laugh at that." + +They sailed for days and saw no land. Sometimes they passed ships and +always made sure to sail close enough to hail them. + +"Where are you going?" Ingolf would call. + +"To Norway," would come back the answer. + +"For trade or fight?" Leif would shout. + +Then would ring out a great laugh from that boat and this answer: + +"A shut mouth is a good friend." + +So the two ships sailed on, and the men were glad to have heard a +greeting and to have called one. + +But at last there were the Shetlands. + +"We will go in here and rest," Ingolf said. + +When they rowed to shore a certain Shetland man stood there. He watched +them land and looked them all over. Then he walked up to Ingolf and +said: + +"You look like brave men. Welcome to Shetland. You shall come to my +house and rest your legs from ship-going and fill your stomachs. I +hunger for news of Norway." + +So they went to his house and stayed there for three days. And good it +seemed to be near a fire and in a quiet bed and before a steaming +platter. When they went to the shore to start off again, the Shetland +man had his thralls carry a keg of ale and a great kettle of cooked meat +and put them into the ship. + +"Think of me when you eat this," he said. + +Then the Norsemen put to sea again and sailed for a long time. + +One day a terrible storm came up; the sky was black; the wind howled +through the ship. Great waves leaped in the sea. + +"Down with the sail and out with the oars!" Ingolf shouted. + +So the men furled the sail and took down the mast and laid it along the +bottom of the boat. As they worked, one man was washed overboard and +drowned. The men sat down to row, but the tumbling waves tossed the boat +about and poured over her and broke three of the oars. But still the men +held on. They were wet to the skin and were cold, and their arms and +legs ached with the hard work, and they were hungry from the long +waiting, but not one face was white with fear. + +"Ran, in her caves under sea, wants us for company to-night," Ingolf +laughed. + +So they tossed about all night, but in the morning the wind died down. +Great waves still rolled, and for days the sea was rough, but they +could put up the sail. Then one day Leif, as he sat in the pilot's seat, +jumped to his feet and sang: + + "To eyes grown tired with looking far, + All at once appeared an island, + A stretching-place for sea-legs, + A quiet bed for backs grown stiff + On rowing-bench on rolling sea. + A place to build a red fire + And thaw the blood that sea-winds froze." + +But when they came near they saw no place to land. The island was like a +mountain of rock standing out of the water. The sides were steep and +smooth. They sailed around it, but found no place to climb up. + +"There are many other islands here," said Leif. "We will try another." + +So he steered to another. It, too, was a steep rock, but one side sloped +down to the water and was green with grass. + +"Oh, I have not seen anything so good as that green grass since I looked +into my mother's face," one man said. + +There was a little harbor there. The men rowed in and quickly jumped out +and put the rollers under the ship and pulled her upon shore. Then they +threw themselves down on the grass and rolled and stretched their arms +and shouted for joy. After that they built a fire and warmed themselves +and cooked a meal and ate like wolves. They slept there that night. + +In the morning before Ingolf's men started away they were standing high +up on the hillside, looking about. They saw no houses on any of the +islands, but they saw smoke rise from one hillside. + +"Some other men, like us, weary of the sea and stopping to rest," said +Ingolf. + +They saw the island that they had sailed around the night before. + +"There can surely be nothing but birds' nests on top of that," Sighvat +said. + +"Look!" cried another, pointing. + +Men were standing on the flat top of that island. They were letting a +boat down the steep side with ropes. When it struck the water, they made +a rope fast to the rock and slid down it into the ship and sailed off. + +"Some robber vikings from Scotland or Ireland," laughed Leif. "It is a +good hiding place for treasure." + +Soon Ingolf and his men got into their ship and were off. Old Sighvat +grumbled. + +"Is this land not new enough and empty enough and far enough? I am tired +of sea, sea, sea, and nothing else." + +"We started for Iceland," said Ingolf, "and I will not stop before I +come there. I have a vow. Did you make none, Sighvat?" + +Then they were on the water again for weeks with no sight of land. + +"Oh! I would give my right hand to see a dragon pawing the water off +there and to fling a word to its men," Sighvat said. + +"No hope of that," replied Ingolf. "Only three dragons before ours have +ever swept this water, and men are not sailing this way for pleasure or +riches." + +So only the desolate sea stretched around them. Sometimes it was smooth +and shining under the sun. Often it was torn by winds, and a gray sky +hung over it, and the men were drenched with rain. Once they ran into a +fog. For three days and nights they could not see sun or stars to steer +by. They forgot which way was north. When after three days the fog +lifted, they found that they had been going in the wrong direction, and +they had to turn around and sail all that weary way over again. But at +last one afternoon they saw a white cloud resting on the water far off. +As they sailed toward it, it grew into long stretches of black, hilly +shore with a blue ice mountain rising from it. The sun was going down +behind that mountain, and long lines of pink and of shining green, and +great purple shadows streaked the blue. + +"It is Iceland!" shouted the men. + +"It is like Asgard the Shining," Ingolf said. + +But it was still far off. Men can see a long way there because the air +is so clear. So Ingolf and his people sailed on for hours and at last +came into a harbor. A little green valley sloped up from it. On one side +was the bright ice mountain. Back of it were bare black and red hills. +In that valley Ingolf and his men drew up their boat and camped. At +supper that night one of the men said: + +"I almost think I never felt a fire before or had warm food in my +mouth." + +The men laughed. + +"It is four months since we left Norway," Ingolf said. "Few men have +ever been on the sea so long." + +That night they put up the awning in the boat and slept under it. + +After that some men went fishing every day in the rowboat that they had. +And Ingolf took others, and they sailed along the shore, seeing what +kind of a land this was. But winter began to come on. Then Ingolf said: + +"Remember what Floki said of the ice and the rough sea in winter. Soon +we cannot sail any longer. Let us choose a place to stay and build a hut +there and cut hay for our cattle." + +So they did. Their hut was a little mean thing of stones and turf. They +kept the cattle and the hay in it. Sometimes they slept there, when it +was very cold. But most of the time they ate and slept by a great +bonfire out of doors where it was clean. Leif said: + +"I like the cold air of the sea better than the bad-smelling air of a +house, even though it is warm." + +Now every day Ingolf and Leif and some of the men walked about the +island. At night they all sat around the campfire and talked of what +they had seen during the day. + +"This is surely a wonderful land," Ingolf said once. "It is at the same +time like Niflheim and like Asgard. Here is a spot green and soft, a +sweet cradle for men. Next it is a mountain of ice where men would +freeze to death. And next to that is a hill of rock that seems to have +come out of some great fire. Yesterday I saw a cave on the seashore. The +door of it was big enough for a giant. The waves broke at the doorstep. +A terrible roaring came from the cave. I think it is the home of a +giant. I think that giants of fire and giants of frost made this island. +I have seen great basins in the rocks filled with warm water. They +looked like giants' bath-tubs. I have seen boiling water shoot up out of +the ground. I have walked, and have felt and heard a great rumbling +under me as though some giant were sleeping there and turning over in +his sleep. One day I stood on a mountain and looked inland. There was a +wide desert of sand and black and red rock with nothing growing on it. +The fierce wind blew dirt into my eyes, and the cold of it froze the +marrow in my bones. When I have seen these things I have cursed the +country, and have said: 'The gods hate Iceland. I will not stay here.' +But then I have walked through beautiful warm valleys where the winds +did not come. I saw in my mind the flowers that we found last summer. I +saw our cattle feeding on the sweet grass. I thought of the sea full of +good fish. I saw my house built among green fields, and my wife sitting +in her home, and my children playing among the flowers and making up +tales about the bright ice mountains. I saw the wide, rough seas between +me and Harald and our foes. Then I thought to myself, 'It is the +sweetest home on earth.' As for me, I am coming here to live. What do +you say, comrades?" + +"Have I not vowed to follow you, foster-brother?" said Leif. "And indeed +I never saw a land that I liked better. I don't believe in your giants. +My sword is my god, and my ship is my temple, and I like this land to +set them up in." + +They sat about the fire long that night making plans. + +"You shall go home and get our women and our things, Ingolf," said Leif. +"I will off to Ireland and have a frolic. There will be little play of +swords in this empty land, and I want to have one last game before I +hang up my battle-knife. Besides, I will come to you with a ship full of +gold and clothes and house-hangings such as we cannot get here, and they +will cost me nothing but the swing of a sword." + +As they talked, Ingolf looked up at the sky. The northern lights were +quivering there. They were like great flames of yellow and green and +red. + +"See," he said, and pointed. "We are not so far that the gods will +forget us. There is the flash of the armor of the Valkyrias.[11] A +battle is on somewhere, and Odin has sent his maidens to choose the +heroes for Valhalla." + +Leif only laughed and lay down to sleep. + +So in the spring they all went back to Norway. Leif got ready the boat +again and merrily sailed for Ireland. + +"Here I go to get riches for our new land," he said. + +Ingolf set his men to cutting down pines in the forest and some to +building a new ship. He had his thralls plant large crops of grain and +grind flour and make new kegs and chests of wood. He himself worked much +at the forge, making all kinds of tools--spades, axes, hammers, +hunting-knives, cooking kettles. The women were busy weaving and sewing +new clothes. Ingolf sold his house and land and everything that he could +not take with him. + +After about two years Leif came back. He had ten thralls that he had got +in Ireland. He took Ingolf aboard his ship and raised the covers of +great chests. Gold helmets, silver-trimmed drinking-horns, embroidered +robes, and swords flashed out. + +"Did I not say that I would come back with a full ship?" he laughed. + +At last all things were ready for starting. + +"To-day I will sacrifice to Thor and Odin," Ingolf said. "If the omens +are good we will start to-morrow." + +"Well, go, foster-brother," laughed Leif. "But I have better things to +do. I will be putting the cattle into the ship and will have all ready." + +So Ingolf and his men went into the forests a little way. There in a +cleared space stood a large building. In front of this temple the men +killed two horses for Odin. Ingolf caught some of the blood in a brass +bowl. He raised it and looked up at the sky and said: + +"All-wise and all-father Odin, and Thor who loves the thunder, I give +these horses to you. Tell me whether it is your will that we go to +Iceland." + +As he said that, a raven flew over his head. Ingolf watched it. + +"It is Odin's will that we go," he said. "He sent his raven[12] to tell +us. It is flying straight toward Iceland." + +The men shouted with joy at that. + +Now they hung some of the meat of the horses on a tree near the temple. + +"For the ravens of Odin," they said. + +Ingolf carried the bowl of blood into the temple. He went through the +feast hall in front to a little room at the back. Here stood wooden +statues of the gods in a semicircle. Before them was a stone altar. +Ingolf took a little brush of twigs that lay on it and dipped it into +the blood and sprinkled the statues. + +"You shall taste of our sacrifice," he said. "Look kindly on us from +your happy seats in Asgard." + +Then they went into the feast hall. There thralls were boiling the +horseflesh in pots over the fire. The tables were standing ready before +the benches. Ingolf walked to the high seat. All the others took their +places at the benches. When the horns came round, Ingolf made this vow: + +"I vow that I will build my house wherever these pillars lead me." + +He put his hand upon a tall post that stood beside the high seat. There +was one at each side. They were the front posts of the chair. But they +stood up high, almost to the roof. They were wonderfully carved and +painted with men and dragons. On the top of each one was a little +statue of Thor with his hammer. + +At the end of the feast Ingolf had his thralls dig these pillars up. He +had a little bronze chest filled with the earth that was under the +altar. + +"I will take the pillars of my high seat to Iceland," he said, "and I +will set up my altar there upon the soil of Norway, the soil that all my +ancestors have trod, the soil that Thor loves." + +So they carried the pillars and the chest of earth and the statues of +the gods, and put them into Ingolf's boat. + +"It is a well-packed ship," the men said. "There is no spot to spare." + +Tools, and chests of food, and tubs of drink, and chests of clothes, and +fishing nets were stowed in the bows of both boats. In the bottom were +laid some long, heavy, hewn logs. + +"The trees in Iceland are little," Ingolf said. "We must take the great +beams for our homes with us." + +Standing on these logs were a few cattle and sheep and horses and pigs. +The rowers' benches were along the sides. In the stern of each boat was +a little cabin. Here the women and children were to sleep. But the men +would sleep on the timbers in the middle of the boat and perhaps they +would put up the awning sometimes. + +At last everyone was aboard. Men loosed the rope that held the boats. +The ships flashed down the rollers into the water, and Ingolf and Leif +were off for Iceland. As they sailed away everyone looked back at the +shore of old Norway. There were tears in the women's eyes. Helga, Leif's +wife, sang: + + "There was I born. There was I wed. + There are my father's bones. + There are the hills and fields, + The streams and rocks that I love. + There are houses and temples, + Women and warriors and feasts, + Ships and songs and fights-- + A crowded, joyous land. + I go to an empty land." + +There was the same long voyage with storm and fog. But at last the +people saw again the white cloud and saw it growing into land and +mountains. Then Ingolf took the pillars of his high seat and threw them +overboard. + +"Guide them to a good place, O Thor!" he cried. + +The waves caught them up and rolled them about. Ingolf followed them +with his ship. But soon a storm came up. The men had to take down the +sails and masts, and they could do nothing with their oars. The two +ships tossed about in the sea wherever the waves sent them. The pillars +drifted away, and Ingolf could not see them. + +"Remember your pillars, O Thor!" he cried. + +Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven far off. + +"Ah, my foster-brother," he thought, "shall I not have you to cheer me +in this empty land? O Thor, let him not go down to the caves of Ran! He +is too good a man for that." + +On the next day the storm was not so hard, and Ingolf put in at a good +harbor. A high rocky point stuck out into the sea. A broad bay with +islands in the mouth was at the side. Behind the rocky point was a +level green place with ice-mountains shining far back. + +After a day or two Ingolf said: + +"I will go look for my pillars." + +So he and a few men got into the rowboat and went along the shore and +into all the fiords, but they could not find the pillars. After a week +they came back, and Ingolf said: + +"I will build a house here to live in while I look for the posts. This +way is uncomfortable for the women." + +So he did. Then he set out again to look for the pillars, but he had no +better luck and came back. + +"I must stay at home and see to the making of hay and the drying of +fish," he said. "Winter is coming on, and we must not be caught with +nothing to eat." + +So he stayed and worked and sent two of his thralls to look for the holy +posts. They came back every week or two and always had to say that they +had not found them. Midwinter was coming on. + +[Illustration: "_Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven afar +off_"] + +"Ah!" said Ingolf's wife one day, "do you remember the gay feast that we +had at Yule-time? All our friends were there. The house rang with song +and laughter. Our tables bent with good things to eat. Walls were hung +with gay draperies. The floor was clean with sweet-smelling +pine-branches. Now look at this mean house; its dirt floor, its bare +stone walls, its littleness, its darkness! Look at our long faces. No +one here could make a song if he tried. Oh! I am sick for dear old +Norway." + +"It is Thor's fault," Ingolf cried. "He will not let me find his posts." + +He strode out of the house and stood scowling at the gray sea. + +"Ah, foster-brother!" he said. "It was never so gloomy when you were by +my side. Where are you now? Shall I never hear your merry laugh again? +That spot in my palm burns, and my heart aches to see you. That arch of +sod keeps rising before my eyes. Our vows keep ringing in my ears." + +At last the long, gloomy winter passed and spring came. + +"Cheer up, good wife," Ingolf said. "Better days are coming now." + +But that same day the thralls came back from looking for the posts. + +"We have bad news," they said. "As we walked along the shore looking for +the pillars we saw a man lying on the shore. We went up to him. He was +dead. It was Leif. Two well-built houses stood near. We went to them. We +knew from the carving on the door-posts that they were Leif's. We went +in. The rooms were empty. Along the shore and in the wood back of the +house we found all of his men, dead. There was no living thing about." + +Ingolf said no word, but his face was white, and his mouth was set. He +went into the house and got his spears and his shield and said to his +men: + +"Follow me." + +They put provisions into the boat and pushed off and sailed until they +saw Leif's houses on the shore of the harbor. There they saw Leif and +the men who were his friends, dead. Their swords and spears were gone. +Ingolf walked through the houses calling on Helga and on the thralls, +but no one answered. The storehouse was empty. The rich hangings were +gone from the walls of the houses. There was nothing in the stables. The +boat was gone. + +Ingolf went out and stood on a high point of land that jutted out into +the water. Far along the coast he saw some little islands. He turned to +his men and said: + +"The thralls have done it. I think we shall find them on those islands." + +Then he went back to Leif and stood looking at him. + +"What a shame for so brave a man to fall by the hands of thralls! But I +have found that such things always happen to men who do not sacrifice to +the gods. Ah, Leif! I did not think when we made those vows of +foster-brotherhood that this would ever happen. But do not fear. I +remember my promise. I had thought that a man's blood is precious in +this empty land, but my vow is more precious." + +Now they laid all those men together and tied on their hell-shoes. + +"I need my sword for your sake, foster-brother. I cannot give you that. +But you shall have my spears and my drinking-horn," said Ingolf. "For +surely Odin has chosen you for Valhalla, even though you did not +sacrifice. You are too good a man to go to Niflheim. You would make +times merry in Valhalla." + +So Ingolf put his spears and his drinking-horn by Leif. Then the men +raised a great mound over all the dead. After that they went aboard +their boat and sailed for the islands that Ingolf had seen. It was +evening when they reached them. + +"I see smoke rising from that one," Ingolf said, pointing. + +He steered for it. It was a steep rock like that one in the Faroes, but +they found a harbor and landed and climbed the steep hill and came out +on top. They saw the ten thralls sitting about a bonfire eating. Helga +and the other women from Leif's house sat near, huddled together, white +and frightened. One of the thralls gave a great laugh and shouted: + +"This is better than pulling Leif's plow. To-morrow we will sail for +Ireland with all his wealth." + +"To-morrow you will be freezing in Niflheim," cried Ingolf, and he +leaped among them swinging his sword, and all his men followed him, and +they killed those thralls. + +Then Ingolf turned to Helga. She threw herself into his arms and wept. +But after a while she told him this story: + +"When springtime came, Leif thought that he would sow wheat. He had but +one ox. The others had died during the winter. So he set the thralls to +help pull the plow. I saw their sour looks and was afraid, but Leif only +laughed: + +"'What else can thralls expect?' he said. 'Never fear them, good wife.' + +"Now one day soon after that the thralls came running to the house +calling out: + +"'The ox is dead! The ox is dead!' + +"Leif asked them about it. They said that a bear had come out of the +woods and killed it, and that they had scared the beast away. They +pointed out where it had gone. Then Leif called his men and said: + +"'A hunt! I had not hoped for such great sport here. Ah, we will have a +feast off that bear!' + +"So they took their spears and went out into the woods. As soon as they +were gone, the thralls came running into the house and took down all the +swords and shields from the wall and ran out. In some way they met my +lord and his men in the woods and killed them. Then they came back and +took everything in the house and dragged us to the boat and sailed +here." + +"O my brother!" said Ingolf, "where is that song about 'those two +foster-brothers, Ingolf and Leif, who made a new country in a wonderful +land, and whose sons and grandsons are mighty men in Iceland'? But come +home with me, Helga." + +So they took the women and Leif's things and Leif's boat and sailed +home. The next day after they came to Ingolf's house, Helga said: + +"We have made your family larger, brother Ingolf. Will you not take +Leif's two houses and live in them? He does not need them now. He would +like you to have them." + +"It would be pleasant to live there," Ingolf said. "I thank you." + +So the next day they loaded everything aboard the two ships and sailed +for Leif's house. There they stayed for a year. Ingolf still sent his +thralls out to look for the pillars. He was careful always to have hay, +so his cattle prospered. That spring he planted wheat, but it did not +grow well. + +"This is sickly stuff," Ingolf said. "It takes too much time and work. +It is better to save the land for hay. Perhaps we can sometime go back +to Norway for flour." + +At last one day the thralls came home and said: + +"We have found the pillars." + +Ingolf jumped to his feet. He cried out: + +"You have kept me waiting three years, Thor. But as soon as my house and +temple are built, I will sacrifice to you three horses as a +thank-offering." + +"It is a long way off, master," the thralls said, "and we have found +much better places in our walks about the island." + +"Thor knows best," Ingolf answered. "I will settle where he leads me." + +So that summer they loaded everything into the ships again and sailed +west along the coast until they came to the place where the pillars +were. The land there was low and green. On both sides were low hills. A +little lake glistened back from shore. In the valley were hot springs, +with steam rising from them. + +"It looks like smoke," the men said. "It is very strange to see hot +water and smoke come out of the ground." + +In front of this green land was a good harbor with islands in it. Far +over the sea toward the north shone a great ice-mountain. + +"I like the place," Ingolf said. "I will make this land mine." + +So he built fires at the mouth of the river near there, and stood by +them and called out loudly: + +"I have put my fire at the mouth of these rivers. All the land that they +drain is mine, and no man shall claim it but me. I will call this place +Reykjavik."[13] + +Then Ingolf built his feast hall. He himself carved the beams and the +door-posts. Gaily painted dragons leaned out from the doors and stood up +from the gables. Men and animals fought on the door-posts. For the doors +he made at the forge great iron hinges. Their ends curved and spread all +over the door. Near his feast hall he built a storehouse and a kitchen +and a smithy and a stable and a bower for the women. + +"We do not need a sleeping-house for guests," he said. "Who would be our +guests?" + +He roofed all his buildings with turf. It made them look like green +mounds with gay carved and painted walls under them. He built also a +temple, and on that was beautiful carving. In this he set up those +statues that had been in his old temple. He put up, too, those pillars +of his high seat that had been drifting about so long. Under them he +laid the soil of Norway that he had brought in the little bronze chest. + +"I have kept my vow, O Thor!" he cried. + +Then he sacrificed three horses that he had promised to Thor. After that +was over, he said: + +"Here is a good field for sport. Let us have some of the old games that +we used to play at home. Who will wrestle with me?" + +So they wrestled there and ran races and swam in the water. The women +sat and looked on. + +"Oh, this is good to see!" Helga cried. "We are as gay as we used to be +in old Norway." + +But it was not many weeks before Ingolf said: + +"I wish that I might sometime see sails in that harbor. I wish that I +might think, 'Around this point of land is another farm, and across the +bay is another. I can go there when I am very lonely.' I wish that I +might sometime be invited to a feast. I wish that I might sometimes hear +the good, clanging music of weapons at play. It is a good land, but we +have lived alone for four years. I am hungry for new faces and for +tidings of Norway." + +One night as he and his men sat about the long fire in the feast hall, a +servant threw a great piece of wood upon the fire. It was streaked with +faded paint and it showed bits of carving. + +"See," said Ingolf, pointing to it, "see what is left of a good ship's +prow! What lands have you seen, O dragon's head? What battles have you +fought? What was your master's name? Where did the storm meet you? +Perhaps he was coming to Iceland, comrades. Would it not have been +pleasant to see his sail and to shake his hand and to welcome him to +Iceland? But instead he is in Ran's caves, and only his broken prow has +drifted here." + +Now it was not many months after that when one of the men came running +into the feast hall, shouting: + +"A sail! a sail in the harbor!" + +All those men gave a shout with no word in it, as though their hearts +had leaped into their throats. They jumped up and ran to the shore and +stood there with hungry eyes. When the men landed, those Icelanders +clapped them on the shoulders, and tears ran down their faces. For a +long time they could say nothing but "Welcome! Welcome!" + +[Illustration: "_Those Icelanders clapped them on the shoulders_"] + +But after a while Ingolf led them to the feast hall and had a feast +spread at once. While the thralls were at work, the men stood together +and talked. Such a noise had never been in that hall before. + +"We have already built our fires and claimed our land up the shore a +way," the leader said. "Men in Norway talk much of Ingolf and Leif, and +wonder what has happened to them." + +Then Ingolf told them of all that had come to pass in Iceland; and then +he asked of Norway. + +"Ah! things are going from bad to worse," the newcomers said. "Harald +grows mightier every day. A man dare not swing a sword now except for +the king. We came here to get away from him. Many men are talking of +Iceland. Soon the sea-road between here and Norway will be swarming with +dragons." + +And so it was. Ships also came from Ireland and from the Shetlands and +the Orkneys. + +"Harald has come west-over-seas," the men of these ships said, "and has +laid his heavy hand upon the islands and put his earls over them. They +are no place now for free men." + +So by the time Ingolf was an old man, Iceland was no longer an empty +land. Every valley was spotted with bright feast halls and temples. +Horses and cattle pastured on the hillsides. Smoke curled up from +kitchens and smithies. Gay ships sailed the waters, taking Iceland cloth +and wool and Iceland fish and oil and the soft feathers of Iceland birds +to Norway to sell, and bringing back wood and flour and grain. + +When Ingolf died, his men drew up on the shore the boat in which he had +come to Iceland. They painted it freshly and put new gold on it, so that +it stood there a glittering dragon with head raised high, looking over +the water. Old Sighvat lifted a huge stone and carried it to the ship's +side. With all his strength he threw it into the bottom. The timbers +cracked. + +"If this ship moves from here," he said, "then I do not know how to moor +a ship. It is Ingolf's grave." + +Then men laid Ingolf upon his shield and carried him and placed him on +the high deck in the stern near the pilot's seat where he had sat to +steer to Iceland. They hung his sword over his shoulder. They laid his +spear by his side. In his hand they put his mead-horn. Into the ship +they set a great treasure-chest filled with beautiful clothes and +bracelets and head-bands. Beside the treasure-chest they piled up many +swords and spears and shields. They put gold-trimmed saddles and bridles +upon three horses. Then they killed the horses and dragged them into the +ship. They killed hunting-dogs and put them by the horses; for they +said: + +"All these things Ingolf will need in Valhalla. When he walks through +the door of that feast hall, Odin must know that a rich and brave man +comes. When he fights with those heroes during the day, he must have +weapons worthy of him. He must have dogs for the hunt. When he feasts +with those heroes at night he must wear rich clothes, so that those +feasters shall know that he was a wealthy man and generous, and that his +friends loved him." + +Ingolf's son tied on his hell-shoes for the long journey. + +"If these shoes come untied," he said, "I do not know how to fasten +hell-shoes." + +Then he went out of the ship and stood on the ground with his family. +All the men of Iceland were there. + +"This is a glorious sight," they said. "Surely no ship ever carried a +richer load. Inside and out the boat blazes with gold and bronze, and, +high over his riches, lies the great Ingolf, ready to take the tiller +and guide to Valhalla, where all the heroes will rise up and shout him +welcome." + +Then the thralls heaped a mound of earth over the ship. This hill stood +up against the sky and seemed to say: "Here lies a great man." Sighvat +put a stone on the top, with runes on it telling whose grave it was. +All this time a skald stood by and played on his harp and sang a song +about that time when Ingolf came to Iceland. He called him the father of +Iceland. People of that country still read an old story that the men of +that long ago time wrote about Ingolf, and they love him because he was +a brave man and "the first of men to come to Iceland." + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] See note about foster-brothers on page 197. + +[11] See note about Valkyrias on page 198. + +[12] See note about Odin's ravens on page 198. + +[13] See note about Reykjavik on page 199. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Eric the Red + + +It was a spring day many years after Ingolf died. All the freemen in the +west of Iceland had come to a meeting. Here they made laws and punished +men for having done wrong. The meeting was over now. Men were walking +about the plain and talking. Everybody seemed much excited. Voices were +loud, arms were swinging. + +"It was an unjust decision," some one cried. "Eric killed the men in +fair fight. The judges outlawed him because they were afraid. His foe +Thorgest has many rich and powerful men to back him." + +"No, no!" said another. "Eric is a bloody man. I am glad he is out of +Iceland." + +Just then a big man with bushy red hair and beard stalked through the +crowd. He looked straight ahead and scowled. + +"There he goes," people said, and turned to look after him. + +"His hands are as red as his beard," some said, and frowned. + +But others looked at him and smiled, saying: + +"He walks like Thor the Fearless." + +"His story would make a fine song," one said. "As strong and as brave +and as red as Thor! Always in a quarrel. A man of many places--Norway, +the north of Iceland, the west of Iceland, those little islands off the +shore of Iceland. Outlawed from all of them on account of his quarrels. +Where will he go now, I wonder?" + +This Eric strode down to the shore with his men following. + +"He is in a black temper," they said. "We should best not talk to him." + +So they made ready the boat in silence. Eric got into the pilot's seat +and they sailed off. Soon they pulled the ship up on their own shore. +Eric strolled into his house and called for supper. When the +drinking-horns had been filled and emptied, Eric pulled himself up and +smiled and shouted out so that the great room was full of his big +voice: + +"There is no friend like mead. It always cheers a man's heart." + +[Illustration: "_He looked straight ahead of him and scowled_"] + +Then laughter and talking began in the hall because Eric's good temper +had come back. After a while Eric said: + +"Well, I must off somewhere. I have been driven about from place to +place, like a seabird in a storm. And there is always a storm about me. +It is my sword's fault. She is ever itching to break her peace-bands[14] +and be out and at the play. She has shut Norway to me and now Iceland. +Where will you go next, old comrade?" and he pulled out his sword and +looked at it and smiled as the fire flashed on it. + +"There are some of us who will follow you wherever you go, Eric," called +a man from across the fire. + +"Is it so?" Eric cried, leaping up. "Oh! then we shall have some merry +times yet. Who will go with me?" + +More than half the men in the hall jumped to their feet and waved their +drinking-horns and shouted: + +"I! I!" + +[Illustration: "_More than half the men in the hall jumped to their +feet_"] + +Eric sat down in his chair and laughed. + +"O you bloody birds of battle!" he cried. "Ever hungry for new frolic! +Our swords are sisters in blood, and we are brothers in adventure. Do +you know what is in my heart to do?" + +He jumped to his feet, and his face glowed. Then he laughed as he looked +at his men. + +"I see the answer flashing from your eyes," he said, "that you will do +it even if it is to go down to Niflheim and drag up Hela, the pale queen +of the stiff dead." + +His men pounded on the tables and shouted: + +"Yes! Yes! Anywhere behind Eric!" + +"But it is not to Niflheim," Eric laughed. "Did you ever hear that story +that Gunnbiorn told? He was sailing for Iceland, but the fog came down, +and then the wind caught him and blew him far off. While he drifted +about he saw a strange land that rose up white and shining out of a blue +sea. Huge ships of ice sailed out from it and met him. I mean to sail to +that land." + +A great shout went up that shook the rafters. Then the men sat and +talked over plans. While they sat, a stranger came into the hall. + +"I have no time to drink," he said. "I have a message from your friend +Eyjolf. He says that Thorgest with all his men means to come here and +catch you to-night. Eyjolf bids you come to him, and he will hide you +until you are ready to start; for he loves you." + +"Hunted like a wolf from corner to corner of the world!" Eric cried +angrily. "Will they not even let me finish one feast?" + +Then he laughed. + +"But if I take my sport like a wolf, I must be hunted like one. So we +shall sleep to-night in the woods about Eyjolf's house, comrades, +instead of in these good beds. Well, we have done it before." + +"And it is no bad place," cried some of the men. + +"I always liked the stars better than a smoky house fire," said one. + +"Can no bad fortune spoil your good nature?" laughed Eric. "But now we +are off. Let every man carry what he can." + +So they quickly loaded themselves with clothes and gold and swords and +spears and kettles of food. Eric led his wife Thorhild and his two young +sons, Thorstein and Leif. All together they got into the boat and went +to Eyjolf's farm. For a week or more they stayed in his woods, sometimes +in a secret cave of his when they knew that Thorgest was about. And +sometimes Eyjolf sent and said: + +"Thorgest is off. Come to my house for a feast." + +All this time they were making ready for the voyage, repairing the ship +and filling it with stores. Word of what Eric meant to do got out, and +men laughed and said: + +"Is that not like Eric? What will he not do?" + +Some men liked the sound of it, and they came to Eric and said: + +"We will go with you to this strange land." + +So all were ready and they pushed off with Eric's family aboard and +those friends who had joined him. They took horses and cattle with them, +and all kinds of tools and food. + +"I do not well know where this land is," Eric said. "Gunnbiorn said only +that he sailed east when he came home to Iceland. So I will steer +straight west. We shall surely find something. I do not know, either, +how long we must go." + +So they sailed that strange ocean, never dreaming what might be ahead of +them. They found no islands to rest on. They met heavy fogs. + +One day as Eric sat in the pilot's seat, he said: + +"I think that I see one of Gunnbiorn's ships of ice. Shall we sail up to +her and see what kind of a craft she is?" + +"Yes," shouted his men. + +So they went on toward it. + +"It sends out a cold breath," said one of the men. + +They all wrapped their cloaks about them. + +"It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before," said Eric. "The white +mast stands as high as a hill." + +"It must be giants that sail in it, frost giants," said another of the +men. + +But as they came nearer, Eric all at once laughed loudly and called out: + +"By Thor, that Gunnbiorn was a foolish fellow. Why, look! It is only a +piece of floating ice such as we sometimes see from Iceland. It is no +ship, and there is no one on it." + +His men laughed and one called to another and said: + +"And you thought of frost giants!" + +Then they sailed on for days and days. They met many of these icebergs. +On one of them was a white bear. + +"Yonder is a strange pilot," Eric laughed. + +"I have seen bears come floating so to the north shore of Iceland," an +old man said. "Perhaps they come from the land that we are going to +find." + +One day Eric said: + +"I see afar off an iceberg larger than any one yet. Perhaps that is our +white land." + +[Illustration: "_It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before_"] + +But even as he said it he felt his boat swing under his hand as he held +the tiller. He bore hard on the rudder, but he could not turn the ship. + +"What is this?" he cried. "A strong river is running here. It is +carrying our ship away from this land. I cannot make head against it. +Out with the oars!" + +So with oars and sail and rudder they fought against the current, but it +took the boat along like a chip, and after a while they put up their +oars and drifted. + +"Luck has taken us into its own hands," Eric laughed. "But this is as +good a way as another." + +Sometimes they were near enough to see the land, then they were carried +out into the sea and thought that they should never see any land again. + +"Perhaps this river will carry us to a whirlpool and suck us under," the +men said. + +But at last Eric felt the current less strong under his hand. + +"To the oars again!" he called. + +So they fought with the current and sailed out of it and went on toward +land. But when they reached the shore they found no place to go in. +Steep black walls shot up from the sea. Nothing grew on them. When the +men looked above the cliffs they saw a long line of white cutting the +sky. + +"It is a land of ice," they said. + +They sailed on south, all the time looking for a place to go ashore. + +"I am sick of this endless sea," Thorhild complained, "but this land is +worse." + +After a while they began to see small bays cut into the shore with +little flat patches of green at their sides. They landed in these places +and stretched and warmed themselves and ate. + +"But these spots are only big enough for graves," the men said. "We can +not live here." + +So they went on again. All the time the weather was growing colder. +Eric's people kept themselves wrapped in their cloaks and put scarfs +around their heads. + +"And it is still summer!" Thorhild said. "What will it be in winter?" + +"We must find a place to build a house now before the winter comes on," +said Eric. "We must not freeze here." + +So they chose a little spot with hills about it to keep off the wind. +They made a house out of stones; for there were many in that place. They +lived there that winter. The sea for a long way out from shore froze so +that it looked like white land. The men went out upon it to hunt white +bear and seal. They ate the meat and wore the skins to keep them warm. +The hardest thing was to get fuel for the fire. No trees grew there. The +men found a little driftwood along the shore, but it was not enough. So +they burned the bones and the fat of the animals they killed. + +"It is a sickening smell," Thorhild said. "I have not been out of this +mean house for weeks. I am tired of the darkness and the smoke and the +cattle. And all the time I hear great noises, as though some giant were +breaking this land into pieces." + +"Ah, cheer up, good wife!" Eric laughed. "I smell better luck ahead." + +Once Eric and his men climbed the cliffs and went back into the middle +of the land. When they came home they had this to tell: + +"It is a country of ice, shining white. Nothing grows on it but a few +mosses. Far off it looks flat, but when you walk upon it, there are +great holes and cracks. We could see nothing beyond. There seems to be +only a fringe of land around the edge of an island of ice." + +The winter nights were very long. Sometimes the sun showed for an hour, +sometimes for only a few minutes, sometimes it did not show at all for a +week. The men hunted by the bright shining of the moon or by the +northern lights. + +As it grew warmer the ice in the sea began to crack and move and melt +and float away. Eric waited only until there was a clear passage in the +water. Then he launched his boat, and they sailed southward again. At +last they found a place that Eric liked. + +"Here I will build my house," he said. + +So they did and lived there that summer and pastured their cattle and +cut hay for the winter and fished and hunted. + +The next spring Eric said: + +"The land stretches far north. I am hungry to know what is there." + +Then they all got into the boat again and sailed north. + +"We can leave no one here," Eric had said. "We cannot tell what might +come between us. Perhaps giants or dragons or strange men might come out +of this inland ice and kill our people. We must stay together." + +Farther north they found only the same bare, frozen country. So after a +while they sailed back to their home and lived there. + +One spring after they had been in that land for four years, Eric said: + +"My eyes are hungry for the sight of men and green fields again. My +stomach is sick of seal and whale and bear. My throat is dry for mead. +This is a bare and cold and hungry land. I will visit my friends in +Iceland." + +"And our swords are rusty with long resting," said his men. "Perhaps we +can find play for them in Iceland." + +"Now I have a plan," Eric suddenly said. "Would it not be pleasant to +see other feast halls as we sail along the coast?" + +"Oh! it would be a beautiful sight," his men said. + +"Well," said Eric, "I am going to try to bring back some neighbors from +Iceland. Now we must have a name for our land. How does Greenland +sound?" + +His men laughed and said: + +"It is a very white Greenland, but men will like the sound of it. It is +better than Iceland." + +So Eric and all his people sailed back and spent the winter with his +friends. + +"Ah! Eric, it is good to hear your laugh again," they said. + +Eric was at many feasts and saw many men, and he talked much of his +Greenland. + +"The sea is full of whale and seals and great fish," he said. "The land +has bear and reindeer. There are no men there. Come back with me and +choose your land." + +Many men said that they would do it. Some men went because they thought +it would be a great frolic to go to a new country. Some went because +they were poor in Iceland and thought: + +"I can be no worse off in Greenland, and perhaps I shall grow rich +there." + +And some went because they loved Eric and wanted to be his neighbors. + +So the next summer thirty-five ships full of men and women and goods +followed Eric for Greenland. But they met heavy storms, and some ships +were wrecked, and the men drowned. Other men grew heartsick at the +terrible storm and the long voyage and no sight of land, and they turned +back to Iceland. So of those thirty-five ships only fifteen got to +Greenland. + +"Only the bravest and the luckiest men come here," Eric said. "We shall +have good neighbors." + +Soon other houses were built along the fiords. + +"It is pleasant to sail along the coast now," said Eric. "I see smoke +rising from houses and ships standing on the shore and friendly hands +waving." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[14] See note about peace-bands on page 199. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Leif and His New Land + + +Now Eric had lived in Greenland for fifteen years. His sons Thorstein +and Leif had grown up to be big, strong men. One spring Leif said to his +father: + +"I have never seen Norway, our mother land. I long to go there and meet +the great men and see the places that skalds sing about." + +Eric answered: + +"It is right that you should go. No man has really lived until he has +seen Norway." + +So he helped Leif fit out a boat and sent him off. Leif sailed for +months. He passed Iceland and the Faroes and the Shetlands. He stopped +at all of these places and feasted his mind on the new things. And +everywhere men received him gladly; for he was handsome and wise. But at +last he came near Norway. Then he stood up before the pilot's seat and +sang loudly: + + "My eyes can see her at last, + The mother of mighty men, + The field of famous fights. + In the sky above I see + Fair Asgard's shining roofs, + The flying hair of Thor, + The wings of Odin's birds, + The road that heroes tread. + I am here in the land of the gods, + The land of mighty men." + +For a while he walked the land as though he were in a dream. He looked +at this and that and everything and loved them all because it was +Norway. + +"I will go to the king," he said. + +He had never seen a king. There were no kings in Iceland or in +Greenland. So he went to the city where the king had his fine house. The +king's name was Olaf. He was a great-grandson of Harald Hairfair; for +Harald had been dead a hundred years. + +Now the king was going to hold a feast at night, and Leif put on his +most beautiful clothes to go to it. He put on long tights of blue wool +and a short jacket of blue velvet. He belted his jacket with a gold +girdle. He had shoes of scarlet with golden clasps. He threw around +himself a cape of scarlet velvet lined with seal fur. His long sword +stuck out from under his cloak. On his head he put a knitted cap of +bright colors. Then he walked to the king's feast hall and went through +the door. It was a great hall, and it was full of richly-dressed men. +The fires shone on so many golden head-bands and bracelets and so many +glittering swords and spears on the wall, and there was so much noise of +talking and laughing, that at first Leif did not know what to do. But at +last he went and sat on the very end seat of the bench near him. + +As the feast went on, King Olaf sat in his high seat and looked about +the hall and noticed this one and that one and spoke across the fire to +many. He was keen-eyed and soon saw Leif in his far seat. + +"Yonder is some man of mark," he said to himself. "He is surely worth +knowing. His face is not the face of a fool. He carries his head like a +lord of men." + +He sent a thrall and asked Leif to come to him. So Leif walked down the +long hall and stood before the king. + +"I am glad to have you for a guest," the king said. "What are your name +and country?" + +"I am Leif Ericsson, and I have come all the way from Greenland to see +you and old Norway." + +"From Greenland!" said the king. "It is not often that I see a +Greenlander. Many come to Norway to trade, but they seldom come to the +king's hall. I shall be glad to hear about your land. Come up and speak +with me." + +So Leif went up the steps of the high seat and sat down by the king and +talked with him. When the feast was over the king said: + +"You shall live at my court this winter, Leif Ericsson. You are a +welcome guest." + +So Leif stayed there that winter. When he started back in the spring, +the king gave him two thralls as a parting gift. + +"Let this gift show my love, Leif Ericsson," he said. "For your sake I +shall not forget Greenland." + +Leif sailed back again and had good luck until he was past Iceland. Then +great winds came out of the north and tossed his ship about so that the +men could do nothing. They were blown south for days and days. They did +not know where they were. Then they saw land, and Leif said: + +"Surely luck has brought us also to a new country. We will go in and see +what kind of a place it is." + +So he steered for it. As they came near, the men said: + +"See the great trees and the soft, green shore. Surely this is a better +country than Greenland or than Iceland either." + +When they landed they threw themselves upon the ground. + +"I never lay on a bed so soft as this grass," one said. + +"Taller trees do not grow in Norway," said another. + +"There is no stone here as in Norway, but only good black dirt," Leif +said. "I never saw so fertile a land before." + +The men were hungry and set about building a fire. + +"There is no lack of fuel here," they said. + +They stayed many days in this country and walked about to see what was +there. A German, named Tyrker, was with Leif. He was a little man with a +high forehead and a short nose. His eyes were big and rolling. He had +lived with Eric for many years, and had taken care of Leif when he was a +little boy. So Leif loved him. + +Now one day they had been wandering about and all came back to camp at +night except Tyrker. When Leif looked around on his comrades, he said: + +"Where is Tyrker?" + +No one knew. Then Leif was angry. + +"Is a man of so little value in this empty land that you would lose +one?" he said. "Why did you not keep together? Did you not see that he +was gone? Why did you not set out to look for him? Who knows what +terrible thing may have happened to him in these great forests?" + +Then he turned and started out to hunt for him. His men followed, +silent and ashamed. They had not gone far when they saw Tyrker running +toward them. He was laughing and talking to himself. Leif ran to him and +put his arms about him with gladness at seeing him. + +[Illustration: "_He pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his +eyes_"] + +"Why are you so late?" he asked. "Where have you been?" + +But Tyrker, still smiling and nodding his head, answered in German. He +pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his eyes. Again Leif asked +his question and put his hand on Tyrker's shoulder as though he would +shake him. Then Tyrker answered in the language of Iceland: + +"I have not been so very far, but I have found something wonderful." + +"What is it?" cried the men. + +"I have found grapes growing wild," answered Tyrker, and he laughed, and +his eyes shone. + +"It cannot be," Leif said. + +Grapes do not grow in Greenland nor in Iceland nor even in Norway. So it +seemed a wonderful thing to these Norsemen. + +"Can I not tell grapes when I see them?" cried Tyrker. "Did I not grow +up in Germany, where every hillside is covered with grapevines? Ah! it +seems like my old home." + +"It is wonderful," Leif said. "I have heard travelers tell of seeing +grapes growing, but I myself never saw it. You shall take us to them +early in the morning, Tyrker." + +So in the morning they went back into the woods and saw the grapes. They +ate of them. + +"They are like food and drink," they cried. + +That day Leif said: + +"We spent most of the summer on the ocean. Winter will soon be coming on +and the sea about Greenland will be frozen. We must start back. I mean +to take some of the things of this land to show to our people at home. +We will fill the rowboat with grapes and tow it behind us. The ship we +will load with logs from these great trees. That will be a welcome +shipload in Greenland, where we have neither trees nor vines. Now half +of you shall gather grapes for the next few days, and the other half +shall cut timber." + +So they did, and after a week sailed off. The ship was full of lumber, +and they towed the rowboat loaded with grapes. As they looked back at +the shore, Leif said: + +"I will call this country Wineland for the grapes that grow there." + +One of the men leaped upon the gunwale and leaned out, clinging to the +sail, and sang: + + "Wineland the good, Wineland the warm, + Wineland the green, the great, the fat. + Our dragon fed and crawls away + With belly stuffed and lazy feet. + How long her purple, trailing tail! + She fed and grew to twice her size." + +Then all the men waved their hands to the shore and gave a great shout +for that good land. + +For all that voyage they had fair weather and sailed into Eric's harbor +before the winter came. Eric saw the ship and ran down to the shore. He +took Leif into his arms and said: + +"Oh, my son, my old eyes ached to see you. I hunger to hear of all that +you have seen and done." + +"Luck has followed me all the way," said Leif. "See what I have brought +home." + +The Greenlanders looked. + +"Lumber! lumber!" they cried. "Oh! it is better stuff than gold." + +Then they saw the grapes and tasted them. + +"Surely you must have plundered Asgard," they said, smacking their lips. + +At the feast that night Eric said: + +"Leif shall sit in the place of honor." + +So Leif sat in the high seat opposite Eric. All men thought him a +handsome and wise man. He told them of the storm and of Wineland. + +"No man would ever need a cloak there. The soil is richer than the soil +of Norway. Grain grows wild, and you yourselves saw the grapes that we +got from there. The forests are without end. The sea is full of fish." + +The Greenlanders listened with open mouths to all this. They turned and +talked to Leif's ship-comrades who were scattered among them. + +Leif noticed two strangers, an old man who sat at Eric's side and a +young woman on the cross-bench. He turned to his brother Thorstein who +sat next to him. + +"Who are these strangers?" he asked. + +"Thorbiorn and his daughter Gudrid," Thorstein answered. "They landed +here this spring. I never saw our father more glad of anything than to +see this Thorbiorn. They were friends before we left Iceland. When they +saw each other again they could not talk enough of old times. In the +spring Eric means to give him a farm up the fiord a way. It seems that +this Thorbiorn comes of a good family that has been rich and great in +Iceland for years. And Thorbiorn himself was rich when our father knew +him, and was much honored by all men. But ill luck came, and he grew +poor. This hurt his pride. 'I will not stay in Iceland and be a beggar,' +he said to himself. 'I will not have men look at me and say, "He is not +what his father was." I will go to my friend Eric the Red in +Greenland.' + +"Then he got ready a great feast and invited all his friends. It was +such a feast as had not been in Iceland for years. Thorbiorn spent on it +all the wealth that he had left. For he said to himself, 'I will not +leave in shame. Men shall remember my last feast.' After that he set out +and came to Greenland. + +"Is not Gudrid beautiful? And she is wise. I mean to marry her, if her +father will permit it." + +Now Leif settled down in Greenland and became a great man there. He was +so busy and he grew so rich that he did not think of going to Wineland +again. But people could not forget his story. Many nights as men sat +about the long fires they talked of that wonderful land and wished to +see it. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +Wineland the Good + + +On an autumn, a year or two after Leif came home, Eric and his men saw +two large ships come to land not far down the shore from the house. + +"They look like trading ships," Eric said. "Let us go down to see them." + +"I will go, too," Gudrid said. "Perhaps they will have rich cloth and +jewelry. It is long since I had my eyes on a new dress." + +So they all went down and found two large trading ships lying in the +water. A great many men were on the shore making a fire. + +"Welcome to Greenland!" called Eric. "What are your names and your +country?" + +Then a fine, big man walked out from among the men and went up to Eric. + +"I am Thorfinn," he said, "a trader. I sailed this summer from Iceland +with forty men and a shipload of goods. On the sea I met this other +ship from Iceland. The master is Biarni. Come and look at my goods." + +So he rowed Eric and Gudrid out and they went aboard his boat. Thorfinn +opened his chests and showed Eric gleaming swords and bracelets and axes +and farm tools. But before Gudrid he spread beautiful cloth and gold +embroidery and golden necklaces. As they looked, he told of doings in +Iceland and asked of Greenland. + +"We never see such things as these in this bare land," Gudrid said, as +she smoothed a beautiful dress of purple velvet. "I envy the women of +Iceland their fair clothes." + +"There is no need of that," Thorfinn said, "for this dress is yours and +anything else from my chests that you like. Here is a necklace that I +beg you to take. It did not have a fairer mistress in Greece where I got +it." + +"You are a very generous trader," Gudrid said. + +Then Thorfinn gave Eric a great sword with a gold-studded scabbard. +After a while he took them to Biarni's ship. He also gave them gifts. +They all talked and laughed much while they were together. + +"You are merry comrades," Eric said. "I ask you both and all your men to +spend the winter at my house. You can put your goods into my +storehouses." + +"By my sword! a generous offer," said Thorfinn. "As for me, I am happy +to come." + +Biarni and all the rest said the same thing. Thorfinn walked to the +house with Eric and Gudrid, while the other men sailed to the ship-sheds +and pulled their boats under them. + +Then Thorfinn saw to the unloading and storing of his goods. + +"Is this Gudrid your daughter?" he asked of Eric one day. + +"She is the widow of my son Thorstein," Eric said. "He died the same +winter that they were married. Her father, too, died not long ago. So +Gudrid lives with me." + +Now all that winter until Yule-time Eric spread a good feast every +night. There was laughter through his house all the time. Often at the +feasts the men cast lots to see whether they might sit on the +cross-bench with the women. Sometimes it was Thorfinn's luck to sit by +Gudrid. Then they talked gaily and drank together. + +At last Yule was coming near. Eric went about the house gloomy then. One +day Thorfinn put his hand on Eric's shoulder and said: + +"Something is troubling you, Eric. We have all noticed that you are not +gay as you used to be. Tell me what is the matter." + +"You have carried yourselves like noble men in my house," Eric answered. +"I am proud to have you for guests. Now I am ashamed that you should not +find a house worthy of you. I am ashamed that when you leave me you will +have to say that you never spent a worse Yule than you did with Eric the +Red in Greenland. For my cupboards are empty." + +"Oh, that is easily mended," Thorfinn said. "No house could feed eighty +men so long and not feel it. I never knew so generous a host before. +But I have flour and grain and mead in my boat. You are welcome to all +of it. You have only to open the doors of your own storehouses. It is a +little gift." + +So Eric used those things, and there was never a merrier Yule feast than +in his house that winter. + +When Yule was over, Thorfinn said to Eric: + +"Gudrid is a beautiful and wise woman. I wish to have her for my wife." + +"You seem to be a man worthy of her," Eric said. + +So that winter Gudrid and Thorfinn were married and lived at Eric's +house. + +One day Thorfinn said to Eric: + +"I have heard much of this wonderful Wineland since I have been here. It +seems to me that it is worth while to go and see more of it." + +"My son Thorstein and I tried it once," said Eric. "It was the year +after Leif came back. We set out with a fair ship and with glad hearts, +but we tossed about all summer on the sea and got nowhere. We were wet +with storm, lean with hunger and illness, and heartsick at our bad +luck." + +"And yet," Thorfinn said, "another time we might have better weather. I +have never seen so fair a land as this seems to be." + +Then he went to Leif and talked long with him. Leif told him in what +direction he had sailed to come home, and how the shores looked that he +had passed. + +"I think I could find my way," Thorfinn said. "My heart moves me to try +this frolic." + +He spoke to Gudrid about it. + +"Oh, yes!" she cried. "Let us go. It is long since I felt a boat leaping +under me. I am tired of sitting still. I want to feel the warm days and +see the soft grass and the high trees and taste the grapes of this +Wineland the Good." + +Then he talked with his men and with Biarni. + +"We are ready," they all said. "We are only waiting for a leader." + +"Then let us go!" cried Thorfinn. + +So in the spring they fitted up their two ships and put into them +provisions and a few cattle. Some of Eric's men also got ready a boat, +so that three ships set sail from Eric's harbor carrying one hundred and +sixty men to Wineland. As they started, Gudrid stood on the deck and +sang: + + "I will feast my eyes on new things-- + On mighty trees and purple grapes, + On beds of flowers and soft grass. + I will sun myself in a warm land." + +They sailed on and past those shores that Leif had spoken of. Whenever +they saw any interesting place they sailed in and looked about and +rested there. + +They had gone far south, past many fair shores with woods on them, when +Gudrid said one day: + +"This is a beautiful bay with a smooth, green field by it, and the great +mountains far back. I should like to stay there for a little while." + +So they sailed in and drew their ships up on shore. They put up the +awnings in them. + +"These shall be our houses," Thorfinn said. + +They were strange-looking houses--shining dragons with gay backs lying +on the yellow sand. Near them the Norsemen lighted fires and cooked +their supper. That night they slept in the ships. In the morning Gudrid +said: + +"I long to see what is back of that mountain." + +So they all climbed it. When they stood on the top they could see far +over the country. + +"There is a lake that we must see," Thorfinn said. + +"I should like to sail around that bay," said Biarni, pointing. + +"I am going to walk up that valley yonder," one of the men said. + +And everyone saw some place where he would like to go. So for all that +summer they camped in that spot and went about the country seeing new +things. They hunted in the woods and caught rabbits and birds and +sometimes bears and deer. Every day some men rowed out to sea and +fished. There was an island in the bay where thousands of birds had +their nests. The men gathered eggs here. + +"We have more to eat than we had in Greenland or Iceland," Thorfinn +said, "and need not work at all. It is all play." + +Near the end of summer Thorfinn spoke to his comrades. + +"Have we not seen everything here? Let us go to a new place. We have not +yet found grapes." + +Thorfinn and Biarni and all their men sailed south again. But some of +Eric's men went off in their boat another way. Years afterward the +Greenlanders heard that they were shipwrecked and made slaves in +Ireland. + +After Thorfinn and Biarni had sailed for many days they landed on a low, +green place. There were hills around it. A little lake was there. + +"What is growing on those hillsides?" Thorfinn said, shading his eyes +with his hand. + +He and some others ran up there. The people on shore heard them shout. +Soon they came running back with their hands full of something. + +"Grapes! Grapes!" they were shouting. + +All those people sat down and ate the grapes and then went to the +hillside and picked more. + +"Now we are indeed in Wineland," they said. "It is as wonderful as +Leif's stories. Surely we must stay here for a long time." + +The very next day they went into the woods and began to cut out lumber. +The huts that they built were little things. They had no windows, and in +the doorways the men hung their cloaks instead of doors. + +"We can be out in the air so much in this warm country," said Gudrid, +"that we do not need fine houses." + +The huts were scattered all about, some on the side of the lake, some at +the shore of the harbor, some on the hillside. Gudrid had said: + +"I want to live by the lake where I can look into the green woods and +hear sweet bird-noises." + +So Thorfinn built his hut there. + +As they sat about the campfire one night, Biarni said: + +"It is strange that so good a land should be empty. I suppose that +these are the first houses that were ever built in Wineland. It is +wonderful to think that we are alone here in this great land." + +All that winter no snow fell. The cattle pastured on the grass. + +"To think of the cold, frozen winters in Greenland!" Gudrid said. "Oh! +this is the sun's own land." + +In the beginning of that winter a little son was born to Gudrid and +Thorfinn. + +"A health to the first Winelander!" the men shouted and drank down their +wine; for they had made some from Wineland grapes. + +"Will he be the father of a great country, as Ingolf was?" Biarni mused. + +Gudrid looked at her baby and smiled. + +"You will be as sunny as this good land, I hope," she said. + +They named him Snorri. He grew fast and soon crept along the yellow +sand, and toddled among the grapevines, and climbed into the boats and +learned to talk. The men called him the "Wineland king." + +"I never knew a baby before," one of the men said. + +"No," said another. "Swords are jealous. But when they are in their +scabbards, we can do other things, even play with babies." + +"I wonder whether I have forgotten how to swing my sword in this quiet +land," another man said. + +One spring morning when the men got up and went out from their huts to +the fires to cook they saw a great many canoes in the harbor. Men were +in them paddling toward shore. + +"What is this?" cried the Norsemen to one another. "Where did they come +from? Are they foes? Who ever saw such boats before? The men's faces are +brown." + +"Let every man have his sword ready," cried Thorfinn. "But do not draw +until I command. Let us go to meet them." + +So they went and stood on the shore. Soon the men from the canoes landed +and stood looking at the Norsemen. The strangers' skin was brown. Their +faces were broad. Their hair was black. Their bodies were short. They +wore leather clothes. One man among them seemed to be chief. He spread +out his open hands to the Norsemen. + +"He is showing us that he has no weapons," Biarni said. "He comes in +peace." + +Then Thorfinn showed his empty hands and asked: + +"What do you want?" + +The stranger said something, but the Norsemen could not understand. It +was some new language. Then the chief pointed to one of the huts and +walked toward it. He and his men walked all around it and felt of the +timber and went into it and looked at all the things there--spades and +cloaks and drinking-horns. As they looked they talked together. They +went to all the other huts and looked at everything there. One of them +found a red cloak. He spread it out and showed it to the others. They +all stood about it and looked at it and felt of it and talked fast. + +"They seem to like my cloak," Biarni said. + +One of the strangers went down to their canoes and soon came back with +an armload of furs--fox-skins, otter-skins, beaver-skins. The chief took +some and held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the cloak to him. + +[Illustration: "_The chief held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the +cloak to him_"] + +"He wants to trade," Thorfinn said. "Will you do it, Biarni?" + +"Yes," Biarni answered, and took the furs. + +"If they want red stuff, I have a whole roll of red cloth that I will +trade," one of the other men said. + +He went and got it. When the strangers saw it they quickly held out more +furs and seemed eager to trade. So Thorfinn cut the cloth into pieces +and sold every scrap. When the strangers got it they tied it about their +heads and seemed much pleased. + +While this trading was going on and everybody was good-natured, a bull +of Thorfinn's ran out of the woods bellowing and came towards the crowd. +When the strangers heard it and saw it they threw down whatever was in +their hands and ran to their canoes and paddled off as fast as they +could. + +The Norsemen laughed. + +"We have lost our customers," Biarni said. + +"Did they never see a bull before?" laughed one of the men. + +Now after three weeks the Norsemen saw canoes in the bay again. This +time it was black with them, there were so many. The people in them were +all making a horrible shout. + +"It is a war-cry," Thorfinn said, and he raised a red shield. "They are +surely twenty to our one, but we must fight. Stand in close line and +give them a taste of your swords." + +Even as he spoke a great shower of stones fell upon them. Some of the +Norsemen were hit on the head and knocked down. Biarni got a broken arm. +Still the storm came fast. The strangers had landed and were running +toward the Norsemen. They threw their stones with sling-shots, and they +yelled all the time. + +"Oh, this is no kind of fighting for brave men!" Thorfinn cried angrily. + +The Norsemen's swords swung fast, and many of the strangers died under +them, but still others came on, throwing stones and swinging stone axes. +The horrible yelling and the strange things that the savages did +frightened the Norsemen. + +"These are not men," some one cried. + +Then those Norsemen who had never been afraid of anything turned and +ran. But when they came to the top of a rough hill Thorfinn cried: + +"What are we doing? Shall we die here in this empty land with no one to +bury us? We are leaving our women." + +Then one of the women ran out of the hut where they were hiding. + +"Give me a sword!" she cried. "I can drive them back. Are Norsemen not +better than these savages?" + +Then those warriors stopped, ashamed, and stood up before the wild men +and fought so fiercely that the strangers turned and fled down to their +canoes and paddled away. + +"Oh, I am glad they are gone!" Thorfinn said. "It was an ugly fight." + +"Thor would not have loved that battle," one said. + +"It was no battle," another replied. "It was like fighting against an +army of poisonous flies." + +The Norsemen were all worn and bleeding and sore. They went to their +huts and dressed their wounds, and the women helped them. At supper that +night they talked about the fight for a long time. + +"I will not stay here," Gudrid said. "Perhaps these wild men have gone +away to get more people and will come back and kill us. Oh! they are +ugly." + +"Perhaps brown faces are looking at us now from behind the trees in the +woods back there," said Biarni. + +It was the wish of all to go home. So after a few days they sailed back +to Greenland with good weather all the way. The people at Eric's house +were very glad to see them. + +"We were afraid you had died," they said. + +"And I thought once that we should never leave Wineland alive," Thorfinn +answered. + +Then they told all the story. + +"I wonder why I had no such bad luck," Leif said. "But you have a better +shipload than I got." + +He was looking at the bundles of furs and the kegs of wine. + +"Yes," said Thorfinn, "we have come back richer than when we left. But I +will never go again for all the skins in the woods." + +The next summer Thorfinn took Gudrid and Snorri and all his people and +sailed back to Iceland, his home. There he lived until he died. People +looked at him in wonder. + +"That is the man who went to Wineland and fought with wild men," they +said. "Snorri is his son. He is the first and last Winelander, for no +one will ever go there again. It will be an empty and forgotten land." + +And so it was for a long time. Some wise men wrote down the story of +those voyages and of that land, and people read the tale and liked it, +but no one remembered where the place was. It all seemed like a fairy +tale. Long afterwards, however, men began to read those stories with +wide-open eyes and to wonder. They guessed and talked together, and +studied this and that land, and read the story over and over. At last +they have learned that Wineland was in America, on the eastern shore of +the United States, and they have called Snorri the first American, and +have put up statues of Leif Ericsson, the first comer to America.[15] + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[15] See note about Eskimos on page 199. + + + + +Descriptive Notes + + +_House._ In a rich Norseman's home were many buildings. The finest and +largest was the great feast hall. Next were the bower, where the women +worked, and the guest house, where visitors slept. Besides these were +storehouses, stables, work-shops, a kitchen, a sleeping-house for +thralls. All these buildings were made of heavy, hewn logs, covered with +tar to fill the cracks and to keep the wood from rotting. The ends of +the logs, the door-posts, the peaks of gables, were carved into shapes +of men and animals and were painted with bright colors. These gay +buildings were close together, often set around the four sides of a +square yard. That yard was a busy and pleasant place, with men and women +running across from one bright building to another. Sometimes a high +fence with one gate went around all this, and only the tall, carved +peaks of roofs showed from the outside. + +_Names._ An old Norse story says: "Most men had two names in one, and +thought it likeliest to lead to long life and good luck to have double +names." To be called after a god was very lucky. Here are some of those +double names with their meanings: "Thorstein" means Thor's stone; +"Thorkel" means Thor's fire; "Thorbiorn" means Thor's bear; "Gudbrand" +means Gunnr's sword (Gunnr was one of the Valkyrias[16]); "Gunnbiorn" +means Gunnr's bear; "Gudrid" means Gunnr's rider; "Gudrod" means +Gunnr's land-clearer. (Most of the land in old Norway was covered with +forests. When a man got new land he had to clear off the trees.) In +those olden days a man did not have a surname that belonged to everyone +in his family. Sometimes there were two or three men of the same name in +a neighborhood. That caused trouble. People thought of two ways of +making it easy to tell which man was being spoken of. Each was given a +nickname. Suppose the name of each was Haki. One would be called Haki +the Black because he had black hair. The other would be called Haki the +Ship-chested because his chest was broad and strong. These nicknames +were often given only for the fun of it. Most men had them,--Eric the +Red, Leif the Lucky, Harald Hairfair, Rolf Go-afoot. The other way of +knowing one Haki from the other was to tell his father's name. One was +Haki, Eric's son. The other was Haki, Halfdan's son. If you speak these +names quickly, they sound like Haki Ericsson and Haki Halfdansson. After +a while they were written like that, and men handed them on to their +sons and daughters. Some names that we have nowadays have come down to +us in just that way--Swanson, Anderson, Peterson, Jansen. There was +another reason for these last names: a man was proud to have people know +who his father was. + +_Drinking-horns._ The Norsemen had few cups or goblets. They used +instead the horns of cattle, polished and trimmed with gold or silver or +bronze. They were often very beautiful, and a man was almost as proud +of his drinking-horn as of his sword. + +_Tables._ Before a meal thralls brought trestles into the feast hall and +set them before the benches. Then they laid long boards across from +trestle to trestle. These narrow tables stretched all along both sides +of the hall. People sat at the outside edge only. So the thralls served +from the middle of the room. They put baskets of bread and wooden +platters of meat upon these bare boards. At the end of the meal they +carried out tables and all, and the drinking-horns went round in a clean +room. + +_Beds._ Around the sides of the feast hall were shut-beds. They were +like big boxes with doors opening into the hall. On the floor of this +box was straw with blankets thrown over it. The people got into these +beds and closed the doors and so shut themselves in. Olaf's men could +have set heavy things against these doors or have put props against +them. Then the people could not have got out; for on the other side of +the bed was the thick outside wall of the feast hall, and there were no +windows in it. + +_Feast Hall._ The feast hall was long and narrow, with a door at each +end. Down the middle of the room were flat stones in the dirt floor. +Here the fires burned. In the roof above these fires were holes for the +smoke to go out, but some of it blew about the hall, and the walls and +rafters were stained with it. But it was pleasant wood smoke, and the +Norsemen did not dislike it. There were no large windows in a feast hall +or in any other Norse building. High up under the eaves or in the roof +itself were narrow slits that were called wind's-eyes. There was no +glass in them, for the Norsemen did not know how to make it; but there +were, instead, covers made of thin, oiled skin. These were put into the +wind's-eyes in stormy weather. There were covers, too, for the +smoke-holes. The only light came through these narrow holes, so on dark +days the people needed the fire as much for light as for warmth. + +_Foster-father._ A Norse father sent his children away from home to grow +up. They went when they were three or four years old and stayed until +they were grown. The father thought: "They will be better so. If they +stayed at home, their mother would spoil them with much petting." + +_Foster-brothers._ When two men loved each other very much they said, +"Let us become foster-brothers." + +Then they went and cut three long pieces of turf and put a spear into +the ground so that it held up the strips of turf like an arch. Runes +were cut on the handle of the spear, telling the duties of +foster-brothers. The two men walked under this arch, and each made a +little cut in his palm. They knelt and clasped hands, so that the blood +of the two flowed together, and they said, "Now we are of one blood." + +Then each made this vow: "I will fight for my foster-brother whenever he +shall need me. If he is killed before I am, I will punish the man who +did it. Whatever things I own are as much my foster-brother's as mine. I +will love this man until I die. I call Odin and Thor and all the gods to +hear my vow. May they hate me if I break it!" + +_Ran._ Ran was the wife of Aegir, who was god of the sea. They lived in +a cave at the bottom of the ocean. Ran had a great net, and she caught +in it all men who were shipwrecked and took them to her cave. She also +caught all the gold and rich treasures that went down in ships. So her +cave was filled with shining things. + +_Valkyrias._ These were the maidens of Odin. They waited on the table in +Valhalla. But whenever a battle was being fought they rode through the +air on their horses and watched to see what warriors were brave enough +to go to Valhalla. Sometimes during the fight a man would think that he +saw the Valkyrias. Then he was glad; for he knew that he would go to +Valhalla. + +An old Norse story says this about the Valkyrias: "With lightning around +them, with bloody shirts of mail, and with shining spears they ride +through the air and the ocean. When their horses shake their manes, dew +falls on the deep valleys and hail on the high forests." + +_Odin's Ravens._ Odin had a great throne in his palace in Asgard. When +he sat in it he could look all over the world. But it was so far to see +that he could not tell all of the things that were happening. So he had +two ravens to help him. An old Norse story tells this about them: "Two +ravens sit on Odin's shoulders and whisper in his ears all that they +have heard and seen. He sends them out at dawn of day to see over the +whole world. They return at evening near meal time. This is why Odin +knows so many things." + +_Reykjavik._ Reykjavik means "smoky sea." Ingolf called it that because +of the steaming hot-springs by the sea. The place is still called +Reykjavik. A little city has grown up there, the only city in Iceland. +It is the capital of the country. + +_Peace-bands._ A Norseman always carried his sword, even at a feast; for +he did not know when he might need it. But when he went somewhere on an +errand of peace and had no quarrel he tied his sword into its scabbard +with white bands that he called peace-bands. If all at once something +happened to make him need his sword, he broke the peace-bands and drew +it out. + +_Eskimos._ Now, the Eskimos live in Greenland and Alaska and on the very +northern shores of Canada. But once they lived farther south in +pleasanter lands. After a while the other Indian tribes began to grow +strong. Then they wanted the pleasant land of the Eskimos and the +seashore that the Eskimos had. So they fought again and again with those +people and won and drove them farther north and farther north. At last +the Eskimos were on the very shores of the cold sea, with the Indians +still pushing them on. So some of them got into their boats and rowed +across the narrow water and came to Greenland and lived there. Some +people think that these things happened before Eric found Greenland. In +that case he found Eskimos there; and Thorfinn saw red Indians in +Wineland. Other people think that this happened after Eric went to +Greenland. If that is true, he found an empty land, and it was Eskimos +that Thorfinn saw in Wineland. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[16] See note about Valkyrias on page 198. + + + + +Suggestions _to_ Teachers + + +Possibly this book seems made up of four or five disconnected stories. +They are, however, strung upon one thread,--the westward emigration from +Norway. The story of Harald is intended to serve in two ways towards the +working out of this plot. It gives the general setting that continues +throughout the book in costume, houses, ideals, habits. It explains the +cause of the emigration from the mother country. It is really an +introductory chapter. As for the other stories, they are distinctly +steps in the progress of the plot. A chain of islands loosely connects +Norway with America,--Orkneys and Shetlands, Faroes, Iceland, Greenland. +It was from link to link of this chain that the Norsemen sailed in +search of home and adventure. Discoveries were made by accident. Ships +were driven by the wind from known island to unknown. These two +points,--the island connection that made possible the long voyage from +Norway to America, and the contribution of storm to discovery,--I have +stated in the book only dramatically. I emphasize them here, hoping that +the teacher will make sure that the children see them, and possibly that +they state them abstractly. + +Let me speak as to the proper imaging of the stories. I have not often +interrupted incident with special description, not because I do not +consider the getting of vivid and detailed images most necessary to full +enjoyment and to proper intellectual habits, but because I trusted to +the pictures of this book and to the teacher to do what seemed to me +inartistic to do in the story. Some of these descriptions and +explanations I have introduced into the book in the form of notes, +hoping that the children in turning to them might form a habit of +insisting upon full understanding of a point, and might possibly, with +the teacher's encouragement, begin the habit of reference reading. + +The landscape of Norway, Iceland, and Greenland is wonderful and will +greatly assist in giving reality and definiteness to the stories. +Materials for this study are not difficult of access. Foreign colored +photographs of Norwegian landscape are becoming common in our art +stores. There are good illustrations in the geographical works referred +to in the book list. These could be copied upon the blackboard. There +are three books beautifully illustrated in color that it will be +possible to find only in large libraries,--"Coast of Norway," by Walton; +"Travels in the Island of Iceland," by Mackenzie; "Voyage en Islande et +au Gröenland," by J. P. Gaimard. If the landscape is studied from the +point of view of formation, the images will be more accurate and more +easily gained, and the study will have a general value that will +continue past the reading of these stories into all work in geography. + +Trustworthy pictures of Norse houses and costumes are difficult to +obtain. In "Viking Age" and "Story of Norway," by Boyesen (G. P. +Putnam's Sons, New York), are many copies of Norse antiquities in the +fashion of weapons, shield-bosses, coins, jewelry, wood-carving. These +are, of course, accurate, but of little interest to children. Their +chief value lies in helping the teacher to piece together a picture that +she can finally give to her pupils. + +Metal-working and wood-carving were the most important arts of the +Norse. If children study products of these arts and actually do some of +the work, they will gain a quickened sympathy with the people and an +appreciation of their power. They may, perhaps, make something to merely +illustrate Norse work; for instance, a carved ship's-head, or a copper +shield, or a wrought door-nail. But, better, they may apply Norse ideas +of form and decoration and Norse processes in making some modern thing +that they can actually use; for instance, a carved wood pin-tray or a +copper match holder. This work should lead out into a study of these +same industries among ourselves with visits to wood-working shops and +metal foundries. + +Frequent drawn or painted illustration by the children of costumes, +landscapes, houses, feast halls, and ships will help to make these +images clear. But dramatization will do more than anything else for the +interpreting of the stories and the characters. It would be an excellent +thing if at last, through the dramatization and the handwork, the +children should come into sufficient understanding and enthusiasm to +turn skalds and compose songs in the Norse manner. This requires only a +small vocabulary and a rough feeling for simple rhythm, but an intensity +of emotion and a great vividness of image. + +These Norse stories have, to my thinking, three values. The men, with +the crude courage and the strange adventures that make a man interesting +to children, have at the same time the love of truth, the hardy +endurance, the faithfulness to plighted word, that make them a child's +fit companions. Again, in form and in matter old Norse literature is +well worth our reading. I should deem it a great thing accomplished if +the children who read these stories should so be tempted after a while +to read those fine old books, to enjoy the tales, to appreciate +straightforwardness and simplicity of style. The historical value of the +story of Leif Ericsson and the others seems to me to be not to learn the +fact that Norsemen discovered America before Columbus did, but to gain a +conception of the conditions of early navigation, of the length of the +voyage, of the dangers of the sea, and a consequent realization of the +reason for the fact that America was unknown to mediæval Europe, of why +the Norsemen did not travel, of what was necessary to be done before men +should strike out across the ocean. Norse story is only one chapter in +that tale of American discovery. I give below an outline of a year's +work on the subject that was once followed by the fourth grade of the +Chicago Normal School. The idea in it is to give importance, sequence, +reasonableness, broad connections, to the discovery of America. + +The head of the history department who planned this course says it is +"in a sense a dramatization of the development of geographical +knowledge." + +Following is a bare topical outline of the work: + + Evolution of the forms of boats. + Viking tales. + A crusade as a tale of travel and discovery. + Monasteries as centers of work. + Printing. + Story of Marco Polo. + Columbus' discovery. + Story of Vasco da Gama. + Story of Magellan. + +[Decoration] + + + + +A Reading List + + +GEOGRAPHY + +NORWAY: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants," Reclus. _D. Appleton & Co., New +York._ + +ICELAND: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants," "Iceland," Baring-Gould. +_Smith, Elder & Co., London, 1863._ + + "Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes." _Harper Bros., New York._ + + "An American in Iceland," Kneeland. _Lockwood, Brooke & Co., Boston, + 1876._ + +GREENLAND: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants," Reclus. _D. Appleton & Co., +New York._ + + "Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes." _Harper Bros., New York._ + + +CUSTOMS + +"Viking Age," Du Chaillu. _Charles Scribner's Sons, 1889._ + +"Private Life of the Old Northmen," Keyser; translated by Barnard. +_Chapman & Hall, London, 1868._ + +"Saga Time," Vicary. _Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., London._ + +"Story of Burnt Njal" (Introduction), Dasent. _Edmonston & Douglas, +Edinburgh, 1861._ + +"Vikings of the Baltic, a romance;" Dasent. _Edmonston & Douglas, +Edinburgh._ + +"Ivar the Viking, a romance;" Du Chaillu. _Charles Scribner's Sons, New +York._ + +"Viking Path, a romance;" Haldane Burgess. _Wm. Blackwood & Sons, +Edinburgh, 1894._ + +"Northern Antiquities," Percy, edited by Blackwell. _Bohn, London, +1859._ + +Also the Sagas named on page 206. + + +MYTHOLOGY + +The Prose Edda, "Northern Antiquities," Percy, edited by Blackwell. +_Bohn, London, 1859._ + +"Norse Mythology," Anderson. _Scott, Foresman & Co., Chicago, 1876._ + +"Norse Stories," Mabie. _Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago, 1902._ + +"Northern Mythology," Thorpe. _Lumley, London, 1851._ + +"Classic Myths," Judd. _Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago, 1902._ + + +INCIDENTS + +HARALD: Saga of Harald Hairfair, in "Saga Library," Magnusson and +Morris, Vol. I. _Bernard Quaritch, London; Charles Scribner's Sons, New +York, 1892._ + +INGOLF: "Norsemen in Iceland," Dasent in Oxford Essays, Vol. IV. _Parker +& Son, London, 1858._ + + "Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes." _Harper Bros., New York._ + + "A Winter in Iceland and Lapland," Dillon. _Henry Colburn, London, + 1840._ + +ERIC, LEIF, AND THORFINN: "The Finding of Wineland the Good," Reeves. +_Henry Froude, 1890._ + + "America Not Discovered by Columbus." Anderson. _Scott, Foresman & + Co., Chicago, 1891._ + + +CREDIBILITY OF STORY + +Winsor's "Narrative and Critical History of America," Vol. I. _C. A. +Nichols Co., Springfield, Mass., 1895._ + +"Discovery of America," Fiske, Vol. I. _Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, +1892._ + + +OTHER SAGAS EASILY ACCESSIBLE + +"Saga Library," 5 vols.; Morris and Magnusson. _Bernard Quaritch, +London; Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1892._ As follows: + + "The Story of Howard the Halt," "The Story of the Banded Men," "The + Story of Hen Thorir." Done into English out of Icelandic by William + Morris and Eirikr Magnusson. + + "The Story of the Ere-dwellers," with "The Story of the + Heath-slayings" as Appendix. Done into English out of the Icelandic + by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson. + + "The Stories of the Kings of Norway, called the Round World" + (Heimskringla). By Snorri Sturluson. Done into English by William + Morris and Eirikr Magnusson. With a large map of Norway. In three + volumes. + +"Gisli the Outlaw," Dasent. _Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh._ + +"Orkneyinga Saga," Anderson. _Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh._ + +"Volsunga Saga," Morris and Magnusson. _Walter Scott, London._ + +"The Younger Edda," Anderson. _Scott, Foresman & Co., Chicago, 1880._ + +(A full bibliography of the Sagas may be found in "Volsunga Saga.") + +[Decoration] + + + + +A Pronouncing Index + + +(_This index and guide to pronunciation which are given to indicate the +pronunciation of the more difficult words, are based upon the 1918 +edition of Webster's New International Dictionary._) + + Aegir (ē´ jĭr) + _Ȧ_rā´ bĭ _ȧ_ + Ärn´ vĭd + Ăs´ gärd + A̤ud´ bĭ ôrn + A̤u´ dŭn + + Bĭ är´ nĭ + + Eric (ē´ rĭk) + Ericsson (ĕr´ ĭk s_ŭ_n) + Eyjolf (ī´ y[+o]lf) + + Faroes (fā´ rōz) + fiord (fyôrd) + Flō´ kĭ + + Grĭm + Gŭd´ bränd + Gŭd´ rĭd + Gŭd´ rōd + Gŭn_n_´ bĭ ôrn + Gṳ´ t_h_ôrm + Gyda (gē´ d[+a]) + + Hä´ kĭ + Hä´ k[+o]n + Hälf´ dăn + Hăr´ ăld + Hä´ värd + Hĕl´ ä + Hĕl´ g[+a] + Hẽr´ st_e_īn + Holmstein (hōlm´ stīn) + + Ĭn´ gôlf + Ī´ vär + + Leif (l[+i]f) + + Niflheim (n[+e]v´ 'l hām) + + Ō´ dĭn + Ō´ läf + Orkneys (ôrk´ nĭz) + + Rän + Reykjavik (rā´ ky_ȧ_ vēk´) + Rôlf + + Shĕt´ l_ă_nds + Sif (sēf) + Sighvat (sĭg´ văt) + Snorri (snŏr´ r[+e]) + Sôl´ fĭ + + Thor (thôr) + T_h_ôr´ bĭ ôrn + T_h_ôr´ fĭnn + T_h_ôr´ gĕst + T_h_ôr´ hĭld + T_h_ôr´ kĕl + T_h_ôr´ l_e_īf + T_h_ôr´ ôlf + T_h_ôr´ st_e_īn + Tyrker (tẽr´ kẽr) + + Văl hăl´ _lȧ_ + Valkyria (văl kĭr´ y_ȧ_) + Vī´ kĭng + + +A GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION + + ā as in āle + ă as in ădd + _ă_ as in fin_ă_l + ȧ as in ȧsk + _ȧ_ as in sof_ȧ_ + ä as in ärm + a̤ as in a̤ll + + ē as in ēve + [+e] as in [+e]vent´ + ĕ as in ĕnd + ẽ as in hẽr + + ī as in īce + ĭ as in ĭt + + ō as in ōld + [+o] as in [+o]bey´ + ŏ as in ŏdd + ô as in lôrd + + ŭ as in ŭp + _ŭ_ as in circ_ŭ_s + ṳ as in rṳde + + ȳ as in flȳ + +Silent letters are italicized. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Viking Tales, by Jennie Hall + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIKING TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 24811-0.txt or 24811-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/8/1/24811/ + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Viking Tales + +Author: Jennie Hall + +Illustrator: Victor R. Lambdin + +Release Date: March 12, 2008 [EBook #24811] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIKING TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +VIKING TALES + + +[Decoration] + + +[Illustration: _A map showing the journeys of the Vikings_] + + + + + VIKING TALES + _by_ + JENNIE HALL + _The Francis W. Parker School_ + _Chicago_ + + + [Illustration] + + + ILLUSTRATED + _by_ + VICTOR R. + LAMBDIN + + + RAND McNALLY & CO + + _Chicago_ _New York_ + _London_ + + + + + _Copyright, 1902,_ + By JENNIE HALL + + [Device] + Made in U.S.A. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. + Diacritical marks, found in the _Pronouncing Index_, are represented + as follows: + + [=x] any character with upper macron + [)x] ... with upper breve + [.x] ... with upper dot + [x:] ... with lower diaeresis + [~x] ... with upper tilde + [+x] ... with upper up tack + + + + +_The_ Table _of_ Contents + + + PAGE + _A List of the Illustrations_ 8 + _What the Sagas Were_ 9 + + +PART I. + +_IN NORWAY_ + + The Baby 15 + The Tooth Thrall 19 + Olaf's Farm 27 + Olaf's Fight with Havard 40 + Foes'-fear 47 + Harald is King 53 + Harald's Battle 62 + Gyda's Saucy Message 71 + The Sea Fight 81 + King Harald's Wedding 89 + King Harald Goes West-Over-Seas 95 + + +PART II. + +_WEST-OVER-SEAS_ + + Homes in Iceland 103 + Eric the Red 143 + Leif and His New Land 161 + Wineland the Good 174 + + _Descriptive Notes_ 194 + _Suggestions to Teachers_ 200 + _A Reading List_ 204 + _A Pronouncing Index_ 207 + + + + +A List of the Illustrations + + + PAGE + + _A map showing the journeys of the Vikings_ Frontispiece + + "_I own this baby for my son. He shall be called Harald_" 17 + + "_He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from his + belt_" 22 + + "_I struck my shield against the door so that it made a + great clanging_" 31 + + "_Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly_" 45 + + "_He drove it into the wolf's neck_" 51 + + "_I vow that I will grind my father's foes under my heel_" 59 + + "_King Haki fell dead under 'Foes'-fear'_" 68 + + "_I will not be his wife unless he puts all of Norway + under him for my sake_" 73 + + "_Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat_" 87 + + "_I, Harald, King of Norway, take you, Gyda, for my wife_" 91 + + "_In Norway they left burning houses and weeping women_" 97 + + "_Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven afar off_" 125 + + "_Those Icelanders clapped them on the shoulders_" 137 + + "_He looked straight ahead of him and scowled_" 145 + + "_More than half the men in the hall jumped to their feet_" 147 + + "_It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before_" 153 + + "_He pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his eyes_" 167 + + "_The chief held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the cloak + to him_" 187 + + + + +What _the_ Sagas Were + + +Iceland is a little country far north in the cold sea. Men found it and +went there to live more than a thousand years ago. During the warm +season they used to fish and make fish-oil and hunt sea-birds and gather +feathers and tend their sheep and make hay. But the winters were long +and dark and cold. Men and women and children stayed in the house and +carded and spun and wove and knit. A whole family sat for hours around +the fire in the middle of the room. That fire gave the only light. +Shadows flitted in the dark corners. Smoke curled along the high beams +in the ceiling. The children sat on the dirt floor close by the fire. +The grown people were on a long narrow bench that they had pulled up to +the light and warmth. Everybody's hands were busy with wool. The work +left their minds free to think and their lips to talk. What was there to +talk about? The summer's fishing, the killing of a fox, a voyage to +Norway. But the people grew tired of this little gossip. Fathers looked +at their children and thought: + +"They are not learning much. What will make them brave and wise? What +will teach them to love their country and old Norway? Will not the +stories of battles, of brave deeds, of mighty men, do this?" + +So, as the family worked in the red fire-light, the father told of the +kings of Norway, of long voyages to strange lands, of good fights. And +in farmhouses all through Iceland these old tales were told over and +over until everybody knew them and loved them. Some men could sing and +play the harp. This made the stories all the more interesting. People +called such men "skalds," and they called their songs "sagas." + +Every midsummer there was a great meeting. Men from all over Iceland +came to it and made laws. During the day there were rest times, when no +business was going on. Then some skald would take his harp and walk to a +large stone or a knoll and stand on it and begin a song of some brave +deed of an old Norse hero. At the first sound of the harp and the +voice, men came running from all directions, crying out: + +"The skald! The skald! A saga!" + +They stood about for hours and listened. They shouted applause. When the +skald was tired, some other man would come up from the crowd and sing or +tell a story. As the skald stepped down from his high position, some +rich man would rush up to him and say: + +"Come and spend next winter at my house. Our ears are thirsty for song." + +So the best skalds traveled much and visited many people. Their songs +made them welcome everywhere. They were always honored with good seats +at a feast. They were given many rich gifts. Even the King of Norway +would sometimes send across the water to Iceland, saying to some famous +skald: + +"Come and visit me. You shall not go away empty-handed. Men say that the +sweetest songs are in Iceland. I wish to hear them." + +These tales were not written. Few men wrote or read in those days. +Skalds learned songs from hearing them sung. At last people began to +write more easily. Then they said: + +"These stories are very precious. We must write them down to save them +from being forgotten." + +After that many men in Iceland spent their winters in writing books. +They wrote on sheepskin; vellum, we call it. Many of these old vellum +books have been saved for hundreds of years, and are now in museums in +Norway. Some leaves are lost, some are torn, all are yellow and +crumpled. But they are precious. They tell us all that we know about +that olden time. There are the very words that the men of Iceland wrote +so long ago--stories of kings and of battles and of ship-sailing. Some +of those old stories I have told in this book. + + + + +_PART I_ + +[Illustration] + +_IN_ NORWAY + + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +The Baby + + +King Halfdan lived in Norway long ago. One morning his queen said to +him: + +"I had a strange dream last night. I thought that I stood in the grass +before my bower.[1] I pulled a thorn from my dress. As I held it in my +fingers, it grew into a tall tree. The trunk was thick and red as blood, +but the lower limbs were fair and green, and the highest ones were +white. I thought that the branches of this great tree spread so far that +they covered all Norway and even more." + +"A strange dream," said King Halfdan. "Dreams are the messengers of the +gods. I wonder what they would tell us," and he stroked his beard in +thought. + +Some time after that a serving-woman came into the feast hall where King +Halfdan was. She carried a little white bundle in her arms. + +"My lord," she said, "a little son is just born to you." + +"Ha!" cried the king, and he jumped up from the high seat and hastened +forward until he stood before the woman. + +"Show him to me!" he shouted, and there was joy in his voice. + +The serving-woman put down her bundle on the ground and turned back the +cloth. There was a little naked baby. The king looked at it carefully. + +"It is a goodly youngster," he said, and smiled. "Bring Ivar and +Thorstein."[2] + +They were captains of the king's soldiers. Soon they came. + +"Stand as witnesses," Halfdan said. + +Then he lifted the baby in his arms, while the old serving-woman brought +a silver bowl of water. The king dipped his hand into it and sprinkled +the baby, saying: + +"I own this baby for my son. He shall be called Harald. My naming gift +to him is ten pounds of gold." + +Then the woman carried the baby back to the queen's room. + +[Illustration: "_I own this baby for my son. He shall be called +Harald_"] + +"My lord owns him for his son," she said. "And no wonder! He is perfect +in every limb." + +The queen looked at him and smiled and remembered her dream and thought: + +"That great tree! Can it be this little baby of mine?" + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] See note about house on page 194. + +[2] See note about names on page 194. + + + + +[Illustration] + +The Tooth Thrall + + +When Harald was seven months old he cut his first tooth. Then his father +said: + +"All the young of my herds, lambs and calves and colts, that have been +born since this baby was born I this day give to him. I also give to him +this thrall, Olaf. These are my tooth-gifts to my son." + +The boy grew fast, for as soon as he could walk about he was out of +doors most of the time. He ran in the woods and climbed the hills and +waded in the creek. He was much with his tooth thrall, for the king had +said to Olaf: + +"Be ever at his call." + +Now this Olaf was full of stories, and Harald liked to hear them. + +"Come out to Aegir's Rock, Olaf, and tell me stories," he said almost +every day. + +So they started off across the hills. The man wore a long, loose coat of +white wool, belted at the waist with a strap. He had on coarse shoes +and leather leggings. Around his neck was an iron collar welded together +so that it could not come off. On it were strange marks, called runes, +that said: + +"Olaf, thrall of Halfdan." + +But Harald's clothes were gay. A cape of gray velvet hung from his +shoulders. It was fastened over his breast with great gold buckles. When +it waved in the wind, a scarlet lining flashed out, and the bottom of a +little scarlet jacket showed. His feet and legs were covered with gray +woolen tights. Gold lacings wound around his legs from his shoes to his +knees. A band of gold held down his long, yellow hair. + +It was a wild country that these two were walking over. They were +climbing steep, rough hills. Some of them seemed made all of rock, with +a little earth lying in spots. Great rocks hung out from them, with +trees growing in their cracks. Some big pieces had broken off and rolled +down the hill. + +"Thor broke them," Olaf said. "He rides through the sky and hurls his +hammer at clouds and at mountains. That makes the thunder and the +lightning and cracks the hills. His hammer never misses its aim, and it +always comes back to his hand and is eager to go again." + +When they reached the top of the hill they looked back. Far below was a +soft, green valley. In front of it the sea came up into the land and +made a fiord. On each side of the fiord high walls of rock stood up and +made the water black with shadow. All around the valley were high hills +with dark pines on them. Far off were the mountains. In the valley were +Halfdan's houses around their square yard. + +"How little our houses look down there!" Harald said. "But I can +almost--yes, I can see the red dragon on the roof of the feast hall. Do +you remember when I climbed up and sat on his head, Olaf?" + +He laughed and kicked his heels and ran on. + +[Illustration: "_He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from +his belt_"] + +At last they came to Aegir's Rock and walked up on its flat top. Harald +went to the edge and looked over. A ragged wall of rock reached down, +and two hundred feet below was the black water of the fiord. Olaf +watched him for a while, then he said: + +"No whitening of your cheek, Harald? Good! A boy that can face the fall +of Aegir's Rock will not be afraid to face the war flash when he is a +man." + +"Ho, I am not afraid of the war flash now," cried Harald. + +He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from his belt. + +"See!" he cried; "does this not flash like a sword? And I am not afraid. +But after all, this is a baby thing! When I am eight years old I will +have a sword, a sharp tooth of war." + +He swung his dagger as though it were a long sword. Then he ran and sat +on a rock by Olaf. + +"Why is this Aegir's Rock?" he asked. + +"You know that Asgard is up in the sky," Olaf said. "It is a wonderful +city where the golden houses of the gods are in the golden grove. A +high wall runs all around it. In the house of Odin, the All-father, +there is a great feast hall larger than the whole earth. Its name is +Valhalla. It has five hundred doors. The rafters are spears. The roof is +thatched with shields. Armor lies on the benches. In the high seat sits +Odin, a golden helmet on his head, a spear in his hand. Two wolves lie +at his feet. At his right hand and his left sit all the gods and +goddesses, and around the hall sit thousands and thousands of men, all +the brave ones that have ever died. + +"Now it is good to be in Valhalla; for there is mead there better than +men can brew, and it never runs out. And there are skalds that sing +wonderful songs that men never heard. And before the doors of Valhalla +is a great meadow where the warriors fight every day and get glorious +and sweet wounds and give many. And all night they feast, and their +wounds heal. But none may go to Valhalla except warriors that have died +bravely in battle. Men who die from sickness go with women and children +and cowards to Niflheim. There Hela, who is queen, always sneers at +them, and a terrible cold takes hold of their bones, and they sit down +and freeze. + +"Years ago Aegir was a great warrior. Aegir the Big-handed, they called +him. In many a battle his sword had sung, and he had sent many warriors +to Valhalla. Many swords had bit into his flesh and left marks there, +but never a one had struck him to death. So his hair grew white and his +arms thin. There was peace in that country then, and Aegir sorrowed, +saying: + +"'I am old. Battles are still. Must I die in bed like a woman? Shall I +not see Valhalla?' + +"Now thus did Odin say long ago: + +"'If a man is old and is come near death and cannot die in fight, let +him find death in some brave way and he shall feast with me in +Valhalla.' + +"So one day Aegir came to this rock. + +"'A deed to win Valhalla!' he cried. + +"Then he drew his sword and flashed it over his head and held his shield +high above him, and leaped out into the air and died in the water of +the fiord." + +"Ho!" cried Harald, jumping to his feet. "I think that Odin stood up +before his high seat and welcomed that man gladly when he walked through +the door of Valhalla." + +"So the songs say," replied Olaf, "for skalds still sing of that deed +all over Norway." + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +Olaf's Farm + + +At another time Harald asked: + +"What is your country, Olaf? Have you always been a thrall?" + +The thrall's eyes flashed. + +"When you are a man," he said, "and go a-viking to Denmark, ask men +whether they ever heard of Olaf the Crafty. There, far off, is my +country, across the water. My father was Gudbrand the Big. Two hundred +warriors feasted in his hall and followed him to battle. Ten sons sat at +meat with him, and I was the youngest. One day he said: + +"'You are all grown to be men. There is not elbow-room here for so many +chiefs. The eldest of you shall have my farm when I die. The rest of +you, off a-viking!' + +"He had three ships. These he gave to three of my brothers. But I stayed +that spring and built me a boat. I made her for only twenty oars because +I thought few men would follow me; for I was young, fifteen years old. +I made her in the likeness of a dragon. At the prow I carved the head +with open mouth and forked tongue thrust out. I painted the eyes red for +anger. + +"'There, stand so!' I said, 'and glare and hiss at my foes.' + +"In the stern I curved the tail up almost as high as the head. There I +put the pilot's seat and a strong tiller for the rudder. On the breast +and sides I carved the dragon's scales. Then I painted it all black and +on the tip of every scale I put gold. I called her 'Waverunner.' There +she sat on the rollers, as fair a ship as I ever saw. + +"The night that it was finished I went to my father's feast. After the +meats were eaten and the mead-horns came round, I stood up from my bench +and raised my drinking-horn[3] high and spoke with a great voice: + +"'This is my vow: I will sail to Norway and I will harry the coast and +fill my boat with riches. Then I will get me a farm and will winter in +that land. Now who will follow me?' + +"'He is but a boy,' the men said. 'He has opened his mouth wider than he +can do.' + +"But others jumped to their feet with their mead-horns in their hands. +Thirty men, one after another, raised their horns and said: + +"'I will follow this lad, and I will not turn back so long as he and I +live!' + +"On the next morning we got into my dragon and started. I sat high in +the pilot's seat. As our boat flashed down the rollers into the water I +made this song and sang it: + + "'The dragon runs. + Where will she steer? + Where swords will sing, + Where spears will bite, + Where I shall laugh.' + +"So we harried the coast of Norway. We ate at many men's tables +uninvited. Many men we found overburdened with gold. Then I said: + +"'My dragon's belly is never full,' and on board went the gold. + +"Oh! it is better to live on the sea and let other men raise your crops +and cook your meals. A house smells of smoke, a ship smells of frolic. +From a house you see a sooty roof, from a ship you see Valhalla. + +"Up and down the water we went to get much wealth and much frolic. After +a while my men said: + +"'What of the farm, Olaf?' + +"'Not yet,' I answered. 'Viking is better for summer. When the ice +comes, and our dragon cannot play, then we will get our farm and sit +down.' + +"At last the winter came, and I said to my men: + +"'Now for the farm. I have my eye on one up the coast a way in King +Halfdan's country.' + +"So we set off for it. We landed late at night and pulled our boat up on +shore and walked quietly to the house. It was rather a wealthy farm, for +there were stables and a storehouse and a smithy at the sides of the +house. There was but one door to the house. We went to it, and I struck +it with my spear. + +[Illustration: "_I struck my shield against the door so that it made a +great clanging_"] + +"'Hello! Ho! Hello!' I shouted, and my men made a great din. + +"At last some one from inside said: + +"'Who calls?' + +"'I call,' I answered. 'Open! or you will think it Thor who calls,' and +I struck my shield against the door so that it made a great clanging. + +"The door opened only a little, but I pushed it wide and leaped into the +room. It was so dark that I could see nothing but a few sparks on the +hearth. I stood with my back to the wall; for I wanted no sword reaching +out of the dark for me. + +"'Now start up the fire,' I said. + +"'Come, come!' I called, when no one obeyed. 'A fire! This is cold +welcome for your guests.' + +"My men laughed. + +"'Yes, a stingy host! He acts as though he had not expected us.' + +"But now the farmer was blowing on the coals and putting on fresh wood. +Soon it blazed up, and we could see about us. We were in a little feast +hall,[4] with its fire down the middle of it. There were benches for +twenty men along each side. The farmer crouched by the fire, afraid to +move. On a bench in a far corner were a dozen people huddled together. + +"'Ho, thralls!' I called to them. 'Bring in the table. We are hungry.' + +"Off they ran through a door at the back of the hall. My men came in and +lay down by the fire and warmed themselves, but I set two of them as +guards at the door. + +"'Well, friend farmer,' laughed one, 'why such a long face? Do you not +think we shall be merry company?' + +"'We came only to cheer you,' said another. 'What man wants to spend the +winter with no guests?' + +"'Ah!' another then cried out, sitting up. 'Here comes something that +will be a welcome guest to my stomach.' + +"The thralls were bringing in a great pot of meat. They set up a crane +over the fire and hung the pot upon it, and we sat and watched it boil +while we joked. At last the supper began. The farmer sat gloomily on the +bench and would not eat, and you cannot wonder; for he saw us putting +potfuls of his good beef and basket-loads of bread into our big mouths. +When the tables were taken out and the mead-horns came round, I stood up +and raised my horn and said to the farmer: + +"'You would not eat with us. You cannot say no to half of my ale. I +drink this to your health.' + +"Then I drank half of the hornful and sent the rest across the fire to +the farmer. He took it and smiled, saying: + +"'Since it is to my health, I will drink it. I thought that all this +night's work would be my death.' + +"'Oh, do not fear that!' I laughed, 'for a dead man sets no tables.' + +"So we drank and all grew merrier. At last I stood up and said: + +"'I like this little taste of your hospitality, friend farmer. I have +decided to accept more of it.' + +"My men roared with laughter. + +"'Come,' they cried, 'thank him for that, farmer. Did you ever have such +a lordly guest before?' + +"I went on: + +"'Now there is no fun in having guests unless they keep you company and +make you merry. So I will give out this law: that my men shall never +leave you alone. Hakon there shall be your constant companion, friend +farmer. He shall not leave you day or night, whether you are working or +playing or sleeping. Leif and Grim shall be the same kind of friends to +your two sons.' + +"I named nine others and said: + +"'And these shall follow your thralls in the same way. Now, am I not +careful to make your time go merrily?' + +"So I set guards over every one in that house. Not once all that winter +did they stir out of sight of some of us. So no tales got out to the +neighbors. Besides, it was a lonely place, and by good luck no one came +that way. Oh! that was fat and easy living. + +"Well, after we had been there for a long time, Hakon came in to the +feast one night and said: + +"'I heard a cuckoo to-day!' + +"'It is the call to go a-viking,' I said. + +"All my men put their hands to their mouths and shouted. Their eyes +danced. Big Thorleif stood up and stretched himself. + +"'I am stiff with long sitting,' he said. 'I itch for a fight.' + +"I turned to the farmer. + +"'This is our last feast with you,' I said. + +"'Well,' he laughed, 'this has been the busiest winter I ever spent, and +the merriest. May good luck go with you!' + +"'By the beard of Odin!' I cried; 'you have taken our joke like a man.' + +"My men pounded the table with their fists. + +"'By the hammer of Thor!' shouted Grim. 'Here is no stingy coward. He is +a man fit to carry my drinking-horn, the horn of a sea-rover and a +sword-swinger. Here, friend, take it,' and he thrust it into the +farmer's hand. 'May you drink heart's-ease from it for many years. And +with it I leave you a name, Sif the Friendly. I shall hope to drink with +you sometime in Valhalla.' + +"Then all my men poured around that farmer and clapped him on the +shoulder and piled things upon him, saying: + +"'Here is a ring for Sif the Friendly.' + +"'And here is a bracelet.' + +"'A sword would not be ashamed to hang at your side.' + +"I took five great bracelets of gold from our treasure chest and gave +them to him. + +"The old man's eyes opened wide at all these things, and at the same +time he laughed. + +"'May Odin send me such guests every winter!' he said. + +"Early next morning we shook hands with our host and boarded the +'Waverunner' and sailed off. + +"'Where shall we go?' my men asked. + +"'Let the gods decide,' I said, and tossed up my spear. + +"When it fell on the deck it pointed up-shore, so I steered in that +direction. That is the best way to decide, for the spear will always +point somewhere, and one thing is as good as another. That time it +pointed us into your father's ships. They closed in battle with us and +killed my men and sunk my ship and dragged me off a prisoner. They were +three against one, or they might have tasted something more bitter at +our hands. They took me before King Halfdan. + +"'Here,' they said, 'is a rascal who has been harrying our coasts. We +sunk his ship and men, but him we brought to you.' + +"'A robber viking?' said the king, and scowled at me. + +"I threw back my head and laughed. + +"'Yes. And with all your fingers it took you a year to catch me.' + +"The king frowned more angrily. + +"'Saucy, too?' he said. 'Well, thieves must die. Take him out, Thorkel, +and let him taste your sword.' + +"Your mother, the queen, was standing by. Now she put her hand on his +arm and smiled and said: + +"'He is only a lad. Let him live. And would he not be a good gift for +our baby?' + +"Your father thought a moment, then looked at your mother and smiled. + +"'Soft heart!' he said gently to her; then to Thorkel, 'Well, let him +go, Thorkel!' + +"Then he turned to me again, frowning. + +"'But, young sharp-tongue, now that we have caught you we will put you +into a trap that you cannot get out of. Weld an iron collar on his +neck.' + +"So I lived and now am your tooth thrall. Well, it is the luck of war. +But by the chair of Odin, I kept my vow!" + +"Yes!" cried Harald, jumping to his feet. "And had a joke into the +bargain. Ah! sometime I will make a brave vow like that." + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] See note about drinking-horns on page 195. + +[4] See note about feast hall on page 196. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Olaf's Fight With Havard + + +At another time Harald said: + +"Tell me of a fight, Olaf. I want to hear about the music of swords." + +Olaf's eyes blazed. + +"I will tell you of our fight with King Havard," he said. + +"One dark night we had landed at a farm. We left our 'Waverunner' in the +water with three men to guard her. The rest of us went into the house. +The farmer met us at the door, but he died by Thorkel's sword. The +others we shut into their beds.[5] The door at each end of the hall we +had barred on the inside so that nobody could surprise us. We were busy +going through the cupboards and shouting at our good luck. But suddenly +we heard a shout outside: + +"'Thor and Havard!' + +"Then there was a great beating at the doors. + +"'He has two hundred fighters with him,' said Grim; 'for we saw his +ships last night. Thirty against two hundred! We shall all drink in +Valhalla to-night.' + +"'Well,' I cried, 'Odin shall have no unwilling guest in me.' + +"'Nor in me,' cried Hakon. + +"'Nor in me,' shouted Thorkel. + +"And that shout went all around, and we drew out our swords and caught +up our shields. + +"'Hot work is ahead of us,' said Hakon. 'Besides, we must leave none of +this mead for Havard. Lend a hand, some one.' + +"Then he and another pulled out a great tub that sat on the floor of the +cupboard. + +"'I drink to Valhalla to-night,' cried Thorkel the Thirsty, and he +plunged his horn deep into the tub. + +"When he brought it up, his sleeve was dripping and the sweet mead was +running over from the horn. + +"'Sloven!' cried Hakon, and he struck Thorkel with his fist and knocked +him over into the cupboard. + +"He fell against the wooden wall at the back, and a carved panel swung +open behind him. He dropped down head first. In a minute he put his head +out of the hole again. We all stood staring. + +"'I think it is a secret passage,' he said. + +"'We will try it,' I answered in a whisper. 'Throw dirt on the fire. It +must be dark.' + +"So we dug up dirt from the earth floor and smothered the fire. All this +time there was a terrible shouting and hammering at the doors, but they +were of heavy logs and stood. + +"'I with four more will guard this door,' I said, pointing to the east +end. + +"Immediately four men stepped to my side. + +"'And I will guard the other,' Hakon said, and four went with him. + +"'The rest of you, down the hole!' I said. 'Close the door after you. If +luck is with us we will meet at the ships. Now Thor and our good swords +help us! Quick! The doors are giving way.' + +"So we ten men stood at the doors and held back the king's soldiers. It +was dark in the room, and the people out of doors could not tell how +many were inside. Few were eager to be the first in. + +"'Thirty swords are waiting in there to eat up the first man,' we heard +some one say. + +"We chuckled at that. + +"But the king stood in the very doorway and fought. Our five swords held +him back for a long time, but at last he pushed in, and his men poured +after him. We ran back and hid behind some tubs in a dark corner. The +king's men went groping about and calling, but they did not find us. The +room was full of shouting and running and sword-clashing; for in the +dark and the noise the men could not tell their own soldiers. More than +one fell by his friend's sword. When it was less crowded about the +doorway, I whispered: + +"'Follow me in double line. We will make for the ships. Keep close +together.' + +"So that double line of men, with swords swinging from both sides, ran +out through the dark. Swords struck out at us, and we struck back. Men +ran after us shouting, but our legs were as good as theirs. But I and +Hakon and one other were all that reached the ship. There we saw our +'Waverunner' with sail up and bow pointing to open sea. We swam out to +her and climbed aboard. Then the men swung the sail to the wind, and we +moved off. Even as we went, a spear whizzed through the air, and Hakon +fell dead; for the king and all his men were running to the shore. + +"'After them!' they were shouting. + +"Then we heard the king call to the men in his boats lying out in the +water: + +"'Row to shore and take us in.' + +"Thorkel was standing by my side. At that he laughed and said: + +"'They do not answer. He left but a handful to guard his ships. They +tasted our swords. And we went aboard and broke the oars and threw the +sails into the water. It will be slow going for Havard to-night.' + +[Illustration: "_Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly_"] + +"Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly: + + "'King Havard's ships are dead: + Olaf's dragon flies. + King Havard stamps the shore: + Olaf skims the waves. + King Havard shakes his fist. + Olaf turns and laughs.' + +"That was the end of our meeting with King Havard." + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] See note about beds on page 196. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Foes'-fear + + +Every day the boy Harald heard some such story of war or of the gods, +until he could see Thor riding among the storm-clouds and throwing his +hammer, until he knew that a brave man has many wounds, but never a one +on his back. Many nights he dreamed that he himself walked into +Valhalla, and that all the heroes stood up and shouted: + +"Welcome! Harald Halfdanson!" + +"Ah! the bite of the sword is sweeter than the kiss of your mother," he +said to Olaf one day. "When shall I stand in the prow of a dragon and +feast on the fight? I am hungry to see the world. Ivar the Far-goer +tells me of the strange countries he has seen. Ah! we vikings are great +folk. There is no water that has not licked our boats' sides. This cape +of mine came in a viking boat from France. These cloak-pins came from a +far country called Greece. In my father's house are golden cups from +Rome, away on the southern sea. Every land pours rich things into our +treasure-chest. Ivar has been to a strange country where it is all sand +and is very hot. The people call their country Arabia. They have never +heard of Thor or Odin. Ivar brought beautiful striped cloth from there, +and wonderful, sweet-smelling waters. Oh! when shall the white horses of +the sea lead me out to strange lands and glorious battles?" + +But Harald did something besides listen to stories. Every morning he was +up at sunrise and went with a thrall to feed the hunting dogs. Thorstein +taught him to swim in the rough waters of the fiord. Often he went with +the men a-hunting in the woods and learned to ride a horse and pull a +bow and throw a lance. Ivar taught him to play the harp and to make up +songs. He went much to the smithy, where the warriors mended their +helmets and made their spears and swords of iron and bronze. At first he +only watched the men or worked the bellows, but soon he could handle the +tongs and hold the red-hot iron, and after a long time he learned to +use the hammer and to shape metal. One day he made himself a spear-head. +It was two feet long and sharp on both edges. While the iron was hot he +beat into it some runes. When the men in the smithy saw the runes they +opened their eyes wide and looked at the boy, for few Norsemen could +read. + +"What does it say?" they asked. + +"It is the name of my spear-point, and it says, 'Foes'-fear,'" Harald +said. "But now for a handle." + +It was winter and the snow was very deep. So Harald put on his skees and +started for a wood that was back from shore. Down the mountains he went, +twenty, thirty feet at a slide, leaping over chasms a hundred feet +across. In his scarlet cloak he looked like a flash of fire. The wind +shot past him howling. His eyes danced at the fun. + +"It is like flying," he thought and laughed. "I am an eagle. Now I +soar," as he leaped over a frozen river. + +He saw a slender ash growing on top of a high rock. + +"That is the handle for 'Foes'-fear,'" he said. + +The rock stood up like a ragged tower, but he did not stop because of +the steep climb. He threw off his skees and thrust his hands and feet +into holes of the rock and drew himself up. He tore his jacket and cut +his leather leggings and scratched his face and bruised his hands, but +at last he was on the top. Soon he had chopped down the tree and had cut +a straight pole ten feet long and as big around as his arm. He went +down, sliding and jumping and tearing himself on the sharp stones. With +a last leap he landed near his skees. As he did so a lean wolf jumped +and snapped at him, snarling. Harald shouted and swung his pole. The +wolf dodged, but quickly jumped again and caught the boy's arm between +his sharp teeth. Harald thought of the spear-point in his belt. In a +wink he had it out and was striking with it. He drove it into the wolf's +neck and threw him back on the snow, dead. + +"You are the first to feel the tooth of 'Foes'-fear,'" he said, "but I +think you will not be the last." + +[Illustration: "_He drove it into the wolf's neck_"] + +Then without thinking of his torn arm he put on his skees and went +leaping home. He went straight to the smithy and smoothed his pole and +drove it into the haft of the spear-point. He hammered out a gold band +and put it around the joining place. He made nails with beautiful heads +and drove them into the pole in different places. + +"If it is heavy it will strike hard," he said. + +Then he weighed the spear in his hand and found the balancing point and +put another gold band there to mark it. + +Thorstein came in while he was working. + +"A good spear," he said. + +Then he saw the torn sleeve and the red wound beneath. + +"Hello!" he cried. "Your first wound?" + +"Oh, it is only a wolf-scratch," Harald answered. + +"By Thor!" cried Thorstein, "I see that you are ready for better wounds. +You bear this like a warrior." + +"I think it will not be my last," Harald said. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Harald is King + + +Now when Harald was ten years old his father, King Halfdan, died. An old +book that tells about Harald says that then "he was the biggest of all +men, the strongest, and the fairest to look upon." That about a boy ten +years old! But boys grew fast in those days for they were out of doors +all the time, running, swimming, leaping on skees, and hunting in the +forest. All that makes big, manly boys. + +So now King Halfdan was dead and buried, and Harald was to be king. But +first he must drink his father's funeral ale. + +"Take down the gay tapestries that hang in the feast hall," he said to +the thralls. "Put up black and gray ones. Strew the floor with pine +branches. Brew twenty tubs of fresh ale and mead. Scour every dish until +it shines." + +Then Harald sent messengers all over that country to his kinsmen and +friends. + +"Bid them come in three months' time to drink my father's funeral ale," +he said. "Tell them that no one shall go away empty-handed." + +So in three months men came riding up at every hour. Some came in boats. +But many had ridden far through mountains, swimming rivers; for there +were few roads or bridges in Norway. On account of that hard ride no +women came to the feast. + +At nine o'clock in the night the feast began. The men came walking in at +the west end of the hall.[6] The great bonfires down the middle of the +room were flashing light on everything. The clean smell of this +wood-smoke and of the pine branches on the floor was pleasant to the +guests. Down each side of the hall stretched long, backless benches, +with room for three hundred men. In the middle of each side rose the +high seat, a great carved chair on a platform. All along behind the +benches were the black and gray draperies. Here hung the shields of the +guests; for every man, when he was given his place, turned and hung his +shield behind him and set his tall spear by it. So on each wall there +was a long row of gay shields, red and green and yellow, and all shining +with gold or bronze trimmings. And higher up there was another row of +gleaming spear-points. Above the hall the rafters were carved and gaily +painted, so that dragons seemed to be crawling across, or eagles seemed +to be swooping down. + +The guests walked in laughing and talking with their big voices so that +the rafters rang. They made the hall look all the brighter with their +clothes of scarlet and blue and green, with their flashing golden +bracelets and head-bands and sword-scabbards, with their flying hair of +red or yellow. + +Across the east end of the hall was a bench. When the men were all in, +the queen, Harald's mother, and the women who lived with her, walked in +through the east door and sat upon this bench. + +Then thralls came running in and set up the long tables[7] before the +benches. Other thralls ran in with large steaming kettles of meat. They +put big pieces of this meat into platters of wood and set it before the +men. They had a few dishes of silver. These they put before the guests +at the middle of the tables; for the great people sat here near the high +seats. + +When the meat came, the talking stopped; for Norsemen ate only twice a +day, and these men had had long rides and were hungry. Three or four +persons ate from one platter and drank from the same big bowl of milk. +They had no forks, so they ate from their fingers and threw the bones +under the table among the pine branches. Sometimes they took knives from +their belts to cut the meat. + +When the guests sat back satisfied, Harald called to the thralls: + +"Carry out the tables." + +So they did and brought in two great tubs of mead and set one at each +end of the hall. Then the queen stood up and called some of her women. +They went to the mead tubs. They took the horns, when the thralls had +filled them, and carried them to the men with some merry word. Perhaps +one woman said as she handed a man his horn: + +"This horn has no feet to be set down upon. You must drink it at one +draught." + +Perhaps another said: + +"Mead loves a merry face." + +The women were beautiful, moving about the hall. The queen wore a +trailing dress of blue velvet with long flowing sleeves. She had a short +apron of striped Arabian silk with gold fringe along the bottom. From +her shoulders hung a long train of scarlet wool embroidered in gold. +White linen covered her head. Her long yellow hair was pulled around at +the sides and over her breast and was fastened under the belt of her +apron. As she walked, her train made a pleasant rustle among the pine +branches. She was tall and straight and strong. Some of her younger +women wore no linen on their heads and had their white arms bare, with +bracelets shining on them. They, too, were tall and strong. + +All the time men were calling across the fire to one another asking news +or telling jokes and laughing. + +An old man, Harald's uncle, sat in the high seat on the north side. That +was the place of honor. But the high seat on the south side was empty; +for that was the king's seat. Harald sat on the steps before it. + +The feast went merrily until long after midnight. Then the thralls took +some of the guests to the guest house to sleep, and some to the beds +around the sides of the feast hall. But some men lay down on the benches +and drew their cloaks over themselves. + +On the next night there was another feast. Still Harald sat on the step +before the high seat. But when the tables were gone and the horns were +going around, he stood up and raised high a horn of ale and said loudly: + +"This horn of memory I drink in honor of my father, Halfdan, son of +Gudrod, who sits now in Valhalla. And I vow that I will grind my +father's foes under my heel." + +Then he drank the ale and sat down in the king's high seat, while all +the men stood up and raised their horns and shouted: + +"King Harald!" + +And some cried: + +"That was a brave vow." + +[Illustration: "_I vow that I will grind my father's foes under my +heel_"] + +And Harald's uncle called out: + +"A health to King Harald!" + +And they all drank it. + +Then a man stood up and said: + +"Hear my song of King Halfdan!" for this man was a skald. + +"Yes, the song!" shouted the men, and Harald nodded his head. + +So the skald took down his great harp from the wall behind him and went +and stood before Harald. The bottom of the harp rested on the floor, but +the top reached as high as the skald's shoulders. The brass frame shone +in the light. The strings were some of gold and some of silver. The man +struck them with his hand and sang of King Halfdan, of his battles, of +his strong arm and good sword, of his death, and of how men loved him. + +When he had finished, King Harald took a bracelet from his arm and gave +it to him, saying: + +"Take this as thanks for your good song." + +The guests stayed the next day and at night there was another feast. +When the mead horns were going around, King Harald stood up and spoke: + +"I said that no man should go away empty-handed from drinking my +father's funeral ale." + +He beckoned the thralls, and they brought in a great treasure-chest and +set it down by the high seat. King Harald opened it and took out rich +gifts--capes and sword-belts and beautiful cloth and bracelets and gold +cloak-pins. These he sent about the hall and gave something to every +man. The guests wondered at the richness of his gifts. + +"This young king has an open hand," they said, "and deep +treasure-chests." + +After breakfast the next morning the guests went out and stood by their +horses ready to go, but before they mounted, thralls brought a horn of +mead to each man. That was called the stirrup-horn, because after they +drank it the men put their feet to the stirrups and sprang upon their +horses and started. King Harald and his people rode a little way with +them. + +All men said that that was the richest funeral feast that ever was +held. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] See note about feast hall on page 196. + +[7] See note about tables on page 196. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Harald's Battle + + +Now King Halfdan had many foes. When he was alive they were afraid to +make war upon him, for he was a mighty warrior. But when Harald became +king, they said: + +"He is but a lad. We will fight with him and take his land." + +So they began to make ready. King Harald heard of this and he laughed +and said: + +"Good! 'Foes'-fear' is thirsty, and my legs are stiff with much +sitting." + +He called three men to him. To one he gave an arrow, saying: + +"Run and carry this arrow north. Give it into the hands of the master of +the next farm, and say that all men are to meet here within two weeks +from this day. They must come ready for war and mounted on horses. Say +also that if a man does not obey this call, or if he receives this arrow +and does not carry it on to his next neighbor, he shall be outlawed +from this country, and his land shall be taken from him." + +He gave arrows to the other two men and told them to run south and east +with the same message. + +So all through King Harald's country men were soon busy mending helmets +and polishing swords and making shields. There was blazing of forges and +clanging of anvils all through the land. + +On the day set, the fields about King Harald's house were full of men +and horses. After breakfast a horn blew. Every man snatched his weapons +and jumped upon his horse. Men of the same neighborhood stood together, +and their chief led them. They waited for the starting horn. This did +not look like our army. There were no uniforms. Some men wore helmets, +some did not. Some wore coats of mail, but others wore only their +jackets and tights of bright-colored wool. But at each man's left side +hung a great shield. Over his right shoulder went his sword-belt and +held his long sword under his left hand. Above most men's heads shone +the points of their tall spears. Some men carried axes in their belts. +Some carried bows and arrows. Many had ram's horns hanging from their +necks. + +King Harald rode at the front of his army with his standard-bearer +beside him. Chain-armor covered the king's body. A red cloak was thrown +over his shoulders. On his head was a gold helmet with a dragon standing +up from it. He carried a round shield on his left arm. The king had made +that shield himself. It was of brass. The rivets were of silver, with +strangely shaped heads. On the back of Harald's horse was a red cloth +trimmed with the fur of ermine. + +King Harald looked up at his standard and laughed aloud. + +"Oh, War-lover," he cried, "you and I ride out on a gay journey." + +A horn blew again and the army started. The men shouted as they went, +and blew their ram's horns. + +"Now we shall taste something better than even King Harald's ale," +shouted one. + +Another rose in his stirrups and sniffed the air. + +"Ah! I smell a battle," he cried. "It is sweeter than those strange +waters of Arabia." + +So the army went merrily through the land. They carried no tents, they +had no provision wagons. + +"The sky is a good enough tent for a soldier," said the Norsemen. "Why +carry provisions when they lie in the farms beside you?" + +After two days King Harald saw another army on the hills. + +"Thorstein," he shouted, "up with the white shield and go tell King Haki +to choose his battle-field. We will wait but an hour. I am eager for the +frolic." + +So Thorstein raised a white shield on his spear as a sign that he came +on an errand of peace. He rode near King Haki, but he could not wait +until he came close before he shouted out his message and then turned +and rode back. + +"Tell your boy king that we will not hang back," Haki called after +Thorstein. + +King Harald's men waited on the hillside and watched the other army +across the valley. They saw King Haki point and saw twenty men ride off +as he pointed. They stopped in a patch of hazel and hewed with their +axes. + +"They are getting the hazels," said Thorstein. + +"Audun," said King Harald to a man near him, "stay close to my standard +all day. You must see the best of the fight. I want to hear a song about +it after it is over." + +This Audun was the skald who sang at the drinking of King Halfdan's +funeral ale. + +King Haki's men rode down into the valley. They drove down stakes all +about a great field. They tied the hazel twigs to the stakes in a +string. But they left an open space toward King Harald's army and one +toward King Haki's. Then a man raised a white shield and galloped toward +King Harald. + +"We are ready!" he shouted. + +At the same time King Haki raised a red shield. King Harald's men put +their shields before their mouths and shouted into them. It made a great +roaring war-cry. + +"Up with the war shield!" shouted King Harald. "Horns blow!" + +There was a blowing of horns on both sides. The two armies galloped down +into the field and ran together. The fight had begun. + +All that day long swords were flashing, spears flying, men shouting, men +falling from their horses, swords clashing against shields. + +"Victory flashes from that dragon," Harald's men said, pointing to the +king's helmet. "No one stands before it." + +And, surely, before night came, King Haki fell dead under "Foes'-fear." +When he fell, a great shout went up from his warriors, and they turned +and fled. King Harald's men chased them far, but during the night came +back to camp. Many brought swords and helmets and bracelets or +silver-trimmed saddles and bridles with them. + +"Here is what we got from the foe," they said. + +The next morning King Harald spoke to his men: + +"Let us go about and find our dead." + +[Illustration: "_King Haki fell dead under 'Foes'-fear'_"] + +So they went over all the battle-field. They put every man on his shield +and carried him and laid him on a hill-top. They hung his sword over his +shoulder and laid his spear by his side. So they laid all the dead +together there on the hill-top. Then King Harald said, looking about: + +"This is a good place to lie. It looks far over the country. The sound +of the sea reaches it. The wind sweeps here. It is a good grave for +Norsemen and Vikings. But it is a long road and a rough road to Valhalla +that these men must travel. Let the nearest kinsman of each man come and +tie on his hell-shoes. Tie them fast, for they will need them much on +that hard road." + +So friends tied shoes on the dead men's feet. Then King Harald said: + +"Now let us make the mound." + +Every man set to work with what tools he had and heaped earth over the +dead until a great mound stood up. They piled stones on the top. On one +of these stones King Harald made runes telling how these men had died. + +After that was done King Harald said: + +"Now set up the pole, Thorstein. Let every man bring to that pole all +that he took from the foe." + +So they did, and there was a great hill of things around it. Harald +divided it into piles. + +"This pile we will give to Thor in thanks for the victory," he said. +"This pile is mine because I am king. Here are the piles for the chiefs, +and these things go to the other men of the army." + +So every man went away from that battle richer than he was before, and +Thor looked down from Valhalla upon his full temple and was pleased. + +The next morning King Harald led his army back. But on the way he met +other foes and had many battles and did not lose one. The kings either +died in battle or ran away, and Harald had their lands. + +"He has kept his vow," men said, "and ground his father's foes under his +heel." + +So King Harald sat in peace for a while. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Gyda's Saucy Message + + +Now Harald heard men talk of Gyda, the daughter of King Eric. + +"She is very beautiful," they said, "but she is very proud, too. She can +both read and make runes. No other woman in the world knows so much +about herbs as she does. She can cure any sickness. And she is proud of +all this!" + +Now when King Harald heard that, he thought to himself: + +"Fair and proud. I like them both. I will have her for my wife." + +So he called his uncle, Guthorm, and said: + +"Take rich gifts and go to Gyda's foster-father[8] and tell him that I +will marry Gyda." + +So Guthorm and his men came to that house and they told the king's +message to the foster-father. Gyda was standing near, weaving a rich +cloak. She heard the speech. She came up and said, holding her head +high and curling her lip: + +"I will not waste myself on a king of so few people. Norway is a strange +country. There is a little king here and a little king there--hundreds +of them scattered about. Now in Denmark there is but one great king over +the whole land. And it is so in Sweden. Is no one brave enough to make +all of Norway his own?" + +She laughed a scornful laugh and walked away. The men stood with open +mouths and stared after her. Could it be that she had sent that saucy +message to King Harald? They looked at her foster-father. He was +chuckling in his beard and said nothing to them. They started out of the +house in anger. When they were at the door, Gyda came up to them again +and said: + +"Give this message to your King Harald for me: I will not be his wife +unless he puts all of Norway under him for my sake." + +[Illustration: "_I will not be his wife unless he puts all of Norway +under him for my sake_"] + +So Guthorm and his men rode homeward across the country. They did not +talk. They were all thinking. At last one said: + +"How shall we give this message to the king?" + +"I have been thinking of that," Guthorm said; "his anger is no little +thing." + +It was late when they rode into the king's yard; for they had ridden +slowly, trying to make some plan for softening the message, but they had +thought of none. + +"I see light through the wind's-eyes of the feast hall," one said. + +"Yes, the king keeps feast," Guthorm said. "We must give our message +before all his guests." + +So they went in with very heavy hearts. There sat King Harald in the +high seat. The benches on both sides were full of men. The tables had +been taken out, and the mead-horns were going round. + +"Oh, ho!" cried King Harald. "Our messengers! What news?" + +Then Guthorm said: + +"This Gyda is a bold and saucy girl, King Harald. My tongue refuses to +give her message." + +The king stamped his foot. + +"Out with it!" he cried. "What does she say?" + +"She says that she will not marry so little a king," Guthorm answered. + +Harald jumped to his feet. His face flushed red. Guthorm stretched out +his hand. + +"They are not my words, O King; they are the words of a silly girl." + +"Is there any more?" the king shouted. "Go on!" + +"She said: 'There is one king in Denmark and one king in Sweden. Is +there no man brave enough to make himself king of all Norway? Tell King +Harald that I will not marry him unless he puts all of Norway under him +for my sake.'" + +The guests sat speechless, staring at Guthorm. All at once the king +broke into a roar of laughter. + +"By the hammer of Thor!" he cried, "that is a good message. I thank you, +Gyda. Did you hear it, friends? King of all Norway! Why, we are all +stupids. Why did we not think of that?" + +Then he raised his horn high. + +"Now hear my vow. I say that I will not cut my hair or comb it until I +am king of all Norway. That I will be or I will die." + +Then he drank off the horn of mead, and while he drank it, all the men +in the hall stood up and waved their swords and shouted and shouted. +That old hall in all its two hundred years of feasts had not heard such +a noise before. + +"Ah, Harald!" Guthorm cried, "surely Thor in Valhalla smiled when he +heard that vow." + +The men sat all night talking of that wonderful vow. + +On the very next day King Harald sent out his war-arrows. Soon a great +army was gathered. They marched through the country north and south and +east and west, burning houses and fighting battles as they went. People +fled before them, some to their own kings, some inland to the deep woods +and hid there. But some went to King Harald and said: + +"We will be your men." + +"Then take the oath, and I will be friends with you," he said. + +The men took off their swords and laid them down and came one by one and +knelt before the king. They put their heads between his knees and said: + +"From this day, Harald Halfdanson, I am your man. I will serve you in +war. For my land I will pay you taxes. I will be faithful to you as my +king." + +Then Harald said: + +"I am your king, and I will be faithful to you." + +Many kings took that oath and thousands of common men. Of all the +battles that Harald fought, he did not lose one. + +Now for a long time the king's hair and beard had not been combed or +cut. They stood out around his head in a great bushy mat of yellow. At a +feast one day when the jokes were going round, Harald's uncle said: + +"Harald, I will give you a new name. After this you shall be called +Harald Shockhead. As my naming gift I give you this drinking-horn." + +"It is a good name," laughed all the men. + +After that all people called him Harald Shockhead. + +During these wars, whenever King Harald got a country for his own, this +is what he did. He said: + +"All the marshland and the woodland where no people live is mine. For +his farm every man shall pay me taxes." + +Over every country he put some brave, wise man and called him Earl. He +said to the earls: + +"You shall collect the taxes and pay them to me. But some you shall keep +for yourselves. You shall punish any man who steals or murders or does +any wicked thing. When your people are in trouble they shall come to +you, and you shall set the thing right. You must keep peace in the land. +I will not have my people troubled with robber vikings." + +The earls did all these things as best they could; for they were good +strong men. The farmers were happy. They said: + +"We can work on our farms with peace now. Before King Harald came, +something was always wrong. The vikings would come and steal our gold +and our grain and burn our houses, or the king would call us to war. +Those little kings are always fighting. It is better under King Harald." + +But the chiefs, who liked to fight and go a-viking, hated King Harald +and his new ways. One of these chiefs was Solfi. He was a king's son. +Harald had killed his father in battle. Solfi had been in that battle. +At the end of it he fled away with two hundred men and got into ships. + +"We will make that Shockhead smart," he said. + +So they harried the coast of King Harald's country. They filled their +ships with gold. They ate other men's meals. They burned farmhouses +behind them. The people cried out to the earls for help. So the earls +had out their ships all the time trying to catch Solfi, but he was too +clever for them. + +In the spring he went to a certain king, Audbiorn, and said to him: + +"Now, there are two things that we can do. We can become this Shockhead +Harald's thralls, we can kneel before him and put our heads between his +knees. Or else we can fight. My father thought it better to die in +battle than to be any man's thrall. How is it? Will you join with my +cousin Arnvid and me against this young Shockhead?" + +"Yes, I will do it," said the king. + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] See note about foster-father on page 197. + + + + +[Illustration] + +The Sea Fight + + +Many men felt as Solfi did. So when King Audbiorn and King Arnvid sent +out their war arrows, a great host gathered. All men came by sea. Two +hundred ships lay at anchor in the fiord, looking like strange swimming +animals because of their high carved prows and bright paint. There were +red and gold dragons with long necks and curved tails. Sea-horses reared +out of the water. Green and gold snakes coiled up. Sea-hawks sat with +spread wings ready to fly. And among all these curved necks stood up the +tall, straight masts with the long yardarms swinging across them holding +the looped-up sails. + +When the starting horn blew, and their sails were let down, it was like +the spreading of hundreds of curious flags. Some were striped black and +yellow or blue and gold. Some were white with a black raven or a brown +bear embroidered on them, or blue with a white sea-hawk, or black with +a gold sun. Some were edged with fur. As the wind filled the gaudy +sails, and the ships moved off, the men waved their hands to the women +on shore and sang: + + "To the sea! To the sea! + The wind in our sail, + The sea in our face, + And the smell of the fight. + After ship meets ship, + In the quarrel of swords + King Harald shall lie + In the caves under sea + And Norsemen shall laugh." + +In the prow stood men leaning forward and sniffing the salt air with +joy. Some were talking of King Harald. + +"Yesterday he had a hard fight," they said. "To-day he will be lying +still, dressing his wounds and mending his ships. We shall take him by +surprise." + +They sailed near the coast. Solfi in his "Sea-hawk" was ahead leading +the way. Suddenly men saw his sail veer and his oars flash out. He had +quickly turned his boat and was rowing back. He came close to King +Arnvid and called: + +"He is there, ahead. His boats are ready in line of battle. The fox has +not been asleep." + +King Arnvid blew his horn. Slowly his boats came into line with his +"Sea-stag" in the middle. Again he blew his horn. Cables were thrown +across from one prow to the next, and all the ships were tied together +so that their sides touched. Then the men set their sails again and they +went past a tongue of land into a broad fiord. There lay the long line +of King Harald's ships with their fierce heads grinning and mocking at +the newcomers. Back of those prows was what looked like a long wall with +spots of green and red and blue and yellow and shining gold. It was the +locked shields of the men in the bows, and over every shield looked +fierce blue eyes. Higher up and farther back was another wall of +shields; for on the half deck in the stern of every ship stood the +captain with his shield-guard of a dozen men. + +Arnvid's people had furled their sails and were taking down the masts, +but the ships were still drifting on with the wind. The horn blew, and +quickly every man sprang to his place in bow and stern. All were leaning +forward with clenched teeth and widespread nostrils. They were clutching +their naked swords in their hands. Their flashing eyes looked over their +shields. + +Soon King Arnvid's ships crashed into Harald's line, and immediately the +men in the bows began to swing their swords at one another. The soldiers +of the shield-guard on the high decks began to throw darts and stones +and to shoot arrows into the ships opposite them. + +So in every ship showers of stones and arrows were falling, and many men +died under them or got broken arms or legs. Spears were hurled from deck +to deck and many of them bit deep into men's bodies. In every bow men +slashed with their swords at the foes in the opposite ship. Some jumped +upon the gunwale to get nearer or hung from the prow-head. Some even +leaped into the enemy's boat. + +King Harald's ship lay prow to prow with King Arnvid's. The battle had +been going on for an hour. King Harald was still in the stern on the +deck. There was a dent in his helmet where a great stone had struck. +There was a gash in his shoulder where a spear had cut. But he was still +fighting and laughed as he worked. + +"Wolf meets wolf to-day," he said. "But things are going badly in the +prow," he cried. "Ivar fallen, Thorstein wounded, a dozen men lying in +the bottom of the boat!" + +He leaped down from the deck and ran along the gunwale, shouting as he +went: + +"Harald and victory!" + +So he came to the bow and stood swinging his sword as fast as he +breathed. Every time it hit a man of Arnvid's men. Harald's own warriors +cheered, seeing him. + +"Harald and victory!" they shouted, and went to work again with good +heart. + +Slowly King Arnvid's men fell back before Harald's biting sword. Then +Harald's men threw a great hook into that boat and pulled it alongside +and still pushed King Arnvid's people back. + +"Come on! Follow me!" cried Harald. + +Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat, and his warriors followed him. + +"He comes like a mad wolf," King Arnvid's men said, and they turned and +ran back below the deck. + +Then Arnvid himself leaped down and stood with his sword raised. + +"Can this young Shockhead make cowards of you all?" he cried. + +But Harald's sword struck him, and he fell dead. Then a big, bloody +viking of King Arnvid leaped upon the edge of the ship and stood there. +He held his drinking-horn and his sword high in his hands. + +"Ran[9] and not you, Shockhead, shall have them and me!" he cried, and +leaped laughing into the water and was drowned. + +Many other warriors chose the same death on that terrible day. + +[Illustration: "_Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat_"] + +All along the line of boats men fought for hours. In some places the +cables had been cut, and the boats had drifted apart. Ships lay +scattered about two by two, fighting. May boats sank, many men died, +some fled away in their ships, and at the end King Harald had won the +battle. So he had King Arnvid's country and King Audbiorn's country. +Many men took the oath and became his friends. All people were talking +of his wonderful battles. + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] See note about Ran on page 198. + + + + +[Illustration] + +King Harald's Wedding + + +It had taken King Harald ten years to fight so many battles. And all +that time he had not cut his hair or combed it. Now he was feasting one +day at an earl's house. Many people were there. + +"How is it, friends?" Harald said. "Have I kept my vow?" + +His friends answered: + +"You have kept your vow. There is no king but you in all Norway." + +"Then I think I will cut my hair," the king laughed. + +So he went and bathed and put on fresh clothes. Then the earl cut his +hair and beard and combed them and put a gold band about his head. Then +he looked at him and said: + +"It is beautiful, smooth, and yellow." + +And all people wondered at the beauty of the king's hair. + +"I will give you a new name," the earl said. "You shall no longer be +called Shockhead. You shall be called Harald Hairfair." + +"It is a good name," everybody cried. + +Then Harald said: + +"But I have another thing to do now. Guthorm, you shall take the same +message to Gyda that you gave ten years ago." + +So Guthorm went and brought back this answer from Gyda: + +"I will marry the king of all Norway." + +So when the wedding time came, Harald rode across the country to the +home of Gyda's father, Eric. Many men followed him. They were all richly +dressed in velvet and gold. + +For three nights they feasted at Eric's house. On the next night Gyda +sat on the cross-bench with her women. A long veil of white linen +covered her face and head and hung down to the ground. After the +mead-horns had been brought in, Eric stood up from his high seat and +went down and stood before King Harald. + +"Will you marry Gyda now?" he asked. + +[Illustration: "_I, Harald, King of Norway, take you Gyda, for my +wife_"] + +Harald jumped to his feet and laughed. + +"Yes," he said. "I have waited long enough." + +Then he stepped down from his high seat and stood by Eric. They walked +about the hall. Before them walked thralls carrying candles. Behind them +walked many of King Harald's great earls. Three times they walked around +the hall. The third time they stopped before the cross-bench. King +Harald and Eric stepped upon the platform, where the cross-bench was. + +Eric gave a holy hammer to Harald, and it was like the hammer of Thor. +Harald put it upon Gyda's lap, saying: + +"With this holy hammer of Thor's, I, Harald, King of Norway, take you, +Gyda, for my wife." + +Then he took a bunch of keys and tied it to Gyda's girdle, saying: + +"This is the sign that you are mistress of my house." + +After that, Eric called out loudly: + +"Now, are Harald, King of Norway, and Gyda, daughter of Eric, man and +wife." + +Then thralls brought meat and drink in golden dishes. They were about to +serve it to Gyda for the bride's feast, but Harald took the dish from +them and said: + +"No, I will serve my bride." + +So he knelt and held the platter. When he did that his men shouted. Then +they talked among themselves, saying: + +"Surely Harald never knelt before. It is always other people who kneel +to him." + +When the bride had tasted the food and touched the mead-horn to her lips +she stood up and walked from the hall. All her women followed her, but +the men stayed and feasted long. + +On the next morning at breakfast Gyda sat by Harald's side. Soon the +king rose and said: + +"Father-in-law, our horses stand ready in the yard. Work is waiting for +me at home and on the sea. Lead out the bride." + +So Eric took Gyda by the hand and led her out of the hall. Harald +followed close. When they passed through the door Eric said: + +"With this hand I lead my daughter out of my house and give her to you, +Harald, son of Halfdan, to be your wife. May all the gods make you +happy!" + +Harald led his bride to the horse and lifted her up and set her behind +his saddle and said: + +"Now this Gyda is my wife." + +Then they drank the stirrup-horn and rode off. + +"Everything comes to King Harald," his men said; "wife and land and +crown and victory in battle. He is a lucky man." + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +King Harald Goes West-Over-Seas + + +Now many men hated King Harald. Many a man said: + +"Why should he put himself up for king of all of us? He is no better +than I am. Am I not a king's son as well as he? And are not many of us +kings' sons? I will not kneel before him and promise to be his man. I +will not pay him taxes. I will not have his earl sitting over me. The +good old days have gone. This Norway has become a prison. I will go away +and find some other place." + +So hundreds of men sailed away. Some went to France and got land and +lived there. Big Rolf-go-afoot and all his men sailed up the great +French River and won a battle against the French king himself. There was +no way to stop the flashing of his battle-axes but to give him what he +wanted. So the king made Rolf a duke, gave him broad lands and gave him +the king's own daughter for wife. Rolf called his country Normandy, for +old Norway. He ruled it well and was a great lord, and his sons' sons +after him were kings of England. + +Other Norsemen went to Ireland and England and Scotland. They drew up +their boats on the river banks. The people ran away before them and +gathered into great armies that marched back to meet the vikings in +battle. Sometimes the Norsemen lost, but oftener they won, so that they +got land and lived in those countries. Their houses sat in these strange +lands like warriors' camps, and the Norsemen went among their new +neighbors with hanging swords and spears in hand, ever ready for fight. + +There are many islands north of Scotland. They are called the Orkneys +and the Shetlands. They have many good harbors for ships. They are +little and rocky and bare of trees. Wild sea-birds scream around them. +On some of them a man can stand in the middle and see the ocean all +about him. Now the vikings sailed to these islands and were pleased. + +[Illustration: "_In Norway they left burning houses and weeping +women_"] + +"It is like being always in a boat," they said. "This shall be our +home." + +So it went until all the lands round about were covered with vikings. +Norse carved and painted houses brightened the hillsides. Viking ships +sailed all the seas and made harbor in every river. Norsemen's thralls +plowed the soil and planted crops and herded cattle, and gold flowed +into their masters' treasure-chests. Norse warriors walked up and down +the land, and no man dared to say them nay. + +These men did not forget Norway. In the summers they sailed back there +and harried the coast. They took gold and grain and beautiful cloth back +to their homes. In Norway they left burning houses and weeping women. + +Every summer King Harald had out his ships and men and hunted these +vikings. There are many little islands about Norway. They have crags and +caves and deep woods. Here the vikings hid when they saw King Harald's +ships coming. But Harald ran his boat into every creek and fiord and +hunted in every cave and through all the woods and among the crags. He +caught many men, but most of them got away and went home laughing at +Harald. Then they came back the next summer and did the same deeds over +again. At last King Harald said: + +"There is but one thing to do. I must sail to these western islands and +whip these robbers in their own homes." + +So he went with a great number of ships. He found as brave men as he had +brought from Norway. These vikings had brought their old courage to +their new homes. King Harald's fine ships were scarred by viking stones +and scorched by viking fire. The shields of Harald's warriors had dents +from viking blows. Many of those men carried viking scars all their +lives. And many of King Harald's warriors walked the long, hard road to +Valhalla, and feasted there with some of these very vikings that had +died in King Harald's battles. But after many hard fights on land and +sea, after many men had died and many had fled away to other lands, King +Harald won, and he made the men that were yet in the islands take the +oath, and he left his earls to rule over them. Then he went back to +Norway. + +"He has done more than he vowed to do," people said. "He has not only +whipped the vikings, but he has got a new kingdom west-over-seas." + +Then they talked of that dream that his mother had. + +"King Harald was that great tree," they said. "The trunk was red with +the blood of his many battles, but higher up the limbs were fair and +green like this good time of peace. The topmost branches were white +because Harald will live to be an old man. Just as that tree spread out +until all of Norway was in its shade, and even more lands, so Harald is +king of all this country and of the western islands. The many branches +of that tree are the many sons of Harald, who shall be earls and kings +in Norway, and their sons after them, for hundreds of years." + + + + +_PART II_ + +[Illustration] + +WEST-OVER-SEAS + + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +Homes in Iceland + + +Men had been feasting in Ingolf's house. But there was no laughing and +no shouting of jokes. Ingolf sat in his high seat frowning and gloomy. +His head hung on his breast. He was staring into the fire. Now he raised +his head and looked about the hall. + +"Comrades," he said, "what shall we do? Herstein and Holmstein died by +our swords. Their kinsmen hunger to kill us. Besides, when Harald hears +of our deed, there will not be a safe place in Norway for us. He will +never let a man fight out an honest quarrel. Where shall we go?" + +A man stood up from the bench. + +"We have friends in the Shetlands," he said. "Let us find homes there." + +Then Leif, in the high seat opposite Ingolf, stood up. + +"No, not the Shetlands, my foster-brother.[10] They are crowded +already. Besides, Harald will not long keep his hands off them. Then +they will be no better than Norway. England and Ireland and Scotland are +old. My eyes ache for something new. What of that far island that Floki +found? It is empty. We could choose our land from the whole country. +There is good fishing. There are green valleys. And Butter Thorolf says +that butter drops from every weed. There are mountains and deserts where +we may find adventure. I say, let us steer for Iceland!" + +When he stopped, many of the men shouted: + +"Yes! Iceland!" + +But an old man stood up. + +"We have all laughed at that tale of Butter Thorolf's," he said. "But +Floki himself said that the sea about the island is full of ice that +pushes upon the land, that no ship can live in that water in the winter, +that great mountains of ice cover the island. Did not all his cattle die +there of hunger and cold, and did he not come back to Norway cursing +Iceland?" + +"Oh, Sighvat, you are old and fearful," called out Leif, and he laughed. + +Then he stretched himself up and threw back his head. + +"Are we afraid of ice? Have we not seen angry water before? I have been +hungry, but I have never died of it. Surely if there are fish in the sea +and grass in the valleys, we can live there. I should like to stand on a +hill and look around on a wide land and think, 'This is all ours,' and +out upon a rough sea and think, 'Far off there are our foes and they +dare not come over to us.' Besides, we shall have no Shockhead Harald to +lord it over us. We can come and go and feast and fight as we please. We +shall be our own kings. And our ships will be always waiting to take us +away, when we are weary of it. And we shall see things that other men +have never seen. I am tired of the old things. Perhaps in after days men +will make songs about 'those foster-brothers, Ingolf and Leif, who made +a new country in a wonderful land, and whose sons and grandsons are +mighty men in Iceland!'" + +Ingolf leaped up from his chair. + +"By the strong arm of Thor!" he cried, "I like the sound of it. Now I +make my vow." + +He raised his drinking-horn. + +"I vow that I will find this Iceland and pass the winter there, and that +if man can live upon it I will go back there and set up my home." + +"And I vow that I will follow my foster-brother," cried Leif. + +And many men vowed to go. + +So on the next day they began to make ready a boat. They looked her over +carefully and recalked every seam and freshly painted her and put into +her their strongest oars and made her a new sail. + +"This will be the longest voyage that she ever made," Ingolf said. + +When the work was done, they put into her great stores, axes, hammers, +fish-nets, cooking-kettles, kegs of ale, chests of hard bread, chests of +smoked meat, brass kettles full of flour, skin bottles of water. They +stowed these things away in the ends of the ship. When they were ready +they put in four head of cattle. + +"We shall need the milk and perhaps the meat," Ingolf said. + +Many men wished to go, but Ingolf had said: + +"There is little room to spare and little food and drink. I have planned +for half a year. But perhaps we must be sailing longer than that. Our +food may run short. We must not have extra mouths to feed. There are +thirty oars in our boat. I will take only one man for every oar, and +Leif and I will steer." + +So they started off. Leif stood in the prow leaning forward and looking +far ahead, and he sang: + + "What does the swimming dragon smell? + A stormy sea, an empty land, + Hunger, darkness, giants, fire. + Leif and his sword do laugh at that." + +They sailed for days and saw no land. Sometimes they passed ships and +always made sure to sail close enough to hail them. + +"Where are you going?" Ingolf would call. + +"To Norway," would come back the answer. + +"For trade or fight?" Leif would shout. + +Then would ring out a great laugh from that boat and this answer: + +"A shut mouth is a good friend." + +So the two ships sailed on, and the men were glad to have heard a +greeting and to have called one. + +But at last there were the Shetlands. + +"We will go in here and rest," Ingolf said. + +When they rowed to shore a certain Shetland man stood there. He watched +them land and looked them all over. Then he walked up to Ingolf and +said: + +"You look like brave men. Welcome to Shetland. You shall come to my +house and rest your legs from ship-going and fill your stomachs. I +hunger for news of Norway." + +So they went to his house and stayed there for three days. And good it +seemed to be near a fire and in a quiet bed and before a steaming +platter. When they went to the shore to start off again, the Shetland +man had his thralls carry a keg of ale and a great kettle of cooked meat +and put them into the ship. + +"Think of me when you eat this," he said. + +Then the Norsemen put to sea again and sailed for a long time. + +One day a terrible storm came up; the sky was black; the wind howled +through the ship. Great waves leaped in the sea. + +"Down with the sail and out with the oars!" Ingolf shouted. + +So the men furled the sail and took down the mast and laid it along the +bottom of the boat. As they worked, one man was washed overboard and +drowned. The men sat down to row, but the tumbling waves tossed the boat +about and poured over her and broke three of the oars. But still the men +held on. They were wet to the skin and were cold, and their arms and +legs ached with the hard work, and they were hungry from the long +waiting, but not one face was white with fear. + +"Ran, in her caves under sea, wants us for company to-night," Ingolf +laughed. + +So they tossed about all night, but in the morning the wind died down. +Great waves still rolled, and for days the sea was rough, but they +could put up the sail. Then one day Leif, as he sat in the pilot's seat, +jumped to his feet and sang: + + "To eyes grown tired with looking far, + All at once appeared an island, + A stretching-place for sea-legs, + A quiet bed for backs grown stiff + On rowing-bench on rolling sea. + A place to build a red fire + And thaw the blood that sea-winds froze." + +But when they came near they saw no place to land. The island was like a +mountain of rock standing out of the water. The sides were steep and +smooth. They sailed around it, but found no place to climb up. + +"There are many other islands here," said Leif. "We will try another." + +So he steered to another. It, too, was a steep rock, but one side sloped +down to the water and was green with grass. + +"Oh, I have not seen anything so good as that green grass since I looked +into my mother's face," one man said. + +There was a little harbor there. The men rowed in and quickly jumped out +and put the rollers under the ship and pulled her upon shore. Then they +threw themselves down on the grass and rolled and stretched their arms +and shouted for joy. After that they built a fire and warmed themselves +and cooked a meal and ate like wolves. They slept there that night. + +In the morning before Ingolf's men started away they were standing high +up on the hillside, looking about. They saw no houses on any of the +islands, but they saw smoke rise from one hillside. + +"Some other men, like us, weary of the sea and stopping to rest," said +Ingolf. + +They saw the island that they had sailed around the night before. + +"There can surely be nothing but birds' nests on top of that," Sighvat +said. + +"Look!" cried another, pointing. + +Men were standing on the flat top of that island. They were letting a +boat down the steep side with ropes. When it struck the water, they made +a rope fast to the rock and slid down it into the ship and sailed off. + +"Some robber vikings from Scotland or Ireland," laughed Leif. "It is a +good hiding place for treasure." + +Soon Ingolf and his men got into their ship and were off. Old Sighvat +grumbled. + +"Is this land not new enough and empty enough and far enough? I am tired +of sea, sea, sea, and nothing else." + +"We started for Iceland," said Ingolf, "and I will not stop before I +come there. I have a vow. Did you make none, Sighvat?" + +Then they were on the water again for weeks with no sight of land. + +"Oh! I would give my right hand to see a dragon pawing the water off +there and to fling a word to its men," Sighvat said. + +"No hope of that," replied Ingolf. "Only three dragons before ours have +ever swept this water, and men are not sailing this way for pleasure or +riches." + +So only the desolate sea stretched around them. Sometimes it was smooth +and shining under the sun. Often it was torn by winds, and a gray sky +hung over it, and the men were drenched with rain. Once they ran into a +fog. For three days and nights they could not see sun or stars to steer +by. They forgot which way was north. When after three days the fog +lifted, they found that they had been going in the wrong direction, and +they had to turn around and sail all that weary way over again. But at +last one afternoon they saw a white cloud resting on the water far off. +As they sailed toward it, it grew into long stretches of black, hilly +shore with a blue ice mountain rising from it. The sun was going down +behind that mountain, and long lines of pink and of shining green, and +great purple shadows streaked the blue. + +"It is Iceland!" shouted the men. + +"It is like Asgard the Shining," Ingolf said. + +But it was still far off. Men can see a long way there because the air +is so clear. So Ingolf and his people sailed on for hours and at last +came into a harbor. A little green valley sloped up from it. On one side +was the bright ice mountain. Back of it were bare black and red hills. +In that valley Ingolf and his men drew up their boat and camped. At +supper that night one of the men said: + +"I almost think I never felt a fire before or had warm food in my +mouth." + +The men laughed. + +"It is four months since we left Norway," Ingolf said. "Few men have +ever been on the sea so long." + +That night they put up the awning in the boat and slept under it. + +After that some men went fishing every day in the rowboat that they had. +And Ingolf took others, and they sailed along the shore, seeing what +kind of a land this was. But winter began to come on. Then Ingolf said: + +"Remember what Floki said of the ice and the rough sea in winter. Soon +we cannot sail any longer. Let us choose a place to stay and build a hut +there and cut hay for our cattle." + +So they did. Their hut was a little mean thing of stones and turf. They +kept the cattle and the hay in it. Sometimes they slept there, when it +was very cold. But most of the time they ate and slept by a great +bonfire out of doors where it was clean. Leif said: + +"I like the cold air of the sea better than the bad-smelling air of a +house, even though it is warm." + +Now every day Ingolf and Leif and some of the men walked about the +island. At night they all sat around the campfire and talked of what +they had seen during the day. + +"This is surely a wonderful land," Ingolf said once. "It is at the same +time like Niflheim and like Asgard. Here is a spot green and soft, a +sweet cradle for men. Next it is a mountain of ice where men would +freeze to death. And next to that is a hill of rock that seems to have +come out of some great fire. Yesterday I saw a cave on the seashore. The +door of it was big enough for a giant. The waves broke at the doorstep. +A terrible roaring came from the cave. I think it is the home of a +giant. I think that giants of fire and giants of frost made this island. +I have seen great basins in the rocks filled with warm water. They +looked like giants' bath-tubs. I have seen boiling water shoot up out of +the ground. I have walked, and have felt and heard a great rumbling +under me as though some giant were sleeping there and turning over in +his sleep. One day I stood on a mountain and looked inland. There was a +wide desert of sand and black and red rock with nothing growing on it. +The fierce wind blew dirt into my eyes, and the cold of it froze the +marrow in my bones. When I have seen these things I have cursed the +country, and have said: 'The gods hate Iceland. I will not stay here.' +But then I have walked through beautiful warm valleys where the winds +did not come. I saw in my mind the flowers that we found last summer. I +saw our cattle feeding on the sweet grass. I thought of the sea full of +good fish. I saw my house built among green fields, and my wife sitting +in her home, and my children playing among the flowers and making up +tales about the bright ice mountains. I saw the wide, rough seas between +me and Harald and our foes. Then I thought to myself, 'It is the +sweetest home on earth.' As for me, I am coming here to live. What do +you say, comrades?" + +"Have I not vowed to follow you, foster-brother?" said Leif. "And indeed +I never saw a land that I liked better. I don't believe in your giants. +My sword is my god, and my ship is my temple, and I like this land to +set them up in." + +They sat about the fire long that night making plans. + +"You shall go home and get our women and our things, Ingolf," said Leif. +"I will off to Ireland and have a frolic. There will be little play of +swords in this empty land, and I want to have one last game before I +hang up my battle-knife. Besides, I will come to you with a ship full of +gold and clothes and house-hangings such as we cannot get here, and they +will cost me nothing but the swing of a sword." + +As they talked, Ingolf looked up at the sky. The northern lights were +quivering there. They were like great flames of yellow and green and +red. + +"See," he said, and pointed. "We are not so far that the gods will +forget us. There is the flash of the armor of the Valkyrias.[11] A +battle is on somewhere, and Odin has sent his maidens to choose the +heroes for Valhalla." + +Leif only laughed and lay down to sleep. + +So in the spring they all went back to Norway. Leif got ready the boat +again and merrily sailed for Ireland. + +"Here I go to get riches for our new land," he said. + +Ingolf set his men to cutting down pines in the forest and some to +building a new ship. He had his thralls plant large crops of grain and +grind flour and make new kegs and chests of wood. He himself worked much +at the forge, making all kinds of tools--spades, axes, hammers, +hunting-knives, cooking kettles. The women were busy weaving and sewing +new clothes. Ingolf sold his house and land and everything that he could +not take with him. + +After about two years Leif came back. He had ten thralls that he had got +in Ireland. He took Ingolf aboard his ship and raised the covers of +great chests. Gold helmets, silver-trimmed drinking-horns, embroidered +robes, and swords flashed out. + +"Did I not say that I would come back with a full ship?" he laughed. + +At last all things were ready for starting. + +"To-day I will sacrifice to Thor and Odin," Ingolf said. "If the omens +are good we will start to-morrow." + +"Well, go, foster-brother," laughed Leif. "But I have better things to +do. I will be putting the cattle into the ship and will have all ready." + +So Ingolf and his men went into the forests a little way. There in a +cleared space stood a large building. In front of this temple the men +killed two horses for Odin. Ingolf caught some of the blood in a brass +bowl. He raised it and looked up at the sky and said: + +"All-wise and all-father Odin, and Thor who loves the thunder, I give +these horses to you. Tell me whether it is your will that we go to +Iceland." + +As he said that, a raven flew over his head. Ingolf watched it. + +"It is Odin's will that we go," he said. "He sent his raven[12] to tell +us. It is flying straight toward Iceland." + +The men shouted with joy at that. + +Now they hung some of the meat of the horses on a tree near the temple. + +"For the ravens of Odin," they said. + +Ingolf carried the bowl of blood into the temple. He went through the +feast hall in front to a little room at the back. Here stood wooden +statues of the gods in a semicircle. Before them was a stone altar. +Ingolf took a little brush of twigs that lay on it and dipped it into +the blood and sprinkled the statues. + +"You shall taste of our sacrifice," he said. "Look kindly on us from +your happy seats in Asgard." + +Then they went into the feast hall. There thralls were boiling the +horseflesh in pots over the fire. The tables were standing ready before +the benches. Ingolf walked to the high seat. All the others took their +places at the benches. When the horns came round, Ingolf made this vow: + +"I vow that I will build my house wherever these pillars lead me." + +He put his hand upon a tall post that stood beside the high seat. There +was one at each side. They were the front posts of the chair. But they +stood up high, almost to the roof. They were wonderfully carved and +painted with men and dragons. On the top of each one was a little +statue of Thor with his hammer. + +At the end of the feast Ingolf had his thralls dig these pillars up. He +had a little bronze chest filled with the earth that was under the +altar. + +"I will take the pillars of my high seat to Iceland," he said, "and I +will set up my altar there upon the soil of Norway, the soil that all my +ancestors have trod, the soil that Thor loves." + +So they carried the pillars and the chest of earth and the statues of +the gods, and put them into Ingolf's boat. + +"It is a well-packed ship," the men said. "There is no spot to spare." + +Tools, and chests of food, and tubs of drink, and chests of clothes, and +fishing nets were stowed in the bows of both boats. In the bottom were +laid some long, heavy, hewn logs. + +"The trees in Iceland are little," Ingolf said. "We must take the great +beams for our homes with us." + +Standing on these logs were a few cattle and sheep and horses and pigs. +The rowers' benches were along the sides. In the stern of each boat was +a little cabin. Here the women and children were to sleep. But the men +would sleep on the timbers in the middle of the boat and perhaps they +would put up the awning sometimes. + +At last everyone was aboard. Men loosed the rope that held the boats. +The ships flashed down the rollers into the water, and Ingolf and Leif +were off for Iceland. As they sailed away everyone looked back at the +shore of old Norway. There were tears in the women's eyes. Helga, Leif's +wife, sang: + + "There was I born. There was I wed. + There are my father's bones. + There are the hills and fields, + The streams and rocks that I love. + There are houses and temples, + Women and warriors and feasts, + Ships and songs and fights-- + A crowded, joyous land. + I go to an empty land." + +There was the same long voyage with storm and fog. But at last the +people saw again the white cloud and saw it growing into land and +mountains. Then Ingolf took the pillars of his high seat and threw them +overboard. + +"Guide them to a good place, O Thor!" he cried. + +The waves caught them up and rolled them about. Ingolf followed them +with his ship. But soon a storm came up. The men had to take down the +sails and masts, and they could do nothing with their oars. The two +ships tossed about in the sea wherever the waves sent them. The pillars +drifted away, and Ingolf could not see them. + +"Remember your pillars, O Thor!" he cried. + +Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven far off. + +"Ah, my foster-brother," he thought, "shall I not have you to cheer me +in this empty land? O Thor, let him not go down to the caves of Ran! He +is too good a man for that." + +On the next day the storm was not so hard, and Ingolf put in at a good +harbor. A high rocky point stuck out into the sea. A broad bay with +islands in the mouth was at the side. Behind the rocky point was a +level green place with ice-mountains shining far back. + +After a day or two Ingolf said: + +"I will go look for my pillars." + +So he and a few men got into the rowboat and went along the shore and +into all the fiords, but they could not find the pillars. After a week +they came back, and Ingolf said: + +"I will build a house here to live in while I look for the posts. This +way is uncomfortable for the women." + +So he did. Then he set out again to look for the pillars, but he had no +better luck and came back. + +"I must stay at home and see to the making of hay and the drying of +fish," he said. "Winter is coming on, and we must not be caught with +nothing to eat." + +So he stayed and worked and sent two of his thralls to look for the holy +posts. They came back every week or two and always had to say that they +had not found them. Midwinter was coming on. + +[Illustration: "_Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven afar +off_"] + +"Ah!" said Ingolf's wife one day, "do you remember the gay feast that we +had at Yule-time? All our friends were there. The house rang with song +and laughter. Our tables bent with good things to eat. Walls were hung +with gay draperies. The floor was clean with sweet-smelling +pine-branches. Now look at this mean house; its dirt floor, its bare +stone walls, its littleness, its darkness! Look at our long faces. No +one here could make a song if he tried. Oh! I am sick for dear old +Norway." + +"It is Thor's fault," Ingolf cried. "He will not let me find his posts." + +He strode out of the house and stood scowling at the gray sea. + +"Ah, foster-brother!" he said. "It was never so gloomy when you were by +my side. Where are you now? Shall I never hear your merry laugh again? +That spot in my palm burns, and my heart aches to see you. That arch of +sod keeps rising before my eyes. Our vows keep ringing in my ears." + +At last the long, gloomy winter passed and spring came. + +"Cheer up, good wife," Ingolf said. "Better days are coming now." + +But that same day the thralls came back from looking for the posts. + +"We have bad news," they said. "As we walked along the shore looking for +the pillars we saw a man lying on the shore. We went up to him. He was +dead. It was Leif. Two well-built houses stood near. We went to them. We +knew from the carving on the door-posts that they were Leif's. We went +in. The rooms were empty. Along the shore and in the wood back of the +house we found all of his men, dead. There was no living thing about." + +Ingolf said no word, but his face was white, and his mouth was set. He +went into the house and got his spears and his shield and said to his +men: + +"Follow me." + +They put provisions into the boat and pushed off and sailed until they +saw Leif's houses on the shore of the harbor. There they saw Leif and +the men who were his friends, dead. Their swords and spears were gone. +Ingolf walked through the houses calling on Helga and on the thralls, +but no one answered. The storehouse was empty. The rich hangings were +gone from the walls of the houses. There was nothing in the stables. The +boat was gone. + +Ingolf went out and stood on a high point of land that jutted out into +the water. Far along the coast he saw some little islands. He turned to +his men and said: + +"The thralls have done it. I think we shall find them on those islands." + +Then he went back to Leif and stood looking at him. + +"What a shame for so brave a man to fall by the hands of thralls! But I +have found that such things always happen to men who do not sacrifice to +the gods. Ah, Leif! I did not think when we made those vows of +foster-brotherhood that this would ever happen. But do not fear. I +remember my promise. I had thought that a man's blood is precious in +this empty land, but my vow is more precious." + +Now they laid all those men together and tied on their hell-shoes. + +"I need my sword for your sake, foster-brother. I cannot give you that. +But you shall have my spears and my drinking-horn," said Ingolf. "For +surely Odin has chosen you for Valhalla, even though you did not +sacrifice. You are too good a man to go to Niflheim. You would make +times merry in Valhalla." + +So Ingolf put his spears and his drinking-horn by Leif. Then the men +raised a great mound over all the dead. After that they went aboard +their boat and sailed for the islands that Ingolf had seen. It was +evening when they reached them. + +"I see smoke rising from that one," Ingolf said, pointing. + +He steered for it. It was a steep rock like that one in the Faroes, but +they found a harbor and landed and climbed the steep hill and came out +on top. They saw the ten thralls sitting about a bonfire eating. Helga +and the other women from Leif's house sat near, huddled together, white +and frightened. One of the thralls gave a great laugh and shouted: + +"This is better than pulling Leif's plow. To-morrow we will sail for +Ireland with all his wealth." + +"To-morrow you will be freezing in Niflheim," cried Ingolf, and he +leaped among them swinging his sword, and all his men followed him, and +they killed those thralls. + +Then Ingolf turned to Helga. She threw herself into his arms and wept. +But after a while she told him this story: + +"When springtime came, Leif thought that he would sow wheat. He had but +one ox. The others had died during the winter. So he set the thralls to +help pull the plow. I saw their sour looks and was afraid, but Leif only +laughed: + +"'What else can thralls expect?' he said. 'Never fear them, good wife.' + +"Now one day soon after that the thralls came running to the house +calling out: + +"'The ox is dead! The ox is dead!' + +"Leif asked them about it. They said that a bear had come out of the +woods and killed it, and that they had scared the beast away. They +pointed out where it had gone. Then Leif called his men and said: + +"'A hunt! I had not hoped for such great sport here. Ah, we will have a +feast off that bear!' + +"So they took their spears and went out into the woods. As soon as they +were gone, the thralls came running into the house and took down all the +swords and shields from the wall and ran out. In some way they met my +lord and his men in the woods and killed them. Then they came back and +took everything in the house and dragged us to the boat and sailed +here." + +"O my brother!" said Ingolf, "where is that song about 'those two +foster-brothers, Ingolf and Leif, who made a new country in a wonderful +land, and whose sons and grandsons are mighty men in Iceland'? But come +home with me, Helga." + +So they took the women and Leif's things and Leif's boat and sailed +home. The next day after they came to Ingolf's house, Helga said: + +"We have made your family larger, brother Ingolf. Will you not take +Leif's two houses and live in them? He does not need them now. He would +like you to have them." + +"It would be pleasant to live there," Ingolf said. "I thank you." + +So the next day they loaded everything aboard the two ships and sailed +for Leif's house. There they stayed for a year. Ingolf still sent his +thralls out to look for the pillars. He was careful always to have hay, +so his cattle prospered. That spring he planted wheat, but it did not +grow well. + +"This is sickly stuff," Ingolf said. "It takes too much time and work. +It is better to save the land for hay. Perhaps we can sometime go back +to Norway for flour." + +At last one day the thralls came home and said: + +"We have found the pillars." + +Ingolf jumped to his feet. He cried out: + +"You have kept me waiting three years, Thor. But as soon as my house and +temple are built, I will sacrifice to you three horses as a +thank-offering." + +"It is a long way off, master," the thralls said, "and we have found +much better places in our walks about the island." + +"Thor knows best," Ingolf answered. "I will settle where he leads me." + +So that summer they loaded everything into the ships again and sailed +west along the coast until they came to the place where the pillars +were. The land there was low and green. On both sides were low hills. A +little lake glistened back from shore. In the valley were hot springs, +with steam rising from them. + +"It looks like smoke," the men said. "It is very strange to see hot +water and smoke come out of the ground." + +In front of this green land was a good harbor with islands in it. Far +over the sea toward the north shone a great ice-mountain. + +"I like the place," Ingolf said. "I will make this land mine." + +So he built fires at the mouth of the river near there, and stood by +them and called out loudly: + +"I have put my fire at the mouth of these rivers. All the land that they +drain is mine, and no man shall claim it but me. I will call this place +Reykjavik."[13] + +Then Ingolf built his feast hall. He himself carved the beams and the +door-posts. Gaily painted dragons leaned out from the doors and stood up +from the gables. Men and animals fought on the door-posts. For the doors +he made at the forge great iron hinges. Their ends curved and spread all +over the door. Near his feast hall he built a storehouse and a kitchen +and a smithy and a stable and a bower for the women. + +"We do not need a sleeping-house for guests," he said. "Who would be our +guests?" + +He roofed all his buildings with turf. It made them look like green +mounds with gay carved and painted walls under them. He built also a +temple, and on that was beautiful carving. In this he set up those +statues that had been in his old temple. He put up, too, those pillars +of his high seat that had been drifting about so long. Under them he +laid the soil of Norway that he had brought in the little bronze chest. + +"I have kept my vow, O Thor!" he cried. + +Then he sacrificed three horses that he had promised to Thor. After that +was over, he said: + +"Here is a good field for sport. Let us have some of the old games that +we used to play at home. Who will wrestle with me?" + +So they wrestled there and ran races and swam in the water. The women +sat and looked on. + +"Oh, this is good to see!" Helga cried. "We are as gay as we used to be +in old Norway." + +But it was not many weeks before Ingolf said: + +"I wish that I might sometime see sails in that harbor. I wish that I +might think, 'Around this point of land is another farm, and across the +bay is another. I can go there when I am very lonely.' I wish that I +might sometime be invited to a feast. I wish that I might sometimes hear +the good, clanging music of weapons at play. It is a good land, but we +have lived alone for four years. I am hungry for new faces and for +tidings of Norway." + +One night as he and his men sat about the long fire in the feast hall, a +servant threw a great piece of wood upon the fire. It was streaked with +faded paint and it showed bits of carving. + +"See," said Ingolf, pointing to it, "see what is left of a good ship's +prow! What lands have you seen, O dragon's head? What battles have you +fought? What was your master's name? Where did the storm meet you? +Perhaps he was coming to Iceland, comrades. Would it not have been +pleasant to see his sail and to shake his hand and to welcome him to +Iceland? But instead he is in Ran's caves, and only his broken prow has +drifted here." + +Now it was not many months after that when one of the men came running +into the feast hall, shouting: + +"A sail! a sail in the harbor!" + +All those men gave a shout with no word in it, as though their hearts +had leaped into their throats. They jumped up and ran to the shore and +stood there with hungry eyes. When the men landed, those Icelanders +clapped them on the shoulders, and tears ran down their faces. For a +long time they could say nothing but "Welcome! Welcome!" + +[Illustration: "_Those Icelanders clapped them on the shoulders_"] + +But after a while Ingolf led them to the feast hall and had a feast +spread at once. While the thralls were at work, the men stood together +and talked. Such a noise had never been in that hall before. + +"We have already built our fires and claimed our land up the shore a +way," the leader said. "Men in Norway talk much of Ingolf and Leif, and +wonder what has happened to them." + +Then Ingolf told them of all that had come to pass in Iceland; and then +he asked of Norway. + +"Ah! things are going from bad to worse," the newcomers said. "Harald +grows mightier every day. A man dare not swing a sword now except for +the king. We came here to get away from him. Many men are talking of +Iceland. Soon the sea-road between here and Norway will be swarming with +dragons." + +And so it was. Ships also came from Ireland and from the Shetlands and +the Orkneys. + +"Harald has come west-over-seas," the men of these ships said, "and has +laid his heavy hand upon the islands and put his earls over them. They +are no place now for free men." + +So by the time Ingolf was an old man, Iceland was no longer an empty +land. Every valley was spotted with bright feast halls and temples. +Horses and cattle pastured on the hillsides. Smoke curled up from +kitchens and smithies. Gay ships sailed the waters, taking Iceland cloth +and wool and Iceland fish and oil and the soft feathers of Iceland birds +to Norway to sell, and bringing back wood and flour and grain. + +When Ingolf died, his men drew up on the shore the boat in which he had +come to Iceland. They painted it freshly and put new gold on it, so that +it stood there a glittering dragon with head raised high, looking over +the water. Old Sighvat lifted a huge stone and carried it to the ship's +side. With all his strength he threw it into the bottom. The timbers +cracked. + +"If this ship moves from here," he said, "then I do not know how to moor +a ship. It is Ingolf's grave." + +Then men laid Ingolf upon his shield and carried him and placed him on +the high deck in the stern near the pilot's seat where he had sat to +steer to Iceland. They hung his sword over his shoulder. They laid his +spear by his side. In his hand they put his mead-horn. Into the ship +they set a great treasure-chest filled with beautiful clothes and +bracelets and head-bands. Beside the treasure-chest they piled up many +swords and spears and shields. They put gold-trimmed saddles and bridles +upon three horses. Then they killed the horses and dragged them into the +ship. They killed hunting-dogs and put them by the horses; for they +said: + +"All these things Ingolf will need in Valhalla. When he walks through +the door of that feast hall, Odin must know that a rich and brave man +comes. When he fights with those heroes during the day, he must have +weapons worthy of him. He must have dogs for the hunt. When he feasts +with those heroes at night he must wear rich clothes, so that those +feasters shall know that he was a wealthy man and generous, and that his +friends loved him." + +Ingolf's son tied on his hell-shoes for the long journey. + +"If these shoes come untied," he said, "I do not know how to fasten +hell-shoes." + +Then he went out of the ship and stood on the ground with his family. +All the men of Iceland were there. + +"This is a glorious sight," they said. "Surely no ship ever carried a +richer load. Inside and out the boat blazes with gold and bronze, and, +high over his riches, lies the great Ingolf, ready to take the tiller +and guide to Valhalla, where all the heroes will rise up and shout him +welcome." + +Then the thralls heaped a mound of earth over the ship. This hill stood +up against the sky and seemed to say: "Here lies a great man." Sighvat +put a stone on the top, with runes on it telling whose grave it was. +All this time a skald stood by and played on his harp and sang a song +about that time when Ingolf came to Iceland. He called him the father of +Iceland. People of that country still read an old story that the men of +that long ago time wrote about Ingolf, and they love him because he was +a brave man and "the first of men to come to Iceland." + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] See note about foster-brothers on page 197. + +[11] See note about Valkyrias on page 198. + +[12] See note about Odin's ravens on page 198. + +[13] See note about Reykjavik on page 199. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Eric the Red + + +It was a spring day many years after Ingolf died. All the freemen in the +west of Iceland had come to a meeting. Here they made laws and punished +men for having done wrong. The meeting was over now. Men were walking +about the plain and talking. Everybody seemed much excited. Voices were +loud, arms were swinging. + +"It was an unjust decision," some one cried. "Eric killed the men in +fair fight. The judges outlawed him because they were afraid. His foe +Thorgest has many rich and powerful men to back him." + +"No, no!" said another. "Eric is a bloody man. I am glad he is out of +Iceland." + +Just then a big man with bushy red hair and beard stalked through the +crowd. He looked straight ahead and scowled. + +"There he goes," people said, and turned to look after him. + +"His hands are as red as his beard," some said, and frowned. + +But others looked at him and smiled, saying: + +"He walks like Thor the Fearless." + +"His story would make a fine song," one said. "As strong and as brave +and as red as Thor! Always in a quarrel. A man of many places--Norway, +the north of Iceland, the west of Iceland, those little islands off the +shore of Iceland. Outlawed from all of them on account of his quarrels. +Where will he go now, I wonder?" + +This Eric strode down to the shore with his men following. + +"He is in a black temper," they said. "We should best not talk to him." + +So they made ready the boat in silence. Eric got into the pilot's seat +and they sailed off. Soon they pulled the ship up on their own shore. +Eric strolled into his house and called for supper. When the +drinking-horns had been filled and emptied, Eric pulled himself up and +smiled and shouted out so that the great room was full of his big +voice: + +"There is no friend like mead. It always cheers a man's heart." + +[Illustration: "_He looked straight ahead of him and scowled_"] + +Then laughter and talking began in the hall because Eric's good temper +had come back. After a while Eric said: + +"Well, I must off somewhere. I have been driven about from place to +place, like a seabird in a storm. And there is always a storm about me. +It is my sword's fault. She is ever itching to break her peace-bands[14] +and be out and at the play. She has shut Norway to me and now Iceland. +Where will you go next, old comrade?" and he pulled out his sword and +looked at it and smiled as the fire flashed on it. + +"There are some of us who will follow you wherever you go, Eric," called +a man from across the fire. + +"Is it so?" Eric cried, leaping up. "Oh! then we shall have some merry +times yet. Who will go with me?" + +More than half the men in the hall jumped to their feet and waved their +drinking-horns and shouted: + +"I! I!" + +[Illustration: "_More than half the men in the hall jumped to their +feet_"] + +Eric sat down in his chair and laughed. + +"O you bloody birds of battle!" he cried. "Ever hungry for new frolic! +Our swords are sisters in blood, and we are brothers in adventure. Do +you know what is in my heart to do?" + +He jumped to his feet, and his face glowed. Then he laughed as he looked +at his men. + +"I see the answer flashing from your eyes," he said, "that you will do +it even if it is to go down to Niflheim and drag up Hela, the pale queen +of the stiff dead." + +His men pounded on the tables and shouted: + +"Yes! Yes! Anywhere behind Eric!" + +"But it is not to Niflheim," Eric laughed. "Did you ever hear that story +that Gunnbiorn told? He was sailing for Iceland, but the fog came down, +and then the wind caught him and blew him far off. While he drifted +about he saw a strange land that rose up white and shining out of a blue +sea. Huge ships of ice sailed out from it and met him. I mean to sail to +that land." + +A great shout went up that shook the rafters. Then the men sat and +talked over plans. While they sat, a stranger came into the hall. + +"I have no time to drink," he said. "I have a message from your friend +Eyjolf. He says that Thorgest with all his men means to come here and +catch you to-night. Eyjolf bids you come to him, and he will hide you +until you are ready to start; for he loves you." + +"Hunted like a wolf from corner to corner of the world!" Eric cried +angrily. "Will they not even let me finish one feast?" + +Then he laughed. + +"But if I take my sport like a wolf, I must be hunted like one. So we +shall sleep to-night in the woods about Eyjolf's house, comrades, +instead of in these good beds. Well, we have done it before." + +"And it is no bad place," cried some of the men. + +"I always liked the stars better than a smoky house fire," said one. + +"Can no bad fortune spoil your good nature?" laughed Eric. "But now we +are off. Let every man carry what he can." + +So they quickly loaded themselves with clothes and gold and swords and +spears and kettles of food. Eric led his wife Thorhild and his two young +sons, Thorstein and Leif. All together they got into the boat and went +to Eyjolf's farm. For a week or more they stayed in his woods, sometimes +in a secret cave of his when they knew that Thorgest was about. And +sometimes Eyjolf sent and said: + +"Thorgest is off. Come to my house for a feast." + +All this time they were making ready for the voyage, repairing the ship +and filling it with stores. Word of what Eric meant to do got out, and +men laughed and said: + +"Is that not like Eric? What will he not do?" + +Some men liked the sound of it, and they came to Eric and said: + +"We will go with you to this strange land." + +So all were ready and they pushed off with Eric's family aboard and +those friends who had joined him. They took horses and cattle with them, +and all kinds of tools and food. + +"I do not well know where this land is," Eric said. "Gunnbiorn said only +that he sailed east when he came home to Iceland. So I will steer +straight west. We shall surely find something. I do not know, either, +how long we must go." + +So they sailed that strange ocean, never dreaming what might be ahead of +them. They found no islands to rest on. They met heavy fogs. + +One day as Eric sat in the pilot's seat, he said: + +"I think that I see one of Gunnbiorn's ships of ice. Shall we sail up to +her and see what kind of a craft she is?" + +"Yes," shouted his men. + +So they went on toward it. + +"It sends out a cold breath," said one of the men. + +They all wrapped their cloaks about them. + +"It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before," said Eric. "The white +mast stands as high as a hill." + +"It must be giants that sail in it, frost giants," said another of the +men. + +But as they came nearer, Eric all at once laughed loudly and called out: + +"By Thor, that Gunnbiorn was a foolish fellow. Why, look! It is only a +piece of floating ice such as we sometimes see from Iceland. It is no +ship, and there is no one on it." + +His men laughed and one called to another and said: + +"And you thought of frost giants!" + +Then they sailed on for days and days. They met many of these icebergs. +On one of them was a white bear. + +"Yonder is a strange pilot," Eric laughed. + +"I have seen bears come floating so to the north shore of Iceland," an +old man said. "Perhaps they come from the land that we are going to +find." + +One day Eric said: + +"I see afar off an iceberg larger than any one yet. Perhaps that is our +white land." + +[Illustration: "_It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before_"] + +But even as he said it he felt his boat swing under his hand as he held +the tiller. He bore hard on the rudder, but he could not turn the ship. + +"What is this?" he cried. "A strong river is running here. It is +carrying our ship away from this land. I cannot make head against it. +Out with the oars!" + +So with oars and sail and rudder they fought against the current, but it +took the boat along like a chip, and after a while they put up their +oars and drifted. + +"Luck has taken us into its own hands," Eric laughed. "But this is as +good a way as another." + +Sometimes they were near enough to see the land, then they were carried +out into the sea and thought that they should never see any land again. + +"Perhaps this river will carry us to a whirlpool and suck us under," the +men said. + +But at last Eric felt the current less strong under his hand. + +"To the oars again!" he called. + +So they fought with the current and sailed out of it and went on toward +land. But when they reached the shore they found no place to go in. +Steep black walls shot up from the sea. Nothing grew on them. When the +men looked above the cliffs they saw a long line of white cutting the +sky. + +"It is a land of ice," they said. + +They sailed on south, all the time looking for a place to go ashore. + +"I am sick of this endless sea," Thorhild complained, "but this land is +worse." + +After a while they began to see small bays cut into the shore with +little flat patches of green at their sides. They landed in these places +and stretched and warmed themselves and ate. + +"But these spots are only big enough for graves," the men said. "We can +not live here." + +So they went on again. All the time the weather was growing colder. +Eric's people kept themselves wrapped in their cloaks and put scarfs +around their heads. + +"And it is still summer!" Thorhild said. "What will it be in winter?" + +"We must find a place to build a house now before the winter comes on," +said Eric. "We must not freeze here." + +So they chose a little spot with hills about it to keep off the wind. +They made a house out of stones; for there were many in that place. They +lived there that winter. The sea for a long way out from shore froze so +that it looked like white land. The men went out upon it to hunt white +bear and seal. They ate the meat and wore the skins to keep them warm. +The hardest thing was to get fuel for the fire. No trees grew there. The +men found a little driftwood along the shore, but it was not enough. So +they burned the bones and the fat of the animals they killed. + +"It is a sickening smell," Thorhild said. "I have not been out of this +mean house for weeks. I am tired of the darkness and the smoke and the +cattle. And all the time I hear great noises, as though some giant were +breaking this land into pieces." + +"Ah, cheer up, good wife!" Eric laughed. "I smell better luck ahead." + +Once Eric and his men climbed the cliffs and went back into the middle +of the land. When they came home they had this to tell: + +"It is a country of ice, shining white. Nothing grows on it but a few +mosses. Far off it looks flat, but when you walk upon it, there are +great holes and cracks. We could see nothing beyond. There seems to be +only a fringe of land around the edge of an island of ice." + +The winter nights were very long. Sometimes the sun showed for an hour, +sometimes for only a few minutes, sometimes it did not show at all for a +week. The men hunted by the bright shining of the moon or by the +northern lights. + +As it grew warmer the ice in the sea began to crack and move and melt +and float away. Eric waited only until there was a clear passage in the +water. Then he launched his boat, and they sailed southward again. At +last they found a place that Eric liked. + +"Here I will build my house," he said. + +So they did and lived there that summer and pastured their cattle and +cut hay for the winter and fished and hunted. + +The next spring Eric said: + +"The land stretches far north. I am hungry to know what is there." + +Then they all got into the boat again and sailed north. + +"We can leave no one here," Eric had said. "We cannot tell what might +come between us. Perhaps giants or dragons or strange men might come out +of this inland ice and kill our people. We must stay together." + +Farther north they found only the same bare, frozen country. So after a +while they sailed back to their home and lived there. + +One spring after they had been in that land for four years, Eric said: + +"My eyes are hungry for the sight of men and green fields again. My +stomach is sick of seal and whale and bear. My throat is dry for mead. +This is a bare and cold and hungry land. I will visit my friends in +Iceland." + +"And our swords are rusty with long resting," said his men. "Perhaps we +can find play for them in Iceland." + +"Now I have a plan," Eric suddenly said. "Would it not be pleasant to +see other feast halls as we sail along the coast?" + +"Oh! it would be a beautiful sight," his men said. + +"Well," said Eric, "I am going to try to bring back some neighbors from +Iceland. Now we must have a name for our land. How does Greenland +sound?" + +His men laughed and said: + +"It is a very white Greenland, but men will like the sound of it. It is +better than Iceland." + +So Eric and all his people sailed back and spent the winter with his +friends. + +"Ah! Eric, it is good to hear your laugh again," they said. + +Eric was at many feasts and saw many men, and he talked much of his +Greenland. + +"The sea is full of whale and seals and great fish," he said. "The land +has bear and reindeer. There are no men there. Come back with me and +choose your land." + +Many men said that they would do it. Some men went because they thought +it would be a great frolic to go to a new country. Some went because +they were poor in Iceland and thought: + +"I can be no worse off in Greenland, and perhaps I shall grow rich +there." + +And some went because they loved Eric and wanted to be his neighbors. + +So the next summer thirty-five ships full of men and women and goods +followed Eric for Greenland. But they met heavy storms, and some ships +were wrecked, and the men drowned. Other men grew heartsick at the +terrible storm and the long voyage and no sight of land, and they turned +back to Iceland. So of those thirty-five ships only fifteen got to +Greenland. + +"Only the bravest and the luckiest men come here," Eric said. "We shall +have good neighbors." + +Soon other houses were built along the fiords. + +"It is pleasant to sail along the coast now," said Eric. "I see smoke +rising from houses and ships standing on the shore and friendly hands +waving." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[14] See note about peace-bands on page 199. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Leif and His New Land + + +Now Eric had lived in Greenland for fifteen years. His sons Thorstein +and Leif had grown up to be big, strong men. One spring Leif said to his +father: + +"I have never seen Norway, our mother land. I long to go there and meet +the great men and see the places that skalds sing about." + +Eric answered: + +"It is right that you should go. No man has really lived until he has +seen Norway." + +So he helped Leif fit out a boat and sent him off. Leif sailed for +months. He passed Iceland and the Faroes and the Shetlands. He stopped +at all of these places and feasted his mind on the new things. And +everywhere men received him gladly; for he was handsome and wise. But at +last he came near Norway. Then he stood up before the pilot's seat and +sang loudly: + + "My eyes can see her at last, + The mother of mighty men, + The field of famous fights. + In the sky above I see + Fair Asgard's shining roofs, + The flying hair of Thor, + The wings of Odin's birds, + The road that heroes tread. + I am here in the land of the gods, + The land of mighty men." + +For a while he walked the land as though he were in a dream. He looked +at this and that and everything and loved them all because it was +Norway. + +"I will go to the king," he said. + +He had never seen a king. There were no kings in Iceland or in +Greenland. So he went to the city where the king had his fine house. The +king's name was Olaf. He was a great-grandson of Harald Hairfair; for +Harald had been dead a hundred years. + +Now the king was going to hold a feast at night, and Leif put on his +most beautiful clothes to go to it. He put on long tights of blue wool +and a short jacket of blue velvet. He belted his jacket with a gold +girdle. He had shoes of scarlet with golden clasps. He threw around +himself a cape of scarlet velvet lined with seal fur. His long sword +stuck out from under his cloak. On his head he put a knitted cap of +bright colors. Then he walked to the king's feast hall and went through +the door. It was a great hall, and it was full of richly-dressed men. +The fires shone on so many golden head-bands and bracelets and so many +glittering swords and spears on the wall, and there was so much noise of +talking and laughing, that at first Leif did not know what to do. But at +last he went and sat on the very end seat of the bench near him. + +As the feast went on, King Olaf sat in his high seat and looked about +the hall and noticed this one and that one and spoke across the fire to +many. He was keen-eyed and soon saw Leif in his far seat. + +"Yonder is some man of mark," he said to himself. "He is surely worth +knowing. His face is not the face of a fool. He carries his head like a +lord of men." + +He sent a thrall and asked Leif to come to him. So Leif walked down the +long hall and stood before the king. + +"I am glad to have you for a guest," the king said. "What are your name +and country?" + +"I am Leif Ericsson, and I have come all the way from Greenland to see +you and old Norway." + +"From Greenland!" said the king. "It is not often that I see a +Greenlander. Many come to Norway to trade, but they seldom come to the +king's hall. I shall be glad to hear about your land. Come up and speak +with me." + +So Leif went up the steps of the high seat and sat down by the king and +talked with him. When the feast was over the king said: + +"You shall live at my court this winter, Leif Ericsson. You are a +welcome guest." + +So Leif stayed there that winter. When he started back in the spring, +the king gave him two thralls as a parting gift. + +"Let this gift show my love, Leif Ericsson," he said. "For your sake I +shall not forget Greenland." + +Leif sailed back again and had good luck until he was past Iceland. Then +great winds came out of the north and tossed his ship about so that the +men could do nothing. They were blown south for days and days. They did +not know where they were. Then they saw land, and Leif said: + +"Surely luck has brought us also to a new country. We will go in and see +what kind of a place it is." + +So he steered for it. As they came near, the men said: + +"See the great trees and the soft, green shore. Surely this is a better +country than Greenland or than Iceland either." + +When they landed they threw themselves upon the ground. + +"I never lay on a bed so soft as this grass," one said. + +"Taller trees do not grow in Norway," said another. + +"There is no stone here as in Norway, but only good black dirt," Leif +said. "I never saw so fertile a land before." + +The men were hungry and set about building a fire. + +"There is no lack of fuel here," they said. + +They stayed many days in this country and walked about to see what was +there. A German, named Tyrker, was with Leif. He was a little man with a +high forehead and a short nose. His eyes were big and rolling. He had +lived with Eric for many years, and had taken care of Leif when he was a +little boy. So Leif loved him. + +Now one day they had been wandering about and all came back to camp at +night except Tyrker. When Leif looked around on his comrades, he said: + +"Where is Tyrker?" + +No one knew. Then Leif was angry. + +"Is a man of so little value in this empty land that you would lose +one?" he said. "Why did you not keep together? Did you not see that he +was gone? Why did you not set out to look for him? Who knows what +terrible thing may have happened to him in these great forests?" + +Then he turned and started out to hunt for him. His men followed, +silent and ashamed. They had not gone far when they saw Tyrker running +toward them. He was laughing and talking to himself. Leif ran to him and +put his arms about him with gladness at seeing him. + +[Illustration: "_He pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his +eyes_"] + +"Why are you so late?" he asked. "Where have you been?" + +But Tyrker, still smiling and nodding his head, answered in German. He +pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his eyes. Again Leif asked +his question and put his hand on Tyrker's shoulder as though he would +shake him. Then Tyrker answered in the language of Iceland: + +"I have not been so very far, but I have found something wonderful." + +"What is it?" cried the men. + +"I have found grapes growing wild," answered Tyrker, and he laughed, and +his eyes shone. + +"It cannot be," Leif said. + +Grapes do not grow in Greenland nor in Iceland nor even in Norway. So it +seemed a wonderful thing to these Norsemen. + +"Can I not tell grapes when I see them?" cried Tyrker. "Did I not grow +up in Germany, where every hillside is covered with grapevines? Ah! it +seems like my old home." + +"It is wonderful," Leif said. "I have heard travelers tell of seeing +grapes growing, but I myself never saw it. You shall take us to them +early in the morning, Tyrker." + +So in the morning they went back into the woods and saw the grapes. They +ate of them. + +"They are like food and drink," they cried. + +That day Leif said: + +"We spent most of the summer on the ocean. Winter will soon be coming on +and the sea about Greenland will be frozen. We must start back. I mean +to take some of the things of this land to show to our people at home. +We will fill the rowboat with grapes and tow it behind us. The ship we +will load with logs from these great trees. That will be a welcome +shipload in Greenland, where we have neither trees nor vines. Now half +of you shall gather grapes for the next few days, and the other half +shall cut timber." + +So they did, and after a week sailed off. The ship was full of lumber, +and they towed the rowboat loaded with grapes. As they looked back at +the shore, Leif said: + +"I will call this country Wineland for the grapes that grow there." + +One of the men leaped upon the gunwale and leaned out, clinging to the +sail, and sang: + + "Wineland the good, Wineland the warm, + Wineland the green, the great, the fat. + Our dragon fed and crawls away + With belly stuffed and lazy feet. + How long her purple, trailing tail! + She fed and grew to twice her size." + +Then all the men waved their hands to the shore and gave a great shout +for that good land. + +For all that voyage they had fair weather and sailed into Eric's harbor +before the winter came. Eric saw the ship and ran down to the shore. He +took Leif into his arms and said: + +"Oh, my son, my old eyes ached to see you. I hunger to hear of all that +you have seen and done." + +"Luck has followed me all the way," said Leif. "See what I have brought +home." + +The Greenlanders looked. + +"Lumber! lumber!" they cried. "Oh! it is better stuff than gold." + +Then they saw the grapes and tasted them. + +"Surely you must have plundered Asgard," they said, smacking their lips. + +At the feast that night Eric said: + +"Leif shall sit in the place of honor." + +So Leif sat in the high seat opposite Eric. All men thought him a +handsome and wise man. He told them of the storm and of Wineland. + +"No man would ever need a cloak there. The soil is richer than the soil +of Norway. Grain grows wild, and you yourselves saw the grapes that we +got from there. The forests are without end. The sea is full of fish." + +The Greenlanders listened with open mouths to all this. They turned and +talked to Leif's ship-comrades who were scattered among them. + +Leif noticed two strangers, an old man who sat at Eric's side and a +young woman on the cross-bench. He turned to his brother Thorstein who +sat next to him. + +"Who are these strangers?" he asked. + +"Thorbiorn and his daughter Gudrid," Thorstein answered. "They landed +here this spring. I never saw our father more glad of anything than to +see this Thorbiorn. They were friends before we left Iceland. When they +saw each other again they could not talk enough of old times. In the +spring Eric means to give him a farm up the fiord a way. It seems that +this Thorbiorn comes of a good family that has been rich and great in +Iceland for years. And Thorbiorn himself was rich when our father knew +him, and was much honored by all men. But ill luck came, and he grew +poor. This hurt his pride. 'I will not stay in Iceland and be a beggar,' +he said to himself. 'I will not have men look at me and say, "He is not +what his father was." I will go to my friend Eric the Red in +Greenland.' + +"Then he got ready a great feast and invited all his friends. It was +such a feast as had not been in Iceland for years. Thorbiorn spent on it +all the wealth that he had left. For he said to himself, 'I will not +leave in shame. Men shall remember my last feast.' After that he set out +and came to Greenland. + +"Is not Gudrid beautiful? And she is wise. I mean to marry her, if her +father will permit it." + +Now Leif settled down in Greenland and became a great man there. He was +so busy and he grew so rich that he did not think of going to Wineland +again. But people could not forget his story. Many nights as men sat +about the long fires they talked of that wonderful land and wished to +see it. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +Wineland the Good + + +On an autumn, a year or two after Leif came home, Eric and his men saw +two large ships come to land not far down the shore from the house. + +"They look like trading ships," Eric said. "Let us go down to see them." + +"I will go, too," Gudrid said. "Perhaps they will have rich cloth and +jewelry. It is long since I had my eyes on a new dress." + +So they all went down and found two large trading ships lying in the +water. A great many men were on the shore making a fire. + +"Welcome to Greenland!" called Eric. "What are your names and your +country?" + +Then a fine, big man walked out from among the men and went up to Eric. + +"I am Thorfinn," he said, "a trader. I sailed this summer from Iceland +with forty men and a shipload of goods. On the sea I met this other +ship from Iceland. The master is Biarni. Come and look at my goods." + +So he rowed Eric and Gudrid out and they went aboard his boat. Thorfinn +opened his chests and showed Eric gleaming swords and bracelets and axes +and farm tools. But before Gudrid he spread beautiful cloth and gold +embroidery and golden necklaces. As they looked, he told of doings in +Iceland and asked of Greenland. + +"We never see such things as these in this bare land," Gudrid said, as +she smoothed a beautiful dress of purple velvet. "I envy the women of +Iceland their fair clothes." + +"There is no need of that," Thorfinn said, "for this dress is yours and +anything else from my chests that you like. Here is a necklace that I +beg you to take. It did not have a fairer mistress in Greece where I got +it." + +"You are a very generous trader," Gudrid said. + +Then Thorfinn gave Eric a great sword with a gold-studded scabbard. +After a while he took them to Biarni's ship. He also gave them gifts. +They all talked and laughed much while they were together. + +"You are merry comrades," Eric said. "I ask you both and all your men to +spend the winter at my house. You can put your goods into my +storehouses." + +"By my sword! a generous offer," said Thorfinn. "As for me, I am happy +to come." + +Biarni and all the rest said the same thing. Thorfinn walked to the +house with Eric and Gudrid, while the other men sailed to the ship-sheds +and pulled their boats under them. + +Then Thorfinn saw to the unloading and storing of his goods. + +"Is this Gudrid your daughter?" he asked of Eric one day. + +"She is the widow of my son Thorstein," Eric said. "He died the same +winter that they were married. Her father, too, died not long ago. So +Gudrid lives with me." + +Now all that winter until Yule-time Eric spread a good feast every +night. There was laughter through his house all the time. Often at the +feasts the men cast lots to see whether they might sit on the +cross-bench with the women. Sometimes it was Thorfinn's luck to sit by +Gudrid. Then they talked gaily and drank together. + +At last Yule was coming near. Eric went about the house gloomy then. One +day Thorfinn put his hand on Eric's shoulder and said: + +"Something is troubling you, Eric. We have all noticed that you are not +gay as you used to be. Tell me what is the matter." + +"You have carried yourselves like noble men in my house," Eric answered. +"I am proud to have you for guests. Now I am ashamed that you should not +find a house worthy of you. I am ashamed that when you leave me you will +have to say that you never spent a worse Yule than you did with Eric the +Red in Greenland. For my cupboards are empty." + +"Oh, that is easily mended," Thorfinn said. "No house could feed eighty +men so long and not feel it. I never knew so generous a host before. +But I have flour and grain and mead in my boat. You are welcome to all +of it. You have only to open the doors of your own storehouses. It is a +little gift." + +So Eric used those things, and there was never a merrier Yule feast than +in his house that winter. + +When Yule was over, Thorfinn said to Eric: + +"Gudrid is a beautiful and wise woman. I wish to have her for my wife." + +"You seem to be a man worthy of her," Eric said. + +So that winter Gudrid and Thorfinn were married and lived at Eric's +house. + +One day Thorfinn said to Eric: + +"I have heard much of this wonderful Wineland since I have been here. It +seems to me that it is worth while to go and see more of it." + +"My son Thorstein and I tried it once," said Eric. "It was the year +after Leif came back. We set out with a fair ship and with glad hearts, +but we tossed about all summer on the sea and got nowhere. We were wet +with storm, lean with hunger and illness, and heartsick at our bad +luck." + +"And yet," Thorfinn said, "another time we might have better weather. I +have never seen so fair a land as this seems to be." + +Then he went to Leif and talked long with him. Leif told him in what +direction he had sailed to come home, and how the shores looked that he +had passed. + +"I think I could find my way," Thorfinn said. "My heart moves me to try +this frolic." + +He spoke to Gudrid about it. + +"Oh, yes!" she cried. "Let us go. It is long since I felt a boat leaping +under me. I am tired of sitting still. I want to feel the warm days and +see the soft grass and the high trees and taste the grapes of this +Wineland the Good." + +Then he talked with his men and with Biarni. + +"We are ready," they all said. "We are only waiting for a leader." + +"Then let us go!" cried Thorfinn. + +So in the spring they fitted up their two ships and put into them +provisions and a few cattle. Some of Eric's men also got ready a boat, +so that three ships set sail from Eric's harbor carrying one hundred and +sixty men to Wineland. As they started, Gudrid stood on the deck and +sang: + + "I will feast my eyes on new things-- + On mighty trees and purple grapes, + On beds of flowers and soft grass. + I will sun myself in a warm land." + +They sailed on and past those shores that Leif had spoken of. Whenever +they saw any interesting place they sailed in and looked about and +rested there. + +They had gone far south, past many fair shores with woods on them, when +Gudrid said one day: + +"This is a beautiful bay with a smooth, green field by it, and the great +mountains far back. I should like to stay there for a little while." + +So they sailed in and drew their ships up on shore. They put up the +awnings in them. + +"These shall be our houses," Thorfinn said. + +They were strange-looking houses--shining dragons with gay backs lying +on the yellow sand. Near them the Norsemen lighted fires and cooked +their supper. That night they slept in the ships. In the morning Gudrid +said: + +"I long to see what is back of that mountain." + +So they all climbed it. When they stood on the top they could see far +over the country. + +"There is a lake that we must see," Thorfinn said. + +"I should like to sail around that bay," said Biarni, pointing. + +"I am going to walk up that valley yonder," one of the men said. + +And everyone saw some place where he would like to go. So for all that +summer they camped in that spot and went about the country seeing new +things. They hunted in the woods and caught rabbits and birds and +sometimes bears and deer. Every day some men rowed out to sea and +fished. There was an island in the bay where thousands of birds had +their nests. The men gathered eggs here. + +"We have more to eat than we had in Greenland or Iceland," Thorfinn +said, "and need not work at all. It is all play." + +Near the end of summer Thorfinn spoke to his comrades. + +"Have we not seen everything here? Let us go to a new place. We have not +yet found grapes." + +Thorfinn and Biarni and all their men sailed south again. But some of +Eric's men went off in their boat another way. Years afterward the +Greenlanders heard that they were shipwrecked and made slaves in +Ireland. + +After Thorfinn and Biarni had sailed for many days they landed on a low, +green place. There were hills around it. A little lake was there. + +"What is growing on those hillsides?" Thorfinn said, shading his eyes +with his hand. + +He and some others ran up there. The people on shore heard them shout. +Soon they came running back with their hands full of something. + +"Grapes! Grapes!" they were shouting. + +All those people sat down and ate the grapes and then went to the +hillside and picked more. + +"Now we are indeed in Wineland," they said. "It is as wonderful as +Leif's stories. Surely we must stay here for a long time." + +The very next day they went into the woods and began to cut out lumber. +The huts that they built were little things. They had no windows, and in +the doorways the men hung their cloaks instead of doors. + +"We can be out in the air so much in this warm country," said Gudrid, +"that we do not need fine houses." + +The huts were scattered all about, some on the side of the lake, some at +the shore of the harbor, some on the hillside. Gudrid had said: + +"I want to live by the lake where I can look into the green woods and +hear sweet bird-noises." + +So Thorfinn built his hut there. + +As they sat about the campfire one night, Biarni said: + +"It is strange that so good a land should be empty. I suppose that +these are the first houses that were ever built in Wineland. It is +wonderful to think that we are alone here in this great land." + +All that winter no snow fell. The cattle pastured on the grass. + +"To think of the cold, frozen winters in Greenland!" Gudrid said. "Oh! +this is the sun's own land." + +In the beginning of that winter a little son was born to Gudrid and +Thorfinn. + +"A health to the first Winelander!" the men shouted and drank down their +wine; for they had made some from Wineland grapes. + +"Will he be the father of a great country, as Ingolf was?" Biarni mused. + +Gudrid looked at her baby and smiled. + +"You will be as sunny as this good land, I hope," she said. + +They named him Snorri. He grew fast and soon crept along the yellow +sand, and toddled among the grapevines, and climbed into the boats and +learned to talk. The men called him the "Wineland king." + +"I never knew a baby before," one of the men said. + +"No," said another. "Swords are jealous. But when they are in their +scabbards, we can do other things, even play with babies." + +"I wonder whether I have forgotten how to swing my sword in this quiet +land," another man said. + +One spring morning when the men got up and went out from their huts to +the fires to cook they saw a great many canoes in the harbor. Men were +in them paddling toward shore. + +"What is this?" cried the Norsemen to one another. "Where did they come +from? Are they foes? Who ever saw such boats before? The men's faces are +brown." + +"Let every man have his sword ready," cried Thorfinn. "But do not draw +until I command. Let us go to meet them." + +So they went and stood on the shore. Soon the men from the canoes landed +and stood looking at the Norsemen. The strangers' skin was brown. Their +faces were broad. Their hair was black. Their bodies were short. They +wore leather clothes. One man among them seemed to be chief. He spread +out his open hands to the Norsemen. + +"He is showing us that he has no weapons," Biarni said. "He comes in +peace." + +Then Thorfinn showed his empty hands and asked: + +"What do you want?" + +The stranger said something, but the Norsemen could not understand. It +was some new language. Then the chief pointed to one of the huts and +walked toward it. He and his men walked all around it and felt of the +timber and went into it and looked at all the things there--spades and +cloaks and drinking-horns. As they looked they talked together. They +went to all the other huts and looked at everything there. One of them +found a red cloak. He spread it out and showed it to the others. They +all stood about it and looked at it and felt of it and talked fast. + +"They seem to like my cloak," Biarni said. + +One of the strangers went down to their canoes and soon came back with +an armload of furs--fox-skins, otter-skins, beaver-skins. The chief took +some and held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the cloak to him. + +[Illustration: "_The chief held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the +cloak to him_"] + +"He wants to trade," Thorfinn said. "Will you do it, Biarni?" + +"Yes," Biarni answered, and took the furs. + +"If they want red stuff, I have a whole roll of red cloth that I will +trade," one of the other men said. + +He went and got it. When the strangers saw it they quickly held out more +furs and seemed eager to trade. So Thorfinn cut the cloth into pieces +and sold every scrap. When the strangers got it they tied it about their +heads and seemed much pleased. + +While this trading was going on and everybody was good-natured, a bull +of Thorfinn's ran out of the woods bellowing and came towards the crowd. +When the strangers heard it and saw it they threw down whatever was in +their hands and ran to their canoes and paddled off as fast as they +could. + +The Norsemen laughed. + +"We have lost our customers," Biarni said. + +"Did they never see a bull before?" laughed one of the men. + +Now after three weeks the Norsemen saw canoes in the bay again. This +time it was black with them, there were so many. The people in them were +all making a horrible shout. + +"It is a war-cry," Thorfinn said, and he raised a red shield. "They are +surely twenty to our one, but we must fight. Stand in close line and +give them a taste of your swords." + +Even as he spoke a great shower of stones fell upon them. Some of the +Norsemen were hit on the head and knocked down. Biarni got a broken arm. +Still the storm came fast. The strangers had landed and were running +toward the Norsemen. They threw their stones with sling-shots, and they +yelled all the time. + +"Oh, this is no kind of fighting for brave men!" Thorfinn cried angrily. + +The Norsemen's swords swung fast, and many of the strangers died under +them, but still others came on, throwing stones and swinging stone axes. +The horrible yelling and the strange things that the savages did +frightened the Norsemen. + +"These are not men," some one cried. + +Then those Norsemen who had never been afraid of anything turned and +ran. But when they came to the top of a rough hill Thorfinn cried: + +"What are we doing? Shall we die here in this empty land with no one to +bury us? We are leaving our women." + +Then one of the women ran out of the hut where they were hiding. + +"Give me a sword!" she cried. "I can drive them back. Are Norsemen not +better than these savages?" + +Then those warriors stopped, ashamed, and stood up before the wild men +and fought so fiercely that the strangers turned and fled down to their +canoes and paddled away. + +"Oh, I am glad they are gone!" Thorfinn said. "It was an ugly fight." + +"Thor would not have loved that battle," one said. + +"It was no battle," another replied. "It was like fighting against an +army of poisonous flies." + +The Norsemen were all worn and bleeding and sore. They went to their +huts and dressed their wounds, and the women helped them. At supper that +night they talked about the fight for a long time. + +"I will not stay here," Gudrid said. "Perhaps these wild men have gone +away to get more people and will come back and kill us. Oh! they are +ugly." + +"Perhaps brown faces are looking at us now from behind the trees in the +woods back there," said Biarni. + +It was the wish of all to go home. So after a few days they sailed back +to Greenland with good weather all the way. The people at Eric's house +were very glad to see them. + +"We were afraid you had died," they said. + +"And I thought once that we should never leave Wineland alive," Thorfinn +answered. + +Then they told all the story. + +"I wonder why I had no such bad luck," Leif said. "But you have a better +shipload than I got." + +He was looking at the bundles of furs and the kegs of wine. + +"Yes," said Thorfinn, "we have come back richer than when we left. But I +will never go again for all the skins in the woods." + +The next summer Thorfinn took Gudrid and Snorri and all his people and +sailed back to Iceland, his home. There he lived until he died. People +looked at him in wonder. + +"That is the man who went to Wineland and fought with wild men," they +said. "Snorri is his son. He is the first and last Winelander, for no +one will ever go there again. It will be an empty and forgotten land." + +And so it was for a long time. Some wise men wrote down the story of +those voyages and of that land, and people read the tale and liked it, +but no one remembered where the place was. It all seemed like a fairy +tale. Long afterwards, however, men began to read those stories with +wide-open eyes and to wonder. They guessed and talked together, and +studied this and that land, and read the story over and over. At last +they have learned that Wineland was in America, on the eastern shore of +the United States, and they have called Snorri the first American, and +have put up statues of Leif Ericsson, the first comer to America.[15] + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[15] See note about Eskimos on page 199. + + + + +Descriptive Notes + + +_House._ In a rich Norseman's home were many buildings. The finest and +largest was the great feast hall. Next were the bower, where the women +worked, and the guest house, where visitors slept. Besides these were +storehouses, stables, work-shops, a kitchen, a sleeping-house for +thralls. All these buildings were made of heavy, hewn logs, covered with +tar to fill the cracks and to keep the wood from rotting. The ends of +the logs, the door-posts, the peaks of gables, were carved into shapes +of men and animals and were painted with bright colors. These gay +buildings were close together, often set around the four sides of a +square yard. That yard was a busy and pleasant place, with men and women +running across from one bright building to another. Sometimes a high +fence with one gate went around all this, and only the tall, carved +peaks of roofs showed from the outside. + +_Names._ An old Norse story says: "Most men had two names in one, and +thought it likeliest to lead to long life and good luck to have double +names." To be called after a god was very lucky. Here are some of those +double names with their meanings: "Thorstein" means Thor's stone; +"Thorkel" means Thor's fire; "Thorbiorn" means Thor's bear; "Gudbrand" +means Gunnr's sword (Gunnr was one of the Valkyrias[16]); "Gunnbiorn" +means Gunnr's bear; "Gudrid" means Gunnr's rider; "Gudrod" means +Gunnr's land-clearer. (Most of the land in old Norway was covered with +forests. When a man got new land he had to clear off the trees.) In +those olden days a man did not have a surname that belonged to everyone +in his family. Sometimes there were two or three men of the same name in +a neighborhood. That caused trouble. People thought of two ways of +making it easy to tell which man was being spoken of. Each was given a +nickname. Suppose the name of each was Haki. One would be called Haki +the Black because he had black hair. The other would be called Haki the +Ship-chested because his chest was broad and strong. These nicknames +were often given only for the fun of it. Most men had them,--Eric the +Red, Leif the Lucky, Harald Hairfair, Rolf Go-afoot. The other way of +knowing one Haki from the other was to tell his father's name. One was +Haki, Eric's son. The other was Haki, Halfdan's son. If you speak these +names quickly, they sound like Haki Ericsson and Haki Halfdansson. After +a while they were written like that, and men handed them on to their +sons and daughters. Some names that we have nowadays have come down to +us in just that way--Swanson, Anderson, Peterson, Jansen. There was +another reason for these last names: a man was proud to have people know +who his father was. + +_Drinking-horns._ The Norsemen had few cups or goblets. They used +instead the horns of cattle, polished and trimmed with gold or silver or +bronze. They were often very beautiful, and a man was almost as proud +of his drinking-horn as of his sword. + +_Tables._ Before a meal thralls brought trestles into the feast hall and +set them before the benches. Then they laid long boards across from +trestle to trestle. These narrow tables stretched all along both sides +of the hall. People sat at the outside edge only. So the thralls served +from the middle of the room. They put baskets of bread and wooden +platters of meat upon these bare boards. At the end of the meal they +carried out tables and all, and the drinking-horns went round in a clean +room. + +_Beds._ Around the sides of the feast hall were shut-beds. They were +like big boxes with doors opening into the hall. On the floor of this +box was straw with blankets thrown over it. The people got into these +beds and closed the doors and so shut themselves in. Olaf's men could +have set heavy things against these doors or have put props against +them. Then the people could not have got out; for on the other side of +the bed was the thick outside wall of the feast hall, and there were no +windows in it. + +_Feast Hall._ The feast hall was long and narrow, with a door at each +end. Down the middle of the room were flat stones in the dirt floor. +Here the fires burned. In the roof above these fires were holes for the +smoke to go out, but some of it blew about the hall, and the walls and +rafters were stained with it. But it was pleasant wood smoke, and the +Norsemen did not dislike it. There were no large windows in a feast hall +or in any other Norse building. High up under the eaves or in the roof +itself were narrow slits that were called wind's-eyes. There was no +glass in them, for the Norsemen did not know how to make it; but there +were, instead, covers made of thin, oiled skin. These were put into the +wind's-eyes in stormy weather. There were covers, too, for the +smoke-holes. The only light came through these narrow holes, so on dark +days the people needed the fire as much for light as for warmth. + +_Foster-father._ A Norse father sent his children away from home to grow +up. They went when they were three or four years old and stayed until +they were grown. The father thought: "They will be better so. If they +stayed at home, their mother would spoil them with much petting." + +_Foster-brothers._ When two men loved each other very much they said, +"Let us become foster-brothers." + +Then they went and cut three long pieces of turf and put a spear into +the ground so that it held up the strips of turf like an arch. Runes +were cut on the handle of the spear, telling the duties of +foster-brothers. The two men walked under this arch, and each made a +little cut in his palm. They knelt and clasped hands, so that the blood +of the two flowed together, and they said, "Now we are of one blood." + +Then each made this vow: "I will fight for my foster-brother whenever he +shall need me. If he is killed before I am, I will punish the man who +did it. Whatever things I own are as much my foster-brother's as mine. I +will love this man until I die. I call Odin and Thor and all the gods to +hear my vow. May they hate me if I break it!" + +_Ran._ Ran was the wife of Aegir, who was god of the sea. They lived in +a cave at the bottom of the ocean. Ran had a great net, and she caught +in it all men who were shipwrecked and took them to her cave. She also +caught all the gold and rich treasures that went down in ships. So her +cave was filled with shining things. + +_Valkyrias._ These were the maidens of Odin. They waited on the table in +Valhalla. But whenever a battle was being fought they rode through the +air on their horses and watched to see what warriors were brave enough +to go to Valhalla. Sometimes during the fight a man would think that he +saw the Valkyrias. Then he was glad; for he knew that he would go to +Valhalla. + +An old Norse story says this about the Valkyrias: "With lightning around +them, with bloody shirts of mail, and with shining spears they ride +through the air and the ocean. When their horses shake their manes, dew +falls on the deep valleys and hail on the high forests." + +_Odin's Ravens._ Odin had a great throne in his palace in Asgard. When +he sat in it he could look all over the world. But it was so far to see +that he could not tell all of the things that were happening. So he had +two ravens to help him. An old Norse story tells this about them: "Two +ravens sit on Odin's shoulders and whisper in his ears all that they +have heard and seen. He sends them out at dawn of day to see over the +whole world. They return at evening near meal time. This is why Odin +knows so many things." + +_Reykjavik._ Reykjavik means "smoky sea." Ingolf called it that because +of the steaming hot-springs by the sea. The place is still called +Reykjavik. A little city has grown up there, the only city in Iceland. +It is the capital of the country. + +_Peace-bands._ A Norseman always carried his sword, even at a feast; for +he did not know when he might need it. But when he went somewhere on an +errand of peace and had no quarrel he tied his sword into its scabbard +with white bands that he called peace-bands. If all at once something +happened to make him need his sword, he broke the peace-bands and drew +it out. + +_Eskimos._ Now, the Eskimos live in Greenland and Alaska and on the very +northern shores of Canada. But once they lived farther south in +pleasanter lands. After a while the other Indian tribes began to grow +strong. Then they wanted the pleasant land of the Eskimos and the +seashore that the Eskimos had. So they fought again and again with those +people and won and drove them farther north and farther north. At last +the Eskimos were on the very shores of the cold sea, with the Indians +still pushing them on. So some of them got into their boats and rowed +across the narrow water and came to Greenland and lived there. Some +people think that these things happened before Eric found Greenland. In +that case he found Eskimos there; and Thorfinn saw red Indians in +Wineland. Other people think that this happened after Eric went to +Greenland. If that is true, he found an empty land, and it was Eskimos +that Thorfinn saw in Wineland. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[16] See note about Valkyrias on page 198. + + + + +Suggestions _to_ Teachers + + +Possibly this book seems made up of four or five disconnected stories. +They are, however, strung upon one thread,--the westward emigration from +Norway. The story of Harald is intended to serve in two ways towards the +working out of this plot. It gives the general setting that continues +throughout the book in costume, houses, ideals, habits. It explains the +cause of the emigration from the mother country. It is really an +introductory chapter. As for the other stories, they are distinctly +steps in the progress of the plot. A chain of islands loosely connects +Norway with America,--Orkneys and Shetlands, Faroes, Iceland, Greenland. +It was from link to link of this chain that the Norsemen sailed in +search of home and adventure. Discoveries were made by accident. Ships +were driven by the wind from known island to unknown. These two +points,--the island connection that made possible the long voyage from +Norway to America, and the contribution of storm to discovery,--I have +stated in the book only dramatically. I emphasize them here, hoping that +the teacher will make sure that the children see them, and possibly that +they state them abstractly. + +Let me speak as to the proper imaging of the stories. I have not often +interrupted incident with special description, not because I do not +consider the getting of vivid and detailed images most necessary to full +enjoyment and to proper intellectual habits, but because I trusted to +the pictures of this book and to the teacher to do what seemed to me +inartistic to do in the story. Some of these descriptions and +explanations I have introduced into the book in the form of notes, +hoping that the children in turning to them might form a habit of +insisting upon full understanding of a point, and might possibly, with +the teacher's encouragement, begin the habit of reference reading. + +The landscape of Norway, Iceland, and Greenland is wonderful and will +greatly assist in giving reality and definiteness to the stories. +Materials for this study are not difficult of access. Foreign colored +photographs of Norwegian landscape are becoming common in our art +stores. There are good illustrations in the geographical works referred +to in the book list. These could be copied upon the blackboard. There +are three books beautifully illustrated in color that it will be +possible to find only in large libraries,--"Coast of Norway," by Walton; +"Travels in the Island of Iceland," by Mackenzie; "Voyage en Islande et +au Grenland," by J. P. Gaimard. If the landscape is studied from the +point of view of formation, the images will be more accurate and more +easily gained, and the study will have a general value that will +continue past the reading of these stories into all work in geography. + +Trustworthy pictures of Norse houses and costumes are difficult to +obtain. In "Viking Age" and "Story of Norway," by Boyesen (G. P. +Putnam's Sons, New York), are many copies of Norse antiquities in the +fashion of weapons, shield-bosses, coins, jewelry, wood-carving. These +are, of course, accurate, but of little interest to children. Their +chief value lies in helping the teacher to piece together a picture that +she can finally give to her pupils. + +Metal-working and wood-carving were the most important arts of the +Norse. If children study products of these arts and actually do some of +the work, they will gain a quickened sympathy with the people and an +appreciation of their power. They may, perhaps, make something to merely +illustrate Norse work; for instance, a carved ship's-head, or a copper +shield, or a wrought door-nail. But, better, they may apply Norse ideas +of form and decoration and Norse processes in making some modern thing +that they can actually use; for instance, a carved wood pin-tray or a +copper match holder. This work should lead out into a study of these +same industries among ourselves with visits to wood-working shops and +metal foundries. + +Frequent drawn or painted illustration by the children of costumes, +landscapes, houses, feast halls, and ships will help to make these +images clear. But dramatization will do more than anything else for the +interpreting of the stories and the characters. It would be an excellent +thing if at last, through the dramatization and the handwork, the +children should come into sufficient understanding and enthusiasm to +turn skalds and compose songs in the Norse manner. This requires only a +small vocabulary and a rough feeling for simple rhythm, but an intensity +of emotion and a great vividness of image. + +These Norse stories have, to my thinking, three values. The men, with +the crude courage and the strange adventures that make a man interesting +to children, have at the same time the love of truth, the hardy +endurance, the faithfulness to plighted word, that make them a child's +fit companions. Again, in form and in matter old Norse literature is +well worth our reading. I should deem it a great thing accomplished if +the children who read these stories should so be tempted after a while +to read those fine old books, to enjoy the tales, to appreciate +straightforwardness and simplicity of style. The historical value of the +story of Leif Ericsson and the others seems to me to be not to learn the +fact that Norsemen discovered America before Columbus did, but to gain a +conception of the conditions of early navigation, of the length of the +voyage, of the dangers of the sea, and a consequent realization of the +reason for the fact that America was unknown to medival Europe, of why +the Norsemen did not travel, of what was necessary to be done before men +should strike out across the ocean. Norse story is only one chapter in +that tale of American discovery. I give below an outline of a year's +work on the subject that was once followed by the fourth grade of the +Chicago Normal School. The idea in it is to give importance, sequence, +reasonableness, broad connections, to the discovery of America. + +The head of the history department who planned this course says it is +"in a sense a dramatization of the development of geographical +knowledge." + +Following is a bare topical outline of the work: + + Evolution of the forms of boats. + Viking tales. + A crusade as a tale of travel and discovery. + Monasteries as centers of work. + Printing. + Story of Marco Polo. + Columbus' discovery. + Story of Vasco da Gama. + Story of Magellan. + +[Decoration] + + + + +A Reading List + + +GEOGRAPHY + +NORWAY: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants," Reclus. _D. Appleton & Co., New +York._ + +ICELAND: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants," "Iceland," Baring-Gould. +_Smith, Elder & Co., London, 1863._ + + "Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes." _Harper Bros., New York._ + + "An American in Iceland," Kneeland. _Lockwood, Brooke & Co., Boston, + 1876._ + +GREENLAND: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants," Reclus. _D. Appleton & Co., +New York._ + + "Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes." _Harper Bros., New York._ + + +CUSTOMS + +"Viking Age," Du Chaillu. _Charles Scribner's Sons, 1889._ + +"Private Life of the Old Northmen," Keyser; translated by Barnard. +_Chapman & Hall, London, 1868._ + +"Saga Time," Vicary. _Kegan Paul, Trench, Trbner & Co., London._ + +"Story of Burnt Njal" (Introduction), Dasent. _Edmonston & Douglas, +Edinburgh, 1861._ + +"Vikings of the Baltic, a romance;" Dasent. _Edmonston & Douglas, +Edinburgh._ + +"Ivar the Viking, a romance;" Du Chaillu. _Charles Scribner's Sons, New +York._ + +"Viking Path, a romance;" Haldane Burgess. _Wm. Blackwood & Sons, +Edinburgh, 1894._ + +"Northern Antiquities," Percy, edited by Blackwell. _Bohn, London, +1859._ + +Also the Sagas named on page 206. + + +MYTHOLOGY + +The Prose Edda, "Northern Antiquities," Percy, edited by Blackwell. +_Bohn, London, 1859._ + +"Norse Mythology," Anderson. _Scott, Foresman & Co., Chicago, 1876._ + +"Norse Stories," Mabie. _Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago, 1902._ + +"Northern Mythology," Thorpe. _Lumley, London, 1851._ + +"Classic Myths," Judd. _Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago, 1902._ + + +INCIDENTS + +HARALD: Saga of Harald Hairfair, in "Saga Library," Magnusson and +Morris, Vol. I. _Bernard Quaritch, London; Charles Scribner's Sons, New +York, 1892._ + +INGOLF: "Norsemen in Iceland," Dasent in Oxford Essays, Vol. IV. _Parker +& Son, London, 1858._ + + "Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes." _Harper Bros., New York._ + + "A Winter in Iceland and Lapland," Dillon. _Henry Colburn, London, + 1840._ + +ERIC, LEIF, AND THORFINN: "The Finding of Wineland the Good," Reeves. +_Henry Froude, 1890._ + + "America Not Discovered by Columbus." Anderson. _Scott, Foresman & + Co., Chicago, 1891._ + + +CREDIBILITY OF STORY + +Winsor's "Narrative and Critical History of America," Vol. I. _C. A. +Nichols Co., Springfield, Mass., 1895._ + +"Discovery of America," Fiske, Vol. I. _Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, +1892._ + + +OTHER SAGAS EASILY ACCESSIBLE + +"Saga Library," 5 vols.; Morris and Magnusson. _Bernard Quaritch, +London; Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1892._ As follows: + + "The Story of Howard the Halt," "The Story of the Banded Men," "The + Story of Hen Thorir." Done into English out of Icelandic by William + Morris and Eirikr Magnusson. + + "The Story of the Ere-dwellers," with "The Story of the + Heath-slayings" as Appendix. Done into English out of the Icelandic + by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson. + + "The Stories of the Kings of Norway, called the Round World" + (Heimskringla). By Snorri Sturluson. Done into English by William + Morris and Eirikr Magnusson. With a large map of Norway. In three + volumes. + +"Gisli the Outlaw," Dasent. _Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh._ + +"Orkneyinga Saga," Anderson. _Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh._ + +"Volsunga Saga," Morris and Magnusson. _Walter Scott, London._ + +"The Younger Edda," Anderson. _Scott, Foresman & Co., Chicago, 1880._ + +(A full bibliography of the Sagas may be found in "Volsunga Saga.") + +[Decoration] + + + + +A Pronouncing Index + + +(_This index and guide to pronunciation which are given to indicate the +pronunciation of the more difficult words, are based upon the 1918 +edition of Webster's New International Dictionary._) + + Aegir ([=e] j[)i]r) + _[.A]_r[=a] b[)i] _[.a]_ + rn v[)i]d + [)A]s grd + [A:]ud b[)i] rn + [A:]u d[)u]n + + B[)i] r n[)i] + + Eric ([=e] r[)i]k) + Ericsson ([)e]r [)i]k s_[)u]_n) + Eyjolf ([=i] y[+o]lf) + + Faroes (f[=a] r[=o]z) + fiord (fyrd) + Fl[=o] k[)i] + + Gr[)i]m + G[)u]d brnd + G[)u]d r[)i]d + G[)u]d r[=o]d + G[)u]n_n_ b[)i] rn + G[u:] t_h_rm + Gyda (g[=e] d[+a]) + + H k[)i] + H k[+o]n + Hlf d[)a]n + H[)a]r [)a]ld + H vrd + H[)e]l + H[)e]l g[+a] + H[~e]r st_e_[=i]n + Holmstein (h[=o]lm st[=i]n) + + [)I]n glf + [=I] vr + + Leif (l[+i]f) + + Niflheim (n[+e]v 'l h[=a]m) + + [=O] d[)i]n + [=O] lf + Orkneys (rk n[)i]z) + + Rn + Reykjavik (r[=a] ky_[.a]_ v[=e]k) + Rlf + + Sh[)e]t l_[)a]_nds + Sif (s[=e]f) + Sighvat (s[)i]g v[)a]t) + Snorri (sn[)o]r r[+e]) + Sl f[)i] + + Thor (thr) + T_h_r b[)i] rn + T_h_r f[)i]nn + T_h_r g[)e]st + T_h_r h[)i]ld + T_h_r k[)e]l + T_h_r l_e_[=i]f + T_h_r lf + T_h_r st_e_[=i]n + Tyrker (t[~e]r k[~e]r) + + V[)a]l h[)a]l _l[.a]_ + Valkyria (v[)a]l k[)i]r y_[.a]_) + V[=i] k[)i]ng + + +A GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION + + [=a] as in [=a]le + [)a] as in [)a]dd + _[)a]_ as in fin_[)a]_l + [.a] as in [.a]sk + _[.a]_ as in sof_[.a]_ + as in rm + [a:] as in [a:]ll + + [=e] as in [=e]ve + [+e] as in [+e]vent + [)e] as in [)e]nd + [~e] as in h[~e]r + + [=i] as in [=i]ce + [)i] as in [)i]t + + [=o] as in [=o]ld + [+o] as in [+o]bey + [)o] as in [)o]dd + as in lrd + + [)u] as in [)u]p + _[)u]_ as in circ_[)u]_s + [u:] as in r[u:]de + + [=y] as in fl[=y] + +Silent letters are italicized. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Viking Tales, by Jennie Hall + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIKING TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 24811-8.txt or 24811-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/8/1/24811/ + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Viking Tales + +Author: Jennie Hall + +Illustrator: Victor R. Lambdin + +Release Date: March 12, 2008 [EBook #24811] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIKING TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>VIKING TALES</h1> + +<hr /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/001.png" width="150" height="75" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 604px;"><a name="Frontispiece" id="Frontispiece"></a> +<img src="images/002.png" style="border: solid 2px;" width="600" height="382" alt="" title="" /> +A map showing the journeys of the Vikings</div> + +<hr /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 306px;" title="VIKING TALES +by +JENNIE HALL +The Francis W. Parker School +Chicago + +ILLUSTRATED +by +VICTOR R. +LAMBDIN + +RAND McNALLY & CO + +Chicago New York +London"> +<img src="images/003.png" width="306" height="500" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p class="hd1"><i>Copyright, 1902,</i><br /> +By <span class="smcap">Jennie Hall</span></p> + +<div class="figdeco"> +<img src="images/004.png" width="100" height="93" alt="" title="" /> +<p class="hd1">Made in U.S.A.</p></div> + +<div class="trans1"><b>Transcriber's Note:</b><br /> +Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. In the +<i><a href="#Page_207">Pronouncing Index</a></i> the up tack diacritical mark over a vowel is +represented by [+a], [+e], [+i] and [+o].</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/005.png" width="350" height="62" alt="The Table of Contents" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1"><i>A List of the Illustrations</i></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_8">8</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1"><i>What the Sagas Were</i></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Part I.</span><br /><i>IN NORWAY</i></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">The Baby</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">The Tooth Thrall</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Olaf's Farm</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Olaf's Fight with Havard</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Foes'-fear</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Harald is King</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Harald's Battle</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Gyda's Saucy Message</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">The Sea Fight</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">King Harald's Wedding</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">King Harald Goes West-Over-Seas</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Part II.</span><br /><i>WEST-OVER-SEAS</i></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Homes in Iceland</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Eric the Red</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Leif and His New Land</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Wineland the Good</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1" colspan="2"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1"><i>Descriptive Notes</i></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1"><i>Suggestions to Teachers</i></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_200">200</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1"><i>A Reading List</i></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1"><i>A Pronouncing Index</i></td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_207">207</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/006.png" width="350" height="65" alt="A List of the Illustrations" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td class="td2" colspan="2"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">A map showing the journeys of the Vikings</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"I own this baby for my son. He shall be called Harald"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from his belt"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"I struck my shield against the door so that it made a great clanging"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"He drove it into the wolf's neck"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"I vow that I will grind my father's foes under my heel"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"King Haki fell dead under 'Foes'-fear'"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"I will not be his wife unless he puts all of Norway under him for my sake"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"I, Harald, King of Norway, take you, Gyda, for my wife"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"In Norway they left burning houses and weeping women"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven afar off"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"Those Icelanders clapped them on the shoulders"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"He looked straight ahead of him and scowled"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_145">145</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"More than half the men in the hall jumped to their feet"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"He pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his eyes"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td5">"The chief held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the cloak to him"</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/007.png" width="350" height="64" alt="What the Sagas Were" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Iceland</span> is a little country far north +in the cold sea. Men found it and +went there to live more than a thousand +years ago. During the warm season they +used to fish and make fish-oil and hunt +sea-birds and gather feathers and tend +their sheep and make hay. But the winters +were long and dark and cold. Men +and women and children stayed in the +house and carded and spun and wove +and knit. A whole family sat for hours +around the fire in the middle of the room. +That fire gave the only light. Shadows +flitted in the dark corners. Smoke curled +along the high beams in the ceiling. +The children sat on the dirt floor close +by the fire. The grown people were on a +long narrow bench that they had pulled +up to the light and warmth. Everybody's +hands were busy with wool. The work +left their minds free to think and their +lips to talk. What was there to talk +about? The summer's fishing, the killing +of a fox, a voyage to Norway. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +the people grew tired of this little gossip. +Fathers looked at their children +and thought:</p> + +<p>"They are not learning much. What +will make them brave and wise? What will +teach them to love their country and old +Norway? Will not the stories of battles, +of brave deeds, of mighty men, do this?"</p> + +<p>So, as the family worked in the red +fire-light, the father told of the kings of +Norway, of long voyages to strange lands, +of good fights. And in farmhouses all +through Iceland these old tales were told +over and over until everybody knew them +and loved them. Some men could sing +and play the harp. This made the stories +all the more interesting. People called +such men "skalds," and they called their +songs "sagas."</p> + +<p>Every midsummer there was a great +meeting. Men from all over Iceland +came to it and made laws. During the +day there were rest times, when no business +was going on. Then some skald +would take his harp and walk to a large +stone or a knoll and stand on it and begin +a song of some brave deed of an old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +Norse hero. At the first sound of the +harp and the voice, men came running +from all directions, crying out:</p> + +<p>"The skald! The skald! A saga!"</p> + +<p>They stood about for hours and listened. +They shouted applause. When +the skald was tired, some other man +would come up from the crowd and sing +or tell a story. As the skald stepped +down from his high position, some rich +man would rush up to him and say:</p> + +<p>"Come and spend next winter at my +house. Our ears are thirsty for song."</p> + +<p>So the best skalds traveled much and +visited many people. Their songs made +them welcome everywhere. They were +always honored with good seats at a feast. +They were given many rich gifts. Even +the King of Norway would sometimes +send across the water to Iceland, saying +to some famous skald:</p> + +<p>"Come and visit me. You shall not go +away empty-handed. Men say that the +sweetest songs are in Iceland. I wish to +hear them."</p> + +<p>These tales were not written. Few +men wrote or read in those days. Skalds<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +learned songs from hearing them sung. +At last people began to write more easily. +Then they said:</p> + +<p>"These stories are very precious. We +must write them down to save them +from being forgotten."</p> + +<p>After that many men in Iceland spent +their winters in writing books. They +wrote on sheepskin; vellum, we call it. +Many of these old vellum books have +been saved for hundreds of years, and +are now in museums in Norway. Some +leaves are lost, some are torn, all are +yellow and crumpled. But they are precious. +They tell us all that we know +about that olden time. There are the +very words that the men of Iceland wrote +so long ago—stories of kings and of battles +and of ship-sailing. Some of those +old stories I have told in this book.</p> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> +<h2 class="hd2"><i>PART I</i></h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/008.png" width="200" height="202" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2 class="hd2"><i>IN</i> NORWAY</h2> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/001.png" width="150" height="75" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/009.png" width="350" height="90" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>The Baby</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">King Halfdan</span> lived in Norway +long ago. One morning his queen +said to him:</p> + +<p>"I had a strange dream last night. +I thought that I stood in the grass before +my bower.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> I pulled a thorn from my +dress. As I held it in my fingers, it grew +into a tall tree. The trunk was thick +and red as blood, but the lower limbs +were fair and green, and the highest ones +were white. I thought that the branches +of this great tree spread so far that they +covered all Norway and even more."</p> + +<p>"A strange dream," said King Halfdan. +"Dreams are the messengers of the +gods. I wonder what they would tell +us," and he stroked his beard in thought.</p> + +<p>Some time after that a serving-woman +came into the feast hall where King +Halfdan was. She carried a little white +bundle in her arms.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My lord," she said, "a little son is +just born to you."</p> + +<p>"Ha!" cried the king, and he jumped +up from the high seat and hastened forward +until he stood before the woman.</p> + +<p>"Show him to me!" he shouted, and +there was joy in his voice.</p> + +<p>The serving-woman put down her bundle +on the ground and turned back the +cloth. There was a little naked baby. +The king looked at it carefully.</p> + +<p>"It is a goodly youngster," he said, and +smiled. "Bring Ivar and Thorstein."<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>They were captains of the king's soldiers. +Soon they came.</p> + +<p>"Stand as witnesses," Halfdan said.</p> + +<p>Then he lifted the baby in his arms, +while the old serving-woman brought a +silver bowl of water. The king dipped +his hand into it and sprinkled the baby, +saying:</p> + +<p>"I own this baby for my son. He +shall be called Harald. My naming gift +to him is ten pounds of gold."</p> + +<p>Then the woman carried the baby +back to the queen's room.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +<img src="images/010.png" width="550" height="343" alt="" title="" /> +"I own this baby for my son. He shall be called Harald"</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>"My lord owns him for his son," she +said. "And no wonder! He is perfect +in every limb."</p> + +<p>The queen looked at him and smiled +and remembered her dream and thought:</p> + +<p>"That great tree! Can it be this little +baby of mine?"</p> + +<div class="figdeco"> +<img src="images/011.png" width="100" height="100" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> See note about <a href="#House">house</a> on page <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Names">names</a> on page <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/012.png" width="350" height="85" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>The Tooth Thrall</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">When</span> Harald was seven months old +he cut his first tooth. Then his +father said:</p> + +<p>"All the young of my herds, lambs +and calves and colts, that have been born +since this baby was born I this day give +to him. I also give to him this thrall, +Olaf. These are my tooth-gifts to my +son."</p> + +<p>The boy grew fast, for as soon as he +could walk about he was out of doors +most of the time. He ran in the woods +and climbed the hills and waded in the +creek. He was much with his tooth +thrall, for the king had said to Olaf:</p> + +<p>"Be ever at his call."</p> + +<p>Now this Olaf was full of stories, and +Harald liked to hear them.</p> + +<p>"Come out to Aegir's Rock, Olaf, and +tell me stories," he said almost every day.</p> + +<p>So they started off across the hills. +The man wore a long, loose coat of white<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +wool, belted at the waist with a strap. +He had on coarse shoes and leather leggings. +Around his neck was an iron +collar welded together so that it could +not come off. On it were strange marks, +called runes, that said:</p> + +<p>"Olaf, thrall of Halfdan."</p> + +<p>But Harald's clothes were gay. A cape +of gray velvet hung from his shoulders. +It was fastened over his breast with great +gold buckles. When it waved in the +wind, a scarlet lining flashed out, and the +bottom of a little scarlet jacket showed. +His feet and legs were covered with +gray woolen tights. Gold lacings wound +around his legs from his shoes to his +knees. A band of gold held down his +long, yellow hair.</p> + +<p>It was a wild country that these +two were walking over. They were +climbing steep, rough hills. Some of +them seemed made all of rock, with a +little earth lying in spots. Great rocks +hung out from them, with trees growing +in their cracks. Some big pieces +had broken off and rolled down the +hill.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thor broke them," Olaf said. "He +rides through the sky and hurls his +hammer at clouds and at mountains. +That makes the thunder and the lightning +and cracks the hills. His hammer +never misses its aim, and it always +comes back to his hand and is eager +to go again."</p> + +<p>When they reached the top of the hill +they looked back. Far below was a soft, +green valley. In front of it the sea came +up into the land and made a fiord. On +each side of the fiord high walls of rock +stood up and made the water black with +shadow. All around the valley were high +hills with dark pines on them. Far off +were the mountains. In the valley were +Halfdan's houses around their square +yard.</p> + +<p>"How little our houses look down +there!" Harald said. "But I can almost—yes, +I can see the red dragon on the +roof of the feast hall. Do you remember +when I climbed up and sat on his head, +Olaf?"</p> + +<p>He laughed and kicked his heels and +ran on.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 343px;"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a> +<img src="images/013.png" width="343" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from his belt"</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>At last they came to Aegir's Rock and +walked up on its flat top. Harald went +to the edge and looked over. A ragged +wall of rock reached down, and two hundred +feet below was the black water of +the fiord. Olaf watched him for a while, +then he said:</p> + +<p>"No whitening of your cheek, Harald? +Good! A boy that can face the fall of +Aegir's Rock will not be afraid to face +the war flash when he is a man."</p> + +<p>"Ho, I am not afraid of the war flash +now," cried Harald.</p> + +<p>He threw back his cape and drew a +little dagger from his belt.</p> + +<p>"See!" he cried; "does this not flash +like a sword? And I am not afraid. But +after all, this is a baby thing! When I +am eight years old I will have a sword, a +sharp tooth of war."</p> + +<p>He swung his dagger as though it +were a long sword. Then he ran and sat +on a rock by Olaf.</p> + +<p>"Why is this Aegir's Rock?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"You know that Asgard is up in the +sky," Olaf said. "It is a wonderful city +where the golden houses of the gods are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> +in the golden grove. A high wall runs +all around it. In the house of Odin, +the All-father, there is a great feast hall +larger than the whole earth. Its name is +Valhalla. It has five hundred doors. +The rafters are spears. The roof is +thatched with shields. Armor lies on the +benches. In the high seat sits Odin, a +golden helmet on his head, a spear in his +hand. Two wolves lie at his feet. At +his right hand and his left sit all the gods +and goddesses, and around the hall sit +thousands and thousands of men, all the +brave ones that have ever died.</p> + +<p>"Now it is good to be in Valhalla; for +there is mead there better than men can +brew, and it never runs out. And there +are skalds that sing wonderful songs that +men never heard. And before the doors +of Valhalla is a great meadow where the +warriors fight every day and get glorious +and sweet wounds and give many. And +all night they feast, and their wounds +heal. But none may go to Valhalla except +warriors that have died bravely in +battle. Men who die from sickness go +with women and children and cowards<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +to Niflheim. There Hela, who is queen, +always sneers at them, and a terrible cold +takes hold of their bones, and they sit +down and freeze.</p> + +<p>"Years ago Aegir was a great warrior. +Aegir the Big-handed, they called him. +In many a battle his sword had sung, +and he had sent many warriors to Valhalla. +Many swords had bit into his +flesh and left marks there, but never a +one had struck him to death. So his hair +grew white and his arms thin. There +was peace in that country then, and Aegir +sorrowed, saying:</p> + +<p>"'I am old. Battles are still. Must I +die in bed like a woman? Shall I not see +Valhalla?'</p> + +<p>"Now thus did Odin say long ago:</p> + +<p>"'If a man is old and is come near +death and cannot die in fight, let him +find death in some brave way and he +shall feast with me in Valhalla.'</p> + +<p>"So one day Aegir came to this +rock.</p> + +<p>"'A deed to win Valhalla!' he cried.</p> + +<p>"Then he drew his sword and flashed +it over his head and held his shield high<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +above him, and leaped out into the air +and died in the water of the fiord."</p> + +<p>"Ho!" cried Harald, jumping to his +feet. "I think that Odin stood up before +his high seat and welcomed that man +gladly when he walked through the door +of Valhalla."</p> + +<p>"So the songs say," replied Olaf, "for +skalds still sing of that deed all over +Norway."</p> + +<div class="figdeco"> +<img src="images/014.png" width="100" height="60" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/015.png" width="350" height="87" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>Olaf's Farm</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">At</span> another time Harald asked:</p> + +<p>"What is your country, Olaf? Have +you always been a thrall?"</p> + +<p>The thrall's eyes flashed.</p> + +<p>"When you are a man," he said, +"and go a-viking to Denmark, ask men +whether they ever heard of Olaf the +Crafty. There, far off, is my country, +across the water. My father was Gudbrand +the Big. Two hundred warriors +feasted in his hall and followed him to +battle. Ten sons sat at meat with him, +and I was the youngest. One day he said:</p> + +<p>"'You are all grown to be men. +There is not elbow-room here for so +many chiefs. The eldest of you shall +have my farm when I die. The rest of +you, off a-viking!'</p> + +<p>"He had three ships. These he gave +to three of my brothers. But I stayed +that spring and built me a boat. I made +her for only twenty oars because I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +thought few men would follow me; for I +was young, fifteen years old. I made her +in the likeness of a dragon. At the prow +I carved the head with open mouth and +forked tongue thrust out. I painted the +eyes red for anger.</p> + +<p>"'There, stand so!' I said, 'and glare +and hiss at my foes.'</p> + +<p>"In the stern I curved the tail up +almost as high as the head. There I put +the pilot's seat and a strong tiller for the +rudder. On the breast and sides I carved +the dragon's scales. Then I painted it +all black and on the tip of every scale I +put gold. I called her 'Waverunner.' +There she sat on the rollers, as fair a ship +as I ever saw.</p> + +<p>"The night that it was finished I went +to my father's feast. After the meats +were eaten and the mead-horns came +round, I stood up from my bench and +raised my drinking-horn<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> high and spoke +with a great voice:</p> + +<p>"'This is my vow: I will sail to Norway +and I will harry the coast and fill +my boat with riches. Then I will get<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +me a farm and will winter in that land. +Now who will follow me?'</p> + +<p>"'He is but a boy,' the men said. 'He +has opened his mouth wider than he can +do.'</p> + +<p>"But others jumped to their feet with +their mead-horns in their hands. Thirty +men, one after another, raised their horns +and said:</p> + +<p>"'I will follow this lad, and I will not +turn back so long as he and I live!'</p> + +<p>"On the next morning we got into my +dragon and started. I sat high in the +pilot's seat. As our boat flashed down +the rollers into the water I made this +song and sang it:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 11em;"> +<span class="i0">"'The dragon runs.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where will she steer?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where swords will sing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where spears will bite,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where I shall laugh.'<br /></span> +</div> + +<p>"So we harried the coast of Norway. +We ate at many men's tables uninvited. +Many men we found overburdened with +gold. Then I said:</p> + +<p>"'My dragon's belly is never full,' and +on board went the gold.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh! it is better to live on the sea and +let other men raise your crops and cook +your meals. A house smells of smoke, a +ship smells of frolic. From a house you +see a sooty roof, from a ship you see +Valhalla.</p> + +<p>"Up and down the water we went to +get much wealth and much frolic. After +a while my men said:</p> + +<p>"'What of the farm, Olaf?'</p> + +<p>"'Not yet,' I answered. 'Viking is +better for summer. When the ice comes, +and our dragon cannot play, then we will +get our farm and sit down.'</p> + +<p>"At last the winter came, and I said +to my men:</p> + +<p>"'Now for the farm. I have my eye +on one up the coast a way in King Halfdan's +country.'</p> + +<p>"So we set off for it. We landed late +at night and pulled our boat up on shore +and walked quietly to the house. It was +rather a wealthy farm, for there were +stables and a storehouse and a smithy at +the sides of the house. There was but +one door to the house. We went to it, +and I struck it with my spear.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 344px;"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a> +<img src="images/016.png" width="344" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"I struck my shield against the door so that it made a great clanging"</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>"'Hello! Ho! Hello!' I shouted, and +my men made a great din.</p> + +<p>"At last some one from inside said:</p> + +<p>"'Who calls?'</p> + +<p>"'I call,' I answered. 'Open! or you +will think it Thor who calls,' and I struck +my shield against the door so that it +made a great clanging.</p> + +<p>"The door opened only a little, but I +pushed it wide and leaped into the room. +It was so dark that I could see nothing +but a few sparks on the hearth. I stood +with my back to the wall; for I wanted no +sword reaching out of the dark for me.</p> + +<p>"'Now start up the fire,' I said.</p> + +<p>"'Come, come!' I called, when no one +obeyed. 'A fire! This is cold welcome +for your guests.'</p> + +<p>"My men laughed.</p> + +<p>"'Yes, a stingy host! He acts as +though he had not expected us.'</p> + +<p>"But now the farmer was blowing on +the coals and putting on fresh wood. +Soon it blazed up, and we could see about +us. We were in a little feast hall,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> with +its fire down the middle of it. There<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +were benches for twenty men along each +side. The farmer crouched by the fire, +afraid to move. On a bench in a far +corner were a dozen people huddled +together.</p> + +<p>"'Ho, thralls!' I called to them. 'Bring +in the table. We are hungry.'</p> + +<p>"Off they ran through a door at the +back of the hall. My men came in and +lay down by the fire and warmed themselves, +but I set two of them as guards at +the door.</p> + +<p>"'Well, friend farmer,' laughed one, +'why such a long face? Do you not think +we shall be merry company?'</p> + +<p>"'We came only to cheer you,' said +another. 'What man wants to spend the +winter with no guests?'</p> + +<p>"'Ah!' another then cried out, sitting +up. 'Here comes something that will be +a welcome guest to my stomach.'</p> + +<p>"The thralls were bringing in a great +pot of meat. They set up a crane over +the fire and hung the pot upon it, and we +sat and watched it boil while we joked. +At last the supper began. The farmer +sat gloomily on the bench and would not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +eat, and you cannot wonder; for he saw +us putting potfuls of his good beef and +basket-loads of bread into our big mouths. +When the tables were taken out and the +mead-horns came round, I stood up and +raised my horn and said to the farmer:</p> + +<p>"'You would not eat with us. You +cannot say no to half of my ale. I drink +this to your health.'</p> + +<p>"Then I drank half of the hornful +and sent the rest across the fire to the +farmer. He took it and smiled, saying:</p> + +<p>"'Since it is to my health, I will drink +it. I thought that all this night's work +would be my death.'</p> + +<p>"'Oh, do not fear that!' I laughed, +'for a dead man sets no tables.'</p> + +<p>"So we drank and all grew merrier. +At last I stood up and said:</p> + +<p>"'I like this little taste of your hospitality, +friend farmer. I have decided to +accept more of it.'</p> + +<p>"My men roared with laughter.</p> + +<p>"'Come,' they cried, 'thank him for +that, farmer. Did you ever have such a +lordly guest before?'</p> + +<p>"I went on:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'Now there is no fun in having guests +unless they keep you company and make +you merry. So I will give out this law: +that my men shall never leave you alone. +Hakon there shall be your constant companion, +friend farmer. He shall not +leave you day or night, whether you are +working or playing or sleeping. Leif +and Grim shall be the same kind of +friends to your two sons.'</p> + +<p>"I named nine others and said:</p> + +<p>"'And these shall follow your thralls +in the same way. Now, am I not careful +to make your time go merrily?'</p> + +<p>"So I set guards over every one in that +house. Not once all that winter did they +stir out of sight of some of us. So no +tales got out to the neighbors. Besides, +it was a lonely place, and by good luck +no one came that way. Oh! that was fat +and easy living.</p> + +<p>"Well, after we had been there for a +long time, Hakon came in to the feast +one night and said:</p> + +<p>"'I heard a cuckoo to-day!'</p> + +<p>"'It is the call to go a-viking,' +I said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> + +<p>"All my men put their hands to their +mouths and shouted. Their eyes danced. +Big Thorleif stood up and stretched himself.</p> + +<p>"'I am stiff with long sitting,' he said. +'I itch for a fight.'</p> + +<p>"I turned to the farmer.</p> + +<p>"'This is our last feast with you,' I +said.</p> + +<p>"'Well,' he laughed, 'this has been +the busiest winter I ever spent, and the +merriest. May good luck go with you!'</p> + +<p>"'By the beard of Odin!' I cried; 'you +have taken our joke like a man.'</p> + +<p>"My men pounded the table with their +fists.</p> + +<p>"'By the hammer of Thor!' shouted +Grim. 'Here is no stingy coward. He is +a man fit to carry my drinking-horn, the +horn of a sea-rover and a sword-swinger. +Here, friend, take it,' and he thrust it +into the farmer's hand. 'May you drink +heart's-ease from it for many years. +And with it I leave you a name, Sif the +Friendly. I shall hope to drink with you +sometime in Valhalla.'</p> + +<p>"Then all my men poured around that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +farmer and clapped him on the shoulder +and piled things upon him, saying:</p> + +<p>"'Here is a ring for Sif the Friendly.'</p> + +<p>"'And here is a bracelet.'</p> + +<p>"'A sword would not be ashamed to +hang at your side.'</p> + +<p>"I took five great bracelets of gold +from our treasure chest and gave them +to him.</p> + +<p>"The old man's eyes opened wide at +all these things, and at the same time he +laughed.</p> + +<p>"'May Odin send me such guests +every winter!' he said.</p> + +<p>"Early next morning we shook hands +with our host and boarded the 'Waverunner' +and sailed off.</p> + +<p>"'Where shall we go?' my men asked.</p> + +<p>"'Let the gods decide,' I said, and +tossed up my spear.</p> + +<p>"When it fell on the deck it pointed +up-shore, so I steered in that direction. +That is the best way to decide, for the +spear will always point somewhere, and +one thing is as good as another. That +time it pointed us into your father's ships. +They closed in battle with us and killed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +my men and sunk my ship and dragged +me off a prisoner. They were three +against one, or they might have tasted +something more bitter at our hands. +They took me before King Halfdan.</p> + +<p>"'Here,' they said, 'is a rascal who has +been harrying our coasts. We sunk his +ship and men, but him we brought to you.'</p> + +<p>"'A robber viking?' said the king, and +scowled at me.</p> + +<p>"I threw back my head and laughed.</p> + +<p>"'Yes. And with all your fingers it +took you a year to catch me.'</p> + +<p>"The king frowned more angrily.</p> + +<p>"'Saucy, too?' he said. 'Well, thieves +must die. Take him out, Thorkel, and +let him taste your sword.'</p> + +<p>"Your mother, the queen, was standing +by. Now she put her hand on his +arm and smiled and said:</p> + +<p>"'He is only a lad. Let him live. And +would he not be a good gift for our baby?'</p> + +<p>"Your father thought a moment, then +looked at your mother and smiled.</p> + +<p>"'Soft heart!' he said gently to her; +then to Thorkel, 'Well, let him go, +Thorkel!'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then he turned to me again, frowning.</p> + +<p>"'But, young sharp-tongue, now that +we have caught you we will put you into +a trap that you cannot get out of. Weld +an iron collar on his neck.'</p> + +<p>"So I lived and now am your tooth +thrall. Well, it is the luck of war. But +by the chair of Odin, I kept my vow!"</p> + +<p>"Yes!" cried Harald, jumping to his +feet. "And had a joke into the bargain. +Ah! sometime I will make a brave vow +like that."</p> + +<div class="figdeco"> +<img src="images/017.png" width="100" height="50" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Drinking-horns">drinking-horns</a> on page <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Feast_Hall">feast hall</a> on page <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/018.png" width="350" height="87" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>Olaf's Fight With Havard</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">At</span> another time Harald said:</p> + +<p>"Tell me of a fight, Olaf. I want +to hear about the music of swords."</p> + +<p>Olaf's eyes blazed.</p> + +<p>"I will tell you of our fight with King +Havard," he said.</p> + +<p>"One dark night we had landed at a +farm. We left our 'Waverunner' in the +water with three men to guard her. The +rest of us went into the house. The +farmer met us at the door, but he died +by Thorkel's sword. The others we shut +into their beds.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> The door at each end of +the hall we had barred on the inside so +that nobody could surprise us. We were +busy going through the cupboards and +shouting at our good luck. But suddenly +we heard a shout outside:</p> + +<p>"'Thor and Havard!'</p> + +<p>"Then there was a great beating at +the doors.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'He has two hundred fighters with +him,' said Grim; 'for we saw his ships last +night. Thirty against two hundred! We +shall all drink in Valhalla to-night.'</p> + +<p>"'Well,' I cried, 'Odin shall have no +unwilling guest in me.'</p> + +<p>"'Nor in me,' cried Hakon.</p> + +<p>"'Nor in me,' shouted Thorkel.</p> + +<p>"And that shout went all around, and +we drew out our swords and caught up +our shields.</p> + +<p>"'Hot work is ahead of us,' said +Hakon. 'Besides, we must leave none +of this mead for Havard. Lend a hand, +some one.'</p> + +<p>"Then he and another pulled out a +great tub that sat on the floor of the cupboard.</p> + +<p>"'I drink to Valhalla to-night,' cried +Thorkel the Thirsty, and he plunged his +horn deep into the tub.</p> + +<p>"When he brought it up, his sleeve +was dripping and the sweet mead was +running over from the horn.</p> + +<p>"'Sloven!' cried Hakon, and he struck +Thorkel with his fist and knocked him +over into the cupboard.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He fell against the wooden wall at +the back, and a carved panel swung open +behind him. He dropped down head +first. In a minute he put his head out +of the hole again. We all stood staring.</p> + +<p>"'I think it is a secret passage,' he +said.</p> + +<p>"'We will try it,' I answered in a +whisper. 'Throw dirt on the fire. It +must be dark.'</p> + +<p>"So we dug up dirt from the earth +floor and smothered the fire. All this +time there was a terrible shouting and +hammering at the doors, but they were +of heavy logs and stood.</p> + +<p>"'I with four more will guard this +door,' I said, pointing to the east end.</p> + +<p>"Immediately four men stepped to +my side.</p> + +<p>"'And I will guard the other,' Hakon +said, and four went with him.</p> + +<p>"'The rest of you, down the hole!' I +said. 'Close the door after you. If luck +is with us we will meet at the ships. +Now Thor and our good swords help us! +Quick! The doors are giving way.'</p> + +<div class="figright"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a> +<img src="images/019.png" width="342" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly"</div> + +<p>"So we ten men stood at the doors<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +and held back the king's soldiers. It was +dark in the room, and the people out of +doors could not tell how many were inside. +Few were eager to be the first in.</p> + +<p>"'Thirty swords are waiting in there +to eat up the first man,' we heard some +one say.</p> + +<p>"We chuckled at that.</p> + +<p>"But the king stood in the very doorway +and fought. Our five swords held +him back for a long time, but at last he +pushed in, and his men poured after him. +We ran back and hid behind some tubs +in a dark corner. The king's men went +groping about and calling, but they did +not find us. The room was full of shouting +and running and sword-clashing; for +in the dark and the noise the men could +not tell their own soldiers. More than +one fell by his friend's sword. When it +was less crowded about the doorway, I +whispered:</p> + +<p>"'Follow me in double line. We +will make for the ships. Keep close +together.'</p> + +<p>"So that double line of men, with +swords swinging from both sides, ran out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +through the dark. Swords struck out at +us, and we struck back. Men ran after +us shouting, but our legs were as good as +theirs. But I and Hakon and one other +were all that reached the ship. There +we saw our 'Waverunner' with sail up +and bow pointing to open sea. We +swam out to her and climbed aboard. +Then the men swung the sail to the +wind, and we moved off. Even as +we went, a spear whizzed through the +air, and Hakon fell dead; for the king +and all his men were running to the +shore.</p> + +<p>"'After them!' they were shouting.</p> + +<p>"Then we heard the king call to the +men in his boats lying out in the +water:</p> + +<p>"'Row to shore and take us in.'</p> + +<p>"Thorkel was standing by my side. +At that he laughed and said:</p> + +<p>"'They do not answer. He left but a +handful to guard his ships. They tasted +our swords. And we went aboard and +broke the oars and threw the sails into +the water. It will be slow going for +Havard to-night.'</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>"Then he turned to the shore and +sang out loudly:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 14em;"> +<span class="i0">"'King Havard's ships are dead:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Olaf's dragon flies.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">King Havard stamps the shore:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Olaf skims the waves.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">King Havard shakes his fist.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Olaf turns and laughs.'<br /></span> +</div> + +<p>"That was the end of our meeting +with King Havard."</p> + +<div class="figdeco"> +<img src="images/014.png" width="100" height="60" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Beds">beds</a> on page <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/020.png" width="350" height="88" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<h2>Foes'-fear</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Every</span> day the boy Harald heard +some such story of war or of the +gods, until he could see Thor riding +among the storm-clouds and throwing his +hammer, until he knew that a brave man +has many wounds, but never a one on his +back. Many nights he dreamed that he +himself walked into Valhalla, and that +all the heroes stood up and shouted:</p> + +<p>"Welcome! Harald Halfdanson!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! the bite of the sword is sweeter +than the kiss of your mother," he said to +Olaf one day. "When shall I stand in +the prow of a dragon and feast on the +fight? I am hungry to see the world. +Ivar the Far-goer tells me of the strange +countries he has seen. Ah! we vikings +are great folk. There is no water that has +not licked our boats' sides. This cape of +mine came in a viking boat from France. +These cloak-pins came from a far country +called Greece. In my father's house are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +golden cups from Rome, away on the +southern sea. Every land pours rich +things into our treasure-chest. Ivar has +been to a strange country where it is all +sand and is very hot. The people call their +country Arabia. They have never heard +of Thor or Odin. Ivar brought beautiful +striped cloth from there, and wonderful, +sweet-smelling waters. Oh! when shall +the white horses of the sea lead me out +to strange lands and glorious battles?"</p> + +<p>But Harald did something besides +listen to stories. Every morning he was +up at sunrise and went with a thrall to +feed the hunting dogs. Thorstein taught +him to swim in the rough waters of +the fiord. Often he went with the men +a-hunting in the woods and learned to ride +a horse and pull a bow and throw a lance. +Ivar taught him to play the harp and to +make up songs. He went much to the +smithy, where the warriors mended their +helmets and made their spears and swords +of iron and bronze. At first he only +watched the men or worked the bellows, +but soon he could handle the tongs and +hold the red-hot iron, and after a long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +time he learned to use the hammer and +to shape metal. One day he made himself +a spear-head. It was two feet long +and sharp on both edges. While the +iron was hot he beat into it some runes. +When the men in the smithy saw the +runes they opened their eyes wide and +looked at the boy, for few Norsemen +could read.</p> + +<p>"What does it say?" they asked.</p> + +<p>"It is the name of my spear-point, and +it says, 'Foes'-fear,'" Harald said. "But +now for a handle."</p> + +<p>It was winter and the snow was very +deep. So Harald put on his skees and +started for a wood that was back from +shore. Down the mountains he went, +twenty, thirty feet at a slide, leaping over +chasms a hundred feet across. In his +scarlet cloak he looked like a flash of fire. +The wind shot past him howling. His +eyes danced at the fun.</p> + +<p>"It is like flying," he thought and +laughed. "I am an eagle. Now I soar," +as he leaped over a frozen river.</p> + +<p>He saw a slender ash growing on top +of a high rock.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 344px;"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a> +<img src="images/021.png" width="344" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"He drove it into the wolf's neck"</div> + +<p>"That is the handle for 'Foes'-fear,'" +he said.</p> + +<p>The rock stood up like a ragged tower, +but he did not stop because of the steep +climb. He threw off his skees and thrust +his hands and feet into holes of the rock +and drew himself up. He tore his jacket +and cut his leather leggings and scratched +his face and bruised his hands, but at last +he was on the top. Soon he had chopped +down the tree and had cut a straight pole +ten feet long and as big around as his +arm. He went down, sliding and jumping +and tearing himself on the sharp stones. +With a last leap he landed near his skees. +As he did so a lean wolf jumped and +snapped at him, snarling. Harald shouted +and swung his pole. The wolf dodged, +but quickly jumped again and caught the +boy's arm between his sharp teeth. Harald +thought of the spear-point in his belt. +In a wink he had it out and was striking +with it. He drove it into the wolf's neck +and threw him back on the snow, dead.</p> + +<p>"You are the first to feel the tooth of +'Foes'-fear,'" he said, "but I think you +will not be the last."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>Then without thinking of his torn arm +he put on his skees and went leaping +home. He went straight to the smithy +and smoothed his pole and drove it into +the haft of the spear-point. He hammered +out a gold band and put it around +the joining place. He made nails with +beautiful heads and drove them into the +pole in different places.</p> + +<p>"If it is heavy it will strike hard," he +said.</p> + +<p>Then he weighed the spear in his hand +and found the balancing point and put +another gold band there to mark it.</p> + +<p>Thorstein came in while he was working.</p> + +<p>"A good spear," he said.</p> + +<p>Then he saw the torn sleeve and the +red wound beneath.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" he cried. "Your first wound?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is only a wolf-scratch," Harald +answered.</p> + +<p>"By Thor!" cried Thorstein, "I see +that you are ready for better wounds. +You bear this like a warrior."</p> + +<p>"I think it will not be my last," Harald +said.</p> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/022.png" width="350" height="92" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>Harald is King</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Now</span> when Harald was ten years old +his father, King Halfdan, died. An +old book that tells about Harald says that +then "he was the biggest of all men, the +strongest, and the fairest to look upon." +That about a boy ten years old! But boys +grew fast in those days for they were out +of doors all the time, running, swimming, +leaping on skees, and hunting in the forest. +All that makes big, manly boys.</p> + +<p>So now King Halfdan was dead and +buried, and Harald was to be king. But +first he must drink his father's funeral ale.</p> + +<p>"Take down the gay tapestries that +hang in the feast hall," he said to the +thralls. "Put up black and gray ones. +Strew the floor with pine branches. Brew +twenty tubs of fresh ale and mead. Scour +every dish until it shines."</p> + +<p>Then Harald sent messengers all over +that country to his kinsmen and friends.</p> + +<p>"Bid them come in three months' time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +to drink my father's funeral ale," he said. +"Tell them that no one shall go away +empty-handed."</p> + +<p>So in three months men came riding up +at every hour. Some came in boats. But +many had ridden far through mountains, +swimming rivers; for there were few roads +or bridges in Norway. On account of that +hard ride no women came to the feast.</p> + +<p>At nine o'clock in the night the feast +began. The men came walking in at the +west end of the hall.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> The great bonfires +down the middle of the room were flashing +light on everything. The clean smell +of this wood-smoke and of the pine +branches on the floor was pleasant to +the guests. Down each side of the hall +stretched long, backless benches, with +room for three hundred men. In the +middle of each side rose the high seat, +a great carved chair on a platform. +All along behind the benches were the +black and gray draperies. Here hung +the shields of the guests; for every man, +when he was given his place, turned and +hung his shield behind him and set his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +tall spear by it. So on each wall there +was a long row of gay shields, red and +green and yellow, and all shining with +gold or bronze trimmings. And higher +up there was another row of gleaming +spear-points. Above the hall the rafters +were carved and gaily painted, so that +dragons seemed to be crawling across, or +eagles seemed to be swooping down.</p> + +<p>The guests walked in laughing and +talking with their big voices so that the +rafters rang. They made the hall look all +the brighter with their clothes of scarlet +and blue and green, with their flashing +golden bracelets and head-bands and +sword-scabbards, with their flying hair of +red or yellow.</p> + +<p>Across the east end of the hall was a +bench. When the men were all in, the +queen, Harald's mother, and the women +who lived with her, walked in through the +east door and sat upon this bench.</p> + +<p>Then thralls came running in and set +up the long tables<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> before the benches. +Other thralls ran in with large steaming +kettles of meat. They put big pieces of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +this meat into platters of wood and set it +before the men. They had a few dishes +of silver. These they put before the +guests at the middle of the tables; for the +great people sat here near the high seats.</p> + +<p>When the meat came, the talking +stopped; for Norsemen ate only twice a +day, and these men had had long rides +and were hungry. Three or four persons +ate from one platter and drank from +the same big bowl of milk. They had no +forks, so they ate from their fingers and +threw the bones under the table among +the pine branches. Sometimes they took +knives from their belts to cut the meat.</p> + +<p>When the guests sat back satisfied, +Harald called to the thralls:</p> + +<p>"Carry out the tables."</p> + +<p>So they did and brought in two great +tubs of mead and set one at each end of the +hall. Then the queen stood up and called +some of her women. They went to the +mead tubs. They took the horns, when +the thralls had filled them, and carried +them to the men with some merry word. +Perhaps one woman said as she handed a +man his horn:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> + +<p>"This horn has no feet to be set down +upon. You must drink it at one draught."</p> + +<p>Perhaps another said:</p> + +<p>"Mead loves a merry face."</p> + +<p>The women were beautiful, moving +about the hall. The queen wore a trailing +dress of blue velvet with long flowing +sleeves. She had a short apron of striped +Arabian silk with gold fringe along the +bottom. From her shoulders hung a long +train of scarlet wool embroidered in gold. +White linen covered her head. Her long +yellow hair was pulled around at the sides +and over her breast and was fastened +under the belt of her apron. As she +walked, her train made a pleasant rustle +among the pine branches. She was tall +and straight and strong. Some of her +younger women wore no linen on their +heads and had their white arms bare, +with bracelets shining on them. They, +too, were tall and strong.</p> + +<p>All the time men were calling across +the fire to one another asking news or +telling jokes and laughing.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 341px;"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a> +<img src="images/023.png" width="341" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"I vow that I will grind my father's foes under my heel"</div> + +<p>An old man, Harald's uncle, sat in the +high seat on the north side. That was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> +the place of honor. But the high seat on +the south side was empty; for that was +the king's seat. Harald sat on the steps +before it.</p> + +<p>The feast went merrily until long +after midnight. Then the thralls took +some of the guests to the guest house to +sleep, and some to the beds around the +sides of the feast hall. But some men +lay down on the benches and drew their +cloaks over themselves.</p> + +<p>On the next night there was another +feast. Still Harald sat on the step before +the high seat. But when the tables were +gone and the horns were going around, +he stood up and raised high a horn of ale +and said loudly:</p> + +<p>"This horn of memory I drink in honor +of my father, Halfdan, son of Gudrod, who +sits now in Valhalla. And I vow that I will +grind my father's foes under my heel."</p> + +<p>Then he drank the ale and sat down in +the king's high seat, while all the men stood +up and raised their horns and shouted:</p> + +<p>"King Harald!"</p> + +<p>And some cried:</p> + +<p>"That was a brave vow."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>And Harald's uncle called out:</p> + +<p>"A health to King Harald!"</p> + +<p>And they all drank it.</p> + +<p>Then a man stood up and said:</p> + +<p>"Hear my song of King Halfdan!" for +this man was a skald.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the song!" shouted the men, +and Harald nodded his head.</p> + +<p>So the skald took down his great harp +from the wall behind him and went and +stood before Harald. The bottom of the +harp rested on the floor, but the top +reached as high as the skald's shoulders. +The brass frame shone in the light. The +strings were some of gold and some of +silver. The man struck them with his +hand and sang of King Halfdan, of his +battles, of his strong arm and good +sword, of his death, and of how men +loved him.</p> + +<p>When he had finished, King Harald +took a bracelet from his arm and gave it +to him, saying:</p> + +<p>"Take this as thanks for your good +song."</p> + +<p>The guests stayed the next day and +at night there was another feast. When<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +the mead horns were going around, King +Harald stood up and spoke:</p> + +<p>"I said that no man should go away +empty-handed from drinking my father's +funeral ale."</p> + +<p>He beckoned the thralls, and they +brought in a great treasure-chest and set +it down by the high seat. King Harald +opened it and took out rich gifts—capes +and sword-belts and beautiful cloth and +bracelets and gold cloak-pins. These he +sent about the hall and gave something +to every man. The guests wondered at +the richness of his gifts.</p> + +<p>"This young king has an open hand," +they said, "and deep treasure-chests."</p> + +<p>After breakfast the next morning the +guests went out and stood by their horses +ready to go, but before they mounted, +thralls brought a horn of mead to each +man. That was called the stirrup-horn, +because after they drank it the men put +their feet to the stirrups and sprang upon +their horses and started. King Harald +and his people rode a little way with them.</p> + +<p>All men said that that was the richest +funeral feast that ever was held.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Feast_Hall">feast hall</a> on page <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Tables">tables</a> on page <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/024.png" width="350" height="88" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>Harald's Battle</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Now</span> King Halfdan had many foes. +When he was alive they were afraid +to make war upon him, for he was a +mighty warrior. But when Harald became +king, they said:</p> + +<p>"He is but a lad. We will fight with +him and take his land."</p> + +<p>So they began to make ready. King +Harald heard of this and he laughed and +said:</p> + +<p>"Good! 'Foes'-fear' is thirsty, and my +legs are stiff with much sitting."</p> + +<p>He called three men to him. To one +he gave an arrow, saying:</p> + +<p>"Run and carry this arrow north. +Give it into the hands of the master of +the next farm, and say that all men are +to meet here within two weeks from this +day. They must come ready for war +and mounted on horses. Say also that +if a man does not obey this call, or if he +receives this arrow and does not carry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +it on to his next neighbor, he shall be +outlawed from this country, and his land +shall be taken from him."</p> + +<p>He gave arrows to the other two men +and told them to run south and east with +the same message.</p> + +<p>So all through King Harald's country +men were soon busy mending helmets +and polishing swords and making shields. +There was blazing of forges and clanging +of anvils all through the land.</p> + +<p>On the day set, the fields about King +Harald's house were full of men and +horses. After breakfast a horn blew. +Every man snatched his weapons and +jumped upon his horse. Men of the same +neighborhood stood together, and their +chief led them. They waited for the starting +horn. This did not look like our army. +There were no uniforms. Some men wore +helmets, some did not. Some wore coats +of mail, but others wore only their jackets +and tights of bright-colored wool. But at +each man's left side hung a great shield. +Over his right shoulder went his sword-belt +and held his long sword under his +left hand. Above most men's heads shone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +the points of their tall spears. Some men +carried axes in their belts. Some carried +bows and arrows. Many had ram's horns +hanging from their necks.</p> + +<p>King Harald rode at the front of his +army with his standard-bearer beside him. +Chain-armor covered the king's body. A +red cloak was thrown over his shoulders. +On his head was a gold helmet with a +dragon standing up from it. He carried +a round shield on his left arm. The king +had made that shield himself. It was +of brass. The rivets were of silver, with +strangely shaped heads. On the back of +Harald's horse was a red cloth trimmed +with the fur of ermine.</p> + +<p>King Harald looked up at his standard +and laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>"Oh, War-lover," he cried, "you and +I ride out on a gay journey."</p> + +<p>A horn blew again and the army +started. The men shouted as they went, +and blew their ram's horns.</p> + +<p>"Now we shall taste something better +than even King Harald's ale," shouted one.</p> + +<p>Another rose in his stirrups and sniffed +the air.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah! I smell a battle," he cried. "It +is sweeter than those strange waters of +Arabia."</p> + +<p>So the army went merrily through the +land. They carried no tents, they had +no provision wagons.</p> + +<p>"The sky is a good enough tent for +a soldier," said the Norsemen. "Why +carry provisions when they lie in the +farms beside you?"</p> + +<p>After two days King Harald saw +another army on the hills.</p> + +<p>"Thorstein," he shouted, "up with the +white shield and go tell King Haki to +choose his battle-field. We will wait but +an hour. I am eager for the frolic."</p> + +<p>So Thorstein raised a white shield on +his spear as a sign that he came on an +errand of peace. He rode near King +Haki, but he could not wait until he came +close before he shouted out his message +and then turned and rode back.</p> + +<p>"Tell your boy king that we will not +hang back," Haki called after Thorstein.</p> + +<p>King Harald's men waited on the hillside +and watched the other army across +the valley. They saw King Haki point<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +and saw twenty men ride off as he +pointed. They stopped in a patch of +hazel and hewed with their axes.</p> + +<p>"They are getting the hazels," said +Thorstein.</p> + +<p>"Audun," said King Harald to a man +near him, "stay close to my standard all +day. You must see the best of the fight. +I want to hear a song about it after it is +over."</p> + +<p>This Audun was the skald who sang +at the drinking of King Halfdan's funeral +ale.</p> + +<p>King Haki's men rode down into the +valley. They drove down stakes all about +a great field. They tied the hazel twigs +to the stakes in a string. But they left +an open space toward King Harald's +army and one toward King Haki's. Then +a man raised a white shield and galloped +toward King Harald.</p> + +<p>"We are ready!" he shouted.</p> + +<p>At the same time King Haki raised a +red shield. King Harald's men put their +shields before their mouths and shouted +into them. It made a great roaring war-cry.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Up with the war shield!" shouted +King Harald. "Horns blow!"</p> + +<p>There was a blowing of horns on both +sides. The two armies galloped down +into the field and ran together. The fight +had begun.</p> + +<p>All that day long swords were flashing, +spears flying, men shouting, men falling +from their horses, swords clashing against +shields.</p> + +<p>"Victory flashes from that dragon," +Harald's men said, pointing to the king's +helmet. "No one stands before it."</p> + +<p>And, surely, before night came, King +Haki fell dead under "Foes'-fear." When +he fell, a great shout went up from his +warriors, and they turned and fled. King +Harald's men chased them far, but during +the night came back to camp. Many +brought swords and helmets and bracelets +or silver-trimmed saddles and bridles +with them.</p> + +<p>"Here is what we got from the foe," +they said.</p> + +<p>The next morning King Harald spoke +to his men:</p> + +<p>"Let us go about and find our dead."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/025.png" width="550" height="337" alt="" title="" /> +"King Haki fell dead under 'Foes'-fear'"</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>So they went over all the battle-field. +They put every man on his shield and +carried him and laid him on a hill-top. +They hung his sword over his shoulder +and laid his spear by his side. So they +laid all the dead together there on the +hill-top. Then King Harald said, looking +about:</p> + +<p>"This is a good place to lie. It looks +far over the country. The sound of the +sea reaches it. The wind sweeps here. +It is a good grave for Norsemen and +Vikings. But it is a long road and a +rough road to Valhalla that these men +must travel. Let the nearest kinsman of +each man come and tie on his hell-shoes. +Tie them fast, for they will need them +much on that hard road."</p> + +<p>So friends tied shoes on the dead men's +feet. Then King Harald said:</p> + +<p>"Now let us make the mound."</p> + +<p>Every man set to work with what tools +he had and heaped earth over the dead +until a great mound stood up. They +piled stones on the top. On one of these +stones King Harald made runes telling +how these men had died.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> + +<p>After that was done King Harald said:</p> + +<p>"Now set up the pole, Thorstein. Let +every man bring to that pole all that he +took from the foe."</p> + +<p>So they did, and there was a great hill +of things around it. Harald divided it +into piles.</p> + +<p>"This pile we will give to Thor in +thanks for the victory," he said. "This +pile is mine because I am king. Here +are the piles for the chiefs, and these +things go to the other men of the army."</p> + +<p>So every man went away from that +battle richer than he was before, and +Thor looked down from Valhalla upon +his full temple and was pleased.</p> + +<p>The next morning King Harald led +his army back. But on the way he met +other foes and had many battles and did +not lose one. The kings either died in +battle or ran away, and Harald had their +lands.</p> + +<p>"He has kept his vow," men said, +"and ground his father's foes under his +heel."</p> + +<p>So King Harald sat in peace for a while.</p> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/026.png" width="350" height="87" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<h2>Gyda's Saucy Message</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Now</span> Harald heard men talk of Gyda, +the daughter of King Eric.</p> + +<p>"She is very beautiful," they said, +"but she is very proud, too. She can +both read and make runes. No other +woman in the world knows so much +about herbs as she does. She can cure +any sickness. And she is proud of all +this!"</p> + +<p>Now when King Harald heard that, he +thought to himself:</p> + +<p>"Fair and proud. I like them both. +I will have her for my wife."</p> + +<p>So he called his uncle, Guthorm, and +said:</p> + +<p>"Take rich gifts and go to Gyda's +foster-father<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> and tell him that I will +marry Gyda."</p> + +<p>So Guthorm and his men came to that +house and they told the king's message +to the foster-father. Gyda was standing +near, weaving a rich cloak. She heard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +the speech. She came up and said, holding +her head high and curling her lip:</p> + +<div class="figright"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a> +<img src="images/027.png" width="342" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"I will not be his wife unless he puts all of Norway under him for +my sake"</div> + +<p>"I will not waste myself on a king +of so few people. Norway is a strange +country. There is a little king here and +a little king there—hundreds of them +scattered about. Now in Denmark there +is but one great king over the whole +land. And it is so in Sweden. Is no +one brave enough to make all of Norway +his own?"</p> + +<p>She laughed a scornful laugh and +walked away. The men stood with open +mouths and stared after her. Could it be +that she had sent that saucy message to +King Harald? They looked at her foster-father. +He was chuckling in his beard +and said nothing to them. They started +out of the house in anger. When they +were at the door, Gyda came up to them +again and said:</p> + +<p>"Give this message to your King +Harald for me: I will not be his wife +unless he puts all of Norway under him +for my sake."</p> + +<p>So Guthorm and his men rode homeward +across the country. They did not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +talk. They were all thinking. At last +one said:</p> + +<p>"How shall we give this message to +the king?"</p> + +<p>"I have been thinking of that," +Guthorm said; "his anger is no little +thing."</p> + +<p>It was late when they rode into the +king's yard; for they had ridden slowly, +trying to make some plan for softening +the message, but they had thought of +none.</p> + +<p>"I see light through the wind's-eyes +of the feast hall," one said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the king keeps feast," Guthorm +said. "We must give our message +before all his guests."</p> + +<p>So they went in with very heavy +hearts. There sat King Harald in the +high seat. The benches on both sides +were full of men. The tables had been +taken out, and the mead-horns were +going round.</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho!" cried King Harald. "Our +messengers! What news?"</p> + +<p>Then Guthorm said:</p> + +<p>"This Gyda is a bold and saucy girl,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +King Harald. My tongue refuses to give +her message."</p> + +<p>The king stamped his foot.</p> + +<p>"Out with it!" he cried. "What does +she say?"</p> + +<p>"She says that she will not marry +so little a king," Guthorm answered.</p> + +<p>Harald jumped to his feet. His face +flushed red. Guthorm stretched out his +hand.</p> + +<p>"They are not my words, O King; they +are the words of a silly girl."</p> + +<p>"Is there any more?" the king shouted. +"Go on!"</p> + +<p>"She said: 'There is one king in Denmark +and one king in Sweden. Is there +no man brave enough to make himself +king of all Norway? Tell King Harald +that I will not marry him unless he +puts all of Norway under him for my +sake.'"</p> + +<p>The guests sat speechless, staring at +Guthorm. All at once the king broke +into a roar of laughter.</p> + +<p>"By the hammer of Thor!" he cried, +"that is a good message. I thank you, +Gyda. Did you hear it, friends? King<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +of all Norway! Why, we are all stupids. +Why did we not think of that?"</p> + +<p>Then he raised his horn high.</p> + +<p>"Now hear my vow. I say that I will +not cut my hair or comb it until I am +king of all Norway. That I will be or I +will die."</p> + +<p>Then he drank off the horn of mead, +and while he drank it, all the men in the +hall stood up and waved their swords and +shouted and shouted. That old hall in +all its two hundred years of feasts had +not heard such a noise before.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Harald!" Guthorm cried, "surely +Thor in Valhalla smiled when he heard +that vow."</p> + +<p>The men sat all night talking of that +wonderful vow.</p> + +<p>On the very next day King Harald sent +out his war-arrows. Soon a great army +was gathered. They marched through +the country north and south and east and +west, burning houses and fighting battles +as they went. People fled before them, +some to their own kings, some inland to +the deep woods and hid there. But some +went to King Harald and said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We will be your men."</p> + +<p>"Then take the oath, and I will be +friends with you," he said.</p> + +<p>The men took off their swords and +laid them down and came one by one +and knelt before the king. They put +their heads between his knees and said:</p> + +<p>"From this day, Harald Halfdanson, +I am your man. I will serve you in war. +For my land I will pay you taxes. I will +be faithful to you as my king."</p> + +<p>Then Harald said:</p> + +<p>"I am your king, and I will be faithful +to you."</p> + +<p>Many kings took that oath and thousands +of common men. Of all the battles +that Harald fought, he did not lose one.</p> + +<p>Now for a long time the king's hair +and beard had not been combed or cut. +They stood out around his head in a great +bushy mat of yellow. At a feast one day +when the jokes were going round, Harald's +uncle said:</p> + +<p>"Harald, I will give you a new name. +After this you shall be called Harald +Shockhead. As my naming gift I give +you this drinking-horn."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is a good name," laughed all the +men.</p> + +<p>After that all people called him Harald +Shockhead.</p> + +<p>During these wars, whenever King +Harald got a country for his own, this is +what he did. He said:</p> + +<p>"All the marshland and the woodland +where no people live is mine. For his +farm every man shall pay me taxes."</p> + +<p>Over every country he put some brave, +wise man and called him Earl. He said +to the earls:</p> + +<p>"You shall collect the taxes and pay +them to me. But some you shall keep +for yourselves. You shall punish any +man who steals or murders or does any +wicked thing. When your people are in +trouble they shall come to you, and you +shall set the thing right. You must +keep peace in the land. I will not +have my people troubled with robber +vikings."</p> + +<p>The earls did all these things as best +they could; for they were good strong +men. The farmers were happy. They +said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We can work on our farms with peace +now. Before King Harald came, something +was always wrong. The vikings +would come and steal our gold and our +grain and burn our houses, or the king +would call us to war. Those little kings +are always fighting. It is better under +King Harald."</p> + +<p>But the chiefs, who liked to fight and +go a-viking, hated King Harald and his +new ways. One of these chiefs was Solfi. +He was a king's son. Harald had killed +his father in battle. Solfi had been in +that battle. At the end of it he fled away +with two hundred men and got into ships.</p> + +<p>"We will make that Shockhead smart," +he said.</p> + +<p>So they harried the coast of King +Harald's country. They filled their ships +with gold. They ate other men's meals. +They burned farmhouses behind them. +The people cried out to the earls for help. +So the earls had out their ships all the +time trying to catch Solfi, but he was too +clever for them.</p> + +<p>In the spring he went to a certain +king, Audbiorn, and said to him:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now, there are two things that we +can do. We can become this Shockhead +Harald's thralls, we can kneel before him +and put our heads between his knees. Or +else we can fight. My father thought it +better to die in battle than to be any +man's thrall. How is it? Will you join +with my cousin Arnvid and me against +this young Shockhead?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I will do it," said the king.</p> + +<div class="figdeco"> +<img src="images/011.png" width="100" height="100" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Foster-father">foster-father</a> on page <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/028.png" width="350" height="59" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<h2>The Sea Fight</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Many</span> men felt as Solfi did. So +when King Audbiorn and King +Arnvid sent out their war arrows, a great +host gathered. All men came by sea. +Two hundred ships lay at anchor in the +fiord, looking like strange swimming +animals because of their high carved +prows and bright paint. There were red +and gold dragons with long necks and +curved tails. Sea-horses reared out of +the water. Green and gold snakes coiled +up. Sea-hawks sat with spread wings +ready to fly. And among all these +curved necks stood up the tall, straight +masts with the long yardarms swinging +across them holding the looped-up sails.</p> + +<p>When the starting horn blew, and +their sails were let down, it was like the +spreading of hundreds of curious flags. +Some were striped black and yellow or +blue and gold. Some were white with a +black raven or a brown bear embroidered +on them, or blue with a white sea-hawk,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +or black with a gold sun. Some were +edged with fur. As the wind filled the +gaudy sails, and the ships moved off, the +men waved their hands to the women on +shore and sang:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 13em;"> +<span class="i0">"To the sea! To the sea!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The wind in our sail,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The sea in our face,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the smell of the fight.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">After ship meets ship,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the quarrel of swords<br /></span> +<span class="i0">King Harald shall lie<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the caves under sea<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And Norsemen shall laugh."<br /></span> +</div> + +<p>In the prow stood men leaning forward +and sniffing the salt air with joy. Some +were talking of King Harald.</p> + +<p>"Yesterday he had a hard fight," they +said. "To-day he will be lying still, +dressing his wounds and mending his +ships. We shall take him by surprise."</p> + +<p>They sailed near the coast. Solfi in +his "Sea-hawk" was ahead leading the +way. Suddenly men saw his sail veer +and his oars flash out. He had quickly +turned his boat and was rowing back. +He came close to King Arnvid and +called:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He is there, ahead. His boats are +ready in line of battle. The fox has not +been asleep."</p> + +<p>King Arnvid blew his horn. Slowly +his boats came into line with his "Sea-stag" +in the middle. Again he blew his +horn. Cables were thrown across from +one prow to the next, and all the ships +were tied together so that their sides +touched. Then the men set their sails +again and they went past a tongue of +land into a broad fiord. There lay the +long line of King Harald's ships with +their fierce heads grinning and mocking +at the newcomers. Back of those prows +was what looked like a long wall with +spots of green and red and blue and +yellow and shining gold. It was the +locked shields of the men in the bows, +and over every shield looked fierce blue +eyes. Higher up and farther back was +another wall of shields; for on the half +deck in the stern of every ship stood the +captain with his shield-guard of a dozen +men.</p> + +<p>Arnvid's people had furled their sails +and were taking down the masts, but the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +ships were still drifting on with the wind. +The horn blew, and quickly every man +sprang to his place in bow and stern. +All were leaning forward with clenched +teeth and widespread nostrils. They +were clutching their naked swords in +their hands. Their flashing eyes looked +over their shields.</p> + +<p>Soon King Arnvid's ships crashed into +Harald's line, and immediately the men +in the bows began to swing their swords +at one another. The soldiers of the +shield-guard on the high decks began to +throw darts and stones and to shoot +arrows into the ships opposite them.</p> + +<p>So in every ship showers of stones and +arrows were falling, and many men died +under them or got broken arms or legs. +Spears were hurled from deck to deck +and many of them bit deep into men's +bodies. In every bow men slashed with +their swords at the foes in the opposite +ship. Some jumped upon the gunwale to +get nearer or hung from the prow-head. +Some even leaped into the enemy's boat.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 343px;"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a> +<img src="images/029.png" width="343" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat"</div> + +<p>King Harald's ship lay prow to prow +with King Arnvid's. The battle had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +going on for an hour. King Harald was +still in the stern on the deck. There was +a dent in his helmet where a great stone +had struck. There was a gash in his +shoulder where a spear had cut. But +he was still fighting and laughed as he +worked.</p> + +<p>"Wolf meets wolf to-day," he said. +"But things are going badly in the +prow," he cried. "Ivar fallen, Thorstein +wounded, a dozen men lying in the +bottom of the boat!"</p> + +<p>He leaped down from the deck and ran +along the gunwale, shouting as he went:</p> + +<p>"Harald and victory!"</p> + +<p>So he came to the bow and stood +swinging his sword as fast as he breathed. +Every time it hit a man of Arnvid's men. +Harald's own warriors cheered, seeing +him.</p> + +<p>"Harald and victory!" they shouted, +and went to work again with good heart.</p> + +<p>Slowly King Arnvid's men fell back +before Harald's biting sword. Then Harald's +men threw a great hook into that +boat and pulled it alongside and still +pushed King Arnvid's people back.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Come on! Follow me!" cried Harald.</p> + +<p>Then he leaped into King Arnvid's +boat, and his warriors followed him.</p> + +<p>"He comes like a mad wolf," King +Arnvid's men said, and they turned and +ran back below the deck.</p> + +<p>Then Arnvid himself leaped down and +stood with his sword raised.</p> + +<p>"Can this young Shockhead make cowards +of you all?" he cried.</p> + +<p>But Harald's sword struck him, and +he fell dead. Then a big, bloody viking +of King Arnvid leaped upon the edge of +the ship and stood there. He held his +drinking-horn and his sword high in his +hands.</p> + +<p>"Ran<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> and not you, Shockhead, shall +have them and me!" he cried, and leaped +laughing into the water and was drowned.</p> + +<p>Many other warriors chose the same +death on that terrible day.</p> + +<p>All along the line of boats men fought +for hours. In some places the cables had +been cut, and the boats had drifted apart. +Ships lay scattered about two by two, +fighting. May boats sank, many men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +died, some fled away in their ships, and +at the end King Harald had won the +battle. So he had King Arnvid's country +and King Audbiorn's country. Many +men took the oath and became his +friends. All people were talking of his +wonderful battles.</p> + +<div class="figdeco"> +<img src="images/017.png" width="100" height="50" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Ran">Ran</a> on page <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/030.png" width="350" height="91" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<h2>King Harald's Wedding</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">It</span> had taken King Harald ten years to +fight so many battles. And all that +time he had not cut his hair or combed it. +Now he was feasting one day at an earl's +house. Many people were there.</p> + +<p>"How is it, friends?" Harald said. +"Have I kept my vow?"</p> + +<p>His friends answered:</p> + +<p>"You have kept your vow. There is +no king but you in all Norway."</p> + +<p>"Then I think I will cut my hair," the +king laughed.</p> + +<p>So he went and bathed and put on +fresh clothes. Then the earl cut his hair +and beard and combed them and put a +gold band about his head. Then he +looked at him and said:</p> + +<p>"It is beautiful, smooth, and yellow."</p> + +<p>And all people wondered at the beauty +of the king's hair.</p> + +<p>"I will give you a new name," the +earl said. "You shall no longer be called<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +Shockhead. You shall be called Harald +Hairfair."</p> + +<div class="figright"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a> +<img src="images/031.png" width="342" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"I, Harald, King of Norway, take you Gyda, for my wife"</div> + +<p>"It is a good name," everybody cried.</p> + +<p>Then Harald said:</p> + +<p>"But I have another thing to do now. +Guthorm, you shall take the same message +to Gyda that you gave ten years +ago."</p> + +<p>So Guthorm went and brought back +this answer from Gyda:</p> + +<p>"I will marry the king of all Norway."</p> + +<p>So when the wedding time came, Harald +rode across the country to the home +of Gyda's father, Eric. Many men followed +him. They were all richly dressed +in velvet and gold.</p> + +<p>For three nights they feasted at Eric's +house. On the next night Gyda sat on +the cross-bench with her women. A +long veil of white linen covered her face +and head and hung down to the ground. +After the mead-horns had been brought +in, Eric stood up from his high seat +and went down and stood before King +Harald.</p> + +<p>"Will you marry Gyda now?" he +asked.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>Harald jumped to his feet and laughed.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said. "I have waited long +enough."</p> + +<p>Then he stepped down from his high +seat and stood by Eric. They walked +about the hall. Before them walked +thralls carrying candles. Behind them +walked many of King Harald's great +earls. Three times they walked around +the hall. The third time they stopped +before the cross-bench. King Harald +and Eric stepped upon the platform, where +the cross-bench was.</p> + +<p>Eric gave a holy hammer to Harald, +and it was like the hammer of Thor. +Harald put it upon Gyda's lap, saying:</p> + +<p>"With this holy hammer of Thor's, I, +Harald, King of Norway, take you, Gyda, +for my wife."</p> + +<p>Then he took a bunch of keys and +tied it to Gyda's girdle, saying:</p> + +<p>"This is the sign that you are mistress +of my house."</p> + +<p>After that, Eric called out loudly:</p> + +<p>"Now, are Harald, King of Norway, +and Gyda, daughter of Eric, man and +wife."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then thralls brought meat and drink +in golden dishes. They were about to +serve it to Gyda for the bride's feast, but +Harald took the dish from them and said:</p> + +<p>"No, I will serve my bride."</p> + +<p>So he knelt and held the platter. +When he did that his men shouted. Then +they talked among themselves, saying:</p> + +<p>"Surely Harald never knelt before. +It is always other people who kneel to +him."</p> + +<p>When the bride had tasted the food +and touched the mead-horn to her lips +she stood up and walked from the hall. +All her women followed her, but the men +stayed and feasted long.</p> + +<p>On the next morning at breakfast +Gyda sat by Harald's side. Soon the +king rose and said:</p> + +<p>"Father-in-law, our horses stand ready +in the yard. Work is waiting for me at +home and on the sea. Lead out the +bride."</p> + +<p>So Eric took Gyda by the hand and +led her out of the hall. Harald followed +close. When they passed through the +door Eric said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> + +<p>"With this hand I lead my daughter +out of my house and give her to you, +Harald, son of Halfdan, to be your wife. +May all the gods make you happy!"</p> + +<p>Harald led his bride to the horse and +lifted her up and set her behind his saddle +and said:</p> + +<p>"Now this Gyda is my wife."</p> + +<p>Then they drank the stirrup-horn and +rode off.</p> + +<p>"Everything comes to King Harald," +his men said; "wife and land and crown +and victory in battle. He is a lucky +man."</p> + +<div class="figdeco"> +<img src="images/014.png" width="100" height="60" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/032.png" width="350" height="92" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>King Harald Goes West-Over-Seas</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Now</span> many men hated King Harald. +Many a man said:</p> + +<p>"Why should he put himself up for +king of all of us? He is no better than I +am. Am I not a king's son as well as he? +And are not many of us kings' sons? I +will not kneel before him and promise to +be his man. I will not pay him taxes. I +will not have his earl sitting over me. +The good old days have gone. This +Norway has become a prison. I will go +away and find some other place."</p> + +<p>So hundreds of men sailed away. +Some went to France and got land and +lived there. Big Rolf-go-afoot and all +his men sailed up the great French River +and won a battle against the French king +himself. There was no way to stop the +flashing of his battle-axes but to give +him what he wanted. So the king made +Rolf a duke, gave him broad lands and +gave him the king's own daughter for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +wife. Rolf called his country Normandy, +for old Norway. He ruled it well and +was a great lord, and his sons' sons after +him were kings of England.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 343px;"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a> +<img src="images/033.png" width="343" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"In Norway they left burning houses and weeping women"</div> + +<p>Other Norsemen went to Ireland and +England and Scotland. They drew up +their boats on the river banks. The +people ran away before them and +gathered into great armies that marched +back to meet the vikings in battle. +Sometimes the Norsemen lost, but oftener +they won, so that they got land and lived +in those countries. Their houses sat in +these strange lands like warriors' camps, +and the Norsemen went among their +new neighbors with hanging swords and +spears in hand, ever ready for fight.</p> + +<p>There are many islands north of Scotland. +They are called the Orkneys and +the Shetlands. They have many good +harbors for ships. They are little and +rocky and bare of trees. Wild sea-birds +scream around them. On some of them +a man can stand in the middle and see +the ocean all about him. Now the vikings +sailed to these islands and were +pleased.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>"It is like being always in a boat," +they said. "This shall be our home."</p> + +<p>So it went until all the lands round +about were covered with vikings. Norse +carved and painted houses brightened the +hillsides. Viking ships sailed all the seas +and made harbor in every river. Norsemen's +thralls plowed the soil and planted +crops and herded cattle, and gold flowed +into their masters' treasure-chests. Norse +warriors walked up and down the land, +and no man dared to say them nay.</p> + +<p>These men did not forget Norway. In +the summers they sailed back there and +harried the coast. They took gold and +grain and beautiful cloth back to their +homes. In Norway they left burning +houses and weeping women.</p> + +<p>Every summer King Harald had out +his ships and men and hunted these +vikings. There are many little islands +about Norway. They have crags and +caves and deep woods. Here the vikings +hid when they saw King Harald's +ships coming. But Harald ran his boat +into every creek and fiord and hunted in +every cave and through all the woods and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +among the crags. He caught many men, +but most of them got away and went +home laughing at Harald. Then they +came back the next summer and did the +same deeds over again. At last King +Harald said:</p> + +<p>"There is but one thing to do. I must +sail to these western islands and whip +these robbers in their own homes."</p> + +<p>So he went with a great number of +ships. He found as brave men as he had +brought from Norway. These vikings +had brought their old courage to their +new homes. King Harald's fine ships +were scarred by viking stones and +scorched by viking fire. The shields of +Harald's warriors had dents from viking +blows. Many of those men carried viking +scars all their lives. And many of +King Harald's warriors walked the long, +hard road to Valhalla, and feasted there +with some of these very vikings that +had died in King Harald's battles. But +after many hard fights on land and sea, +after many men had died and many had +fled away to other lands, King Harald +won, and he made the men that were yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +in the islands take the oath, and he left +his earls to rule over them. Then he +went back to Norway.</p> + +<p>"He has done more than he vowed +to do," people said. "He has not only +whipped the vikings, but he has got a +new kingdom west-over-seas."</p> + +<p>Then they talked of that dream that +his mother had.</p> + +<p>"King Harald was that great tree," +they said. "The trunk was red with the +blood of his many battles, but higher +up the limbs were fair and green like +this good time of peace. The topmost +branches were white because Harald will +live to be an old man. Just as that tree +spread out until all of Norway was in its +shade, and even more lands, so Harald +is king of all this country and of the +western islands. The many branches of +that tree are the many sons of Harald, +who shall be earls and kings in Norway, +and their sons after them, for hundreds +of years."</p> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p> +<h2 class="hd2"><i>PART II</i></h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/034.png" width="200" height="218" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2 class="hd2">WEST-OVER-SEAS</h2> + +<hr /> + +<div class="figcenter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +<img src="images/001.png" width="150" height="75" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/035.png" width="350" height="92" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>Homes in Iceland</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Men</span> had been feasting in Ingolf's +house. But there was no laughing +and no shouting of jokes. Ingolf sat in +his high seat frowning and gloomy. His +head hung on his breast. He was staring +into the fire. Now he raised his head +and looked about the hall.</p> + +<p>"Comrades," he said, "what shall we +do? Herstein and Holmstein died by our +swords. Their kinsmen hunger to kill us. +Besides, when Harald hears of our deed, +there will not be a safe place in Norway +for us. He will never let a man fight out +an honest quarrel. Where shall we go?"</p> + +<p>A man stood up from the bench.</p> + +<p>"We have friends in the Shetlands," +he said. "Let us find homes there."</p> + +<p>Then Leif, in the high seat opposite +Ingolf, stood up.</p> + +<p>"No, not the Shetlands, my foster-brother.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> +They are crowded already.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +Besides, Harald will not long keep his +hands off them. Then they will be no +better than Norway. England and Ireland +and Scotland are old. My eyes ache +for something new. What of that far +island that Floki found? It is empty. +We could choose our land from the whole +country. There is good fishing. There +are green valleys. And Butter Thorolf +says that butter drops from every weed. +There are mountains and deserts where +we may find adventure. I say, let us +steer for Iceland!"</p> + +<p>When he stopped, many of the men +shouted:</p> + +<p>"Yes! Iceland!"</p> + +<p>But an old man stood up.</p> + +<p>"We have all laughed at that tale of +Butter Thorolf's," he said. "But Floki +himself said that the sea about the island +is full of ice that pushes upon the land, +that no ship can live in that water in +the winter, that great mountains of ice +cover the island. Did not all his cattle +die there of hunger and cold, and did +he not come back to Norway cursing Iceland?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Sighvat, you are old and fearful," +called out Leif, and he laughed.</p> + +<p>Then he stretched himself up and +threw back his head.</p> + +<p>"Are we afraid of ice? Have we not +seen angry water before? I have been +hungry, but I have never died of it. +Surely if there are fish in the sea and +grass in the valleys, we can live there. +I should like to stand on a hill and look +around on a wide land and think, 'This +is all ours,' and out upon a rough sea and +think, 'Far off there are our foes and +they dare not come over to us.' Besides, +we shall have no Shockhead Harald to +lord it over us. We can come and go and +feast and fight as we please. We shall +be our own kings. And our ships will be +always waiting to take us away, when we +are weary of it. And we shall see things +that other men have never seen. I am +tired of the old things. Perhaps in after +days men will make songs about 'those +foster-brothers, Ingolf and Leif, who +made a new country in a wonderful land, +and whose sons and grandsons are mighty +men in Iceland!'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ingolf leaped up from his chair.</p> + +<p>"By the strong arm of Thor!" he +cried, "I like the sound of it. Now I +make my vow."</p> + +<p>He raised his drinking-horn.</p> + +<p>"I vow that I will find this Iceland and +pass the winter there, and that if man +can live upon it I will go back there and +set up my home."</p> + +<p>"And I vow that I will follow my +foster-brother," cried Leif.</p> + +<p>And many men vowed to go.</p> + +<p>So on the next day they began to make +ready a boat. They looked her over +carefully and recalked every seam and +freshly painted her and put into her their +strongest oars and made her a new sail.</p> + +<p>"This will be the longest voyage that +she ever made," Ingolf said.</p> + +<p>When the work was done, they put +into her great stores, axes, hammers, fish-nets, +cooking-kettles, kegs of ale, chests +of hard bread, chests of smoked meat, +brass kettles full of flour, skin bottles of +water. They stowed these things away +in the ends of the ship. When they were +ready they put in four head of cattle.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We shall need the milk and perhaps +the meat," Ingolf said.</p> + +<p>Many men wished to go, but Ingolf +had said:</p> + +<p>"There is little room to spare and little +food and drink. I have planned for half +a year. But perhaps we must be sailing +longer than that. Our food may run +short. We must not have extra mouths +to feed. There are thirty oars in our +boat. I will take only one man for every +oar, and Leif and I will steer."</p> + +<p>So they started off. Leif stood in the +prow leaning forward and looking far +ahead, and he sang:</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span class="i0">"What does the swimming dragon smell?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A stormy sea, an empty land,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hunger, darkness, giants, fire.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Leif and his sword do laugh at that."<br /></span> +</div> + +<p>They sailed for days and saw no land. +Sometimes they passed ships and always +made sure to sail close enough to hail +them.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" Ingolf would +call.</p> + +<p>"To Norway," would come back the +answer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p> + +<p>"For trade or fight?" Leif would shout.</p> + +<p>Then would ring out a great laugh +from that boat and this answer:</p> + +<p>"A shut mouth is a good friend."</p> + +<p>So the two ships sailed on, and the men +were glad to have heard a greeting and +to have called one.</p> + +<p>But at last there were the Shetlands.</p> + +<p>"We will go in here and rest," Ingolf +said.</p> + +<p>When they rowed to shore a certain +Shetland man stood there. He watched +them land and looked them all over. +Then he walked up to Ingolf and said:</p> + +<p>"You look like brave men. Welcome +to Shetland. You shall come to my +house and rest your legs from ship-going +and fill your stomachs. I hunger for +news of Norway."</p> + +<p>So they went to his house and stayed +there for three days. And good it seemed +to be near a fire and in a quiet bed and +before a steaming platter. When they +went to the shore to start off again, the +Shetland man had his thralls carry a keg +of ale and a great kettle of cooked meat +and put them into the ship.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Think of me when you eat this," he +said.</p> + +<p>Then the Norsemen put to sea again +and sailed for a long time.</p> + +<p>One day a terrible storm came up; the +sky was black; the wind howled through +the ship. Great waves leaped in the sea.</p> + +<p>"Down with the sail and out with the +oars!" Ingolf shouted.</p> + +<p>So the men furled the sail and took +down the mast and laid it along the bottom +of the boat. As they worked, one +man was washed overboard and drowned. +The men sat down to row, but the tumbling +waves tossed the boat about and +poured over her and broke three of the +oars. But still the men held on. They +were wet to the skin and were cold, and +their arms and legs ached with the hard +work, and they were hungry from the +long waiting, but not one face was white +with fear.</p> + +<p>"Ran, in her caves under sea, wants +us for company to-night," Ingolf laughed.</p> + +<p>So they tossed about all night, but in +the morning the wind died down. Great +waves still rolled, and for days the sea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +was rough, but they could put up the sail. +Then one day Leif, as he sat in the pilot's +seat, jumped to his feet and sang:</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span class="i0">"To eyes grown tired with looking far,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All at once appeared an island,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A stretching-place for sea-legs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A quiet bed for backs grown stiff<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On rowing-bench on rolling sea.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A place to build a red fire<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And thaw the blood that sea-winds froze."<br /></span> +</div> + +<p>But when they came near they saw no +place to land. The island was like a +mountain of rock standing out of the +water. The sides were steep and smooth. +They sailed around it, but found no place +to climb up.</p> + +<p>"There are many other islands here," +said Leif. "We will try another."</p> + +<p>So he steered to another. It, too, was +a steep rock, but one side sloped down to +the water and was green with grass.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have not seen anything so good +as that green grass since I looked into +my mother's face," one man said.</p> + +<p>There was a little harbor there. The +men rowed in and quickly jumped out and +put the rollers under the ship and pulled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +her upon shore. Then they threw themselves +down on the grass and rolled and +stretched their arms and shouted for joy. +After that they built a fire and warmed +themselves and cooked a meal and ate like +wolves. They slept there that night.</p> + +<p>In the morning before Ingolf's men +started away they were standing high +up on the hillside, looking about. They +saw no houses on any of the islands, but +they saw smoke rise from one hillside.</p> + +<p>"Some other men, like us, weary of +the sea and stopping to rest," said Ingolf.</p> + +<p>They saw the island that they had +sailed around the night before.</p> + +<p>"There can surely be nothing but +birds' nests on top of that," Sighvat said.</p> + +<p>"Look!" cried another, pointing.</p> + +<p>Men were standing on the flat top of +that island. They were letting a boat +down the steep side with ropes. When +it struck the water, they made a rope fast +to the rock and slid down it into the ship +and sailed off.</p> + +<p>"Some robber vikings from Scotland +or Ireland," laughed Leif. "It is a good +hiding place for treasure."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p> + +<p>Soon Ingolf and his men got into their +ship and were off. Old Sighvat grumbled.</p> + +<p>"Is this land not new enough and +empty enough and far enough? I am +tired of sea, sea, sea, and nothing else."</p> + +<p>"We started for Iceland," said Ingolf, +"and I will not stop before I come there. +I have a vow. Did you make none, +Sighvat?"</p> + +<p>Then they were on the water again +for weeks with no sight of land.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I would give my right hand to see +a dragon pawing the water off there and +to fling a word to its men," Sighvat said.</p> + +<p>"No hope of that," replied Ingolf. +"Only three dragons before ours have +ever swept this water, and men are not +sailing this way for pleasure or riches."</p> + +<p>So only the desolate sea stretched +around them. Sometimes it was smooth +and shining under the sun. Often it was +torn by winds, and a gray sky hung over +it, and the men were drenched with rain. +Once they ran into a fog. For three days +and nights they could not see sun or stars +to steer by. They forgot which way was +north. When after three days the fog<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +lifted, they found that they had been +going in the wrong direction, and they +had to turn around and sail all that weary +way over again. But at last one afternoon +they saw a white cloud resting on +the water far off. As they sailed toward +it, it grew into long stretches of black, +hilly shore with a blue ice mountain rising +from it. The sun was going down +behind that mountain, and long lines of +pink and of shining green, and great +purple shadows streaked the blue.</p> + +<p>"It is Iceland!" shouted the men.</p> + +<p>"It is like Asgard the Shining," Ingolf +said.</p> + +<p>But it was still far off. Men can see +a long way there because the air is so +clear. So Ingolf and his people sailed on +for hours and at last came into a harbor. +A little green valley sloped up from it. +On one side was the bright ice mountain. +Back of it were bare black and red hills. +In that valley Ingolf and his men drew +up their boat and camped. At supper +that night one of the men said:</p> + +<p>"I almost think I never felt a fire +before or had warm food in my mouth."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> + +<p>The men laughed.</p> + +<p>"It is four months since we left Norway," +Ingolf said. "Few men have ever +been on the sea so long."</p> + +<p>That night they put up the awning in +the boat and slept under it.</p> + +<p>After that some men went fishing +every day in the rowboat that they had. +And Ingolf took others, and they sailed +along the shore, seeing what kind of a +land this was. But winter began to come +on. Then Ingolf said:</p> + +<p>"Remember what Floki said of the ice +and the rough sea in winter. Soon we +cannot sail any longer. Let us choose a +place to stay and build a hut there and +cut hay for our cattle."</p> + +<p>So they did. Their hut was a little +mean thing of stones and turf. They +kept the cattle and the hay in it. Sometimes +they slept there, when it was very +cold. But most of the time they ate +and slept by a great bonfire out of doors +where it was clean. Leif said:</p> + +<p>"I like the cold air of the sea better +than the bad-smelling air of a house, +even though it is warm."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now every day Ingolf and Leif and +some of the men walked about the island. +At night they all sat around the campfire +and talked of what they had seen +during the day.</p> + +<p>"This is surely a wonderful land," +Ingolf said once. "It is at the same time +like Niflheim and like Asgard. Here is a +spot green and soft, a sweet cradle for +men. Next it is a mountain of ice where +men would freeze to death. And next to +that is a hill of rock that seems to have +come out of some great fire. Yesterday I +saw a cave on the seashore. The door +of it was big enough for a giant. The +waves broke at the doorstep. A terrible +roaring came from the cave. I think it +is the home of a giant. I think that +giants of fire and giants of frost made +this island. I have seen great basins in +the rocks filled with warm water. They +looked like giants' bath-tubs. I have +seen boiling water shoot up out of the +ground. I have walked, and have felt +and heard a great rumbling under me as +though some giant were sleeping there +and turning over in his sleep. One day<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> +I stood on a mountain and looked inland. +There was a wide desert of sand and +black and red rock with nothing growing +on it. The fierce wind blew dirt into my +eyes, and the cold of it froze the marrow +in my bones. When I have seen these +things I have cursed the country, and have +said: 'The gods hate Iceland. I will not +stay here.' But then I have walked +through beautiful warm valleys where +the winds did not come. I saw in my +mind the flowers that we found last summer. +I saw our cattle feeding on the +sweet grass. I thought of the sea full of +good fish. I saw my house built among +green fields, and my wife sitting in her +home, and my children playing among +the flowers and making up tales about +the bright ice mountains. I saw the +wide, rough seas between me and Harald +and our foes. Then I thought to myself, +'It is the sweetest home on earth.' As +for me, I am coming here to live. What +do you say, comrades?"</p> + +<p>"Have I not vowed to follow you, +foster-brother?" said Leif. "And indeed +I never saw a land that I liked better.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> +I don't believe in your giants. My sword +is my god, and my ship is my temple, and +I like this land to set them up in."</p> + +<p>They sat about the fire long that night +making plans.</p> + +<p>"You shall go home and get our +women and our things, Ingolf," said Leif. +"I will off to Ireland and have a frolic. +There will be little play of swords in this +empty land, and I want to have one last +game before I hang up my battle-knife. +Besides, I will come to you with a ship full +of gold and clothes and house-hangings +such as we cannot get here, and they will +cost me nothing but the swing of a sword."</p> + +<p>As they talked, Ingolf looked up at the +sky. The northern lights were quivering +there. They were like great flames +of yellow and green and red.</p> + +<p>"See," he said, and pointed. "We are +not so far that the gods will forget us. +There is the flash of the armor of the +Valkyrias.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> A battle is on somewhere, +and Odin has sent his maidens to choose +the heroes for Valhalla."</p> + +<p>Leif only laughed and lay down to sleep.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p> + +<p>So in the spring they all went back to +Norway. Leif got ready the boat again +and merrily sailed for Ireland.</p> + +<p>"Here I go to get riches for our new +land," he said.</p> + +<p>Ingolf set his men to cutting down pines +in the forest and some to building a new +ship. He had his thralls plant large crops of +grain and grind flour and make new kegs +and chests of wood. He himself worked +much at the forge, making all kinds of +tools—spades, axes, hammers, hunting-knives, +cooking kettles. The women were +busy weaving and sewing new clothes. +Ingolf sold his house and land and everything +that he could not take with him.</p> + +<p>After about two years Leif came back. +He had ten thralls that he had got in Ireland. +He took Ingolf aboard his ship and +raised the covers of great chests. Gold +helmets, silver-trimmed drinking-horns, +embroidered robes, and swords flashed +out.</p> + +<p>"Did I not say that I would come +back with a full ship?" he laughed.</p> + +<p>At last all things were ready for starting.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> + +<p>"To-day I will sacrifice to Thor and +Odin," Ingolf said. "If the omens are +good we will start to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Well, go, foster-brother," laughed +Leif. "But I have better things to do. +I will be putting the cattle into the ship +and will have all ready."</p> + +<p>So Ingolf and his men went into the +forests a little way. There in a cleared +space stood a large building. In front of +this temple the men killed two horses for +Odin. Ingolf caught some of the blood +in a brass bowl. He raised it and looked +up at the sky and said:</p> + +<p>"All-wise and all-father Odin, and +Thor who loves the thunder, I give these +horses to you. Tell me whether it is +your will that we go to Iceland."</p> + +<p>As he said that, a raven flew over his +head. Ingolf watched it.</p> + +<p>"It is Odin's will that we go," he said. +"He sent his raven<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> to tell us. It is flying +straight toward Iceland."</p> + +<p>The men shouted with joy at that.</p> + +<p>Now they hung some of the meat of +the horses on a tree near the temple.</p> + +<p>"For the ravens of Odin," they said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ingolf carried the bowl of blood into +the temple. He went through the feast +hall in front to a little room at the back. +Here stood wooden statues of the gods in +a semicircle. Before them was a stone +altar. Ingolf took a little brush of twigs +that lay on it and dipped it into the blood +and sprinkled the statues.</p> + +<p>"You shall taste of our sacrifice," he +said. "Look kindly on us from your +happy seats in Asgard."</p> + +<p>Then they went into the feast hall. +There thralls were boiling the horseflesh +in pots over the fire. The tables were +standing ready before the benches. Ingolf +walked to the high seat. All the +others took their places at the benches. +When the horns came round, Ingolf made +this vow:</p> + +<p>"I vow that I will build my house +wherever these pillars lead me."</p> + +<p>He put his hand upon a tall post that +stood beside the high seat. There was +one at each side. They were the front +posts of the chair. But they stood up +high, almost to the roof. They were wonderfully +carved and painted with men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +and dragons. On the top of each one +was a little statue of Thor with his +hammer.</p> + +<p>At the end of the feast Ingolf had his +thralls dig these pillars up. He had a +little bronze chest filled with the earth +that was under the altar.</p> + +<p>"I will take the pillars of my high seat +to Iceland," he said, "and I will set up +my altar there upon the soil of Norway, +the soil that all my ancestors have trod, +the soil that Thor loves."</p> + +<p>So they carried the pillars and the +chest of earth and the statues of the gods, +and put them into Ingolf's boat.</p> + +<p>"It is a well-packed ship," the men +said. "There is no spot to spare."</p> + +<p>Tools, and chests of food, and tubs of +drink, and chests of clothes, and fishing +nets were stowed in the bows of both +boats. In the bottom were laid some +long, heavy, hewn logs.</p> + +<p>"The trees in Iceland are little," Ingolf +said. "We must take the great beams for +our homes with us."</p> + +<p>Standing on these logs were a few +cattle and sheep and horses and pigs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +The rowers' benches were along the sides. +In the stern of each boat was a little +cabin. Here the women and children +were to sleep. But the men would sleep +on the timbers in the middle of the boat +and perhaps they would put up the awning +sometimes.</p> + +<p>At last everyone was aboard. Men +loosed the rope that held the boats. The +ships flashed down the rollers into the +water, and Ingolf and Leif were off for +Iceland. As they sailed away everyone +looked back at the shore of old Norway. +There were tears in the women's eyes. +Helga, Leif's wife, sang:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 16em;"> +<span class="i0">"There was I born. There was I wed.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There are my father's bones.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There are the hills and fields,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The streams and rocks that I love.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There are houses and temples,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Women and warriors and feasts,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ships and songs and fights—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A crowded, joyous land.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I go to an empty land."<br /></span> +</div> + +<p>There was the same long voyage with +storm and fog. But at last the people +saw again the white cloud and saw it +growing into land and mountains. Then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +Ingolf took the pillars of his high seat +and threw them overboard.</p> + +<p>"Guide them to a good place, O Thor!" +he cried.</p> + +<p>The waves caught them up and rolled +them about. Ingolf followed them with +his ship. But soon a storm came up. The +men had to take down the sails and +masts, and they could do nothing with +their oars. The two ships tossed about +in the sea wherever the waves sent them. +The pillars drifted away, and Ingolf could +not see them.</p> + +<p>"Remember your pillars, O Thor!" he +cried.</p> + +<p>Then he saw that Leif's ship was being +driven far off.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my foster-brother," he thought, +"shall I not have you to cheer me in this +empty land? O Thor, let him not go +down to the caves of Ran! He is too +good a man for that."</p> + +<p>On the next day the storm was not so +hard, and Ingolf put in at a good harbor. +A high rocky point stuck out into the sea. +A broad bay with islands in the mouth +was at the side. Behind the rocky point<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +was a level green place with ice-mountains +shining far back.</p> + +<div class="figright"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a> +<img src="images/036.png" width="342" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven afar off"</div> + +<p>After a day or two Ingolf said:</p> + +<p>"I will go look for my pillars."</p> + +<p>So he and a few men got into the rowboat +and went along the shore and into +all the fiords, but they could not find the +pillars. After a week they came back, +and Ingolf said:</p> + +<p>"I will build a house here to live in +while I look for the posts. This way is +uncomfortable for the women."</p> + +<p>So he did. Then he set out again to +look for the pillars, but he had no better +luck and came back.</p> + +<p>"I must stay at home and see to the +making of hay and the drying of fish," +he said. "Winter is coming on, and we +must not be caught with nothing to eat."</p> + +<p>So he stayed and worked and sent +two of his thralls to look for the holy +posts. They came back every week or +two and always had to say that they +had not found them. Midwinter was +coming on.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Ingolf's wife one day, "do +you remember the gay feast that we had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +at Yule-time? All our friends were there. +The house rang with song and laughter. +Our tables bent with good things to eat. +Walls were hung with gay draperies. +The floor was clean with sweet-smelling +pine-branches. Now look at this mean +house; its dirt floor, its bare stone walls, +its littleness, its darkness! Look at our +long faces. No one here could make a +song if he tried. Oh! I am sick for dear +old Norway."</p> + +<p>"It is Thor's fault," Ingolf cried. "He +will not let me find his posts."</p> + +<p>He strode out of the house and stood +scowling at the gray sea.</p> + +<p>"Ah, foster-brother!" he said. "It was +never so gloomy when you were by my +side. Where are you now? Shall I never +hear your merry laugh again? That spot +in my palm burns, and my heart aches to +see you. That arch of sod keeps rising +before my eyes. Our vows keep ringing +in my ears."</p> + +<p>At last the long, gloomy winter passed +and spring came.</p> + +<p>"Cheer up, good wife," Ingolf said. +"Better days are coming now."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p> + +<p>But that same day the thralls came +back from looking for the posts.</p> + +<p>"We have bad news," they said. "As +we walked along the shore looking for +the pillars we saw a man lying on the +shore. We went up to him. He was dead. +It was Leif. Two well-built houses stood +near. We went to them. We knew from +the carving on the door-posts that they +were Leif's. We went in. The rooms +were empty. Along the shore and in the +wood back of the house we found all +of his men, dead. There was no living +thing about."</p> + +<p>Ingolf said no word, but his face was +white, and his mouth was set. He went +into the house and got his spears and his +shield and said to his men:</p> + +<p>"Follow me."</p> + +<p>They put provisions into the boat and +pushed off and sailed until they saw +Leif's houses on the shore of the harbor. +There they saw Leif and the men who +were his friends, dead. Their swords +and spears were gone. Ingolf walked +through the houses calling on Helga +and on the thralls, but no one answered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +The storehouse was empty. The rich +hangings were gone from the walls of +the houses. There was nothing in the +stables. The boat was gone.</p> + +<p>Ingolf went out and stood on a high +point of land that jutted out into the +water. Far along the coast he saw some +little islands. He turned to his men and +said:</p> + +<p>"The thralls have done it. I think we +shall find them on those islands."</p> + +<p>Then he went back to Leif and stood +looking at him.</p> + +<p>"What a shame for so brave a man to +fall by the hands of thralls! But I have +found that such things always happen to +men who do not sacrifice to the gods. Ah, +Leif! I did not think when we made those +vows of foster-brotherhood that this would +ever happen. But do not fear. I remember +my promise. I had thought that a +man's blood is precious in this empty +land, but my vow is more precious."</p> + +<p>Now they laid all those men together +and tied on their hell-shoes.</p> + +<p>"I need my sword for your sake, foster-brother. +I cannot give you that. But you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> +shall have my spears and my drinking-horn," +said Ingolf. "For surely Odin has +chosen you for Valhalla, even though you +did not sacrifice. You are too good a man +to go to Niflheim. You would make +times merry in Valhalla."</p> + +<p>So Ingolf put his spears and his drinking-horn +by Leif. Then the men raised +a great mound over all the dead. After +that they went aboard their boat and +sailed for the islands that Ingolf had +seen. It was evening when they reached +them.</p> + +<p>"I see smoke rising from that one," +Ingolf said, pointing.</p> + +<p>He steered for it. It was a steep rock +like that one in the Faroes, but they +found a harbor and landed and climbed +the steep hill and came out on top. They +saw the ten thralls sitting about a bonfire +eating. Helga and the other women from +Leif's house sat near, huddled together, +white and frightened. One of the thralls +gave a great laugh and shouted:</p> + +<p>"This is better than pulling Leif's +plow. To-morrow we will sail for Ireland +with all his wealth."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> + +<p>"To-morrow you will be freezing in +Niflheim," cried Ingolf, and he leaped +among them swinging his sword, and all +his men followed him, and they killed +those thralls.</p> + +<p>Then Ingolf turned to Helga. She +threw herself into his arms and wept. +But after a while she told him this +story:</p> + +<p>"When springtime came, Leif thought +that he would sow wheat. He had but +one ox. The others had died during the +winter. So he set the thralls to help pull +the plow. I saw their sour looks and +was afraid, but Leif only laughed:</p> + +<p>"'What else can thralls expect?' he +said. 'Never fear them, good wife.'</p> + +<p>"Now one day soon after that the +thralls came running to the house calling +out:</p> + +<p>"'The ox is dead! The ox is dead!'</p> + +<p>"Leif asked them about it. They said +that a bear had come out of the woods +and killed it, and that they had scared +the beast away. They pointed out where +it had gone. Then Leif called his men +and said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'A hunt! I had not hoped for such +great sport here. Ah, we will have a +feast off that bear!'</p> + +<p>"So they took their spears and went +out into the woods. As soon as they were +gone, the thralls came running into the +house and took down all the swords and +shields from the wall and ran out. In +some way they met my lord and his men +in the woods and killed them. Then they +came back and took everything in the +house and dragged us to the boat and +sailed here."</p> + +<p>"O my brother!" said Ingolf, "where +is that song about 'those two foster-brothers, +Ingolf and Leif, who made a +new country in a wonderful land, and +whose sons and grandsons are mighty +men in Iceland'? But come home with +me, Helga."</p> + +<p>So they took the women and Leif's +things and Leif's boat and sailed home. +The next day after they came to Ingolf's +house, Helga said:</p> + +<p>"We have made your family larger, +brother Ingolf. Will you not take Leif's +two houses and live in them? He does<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +not need them now. He would like you +to have them."</p> + +<p>"It would be pleasant to live there," +Ingolf said. "I thank you."</p> + +<p>So the next day they loaded everything +aboard the two ships and sailed +for Leif's house. There they stayed for +a year. Ingolf still sent his thralls out +to look for the pillars. He was careful +always to have hay, so his cattle prospered. +That spring he planted wheat, but +it did not grow well.</p> + +<p>"This is sickly stuff," Ingolf said. "It +takes too much time and work. It is +better to save the land for hay. Perhaps +we can sometime go back to Norway for +flour."</p> + +<p>At last one day the thralls came home +and said:</p> + +<p>"We have found the pillars."</p> + +<p>Ingolf jumped to his feet. He cried +out:</p> + +<p>"You have kept me waiting three +years, Thor. But as soon as my house +and temple are built, I will sacrifice to +you three horses as a thank-offering."</p> + +<p>"It is a long way off, master," the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> +thralls said, "and we have found much +better places in our walks about the +island."</p> + +<p>"Thor knows best," Ingolf answered. +"I will settle where he leads me."</p> + +<p>So that summer they loaded everything +into the ships again and sailed west +along the coast until they came to the +place where the pillars were. The land +there was low and green. On both sides +were low hills. A little lake glistened +back from shore. In the valley were hot +springs, with steam rising from them.</p> + +<p>"It looks like smoke," the men said. +"It is very strange to see hot water and +smoke come out of the ground."</p> + +<p>In front of this green land was a good +harbor with islands in it. Far over the +sea toward the north shone a great ice-mountain.</p> + +<p>"I like the place," Ingolf said. "I will +make this land mine."</p> + +<p>So he built fires at the mouth of the +river near there, and stood by them and +called out loudly:</p> + +<p>"I have put my fire at the mouth of +these rivers. All the land that they drain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +is mine, and no man shall claim it but me. +I will call this place Reykjavik."<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> + +<p>Then Ingolf built his feast hall. He +himself carved the beams and the door-posts. +Gaily painted dragons leaned out +from the doors and stood up from the +gables. Men and animals fought on the +door-posts. For the doors he made at +the forge great iron hinges. Their ends +curved and spread all over the door. Near +his feast hall he built a storehouse and a +kitchen and a smithy and a stable and +a bower for the women.</p> + +<p>"We do not need a sleeping-house for +guests," he said. "Who would be our +guests?"</p> + +<p>He roofed all his buildings with turf. It +made them look like green mounds with +gay carved and painted walls under them. +He built also a temple, and on that was +beautiful carving. In this he set up those +statues that had been in his old temple. +He put up, too, those pillars of his high +seat that had been drifting about so long. +Under them he laid the soil of Norway that +he had brought in the little bronze chest.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I have kept my vow, O Thor!" he +cried.</p> + +<p>Then he sacrificed three horses that +he had promised to Thor. After that was +over, he said:</p> + +<p>"Here is a good field for sport. Let +us have some of the old games that we +used to play at home. Who will wrestle +with me?"</p> + +<p>So they wrestled there and ran races +and swam in the water. The women sat +and looked on.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is good to see!" Helga cried. +"We are as gay as we used to be in old +Norway."</p> + +<p>But it was not many weeks before +Ingolf said:</p> + +<p>"I wish that I might sometime see +sails in that harbor. I wish that I might +think, 'Around this point of land is +another farm, and across the bay is +another. I can go there when I am very +lonely.' I wish that I might sometime +be invited to a feast. I wish that I might +sometimes hear the good, clanging music +of weapons at play. It is a good land, +but we have lived alone for four years.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +I am hungry for new faces and for tidings +of Norway."</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 354px;"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a> +<img src="images/037.png" width="354" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"Those Icelanders clapped them on the shoulders"</div> + +<p>One night as he and his men sat about +the long fire in the feast hall, a servant +threw a great piece of wood upon the fire. +It was streaked with faded paint and it +showed bits of carving.</p> + +<p>"See," said Ingolf, pointing to it, +"see what is left of a good ship's prow! +What lands have you seen, O dragon's +head? What battles have you fought? +What was your master's name? Where +did the storm meet you? Perhaps he was +coming to Iceland, comrades. Would it +not have been pleasant to see his sail and +to shake his hand and to welcome him +to Iceland? But instead he is in Ran's +caves, and only his broken prow has +drifted here."</p> + +<p>Now it was not many months after +that when one of the men came running +into the feast hall, shouting:</p> + +<p>"A sail! a sail in the harbor!"</p> + +<p>All those men gave a shout with no +word in it, as though their hearts had +leaped into their throats. They jumped +up and ran to the shore and stood there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +with hungry eyes. When the men landed, +those Icelanders clapped them on the +shoulders, and tears ran down their faces. +For a long time they could say nothing but +"Welcome! Welcome!"</p> + +<p>But after a while Ingolf led them to +the feast hall and had a feast spread at +once. While the thralls were at work, +the men stood together and talked. Such +a noise had never been in that hall +before.</p> + +<p>"We have already built our fires and +claimed our land up the shore a way," +the leader said. "Men in Norway talk +much of Ingolf and Leif, and wonder +what has happened to them."</p> + +<p>Then Ingolf told them of all that had +come to pass in Iceland; and then he +asked of Norway.</p> + +<p>"Ah! things are going from bad to +worse," the newcomers said. "Harald +grows mightier every day. A man dare +not swing a sword now except for the +king. We came here to get away from +him. Many men are talking of Iceland. +Soon the sea-road between here and Norway +will be swarming with dragons."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p> + +<p>And so it was. Ships also came from +Ireland and from the Shetlands and the +Orkneys.</p> + +<p>"Harald has come west-over-seas," the +men of these ships said, "and has laid +his heavy hand upon the islands and put +his earls over them. They are no place +now for free men."</p> + +<p>So by the time Ingolf was an old man, +Iceland was no longer an empty land. +Every valley was spotted with bright +feast halls and temples. Horses and +cattle pastured on the hillsides. Smoke +curled up from kitchens and smithies. +Gay ships sailed the waters, taking Iceland +cloth and wool and Iceland fish and +oil and the soft feathers of Iceland birds +to Norway to sell, and bringing back +wood and flour and grain.</p> + +<p>When Ingolf died, his men drew up +on the shore the boat in which he had +come to Iceland. They painted it freshly +and put new gold on it, so that it stood +there a glittering dragon with head raised +high, looking over the water. Old Sighvat +lifted a huge stone and carried it to +the ship's side. With all his strength he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +threw it into the bottom. The timbers +cracked.</p> + +<p>"If this ship moves from here," he +said, "then I do not know how to moor +a ship. It is Ingolf's grave."</p> + +<p>Then men laid Ingolf upon his shield +and carried him and placed him on the +high deck in the stern near the pilot's +seat where he had sat to steer to Iceland. +They hung his sword over his shoulder. +They laid his spear by his side. In his +hand they put his mead-horn. Into the +ship they set a great treasure-chest filled +with beautiful clothes and bracelets and +head-bands. Beside the treasure-chest +they piled up many swords and spears +and shields. They put gold-trimmed +saddles and bridles upon three horses. +Then they killed the horses and dragged +them into the ship. They killed hunting-dogs +and put them by the horses; +for they said:</p> + +<p>"All these things Ingolf will need in +Valhalla. When he walks through the +door of that feast hall, Odin must know +that a rich and brave man comes. When +he fights with those heroes during the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +day, he must have weapons worthy of +him. He must have dogs for the hunt. +When he feasts with those heroes at +night he must wear rich clothes, so that +those feasters shall know that he was a +wealthy man and generous, and that his +friends loved him."</p> + +<p>Ingolf's son tied on his hell-shoes for +the long journey.</p> + +<p>"If these shoes come untied," he said, +"I do not know how to fasten hell-shoes."</p> + +<p>Then he went out of the ship and stood +on the ground with his family. All the +men of Iceland were there.</p> + +<p>"This is a glorious sight," they said. +"Surely no ship ever carried a richer +load. Inside and out the boat blazes +with gold and bronze, and, high over his +riches, lies the great Ingolf, ready to take +the tiller and guide to Valhalla, where +all the heroes will rise up and shout him +welcome."</p> + +<p>Then the thralls heaped a mound of +earth over the ship. This hill stood up +against the sky and seemed to say: +"Here lies a great man." Sighvat put a +stone on the top, with runes on it telling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +whose grave it was. All this time a +skald stood by and played on his harp +and sang a song about that time when +Ingolf came to Iceland. He called him +the father of Iceland. People of that +country still read an old story that the +men of that long ago time wrote about +Ingolf, and they love him because he +was a brave man and "the first of men +to come to Iceland."</p> + +<div class="figdeco"> +<img src="images/011.png" width="100" height="100" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Foster-brothers">foster-brothers</a> on page <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Valkyrias">Valkyrias</a> on page <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Odins_Ravens">Odin's ravens</a> on page <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Reykjavik">Reykjavik</a> on page <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p> +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/038.png" width="350" height="92" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<h2>Eric the Red</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">It</span> was a spring day many years after +Ingolf died. All the freemen in the +west of Iceland had come to a meeting. +Here they made laws and punished men +for having done wrong. The meeting +was over now. Men were walking about +the plain and talking. Everybody seemed +much excited. Voices were loud, arms +were swinging.</p> + +<p>"It was an unjust decision," some one +cried. "Eric killed the men in fair fight. +The judges outlawed him because they +were afraid. His foe Thorgest has many +rich and powerful men to back him."</p> + +<p>"No, no!" said another. "Eric is a +bloody man. I am glad he is out of Iceland."</p> + +<p>Just then a big man with bushy red +hair and beard stalked through the crowd. +He looked straight ahead and scowled.</p> + +<p>"There he goes," people said, and +turned to look after him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 340px;"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a> +<img src="images/039.png" width="340" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"He looked straight ahead of him and scowled"</div> + +<p>"His hands are as red as his beard," +some said, and frowned.</p> + +<p>But others looked at him and smiled, +saying:</p> + +<p>"He walks like Thor the Fearless."</p> + +<p>"His story would make a fine song," +one said. "As strong and as brave and +as red as Thor! Always in a quarrel. A +man of many places—Norway, the north +of Iceland, the west of Iceland, those +little islands off the shore of Iceland. +Outlawed from all of them on account of +his quarrels. Where will he go now, I +wonder?"</p> + +<p>This Eric strode down to the shore +with his men following.</p> + +<p>"He is in a black temper," they said. +"We should best not talk to him."</p> + +<p>So they made ready the boat in silence. +Eric got into the pilot's seat and they +sailed off. Soon they pulled the ship up +on their own shore. Eric strolled into +his house and called for supper. When +the drinking-horns had been filled and +emptied, Eric pulled himself up and +smiled and shouted out so that the great +room was full of his big voice:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There is no friend like mead. It +always cheers a man's heart."</p> + +<p>Then laughter and talking began in +the hall because Eric's good temper had +come back. After a while Eric said:</p> + +<p>"Well, I must off somewhere. I have +been driven about from place to place, +like a seabird in a storm. And there is +always a storm about me. It is my +sword's fault. She is ever itching to +break her peace-bands<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> and be out and +at the play. She has shut Norway to me +and now Iceland. Where will you go +next, old comrade?" and he pulled out +his sword and looked at it and smiled as +the fire flashed on it.</p> + +<p>"There are some of us who will follow +you wherever you go, Eric," called a man +from across the fire.</p> + +<p>"Is it so?" Eric cried, leaping up. +"Oh! then we shall have some merry +times yet. Who will go with me?"</p> + +<div class="figright"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a> +<img src="images/040.png" width="342" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"More than half the men in the hall jumped to their feet"</div> + +<p>More than half the men in the hall +jumped to their feet and waved their +drinking-horns and shouted:</p> + +<p>"I! I!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>Eric sat down in his chair and laughed.</p> + +<p>"O you bloody birds of battle!" he +cried. "Ever hungry for new frolic! Our +swords are sisters in blood, and we are +brothers in adventure. Do you know +what is in my heart to do?"</p> + +<p>He jumped to his feet, and his face +glowed. Then he laughed as he looked +at his men.</p> + +<p>"I see the answer flashing from your +eyes," he said, "that you will do it even +if it is to go down to Niflheim and +drag up Hela, the pale queen of the stiff +dead."</p> + +<p>His men pounded on the tables and +shouted:</p> + +<p>"Yes! Yes! Anywhere behind Eric!"</p> + +<p>"But it is not to Niflheim," Eric +laughed. "Did you ever hear that story +that Gunnbiorn told? He was sailing for +Iceland, but the fog came down, and then +the wind caught him and blew him far +off. While he drifted about he saw a +strange land that rose up white and shining +out of a blue sea. Huge ships of ice +sailed out from it and met him. I mean +to sail to that land."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> + +<p>A great shout went up that shook the +rafters. Then the men sat and talked +over plans. While they sat, a stranger +came into the hall.</p> + +<p>"I have no time to drink," he said. "I +have a message from your friend Eyjolf. +He says that Thorgest with all his men +means to come here and catch you to-night. +Eyjolf bids you come to him, and +he will hide you until you are ready to +start; for he loves you."</p> + +<p>"Hunted like a wolf from corner to +corner of the world!" Eric cried angrily. +"Will they not even let me finish one +feast?"</p> + +<p>Then he laughed.</p> + +<p>"But if I take my sport like a wolf, +I must be hunted like one. So we +shall sleep to-night in the woods about +Eyjolf's house, comrades, instead of in +these good beds. Well, we have done it +before."</p> + +<p>"And it is no bad place," cried some of +the men.</p> + +<p>"I always liked the stars better than a +smoky house fire," said one.</p> + +<p>"Can no bad fortune spoil your good<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +nature?" laughed Eric. "But now we +are off. Let every man carry what he +can."</p> + +<p>So they quickly loaded themselves +with clothes and gold and swords and +spears and kettles of food. Eric led his +wife Thorhild and his two young sons, +Thorstein and Leif. All together they +got into the boat and went to Eyjolf's +farm. For a week or more they stayed +in his woods, sometimes in a secret cave +of his when they knew that Thorgest +was about. And sometimes Eyjolf sent +and said:</p> + +<p>"Thorgest is off. Come to my house +for a feast."</p> + +<p>All this time they were making ready +for the voyage, repairing the ship and +filling it with stores. Word of what Eric +meant to do got out, and men laughed +and said:</p> + +<p>"Is that not like Eric? What will he +not do?"</p> + +<p>Some men liked the sound of it, and +they came to Eric and said:</p> + +<p>"We will go with you to this strange +land."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> + +<p>So all were ready and they pushed +off with Eric's family aboard and those +friends who had joined him. They took +horses and cattle with them, and all kinds +of tools and food.</p> + +<p>"I do not well know where this land +is," Eric said. "Gunnbiorn said only that +he sailed east when he came home to Iceland. +So I will steer straight west. We +shall surely find something. I do not +know, either, how long we must go."</p> + +<p>So they sailed that strange ocean, never +dreaming what might be ahead of them. +They found no islands to rest on. They +met heavy fogs.</p> + +<p>One day as Eric sat in the pilot's seat, +he said:</p> + +<p>"I think that I see one of Gunnbiorn's +ships of ice. Shall we sail up to her and +see what kind of a craft she is?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," shouted his men.</p> + +<p>So they went on toward it.</p> + +<p>"It sends out a cold breath," said one +of the men.</p> + +<p>They all wrapped their cloaks about +them.</p> + +<p>"It is a bigger boat than I ever saw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +before," said Eric. "The white mast +stands as high as a hill."</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 340px;"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a> +<img src="images/041.png" width="340" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before"</div> + +<p>"It must be giants that sail in it, frost +giants," said another of the men.</p> + +<p>But as they came nearer, Eric all at +once laughed loudly and called out:</p> + +<p>"By Thor, that Gunnbiorn was a foolish +fellow. Why, look! It is only a piece +of floating ice such as we sometimes see +from Iceland. It is no ship, and there is +no one on it."</p> + +<p>His men laughed and one called to +another and said:</p> + +<p>"And you thought of frost giants!"</p> + +<p>Then they sailed on for days and days. +They met many of these icebergs. On +one of them was a white bear.</p> + +<p>"Yonder is a strange pilot," Eric +laughed.</p> + +<p>"I have seen bears come floating so to +the north shore of Iceland," an old man +said. "Perhaps they come from the land +that we are going to find."</p> + +<p>One day Eric said:</p> + +<p>"I see afar off an iceberg larger than +any one yet. Perhaps that is our white +land."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>But even as he said it he felt his boat +swing under his hand as he held the +tiller. He bore hard on the rudder, but +he could not turn the ship.</p> + +<p>"What is this?" he cried. "A strong +river is running here. It is carrying our +ship away from this land. I cannot make +head against it. Out with the oars!"</p> + +<p>So with oars and sail and rudder they +fought against the current, but it took +the boat along like a chip, and after a +while they put up their oars and drifted.</p> + +<p>"Luck has taken us into its own +hands," Eric laughed. "But this is as +good a way as another."</p> + +<p>Sometimes they were near enough to +see the land, then they were carried out +into the sea and thought that they should +never see any land again.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps this river will carry us to a +whirlpool and suck us under," the men +said.</p> + +<p>But at last Eric felt the current less +strong under his hand.</p> + +<p>"To the oars again!" he called.</p> + +<p>So they fought with the current and +sailed out of it and went on toward land.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +But when they reached the shore they +found no place to go in. Steep black +walls shot up from the sea. Nothing +grew on them. When the men looked +above the cliffs they saw a long line of +white cutting the sky.</p> + +<p>"It is a land of ice," they said.</p> + +<p>They sailed on south, all the time looking +for a place to go ashore.</p> + +<p>"I am sick of this endless sea," Thorhild +complained, "but this land is worse."</p> + +<p>After a while they began to see small +bays cut into the shore with little flat +patches of green at their sides. They +landed in these places and stretched and +warmed themselves and ate.</p> + +<p>"But these spots are only big enough +for graves," the men said. "We can not +live here."</p> + +<p>So they went on again. All the time +the weather was growing colder. Eric's +people kept themselves wrapped in their +cloaks and put scarfs around their +heads.</p> + +<p>"And it is still summer!" Thorhild +said. "What will it be in winter?"</p> + +<p>"We must find a place to build a house<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +now before the winter comes on," said +Eric. "We must not freeze here."</p> + +<p>So they chose a little spot with hills +about it to keep off the wind. They made +a house out of stones; for there were +many in that place. They lived there that +winter. The sea for a long way out from +shore froze so that it looked like white +land. The men went out upon it to hunt +white bear and seal. They ate the meat +and wore the skins to keep them warm. +The hardest thing was to get fuel for the +fire. No trees grew there. The men +found a little driftwood along the shore, +but it was not enough. So they burned +the bones and the fat of the animals they +killed.</p> + +<p>"It is a sickening smell," Thorhild +said. "I have not been out of this mean +house for weeks. I am tired of the darkness +and the smoke and the cattle. And +all the time I hear great noises, as though +some giant were breaking this land into +pieces."</p> + +<p>"Ah, cheer up, good wife!" Eric +laughed. "I smell better luck ahead."</p> + +<p>Once Eric and his men climbed the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +cliffs and went back into the middle of +the land. When they came home they +had this to tell:</p> + +<p>"It is a country of ice, shining white. +Nothing grows on it but a few mosses. +Far off it looks flat, but when you walk +upon it, there are great holes and cracks. +We could see nothing beyond. There +seems to be only a fringe of land around +the edge of an island of ice."</p> + +<p>The winter nights were very long. +Sometimes the sun showed for an hour, +sometimes for only a few minutes, sometimes +it did not show at all for a week. +The men hunted by the bright shining of +the moon or by the northern lights.</p> + +<p>As it grew warmer the ice in the sea +began to crack and move and melt and +float away. Eric waited only until there +was a clear passage in the water. Then +he launched his boat, and they sailed +southward again. At last they found a +place that Eric liked.</p> + +<p>"Here I will build my house," he said.</p> + +<p>So they did and lived there that summer +and pastured their cattle and cut hay +for the winter and fished and hunted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> + +<p>The next spring Eric said:</p> + +<p>"The land stretches far north. I am +hungry to know what is there."</p> + +<p>Then they all got into the boat again +and sailed north.</p> + +<p>"We can leave no one here," Eric had +said. "We cannot tell what might come +between us. Perhaps giants or dragons +or strange men might come out of this +inland ice and kill our people. We must +stay together."</p> + +<p>Farther north they found only the +same bare, frozen country. So after a +while they sailed back to their home and +lived there.</p> + +<p>One spring after they had been in that +land for four years, Eric said:</p> + +<p>"My eyes are hungry for the sight of +men and green fields again. My stomach +is sick of seal and whale and bear. My +throat is dry for mead. This is a bare +and cold and hungry land. I will visit +my friends in Iceland."</p> + +<p>"And our swords are rusty with long +resting," said his men. "Perhaps we can +find play for them in Iceland."</p> + +<p>"Now I have a plan," Eric suddenly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +said. "Would it not be pleasant to see +other feast halls as we sail along the +coast?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! it would be a beautiful sight," +his men said.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Eric, "I am going to try +to bring back some neighbors from Iceland. +Now we must have a name for our +land. How does Greenland sound?"</p> + +<p>His men laughed and said:</p> + +<p>"It is a very white Greenland, but men +will like the sound of it. It is better than +Iceland."</p> + +<p>So Eric and all his people sailed back +and spent the winter with his friends.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Eric, it is good to hear your +laugh again," they said.</p> + +<p>Eric was at many feasts and saw many +men, and he talked much of his Greenland.</p> + +<p>"The sea is full of whale and seals and +great fish," he said. "The land has bear +and reindeer. There are no men there. +Come back with me and choose your +land."</p> + +<p>Many men said that they would do it. +Some men went because they thought it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +would be a great frolic to go to a new +country. Some went because they were +poor in Iceland and thought:</p> + +<p>"I can be no worse off in Greenland, +and perhaps I shall grow rich there."</p> + +<p>And some went because they loved +Eric and wanted to be his neighbors.</p> + +<p>So the next summer thirty-five ships +full of men and women and goods followed +Eric for Greenland. But they met +heavy storms, and some ships were +wrecked, and the men drowned. Other +men grew heartsick at the terrible storm +and the long voyage and no sight of land, +and they turned back to Iceland. So of +those thirty-five ships only fifteen got to +Greenland.</p> + +<p>"Only the bravest and the luckiest +men come here," Eric said. "We shall +have good neighbors."</p> + +<p>Soon other houses were built along +the fiords.</p> + +<p>"It is pleasant to sail along the coast +now," said Eric. "I see smoke rising +from houses and ships standing on the +shore and friendly hands waving."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Peace-bands">peace-bands</a> on page <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/042.png" width="350" height="90" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>Leif and His New Land</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Now</span> Eric had lived in Greenland for +fifteen years. His sons Thorstein +and Leif had grown up to be big, strong +men. One spring Leif said to his father:</p> + +<p>"I have never seen Norway, our +mother land. I long to go there and +meet the great men and see the places +that skalds sing about."</p> + +<p>Eric answered:</p> + +<p>"It is right that you should go. No +man has really lived until he has seen +Norway."</p> + +<p>So he helped Leif fit out a boat and +sent him off. Leif sailed for months. +He passed Iceland and the Faroes and +the Shetlands. He stopped at all of these +places and feasted his mind on the new +things. And everywhere men received +him gladly; for he was handsome and +wise. But at last he came near Norway. +Then he stood up before the pilot's seat +and sang loudly:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 15em;"> +<span class="i0">"My eyes can see her at last,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The mother of mighty men,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The field of famous fights.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the sky above I see<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fair Asgard's shining roofs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The flying hair of Thor,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The wings of Odin's birds,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The road that heroes tread.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I am here in the land of the gods,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The land of mighty men."<br /></span> +</div> + +<p>For a while he walked the land as +though he were in a dream. He looked +at this and that and everything and loved +them all because it was Norway.</p> + +<p>"I will go to the king," he said.</p> + +<p>He had never seen a king. There +were no kings in Iceland or in Greenland. +So he went to the city where the king +had his fine house. The king's name +was Olaf. He was a great-grandson of +Harald Hairfair; for Harald had been +dead a hundred years.</p> + +<p>Now the king was going to hold a +feast at night, and Leif put on his most +beautiful clothes to go to it. He put on +long tights of blue wool and a short jacket +of blue velvet. He belted his jacket with +a gold girdle. He had shoes of scarlet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +with golden clasps. He threw around +himself a cape of scarlet velvet lined +with seal fur. His long sword stuck out +from under his cloak. On his head he +put a knitted cap of bright colors. Then +he walked to the king's feast hall and +went through the door. It was a great +hall, and it was full of richly-dressed +men. The fires shone on so many golden +head-bands and bracelets and so many +glittering swords and spears on the wall, +and there was so much noise of talking +and laughing, that at first Leif did not +know what to do. But at last he went +and sat on the very end seat of the bench +near him.</p> + +<p>As the feast went on, King Olaf sat in +his high seat and looked about the hall +and noticed this one and that one and +spoke across the fire to many. He was +keen-eyed and soon saw Leif in his far +seat.</p> + +<p>"Yonder is some man of mark," he said +to himself. "He is surely worth knowing. +His face is not the face of a fool. He +carries his head like a lord of men."</p> + +<p>He sent a thrall and asked Leif to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +come to him. So Leif walked down the +long hall and stood before the king.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to have you for a guest," +the king said. "What are your name +and country?"</p> + +<p>"I am Leif Ericsson, and I have come +all the way from Greenland to see you +and old Norway."</p> + +<p>"From Greenland!" said the king. "It +is not often that I see a Greenlander. +Many come to Norway to trade, but they +seldom come to the king's hall. I shall +be glad to hear about your land. Come +up and speak with me."</p> + +<p>So Leif went up the steps of the high +seat and sat down by the king and talked +with him. When the feast was over the +king said:</p> + +<p>"You shall live at my court this winter, +Leif Ericsson. You are a welcome guest."</p> + +<p>So Leif stayed there that winter. +When he started back in the spring, the +king gave him two thralls as a parting +gift.</p> + +<p>"Let this gift show my love, Leif +Ericsson," he said. "For your sake I +shall not forget Greenland."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> + +<p>Leif sailed back again and had good +luck until he was past Iceland. Then +great winds came out of the north and +tossed his ship about so that the men +could do nothing. They were blown +south for days and days. They did not +know where they were. Then they saw +land, and Leif said:</p> + +<p>"Surely luck has brought us also to a +new country. We will go in and see +what kind of a place it is."</p> + +<p>So he steered for it. As they came +near, the men said:</p> + +<p>"See the great trees and the soft, green +shore. Surely this is a better country +than Greenland or than Iceland either."</p> + +<p>When they landed they threw themselves +upon the ground.</p> + +<p>"I never lay on a bed so soft as this +grass," one said.</p> + +<p>"Taller trees do not grow in Norway," +said another.</p> + +<p>"There is no stone here as in Norway, +but only good black dirt," Leif said. +"I never saw so fertile a land before."</p> + +<p>The men were hungry and set about +building a fire.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 346px;"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a> +<img src="images/043.png" width="346" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"He pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his eyes"</div> + +<p>"There is no lack of fuel here," they +said.</p> + +<p>They stayed many days in this country +and walked about to see what was +there. A German, named Tyrker, was +with Leif. He was a little man with a +high forehead and a short nose. His +eyes were big and rolling. He had lived +with Eric for many years, and had taken +care of Leif when he was a little boy. So +Leif loved him.</p> + +<p>Now one day they had been wandering +about and all came back to camp at +night except Tyrker. When Leif looked +around on his comrades, he said:</p> + +<p>"Where is Tyrker?"</p> + +<p>No one knew. Then Leif was angry.</p> + +<p>"Is a man of so little value in this +empty land that you would lose one?" he +said. "Why did you not keep together? +Did you not see that he was gone? Why +did you not set out to look for him? +Who knows what terrible thing may +have happened to him in these great +forests?"</p> + +<p>Then he turned and started out to +hunt for him. His men followed, silent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +and ashamed. They had not gone far +when they saw Tyrker running toward +them. He was laughing and talking to +himself. Leif ran to him and put his +arms about him with gladness at seeing +him.</p> + +<p>"Why are you so late?" he asked. +"Where have you been?"</p> + +<p>But Tyrker, still smiling and nodding +his head, answered in German. He +pointed to the woods and laughed and +rolled his eyes. Again Leif asked his +question and put his hand on Tyrker's +shoulder as though he would shake him. +Then Tyrker answered in the language +of Iceland:</p> + +<p>"I have not been so very far, but I +have found something wonderful."</p> + +<p>"What is it?" cried the men.</p> + +<p>"I have found grapes growing wild," +answered Tyrker, and he laughed, and his +eyes shone.</p> + +<p>"It cannot be," Leif said.</p> + +<p>Grapes do not grow in Greenland nor +in Iceland nor even in Norway. So it +seemed a wonderful thing to these Norsemen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Can I not tell grapes when I see +them?" cried Tyrker. "Did I not grow +up in Germany, where every hillside is +covered with grapevines? Ah! it seems +like my old home."</p> + +<p>"It is wonderful," Leif said. "I have +heard travelers tell of seeing grapes growing, +but I myself never saw it. You shall +take us to them early in the morning, +Tyrker."</p> + +<p>So in the morning they went back into +the woods and saw the grapes. They ate +of them.</p> + +<p>"They are like food and drink," they +cried.</p> + +<p>That day Leif said:</p> + +<p>"We spent most of the summer on the +ocean. Winter will soon be coming on +and the sea about Greenland will be +frozen. We must start back. I mean to +take some of the things of this land to +show to our people at home. We will +fill the rowboat with grapes and tow it +behind us. The ship we will load with +logs from these great trees. That will be +a welcome shipload in Greenland, where +we have neither trees nor vines. Now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +half of you shall gather grapes for the +next few days, and the other half shall +cut timber."</p> + +<p>So they did, and after a week sailed off. +The ship was full of lumber, and they +towed the rowboat loaded with grapes. +As they looked back at the shore, Leif +said:</p> + +<p>"I will call this country Wineland for +the grapes that grow there."</p> + +<p>One of the men leaped upon the gunwale +and leaned out, clinging to the sail, +and sang:</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span class="i0">"Wineland the good, Wineland the warm,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wineland the green, the great, the fat.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Our dragon fed and crawls away<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With belly stuffed and lazy feet.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How long her purple, trailing tail!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She fed and grew to twice her size."<br /></span> +</div> + +<p>Then all the men waved their hands +to the shore and gave a great shout for +that good land.</p> + +<p>For all that voyage they had fair +weather and sailed into Eric's harbor +before the winter came. Eric saw the +ship and ran down to the shore. He took +Leif into his arms and said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, my son, my old eyes ached to see +you. I hunger to hear of all that you +have seen and done."</p> + +<p>"Luck has followed me all the way," +said Leif. "See what I have brought +home."</p> + +<p>The Greenlanders looked.</p> + +<p>"Lumber! lumber!" they cried. "Oh! +it is better stuff than gold."</p> + +<p>Then they saw the grapes and tasted +them.</p> + +<p>"Surely you must have plundered Asgard," +they said, smacking their lips.</p> + +<p>At the feast that night Eric said:</p> + +<p>"Leif shall sit in the place of honor."</p> + +<p>So Leif sat in the high seat opposite +Eric. All men thought him a handsome +and wise man. He told them of the storm +and of Wineland.</p> + +<p>"No man would ever need a cloak there. +The soil is richer than the soil of Norway. +Grain grows wild, and you yourselves saw +the grapes that we got from there. The +forests are without end. The sea is full +of fish."</p> + +<p>The Greenlanders listened with open +mouths to all this. They turned and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +talked to Leif's ship-comrades who were +scattered among them.</p> + +<p>Leif noticed two strangers, an old +man who sat at Eric's side and a young +woman on the cross-bench. He turned +to his brother Thorstein who sat next +to him.</p> + +<p>"Who are these strangers?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Thorbiorn and his daughter Gudrid," +Thorstein answered. "They landed here +this spring. I never saw our father more +glad of anything than to see this Thorbiorn. +They were friends before we +left Iceland. When they saw each other +again they could not talk enough of old +times. In the spring Eric means to give +him a farm up the fiord a way. It seems +that this Thorbiorn comes of a good +family that has been rich and great in +Iceland for years. And Thorbiorn himself +was rich when our father knew him, +and was much honored by all men. But +ill luck came, and he grew poor. This +hurt his pride. 'I will not stay in Iceland +and be a beggar,' he said to himself. +'I will not have men look at me and say, +"He is not what his father was." I will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> +go to my friend Eric the Red in Greenland.'</p> + +<p>"Then he got ready a great feast and +invited all his friends. It was such a +feast as had not been in Iceland for years. +Thorbiorn spent on it all the wealth that +he had left. For he said to himself, 'I will +not leave in shame. Men shall remember +my last feast.' After that he set out +and came to Greenland.</p> + +<p>"Is not Gudrid beautiful? And she is +wise. I mean to marry her, if her father +will permit it."</p> + +<p>Now Leif settled down in Greenland +and became a great man there. He was +so busy and he grew so rich that he did +not think of going to Wineland again. +But people could not forget his story. +Many nights as men sat about the long +fires they talked of that wonderful land +and wished to see it.</p> + +<div class="figdeco"> +<img src="images/014.png" width="100" height="60" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></p> +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/044.png" width="350" height="91" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>Wineland the Good</h2> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">On</span> an autumn, a year or two after +Leif came home, Eric and his men +saw two large ships come to land not far +down the shore from the house.</p> + +<p>"They look like trading ships," Eric +said. "Let us go down to see them."</p> + +<p>"I will go, too," Gudrid said. "Perhaps +they will have rich cloth and jewelry. It +is long since I had my eyes on a new +dress."</p> + +<p>So they all went down and found two +large trading ships lying in the water. +A great many men were on the shore +making a fire.</p> + +<p>"Welcome to Greenland!" called Eric. +"What are your names and your country?"</p> + +<p>Then a fine, big man walked out from +among the men and went up to Eric.</p> + +<p>"I am Thorfinn," he said, "a trader. +I sailed this summer from Iceland with +forty men and a shipload of goods. On<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +the sea I met this other ship from Iceland. +The master is Biarni. Come and +look at my goods."</p> + +<p>So he rowed Eric and Gudrid out and +they went aboard his boat. Thorfinn +opened his chests and showed Eric gleaming +swords and bracelets and axes and +farm tools. But before Gudrid he spread +beautiful cloth and gold embroidery and +golden necklaces. As they looked, he +told of doings in Iceland and asked of +Greenland.</p> + +<p>"We never see such things as these +in this bare land," Gudrid said, as she +smoothed a beautiful dress of purple velvet. +"I envy the women of Iceland their +fair clothes."</p> + +<p>"There is no need of that," Thorfinn +said, "for this dress is yours and anything +else from my chests that you like. +Here is a necklace that I beg you to take. +It did not have a fairer mistress in Greece +where I got it."</p> + +<p>"You are a very generous trader," +Gudrid said.</p> + +<p>Then Thorfinn gave Eric a great sword +with a gold-studded scabbard. After a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> +while he took them to Biarni's ship. He +also gave them gifts. They all talked +and laughed much while they were together.</p> + +<p>"You are merry comrades," Eric said. +"I ask you both and all your men to spend +the winter at my house. You can put +your goods into my storehouses."</p> + +<p>"By my sword! a generous offer," +said Thorfinn. "As for me, I am happy +to come."</p> + +<p>Biarni and all the rest said the same +thing. Thorfinn walked to the house +with Eric and Gudrid, while the other +men sailed to the ship-sheds and pulled +their boats under them.</p> + +<p>Then Thorfinn saw to the unloading +and storing of his goods.</p> + +<p>"Is this Gudrid your daughter?" he +asked of Eric one day.</p> + +<p>"She is the widow of my son Thorstein," +Eric said. "He died the same +winter that they were married. Her +father, too, died not long ago. So Gudrid +lives with me."</p> + +<p>Now all that winter until Yule-time +Eric spread a good feast every night.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> +There was laughter through his house all +the time. Often at the feasts the men +cast lots to see whether they might sit +on the cross-bench with the women. +Sometimes it was Thorfinn's luck to sit +by Gudrid. Then they talked gaily and +drank together.</p> + +<p>At last Yule was coming near. Eric +went about the house gloomy then. One +day Thorfinn put his hand on Eric's +shoulder and said:</p> + +<p>"Something is troubling you, Eric. +We have all noticed that you are not gay +as you used to be. Tell me what is the +matter."</p> + +<p>"You have carried yourselves like +noble men in my house," Eric answered. +"I am proud to have you for guests. +Now I am ashamed that you should not +find a house worthy of you. I am +ashamed that when you leave me you +will have to say that you never spent a +worse Yule than you did with Eric the +Red in Greenland. For my cupboards +are empty."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is easily mended," Thorfinn +said. "No house could feed eighty men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> +so long and not feel it. I never knew so +generous a host before. But I have flour +and grain and mead in my boat. You +are welcome to all of it. You have only +to open the doors of your own storehouses. +It is a little gift."</p> + +<p>So Eric used those things, and there +was never a merrier Yule feast than in +his house that winter.</p> + +<p>When Yule was over, Thorfinn said to +Eric:</p> + +<p>"Gudrid is a beautiful and wise woman. +I wish to have her for my wife."</p> + +<p>"You seem to be a man worthy of her," +Eric said.</p> + +<p>So that winter Gudrid and Thorfinn +were married and lived at Eric's house.</p> + +<p>One day Thorfinn said to Eric:</p> + +<p>"I have heard much of this wonderful +Wineland since I have been here. It +seems to me that it is worth while to go +and see more of it."</p> + +<p>"My son Thorstein and I tried it +once," said Eric. "It was the year after +Leif came back. We set out with a fair +ship and with glad hearts, but we tossed +about all summer on the sea and got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +nowhere. We were wet with storm, lean +with hunger and illness, and heartsick at +our bad luck."</p> + +<p>"And yet," Thorfinn said, "another +time we might have better weather. I +have never seen so fair a land as this +seems to be."</p> + +<p>Then he went to Leif and talked long +with him. Leif told him in what direction +he had sailed to come home, and how +the shores looked that he had passed.</p> + +<p>"I think I could find my way," Thorfinn +said. "My heart moves me to try +this frolic."</p> + +<p>He spoke to Gudrid about it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" she cried. "Let us go. +It is long since I felt a boat leaping under +me. I am tired of sitting still. I want +to feel the warm days and see the soft +grass and the high trees and taste the +grapes of this Wineland the Good."</p> + +<p>Then he talked with his men and with +Biarni.</p> + +<p>"We are ready," they all said. "We +are only waiting for a leader."</p> + +<p>"Then let us go!" cried Thorfinn.</p> + +<p>So in the spring they fitted up their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +two ships and put into them provisions +and a few cattle. Some of Eric's men +also got ready a boat, so that three ships +set sail from Eric's harbor carrying one +hundred and sixty men to Wineland. As +they started, Gudrid stood on the deck +and sang:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 16em;"> +<span class="i0">"I will feast my eyes on new things—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On mighty trees and purple grapes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On beds of flowers and soft grass.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I will sun myself in a warm land."<br /></span> +</div> + +<p>They sailed on and past those shores +that Leif had spoken of. Whenever they +saw any interesting place they sailed in +and looked about and rested there.</p> + +<p>They had gone far south, past many +fair shores with woods on them, when +Gudrid said one day:</p> + +<p>"This is a beautiful bay with a smooth, +green field by it, and the great mountains +far back. I should like to stay there for +a little while."</p> + +<p>So they sailed in and drew their ships +up on shore. They put up the awnings +in them.</p> + +<p>"These shall be our houses," Thorfinn +said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> + +<p>They were strange-looking houses—shining +dragons with gay backs lying on +the yellow sand. Near them the Norsemen +lighted fires and cooked their supper. +That night they slept in the ships. In +the morning Gudrid said:</p> + +<p>"I long to see what is back of that +mountain."</p> + +<p>So they all climbed it. When they +stood on the top they could see far over +the country.</p> + +<p>"There is a lake that we must see," +Thorfinn said.</p> + +<p>"I should like to sail around that bay," +said Biarni, pointing.</p> + +<p>"I am going to walk up that valley +yonder," one of the men said.</p> + +<p>And everyone saw some place where +he would like to go. So for all that summer +they camped in that spot and went +about the country seeing new things. +They hunted in the woods and caught +rabbits and birds and sometimes bears +and deer. Every day some men rowed out +to sea and fished. There was an island +in the bay where thousands of birds had +their nests. The men gathered eggs here.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We have more to eat than we had in +Greenland or Iceland," Thorfinn said, +"and need not work at all. It is all play."</p> + +<p>Near the end of summer Thorfinn +spoke to his comrades.</p> + +<p>"Have we not seen everything here? +Let us go to a new place. We have not +yet found grapes."</p> + +<p>Thorfinn and Biarni and all their men +sailed south again. But some of Eric's +men went off in their boat another way. +Years afterward the Greenlanders heard +that they were shipwrecked and made +slaves in Ireland.</p> + +<p>After Thorfinn and Biarni had sailed +for many days they landed on a low, +green place. There were hills around it. +A little lake was there.</p> + +<p>"What is growing on those hillsides?" +Thorfinn said, shading his eyes with his +hand.</p> + +<p>He and some others ran up there. The +people on shore heard them shout. Soon +they came running back with their hands +full of something.</p> + +<p>"Grapes! Grapes!" they were shouting.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span></p> + +<p>All those people sat down and ate the +grapes and then went to the hillside and +picked more.</p> + +<p>"Now we are indeed in Wineland," +they said. "It is as wonderful as Leif's +stories. Surely we must stay here for a +long time."</p> + +<p>The very next day they went into the +woods and began to cut out lumber. The +huts that they built were little things. +They had no windows, and in the doorways +the men hung their cloaks instead +of doors.</p> + +<p>"We can be out in the air so much in +this warm country," said Gudrid, "that +we do not need fine houses."</p> + +<p>The huts were scattered all about, +some on the side of the lake, some at +the shore of the harbor, some on the hillside. +Gudrid had said:</p> + +<p>"I want to live by the lake where I +can look into the green woods and hear +sweet bird-noises."</p> + +<p>So Thorfinn built his hut there.</p> + +<p>As they sat about the campfire one +night, Biarni said:</p> + +<p>"It is strange that so good a land<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +should be empty. I suppose that these +are the first houses that were ever built +in Wineland. It is wonderful to think +that we are alone here in this great +land."</p> + +<p>All that winter no snow fell. The +cattle pastured on the grass.</p> + +<p>"To think of the cold, frozen winters +in Greenland!" Gudrid said. "Oh! this +is the sun's own land."</p> + +<p>In the beginning of that winter a little +son was born to Gudrid and Thorfinn.</p> + +<p>"A health to the first Winelander!" +the men shouted and drank down their +wine; for they had made some from +Wineland grapes.</p> + +<p>"Will he be the father of a great +country, as Ingolf was?" Biarni mused.</p> + +<p>Gudrid looked at her baby and smiled.</p> + +<p>"You will be as sunny as this good +land, I hope," she said.</p> + +<p>They named him Snorri. He grew +fast and soon crept along the yellow sand, +and toddled among the grapevines, and +climbed into the boats and learned to +talk. The men called him the "Wineland +king."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I never knew a baby before," one of +the men said.</p> + +<p>"No," said another. "Swords are jealous. +But when they are in their scabbards, +we can do other things, even play +with babies."</p> + +<p>"I wonder whether I have forgotten +how to swing my sword in this quiet +land," another man said.</p> + +<p>One spring morning when the men +got up and went out from their huts to +the fires to cook they saw a great many +canoes in the harbor. Men were in them +paddling toward shore.</p> + +<p>"What is this?" cried the Norsemen +to one another. "Where did they come +from? Are they foes? Who ever saw such +boats before? The men's faces are brown."</p> + +<p>"Let every man have his sword ready," +cried Thorfinn. "But do not draw until +I command. Let us go to meet them."</p> + +<p>So they went and stood on the shore. +Soon the men from the canoes landed +and stood looking at the Norsemen. The +strangers' skin was brown. Their faces +were broad. Their hair was black. Their +bodies were short. They wore leather<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> +clothes. One man among them seemed +to be chief. He spread out his open hands +to the Norsemen.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 346px;"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a> +<img src="images/045.png" width="346" height="550" alt="" title="" /> +"The chief held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the cloak to him"</div> + +<p>"He is showing us that he has no +weapons," Biarni said. "He comes in +peace."</p> + +<p>Then Thorfinn showed his empty +hands and asked:</p> + +<p>"What do you want?"</p> + +<p>The stranger said something, but the +Norsemen could not understand. It was +some new language. Then the chief +pointed to one of the huts and walked +toward it. He and his men walked all +around it and felt of the timber and +went into it and looked at all the things +there—spades and cloaks and drinking-horns. +As they looked they talked together. +They went to all the other huts +and looked at everything there. One of +them found a red cloak. He spread it +out and showed it to the others. They +all stood about it and looked at it and +felt of it and talked fast.</p> + +<p>"They seem to like my cloak," Biarni +said.</p> + +<p>One of the strangers went down to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +their canoes and soon came back with an +armload of furs—fox-skins, otter-skins, +beaver-skins. The chief took some and +held them out to Thorfinn and hugged +the cloak to him.</p> + +<p>"He wants to trade," Thorfinn said. +"Will you do it, Biarni?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," Biarni answered, and took the +furs.</p> + +<p>"If they want red stuff, I have a whole +roll of red cloth that I will trade," one of +the other men said.</p> + +<p>He went and got it. When the strangers +saw it they quickly held out more furs +and seemed eager to trade. So Thorfinn +cut the cloth into pieces and sold every +scrap. When the strangers got it they +tied it about their heads and seemed +much pleased.</p> + +<p>While this trading was going on and +everybody was good-natured, a bull of +Thorfinn's ran out of the woods bellowing +and came towards the crowd. When +the strangers heard it and saw it they +threw down whatever was in their hands +and ran to their canoes and paddled off +as fast as they could.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Norsemen laughed.</p> + +<p>"We have lost our customers," Biarni +said.</p> + +<p>"Did they never see a bull before?" +laughed one of the men.</p> + +<p>Now after three weeks the Norsemen +saw canoes in the bay again. This time +it was black with them, there were so +many. The people in them were all making +a horrible shout.</p> + +<p>"It is a war-cry," Thorfinn said, and he +raised a red shield. "They are surely +twenty to our one, but we must fight. +Stand in close line and give them a taste +of your swords."</p> + +<p>Even as he spoke a great shower of +stones fell upon them. Some of the +Norsemen were hit on the head and +knocked down. Biarni got a broken +arm. Still the storm came fast. The +strangers had landed and were running +toward the Norsemen. They threw their +stones with sling-shots, and they yelled +all the time.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is no kind of fighting for +brave men!" Thorfinn cried angrily.</p> + +<p>The Norsemen's swords swung fast,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> +and many of the strangers died under +them, but still others came on, throwing +stones and swinging stone axes. The horrible +yelling and the strange things that +the savages did frightened the Norsemen.</p> + +<p>"These are not men," some one cried.</p> + +<p>Then those Norsemen who had never +been afraid of anything turned and ran. +But when they came to the top of a rough +hill Thorfinn cried:</p> + +<p>"What are we doing? Shall we die +here in this empty land with no one to +bury us? We are leaving our women."</p> + +<p>Then one of the women ran out of the +hut where they were hiding.</p> + +<p>"Give me a sword!" she cried. "I can +drive them back. Are Norsemen not +better than these savages?"</p> + +<p>Then those warriors stopped, ashamed, +and stood up before the wild men and +fought so fiercely that the strangers +turned and fled down to their canoes and +paddled away.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am glad they are gone!" Thorfinn +said. "It was an ugly fight."</p> + +<p>"Thor would not have loved that +battle," one said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It was no battle," another replied. +"It was like fighting against an army of +poisonous flies."</p> + +<p>The Norsemen were all worn and +bleeding and sore. They went to their +huts and dressed their wounds, and the +women helped them. At supper that +night they talked about the fight for a +long time.</p> + +<p>"I will not stay here," Gudrid said. +"Perhaps these wild men have gone away +to get more people and will come back +and kill us. Oh! they are ugly."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps brown faces are looking at us +now from behind the trees in the woods +back there," said Biarni.</p> + +<p>It was the wish of all to go home. So +after a few days they sailed back to +Greenland with good weather all the way. +The people at Eric's house were very glad +to see them.</p> + +<p>"We were afraid you had died," they +said.</p> + +<p>"And I thought once that we should +never leave Wineland alive," Thorfinn +answered.</p> + +<p>Then they told all the story.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I wonder why I had no such bad +luck," Leif said. "But you have a better +shipload than I got."</p> + +<p>He was looking at the bundles of furs +and the kegs of wine.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Thorfinn, "we have come +back richer than when we left. But I will +never go again for all the skins in the +woods."</p> + +<p>The next summer Thorfinn took Gudrid +and Snorri and all his people and +sailed back to Iceland, his home. There +he lived until he died. People looked at +him in wonder.</p> + +<p>"That is the man who went to Wineland +and fought with wild men," they +said. "Snorri is his son. He is the first +and last Winelander, for no one will ever +go there again. It will be an empty and +forgotten land."</p> + +<p>And so it was for a long time. Some +wise men wrote down the story of those +voyages and of that land, and people read +the tale and liked it, but no one remembered +where the place was. It all seemed +like a fairy tale. Long afterwards, however, +men began to read those stories with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +wide-open eyes and to wonder. They +guessed and talked together, and studied +this and that land, and read the story +over and over. At last they have learned +that Wineland was in America, on the +eastern shore of the United States, and +they have called Snorri the first American, +and have put up statues of Leif +Ericsson, the first comer to America.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> + +<div class="figdeco"> +<img src="images/017.png" width="100" height="50" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Eskimos">Eskimos</a> on page <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/046.png" width="350" height="66" alt="Descriptive Notes" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><i><a name="House" id="House"></a>House.</i> In a rich Norseman's home were many +buildings. The finest and largest was the great +feast hall. Next were the bower, where the women +worked, and the guest house, where visitors slept. +Besides these were storehouses, stables, work-shops, +a kitchen, a sleeping-house for thralls. All these +buildings were made of heavy, hewn logs, covered +with tar to fill the cracks and to keep the wood from +rotting. The ends of the logs, the door-posts, the +peaks of gables, were carved into shapes of men and +animals and were painted with bright colors. These +gay buildings were close together, often set around +the four sides of a square yard. That yard was a +busy and pleasant place, with men and women running +across from one bright building to another. +Sometimes a high fence with one gate went around +all this, and only the tall, carved peaks of roofs +showed from the outside.</p> + +<p><i><a name="Names" id="Names"></a>Names.</i> An old Norse story says: "Most men +had two names in one, and thought it likeliest to lead +to long life and good luck to have double names." +To be called after a god was very lucky. Here are +some of those double names with their meanings: +"Thorstein" means Thor's stone; "Thorkel" means +Thor's fire; "Thorbiorn" means Thor's bear; "Gudbrand" +means Gunnr's sword (Gunnr was one of +the Valkyrias<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a>); "Gunnbiorn" means Gunnr's bear;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> +"Gudrid" means Gunnr's rider; "Gudrod" means +Gunnr's land-clearer. (Most of the land in old +Norway was covered with forests. When a man got +new land he had to clear off the trees.) In those +olden days a man did not have a surname that +belonged to everyone in his family. Sometimes +there were two or three men of the same name in a +neighborhood. That caused trouble. People thought +of two ways of making it easy to tell which man was +being spoken of. Each was given a nickname. Suppose +the name of each was Haki. One would be +called Haki the Black because he had black hair. +The other would be called Haki the Ship-chested +because his chest was broad and strong. These nicknames +were often given only for the fun of it. Most +men had them,—Eric the Red, Leif the Lucky, +Harald Hairfair, Rolf Go-afoot. The other way of +knowing one Haki from the other was to tell his +father's name. One was Haki, Eric's son. The +other was Haki, Halfdan's son. If you speak these +names quickly, they sound like Haki Ericsson and +Haki Halfdansson. After a while they were written +like that, and men handed them on to their sons and +daughters. Some names that we have nowadays +have come down to us in just that way—Swanson, +Anderson, Peterson, Jansen. There was another +reason for these last names: a man was proud to +have people know who his father was.</p> + +<p><i><a name="Drinking-horns" id="Drinking-horns"></a>Drinking-horns.</i> The Norsemen had few cups +or goblets. They used instead the horns of cattle, +polished and trimmed with gold or silver or bronze. +They were often very beautiful, and a man was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> +almost as proud of his drinking-horn as of his +sword.</p> + +<p><i><a name="Tables" id="Tables"></a>Tables.</i> Before a meal thralls brought trestles +into the feast hall and set them before the benches. +Then they laid long boards across from trestle to +trestle. These narrow tables stretched all along both +sides of the hall. People sat at the outside edge +only. So the thralls served from the middle of the +room. They put baskets of bread and wooden platters +of meat upon these bare boards. At the end of +the meal they carried out tables and all, and the +drinking-horns went round in a clean room.</p> + +<p><i><a name="Beds" id="Beds"></a>Beds.</i> Around the sides of the feast hall were +shut-beds. They were like big boxes with doors +opening into the hall. On the floor of this box was +straw with blankets thrown over it. The people got +into these beds and closed the doors and so shut +themselves in. Olaf's men could have set heavy +things against these doors or have put props against +them. Then the people could not have got out; for on +the other side of the bed was the thick outside wall +of the feast hall, and there were no windows in it.</p> + +<p><i><a name="Feast_Hall" id="Feast_Hall"></a>Feast Hall.</i> The feast hall was long and narrow, +with a door at each end. Down the middle of the +room were flat stones in the dirt floor. Here the +fires burned. In the roof above these fires were +holes for the smoke to go out, but some of it blew +about the hall, and the walls and rafters were stained +with it. But it was pleasant wood smoke, and the +Norsemen did not dislike it. There were no large +windows in a feast hall or in any other Norse building. +High up under the eaves or in the roof itself were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> +narrow slits that were called wind's-eyes. There was +no glass in them, for the Norsemen did not know +how to make it; but there were, instead, covers made +of thin, oiled skin. These were put into the wind's-eyes +in stormy weather. There were covers, too, for +the smoke-holes. The only light came through these +narrow holes, so on dark days the people needed the +fire as much for light as for warmth.</p> + +<p><i><a name="Foster-father" id="Foster-father"></a>Foster-father.</i> A Norse father sent his children +away from home to grow up. They went when they +were three or four years old and stayed until they +were grown. The father thought: "They will be +better so. If they stayed at home, their mother +would spoil them with much petting."</p> + +<p><i><a name="Foster-brothers" id="Foster-brothers"></a>Foster-brothers.</i> When two men loved each +other very much they said, "Let us become foster-brothers."</p> + +<p>Then they went and cut three long pieces of turf +and put a spear into the ground so that it held up +the strips of turf like an arch. Runes were cut on +the handle of the spear, telling the duties of foster-brothers. +The two men walked under this arch, and +each made a little cut in his palm. They knelt and +clasped hands, so that the blood of the two flowed +together, and they said, "Now we are of one blood."</p> + +<p>Then each made this vow: "I will fight for my +foster-brother whenever he shall need me. If he is +killed before I am, I will punish the man who did it. +Whatever things I own are as much my foster-brother's +as mine. I will love this man until I die. +I call Odin and Thor and all the gods to hear my +vow. May they hate me if I break it!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p> + +<p><i><a name="Ran" id="Ran"></a>Ran.</i> Ran was the wife of Aegir, who was god +of the sea. They lived in a cave at the bottom of +the ocean. Ran had a great net, and she caught in +it all men who were shipwrecked and took them to +her cave. She also caught all the gold and rich +treasures that went down in ships. So her cave was +filled with shining things.</p> + +<p><i><a name="Valkyrias" id="Valkyrias"></a>Valkyrias.</i> These were the maidens of Odin. +They waited on the table in Valhalla. But whenever +a battle was being fought they rode through +the air on their horses and watched to see what +warriors were brave enough to go to Valhalla. Sometimes +during the fight a man would think that he +saw the Valkyrias. Then he was glad; for he knew +that he would go to Valhalla.</p> + +<p>An old Norse story says this about the Valkyrias: +"With lightning around them, with bloody shirts of +mail, and with shining spears they ride through the +air and the ocean. When their horses shake their +manes, dew falls on the deep valleys and hail on the +high forests."</p> + +<p><i><a name="Odins_Ravens" id="Odins_Ravens"></a>Odin's Ravens.</i> Odin had a great throne in his +palace in Asgard. When he sat in it he could look +all over the world. But it was so far to see that he +could not tell all of the things that were happening. +So he had two ravens to help him. An old Norse +story tells this about them: "Two ravens sit on +Odin's shoulders and whisper in his ears all that they +have heard and seen. He sends them out at dawn +of day to see over the whole world. They return at +evening near meal time. This is why Odin knows +so many things."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p> + +<p><i><a name="Reykjavik" id="Reykjavik"></a>Reykjavik.</i> Reykjavik means "smoky sea." Ingolf +called it that because of the steaming hot-springs by +the sea. The place is still called Reykjavik. A little +city has grown up there, the only city in Iceland. It +is the capital of the country.</p> + +<p><i><a name="Peace-bands" id="Peace-bands"></a>Peace-bands.</i> A Norseman always carried his +sword, even at a feast; for he did not know when he +might need it. But when he went somewhere on an +errand of peace and had no quarrel he tied his sword +into its scabbard with white bands that he called +peace-bands. If all at once something happened to +make him need his sword, he broke the peace-bands +and drew it out.</p> + +<p><i><a name="Eskimos" id="Eskimos"></a>Eskimos.</i> Now, the Eskimos live in Greenland +and Alaska and on the very northern shores of +Canada. But once they lived farther south in pleasanter +lands. After a while the other Indian tribes +began to grow strong. Then they wanted the pleasant +land of the Eskimos and the seashore that the +Eskimos had. So they fought again and again with +those people and won and drove them farther north +and farther north. At last the Eskimos were on +the very shores of the cold sea, with the Indians still +pushing them on. So some of them got into their +boats and rowed across the narrow water and came +to Greenland and lived there. Some people think +that these things happened before Eric found Greenland. +In that case he found Eskimos there; and +Thorfinn saw red Indians in Wineland. Other people +think that this happened after Eric went to Greenland. +If that is true, he found an empty land, and +it was Eskimos that Thorfinn saw in Wineland.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> See note about <a href="#Valkyrias">Valkyrias</a> on page <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/047.png" width="350" height="64" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap"><span class="dcap">Possibly</span> this book seems made up of four or +five disconnected stories. They are, however, +strung upon one thread,—the westward emigration +from Norway. The story of Harald is intended +to serve in two ways towards the working out of this +plot. It gives the general setting that continues +throughout the book in costume, houses, ideals, +habits. It explains the cause of the emigration from +the mother country. It is really an introductory +chapter. As for the other stories, they are distinctly +steps in the progress of the plot. A chain of islands +loosely connects Norway with America,—Orkneys +and Shetlands, Faroes, Iceland, Greenland. It was +from link to link of this chain that the Norsemen +sailed in search of home and adventure. Discoveries +were made by accident. Ships were driven by the +wind from known island to unknown. These two +points,—the island connection that made possible +the long voyage from Norway to America, and the +contribution of storm to discovery,—I have stated in +the book only dramatically. I emphasize them here, +hoping that the teacher will make sure that the +children see them, and possibly that they state them +abstractly.</p> + +<p>Let me speak as to the proper imaging of the +stories. I have not often interrupted incident with +special description, not because I do not consider the +getting of vivid and detailed images most necessary +to full enjoyment and to proper intellectual habits, +but because I trusted to the pictures of this book +and to the teacher to do what seemed to me inartistic +to do in the story. Some of these descriptions and +explanations I have introduced into the book in the +form of notes, hoping that the children in turning to +them might form a habit of insisting upon full<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> +understanding of a point, and might possibly, with +the teacher's encouragement, begin the habit of +reference reading.</p> + +<p>The landscape of Norway, Iceland, and Greenland +is wonderful and will greatly assist in giving reality +and definiteness to the stories. Materials for this +study are not difficult of access. Foreign colored +photographs of Norwegian landscape are becoming +common in our art stores. There are good illustrations +in the geographical works referred to in the +book list. These could be copied upon the blackboard. +There are three books beautifully illustrated +in color that it will be possible to find only in large +libraries,—"Coast of Norway," by Walton; "Travels +in the Island of Iceland," by Mackenzie; "Voyage en +Islande et au Gröenland," by J. P. Gaimard. If the +landscape is studied from the point of view of formation, +the images will be more accurate and more +easily gained, and the study will have a general value +that will continue past the reading of these stories +into all work in geography.</p> + +<p>Trustworthy pictures of Norse houses and costumes +are difficult to obtain. In "Viking Age" and +"Story of Norway," by Boyesen (G. P. Putnam's +Sons, New York), are many copies of Norse antiquities +in the fashion of weapons, shield-bosses, coins, +jewelry, wood-carving. These are, of course, accurate, +but of little interest to children. Their chief +value lies in helping the teacher to piece together a +picture that she can finally give to her pupils.</p> + +<p>Metal-working and wood-carving were the most +important arts of the Norse. If children study +products of these arts and actually do some of the +work, they will gain a quickened sympathy with the +people and an appreciation of their power. They +may, perhaps, make something to merely illustrate +Norse work; for instance, a carved ship's-head, or a +copper shield, or a wrought door-nail. But, better, +they may apply Norse ideas of form and decoration<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +and Norse processes in making some modern thing +that they can actually use; for instance, a carved +wood pin-tray or a copper match holder. This work +should lead out into a study of these same industries +among ourselves with visits to wood-working shops +and metal foundries.</p> + +<p>Frequent drawn or painted illustration by the +children of costumes, landscapes, houses, feast halls, +and ships will help to make these images clear. But +dramatization will do more than anything else for +the interpreting of the stories and the characters. It +would be an excellent thing if at last, through the +dramatization and the handwork, the children should +come into sufficient understanding and enthusiasm +to turn skalds and compose songs in the Norse manner. +This requires only a small vocabulary and a +rough feeling for simple rhythm, but an intensity of +emotion and a great vividness of image.</p> + +<p>These Norse stories have, to my thinking, three +values. The men, with the crude courage and the +strange adventures that make a man interesting to +children, have at the same time the love of truth, the +hardy endurance, the faithfulness to plighted word, +that make them a child's fit companions. Again, in +form and in matter old Norse literature is well worth +our reading. I should deem it a great thing accomplished +if the children who read these stories should +so be tempted after a while to read those fine old +books, to enjoy the tales, to appreciate straightforwardness +and simplicity of style. The historical +value of the story of Leif Ericsson and the others +seems to me to be not to learn the fact that Norsemen +discovered America before Columbus did, but +to gain a conception of the conditions of early navigation, +of the length of the voyage, of the dangers of +the sea, and a consequent realization of the reason +for the fact that America was unknown to mediæval +Europe, of why the Norsemen did not travel, of +what was necessary to be done before men should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> +strike out across the ocean. Norse story is only one +chapter in that tale of American discovery. I give +below an outline of a year's work on the subject +that was once followed by the fourth grade of the +Chicago Normal School. The idea in it is to give +importance, sequence, reasonableness, broad connections, +to the discovery of America.</p> + +<p>The head of the history department who planned +this course says it is "in a sense a dramatization of +the development of geographical knowledge."</p> + +<p>Following is a bare topical outline of the work:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Evolution of the forms of boats.<br /> +Viking tales.<br /> +A crusade as a tale of travel and discovery.<br /> +Monasteries as centers of work.<br /> +Printing.<br /> +Story of Marco Polo.<br /> +Columbus' discovery.<br /> +Story of Vasco da Gama.<br /> +Story of Magellan.</p></div> + +<div class="figdeco"> +<img src="images/014.png" width="100" height="60" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p> +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/048.png" width="350" height="62" alt="A Reading List" title="" /> +</div> + +<h3>GEOGRAPHY</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">Norway</span>: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants," Reclus. +<i>D. Appleton & Co., New York.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Iceland</span>: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants," "Iceland," +Baring-Gould. <i>Smith, Elder & Co., +London, 1863.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes." <i>Harper +Bros., New York.</i></p> + +<p>"An American in Iceland," Kneeland. <i>Lockwood, +Brooke & Co., Boston, 1876.</i></p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Greenland</span>: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants," Reclus. +<i>D. Appleton & Co., New York.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes." <i>Harper +Bros., New York.</i></p></div> + +<h3>CUSTOMS</h3> + +<p>"Viking Age," Du Chaillu. <i>Charles Scribner's Sons, +1889.</i></p> + +<p>"Private Life of the Old Northmen," Keyser; translated +by Barnard. <i>Chapman & Hall, London, +1868.</i></p> + +<p>"Saga Time," Vicary. <i>Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner +& Co., London.</i></p> + +<p>"Story of Burnt Njal" (Introduction), Dasent. <i>Edmonston +& Douglas, Edinburgh, 1861.</i></p> + +<p>"Vikings of the Baltic, a romance;" Dasent. <i>Edmonston +& Douglas, Edinburgh.</i></p> + +<p>"Ivar the Viking, a romance;" Du Chaillu. <i>Charles +Scribner's Sons, New York.</i></p> + +<p>"Viking Path, a romance;" Haldane Burgess. <i>Wm. +Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, 1894.</i></p> + +<p>"Northern Antiquities," Percy, edited by Blackwell. +<i>Bohn, London, 1859.</i></p> + +<p>Also the Sagas named on page 206.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p> + +<h3>MYTHOLOGY</h3> + +<p>The Prose Edda, "Northern Antiquities," Percy, +edited by Blackwell. <i>Bohn, London, 1859.</i></p> + +<p>"Norse Mythology," Anderson. <i>Scott, Foresman & +Co., Chicago, 1876.</i></p> + +<p>"Norse Stories," Mabie. <i>Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago, +1902.</i></p> + +<p>"Northern Mythology," Thorpe. <i>Lumley, London, +1851.</i></p> + +<p>"Classic Myths," Judd. <i>Rand, McNally & Co., +Chicago, 1902.</i></p> + +<h3>INCIDENTS</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">Harald</span>: Saga of Harald Hairfair, in "Saga Library," +Magnusson and Morris, Vol. I. <i>Bernard +Quaritch, London; Charles Scribner's Sons, +New York, 1892.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Ingolf</span>: "Norsemen in Iceland," Dasent in Oxford +Essays, Vol. IV. <i>Parker & Son, London, +1858.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes." <i>Harper +Bros., New York.</i></p> + +<p>"A Winter in Iceland and Lapland," Dillon. +<i>Henry Colburn, London, 1840.</i></p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Eric, Leif, and Thorfinn</span>: "The Finding of Wineland +the Good," Reeves. <i>Henry Froude, +1890.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"America Not Discovered by Columbus." Anderson. +<i>Scott, Foresman & Co., Chicago, 1891.</i></p></div> + +<h3>CREDIBILITY OF STORY</h3> + +<p>Winsor's "Narrative and Critical History of America," +Vol. I. <i>C. A. Nichols Co., Springfield, Mass., +1895.</i></p> + +<p>"Discovery of America," Fiske, Vol. I. <i>Houghton, +Mifflin & Co., Boston, 1892.</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span></p> + +<h3>OTHER SAGAS EASILY ACCESSIBLE</h3> + +<p>"Saga Library," 5 vols.; Morris and Magnusson. +<i>Bernard Quaritch, London; Charles Scribner's +Sons, New York, 1892.</i> As follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The Story of Howard the Halt," "The Story +of the Banded Men," "The Story of Hen +Thorir." Done into English out of Icelandic +by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson.</p> + +<p>"The Story of the Ere-dwellers," with "The +Story of the Heath-slayings" as Appendix. +Done into English out of the Icelandic by +William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson.</p> + +<p>"The Stories of the Kings of Norway, called +the Round World" (Heimskringla). By +Snorri Sturluson. Done into English by +William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson. +With a large map of Norway. In three +volumes.</p></div> + +<p>"Gisli the Outlaw," Dasent. <i>Edmonston & Douglas, +Edinburgh.</i></p> + +<p>"Orkneyinga Saga," Anderson. <i>Edmonston & Douglas, +Edinburgh.</i></p> + +<p>"Volsunga Saga," Morris and Magnusson. <i>Walter +Scott, London.</i></p> + +<p>"The Younger Edda," Anderson. <i>Scott, Foresman +& Co., Chicago, 1880.</i></p> + +<p>(A full bibliography of the Sagas may be found in +"Volsunga Saga.")</p> + +<div class="figdeco"> +<img src="images/011.png" width="100" height="100" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span></p> +<div class="figh"> +<img src="images/049.png" width="350" height="62" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hd1">(<i>This index and guide to pronunciation which are given to indicate the +pronunciation of the more difficult words, are based upon the 1918 edition of +Webster's New International Dictionary.</i>)</p></div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td class="td6"><b>Aegir</b> (ē´ jĭr)<br /> +<b><i>Ȧ</i>rā´ bĭ <i>ȧ</i></b><br /> +<b>Ärn´ vĭd</b><br /> +<b>Ăs´ gärd</b><br /> +<b>A̤ud´ bĭ ôrn</b><br /> +<b>A̤u´ dŭn</b><br /><br /> +<b>Bĭ är´ nĭ</b><br /><br /> +<b>Eric</b> (ē´ rĭk)<br /> +<b>Ericsson</b> (ĕr´ ĭk s<i>ŭ</i>n)<br /> +<b>Eyjolf</b> (ī´ y[+o]lf)<br /><br /> +<b>Faroes</b> (fā´ rōz)<br /> +<b>fiord</b> (fyôrd)<br /> +<b>Flō´ kĭ</b><br /><br /> +<b>Grĭm</b><br /> +<b>Gŭd´ bränd</b><br /> +<b>Gŭd´ rĭd</b><br /> +<b>Gŭd´ rōd</b><br /> +<b>Gŭn<i>n</i>´ bĭ ôrn</b><br /> +<b>Gṳ´ t<i>h</i>ôrm</b><br /> +<b>Gyda</b> (gē´ d[+a])</td> +<td class="td6"><b>Hä´ kĭ</b><br /> +<b>Hä´ k[+o]n</b><br /> +<b>Hälf´ dăn</b><br /> +<b>Hăr´ ăld</b><br /> +<b>Hä´ värd</b><br /> +<b>Hĕl´ ä</b><br /> +<b>Hĕl´ g[+a]</b><br /> +<b>Hẽr´ st<i>e</i>īn</b><br /> +<b>Holmstein</b> (hōlm´ stīn)<br /><br /> +<b>Ĭn´ gôlf</b><br /> +<b>Ī´ vär</b><br /><br /> +<b>Leif</b> (l[+i]f)<br /><br /> +<b>Niflheim</b> (n[+e]v´ 'l hām)<br /><br /> +<b>Ō´ dĭn</b><br /> +<b>Ō´ läf</b><br /> +<b>Orkneys</b> (ôrk´ nĭz)<br /><br /> +<b>Rän</b><br /> +<b>Reykjavik</b> (rā´ ky<i>ȧ</i> vēk´)<br /> +<b>Rôlf</b></td> +<td class="td6"><b>Shĕt´ l<i>ă</i>nds</b><br /> +<b>Sif</b> (sēf)<br /> +<b>Sighvat</b> (sĭg´ văt)<br /> +<b>Snorri</b> (snŏr´ r[+e])<br /> +<b>Sôl´ fĭ</b><br /><br /> +<b>Thor</b> (thôr)<br /> +<b>T<i>h</i>ôr´ bĭ ôrn</b><br /> +<b>T<i>h</i>ôr´ fĭnn</b><br /> +<b>T<i>h</i>ôr´ gĕst</b><br /> +<b>T<i>h</i>ôr´ hĭld</b><br /> +<b>T<i>h</i>ôr´ kĕl</b><br /> +<b>T<i>h</i>ôr´ l<i>e</i>īf</b><br /> +<b>T<i>h</i>ôr´ ôlf</b><br /> +<b>T<i>h</i>ôr´ st<i>e</i>īn</b><br /> +<b>Tyrker</b> (tẽr´ kẽr)<br /><br /> +<b>Văl hăl´ <i>lȧ</i></b><br /> +<b>Valkyria</b> (văl kĭr´ y<i>ȧ</i>)<br /> +<b>Vī´ kĭng</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h3>A GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION</h3> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td class="td7">ā</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>āle</b></td> +<td class="td7">ē</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>ēve</b></td> +<td class="td7">[+o]</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>[+o]bey´</b></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td7">ă</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>ădd</b></td> +<td class="td7">[+e]</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>[+e]vent´</b></td> +<td class="td7">ŏ</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>ŏdd</b></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td7"><i>ă</i></td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>fin<i>ă</i>l</b></td> +<td class="td7">ĕ</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>ĕnd</b></td> +<td class="td7">ô</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>lôrd</b></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td7">ȧ</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>ȧsk</b></td> +<td class="td7">ẽ</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>hẽr</b></td> +<td class="td7">ŭ</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>ŭp</b></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td7"><i>ȧ</i></td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>sof<i>ȧ</i></b></td> +<td class="td7">ī</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>īce</b></td> +<td class="td7"><i>ŭ</i></td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>circ<i>ŭ</i>s</b></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td7">ä</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>ärm</b></td> +<td class="td7">ĭ</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>ĭt</b></td> +<td class="td7">ṳ</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>rṳde</b></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td7">a̤</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>a̤ll</b></td> +<td class="td7">ō</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>ōld</b></td> +<td class="td7">ȳ</td> +<td class="td8">as in <b>flȳ</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="hd1">Silent letters are italicized.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Viking Tales, by Jennie Hall + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIKING TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 24811-h.htm or 24811-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/8/1/24811/ + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously 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no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Viking Tales + +Author: Jennie Hall + +Illustrator: Victor R. Lambdin + +Release Date: March 12, 2008 [EBook #24811] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIKING TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +VIKING TALES + + +[Decoration] + + +[Illustration: _A map showing the journeys of the Vikings_] + + + + + VIKING TALES + _by_ + JENNIE HALL + _The Francis W. Parker School_ + _Chicago_ + + + [Illustration] + + + ILLUSTRATED + _by_ + VICTOR R. + LAMBDIN + + + RAND McNALLY & CO + + _Chicago_ _New York_ + _London_ + + + + + _Copyright, 1902,_ + By JENNIE HALL + + [Device] + Made in U.S.A. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. + Diacritical marks, found in the _Pronouncing Index_, are represented + as follows: + + [=x] any character with upper macron + [)x] ... with upper breve + [.x] ... with upper dot + [x:] ... with lower diaeresis + [~x] ... with upper tilde + [+x] ... with upper up tack + + + + +_The_ Table _of_ Contents + + + PAGE + _A List of the Illustrations_ 8 + _What the Sagas Were_ 9 + + +PART I. + +_IN NORWAY_ + + The Baby 15 + The Tooth Thrall 19 + Olaf's Farm 27 + Olaf's Fight with Havard 40 + Foes'-fear 47 + Harald is King 53 + Harald's Battle 62 + Gyda's Saucy Message 71 + The Sea Fight 81 + King Harald's Wedding 89 + King Harald Goes West-Over-Seas 95 + + +PART II. + +_WEST-OVER-SEAS_ + + Homes in Iceland 103 + Eric the Red 143 + Leif and His New Land 161 + Wineland the Good 174 + + _Descriptive Notes_ 194 + _Suggestions to Teachers_ 200 + _A Reading List_ 204 + _A Pronouncing Index_ 207 + + + + +A List of the Illustrations + + + PAGE + + _A map showing the journeys of the Vikings_ Frontispiece + + "_I own this baby for my son. He shall be called Harald_" 17 + + "_He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from his + belt_" 22 + + "_I struck my shield against the door so that it made a + great clanging_" 31 + + "_Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly_" 45 + + "_He drove it into the wolf's neck_" 51 + + "_I vow that I will grind my father's foes under my heel_" 59 + + "_King Haki fell dead under 'Foes'-fear'_" 68 + + "_I will not be his wife unless he puts all of Norway + under him for my sake_" 73 + + "_Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat_" 87 + + "_I, Harald, King of Norway, take you, Gyda, for my wife_" 91 + + "_In Norway they left burning houses and weeping women_" 97 + + "_Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven afar off_" 125 + + "_Those Icelanders clapped them on the shoulders_" 137 + + "_He looked straight ahead of him and scowled_" 145 + + "_More than half the men in the hall jumped to their feet_" 147 + + "_It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before_" 153 + + "_He pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his eyes_" 167 + + "_The chief held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the cloak + to him_" 187 + + + + +What _the_ Sagas Were + + +Iceland is a little country far north in the cold sea. Men found it and +went there to live more than a thousand years ago. During the warm +season they used to fish and make fish-oil and hunt sea-birds and gather +feathers and tend their sheep and make hay. But the winters were long +and dark and cold. Men and women and children stayed in the house and +carded and spun and wove and knit. A whole family sat for hours around +the fire in the middle of the room. That fire gave the only light. +Shadows flitted in the dark corners. Smoke curled along the high beams +in the ceiling. The children sat on the dirt floor close by the fire. +The grown people were on a long narrow bench that they had pulled up to +the light and warmth. Everybody's hands were busy with wool. The work +left their minds free to think and their lips to talk. What was there to +talk about? The summer's fishing, the killing of a fox, a voyage to +Norway. But the people grew tired of this little gossip. Fathers looked +at their children and thought: + +"They are not learning much. What will make them brave and wise? What +will teach them to love their country and old Norway? Will not the +stories of battles, of brave deeds, of mighty men, do this?" + +So, as the family worked in the red fire-light, the father told of the +kings of Norway, of long voyages to strange lands, of good fights. And +in farmhouses all through Iceland these old tales were told over and +over until everybody knew them and loved them. Some men could sing and +play the harp. This made the stories all the more interesting. People +called such men "skalds," and they called their songs "sagas." + +Every midsummer there was a great meeting. Men from all over Iceland +came to it and made laws. During the day there were rest times, when no +business was going on. Then some skald would take his harp and walk to a +large stone or a knoll and stand on it and begin a song of some brave +deed of an old Norse hero. At the first sound of the harp and the +voice, men came running from all directions, crying out: + +"The skald! The skald! A saga!" + +They stood about for hours and listened. They shouted applause. When the +skald was tired, some other man would come up from the crowd and sing or +tell a story. As the skald stepped down from his high position, some +rich man would rush up to him and say: + +"Come and spend next winter at my house. Our ears are thirsty for song." + +So the best skalds traveled much and visited many people. Their songs +made them welcome everywhere. They were always honored with good seats +at a feast. They were given many rich gifts. Even the King of Norway +would sometimes send across the water to Iceland, saying to some famous +skald: + +"Come and visit me. You shall not go away empty-handed. Men say that the +sweetest songs are in Iceland. I wish to hear them." + +These tales were not written. Few men wrote or read in those days. +Skalds learned songs from hearing them sung. At last people began to +write more easily. Then they said: + +"These stories are very precious. We must write them down to save them +from being forgotten." + +After that many men in Iceland spent their winters in writing books. +They wrote on sheepskin; vellum, we call it. Many of these old vellum +books have been saved for hundreds of years, and are now in museums in +Norway. Some leaves are lost, some are torn, all are yellow and +crumpled. But they are precious. They tell us all that we know about +that olden time. There are the very words that the men of Iceland wrote +so long ago--stories of kings and of battles and of ship-sailing. Some +of those old stories I have told in this book. + + + + +_PART I_ + +[Illustration] + +_IN_ NORWAY + + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +The Baby + + +King Halfdan lived in Norway long ago. One morning his queen said to +him: + +"I had a strange dream last night. I thought that I stood in the grass +before my bower.[1] I pulled a thorn from my dress. As I held it in my +fingers, it grew into a tall tree. The trunk was thick and red as blood, +but the lower limbs were fair and green, and the highest ones were +white. I thought that the branches of this great tree spread so far that +they covered all Norway and even more." + +"A strange dream," said King Halfdan. "Dreams are the messengers of the +gods. I wonder what they would tell us," and he stroked his beard in +thought. + +Some time after that a serving-woman came into the feast hall where King +Halfdan was. She carried a little white bundle in her arms. + +"My lord," she said, "a little son is just born to you." + +"Ha!" cried the king, and he jumped up from the high seat and hastened +forward until he stood before the woman. + +"Show him to me!" he shouted, and there was joy in his voice. + +The serving-woman put down her bundle on the ground and turned back the +cloth. There was a little naked baby. The king looked at it carefully. + +"It is a goodly youngster," he said, and smiled. "Bring Ivar and +Thorstein."[2] + +They were captains of the king's soldiers. Soon they came. + +"Stand as witnesses," Halfdan said. + +Then he lifted the baby in his arms, while the old serving-woman brought +a silver bowl of water. The king dipped his hand into it and sprinkled +the baby, saying: + +"I own this baby for my son. He shall be called Harald. My naming gift +to him is ten pounds of gold." + +Then the woman carried the baby back to the queen's room. + +[Illustration: "_I own this baby for my son. He shall be called +Harald_"] + +"My lord owns him for his son," she said. "And no wonder! He is perfect +in every limb." + +The queen looked at him and smiled and remembered her dream and thought: + +"That great tree! Can it be this little baby of mine?" + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] See note about house on page 194. + +[2] See note about names on page 194. + + + + +[Illustration] + +The Tooth Thrall + + +When Harald was seven months old he cut his first tooth. Then his father +said: + +"All the young of my herds, lambs and calves and colts, that have been +born since this baby was born I this day give to him. I also give to him +this thrall, Olaf. These are my tooth-gifts to my son." + +The boy grew fast, for as soon as he could walk about he was out of +doors most of the time. He ran in the woods and climbed the hills and +waded in the creek. He was much with his tooth thrall, for the king had +said to Olaf: + +"Be ever at his call." + +Now this Olaf was full of stories, and Harald liked to hear them. + +"Come out to Aegir's Rock, Olaf, and tell me stories," he said almost +every day. + +So they started off across the hills. The man wore a long, loose coat of +white wool, belted at the waist with a strap. He had on coarse shoes +and leather leggings. Around his neck was an iron collar welded together +so that it could not come off. On it were strange marks, called runes, +that said: + +"Olaf, thrall of Halfdan." + +But Harald's clothes were gay. A cape of gray velvet hung from his +shoulders. It was fastened over his breast with great gold buckles. When +it waved in the wind, a scarlet lining flashed out, and the bottom of a +little scarlet jacket showed. His feet and legs were covered with gray +woolen tights. Gold lacings wound around his legs from his shoes to his +knees. A band of gold held down his long, yellow hair. + +It was a wild country that these two were walking over. They were +climbing steep, rough hills. Some of them seemed made all of rock, with +a little earth lying in spots. Great rocks hung out from them, with +trees growing in their cracks. Some big pieces had broken off and rolled +down the hill. + +"Thor broke them," Olaf said. "He rides through the sky and hurls his +hammer at clouds and at mountains. That makes the thunder and the +lightning and cracks the hills. His hammer never misses its aim, and it +always comes back to his hand and is eager to go again." + +When they reached the top of the hill they looked back. Far below was a +soft, green valley. In front of it the sea came up into the land and +made a fiord. On each side of the fiord high walls of rock stood up and +made the water black with shadow. All around the valley were high hills +with dark pines on them. Far off were the mountains. In the valley were +Halfdan's houses around their square yard. + +"How little our houses look down there!" Harald said. "But I can +almost--yes, I can see the red dragon on the roof of the feast hall. Do +you remember when I climbed up and sat on his head, Olaf?" + +He laughed and kicked his heels and ran on. + +[Illustration: "_He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from +his belt_"] + +At last they came to Aegir's Rock and walked up on its flat top. Harald +went to the edge and looked over. A ragged wall of rock reached down, +and two hundred feet below was the black water of the fiord. Olaf +watched him for a while, then he said: + +"No whitening of your cheek, Harald? Good! A boy that can face the fall +of Aegir's Rock will not be afraid to face the war flash when he is a +man." + +"Ho, I am not afraid of the war flash now," cried Harald. + +He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from his belt. + +"See!" he cried; "does this not flash like a sword? And I am not afraid. +But after all, this is a baby thing! When I am eight years old I will +have a sword, a sharp tooth of war." + +He swung his dagger as though it were a long sword. Then he ran and sat +on a rock by Olaf. + +"Why is this Aegir's Rock?" he asked. + +"You know that Asgard is up in the sky," Olaf said. "It is a wonderful +city where the golden houses of the gods are in the golden grove. A +high wall runs all around it. In the house of Odin, the All-father, +there is a great feast hall larger than the whole earth. Its name is +Valhalla. It has five hundred doors. The rafters are spears. The roof is +thatched with shields. Armor lies on the benches. In the high seat sits +Odin, a golden helmet on his head, a spear in his hand. Two wolves lie +at his feet. At his right hand and his left sit all the gods and +goddesses, and around the hall sit thousands and thousands of men, all +the brave ones that have ever died. + +"Now it is good to be in Valhalla; for there is mead there better than +men can brew, and it never runs out. And there are skalds that sing +wonderful songs that men never heard. And before the doors of Valhalla +is a great meadow where the warriors fight every day and get glorious +and sweet wounds and give many. And all night they feast, and their +wounds heal. But none may go to Valhalla except warriors that have died +bravely in battle. Men who die from sickness go with women and children +and cowards to Niflheim. There Hela, who is queen, always sneers at +them, and a terrible cold takes hold of their bones, and they sit down +and freeze. + +"Years ago Aegir was a great warrior. Aegir the Big-handed, they called +him. In many a battle his sword had sung, and he had sent many warriors +to Valhalla. Many swords had bit into his flesh and left marks there, +but never a one had struck him to death. So his hair grew white and his +arms thin. There was peace in that country then, and Aegir sorrowed, +saying: + +"'I am old. Battles are still. Must I die in bed like a woman? Shall I +not see Valhalla?' + +"Now thus did Odin say long ago: + +"'If a man is old and is come near death and cannot die in fight, let +him find death in some brave way and he shall feast with me in +Valhalla.' + +"So one day Aegir came to this rock. + +"'A deed to win Valhalla!' he cried. + +"Then he drew his sword and flashed it over his head and held his shield +high above him, and leaped out into the air and died in the water of +the fiord." + +"Ho!" cried Harald, jumping to his feet. "I think that Odin stood up +before his high seat and welcomed that man gladly when he walked through +the door of Valhalla." + +"So the songs say," replied Olaf, "for skalds still sing of that deed +all over Norway." + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +Olaf's Farm + + +At another time Harald asked: + +"What is your country, Olaf? Have you always been a thrall?" + +The thrall's eyes flashed. + +"When you are a man," he said, "and go a-viking to Denmark, ask men +whether they ever heard of Olaf the Crafty. There, far off, is my +country, across the water. My father was Gudbrand the Big. Two hundred +warriors feasted in his hall and followed him to battle. Ten sons sat at +meat with him, and I was the youngest. One day he said: + +"'You are all grown to be men. There is not elbow-room here for so many +chiefs. The eldest of you shall have my farm when I die. The rest of +you, off a-viking!' + +"He had three ships. These he gave to three of my brothers. But I stayed +that spring and built me a boat. I made her for only twenty oars because +I thought few men would follow me; for I was young, fifteen years old. +I made her in the likeness of a dragon. At the prow I carved the head +with open mouth and forked tongue thrust out. I painted the eyes red for +anger. + +"'There, stand so!' I said, 'and glare and hiss at my foes.' + +"In the stern I curved the tail up almost as high as the head. There I +put the pilot's seat and a strong tiller for the rudder. On the breast +and sides I carved the dragon's scales. Then I painted it all black and +on the tip of every scale I put gold. I called her 'Waverunner.' There +she sat on the rollers, as fair a ship as I ever saw. + +"The night that it was finished I went to my father's feast. After the +meats were eaten and the mead-horns came round, I stood up from my bench +and raised my drinking-horn[3] high and spoke with a great voice: + +"'This is my vow: I will sail to Norway and I will harry the coast and +fill my boat with riches. Then I will get me a farm and will winter in +that land. Now who will follow me?' + +"'He is but a boy,' the men said. 'He has opened his mouth wider than he +can do.' + +"But others jumped to their feet with their mead-horns in their hands. +Thirty men, one after another, raised their horns and said: + +"'I will follow this lad, and I will not turn back so long as he and I +live!' + +"On the next morning we got into my dragon and started. I sat high in +the pilot's seat. As our boat flashed down the rollers into the water I +made this song and sang it: + + "'The dragon runs. + Where will she steer? + Where swords will sing, + Where spears will bite, + Where I shall laugh.' + +"So we harried the coast of Norway. We ate at many men's tables +uninvited. Many men we found overburdened with gold. Then I said: + +"'My dragon's belly is never full,' and on board went the gold. + +"Oh! it is better to live on the sea and let other men raise your crops +and cook your meals. A house smells of smoke, a ship smells of frolic. +From a house you see a sooty roof, from a ship you see Valhalla. + +"Up and down the water we went to get much wealth and much frolic. After +a while my men said: + +"'What of the farm, Olaf?' + +"'Not yet,' I answered. 'Viking is better for summer. When the ice +comes, and our dragon cannot play, then we will get our farm and sit +down.' + +"At last the winter came, and I said to my men: + +"'Now for the farm. I have my eye on one up the coast a way in King +Halfdan's country.' + +"So we set off for it. We landed late at night and pulled our boat up on +shore and walked quietly to the house. It was rather a wealthy farm, for +there were stables and a storehouse and a smithy at the sides of the +house. There was but one door to the house. We went to it, and I struck +it with my spear. + +[Illustration: "_I struck my shield against the door so that it made a +great clanging_"] + +"'Hello! Ho! Hello!' I shouted, and my men made a great din. + +"At last some one from inside said: + +"'Who calls?' + +"'I call,' I answered. 'Open! or you will think it Thor who calls,' and +I struck my shield against the door so that it made a great clanging. + +"The door opened only a little, but I pushed it wide and leaped into the +room. It was so dark that I could see nothing but a few sparks on the +hearth. I stood with my back to the wall; for I wanted no sword reaching +out of the dark for me. + +"'Now start up the fire,' I said. + +"'Come, come!' I called, when no one obeyed. 'A fire! This is cold +welcome for your guests.' + +"My men laughed. + +"'Yes, a stingy host! He acts as though he had not expected us.' + +"But now the farmer was blowing on the coals and putting on fresh wood. +Soon it blazed up, and we could see about us. We were in a little feast +hall,[4] with its fire down the middle of it. There were benches for +twenty men along each side. The farmer crouched by the fire, afraid to +move. On a bench in a far corner were a dozen people huddled together. + +"'Ho, thralls!' I called to them. 'Bring in the table. We are hungry.' + +"Off they ran through a door at the back of the hall. My men came in and +lay down by the fire and warmed themselves, but I set two of them as +guards at the door. + +"'Well, friend farmer,' laughed one, 'why such a long face? Do you not +think we shall be merry company?' + +"'We came only to cheer you,' said another. 'What man wants to spend the +winter with no guests?' + +"'Ah!' another then cried out, sitting up. 'Here comes something that +will be a welcome guest to my stomach.' + +"The thralls were bringing in a great pot of meat. They set up a crane +over the fire and hung the pot upon it, and we sat and watched it boil +while we joked. At last the supper began. The farmer sat gloomily on the +bench and would not eat, and you cannot wonder; for he saw us putting +potfuls of his good beef and basket-loads of bread into our big mouths. +When the tables were taken out and the mead-horns came round, I stood up +and raised my horn and said to the farmer: + +"'You would not eat with us. You cannot say no to half of my ale. I +drink this to your health.' + +"Then I drank half of the hornful and sent the rest across the fire to +the farmer. He took it and smiled, saying: + +"'Since it is to my health, I will drink it. I thought that all this +night's work would be my death.' + +"'Oh, do not fear that!' I laughed, 'for a dead man sets no tables.' + +"So we drank and all grew merrier. At last I stood up and said: + +"'I like this little taste of your hospitality, friend farmer. I have +decided to accept more of it.' + +"My men roared with laughter. + +"'Come,' they cried, 'thank him for that, farmer. Did you ever have such +a lordly guest before?' + +"I went on: + +"'Now there is no fun in having guests unless they keep you company and +make you merry. So I will give out this law: that my men shall never +leave you alone. Hakon there shall be your constant companion, friend +farmer. He shall not leave you day or night, whether you are working or +playing or sleeping. Leif and Grim shall be the same kind of friends to +your two sons.' + +"I named nine others and said: + +"'And these shall follow your thralls in the same way. Now, am I not +careful to make your time go merrily?' + +"So I set guards over every one in that house. Not once all that winter +did they stir out of sight of some of us. So no tales got out to the +neighbors. Besides, it was a lonely place, and by good luck no one came +that way. Oh! that was fat and easy living. + +"Well, after we had been there for a long time, Hakon came in to the +feast one night and said: + +"'I heard a cuckoo to-day!' + +"'It is the call to go a-viking,' I said. + +"All my men put their hands to their mouths and shouted. Their eyes +danced. Big Thorleif stood up and stretched himself. + +"'I am stiff with long sitting,' he said. 'I itch for a fight.' + +"I turned to the farmer. + +"'This is our last feast with you,' I said. + +"'Well,' he laughed, 'this has been the busiest winter I ever spent, and +the merriest. May good luck go with you!' + +"'By the beard of Odin!' I cried; 'you have taken our joke like a man.' + +"My men pounded the table with their fists. + +"'By the hammer of Thor!' shouted Grim. 'Here is no stingy coward. He is +a man fit to carry my drinking-horn, the horn of a sea-rover and a +sword-swinger. Here, friend, take it,' and he thrust it into the +farmer's hand. 'May you drink heart's-ease from it for many years. And +with it I leave you a name, Sif the Friendly. I shall hope to drink with +you sometime in Valhalla.' + +"Then all my men poured around that farmer and clapped him on the +shoulder and piled things upon him, saying: + +"'Here is a ring for Sif the Friendly.' + +"'And here is a bracelet.' + +"'A sword would not be ashamed to hang at your side.' + +"I took five great bracelets of gold from our treasure chest and gave +them to him. + +"The old man's eyes opened wide at all these things, and at the same +time he laughed. + +"'May Odin send me such guests every winter!' he said. + +"Early next morning we shook hands with our host and boarded the +'Waverunner' and sailed off. + +"'Where shall we go?' my men asked. + +"'Let the gods decide,' I said, and tossed up my spear. + +"When it fell on the deck it pointed up-shore, so I steered in that +direction. That is the best way to decide, for the spear will always +point somewhere, and one thing is as good as another. That time it +pointed us into your father's ships. They closed in battle with us and +killed my men and sunk my ship and dragged me off a prisoner. They were +three against one, or they might have tasted something more bitter at +our hands. They took me before King Halfdan. + +"'Here,' they said, 'is a rascal who has been harrying our coasts. We +sunk his ship and men, but him we brought to you.' + +"'A robber viking?' said the king, and scowled at me. + +"I threw back my head and laughed. + +"'Yes. And with all your fingers it took you a year to catch me.' + +"The king frowned more angrily. + +"'Saucy, too?' he said. 'Well, thieves must die. Take him out, Thorkel, +and let him taste your sword.' + +"Your mother, the queen, was standing by. Now she put her hand on his +arm and smiled and said: + +"'He is only a lad. Let him live. And would he not be a good gift for +our baby?' + +"Your father thought a moment, then looked at your mother and smiled. + +"'Soft heart!' he said gently to her; then to Thorkel, 'Well, let him +go, Thorkel!' + +"Then he turned to me again, frowning. + +"'But, young sharp-tongue, now that we have caught you we will put you +into a trap that you cannot get out of. Weld an iron collar on his +neck.' + +"So I lived and now am your tooth thrall. Well, it is the luck of war. +But by the chair of Odin, I kept my vow!" + +"Yes!" cried Harald, jumping to his feet. "And had a joke into the +bargain. Ah! sometime I will make a brave vow like that." + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] See note about drinking-horns on page 195. + +[4] See note about feast hall on page 196. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Olaf's Fight With Havard + + +At another time Harald said: + +"Tell me of a fight, Olaf. I want to hear about the music of swords." + +Olaf's eyes blazed. + +"I will tell you of our fight with King Havard," he said. + +"One dark night we had landed at a farm. We left our 'Waverunner' in the +water with three men to guard her. The rest of us went into the house. +The farmer met us at the door, but he died by Thorkel's sword. The +others we shut into their beds.[5] The door at each end of the hall we +had barred on the inside so that nobody could surprise us. We were busy +going through the cupboards and shouting at our good luck. But suddenly +we heard a shout outside: + +"'Thor and Havard!' + +"Then there was a great beating at the doors. + +"'He has two hundred fighters with him,' said Grim; 'for we saw his +ships last night. Thirty against two hundred! We shall all drink in +Valhalla to-night.' + +"'Well,' I cried, 'Odin shall have no unwilling guest in me.' + +"'Nor in me,' cried Hakon. + +"'Nor in me,' shouted Thorkel. + +"And that shout went all around, and we drew out our swords and caught +up our shields. + +"'Hot work is ahead of us,' said Hakon. 'Besides, we must leave none of +this mead for Havard. Lend a hand, some one.' + +"Then he and another pulled out a great tub that sat on the floor of the +cupboard. + +"'I drink to Valhalla to-night,' cried Thorkel the Thirsty, and he +plunged his horn deep into the tub. + +"When he brought it up, his sleeve was dripping and the sweet mead was +running over from the horn. + +"'Sloven!' cried Hakon, and he struck Thorkel with his fist and knocked +him over into the cupboard. + +"He fell against the wooden wall at the back, and a carved panel swung +open behind him. He dropped down head first. In a minute he put his head +out of the hole again. We all stood staring. + +"'I think it is a secret passage,' he said. + +"'We will try it,' I answered in a whisper. 'Throw dirt on the fire. It +must be dark.' + +"So we dug up dirt from the earth floor and smothered the fire. All this +time there was a terrible shouting and hammering at the doors, but they +were of heavy logs and stood. + +"'I with four more will guard this door,' I said, pointing to the east +end. + +"Immediately four men stepped to my side. + +"'And I will guard the other,' Hakon said, and four went with him. + +"'The rest of you, down the hole!' I said. 'Close the door after you. If +luck is with us we will meet at the ships. Now Thor and our good swords +help us! Quick! The doors are giving way.' + +"So we ten men stood at the doors and held back the king's soldiers. It +was dark in the room, and the people out of doors could not tell how +many were inside. Few were eager to be the first in. + +"'Thirty swords are waiting in there to eat up the first man,' we heard +some one say. + +"We chuckled at that. + +"But the king stood in the very doorway and fought. Our five swords held +him back for a long time, but at last he pushed in, and his men poured +after him. We ran back and hid behind some tubs in a dark corner. The +king's men went groping about and calling, but they did not find us. The +room was full of shouting and running and sword-clashing; for in the +dark and the noise the men could not tell their own soldiers. More than +one fell by his friend's sword. When it was less crowded about the +doorway, I whispered: + +"'Follow me in double line. We will make for the ships. Keep close +together.' + +"So that double line of men, with swords swinging from both sides, ran +out through the dark. Swords struck out at us, and we struck back. Men +ran after us shouting, but our legs were as good as theirs. But I and +Hakon and one other were all that reached the ship. There we saw our +'Waverunner' with sail up and bow pointing to open sea. We swam out to +her and climbed aboard. Then the men swung the sail to the wind, and we +moved off. Even as we went, a spear whizzed through the air, and Hakon +fell dead; for the king and all his men were running to the shore. + +"'After them!' they were shouting. + +"Then we heard the king call to the men in his boats lying out in the +water: + +"'Row to shore and take us in.' + +"Thorkel was standing by my side. At that he laughed and said: + +"'They do not answer. He left but a handful to guard his ships. They +tasted our swords. And we went aboard and broke the oars and threw the +sails into the water. It will be slow going for Havard to-night.' + +[Illustration: "_Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly_"] + +"Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly: + + "'King Havard's ships are dead: + Olaf's dragon flies. + King Havard stamps the shore: + Olaf skims the waves. + King Havard shakes his fist. + Olaf turns and laughs.' + +"That was the end of our meeting with King Havard." + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] See note about beds on page 196. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Foes'-fear + + +Every day the boy Harald heard some such story of war or of the gods, +until he could see Thor riding among the storm-clouds and throwing his +hammer, until he knew that a brave man has many wounds, but never a one +on his back. Many nights he dreamed that he himself walked into +Valhalla, and that all the heroes stood up and shouted: + +"Welcome! Harald Halfdanson!" + +"Ah! the bite of the sword is sweeter than the kiss of your mother," he +said to Olaf one day. "When shall I stand in the prow of a dragon and +feast on the fight? I am hungry to see the world. Ivar the Far-goer +tells me of the strange countries he has seen. Ah! we vikings are great +folk. There is no water that has not licked our boats' sides. This cape +of mine came in a viking boat from France. These cloak-pins came from a +far country called Greece. In my father's house are golden cups from +Rome, away on the southern sea. Every land pours rich things into our +treasure-chest. Ivar has been to a strange country where it is all sand +and is very hot. The people call their country Arabia. They have never +heard of Thor or Odin. Ivar brought beautiful striped cloth from there, +and wonderful, sweet-smelling waters. Oh! when shall the white horses of +the sea lead me out to strange lands and glorious battles?" + +But Harald did something besides listen to stories. Every morning he was +up at sunrise and went with a thrall to feed the hunting dogs. Thorstein +taught him to swim in the rough waters of the fiord. Often he went with +the men a-hunting in the woods and learned to ride a horse and pull a +bow and throw a lance. Ivar taught him to play the harp and to make up +songs. He went much to the smithy, where the warriors mended their +helmets and made their spears and swords of iron and bronze. At first he +only watched the men or worked the bellows, but soon he could handle the +tongs and hold the red-hot iron, and after a long time he learned to +use the hammer and to shape metal. One day he made himself a spear-head. +It was two feet long and sharp on both edges. While the iron was hot he +beat into it some runes. When the men in the smithy saw the runes they +opened their eyes wide and looked at the boy, for few Norsemen could +read. + +"What does it say?" they asked. + +"It is the name of my spear-point, and it says, 'Foes'-fear,'" Harald +said. "But now for a handle." + +It was winter and the snow was very deep. So Harald put on his skees and +started for a wood that was back from shore. Down the mountains he went, +twenty, thirty feet at a slide, leaping over chasms a hundred feet +across. In his scarlet cloak he looked like a flash of fire. The wind +shot past him howling. His eyes danced at the fun. + +"It is like flying," he thought and laughed. "I am an eagle. Now I +soar," as he leaped over a frozen river. + +He saw a slender ash growing on top of a high rock. + +"That is the handle for 'Foes'-fear,'" he said. + +The rock stood up like a ragged tower, but he did not stop because of +the steep climb. He threw off his skees and thrust his hands and feet +into holes of the rock and drew himself up. He tore his jacket and cut +his leather leggings and scratched his face and bruised his hands, but +at last he was on the top. Soon he had chopped down the tree and had cut +a straight pole ten feet long and as big around as his arm. He went +down, sliding and jumping and tearing himself on the sharp stones. With +a last leap he landed near his skees. As he did so a lean wolf jumped +and snapped at him, snarling. Harald shouted and swung his pole. The +wolf dodged, but quickly jumped again and caught the boy's arm between +his sharp teeth. Harald thought of the spear-point in his belt. In a +wink he had it out and was striking with it. He drove it into the wolf's +neck and threw him back on the snow, dead. + +"You are the first to feel the tooth of 'Foes'-fear,'" he said, "but I +think you will not be the last." + +[Illustration: "_He drove it into the wolf's neck_"] + +Then without thinking of his torn arm he put on his skees and went +leaping home. He went straight to the smithy and smoothed his pole and +drove it into the haft of the spear-point. He hammered out a gold band +and put it around the joining place. He made nails with beautiful heads +and drove them into the pole in different places. + +"If it is heavy it will strike hard," he said. + +Then he weighed the spear in his hand and found the balancing point and +put another gold band there to mark it. + +Thorstein came in while he was working. + +"A good spear," he said. + +Then he saw the torn sleeve and the red wound beneath. + +"Hello!" he cried. "Your first wound?" + +"Oh, it is only a wolf-scratch," Harald answered. + +"By Thor!" cried Thorstein, "I see that you are ready for better wounds. +You bear this like a warrior." + +"I think it will not be my last," Harald said. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Harald is King + + +Now when Harald was ten years old his father, King Halfdan, died. An old +book that tells about Harald says that then "he was the biggest of all +men, the strongest, and the fairest to look upon." That about a boy ten +years old! But boys grew fast in those days for they were out of doors +all the time, running, swimming, leaping on skees, and hunting in the +forest. All that makes big, manly boys. + +So now King Halfdan was dead and buried, and Harald was to be king. But +first he must drink his father's funeral ale. + +"Take down the gay tapestries that hang in the feast hall," he said to +the thralls. "Put up black and gray ones. Strew the floor with pine +branches. Brew twenty tubs of fresh ale and mead. Scour every dish until +it shines." + +Then Harald sent messengers all over that country to his kinsmen and +friends. + +"Bid them come in three months' time to drink my father's funeral ale," +he said. "Tell them that no one shall go away empty-handed." + +So in three months men came riding up at every hour. Some came in boats. +But many had ridden far through mountains, swimming rivers; for there +were few roads or bridges in Norway. On account of that hard ride no +women came to the feast. + +At nine o'clock in the night the feast began. The men came walking in at +the west end of the hall.[6] The great bonfires down the middle of the +room were flashing light on everything. The clean smell of this +wood-smoke and of the pine branches on the floor was pleasant to the +guests. Down each side of the hall stretched long, backless benches, +with room for three hundred men. In the middle of each side rose the +high seat, a great carved chair on a platform. All along behind the +benches were the black and gray draperies. Here hung the shields of the +guests; for every man, when he was given his place, turned and hung his +shield behind him and set his tall spear by it. So on each wall there +was a long row of gay shields, red and green and yellow, and all shining +with gold or bronze trimmings. And higher up there was another row of +gleaming spear-points. Above the hall the rafters were carved and gaily +painted, so that dragons seemed to be crawling across, or eagles seemed +to be swooping down. + +The guests walked in laughing and talking with their big voices so that +the rafters rang. They made the hall look all the brighter with their +clothes of scarlet and blue and green, with their flashing golden +bracelets and head-bands and sword-scabbards, with their flying hair of +red or yellow. + +Across the east end of the hall was a bench. When the men were all in, +the queen, Harald's mother, and the women who lived with her, walked in +through the east door and sat upon this bench. + +Then thralls came running in and set up the long tables[7] before the +benches. Other thralls ran in with large steaming kettles of meat. They +put big pieces of this meat into platters of wood and set it before the +men. They had a few dishes of silver. These they put before the guests +at the middle of the tables; for the great people sat here near the high +seats. + +When the meat came, the talking stopped; for Norsemen ate only twice a +day, and these men had had long rides and were hungry. Three or four +persons ate from one platter and drank from the same big bowl of milk. +They had no forks, so they ate from their fingers and threw the bones +under the table among the pine branches. Sometimes they took knives from +their belts to cut the meat. + +When the guests sat back satisfied, Harald called to the thralls: + +"Carry out the tables." + +So they did and brought in two great tubs of mead and set one at each +end of the hall. Then the queen stood up and called some of her women. +They went to the mead tubs. They took the horns, when the thralls had +filled them, and carried them to the men with some merry word. Perhaps +one woman said as she handed a man his horn: + +"This horn has no feet to be set down upon. You must drink it at one +draught." + +Perhaps another said: + +"Mead loves a merry face." + +The women were beautiful, moving about the hall. The queen wore a +trailing dress of blue velvet with long flowing sleeves. She had a short +apron of striped Arabian silk with gold fringe along the bottom. From +her shoulders hung a long train of scarlet wool embroidered in gold. +White linen covered her head. Her long yellow hair was pulled around at +the sides and over her breast and was fastened under the belt of her +apron. As she walked, her train made a pleasant rustle among the pine +branches. She was tall and straight and strong. Some of her younger +women wore no linen on their heads and had their white arms bare, with +bracelets shining on them. They, too, were tall and strong. + +All the time men were calling across the fire to one another asking news +or telling jokes and laughing. + +An old man, Harald's uncle, sat in the high seat on the north side. That +was the place of honor. But the high seat on the south side was empty; +for that was the king's seat. Harald sat on the steps before it. + +The feast went merrily until long after midnight. Then the thralls took +some of the guests to the guest house to sleep, and some to the beds +around the sides of the feast hall. But some men lay down on the benches +and drew their cloaks over themselves. + +On the next night there was another feast. Still Harald sat on the step +before the high seat. But when the tables were gone and the horns were +going around, he stood up and raised high a horn of ale and said loudly: + +"This horn of memory I drink in honor of my father, Halfdan, son of +Gudrod, who sits now in Valhalla. And I vow that I will grind my +father's foes under my heel." + +Then he drank the ale and sat down in the king's high seat, while all +the men stood up and raised their horns and shouted: + +"King Harald!" + +And some cried: + +"That was a brave vow." + +[Illustration: "_I vow that I will grind my father's foes under my +heel_"] + +And Harald's uncle called out: + +"A health to King Harald!" + +And they all drank it. + +Then a man stood up and said: + +"Hear my song of King Halfdan!" for this man was a skald. + +"Yes, the song!" shouted the men, and Harald nodded his head. + +So the skald took down his great harp from the wall behind him and went +and stood before Harald. The bottom of the harp rested on the floor, but +the top reached as high as the skald's shoulders. The brass frame shone +in the light. The strings were some of gold and some of silver. The man +struck them with his hand and sang of King Halfdan, of his battles, of +his strong arm and good sword, of his death, and of how men loved him. + +When he had finished, King Harald took a bracelet from his arm and gave +it to him, saying: + +"Take this as thanks for your good song." + +The guests stayed the next day and at night there was another feast. +When the mead horns were going around, King Harald stood up and spoke: + +"I said that no man should go away empty-handed from drinking my +father's funeral ale." + +He beckoned the thralls, and they brought in a great treasure-chest and +set it down by the high seat. King Harald opened it and took out rich +gifts--capes and sword-belts and beautiful cloth and bracelets and gold +cloak-pins. These he sent about the hall and gave something to every +man. The guests wondered at the richness of his gifts. + +"This young king has an open hand," they said, "and deep +treasure-chests." + +After breakfast the next morning the guests went out and stood by their +horses ready to go, but before they mounted, thralls brought a horn of +mead to each man. That was called the stirrup-horn, because after they +drank it the men put their feet to the stirrups and sprang upon their +horses and started. King Harald and his people rode a little way with +them. + +All men said that that was the richest funeral feast that ever was +held. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] See note about feast hall on page 196. + +[7] See note about tables on page 196. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Harald's Battle + + +Now King Halfdan had many foes. When he was alive they were afraid to +make war upon him, for he was a mighty warrior. But when Harald became +king, they said: + +"He is but a lad. We will fight with him and take his land." + +So they began to make ready. King Harald heard of this and he laughed +and said: + +"Good! 'Foes'-fear' is thirsty, and my legs are stiff with much +sitting." + +He called three men to him. To one he gave an arrow, saying: + +"Run and carry this arrow north. Give it into the hands of the master of +the next farm, and say that all men are to meet here within two weeks +from this day. They must come ready for war and mounted on horses. Say +also that if a man does not obey this call, or if he receives this arrow +and does not carry it on to his next neighbor, he shall be outlawed +from this country, and his land shall be taken from him." + +He gave arrows to the other two men and told them to run south and east +with the same message. + +So all through King Harald's country men were soon busy mending helmets +and polishing swords and making shields. There was blazing of forges and +clanging of anvils all through the land. + +On the day set, the fields about King Harald's house were full of men +and horses. After breakfast a horn blew. Every man snatched his weapons +and jumped upon his horse. Men of the same neighborhood stood together, +and their chief led them. They waited for the starting horn. This did +not look like our army. There were no uniforms. Some men wore helmets, +some did not. Some wore coats of mail, but others wore only their +jackets and tights of bright-colored wool. But at each man's left side +hung a great shield. Over his right shoulder went his sword-belt and +held his long sword under his left hand. Above most men's heads shone +the points of their tall spears. Some men carried axes in their belts. +Some carried bows and arrows. Many had ram's horns hanging from their +necks. + +King Harald rode at the front of his army with his standard-bearer +beside him. Chain-armor covered the king's body. A red cloak was thrown +over his shoulders. On his head was a gold helmet with a dragon standing +up from it. He carried a round shield on his left arm. The king had made +that shield himself. It was of brass. The rivets were of silver, with +strangely shaped heads. On the back of Harald's horse was a red cloth +trimmed with the fur of ermine. + +King Harald looked up at his standard and laughed aloud. + +"Oh, War-lover," he cried, "you and I ride out on a gay journey." + +A horn blew again and the army started. The men shouted as they went, +and blew their ram's horns. + +"Now we shall taste something better than even King Harald's ale," +shouted one. + +Another rose in his stirrups and sniffed the air. + +"Ah! I smell a battle," he cried. "It is sweeter than those strange +waters of Arabia." + +So the army went merrily through the land. They carried no tents, they +had no provision wagons. + +"The sky is a good enough tent for a soldier," said the Norsemen. "Why +carry provisions when they lie in the farms beside you?" + +After two days King Harald saw another army on the hills. + +"Thorstein," he shouted, "up with the white shield and go tell King Haki +to choose his battle-field. We will wait but an hour. I am eager for the +frolic." + +So Thorstein raised a white shield on his spear as a sign that he came +on an errand of peace. He rode near King Haki, but he could not wait +until he came close before he shouted out his message and then turned +and rode back. + +"Tell your boy king that we will not hang back," Haki called after +Thorstein. + +King Harald's men waited on the hillside and watched the other army +across the valley. They saw King Haki point and saw twenty men ride off +as he pointed. They stopped in a patch of hazel and hewed with their +axes. + +"They are getting the hazels," said Thorstein. + +"Audun," said King Harald to a man near him, "stay close to my standard +all day. You must see the best of the fight. I want to hear a song about +it after it is over." + +This Audun was the skald who sang at the drinking of King Halfdan's +funeral ale. + +King Haki's men rode down into the valley. They drove down stakes all +about a great field. They tied the hazel twigs to the stakes in a +string. But they left an open space toward King Harald's army and one +toward King Haki's. Then a man raised a white shield and galloped toward +King Harald. + +"We are ready!" he shouted. + +At the same time King Haki raised a red shield. King Harald's men put +their shields before their mouths and shouted into them. It made a great +roaring war-cry. + +"Up with the war shield!" shouted King Harald. "Horns blow!" + +There was a blowing of horns on both sides. The two armies galloped down +into the field and ran together. The fight had begun. + +All that day long swords were flashing, spears flying, men shouting, men +falling from their horses, swords clashing against shields. + +"Victory flashes from that dragon," Harald's men said, pointing to the +king's helmet. "No one stands before it." + +And, surely, before night came, King Haki fell dead under "Foes'-fear." +When he fell, a great shout went up from his warriors, and they turned +and fled. King Harald's men chased them far, but during the night came +back to camp. Many brought swords and helmets and bracelets or +silver-trimmed saddles and bridles with them. + +"Here is what we got from the foe," they said. + +The next morning King Harald spoke to his men: + +"Let us go about and find our dead." + +[Illustration: "_King Haki fell dead under 'Foes'-fear'_"] + +So they went over all the battle-field. They put every man on his shield +and carried him and laid him on a hill-top. They hung his sword over his +shoulder and laid his spear by his side. So they laid all the dead +together there on the hill-top. Then King Harald said, looking about: + +"This is a good place to lie. It looks far over the country. The sound +of the sea reaches it. The wind sweeps here. It is a good grave for +Norsemen and Vikings. But it is a long road and a rough road to Valhalla +that these men must travel. Let the nearest kinsman of each man come and +tie on his hell-shoes. Tie them fast, for they will need them much on +that hard road." + +So friends tied shoes on the dead men's feet. Then King Harald said: + +"Now let us make the mound." + +Every man set to work with what tools he had and heaped earth over the +dead until a great mound stood up. They piled stones on the top. On one +of these stones King Harald made runes telling how these men had died. + +After that was done King Harald said: + +"Now set up the pole, Thorstein. Let every man bring to that pole all +that he took from the foe." + +So they did, and there was a great hill of things around it. Harald +divided it into piles. + +"This pile we will give to Thor in thanks for the victory," he said. +"This pile is mine because I am king. Here are the piles for the chiefs, +and these things go to the other men of the army." + +So every man went away from that battle richer than he was before, and +Thor looked down from Valhalla upon his full temple and was pleased. + +The next morning King Harald led his army back. But on the way he met +other foes and had many battles and did not lose one. The kings either +died in battle or ran away, and Harald had their lands. + +"He has kept his vow," men said, "and ground his father's foes under his +heel." + +So King Harald sat in peace for a while. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Gyda's Saucy Message + + +Now Harald heard men talk of Gyda, the daughter of King Eric. + +"She is very beautiful," they said, "but she is very proud, too. She can +both read and make runes. No other woman in the world knows so much +about herbs as she does. She can cure any sickness. And she is proud of +all this!" + +Now when King Harald heard that, he thought to himself: + +"Fair and proud. I like them both. I will have her for my wife." + +So he called his uncle, Guthorm, and said: + +"Take rich gifts and go to Gyda's foster-father[8] and tell him that I +will marry Gyda." + +So Guthorm and his men came to that house and they told the king's +message to the foster-father. Gyda was standing near, weaving a rich +cloak. She heard the speech. She came up and said, holding her head +high and curling her lip: + +"I will not waste myself on a king of so few people. Norway is a strange +country. There is a little king here and a little king there--hundreds +of them scattered about. Now in Denmark there is but one great king over +the whole land. And it is so in Sweden. Is no one brave enough to make +all of Norway his own?" + +She laughed a scornful laugh and walked away. The men stood with open +mouths and stared after her. Could it be that she had sent that saucy +message to King Harald? They looked at her foster-father. He was +chuckling in his beard and said nothing to them. They started out of the +house in anger. When they were at the door, Gyda came up to them again +and said: + +"Give this message to your King Harald for me: I will not be his wife +unless he puts all of Norway under him for my sake." + +[Illustration: "_I will not be his wife unless he puts all of Norway +under him for my sake_"] + +So Guthorm and his men rode homeward across the country. They did not +talk. They were all thinking. At last one said: + +"How shall we give this message to the king?" + +"I have been thinking of that," Guthorm said; "his anger is no little +thing." + +It was late when they rode into the king's yard; for they had ridden +slowly, trying to make some plan for softening the message, but they had +thought of none. + +"I see light through the wind's-eyes of the feast hall," one said. + +"Yes, the king keeps feast," Guthorm said. "We must give our message +before all his guests." + +So they went in with very heavy hearts. There sat King Harald in the +high seat. The benches on both sides were full of men. The tables had +been taken out, and the mead-horns were going round. + +"Oh, ho!" cried King Harald. "Our messengers! What news?" + +Then Guthorm said: + +"This Gyda is a bold and saucy girl, King Harald. My tongue refuses to +give her message." + +The king stamped his foot. + +"Out with it!" he cried. "What does she say?" + +"She says that she will not marry so little a king," Guthorm answered. + +Harald jumped to his feet. His face flushed red. Guthorm stretched out +his hand. + +"They are not my words, O King; they are the words of a silly girl." + +"Is there any more?" the king shouted. "Go on!" + +"She said: 'There is one king in Denmark and one king in Sweden. Is +there no man brave enough to make himself king of all Norway? Tell King +Harald that I will not marry him unless he puts all of Norway under him +for my sake.'" + +The guests sat speechless, staring at Guthorm. All at once the king +broke into a roar of laughter. + +"By the hammer of Thor!" he cried, "that is a good message. I thank you, +Gyda. Did you hear it, friends? King of all Norway! Why, we are all +stupids. Why did we not think of that?" + +Then he raised his horn high. + +"Now hear my vow. I say that I will not cut my hair or comb it until I +am king of all Norway. That I will be or I will die." + +Then he drank off the horn of mead, and while he drank it, all the men +in the hall stood up and waved their swords and shouted and shouted. +That old hall in all its two hundred years of feasts had not heard such +a noise before. + +"Ah, Harald!" Guthorm cried, "surely Thor in Valhalla smiled when he +heard that vow." + +The men sat all night talking of that wonderful vow. + +On the very next day King Harald sent out his war-arrows. Soon a great +army was gathered. They marched through the country north and south and +east and west, burning houses and fighting battles as they went. People +fled before them, some to their own kings, some inland to the deep woods +and hid there. But some went to King Harald and said: + +"We will be your men." + +"Then take the oath, and I will be friends with you," he said. + +The men took off their swords and laid them down and came one by one and +knelt before the king. They put their heads between his knees and said: + +"From this day, Harald Halfdanson, I am your man. I will serve you in +war. For my land I will pay you taxes. I will be faithful to you as my +king." + +Then Harald said: + +"I am your king, and I will be faithful to you." + +Many kings took that oath and thousands of common men. Of all the +battles that Harald fought, he did not lose one. + +Now for a long time the king's hair and beard had not been combed or +cut. They stood out around his head in a great bushy mat of yellow. At a +feast one day when the jokes were going round, Harald's uncle said: + +"Harald, I will give you a new name. After this you shall be called +Harald Shockhead. As my naming gift I give you this drinking-horn." + +"It is a good name," laughed all the men. + +After that all people called him Harald Shockhead. + +During these wars, whenever King Harald got a country for his own, this +is what he did. He said: + +"All the marshland and the woodland where no people live is mine. For +his farm every man shall pay me taxes." + +Over every country he put some brave, wise man and called him Earl. He +said to the earls: + +"You shall collect the taxes and pay them to me. But some you shall keep +for yourselves. You shall punish any man who steals or murders or does +any wicked thing. When your people are in trouble they shall come to +you, and you shall set the thing right. You must keep peace in the land. +I will not have my people troubled with robber vikings." + +The earls did all these things as best they could; for they were good +strong men. The farmers were happy. They said: + +"We can work on our farms with peace now. Before King Harald came, +something was always wrong. The vikings would come and steal our gold +and our grain and burn our houses, or the king would call us to war. +Those little kings are always fighting. It is better under King Harald." + +But the chiefs, who liked to fight and go a-viking, hated King Harald +and his new ways. One of these chiefs was Solfi. He was a king's son. +Harald had killed his father in battle. Solfi had been in that battle. +At the end of it he fled away with two hundred men and got into ships. + +"We will make that Shockhead smart," he said. + +So they harried the coast of King Harald's country. They filled their +ships with gold. They ate other men's meals. They burned farmhouses +behind them. The people cried out to the earls for help. So the earls +had out their ships all the time trying to catch Solfi, but he was too +clever for them. + +In the spring he went to a certain king, Audbiorn, and said to him: + +"Now, there are two things that we can do. We can become this Shockhead +Harald's thralls, we can kneel before him and put our heads between his +knees. Or else we can fight. My father thought it better to die in +battle than to be any man's thrall. How is it? Will you join with my +cousin Arnvid and me against this young Shockhead?" + +"Yes, I will do it," said the king. + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] See note about foster-father on page 197. + + + + +[Illustration] + +The Sea Fight + + +Many men felt as Solfi did. So when King Audbiorn and King Arnvid sent +out their war arrows, a great host gathered. All men came by sea. Two +hundred ships lay at anchor in the fiord, looking like strange swimming +animals because of their high carved prows and bright paint. There were +red and gold dragons with long necks and curved tails. Sea-horses reared +out of the water. Green and gold snakes coiled up. Sea-hawks sat with +spread wings ready to fly. And among all these curved necks stood up the +tall, straight masts with the long yardarms swinging across them holding +the looped-up sails. + +When the starting horn blew, and their sails were let down, it was like +the spreading of hundreds of curious flags. Some were striped black and +yellow or blue and gold. Some were white with a black raven or a brown +bear embroidered on them, or blue with a white sea-hawk, or black with +a gold sun. Some were edged with fur. As the wind filled the gaudy +sails, and the ships moved off, the men waved their hands to the women +on shore and sang: + + "To the sea! To the sea! + The wind in our sail, + The sea in our face, + And the smell of the fight. + After ship meets ship, + In the quarrel of swords + King Harald shall lie + In the caves under sea + And Norsemen shall laugh." + +In the prow stood men leaning forward and sniffing the salt air with +joy. Some were talking of King Harald. + +"Yesterday he had a hard fight," they said. "To-day he will be lying +still, dressing his wounds and mending his ships. We shall take him by +surprise." + +They sailed near the coast. Solfi in his "Sea-hawk" was ahead leading +the way. Suddenly men saw his sail veer and his oars flash out. He had +quickly turned his boat and was rowing back. He came close to King +Arnvid and called: + +"He is there, ahead. His boats are ready in line of battle. The fox has +not been asleep." + +King Arnvid blew his horn. Slowly his boats came into line with his +"Sea-stag" in the middle. Again he blew his horn. Cables were thrown +across from one prow to the next, and all the ships were tied together +so that their sides touched. Then the men set their sails again and they +went past a tongue of land into a broad fiord. There lay the long line +of King Harald's ships with their fierce heads grinning and mocking at +the newcomers. Back of those prows was what looked like a long wall with +spots of green and red and blue and yellow and shining gold. It was the +locked shields of the men in the bows, and over every shield looked +fierce blue eyes. Higher up and farther back was another wall of +shields; for on the half deck in the stern of every ship stood the +captain with his shield-guard of a dozen men. + +Arnvid's people had furled their sails and were taking down the masts, +but the ships were still drifting on with the wind. The horn blew, and +quickly every man sprang to his place in bow and stern. All were leaning +forward with clenched teeth and widespread nostrils. They were clutching +their naked swords in their hands. Their flashing eyes looked over their +shields. + +Soon King Arnvid's ships crashed into Harald's line, and immediately the +men in the bows began to swing their swords at one another. The soldiers +of the shield-guard on the high decks began to throw darts and stones +and to shoot arrows into the ships opposite them. + +So in every ship showers of stones and arrows were falling, and many men +died under them or got broken arms or legs. Spears were hurled from deck +to deck and many of them bit deep into men's bodies. In every bow men +slashed with their swords at the foes in the opposite ship. Some jumped +upon the gunwale to get nearer or hung from the prow-head. Some even +leaped into the enemy's boat. + +King Harald's ship lay prow to prow with King Arnvid's. The battle had +been going on for an hour. King Harald was still in the stern on the +deck. There was a dent in his helmet where a great stone had struck. +There was a gash in his shoulder where a spear had cut. But he was still +fighting and laughed as he worked. + +"Wolf meets wolf to-day," he said. "But things are going badly in the +prow," he cried. "Ivar fallen, Thorstein wounded, a dozen men lying in +the bottom of the boat!" + +He leaped down from the deck and ran along the gunwale, shouting as he +went: + +"Harald and victory!" + +So he came to the bow and stood swinging his sword as fast as he +breathed. Every time it hit a man of Arnvid's men. Harald's own warriors +cheered, seeing him. + +"Harald and victory!" they shouted, and went to work again with good +heart. + +Slowly King Arnvid's men fell back before Harald's biting sword. Then +Harald's men threw a great hook into that boat and pulled it alongside +and still pushed King Arnvid's people back. + +"Come on! Follow me!" cried Harald. + +Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat, and his warriors followed him. + +"He comes like a mad wolf," King Arnvid's men said, and they turned and +ran back below the deck. + +Then Arnvid himself leaped down and stood with his sword raised. + +"Can this young Shockhead make cowards of you all?" he cried. + +But Harald's sword struck him, and he fell dead. Then a big, bloody +viking of King Arnvid leaped upon the edge of the ship and stood there. +He held his drinking-horn and his sword high in his hands. + +"Ran[9] and not you, Shockhead, shall have them and me!" he cried, and +leaped laughing into the water and was drowned. + +Many other warriors chose the same death on that terrible day. + +[Illustration: "_Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat_"] + +All along the line of boats men fought for hours. In some places the +cables had been cut, and the boats had drifted apart. Ships lay +scattered about two by two, fighting. May boats sank, many men died, +some fled away in their ships, and at the end King Harald had won the +battle. So he had King Arnvid's country and King Audbiorn's country. +Many men took the oath and became his friends. All people were talking +of his wonderful battles. + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] See note about Ran on page 198. + + + + +[Illustration] + +King Harald's Wedding + + +It had taken King Harald ten years to fight so many battles. And all +that time he had not cut his hair or combed it. Now he was feasting one +day at an earl's house. Many people were there. + +"How is it, friends?" Harald said. "Have I kept my vow?" + +His friends answered: + +"You have kept your vow. There is no king but you in all Norway." + +"Then I think I will cut my hair," the king laughed. + +So he went and bathed and put on fresh clothes. Then the earl cut his +hair and beard and combed them and put a gold band about his head. Then +he looked at him and said: + +"It is beautiful, smooth, and yellow." + +And all people wondered at the beauty of the king's hair. + +"I will give you a new name," the earl said. "You shall no longer be +called Shockhead. You shall be called Harald Hairfair." + +"It is a good name," everybody cried. + +Then Harald said: + +"But I have another thing to do now. Guthorm, you shall take the same +message to Gyda that you gave ten years ago." + +So Guthorm went and brought back this answer from Gyda: + +"I will marry the king of all Norway." + +So when the wedding time came, Harald rode across the country to the +home of Gyda's father, Eric. Many men followed him. They were all richly +dressed in velvet and gold. + +For three nights they feasted at Eric's house. On the next night Gyda +sat on the cross-bench with her women. A long veil of white linen +covered her face and head and hung down to the ground. After the +mead-horns had been brought in, Eric stood up from his high seat and +went down and stood before King Harald. + +"Will you marry Gyda now?" he asked. + +[Illustration: "_I, Harald, King of Norway, take you Gyda, for my +wife_"] + +Harald jumped to his feet and laughed. + +"Yes," he said. "I have waited long enough." + +Then he stepped down from his high seat and stood by Eric. They walked +about the hall. Before them walked thralls carrying candles. Behind them +walked many of King Harald's great earls. Three times they walked around +the hall. The third time they stopped before the cross-bench. King +Harald and Eric stepped upon the platform, where the cross-bench was. + +Eric gave a holy hammer to Harald, and it was like the hammer of Thor. +Harald put it upon Gyda's lap, saying: + +"With this holy hammer of Thor's, I, Harald, King of Norway, take you, +Gyda, for my wife." + +Then he took a bunch of keys and tied it to Gyda's girdle, saying: + +"This is the sign that you are mistress of my house." + +After that, Eric called out loudly: + +"Now, are Harald, King of Norway, and Gyda, daughter of Eric, man and +wife." + +Then thralls brought meat and drink in golden dishes. They were about to +serve it to Gyda for the bride's feast, but Harald took the dish from +them and said: + +"No, I will serve my bride." + +So he knelt and held the platter. When he did that his men shouted. Then +they talked among themselves, saying: + +"Surely Harald never knelt before. It is always other people who kneel +to him." + +When the bride had tasted the food and touched the mead-horn to her lips +she stood up and walked from the hall. All her women followed her, but +the men stayed and feasted long. + +On the next morning at breakfast Gyda sat by Harald's side. Soon the +king rose and said: + +"Father-in-law, our horses stand ready in the yard. Work is waiting for +me at home and on the sea. Lead out the bride." + +So Eric took Gyda by the hand and led her out of the hall. Harald +followed close. When they passed through the door Eric said: + +"With this hand I lead my daughter out of my house and give her to you, +Harald, son of Halfdan, to be your wife. May all the gods make you +happy!" + +Harald led his bride to the horse and lifted her up and set her behind +his saddle and said: + +"Now this Gyda is my wife." + +Then they drank the stirrup-horn and rode off. + +"Everything comes to King Harald," his men said; "wife and land and +crown and victory in battle. He is a lucky man." + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +King Harald Goes West-Over-Seas + + +Now many men hated King Harald. Many a man said: + +"Why should he put himself up for king of all of us? He is no better +than I am. Am I not a king's son as well as he? And are not many of us +kings' sons? I will not kneel before him and promise to be his man. I +will not pay him taxes. I will not have his earl sitting over me. The +good old days have gone. This Norway has become a prison. I will go away +and find some other place." + +So hundreds of men sailed away. Some went to France and got land and +lived there. Big Rolf-go-afoot and all his men sailed up the great +French River and won a battle against the French king himself. There was +no way to stop the flashing of his battle-axes but to give him what he +wanted. So the king made Rolf a duke, gave him broad lands and gave him +the king's own daughter for wife. Rolf called his country Normandy, for +old Norway. He ruled it well and was a great lord, and his sons' sons +after him were kings of England. + +Other Norsemen went to Ireland and England and Scotland. They drew up +their boats on the river banks. The people ran away before them and +gathered into great armies that marched back to meet the vikings in +battle. Sometimes the Norsemen lost, but oftener they won, so that they +got land and lived in those countries. Their houses sat in these strange +lands like warriors' camps, and the Norsemen went among their new +neighbors with hanging swords and spears in hand, ever ready for fight. + +There are many islands north of Scotland. They are called the Orkneys +and the Shetlands. They have many good harbors for ships. They are +little and rocky and bare of trees. Wild sea-birds scream around them. +On some of them a man can stand in the middle and see the ocean all +about him. Now the vikings sailed to these islands and were pleased. + +[Illustration: "_In Norway they left burning houses and weeping +women_"] + +"It is like being always in a boat," they said. "This shall be our +home." + +So it went until all the lands round about were covered with vikings. +Norse carved and painted houses brightened the hillsides. Viking ships +sailed all the seas and made harbor in every river. Norsemen's thralls +plowed the soil and planted crops and herded cattle, and gold flowed +into their masters' treasure-chests. Norse warriors walked up and down +the land, and no man dared to say them nay. + +These men did not forget Norway. In the summers they sailed back there +and harried the coast. They took gold and grain and beautiful cloth back +to their homes. In Norway they left burning houses and weeping women. + +Every summer King Harald had out his ships and men and hunted these +vikings. There are many little islands about Norway. They have crags and +caves and deep woods. Here the vikings hid when they saw King Harald's +ships coming. But Harald ran his boat into every creek and fiord and +hunted in every cave and through all the woods and among the crags. He +caught many men, but most of them got away and went home laughing at +Harald. Then they came back the next summer and did the same deeds over +again. At last King Harald said: + +"There is but one thing to do. I must sail to these western islands and +whip these robbers in their own homes." + +So he went with a great number of ships. He found as brave men as he had +brought from Norway. These vikings had brought their old courage to +their new homes. King Harald's fine ships were scarred by viking stones +and scorched by viking fire. The shields of Harald's warriors had dents +from viking blows. Many of those men carried viking scars all their +lives. And many of King Harald's warriors walked the long, hard road to +Valhalla, and feasted there with some of these very vikings that had +died in King Harald's battles. But after many hard fights on land and +sea, after many men had died and many had fled away to other lands, King +Harald won, and he made the men that were yet in the islands take the +oath, and he left his earls to rule over them. Then he went back to +Norway. + +"He has done more than he vowed to do," people said. "He has not only +whipped the vikings, but he has got a new kingdom west-over-seas." + +Then they talked of that dream that his mother had. + +"King Harald was that great tree," they said. "The trunk was red with +the blood of his many battles, but higher up the limbs were fair and +green like this good time of peace. The topmost branches were white +because Harald will live to be an old man. Just as that tree spread out +until all of Norway was in its shade, and even more lands, so Harald is +king of all this country and of the western islands. The many branches +of that tree are the many sons of Harald, who shall be earls and kings +in Norway, and their sons after them, for hundreds of years." + + + + +_PART II_ + +[Illustration] + +WEST-OVER-SEAS + + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +Homes in Iceland + + +Men had been feasting in Ingolf's house. But there was no laughing and +no shouting of jokes. Ingolf sat in his high seat frowning and gloomy. +His head hung on his breast. He was staring into the fire. Now he raised +his head and looked about the hall. + +"Comrades," he said, "what shall we do? Herstein and Holmstein died by +our swords. Their kinsmen hunger to kill us. Besides, when Harald hears +of our deed, there will not be a safe place in Norway for us. He will +never let a man fight out an honest quarrel. Where shall we go?" + +A man stood up from the bench. + +"We have friends in the Shetlands," he said. "Let us find homes there." + +Then Leif, in the high seat opposite Ingolf, stood up. + +"No, not the Shetlands, my foster-brother.[10] They are crowded +already. Besides, Harald will not long keep his hands off them. Then +they will be no better than Norway. England and Ireland and Scotland are +old. My eyes ache for something new. What of that far island that Floki +found? It is empty. We could choose our land from the whole country. +There is good fishing. There are green valleys. And Butter Thorolf says +that butter drops from every weed. There are mountains and deserts where +we may find adventure. I say, let us steer for Iceland!" + +When he stopped, many of the men shouted: + +"Yes! Iceland!" + +But an old man stood up. + +"We have all laughed at that tale of Butter Thorolf's," he said. "But +Floki himself said that the sea about the island is full of ice that +pushes upon the land, that no ship can live in that water in the winter, +that great mountains of ice cover the island. Did not all his cattle die +there of hunger and cold, and did he not come back to Norway cursing +Iceland?" + +"Oh, Sighvat, you are old and fearful," called out Leif, and he laughed. + +Then he stretched himself up and threw back his head. + +"Are we afraid of ice? Have we not seen angry water before? I have been +hungry, but I have never died of it. Surely if there are fish in the sea +and grass in the valleys, we can live there. I should like to stand on a +hill and look around on a wide land and think, 'This is all ours,' and +out upon a rough sea and think, 'Far off there are our foes and they +dare not come over to us.' Besides, we shall have no Shockhead Harald to +lord it over us. We can come and go and feast and fight as we please. We +shall be our own kings. And our ships will be always waiting to take us +away, when we are weary of it. And we shall see things that other men +have never seen. I am tired of the old things. Perhaps in after days men +will make songs about 'those foster-brothers, Ingolf and Leif, who made +a new country in a wonderful land, and whose sons and grandsons are +mighty men in Iceland!'" + +Ingolf leaped up from his chair. + +"By the strong arm of Thor!" he cried, "I like the sound of it. Now I +make my vow." + +He raised his drinking-horn. + +"I vow that I will find this Iceland and pass the winter there, and that +if man can live upon it I will go back there and set up my home." + +"And I vow that I will follow my foster-brother," cried Leif. + +And many men vowed to go. + +So on the next day they began to make ready a boat. They looked her over +carefully and recalked every seam and freshly painted her and put into +her their strongest oars and made her a new sail. + +"This will be the longest voyage that she ever made," Ingolf said. + +When the work was done, they put into her great stores, axes, hammers, +fish-nets, cooking-kettles, kegs of ale, chests of hard bread, chests of +smoked meat, brass kettles full of flour, skin bottles of water. They +stowed these things away in the ends of the ship. When they were ready +they put in four head of cattle. + +"We shall need the milk and perhaps the meat," Ingolf said. + +Many men wished to go, but Ingolf had said: + +"There is little room to spare and little food and drink. I have planned +for half a year. But perhaps we must be sailing longer than that. Our +food may run short. We must not have extra mouths to feed. There are +thirty oars in our boat. I will take only one man for every oar, and +Leif and I will steer." + +So they started off. Leif stood in the prow leaning forward and looking +far ahead, and he sang: + + "What does the swimming dragon smell? + A stormy sea, an empty land, + Hunger, darkness, giants, fire. + Leif and his sword do laugh at that." + +They sailed for days and saw no land. Sometimes they passed ships and +always made sure to sail close enough to hail them. + +"Where are you going?" Ingolf would call. + +"To Norway," would come back the answer. + +"For trade or fight?" Leif would shout. + +Then would ring out a great laugh from that boat and this answer: + +"A shut mouth is a good friend." + +So the two ships sailed on, and the men were glad to have heard a +greeting and to have called one. + +But at last there were the Shetlands. + +"We will go in here and rest," Ingolf said. + +When they rowed to shore a certain Shetland man stood there. He watched +them land and looked them all over. Then he walked up to Ingolf and +said: + +"You look like brave men. Welcome to Shetland. You shall come to my +house and rest your legs from ship-going and fill your stomachs. I +hunger for news of Norway." + +So they went to his house and stayed there for three days. And good it +seemed to be near a fire and in a quiet bed and before a steaming +platter. When they went to the shore to start off again, the Shetland +man had his thralls carry a keg of ale and a great kettle of cooked meat +and put them into the ship. + +"Think of me when you eat this," he said. + +Then the Norsemen put to sea again and sailed for a long time. + +One day a terrible storm came up; the sky was black; the wind howled +through the ship. Great waves leaped in the sea. + +"Down with the sail and out with the oars!" Ingolf shouted. + +So the men furled the sail and took down the mast and laid it along the +bottom of the boat. As they worked, one man was washed overboard and +drowned. The men sat down to row, but the tumbling waves tossed the boat +about and poured over her and broke three of the oars. But still the men +held on. They were wet to the skin and were cold, and their arms and +legs ached with the hard work, and they were hungry from the long +waiting, but not one face was white with fear. + +"Ran, in her caves under sea, wants us for company to-night," Ingolf +laughed. + +So they tossed about all night, but in the morning the wind died down. +Great waves still rolled, and for days the sea was rough, but they +could put up the sail. Then one day Leif, as he sat in the pilot's seat, +jumped to his feet and sang: + + "To eyes grown tired with looking far, + All at once appeared an island, + A stretching-place for sea-legs, + A quiet bed for backs grown stiff + On rowing-bench on rolling sea. + A place to build a red fire + And thaw the blood that sea-winds froze." + +But when they came near they saw no place to land. The island was like a +mountain of rock standing out of the water. The sides were steep and +smooth. They sailed around it, but found no place to climb up. + +"There are many other islands here," said Leif. "We will try another." + +So he steered to another. It, too, was a steep rock, but one side sloped +down to the water and was green with grass. + +"Oh, I have not seen anything so good as that green grass since I looked +into my mother's face," one man said. + +There was a little harbor there. The men rowed in and quickly jumped out +and put the rollers under the ship and pulled her upon shore. Then they +threw themselves down on the grass and rolled and stretched their arms +and shouted for joy. After that they built a fire and warmed themselves +and cooked a meal and ate like wolves. They slept there that night. + +In the morning before Ingolf's men started away they were standing high +up on the hillside, looking about. They saw no houses on any of the +islands, but they saw smoke rise from one hillside. + +"Some other men, like us, weary of the sea and stopping to rest," said +Ingolf. + +They saw the island that they had sailed around the night before. + +"There can surely be nothing but birds' nests on top of that," Sighvat +said. + +"Look!" cried another, pointing. + +Men were standing on the flat top of that island. They were letting a +boat down the steep side with ropes. When it struck the water, they made +a rope fast to the rock and slid down it into the ship and sailed off. + +"Some robber vikings from Scotland or Ireland," laughed Leif. "It is a +good hiding place for treasure." + +Soon Ingolf and his men got into their ship and were off. Old Sighvat +grumbled. + +"Is this land not new enough and empty enough and far enough? I am tired +of sea, sea, sea, and nothing else." + +"We started for Iceland," said Ingolf, "and I will not stop before I +come there. I have a vow. Did you make none, Sighvat?" + +Then they were on the water again for weeks with no sight of land. + +"Oh! I would give my right hand to see a dragon pawing the water off +there and to fling a word to its men," Sighvat said. + +"No hope of that," replied Ingolf. "Only three dragons before ours have +ever swept this water, and men are not sailing this way for pleasure or +riches." + +So only the desolate sea stretched around them. Sometimes it was smooth +and shining under the sun. Often it was torn by winds, and a gray sky +hung over it, and the men were drenched with rain. Once they ran into a +fog. For three days and nights they could not see sun or stars to steer +by. They forgot which way was north. When after three days the fog +lifted, they found that they had been going in the wrong direction, and +they had to turn around and sail all that weary way over again. But at +last one afternoon they saw a white cloud resting on the water far off. +As they sailed toward it, it grew into long stretches of black, hilly +shore with a blue ice mountain rising from it. The sun was going down +behind that mountain, and long lines of pink and of shining green, and +great purple shadows streaked the blue. + +"It is Iceland!" shouted the men. + +"It is like Asgard the Shining," Ingolf said. + +But it was still far off. Men can see a long way there because the air +is so clear. So Ingolf and his people sailed on for hours and at last +came into a harbor. A little green valley sloped up from it. On one side +was the bright ice mountain. Back of it were bare black and red hills. +In that valley Ingolf and his men drew up their boat and camped. At +supper that night one of the men said: + +"I almost think I never felt a fire before or had warm food in my +mouth." + +The men laughed. + +"It is four months since we left Norway," Ingolf said. "Few men have +ever been on the sea so long." + +That night they put up the awning in the boat and slept under it. + +After that some men went fishing every day in the rowboat that they had. +And Ingolf took others, and they sailed along the shore, seeing what +kind of a land this was. But winter began to come on. Then Ingolf said: + +"Remember what Floki said of the ice and the rough sea in winter. Soon +we cannot sail any longer. Let us choose a place to stay and build a hut +there and cut hay for our cattle." + +So they did. Their hut was a little mean thing of stones and turf. They +kept the cattle and the hay in it. Sometimes they slept there, when it +was very cold. But most of the time they ate and slept by a great +bonfire out of doors where it was clean. Leif said: + +"I like the cold air of the sea better than the bad-smelling air of a +house, even though it is warm." + +Now every day Ingolf and Leif and some of the men walked about the +island. At night they all sat around the campfire and talked of what +they had seen during the day. + +"This is surely a wonderful land," Ingolf said once. "It is at the same +time like Niflheim and like Asgard. Here is a spot green and soft, a +sweet cradle for men. Next it is a mountain of ice where men would +freeze to death. And next to that is a hill of rock that seems to have +come out of some great fire. Yesterday I saw a cave on the seashore. The +door of it was big enough for a giant. The waves broke at the doorstep. +A terrible roaring came from the cave. I think it is the home of a +giant. I think that giants of fire and giants of frost made this island. +I have seen great basins in the rocks filled with warm water. They +looked like giants' bath-tubs. I have seen boiling water shoot up out of +the ground. I have walked, and have felt and heard a great rumbling +under me as though some giant were sleeping there and turning over in +his sleep. One day I stood on a mountain and looked inland. There was a +wide desert of sand and black and red rock with nothing growing on it. +The fierce wind blew dirt into my eyes, and the cold of it froze the +marrow in my bones. When I have seen these things I have cursed the +country, and have said: 'The gods hate Iceland. I will not stay here.' +But then I have walked through beautiful warm valleys where the winds +did not come. I saw in my mind the flowers that we found last summer. I +saw our cattle feeding on the sweet grass. I thought of the sea full of +good fish. I saw my house built among green fields, and my wife sitting +in her home, and my children playing among the flowers and making up +tales about the bright ice mountains. I saw the wide, rough seas between +me and Harald and our foes. Then I thought to myself, 'It is the +sweetest home on earth.' As for me, I am coming here to live. What do +you say, comrades?" + +"Have I not vowed to follow you, foster-brother?" said Leif. "And indeed +I never saw a land that I liked better. I don't believe in your giants. +My sword is my god, and my ship is my temple, and I like this land to +set them up in." + +They sat about the fire long that night making plans. + +"You shall go home and get our women and our things, Ingolf," said Leif. +"I will off to Ireland and have a frolic. There will be little play of +swords in this empty land, and I want to have one last game before I +hang up my battle-knife. Besides, I will come to you with a ship full of +gold and clothes and house-hangings such as we cannot get here, and they +will cost me nothing but the swing of a sword." + +As they talked, Ingolf looked up at the sky. The northern lights were +quivering there. They were like great flames of yellow and green and +red. + +"See," he said, and pointed. "We are not so far that the gods will +forget us. There is the flash of the armor of the Valkyrias.[11] A +battle is on somewhere, and Odin has sent his maidens to choose the +heroes for Valhalla." + +Leif only laughed and lay down to sleep. + +So in the spring they all went back to Norway. Leif got ready the boat +again and merrily sailed for Ireland. + +"Here I go to get riches for our new land," he said. + +Ingolf set his men to cutting down pines in the forest and some to +building a new ship. He had his thralls plant large crops of grain and +grind flour and make new kegs and chests of wood. He himself worked much +at the forge, making all kinds of tools--spades, axes, hammers, +hunting-knives, cooking kettles. The women were busy weaving and sewing +new clothes. Ingolf sold his house and land and everything that he could +not take with him. + +After about two years Leif came back. He had ten thralls that he had got +in Ireland. He took Ingolf aboard his ship and raised the covers of +great chests. Gold helmets, silver-trimmed drinking-horns, embroidered +robes, and swords flashed out. + +"Did I not say that I would come back with a full ship?" he laughed. + +At last all things were ready for starting. + +"To-day I will sacrifice to Thor and Odin," Ingolf said. "If the omens +are good we will start to-morrow." + +"Well, go, foster-brother," laughed Leif. "But I have better things to +do. I will be putting the cattle into the ship and will have all ready." + +So Ingolf and his men went into the forests a little way. There in a +cleared space stood a large building. In front of this temple the men +killed two horses for Odin. Ingolf caught some of the blood in a brass +bowl. He raised it and looked up at the sky and said: + +"All-wise and all-father Odin, and Thor who loves the thunder, I give +these horses to you. Tell me whether it is your will that we go to +Iceland." + +As he said that, a raven flew over his head. Ingolf watched it. + +"It is Odin's will that we go," he said. "He sent his raven[12] to tell +us. It is flying straight toward Iceland." + +The men shouted with joy at that. + +Now they hung some of the meat of the horses on a tree near the temple. + +"For the ravens of Odin," they said. + +Ingolf carried the bowl of blood into the temple. He went through the +feast hall in front to a little room at the back. Here stood wooden +statues of the gods in a semicircle. Before them was a stone altar. +Ingolf took a little brush of twigs that lay on it and dipped it into +the blood and sprinkled the statues. + +"You shall taste of our sacrifice," he said. "Look kindly on us from +your happy seats in Asgard." + +Then they went into the feast hall. There thralls were boiling the +horseflesh in pots over the fire. The tables were standing ready before +the benches. Ingolf walked to the high seat. All the others took their +places at the benches. When the horns came round, Ingolf made this vow: + +"I vow that I will build my house wherever these pillars lead me." + +He put his hand upon a tall post that stood beside the high seat. There +was one at each side. They were the front posts of the chair. But they +stood up high, almost to the roof. They were wonderfully carved and +painted with men and dragons. On the top of each one was a little +statue of Thor with his hammer. + +At the end of the feast Ingolf had his thralls dig these pillars up. He +had a little bronze chest filled with the earth that was under the +altar. + +"I will take the pillars of my high seat to Iceland," he said, "and I +will set up my altar there upon the soil of Norway, the soil that all my +ancestors have trod, the soil that Thor loves." + +So they carried the pillars and the chest of earth and the statues of +the gods, and put them into Ingolf's boat. + +"It is a well-packed ship," the men said. "There is no spot to spare." + +Tools, and chests of food, and tubs of drink, and chests of clothes, and +fishing nets were stowed in the bows of both boats. In the bottom were +laid some long, heavy, hewn logs. + +"The trees in Iceland are little," Ingolf said. "We must take the great +beams for our homes with us." + +Standing on these logs were a few cattle and sheep and horses and pigs. +The rowers' benches were along the sides. In the stern of each boat was +a little cabin. Here the women and children were to sleep. But the men +would sleep on the timbers in the middle of the boat and perhaps they +would put up the awning sometimes. + +At last everyone was aboard. Men loosed the rope that held the boats. +The ships flashed down the rollers into the water, and Ingolf and Leif +were off for Iceland. As they sailed away everyone looked back at the +shore of old Norway. There were tears in the women's eyes. Helga, Leif's +wife, sang: + + "There was I born. There was I wed. + There are my father's bones. + There are the hills and fields, + The streams and rocks that I love. + There are houses and temples, + Women and warriors and feasts, + Ships and songs and fights-- + A crowded, joyous land. + I go to an empty land." + +There was the same long voyage with storm and fog. But at last the +people saw again the white cloud and saw it growing into land and +mountains. Then Ingolf took the pillars of his high seat and threw them +overboard. + +"Guide them to a good place, O Thor!" he cried. + +The waves caught them up and rolled them about. Ingolf followed them +with his ship. But soon a storm came up. The men had to take down the +sails and masts, and they could do nothing with their oars. The two +ships tossed about in the sea wherever the waves sent them. The pillars +drifted away, and Ingolf could not see them. + +"Remember your pillars, O Thor!" he cried. + +Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven far off. + +"Ah, my foster-brother," he thought, "shall I not have you to cheer me +in this empty land? O Thor, let him not go down to the caves of Ran! He +is too good a man for that." + +On the next day the storm was not so hard, and Ingolf put in at a good +harbor. A high rocky point stuck out into the sea. A broad bay with +islands in the mouth was at the side. Behind the rocky point was a +level green place with ice-mountains shining far back. + +After a day or two Ingolf said: + +"I will go look for my pillars." + +So he and a few men got into the rowboat and went along the shore and +into all the fiords, but they could not find the pillars. After a week +they came back, and Ingolf said: + +"I will build a house here to live in while I look for the posts. This +way is uncomfortable for the women." + +So he did. Then he set out again to look for the pillars, but he had no +better luck and came back. + +"I must stay at home and see to the making of hay and the drying of +fish," he said. "Winter is coming on, and we must not be caught with +nothing to eat." + +So he stayed and worked and sent two of his thralls to look for the holy +posts. They came back every week or two and always had to say that they +had not found them. Midwinter was coming on. + +[Illustration: "_Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven afar +off_"] + +"Ah!" said Ingolf's wife one day, "do you remember the gay feast that we +had at Yule-time? All our friends were there. The house rang with song +and laughter. Our tables bent with good things to eat. Walls were hung +with gay draperies. The floor was clean with sweet-smelling +pine-branches. Now look at this mean house; its dirt floor, its bare +stone walls, its littleness, its darkness! Look at our long faces. No +one here could make a song if he tried. Oh! I am sick for dear old +Norway." + +"It is Thor's fault," Ingolf cried. "He will not let me find his posts." + +He strode out of the house and stood scowling at the gray sea. + +"Ah, foster-brother!" he said. "It was never so gloomy when you were by +my side. Where are you now? Shall I never hear your merry laugh again? +That spot in my palm burns, and my heart aches to see you. That arch of +sod keeps rising before my eyes. Our vows keep ringing in my ears." + +At last the long, gloomy winter passed and spring came. + +"Cheer up, good wife," Ingolf said. "Better days are coming now." + +But that same day the thralls came back from looking for the posts. + +"We have bad news," they said. "As we walked along the shore looking for +the pillars we saw a man lying on the shore. We went up to him. He was +dead. It was Leif. Two well-built houses stood near. We went to them. We +knew from the carving on the door-posts that they were Leif's. We went +in. The rooms were empty. Along the shore and in the wood back of the +house we found all of his men, dead. There was no living thing about." + +Ingolf said no word, but his face was white, and his mouth was set. He +went into the house and got his spears and his shield and said to his +men: + +"Follow me." + +They put provisions into the boat and pushed off and sailed until they +saw Leif's houses on the shore of the harbor. There they saw Leif and +the men who were his friends, dead. Their swords and spears were gone. +Ingolf walked through the houses calling on Helga and on the thralls, +but no one answered. The storehouse was empty. The rich hangings were +gone from the walls of the houses. There was nothing in the stables. The +boat was gone. + +Ingolf went out and stood on a high point of land that jutted out into +the water. Far along the coast he saw some little islands. He turned to +his men and said: + +"The thralls have done it. I think we shall find them on those islands." + +Then he went back to Leif and stood looking at him. + +"What a shame for so brave a man to fall by the hands of thralls! But I +have found that such things always happen to men who do not sacrifice to +the gods. Ah, Leif! I did not think when we made those vows of +foster-brotherhood that this would ever happen. But do not fear. I +remember my promise. I had thought that a man's blood is precious in +this empty land, but my vow is more precious." + +Now they laid all those men together and tied on their hell-shoes. + +"I need my sword for your sake, foster-brother. I cannot give you that. +But you shall have my spears and my drinking-horn," said Ingolf. "For +surely Odin has chosen you for Valhalla, even though you did not +sacrifice. You are too good a man to go to Niflheim. You would make +times merry in Valhalla." + +So Ingolf put his spears and his drinking-horn by Leif. Then the men +raised a great mound over all the dead. After that they went aboard +their boat and sailed for the islands that Ingolf had seen. It was +evening when they reached them. + +"I see smoke rising from that one," Ingolf said, pointing. + +He steered for it. It was a steep rock like that one in the Faroes, but +they found a harbor and landed and climbed the steep hill and came out +on top. They saw the ten thralls sitting about a bonfire eating. Helga +and the other women from Leif's house sat near, huddled together, white +and frightened. One of the thralls gave a great laugh and shouted: + +"This is better than pulling Leif's plow. To-morrow we will sail for +Ireland with all his wealth." + +"To-morrow you will be freezing in Niflheim," cried Ingolf, and he +leaped among them swinging his sword, and all his men followed him, and +they killed those thralls. + +Then Ingolf turned to Helga. She threw herself into his arms and wept. +But after a while she told him this story: + +"When springtime came, Leif thought that he would sow wheat. He had but +one ox. The others had died during the winter. So he set the thralls to +help pull the plow. I saw their sour looks and was afraid, but Leif only +laughed: + +"'What else can thralls expect?' he said. 'Never fear them, good wife.' + +"Now one day soon after that the thralls came running to the house +calling out: + +"'The ox is dead! The ox is dead!' + +"Leif asked them about it. They said that a bear had come out of the +woods and killed it, and that they had scared the beast away. They +pointed out where it had gone. Then Leif called his men and said: + +"'A hunt! I had not hoped for such great sport here. Ah, we will have a +feast off that bear!' + +"So they took their spears and went out into the woods. As soon as they +were gone, the thralls came running into the house and took down all the +swords and shields from the wall and ran out. In some way they met my +lord and his men in the woods and killed them. Then they came back and +took everything in the house and dragged us to the boat and sailed +here." + +"O my brother!" said Ingolf, "where is that song about 'those two +foster-brothers, Ingolf and Leif, who made a new country in a wonderful +land, and whose sons and grandsons are mighty men in Iceland'? But come +home with me, Helga." + +So they took the women and Leif's things and Leif's boat and sailed +home. The next day after they came to Ingolf's house, Helga said: + +"We have made your family larger, brother Ingolf. Will you not take +Leif's two houses and live in them? He does not need them now. He would +like you to have them." + +"It would be pleasant to live there," Ingolf said. "I thank you." + +So the next day they loaded everything aboard the two ships and sailed +for Leif's house. There they stayed for a year. Ingolf still sent his +thralls out to look for the pillars. He was careful always to have hay, +so his cattle prospered. That spring he planted wheat, but it did not +grow well. + +"This is sickly stuff," Ingolf said. "It takes too much time and work. +It is better to save the land for hay. Perhaps we can sometime go back +to Norway for flour." + +At last one day the thralls came home and said: + +"We have found the pillars." + +Ingolf jumped to his feet. He cried out: + +"You have kept me waiting three years, Thor. But as soon as my house and +temple are built, I will sacrifice to you three horses as a +thank-offering." + +"It is a long way off, master," the thralls said, "and we have found +much better places in our walks about the island." + +"Thor knows best," Ingolf answered. "I will settle where he leads me." + +So that summer they loaded everything into the ships again and sailed +west along the coast until they came to the place where the pillars +were. The land there was low and green. On both sides were low hills. A +little lake glistened back from shore. In the valley were hot springs, +with steam rising from them. + +"It looks like smoke," the men said. "It is very strange to see hot +water and smoke come out of the ground." + +In front of this green land was a good harbor with islands in it. Far +over the sea toward the north shone a great ice-mountain. + +"I like the place," Ingolf said. "I will make this land mine." + +So he built fires at the mouth of the river near there, and stood by +them and called out loudly: + +"I have put my fire at the mouth of these rivers. All the land that they +drain is mine, and no man shall claim it but me. I will call this place +Reykjavik."[13] + +Then Ingolf built his feast hall. He himself carved the beams and the +door-posts. Gaily painted dragons leaned out from the doors and stood up +from the gables. Men and animals fought on the door-posts. For the doors +he made at the forge great iron hinges. Their ends curved and spread all +over the door. Near his feast hall he built a storehouse and a kitchen +and a smithy and a stable and a bower for the women. + +"We do not need a sleeping-house for guests," he said. "Who would be our +guests?" + +He roofed all his buildings with turf. It made them look like green +mounds with gay carved and painted walls under them. He built also a +temple, and on that was beautiful carving. In this he set up those +statues that had been in his old temple. He put up, too, those pillars +of his high seat that had been drifting about so long. Under them he +laid the soil of Norway that he had brought in the little bronze chest. + +"I have kept my vow, O Thor!" he cried. + +Then he sacrificed three horses that he had promised to Thor. After that +was over, he said: + +"Here is a good field for sport. Let us have some of the old games that +we used to play at home. Who will wrestle with me?" + +So they wrestled there and ran races and swam in the water. The women +sat and looked on. + +"Oh, this is good to see!" Helga cried. "We are as gay as we used to be +in old Norway." + +But it was not many weeks before Ingolf said: + +"I wish that I might sometime see sails in that harbor. I wish that I +might think, 'Around this point of land is another farm, and across the +bay is another. I can go there when I am very lonely.' I wish that I +might sometime be invited to a feast. I wish that I might sometimes hear +the good, clanging music of weapons at play. It is a good land, but we +have lived alone for four years. I am hungry for new faces and for +tidings of Norway." + +One night as he and his men sat about the long fire in the feast hall, a +servant threw a great piece of wood upon the fire. It was streaked with +faded paint and it showed bits of carving. + +"See," said Ingolf, pointing to it, "see what is left of a good ship's +prow! What lands have you seen, O dragon's head? What battles have you +fought? What was your master's name? Where did the storm meet you? +Perhaps he was coming to Iceland, comrades. Would it not have been +pleasant to see his sail and to shake his hand and to welcome him to +Iceland? But instead he is in Ran's caves, and only his broken prow has +drifted here." + +Now it was not many months after that when one of the men came running +into the feast hall, shouting: + +"A sail! a sail in the harbor!" + +All those men gave a shout with no word in it, as though their hearts +had leaped into their throats. They jumped up and ran to the shore and +stood there with hungry eyes. When the men landed, those Icelanders +clapped them on the shoulders, and tears ran down their faces. For a +long time they could say nothing but "Welcome! Welcome!" + +[Illustration: "_Those Icelanders clapped them on the shoulders_"] + +But after a while Ingolf led them to the feast hall and had a feast +spread at once. While the thralls were at work, the men stood together +and talked. Such a noise had never been in that hall before. + +"We have already built our fires and claimed our land up the shore a +way," the leader said. "Men in Norway talk much of Ingolf and Leif, and +wonder what has happened to them." + +Then Ingolf told them of all that had come to pass in Iceland; and then +he asked of Norway. + +"Ah! things are going from bad to worse," the newcomers said. "Harald +grows mightier every day. A man dare not swing a sword now except for +the king. We came here to get away from him. Many men are talking of +Iceland. Soon the sea-road between here and Norway will be swarming with +dragons." + +And so it was. Ships also came from Ireland and from the Shetlands and +the Orkneys. + +"Harald has come west-over-seas," the men of these ships said, "and has +laid his heavy hand upon the islands and put his earls over them. They +are no place now for free men." + +So by the time Ingolf was an old man, Iceland was no longer an empty +land. Every valley was spotted with bright feast halls and temples. +Horses and cattle pastured on the hillsides. Smoke curled up from +kitchens and smithies. Gay ships sailed the waters, taking Iceland cloth +and wool and Iceland fish and oil and the soft feathers of Iceland birds +to Norway to sell, and bringing back wood and flour and grain. + +When Ingolf died, his men drew up on the shore the boat in which he had +come to Iceland. They painted it freshly and put new gold on it, so that +it stood there a glittering dragon with head raised high, looking over +the water. Old Sighvat lifted a huge stone and carried it to the ship's +side. With all his strength he threw it into the bottom. The timbers +cracked. + +"If this ship moves from here," he said, "then I do not know how to moor +a ship. It is Ingolf's grave." + +Then men laid Ingolf upon his shield and carried him and placed him on +the high deck in the stern near the pilot's seat where he had sat to +steer to Iceland. They hung his sword over his shoulder. They laid his +spear by his side. In his hand they put his mead-horn. Into the ship +they set a great treasure-chest filled with beautiful clothes and +bracelets and head-bands. Beside the treasure-chest they piled up many +swords and spears and shields. They put gold-trimmed saddles and bridles +upon three horses. Then they killed the horses and dragged them into the +ship. They killed hunting-dogs and put them by the horses; for they +said: + +"All these things Ingolf will need in Valhalla. When he walks through +the door of that feast hall, Odin must know that a rich and brave man +comes. When he fights with those heroes during the day, he must have +weapons worthy of him. He must have dogs for the hunt. When he feasts +with those heroes at night he must wear rich clothes, so that those +feasters shall know that he was a wealthy man and generous, and that his +friends loved him." + +Ingolf's son tied on his hell-shoes for the long journey. + +"If these shoes come untied," he said, "I do not know how to fasten +hell-shoes." + +Then he went out of the ship and stood on the ground with his family. +All the men of Iceland were there. + +"This is a glorious sight," they said. "Surely no ship ever carried a +richer load. Inside and out the boat blazes with gold and bronze, and, +high over his riches, lies the great Ingolf, ready to take the tiller +and guide to Valhalla, where all the heroes will rise up and shout him +welcome." + +Then the thralls heaped a mound of earth over the ship. This hill stood +up against the sky and seemed to say: "Here lies a great man." Sighvat +put a stone on the top, with runes on it telling whose grave it was. +All this time a skald stood by and played on his harp and sang a song +about that time when Ingolf came to Iceland. He called him the father of +Iceland. People of that country still read an old story that the men of +that long ago time wrote about Ingolf, and they love him because he was +a brave man and "the first of men to come to Iceland." + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] See note about foster-brothers on page 197. + +[11] See note about Valkyrias on page 198. + +[12] See note about Odin's ravens on page 198. + +[13] See note about Reykjavik on page 199. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Eric the Red + + +It was a spring day many years after Ingolf died. All the freemen in the +west of Iceland had come to a meeting. Here they made laws and punished +men for having done wrong. The meeting was over now. Men were walking +about the plain and talking. Everybody seemed much excited. Voices were +loud, arms were swinging. + +"It was an unjust decision," some one cried. "Eric killed the men in +fair fight. The judges outlawed him because they were afraid. His foe +Thorgest has many rich and powerful men to back him." + +"No, no!" said another. "Eric is a bloody man. I am glad he is out of +Iceland." + +Just then a big man with bushy red hair and beard stalked through the +crowd. He looked straight ahead and scowled. + +"There he goes," people said, and turned to look after him. + +"His hands are as red as his beard," some said, and frowned. + +But others looked at him and smiled, saying: + +"He walks like Thor the Fearless." + +"His story would make a fine song," one said. "As strong and as brave +and as red as Thor! Always in a quarrel. A man of many places--Norway, +the north of Iceland, the west of Iceland, those little islands off the +shore of Iceland. Outlawed from all of them on account of his quarrels. +Where will he go now, I wonder?" + +This Eric strode down to the shore with his men following. + +"He is in a black temper," they said. "We should best not talk to him." + +So they made ready the boat in silence. Eric got into the pilot's seat +and they sailed off. Soon they pulled the ship up on their own shore. +Eric strolled into his house and called for supper. When the +drinking-horns had been filled and emptied, Eric pulled himself up and +smiled and shouted out so that the great room was full of his big +voice: + +"There is no friend like mead. It always cheers a man's heart." + +[Illustration: "_He looked straight ahead of him and scowled_"] + +Then laughter and talking began in the hall because Eric's good temper +had come back. After a while Eric said: + +"Well, I must off somewhere. I have been driven about from place to +place, like a seabird in a storm. And there is always a storm about me. +It is my sword's fault. She is ever itching to break her peace-bands[14] +and be out and at the play. She has shut Norway to me and now Iceland. +Where will you go next, old comrade?" and he pulled out his sword and +looked at it and smiled as the fire flashed on it. + +"There are some of us who will follow you wherever you go, Eric," called +a man from across the fire. + +"Is it so?" Eric cried, leaping up. "Oh! then we shall have some merry +times yet. Who will go with me?" + +More than half the men in the hall jumped to their feet and waved their +drinking-horns and shouted: + +"I! I!" + +[Illustration: "_More than half the men in the hall jumped to their +feet_"] + +Eric sat down in his chair and laughed. + +"O you bloody birds of battle!" he cried. "Ever hungry for new frolic! +Our swords are sisters in blood, and we are brothers in adventure. Do +you know what is in my heart to do?" + +He jumped to his feet, and his face glowed. Then he laughed as he looked +at his men. + +"I see the answer flashing from your eyes," he said, "that you will do +it even if it is to go down to Niflheim and drag up Hela, the pale queen +of the stiff dead." + +His men pounded on the tables and shouted: + +"Yes! Yes! Anywhere behind Eric!" + +"But it is not to Niflheim," Eric laughed. "Did you ever hear that story +that Gunnbiorn told? He was sailing for Iceland, but the fog came down, +and then the wind caught him and blew him far off. While he drifted +about he saw a strange land that rose up white and shining out of a blue +sea. Huge ships of ice sailed out from it and met him. I mean to sail to +that land." + +A great shout went up that shook the rafters. Then the men sat and +talked over plans. While they sat, a stranger came into the hall. + +"I have no time to drink," he said. "I have a message from your friend +Eyjolf. He says that Thorgest with all his men means to come here and +catch you to-night. Eyjolf bids you come to him, and he will hide you +until you are ready to start; for he loves you." + +"Hunted like a wolf from corner to corner of the world!" Eric cried +angrily. "Will they not even let me finish one feast?" + +Then he laughed. + +"But if I take my sport like a wolf, I must be hunted like one. So we +shall sleep to-night in the woods about Eyjolf's house, comrades, +instead of in these good beds. Well, we have done it before." + +"And it is no bad place," cried some of the men. + +"I always liked the stars better than a smoky house fire," said one. + +"Can no bad fortune spoil your good nature?" laughed Eric. "But now we +are off. Let every man carry what he can." + +So they quickly loaded themselves with clothes and gold and swords and +spears and kettles of food. Eric led his wife Thorhild and his two young +sons, Thorstein and Leif. All together they got into the boat and went +to Eyjolf's farm. For a week or more they stayed in his woods, sometimes +in a secret cave of his when they knew that Thorgest was about. And +sometimes Eyjolf sent and said: + +"Thorgest is off. Come to my house for a feast." + +All this time they were making ready for the voyage, repairing the ship +and filling it with stores. Word of what Eric meant to do got out, and +men laughed and said: + +"Is that not like Eric? What will he not do?" + +Some men liked the sound of it, and they came to Eric and said: + +"We will go with you to this strange land." + +So all were ready and they pushed off with Eric's family aboard and +those friends who had joined him. They took horses and cattle with them, +and all kinds of tools and food. + +"I do not well know where this land is," Eric said. "Gunnbiorn said only +that he sailed east when he came home to Iceland. So I will steer +straight west. We shall surely find something. I do not know, either, +how long we must go." + +So they sailed that strange ocean, never dreaming what might be ahead of +them. They found no islands to rest on. They met heavy fogs. + +One day as Eric sat in the pilot's seat, he said: + +"I think that I see one of Gunnbiorn's ships of ice. Shall we sail up to +her and see what kind of a craft she is?" + +"Yes," shouted his men. + +So they went on toward it. + +"It sends out a cold breath," said one of the men. + +They all wrapped their cloaks about them. + +"It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before," said Eric. "The white +mast stands as high as a hill." + +"It must be giants that sail in it, frost giants," said another of the +men. + +But as they came nearer, Eric all at once laughed loudly and called out: + +"By Thor, that Gunnbiorn was a foolish fellow. Why, look! It is only a +piece of floating ice such as we sometimes see from Iceland. It is no +ship, and there is no one on it." + +His men laughed and one called to another and said: + +"And you thought of frost giants!" + +Then they sailed on for days and days. They met many of these icebergs. +On one of them was a white bear. + +"Yonder is a strange pilot," Eric laughed. + +"I have seen bears come floating so to the north shore of Iceland," an +old man said. "Perhaps they come from the land that we are going to +find." + +One day Eric said: + +"I see afar off an iceberg larger than any one yet. Perhaps that is our +white land." + +[Illustration: "_It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before_"] + +But even as he said it he felt his boat swing under his hand as he held +the tiller. He bore hard on the rudder, but he could not turn the ship. + +"What is this?" he cried. "A strong river is running here. It is +carrying our ship away from this land. I cannot make head against it. +Out with the oars!" + +So with oars and sail and rudder they fought against the current, but it +took the boat along like a chip, and after a while they put up their +oars and drifted. + +"Luck has taken us into its own hands," Eric laughed. "But this is as +good a way as another." + +Sometimes they were near enough to see the land, then they were carried +out into the sea and thought that they should never see any land again. + +"Perhaps this river will carry us to a whirlpool and suck us under," the +men said. + +But at last Eric felt the current less strong under his hand. + +"To the oars again!" he called. + +So they fought with the current and sailed out of it and went on toward +land. But when they reached the shore they found no place to go in. +Steep black walls shot up from the sea. Nothing grew on them. When the +men looked above the cliffs they saw a long line of white cutting the +sky. + +"It is a land of ice," they said. + +They sailed on south, all the time looking for a place to go ashore. + +"I am sick of this endless sea," Thorhild complained, "but this land is +worse." + +After a while they began to see small bays cut into the shore with +little flat patches of green at their sides. They landed in these places +and stretched and warmed themselves and ate. + +"But these spots are only big enough for graves," the men said. "We can +not live here." + +So they went on again. All the time the weather was growing colder. +Eric's people kept themselves wrapped in their cloaks and put scarfs +around their heads. + +"And it is still summer!" Thorhild said. "What will it be in winter?" + +"We must find a place to build a house now before the winter comes on," +said Eric. "We must not freeze here." + +So they chose a little spot with hills about it to keep off the wind. +They made a house out of stones; for there were many in that place. They +lived there that winter. The sea for a long way out from shore froze so +that it looked like white land. The men went out upon it to hunt white +bear and seal. They ate the meat and wore the skins to keep them warm. +The hardest thing was to get fuel for the fire. No trees grew there. The +men found a little driftwood along the shore, but it was not enough. So +they burned the bones and the fat of the animals they killed. + +"It is a sickening smell," Thorhild said. "I have not been out of this +mean house for weeks. I am tired of the darkness and the smoke and the +cattle. And all the time I hear great noises, as though some giant were +breaking this land into pieces." + +"Ah, cheer up, good wife!" Eric laughed. "I smell better luck ahead." + +Once Eric and his men climbed the cliffs and went back into the middle +of the land. When they came home they had this to tell: + +"It is a country of ice, shining white. Nothing grows on it but a few +mosses. Far off it looks flat, but when you walk upon it, there are +great holes and cracks. We could see nothing beyond. There seems to be +only a fringe of land around the edge of an island of ice." + +The winter nights were very long. Sometimes the sun showed for an hour, +sometimes for only a few minutes, sometimes it did not show at all for a +week. The men hunted by the bright shining of the moon or by the +northern lights. + +As it grew warmer the ice in the sea began to crack and move and melt +and float away. Eric waited only until there was a clear passage in the +water. Then he launched his boat, and they sailed southward again. At +last they found a place that Eric liked. + +"Here I will build my house," he said. + +So they did and lived there that summer and pastured their cattle and +cut hay for the winter and fished and hunted. + +The next spring Eric said: + +"The land stretches far north. I am hungry to know what is there." + +Then they all got into the boat again and sailed north. + +"We can leave no one here," Eric had said. "We cannot tell what might +come between us. Perhaps giants or dragons or strange men might come out +of this inland ice and kill our people. We must stay together." + +Farther north they found only the same bare, frozen country. So after a +while they sailed back to their home and lived there. + +One spring after they had been in that land for four years, Eric said: + +"My eyes are hungry for the sight of men and green fields again. My +stomach is sick of seal and whale and bear. My throat is dry for mead. +This is a bare and cold and hungry land. I will visit my friends in +Iceland." + +"And our swords are rusty with long resting," said his men. "Perhaps we +can find play for them in Iceland." + +"Now I have a plan," Eric suddenly said. "Would it not be pleasant to +see other feast halls as we sail along the coast?" + +"Oh! it would be a beautiful sight," his men said. + +"Well," said Eric, "I am going to try to bring back some neighbors from +Iceland. Now we must have a name for our land. How does Greenland +sound?" + +His men laughed and said: + +"It is a very white Greenland, but men will like the sound of it. It is +better than Iceland." + +So Eric and all his people sailed back and spent the winter with his +friends. + +"Ah! Eric, it is good to hear your laugh again," they said. + +Eric was at many feasts and saw many men, and he talked much of his +Greenland. + +"The sea is full of whale and seals and great fish," he said. "The land +has bear and reindeer. There are no men there. Come back with me and +choose your land." + +Many men said that they would do it. Some men went because they thought +it would be a great frolic to go to a new country. Some went because +they were poor in Iceland and thought: + +"I can be no worse off in Greenland, and perhaps I shall grow rich +there." + +And some went because they loved Eric and wanted to be his neighbors. + +So the next summer thirty-five ships full of men and women and goods +followed Eric for Greenland. But they met heavy storms, and some ships +were wrecked, and the men drowned. Other men grew heartsick at the +terrible storm and the long voyage and no sight of land, and they turned +back to Iceland. So of those thirty-five ships only fifteen got to +Greenland. + +"Only the bravest and the luckiest men come here," Eric said. "We shall +have good neighbors." + +Soon other houses were built along the fiords. + +"It is pleasant to sail along the coast now," said Eric. "I see smoke +rising from houses and ships standing on the shore and friendly hands +waving." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[14] See note about peace-bands on page 199. + + + + +[Illustration] + +Leif and His New Land + + +Now Eric had lived in Greenland for fifteen years. His sons Thorstein +and Leif had grown up to be big, strong men. One spring Leif said to his +father: + +"I have never seen Norway, our mother land. I long to go there and meet +the great men and see the places that skalds sing about." + +Eric answered: + +"It is right that you should go. No man has really lived until he has +seen Norway." + +So he helped Leif fit out a boat and sent him off. Leif sailed for +months. He passed Iceland and the Faroes and the Shetlands. He stopped +at all of these places and feasted his mind on the new things. And +everywhere men received him gladly; for he was handsome and wise. But at +last he came near Norway. Then he stood up before the pilot's seat and +sang loudly: + + "My eyes can see her at last, + The mother of mighty men, + The field of famous fights. + In the sky above I see + Fair Asgard's shining roofs, + The flying hair of Thor, + The wings of Odin's birds, + The road that heroes tread. + I am here in the land of the gods, + The land of mighty men." + +For a while he walked the land as though he were in a dream. He looked +at this and that and everything and loved them all because it was +Norway. + +"I will go to the king," he said. + +He had never seen a king. There were no kings in Iceland or in +Greenland. So he went to the city where the king had his fine house. The +king's name was Olaf. He was a great-grandson of Harald Hairfair; for +Harald had been dead a hundred years. + +Now the king was going to hold a feast at night, and Leif put on his +most beautiful clothes to go to it. He put on long tights of blue wool +and a short jacket of blue velvet. He belted his jacket with a gold +girdle. He had shoes of scarlet with golden clasps. He threw around +himself a cape of scarlet velvet lined with seal fur. His long sword +stuck out from under his cloak. On his head he put a knitted cap of +bright colors. Then he walked to the king's feast hall and went through +the door. It was a great hall, and it was full of richly-dressed men. +The fires shone on so many golden head-bands and bracelets and so many +glittering swords and spears on the wall, and there was so much noise of +talking and laughing, that at first Leif did not know what to do. But at +last he went and sat on the very end seat of the bench near him. + +As the feast went on, King Olaf sat in his high seat and looked about +the hall and noticed this one and that one and spoke across the fire to +many. He was keen-eyed and soon saw Leif in his far seat. + +"Yonder is some man of mark," he said to himself. "He is surely worth +knowing. His face is not the face of a fool. He carries his head like a +lord of men." + +He sent a thrall and asked Leif to come to him. So Leif walked down the +long hall and stood before the king. + +"I am glad to have you for a guest," the king said. "What are your name +and country?" + +"I am Leif Ericsson, and I have come all the way from Greenland to see +you and old Norway." + +"From Greenland!" said the king. "It is not often that I see a +Greenlander. Many come to Norway to trade, but they seldom come to the +king's hall. I shall be glad to hear about your land. Come up and speak +with me." + +So Leif went up the steps of the high seat and sat down by the king and +talked with him. When the feast was over the king said: + +"You shall live at my court this winter, Leif Ericsson. You are a +welcome guest." + +So Leif stayed there that winter. When he started back in the spring, +the king gave him two thralls as a parting gift. + +"Let this gift show my love, Leif Ericsson," he said. "For your sake I +shall not forget Greenland." + +Leif sailed back again and had good luck until he was past Iceland. Then +great winds came out of the north and tossed his ship about so that the +men could do nothing. They were blown south for days and days. They did +not know where they were. Then they saw land, and Leif said: + +"Surely luck has brought us also to a new country. We will go in and see +what kind of a place it is." + +So he steered for it. As they came near, the men said: + +"See the great trees and the soft, green shore. Surely this is a better +country than Greenland or than Iceland either." + +When they landed they threw themselves upon the ground. + +"I never lay on a bed so soft as this grass," one said. + +"Taller trees do not grow in Norway," said another. + +"There is no stone here as in Norway, but only good black dirt," Leif +said. "I never saw so fertile a land before." + +The men were hungry and set about building a fire. + +"There is no lack of fuel here," they said. + +They stayed many days in this country and walked about to see what was +there. A German, named Tyrker, was with Leif. He was a little man with a +high forehead and a short nose. His eyes were big and rolling. He had +lived with Eric for many years, and had taken care of Leif when he was a +little boy. So Leif loved him. + +Now one day they had been wandering about and all came back to camp at +night except Tyrker. When Leif looked around on his comrades, he said: + +"Where is Tyrker?" + +No one knew. Then Leif was angry. + +"Is a man of so little value in this empty land that you would lose +one?" he said. "Why did you not keep together? Did you not see that he +was gone? Why did you not set out to look for him? Who knows what +terrible thing may have happened to him in these great forests?" + +Then he turned and started out to hunt for him. His men followed, +silent and ashamed. They had not gone far when they saw Tyrker running +toward them. He was laughing and talking to himself. Leif ran to him and +put his arms about him with gladness at seeing him. + +[Illustration: "_He pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his +eyes_"] + +"Why are you so late?" he asked. "Where have you been?" + +But Tyrker, still smiling and nodding his head, answered in German. He +pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his eyes. Again Leif asked +his question and put his hand on Tyrker's shoulder as though he would +shake him. Then Tyrker answered in the language of Iceland: + +"I have not been so very far, but I have found something wonderful." + +"What is it?" cried the men. + +"I have found grapes growing wild," answered Tyrker, and he laughed, and +his eyes shone. + +"It cannot be," Leif said. + +Grapes do not grow in Greenland nor in Iceland nor even in Norway. So it +seemed a wonderful thing to these Norsemen. + +"Can I not tell grapes when I see them?" cried Tyrker. "Did I not grow +up in Germany, where every hillside is covered with grapevines? Ah! it +seems like my old home." + +"It is wonderful," Leif said. "I have heard travelers tell of seeing +grapes growing, but I myself never saw it. You shall take us to them +early in the morning, Tyrker." + +So in the morning they went back into the woods and saw the grapes. They +ate of them. + +"They are like food and drink," they cried. + +That day Leif said: + +"We spent most of the summer on the ocean. Winter will soon be coming on +and the sea about Greenland will be frozen. We must start back. I mean +to take some of the things of this land to show to our people at home. +We will fill the rowboat with grapes and tow it behind us. The ship we +will load with logs from these great trees. That will be a welcome +shipload in Greenland, where we have neither trees nor vines. Now half +of you shall gather grapes for the next few days, and the other half +shall cut timber." + +So they did, and after a week sailed off. The ship was full of lumber, +and they towed the rowboat loaded with grapes. As they looked back at +the shore, Leif said: + +"I will call this country Wineland for the grapes that grow there." + +One of the men leaped upon the gunwale and leaned out, clinging to the +sail, and sang: + + "Wineland the good, Wineland the warm, + Wineland the green, the great, the fat. + Our dragon fed and crawls away + With belly stuffed and lazy feet. + How long her purple, trailing tail! + She fed and grew to twice her size." + +Then all the men waved their hands to the shore and gave a great shout +for that good land. + +For all that voyage they had fair weather and sailed into Eric's harbor +before the winter came. Eric saw the ship and ran down to the shore. He +took Leif into his arms and said: + +"Oh, my son, my old eyes ached to see you. I hunger to hear of all that +you have seen and done." + +"Luck has followed me all the way," said Leif. "See what I have brought +home." + +The Greenlanders looked. + +"Lumber! lumber!" they cried. "Oh! it is better stuff than gold." + +Then they saw the grapes and tasted them. + +"Surely you must have plundered Asgard," they said, smacking their lips. + +At the feast that night Eric said: + +"Leif shall sit in the place of honor." + +So Leif sat in the high seat opposite Eric. All men thought him a +handsome and wise man. He told them of the storm and of Wineland. + +"No man would ever need a cloak there. The soil is richer than the soil +of Norway. Grain grows wild, and you yourselves saw the grapes that we +got from there. The forests are without end. The sea is full of fish." + +The Greenlanders listened with open mouths to all this. They turned and +talked to Leif's ship-comrades who were scattered among them. + +Leif noticed two strangers, an old man who sat at Eric's side and a +young woman on the cross-bench. He turned to his brother Thorstein who +sat next to him. + +"Who are these strangers?" he asked. + +"Thorbiorn and his daughter Gudrid," Thorstein answered. "They landed +here this spring. I never saw our father more glad of anything than to +see this Thorbiorn. They were friends before we left Iceland. When they +saw each other again they could not talk enough of old times. In the +spring Eric means to give him a farm up the fiord a way. It seems that +this Thorbiorn comes of a good family that has been rich and great in +Iceland for years. And Thorbiorn himself was rich when our father knew +him, and was much honored by all men. But ill luck came, and he grew +poor. This hurt his pride. 'I will not stay in Iceland and be a beggar,' +he said to himself. 'I will not have men look at me and say, "He is not +what his father was." I will go to my friend Eric the Red in +Greenland.' + +"Then he got ready a great feast and invited all his friends. It was +such a feast as had not been in Iceland for years. Thorbiorn spent on it +all the wealth that he had left. For he said to himself, 'I will not +leave in shame. Men shall remember my last feast.' After that he set out +and came to Greenland. + +"Is not Gudrid beautiful? And she is wise. I mean to marry her, if her +father will permit it." + +Now Leif settled down in Greenland and became a great man there. He was +so busy and he grew so rich that he did not think of going to Wineland +again. But people could not forget his story. Many nights as men sat +about the long fires they talked of that wonderful land and wished to +see it. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +Wineland the Good + + +On an autumn, a year or two after Leif came home, Eric and his men saw +two large ships come to land not far down the shore from the house. + +"They look like trading ships," Eric said. "Let us go down to see them." + +"I will go, too," Gudrid said. "Perhaps they will have rich cloth and +jewelry. It is long since I had my eyes on a new dress." + +So they all went down and found two large trading ships lying in the +water. A great many men were on the shore making a fire. + +"Welcome to Greenland!" called Eric. "What are your names and your +country?" + +Then a fine, big man walked out from among the men and went up to Eric. + +"I am Thorfinn," he said, "a trader. I sailed this summer from Iceland +with forty men and a shipload of goods. On the sea I met this other +ship from Iceland. The master is Biarni. Come and look at my goods." + +So he rowed Eric and Gudrid out and they went aboard his boat. Thorfinn +opened his chests and showed Eric gleaming swords and bracelets and axes +and farm tools. But before Gudrid he spread beautiful cloth and gold +embroidery and golden necklaces. As they looked, he told of doings in +Iceland and asked of Greenland. + +"We never see such things as these in this bare land," Gudrid said, as +she smoothed a beautiful dress of purple velvet. "I envy the women of +Iceland their fair clothes." + +"There is no need of that," Thorfinn said, "for this dress is yours and +anything else from my chests that you like. Here is a necklace that I +beg you to take. It did not have a fairer mistress in Greece where I got +it." + +"You are a very generous trader," Gudrid said. + +Then Thorfinn gave Eric a great sword with a gold-studded scabbard. +After a while he took them to Biarni's ship. He also gave them gifts. +They all talked and laughed much while they were together. + +"You are merry comrades," Eric said. "I ask you both and all your men to +spend the winter at my house. You can put your goods into my +storehouses." + +"By my sword! a generous offer," said Thorfinn. "As for me, I am happy +to come." + +Biarni and all the rest said the same thing. Thorfinn walked to the +house with Eric and Gudrid, while the other men sailed to the ship-sheds +and pulled their boats under them. + +Then Thorfinn saw to the unloading and storing of his goods. + +"Is this Gudrid your daughter?" he asked of Eric one day. + +"She is the widow of my son Thorstein," Eric said. "He died the same +winter that they were married. Her father, too, died not long ago. So +Gudrid lives with me." + +Now all that winter until Yule-time Eric spread a good feast every +night. There was laughter through his house all the time. Often at the +feasts the men cast lots to see whether they might sit on the +cross-bench with the women. Sometimes it was Thorfinn's luck to sit by +Gudrid. Then they talked gaily and drank together. + +At last Yule was coming near. Eric went about the house gloomy then. One +day Thorfinn put his hand on Eric's shoulder and said: + +"Something is troubling you, Eric. We have all noticed that you are not +gay as you used to be. Tell me what is the matter." + +"You have carried yourselves like noble men in my house," Eric answered. +"I am proud to have you for guests. Now I am ashamed that you should not +find a house worthy of you. I am ashamed that when you leave me you will +have to say that you never spent a worse Yule than you did with Eric the +Red in Greenland. For my cupboards are empty." + +"Oh, that is easily mended," Thorfinn said. "No house could feed eighty +men so long and not feel it. I never knew so generous a host before. +But I have flour and grain and mead in my boat. You are welcome to all +of it. You have only to open the doors of your own storehouses. It is a +little gift." + +So Eric used those things, and there was never a merrier Yule feast than +in his house that winter. + +When Yule was over, Thorfinn said to Eric: + +"Gudrid is a beautiful and wise woman. I wish to have her for my wife." + +"You seem to be a man worthy of her," Eric said. + +So that winter Gudrid and Thorfinn were married and lived at Eric's +house. + +One day Thorfinn said to Eric: + +"I have heard much of this wonderful Wineland since I have been here. It +seems to me that it is worth while to go and see more of it." + +"My son Thorstein and I tried it once," said Eric. "It was the year +after Leif came back. We set out with a fair ship and with glad hearts, +but we tossed about all summer on the sea and got nowhere. We were wet +with storm, lean with hunger and illness, and heartsick at our bad +luck." + +"And yet," Thorfinn said, "another time we might have better weather. I +have never seen so fair a land as this seems to be." + +Then he went to Leif and talked long with him. Leif told him in what +direction he had sailed to come home, and how the shores looked that he +had passed. + +"I think I could find my way," Thorfinn said. "My heart moves me to try +this frolic." + +He spoke to Gudrid about it. + +"Oh, yes!" she cried. "Let us go. It is long since I felt a boat leaping +under me. I am tired of sitting still. I want to feel the warm days and +see the soft grass and the high trees and taste the grapes of this +Wineland the Good." + +Then he talked with his men and with Biarni. + +"We are ready," they all said. "We are only waiting for a leader." + +"Then let us go!" cried Thorfinn. + +So in the spring they fitted up their two ships and put into them +provisions and a few cattle. Some of Eric's men also got ready a boat, +so that three ships set sail from Eric's harbor carrying one hundred and +sixty men to Wineland. As they started, Gudrid stood on the deck and +sang: + + "I will feast my eyes on new things-- + On mighty trees and purple grapes, + On beds of flowers and soft grass. + I will sun myself in a warm land." + +They sailed on and past those shores that Leif had spoken of. Whenever +they saw any interesting place they sailed in and looked about and +rested there. + +They had gone far south, past many fair shores with woods on them, when +Gudrid said one day: + +"This is a beautiful bay with a smooth, green field by it, and the great +mountains far back. I should like to stay there for a little while." + +So they sailed in and drew their ships up on shore. They put up the +awnings in them. + +"These shall be our houses," Thorfinn said. + +They were strange-looking houses--shining dragons with gay backs lying +on the yellow sand. Near them the Norsemen lighted fires and cooked +their supper. That night they slept in the ships. In the morning Gudrid +said: + +"I long to see what is back of that mountain." + +So they all climbed it. When they stood on the top they could see far +over the country. + +"There is a lake that we must see," Thorfinn said. + +"I should like to sail around that bay," said Biarni, pointing. + +"I am going to walk up that valley yonder," one of the men said. + +And everyone saw some place where he would like to go. So for all that +summer they camped in that spot and went about the country seeing new +things. They hunted in the woods and caught rabbits and birds and +sometimes bears and deer. Every day some men rowed out to sea and +fished. There was an island in the bay where thousands of birds had +their nests. The men gathered eggs here. + +"We have more to eat than we had in Greenland or Iceland," Thorfinn +said, "and need not work at all. It is all play." + +Near the end of summer Thorfinn spoke to his comrades. + +"Have we not seen everything here? Let us go to a new place. We have not +yet found grapes." + +Thorfinn and Biarni and all their men sailed south again. But some of +Eric's men went off in their boat another way. Years afterward the +Greenlanders heard that they were shipwrecked and made slaves in +Ireland. + +After Thorfinn and Biarni had sailed for many days they landed on a low, +green place. There were hills around it. A little lake was there. + +"What is growing on those hillsides?" Thorfinn said, shading his eyes +with his hand. + +He and some others ran up there. The people on shore heard them shout. +Soon they came running back with their hands full of something. + +"Grapes! Grapes!" they were shouting. + +All those people sat down and ate the grapes and then went to the +hillside and picked more. + +"Now we are indeed in Wineland," they said. "It is as wonderful as +Leif's stories. Surely we must stay here for a long time." + +The very next day they went into the woods and began to cut out lumber. +The huts that they built were little things. They had no windows, and in +the doorways the men hung their cloaks instead of doors. + +"We can be out in the air so much in this warm country," said Gudrid, +"that we do not need fine houses." + +The huts were scattered all about, some on the side of the lake, some at +the shore of the harbor, some on the hillside. Gudrid had said: + +"I want to live by the lake where I can look into the green woods and +hear sweet bird-noises." + +So Thorfinn built his hut there. + +As they sat about the campfire one night, Biarni said: + +"It is strange that so good a land should be empty. I suppose that +these are the first houses that were ever built in Wineland. It is +wonderful to think that we are alone here in this great land." + +All that winter no snow fell. The cattle pastured on the grass. + +"To think of the cold, frozen winters in Greenland!" Gudrid said. "Oh! +this is the sun's own land." + +In the beginning of that winter a little son was born to Gudrid and +Thorfinn. + +"A health to the first Winelander!" the men shouted and drank down their +wine; for they had made some from Wineland grapes. + +"Will he be the father of a great country, as Ingolf was?" Biarni mused. + +Gudrid looked at her baby and smiled. + +"You will be as sunny as this good land, I hope," she said. + +They named him Snorri. He grew fast and soon crept along the yellow +sand, and toddled among the grapevines, and climbed into the boats and +learned to talk. The men called him the "Wineland king." + +"I never knew a baby before," one of the men said. + +"No," said another. "Swords are jealous. But when they are in their +scabbards, we can do other things, even play with babies." + +"I wonder whether I have forgotten how to swing my sword in this quiet +land," another man said. + +One spring morning when the men got up and went out from their huts to +the fires to cook they saw a great many canoes in the harbor. Men were +in them paddling toward shore. + +"What is this?" cried the Norsemen to one another. "Where did they come +from? Are they foes? Who ever saw such boats before? The men's faces are +brown." + +"Let every man have his sword ready," cried Thorfinn. "But do not draw +until I command. Let us go to meet them." + +So they went and stood on the shore. Soon the men from the canoes landed +and stood looking at the Norsemen. The strangers' skin was brown. Their +faces were broad. Their hair was black. Their bodies were short. They +wore leather clothes. One man among them seemed to be chief. He spread +out his open hands to the Norsemen. + +"He is showing us that he has no weapons," Biarni said. "He comes in +peace." + +Then Thorfinn showed his empty hands and asked: + +"What do you want?" + +The stranger said something, but the Norsemen could not understand. It +was some new language. Then the chief pointed to one of the huts and +walked toward it. He and his men walked all around it and felt of the +timber and went into it and looked at all the things there--spades and +cloaks and drinking-horns. As they looked they talked together. They +went to all the other huts and looked at everything there. One of them +found a red cloak. He spread it out and showed it to the others. They +all stood about it and looked at it and felt of it and talked fast. + +"They seem to like my cloak," Biarni said. + +One of the strangers went down to their canoes and soon came back with +an armload of furs--fox-skins, otter-skins, beaver-skins. The chief took +some and held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the cloak to him. + +[Illustration: "_The chief held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the +cloak to him_"] + +"He wants to trade," Thorfinn said. "Will you do it, Biarni?" + +"Yes," Biarni answered, and took the furs. + +"If they want red stuff, I have a whole roll of red cloth that I will +trade," one of the other men said. + +He went and got it. When the strangers saw it they quickly held out more +furs and seemed eager to trade. So Thorfinn cut the cloth into pieces +and sold every scrap. When the strangers got it they tied it about their +heads and seemed much pleased. + +While this trading was going on and everybody was good-natured, a bull +of Thorfinn's ran out of the woods bellowing and came towards the crowd. +When the strangers heard it and saw it they threw down whatever was in +their hands and ran to their canoes and paddled off as fast as they +could. + +The Norsemen laughed. + +"We have lost our customers," Biarni said. + +"Did they never see a bull before?" laughed one of the men. + +Now after three weeks the Norsemen saw canoes in the bay again. This +time it was black with them, there were so many. The people in them were +all making a horrible shout. + +"It is a war-cry," Thorfinn said, and he raised a red shield. "They are +surely twenty to our one, but we must fight. Stand in close line and +give them a taste of your swords." + +Even as he spoke a great shower of stones fell upon them. Some of the +Norsemen were hit on the head and knocked down. Biarni got a broken arm. +Still the storm came fast. The strangers had landed and were running +toward the Norsemen. They threw their stones with sling-shots, and they +yelled all the time. + +"Oh, this is no kind of fighting for brave men!" Thorfinn cried angrily. + +The Norsemen's swords swung fast, and many of the strangers died under +them, but still others came on, throwing stones and swinging stone axes. +The horrible yelling and the strange things that the savages did +frightened the Norsemen. + +"These are not men," some one cried. + +Then those Norsemen who had never been afraid of anything turned and +ran. But when they came to the top of a rough hill Thorfinn cried: + +"What are we doing? Shall we die here in this empty land with no one to +bury us? We are leaving our women." + +Then one of the women ran out of the hut where they were hiding. + +"Give me a sword!" she cried. "I can drive them back. Are Norsemen not +better than these savages?" + +Then those warriors stopped, ashamed, and stood up before the wild men +and fought so fiercely that the strangers turned and fled down to their +canoes and paddled away. + +"Oh, I am glad they are gone!" Thorfinn said. "It was an ugly fight." + +"Thor would not have loved that battle," one said. + +"It was no battle," another replied. "It was like fighting against an +army of poisonous flies." + +The Norsemen were all worn and bleeding and sore. They went to their +huts and dressed their wounds, and the women helped them. At supper that +night they talked about the fight for a long time. + +"I will not stay here," Gudrid said. "Perhaps these wild men have gone +away to get more people and will come back and kill us. Oh! they are +ugly." + +"Perhaps brown faces are looking at us now from behind the trees in the +woods back there," said Biarni. + +It was the wish of all to go home. So after a few days they sailed back +to Greenland with good weather all the way. The people at Eric's house +were very glad to see them. + +"We were afraid you had died," they said. + +"And I thought once that we should never leave Wineland alive," Thorfinn +answered. + +Then they told all the story. + +"I wonder why I had no such bad luck," Leif said. "But you have a better +shipload than I got." + +He was looking at the bundles of furs and the kegs of wine. + +"Yes," said Thorfinn, "we have come back richer than when we left. But I +will never go again for all the skins in the woods." + +The next summer Thorfinn took Gudrid and Snorri and all his people and +sailed back to Iceland, his home. There he lived until he died. People +looked at him in wonder. + +"That is the man who went to Wineland and fought with wild men," they +said. "Snorri is his son. He is the first and last Winelander, for no +one will ever go there again. It will be an empty and forgotten land." + +And so it was for a long time. Some wise men wrote down the story of +those voyages and of that land, and people read the tale and liked it, +but no one remembered where the place was. It all seemed like a fairy +tale. Long afterwards, however, men began to read those stories with +wide-open eyes and to wonder. They guessed and talked together, and +studied this and that land, and read the story over and over. At last +they have learned that Wineland was in America, on the eastern shore of +the United States, and they have called Snorri the first American, and +have put up statues of Leif Ericsson, the first comer to America.[15] + +[Decoration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[15] See note about Eskimos on page 199. + + + + +Descriptive Notes + + +_House._ In a rich Norseman's home were many buildings. The finest and +largest was the great feast hall. Next were the bower, where the women +worked, and the guest house, where visitors slept. Besides these were +storehouses, stables, work-shops, a kitchen, a sleeping-house for +thralls. All these buildings were made of heavy, hewn logs, covered with +tar to fill the cracks and to keep the wood from rotting. The ends of +the logs, the door-posts, the peaks of gables, were carved into shapes +of men and animals and were painted with bright colors. These gay +buildings were close together, often set around the four sides of a +square yard. That yard was a busy and pleasant place, with men and women +running across from one bright building to another. Sometimes a high +fence with one gate went around all this, and only the tall, carved +peaks of roofs showed from the outside. + +_Names._ An old Norse story says: "Most men had two names in one, and +thought it likeliest to lead to long life and good luck to have double +names." To be called after a god was very lucky. Here are some of those +double names with their meanings: "Thorstein" means Thor's stone; +"Thorkel" means Thor's fire; "Thorbiorn" means Thor's bear; "Gudbrand" +means Gunnr's sword (Gunnr was one of the Valkyrias[16]); "Gunnbiorn" +means Gunnr's bear; "Gudrid" means Gunnr's rider; "Gudrod" means +Gunnr's land-clearer. (Most of the land in old Norway was covered with +forests. When a man got new land he had to clear off the trees.) In +those olden days a man did not have a surname that belonged to everyone +in his family. Sometimes there were two or three men of the same name in +a neighborhood. That caused trouble. People thought of two ways of +making it easy to tell which man was being spoken of. Each was given a +nickname. Suppose the name of each was Haki. One would be called Haki +the Black because he had black hair. The other would be called Haki the +Ship-chested because his chest was broad and strong. These nicknames +were often given only for the fun of it. Most men had them,--Eric the +Red, Leif the Lucky, Harald Hairfair, Rolf Go-afoot. The other way of +knowing one Haki from the other was to tell his father's name. One was +Haki, Eric's son. The other was Haki, Halfdan's son. If you speak these +names quickly, they sound like Haki Ericsson and Haki Halfdansson. After +a while they were written like that, and men handed them on to their +sons and daughters. Some names that we have nowadays have come down to +us in just that way--Swanson, Anderson, Peterson, Jansen. There was +another reason for these last names: a man was proud to have people know +who his father was. + +_Drinking-horns._ The Norsemen had few cups or goblets. They used +instead the horns of cattle, polished and trimmed with gold or silver or +bronze. They were often very beautiful, and a man was almost as proud +of his drinking-horn as of his sword. + +_Tables._ Before a meal thralls brought trestles into the feast hall and +set them before the benches. Then they laid long boards across from +trestle to trestle. These narrow tables stretched all along both sides +of the hall. People sat at the outside edge only. So the thralls served +from the middle of the room. They put baskets of bread and wooden +platters of meat upon these bare boards. At the end of the meal they +carried out tables and all, and the drinking-horns went round in a clean +room. + +_Beds._ Around the sides of the feast hall were shut-beds. They were +like big boxes with doors opening into the hall. On the floor of this +box was straw with blankets thrown over it. The people got into these +beds and closed the doors and so shut themselves in. Olaf's men could +have set heavy things against these doors or have put props against +them. Then the people could not have got out; for on the other side of +the bed was the thick outside wall of the feast hall, and there were no +windows in it. + +_Feast Hall._ The feast hall was long and narrow, with a door at each +end. Down the middle of the room were flat stones in the dirt floor. +Here the fires burned. In the roof above these fires were holes for the +smoke to go out, but some of it blew about the hall, and the walls and +rafters were stained with it. But it was pleasant wood smoke, and the +Norsemen did not dislike it. There were no large windows in a feast hall +or in any other Norse building. High up under the eaves or in the roof +itself were narrow slits that were called wind's-eyes. There was no +glass in them, for the Norsemen did not know how to make it; but there +were, instead, covers made of thin, oiled skin. These were put into the +wind's-eyes in stormy weather. There were covers, too, for the +smoke-holes. The only light came through these narrow holes, so on dark +days the people needed the fire as much for light as for warmth. + +_Foster-father._ A Norse father sent his children away from home to grow +up. They went when they were three or four years old and stayed until +they were grown. The father thought: "They will be better so. If they +stayed at home, their mother would spoil them with much petting." + +_Foster-brothers._ When two men loved each other very much they said, +"Let us become foster-brothers." + +Then they went and cut three long pieces of turf and put a spear into +the ground so that it held up the strips of turf like an arch. Runes +were cut on the handle of the spear, telling the duties of +foster-brothers. The two men walked under this arch, and each made a +little cut in his palm. They knelt and clasped hands, so that the blood +of the two flowed together, and they said, "Now we are of one blood." + +Then each made this vow: "I will fight for my foster-brother whenever he +shall need me. If he is killed before I am, I will punish the man who +did it. Whatever things I own are as much my foster-brother's as mine. I +will love this man until I die. I call Odin and Thor and all the gods to +hear my vow. May they hate me if I break it!" + +_Ran._ Ran was the wife of Aegir, who was god of the sea. They lived in +a cave at the bottom of the ocean. Ran had a great net, and she caught +in it all men who were shipwrecked and took them to her cave. She also +caught all the gold and rich treasures that went down in ships. So her +cave was filled with shining things. + +_Valkyrias._ These were the maidens of Odin. They waited on the table in +Valhalla. But whenever a battle was being fought they rode through the +air on their horses and watched to see what warriors were brave enough +to go to Valhalla. Sometimes during the fight a man would think that he +saw the Valkyrias. Then he was glad; for he knew that he would go to +Valhalla. + +An old Norse story says this about the Valkyrias: "With lightning around +them, with bloody shirts of mail, and with shining spears they ride +through the air and the ocean. When their horses shake their manes, dew +falls on the deep valleys and hail on the high forests." + +_Odin's Ravens._ Odin had a great throne in his palace in Asgard. When +he sat in it he could look all over the world. But it was so far to see +that he could not tell all of the things that were happening. So he had +two ravens to help him. An old Norse story tells this about them: "Two +ravens sit on Odin's shoulders and whisper in his ears all that they +have heard and seen. He sends them out at dawn of day to see over the +whole world. They return at evening near meal time. This is why Odin +knows so many things." + +_Reykjavik._ Reykjavik means "smoky sea." Ingolf called it that because +of the steaming hot-springs by the sea. The place is still called +Reykjavik. A little city has grown up there, the only city in Iceland. +It is the capital of the country. + +_Peace-bands._ A Norseman always carried his sword, even at a feast; for +he did not know when he might need it. But when he went somewhere on an +errand of peace and had no quarrel he tied his sword into its scabbard +with white bands that he called peace-bands. If all at once something +happened to make him need his sword, he broke the peace-bands and drew +it out. + +_Eskimos._ Now, the Eskimos live in Greenland and Alaska and on the very +northern shores of Canada. But once they lived farther south in +pleasanter lands. After a while the other Indian tribes began to grow +strong. Then they wanted the pleasant land of the Eskimos and the +seashore that the Eskimos had. So they fought again and again with those +people and won and drove them farther north and farther north. At last +the Eskimos were on the very shores of the cold sea, with the Indians +still pushing them on. So some of them got into their boats and rowed +across the narrow water and came to Greenland and lived there. Some +people think that these things happened before Eric found Greenland. In +that case he found Eskimos there; and Thorfinn saw red Indians in +Wineland. Other people think that this happened after Eric went to +Greenland. If that is true, he found an empty land, and it was Eskimos +that Thorfinn saw in Wineland. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[16] See note about Valkyrias on page 198. + + + + +Suggestions _to_ Teachers + + +Possibly this book seems made up of four or five disconnected stories. +They are, however, strung upon one thread,--the westward emigration from +Norway. The story of Harald is intended to serve in two ways towards the +working out of this plot. It gives the general setting that continues +throughout the book in costume, houses, ideals, habits. It explains the +cause of the emigration from the mother country. It is really an +introductory chapter. As for the other stories, they are distinctly +steps in the progress of the plot. A chain of islands loosely connects +Norway with America,--Orkneys and Shetlands, Faroes, Iceland, Greenland. +It was from link to link of this chain that the Norsemen sailed in +search of home and adventure. Discoveries were made by accident. Ships +were driven by the wind from known island to unknown. These two +points,--the island connection that made possible the long voyage from +Norway to America, and the contribution of storm to discovery,--I have +stated in the book only dramatically. I emphasize them here, hoping that +the teacher will make sure that the children see them, and possibly that +they state them abstractly. + +Let me speak as to the proper imaging of the stories. I have not often +interrupted incident with special description, not because I do not +consider the getting of vivid and detailed images most necessary to full +enjoyment and to proper intellectual habits, but because I trusted to +the pictures of this book and to the teacher to do what seemed to me +inartistic to do in the story. Some of these descriptions and +explanations I have introduced into the book in the form of notes, +hoping that the children in turning to them might form a habit of +insisting upon full understanding of a point, and might possibly, with +the teacher's encouragement, begin the habit of reference reading. + +The landscape of Norway, Iceland, and Greenland is wonderful and will +greatly assist in giving reality and definiteness to the stories. +Materials for this study are not difficult of access. Foreign colored +photographs of Norwegian landscape are becoming common in our art +stores. There are good illustrations in the geographical works referred +to in the book list. These could be copied upon the blackboard. There +are three books beautifully illustrated in color that it will be +possible to find only in large libraries,--"Coast of Norway," by Walton; +"Travels in the Island of Iceland," by Mackenzie; "Voyage en Islande et +au Greenland," by J. P. Gaimard. If the landscape is studied from the +point of view of formation, the images will be more accurate and more +easily gained, and the study will have a general value that will +continue past the reading of these stories into all work in geography. + +Trustworthy pictures of Norse houses and costumes are difficult to +obtain. In "Viking Age" and "Story of Norway," by Boyesen (G. P. +Putnam's Sons, New York), are many copies of Norse antiquities in the +fashion of weapons, shield-bosses, coins, jewelry, wood-carving. These +are, of course, accurate, but of little interest to children. Their +chief value lies in helping the teacher to piece together a picture that +she can finally give to her pupils. + +Metal-working and wood-carving were the most important arts of the +Norse. If children study products of these arts and actually do some of +the work, they will gain a quickened sympathy with the people and an +appreciation of their power. They may, perhaps, make something to merely +illustrate Norse work; for instance, a carved ship's-head, or a copper +shield, or a wrought door-nail. But, better, they may apply Norse ideas +of form and decoration and Norse processes in making some modern thing +that they can actually use; for instance, a carved wood pin-tray or a +copper match holder. This work should lead out into a study of these +same industries among ourselves with visits to wood-working shops and +metal foundries. + +Frequent drawn or painted illustration by the children of costumes, +landscapes, houses, feast halls, and ships will help to make these +images clear. But dramatization will do more than anything else for the +interpreting of the stories and the characters. It would be an excellent +thing if at last, through the dramatization and the handwork, the +children should come into sufficient understanding and enthusiasm to +turn skalds and compose songs in the Norse manner. This requires only a +small vocabulary and a rough feeling for simple rhythm, but an intensity +of emotion and a great vividness of image. + +These Norse stories have, to my thinking, three values. The men, with +the crude courage and the strange adventures that make a man interesting +to children, have at the same time the love of truth, the hardy +endurance, the faithfulness to plighted word, that make them a child's +fit companions. Again, in form and in matter old Norse literature is +well worth our reading. I should deem it a great thing accomplished if +the children who read these stories should so be tempted after a while +to read those fine old books, to enjoy the tales, to appreciate +straightforwardness and simplicity of style. The historical value of the +story of Leif Ericsson and the others seems to me to be not to learn the +fact that Norsemen discovered America before Columbus did, but to gain a +conception of the conditions of early navigation, of the length of the +voyage, of the dangers of the sea, and a consequent realization of the +reason for the fact that America was unknown to mediaeval Europe, of why +the Norsemen did not travel, of what was necessary to be done before men +should strike out across the ocean. Norse story is only one chapter in +that tale of American discovery. I give below an outline of a year's +work on the subject that was once followed by the fourth grade of the +Chicago Normal School. The idea in it is to give importance, sequence, +reasonableness, broad connections, to the discovery of America. + +The head of the history department who planned this course says it is +"in a sense a dramatization of the development of geographical +knowledge." + +Following is a bare topical outline of the work: + + Evolution of the forms of boats. + Viking tales. + A crusade as a tale of travel and discovery. + Monasteries as centers of work. + Printing. + Story of Marco Polo. + Columbus' discovery. + Story of Vasco da Gama. + Story of Magellan. + +[Decoration] + + + + +A Reading List + + +GEOGRAPHY + +NORWAY: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants," Reclus. _D. Appleton & Co., New +York._ + +ICELAND: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants," "Iceland," Baring-Gould. +_Smith, Elder & Co., London, 1863._ + + "Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes." _Harper Bros., New York._ + + "An American in Iceland," Kneeland. _Lockwood, Brooke & Co., Boston, + 1876._ + +GREENLAND: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants," Reclus. _D. Appleton & Co., +New York._ + + "Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes." _Harper Bros., New York._ + + +CUSTOMS + +"Viking Age," Du Chaillu. _Charles Scribner's Sons, 1889._ + +"Private Life of the Old Northmen," Keyser; translated by Barnard. +_Chapman & Hall, London, 1868._ + +"Saga Time," Vicary. _Kegan Paul, Trench, Truebner & Co., London._ + +"Story of Burnt Njal" (Introduction), Dasent. _Edmonston & Douglas, +Edinburgh, 1861._ + +"Vikings of the Baltic, a romance;" Dasent. _Edmonston & Douglas, +Edinburgh._ + +"Ivar the Viking, a romance;" Du Chaillu. _Charles Scribner's Sons, New +York._ + +"Viking Path, a romance;" Haldane Burgess. _Wm. Blackwood & Sons, +Edinburgh, 1894._ + +"Northern Antiquities," Percy, edited by Blackwell. _Bohn, London, +1859._ + +Also the Sagas named on page 206. + + +MYTHOLOGY + +The Prose Edda, "Northern Antiquities," Percy, edited by Blackwell. +_Bohn, London, 1859._ + +"Norse Mythology," Anderson. _Scott, Foresman & Co., Chicago, 1876._ + +"Norse Stories," Mabie. _Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago, 1902._ + +"Northern Mythology," Thorpe. _Lumley, London, 1851._ + +"Classic Myths," Judd. _Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago, 1902._ + + +INCIDENTS + +HARALD: Saga of Harald Hairfair, in "Saga Library," Magnusson and +Morris, Vol. I. _Bernard Quaritch, London; Charles Scribner's Sons, New +York, 1892._ + +INGOLF: "Norsemen in Iceland," Dasent in Oxford Essays, Vol. IV. _Parker +& Son, London, 1858._ + + "Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes." _Harper Bros., New York._ + + "A Winter in Iceland and Lapland," Dillon. _Henry Colburn, London, + 1840._ + +ERIC, LEIF, AND THORFINN: "The Finding of Wineland the Good," Reeves. +_Henry Froude, 1890._ + + "America Not Discovered by Columbus." Anderson. _Scott, Foresman & + Co., Chicago, 1891._ + + +CREDIBILITY OF STORY + +Winsor's "Narrative and Critical History of America," Vol. I. _C. A. +Nichols Co., Springfield, Mass., 1895._ + +"Discovery of America," Fiske, Vol. I. _Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, +1892._ + + +OTHER SAGAS EASILY ACCESSIBLE + +"Saga Library," 5 vols.; Morris and Magnusson. _Bernard Quaritch, +London; Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1892._ As follows: + + "The Story of Howard the Halt," "The Story of the Banded Men," "The + Story of Hen Thorir." Done into English out of Icelandic by William + Morris and Eirikr Magnusson. + + "The Story of the Ere-dwellers," with "The Story of the + Heath-slayings" as Appendix. Done into English out of the Icelandic + by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson. + + "The Stories of the Kings of Norway, called the Round World" + (Heimskringla). By Snorri Sturluson. Done into English by William + Morris and Eirikr Magnusson. With a large map of Norway. In three + volumes. + +"Gisli the Outlaw," Dasent. _Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh._ + +"Orkneyinga Saga," Anderson. _Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh._ + +"Volsunga Saga," Morris and Magnusson. _Walter Scott, London._ + +"The Younger Edda," Anderson. _Scott, Foresman & Co., Chicago, 1880._ + +(A full bibliography of the Sagas may be found in "Volsunga Saga.") + +[Decoration] + + + + +A Pronouncing Index + + +(_This index and guide to pronunciation which are given to indicate the +pronunciation of the more difficult words, are based upon the 1918 +edition of Webster's New International Dictionary._) + + Aegir ([=e]' j[)i]r) + _[.A]_r[=a]' b[)i] _[.a]_ + Aern' v[)i]d + [)A]s' gaerd + [A:]ud' b[)i] orn + [A:]u' d[)u]n + + B[)i] aer' n[)i] + + Eric ([=e]' r[)i]k) + Ericsson ([)e]r' [)i]k s_[)u]_n) + Eyjolf ([=i]' y[+o]lf) + + Faroes (f[=a]' r[=o]z) + fiord (fyord) + Fl[=o]' k[)i] + + Gr[)i]m + G[)u]d' braend + G[)u]d' r[)i]d + G[)u]d' r[=o]d + G[)u]n_n_' b[)i] orn + G[u:]' t_h_orm + Gyda (g[=e]' d[+a]) + + Hae' k[)i] + Hae' k[+o]n + Haelf' d[)a]n + H[)a]r' [)a]ld + Hae' vaerd + H[)e]l' ae + H[)e]l' g[+a] + H[~e]r' st_e_[=i]n + Holmstein (h[=o]lm' st[=i]n) + + [)I]n' golf + [=I]' vaer + + Leif (l[+i]f) + + Niflheim (n[+e]v' 'l h[=a]m) + + [=O]' d[)i]n + [=O]' laef + Orkneys (ork' n[)i]z) + + Raen + Reykjavik (r[=a]' ky_[.a]_ v[=e]k') + Rolf + + Sh[)e]t' l_[)a]_nds + Sif (s[=e]f) + Sighvat (s[)i]g' v[)a]t) + Snorri (sn[)o]r' r[+e]) + Sol' f[)i] + + Thor (thor) + T_h_or' b[)i] orn + T_h_or' f[)i]nn + T_h_or' g[)e]st + T_h_or' h[)i]ld + T_h_or' k[)e]l + T_h_or' l_e_[=i]f + T_h_or' olf + T_h_or' st_e_[=i]n + Tyrker (t[~e]r' k[~e]r) + + V[)a]l h[)a]l' _l[.a]_ + Valkyria (v[)a]l k[)i]r' y_[.a]_) + V[=i]' k[)i]ng + + +A GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION + + [=a] as in [=a]le + [)a] as in [)a]dd + _[)a]_ as in fin_[)a]_l + [.a] as in [.a]sk + _[.a]_ as in sof_[.a]_ + ae as in aerm + [a:] as in [a:]ll + + [=e] as in [=e]ve + [+e] as in [+e]vent' + [)e] as in [)e]nd + [~e] as in h[~e]r + + [=i] as in [=i]ce + [)i] as in [)i]t + + [=o] as in [=o]ld + [+o] as in [+o]bey' + [)o] as in [)o]dd + o as in lord + + [)u] as in [)u]p + _[)u]_ as in circ_[)u]_s + [u:] as in r[u:]de + + [=y] as in fl[=y] + +Silent letters are italicized. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Viking Tales, by Jennie Hall + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIKING TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 24811.txt or 24811.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/8/1/24811/ + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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