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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/36633-8.txt b/36633-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..503df8d --- /dev/null +++ b/36633-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5183 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 3, by +Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +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: King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 3 + or, the Throne, the Church, and the People in the Thirteenth + Century. Vol. I. + +Author: Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +Translator: Jane Frances Chapman + +Release Date: July 5, 2011 [EBook #36633] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 3 *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + 1. Page scan source: + http://www.archive.org/details/kingericandoutl01chapgoog + + 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. + + + + + KING ERIC + + AND + + THE OUTLAWS. + + VOL. III. + + + + + + + London: + Printed by A. Spottiswoode, + New-Street-Square. + + + + + + + KING ERIC + + AND + + THE OUTLAWS; + + OR, + + THE THRONE, THE CHURCH, AND THE PEOPLE, + + IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. + + + + BY + INGEMANN + + + TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH BY + JANE FRANCES CHAPMAN. + + + + * * * * + IN THREE VOLUMES. + VOL. III. + * * * * + + + + LONDON: + LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, + PATERNOSTER-ROW. + 1843. + + + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + +As soon as they reached the quay, Sir Helmer put his head out of the +hatchway, and beheld a man jump on shore in great haste from the +forecastle. Helmer had only seen his back; he was clad like a German +grocer's apprentice; but he felt pretty certain it was the outlawed +Kaggé. The mantle of the order of the Holy Ghost lay under the +foremost rowing bench. With his drawn sword in his hand. Sir Helmer +now sprang upon deck, together with the Drost's squire, whose left +hand was wrapped in his mantle. Their attire was somewhat rent and +blood-stained, yet they appeared to have found time to bind up each +other's wounds, and even to arrange their dress. Without saying a word, +they passed the armed crew of the vessel, with a salutation of defiance +to Henrik Gullandsfar, and a jeering smile at the heavy and wrathful +Rostocker, whose broad visage glowed with anger. Helmer and the squire +sheathed their swords on the quay, and those who saw them come up from +thence, without noticing the spots of blood upon their clothes, took +them for fellow-travellers, who, in all peacefulness, had arrived in +the Rostock vessel. + +"The 'prentice! mark him, Canute!" whispered Sir Helmer to the squire +as they both left the quay with hasty steps, and looked around them on +all sides. "What hath become of him? There!--no--that is another--ha, +there!--no, another again!" + +At every turn they fancied they saw the disguised outlaw, but were +frequently deceived by a similar dress and figure. The German grocer's +apprentices thronged in busy crowds on the quay, and near the vessels +in the haven, where they were in constant occupation, and had a number +of porters at work. + +These foreign mercantile agents were usually elderly single men, most +frequently with sour, unpleasant countenances, and maintaining much +spruce neatness in their dress, and preciseness in their deportment. As +pepper was the chief article sold in their grocers' booths, they were +usually called pepper 'prentices[1], not without a design to jeer at +their peevishness and irritability. They made themselves conspicuous by +large silver buttons on their long-skirted coats of German cloth; a +woollen cap from Garderige[2], and a long Spanish gold-headed cane, +which served them at the same time for an ell measure, formed part of +their finery; and they were so remarkable for the sameness of their +appearance and deportment, the effect of their living apart from +others, and pursuing a uniform occupation, that they were often exposed +to the jibes and jeers of the people, especially on account of their +celibacy, which was enjoined them by their Hanseatic masters, and was a +necessary consequence of their position as traders in a foreign city, +where they were not privileged to become residents with families. + +Sir Helmer stared attentively at every German grocer's apprentice he +met, and became at last so wroth at his frequent mistakes that he was +ready to insult those personages, who in their busy vocation frequently +jostled him in the crowd, "Those accursed pepper-'prentices, they drive +me mad!" he exclaimed at length, and stamped on the ground. "I will +break the neck of the first that brushes against my arm!" + +"That is just and reasonable, noble Sir," said the squire; "my fingers +itch every time I see such a fellow. If they will be monks, they should +not be running here and staring every maiden in the face in broad day +light. They are as soon enamoured as any shaven crown--I had well nigh +said--St. Antony forgive me my wicked thought! Look! here we have one +again I saw ye how he twisted his eyes in his head to goggle at that +pretty kitchen maid with the cabbage basket? Shall I buffet him down to +the Catsound, noble Sir?" + +"No, surely not, crack-brains!" answered Sir Helmer, sharply; "let us +behave reasonably. Do thou stay here in the ale-house near the haven, +and keep an eye on the outlaw, that he slinks not back to the vessel; +if there is law and justice in the town, he 'scapes us not. Thou dost +surely know him well?" + +"Yes, assuredly! Kaggé with the scar; him from whom they scalded off +his knightly honour on the scaffold. I should know him among a thousand +scoundrels, and his black horse to boot. 'Tis a sin such a handsome +beast----" + +"Perhaps it was a God's Providence we came here against our will," +interrupted Helmer. "The red hat from Rome wants to negotiate a treaty +here betwixt the king and the run-away bishop from Hammershuus; they +are now at the castle, and have got the little bishop Johan in their +clutches. It will doubtless end in nothing; but comes the king hither +where the Roskild bishop rules, he may chance to need both our eyes and +our swords. But, what in all the world is the matter here? Look, how +the people flock together!" + +Sir Helmer now, for the first time, remarked a singular stir and +disturbance among the inhabitants of the town; there were far greater +numbers of persons in the street than were usually to be seen in the +most populous towns. He went onward, still looking around in search of +the outlawed fugitive; he now heard loud talk among the burghers and +mechanics who passed him, and expressions of wild wrath against the +Lord Bishop Johan and his ecclesiastical guests at Axelhuus. The people +assembled in groups in the streets, and only dispersed, grumbling and +murmuring on the appearance of a troop of men-at-arms. "The provost's +people! The bishop's men!" they muttered one to another, by way of +warning. "Aside! make way, comrades! as yet it is not time. Down to the +old strand!" + +"What means this?" said Helmer to the squire, who still followed him on +the quay, alongside the ships in the harbour, staring around with +surprise and curiosity. "It looks like sedition and mutiny." + +"Who are ye who bear arms in the bishop's town? Know ye not the rights +and town-law of Copenhagen?" said a powerful voice behind them. They +turned round and saw a man who from his attire seemed to be a burgher, +but who wore a kind of herald's mantle over his long coat, and held a +white staff in his hand, on which were painted the arms of the Bishop +of Roskild. He was accompanied by a crowd of the bishop's retainers. + +"I am the king's knight and halberdier, as you see well enough," +answered Helmer. "What hath your bishop and his town-law to do with +me?" + +"Ho! ho, my bold sir!--stick your finger in the ground, and smell where +ye are! You surely come from worldly towns and castles where neither +order nor discipline are kept. What's your name, Sir Halberdier?" + +"Helmer Blaa," answered the knight, laying his hand on the hilt of his +sword. "You have perhaps heard that name before?--or shall I teach you +to know it?" + +"By your favour, noble sir!" answered the herald in a lowered tone, and +looking at him with surprise; "are you the renowned knight, Helmer, who +beat all the six brothers at once, and of whom the whole town sings the +ballad-- + + + "He rides in the saddle so free." + + +"That I will never deny," answered Helmer, with a nod of satisfaction; +"he that made that ballad about me hath not lied. I will not pride +myself on that account," he added, "it concerned but my own life and +fortune. You brave Copenhageners have won full as much honour in Marsk +Stig's feud, and we shall soon come to an understanding I think." + +"I think so too, by my troth, Sir Helmer," said the burgher herald with +cheerfulness, frankly giving him his hand at the same time. "I would +just as little insult you as your master, our excellent young king. As +free as you ride in the saddle by his side, so frank and free for aught +I would hinder it, may you walk here; but the service is strict at this +time. Here's mutiny as you see against our lord, the bishop. I must in +the council's name summon every man bearing arms to the lay court, and +to the council in 'Endaboth.' With the king's knights, especially with +a man like you, I think, however, the lord bishop would make a +difference." + +"If the bishop wills to keep his beard, he will doubtless allow the +knight to keep his sword," said Helmer. "If he hath appointed you to +hinder misdeed and crime then help me rather to seize an outlawed +criminal who has been set on shore here from yonder Rostocker. He hath +crept into a German pepper-'prentice coat; he seeks after the king's +life--he is easy to know, it is Kaggé with the scar. If you catch him +dead or alive, I will laud you as a true Danish man, and brave subject +of the king." + +"That are we all here at heart, noble Sir," answered the herald, +lowering his voice, and looking cautiously around him while he made a +signal to his armed followers to fall back. "Our loyalty to the king we +have, as you say yourself, shewn right honestly in Marsk Stig's feud; +the king also hath recompensed us for that; he hath honourably helped +us with the fortifications of our good town, and with the new palisade. +Every honest man in Copenhagen would rather obey him than the priestly +rulers; but if we would speak out aloud of any other master here than +the bishop, we must give all our chattels to his treasury, and wander +houseless out of the town. Go in peace, Sir Helmer; but hide your sword +under your mantle! If I light upon the evil doer ye seek, I shall +assuredly seize him and summon him in your name to the council. Where +may you be found yourself?" + +"Here, in the inn, close to St. Clement's church--you are an honest man +I perceive--tell me frankly, countryman! would it avail were I to speak +to the provost, or to your bishop touching yon miscreant? He is one of +those impudent regicides. I have my eye also on that braggart +Rostocker; he brings false coin into the country, and hath threatened +the king. What I know further about him I have promised not to speak +of--but wherever I meet him--I am his man!" + +"You will surely get no justice here on the king's enemies, Sir +Knight!" whispered the herald. "If ye will take my advice ye will keep +as far off from our bishop and his provost as possible! The king's +friends are not exactly theirs, and must not, either, seem to be ours. +Had I not a good dame and children, you would hardly have seen me with +this staff in hand. If you would catch hold of the pepper 'prentices," +he added, shutting one eye, "you must seek them at the dice boards in +the ale-house! What may chance there, none need do penance for--but in +the harbour and on the quay none dare touch them. On, fellows! The +stranger knight hath given account of himself like an honourable man," +cried the herald, with a voice of authority, and proceeded onwards with +his armed train. + +Helmer looked after him, and nodded to the squire. "Brisk fellows, +these Copenhageners!" said he. "It is shameful they are forced +to be under the bishop's thumb! That counsel about the taverns and +draught-boards suits not my humour either. We will seek the foe in the +straight path. First, however, let us thank St. George and St. Clement +for our deliverance, and then we can with a good conscience despatch +the rascals wherever we light on them." He approached St. Clement's +church, but found the church door locked, and marked with a large black +cross. "What means this?" he exclaimed. "Is there pestilence in God's +house?" + +"Prohibition, interdict, son! according to the enactment 'cum ecclesiâ +Dacianâ,'" answered an old Dominican monk, who was kneeling before a +stone crucifix without the closed church door, and now arose slowly. +"The sins of the high-born are about to be visited upon those of low +degree; our most pious bishop hath no longer dared to withhold the +great national punishment which the holy Father hath commanded on +account of the presumptuous imprisonment of the archbishop, contrary to +the constitution of all holy laws. Virgo amata! ora pro nobis!" he +muttered, and folded his hands. + +"The devil take those Latin laws, with reverence be it spoken, +venerable father!" answered the knight. "The archbishop is at liberty; +and is it now the time to punish a nation and country for that old sin +of the king's, if it really was a sin?" + +"Assuredly it was a heavy sin and injustice," answered the monk; "but +the chastisement is too hard--that is the truth--and it falls on the +souls of the innocent--the people are only made ungodly and uproarious +by it; as we have proofs daily. If the king is not come hither to +bethink himself, and do penance, the prospect may be a drear one for us +all." + +"Is he come?" asked Helmer hastily. + +"Not here to the town--but to the royal castle at Sorretslóv; his +plenipotentiaries are already at Axelhuus. Alas! yes! it is high time +he should give in, ere the interdict drives the whole nation to +rebellion and destruction.--Ora pro nobis!" he muttered again, and +turned towards the crucifix. + +"Believe ye he hath come hither to humble himself, and crouch at the +bishop's feet? venerable father?" answered the knight; "then you will +find your belief to fail you in this matter, as I observe this tumult +concerns not the king, but your own little bishop and his overbearing +guests. Against this stupid church-shutting, a remedy will surely be +found at home. The nation is pitiful indeed which would let itself be +shut out from God's house while there are sturdy axes and iron crows in +the country." + +"Alas, ye children of the world! ye worldly lords! ye will ever forward +with might and violence,--ye would at last storm heaven's gates if ye +were able," groaned the monk; "from the great and mighty doth all that +defiance and scandal proceed; and the poor, deluded people! _they_ +listen but too willingly to such wild and ungodly counsel. Look! yonder +comes another flock of erring sheep, who have turned into wolves! There +they come, with spears and staves, like those who followed Judas, that +child of wrath. Hear how they bluster and storm. God be merciful! They +are surely rushing hither; they will assuredly open the church by +force." + +The dismayed Dominican was preparing to fly, but the insurgents placed +themselves in his way. "Tarry a little, pious father!" shouted the +ringleader of the troop, a tall carpenter, with a large axe in his +hand. "Thou shalt read us the Holy Scripture before St. Clement's +altar; we have heard neither vespers nor mass for three days. Force the +church door, comrades!" + +"Are ye distraught?" cried the monk; "will ye do violence to the house +of God!" + +"No chattering! Force the door, countrymen!" shouted the leader. +"Neither St. Peter nor our Lady have taken it amiss of us. Mass goes on +cheerily in all the churches. We will hear our vespers at St. Nicholas. +Well done my lads! Look! now is the interdict ended! The church door +gave way before the ponderous strokes; the insurgents poured into the +church with a wild shout of victory, dragging the Dominican along with +them. + +"That will be but a disturbed worship, noble sir," said the squire; "we +had better reserve our piety for another time. Look, yonder comes a +fresh troop! Nay, look! They have balista and cross-bows with them; +they will now surely assault Axelhuus." + +"That hits my fancy!" exclaimed Sir Helmer, joyfully. "This prelatical +tyranny should not be tolerated by any Danish man. I come at the right +time; there may be something to take a hand in here. If they will +besiege the bishop's nest, I Will teach them at least to do it briskly. +Stay thou on the quay, and watch the pepper 'prentices, Canute! I must +set the honest burghers a little to rights with the balista." So saying +Sir Helmer hastened with rapid strides down to the old strand, where +the restless crowds of insurgents flocked together in wild tumult. + + + + + CHAP. II. + + +The inmates of Axelhuus appeared to feel sufficiently secure to despise +these disturbances which had commenced, though in a less degree, some +days before. + +The bishop's well-fortified castle was situated on an island, the +ferry-boats that usually plied there lay, during these commotions, in +the harbour, under the high walls of the castle, by which means all +communication between the town and the castle Island was cut off. The +distance from the town, however, was not so great, but that Axelhuus +might be reached from the strand by arrows, and especially by balista, +when these dangerous engines of war were worked with proper skill. In +the upper hall at Axelhuus, sat the spiritual and temporal ruler of the +town, the little authoritative bishop Johan of Roskild, in solemn +council, between his guests Archbishop Grand and Cardinal Isarnus. At +the archbishop's right hand sat his faithful friend, the haughty abbot +from the forest monastery. Grand's agent, the canon Nicholas from +Roskild, was also present, as well as the canon Hans Rodis, who had +assisted his flight from Sjöberg. At the great hall table sat also the +cardinal's famulus and his secretary, with two Italian ecclesiastics +belonging to his train. For the convenience of the foreign cardinal, +the conversation was chiefly carried on in Latin. The lord of the +castle, the little bishop Johan, seemed to have assumed a determined +and authoritative deportment in imitation of the archbishop, by whose +side, however, he appeared wholly insignificant, although he now acted +as the protector both of the powerful Grand, and of the cardinal. He +now and then cast an observant glance out of the window towards the +town and the increasing crowd on the strand, yet without betraying fear +or uneasiness. Archbishop Grand had not yet overcome the consequences +of his severe imprisonment. He rested his swollen feet on a soft +stuffed foot-stool. There was a look of gloomy asperity on his pale, +emaciated countenance. Every movement appeared to cost him an effort, +while all his vital energy seemed as if concentrated in his large +flashing eye. He sat lost in reverie, gazing before him in silence, +while the cardinal, with a lurking smile in his small crafty eye, +perused a document which his secretary had just drawn up. + +"Trust him not, venerable brother," whispered the abbot from the forest +monastery in the archbishop's ear; "he secretly sides with the king: I +know it; he aims at your archbishopric." + +Grand changed colour and clenched his hands convulsively, but was +silent, and cast a searching look at the papal nuncio. + +"In the name and on the behalf of the holy father!" commenced the +cardinal, in Latin, ridding himself of the red cap which covered his +tonsure; "ere the royal ambassadors come into our presence, I once more +counsel my aggrieved brother to submission and a wise resignation. In +this treaty which I have here caused to be cursorily drawn up, and the +contents of which you already know Archbishop Grand! I have at your own +request, according to the strict principles of ecclesiastical law, +enjoined the King of Denmark to make such a considerable compensation +for towns, villages, castles, and temporal offices, that I see +beforehand he will reject the negociation." + +"I now reject it also, even on these conditions," answered the +Archbishop impetuously, "That in which King Eric hath sinned against me +and my holy office, he can never fully atone for, even with the loss of +his--crown!" + +"You surely would not, however, strain the bow still tighter, venerable +brother! and at last insist on your king being punished by loss of +honour, life, and possessions, like a criminal by temporal justice?" +asked the cardinal, with a crafty smile on his unruffled countenance, +"in the matter of soul and salvation, you have dealt as hardly with him +as possible. Forget not, my venerable brother! That your opponent is a +crowned and anointed monarch, at the head of a brave and loyal people, +and with many mighty princes for his friends! Every spiritual decree to +which a temporal potentate will not _voluntarily_ submit out of +christian piety and humility, will be ineffectual, and become the scoff +of the children of this world, especially here in the north, where even +the holy lightnings, as I perceive, fall somewhat cooled and weakened. +The king's charges against my venerable brother in Christ are, besides, +very grave and heavy, and," added the Cardinal with a thoughtful look, +"if the royal advocate in Rome can but prove the half of what is +alleged, you will assuredly act most wisely in lowering your demands +somewhat, and will even desire yourself that the whole unhappy affair +should be hushed up. This, at all events, is my brotherly counsel, and +if you could master yourself so far as to follow it, an honourable +treaty will doubtless be possible. It is my heartfelt wish, as well for +your peace as that of the church, and to prevent all scandal and +dissension for the future--that you, with consent of the holy father, +should exchange the archbishopric of Lund for another (perhaps of more +importance, and more worthy of your merits) without these northern +lands, where your personal misunderstanding with temporal authorities +will hardly ever be wholly removed. I say this with kindly concern for +my excellent brother's peace and safety. Even at this moment we are +both, in some sort, in the power of the temporal ruler, of whose +impetuosity you have had such sensible proofs." + +"Ay indeed, your eminence!" exclaimed Grand in the greatest +exasperation, as he kicked the footstool from him, and rose, "Speak ye +now to me in this tone? Was it for this you summoned me from my secure +Hammershuus, and bade me trust to the passport of my deadly foe? You +think, perhaps, to have trapped me into a snare I cannot escape from! +You imagine, perhaps, that my pious colleague, our mutual and venerable +host, who here sways town and castle, will, out of base and cowardly +fear, betray his friend and guest, and lawful archbishop, to flatter +the temporal tyrant, who already, as I perceive, hath rendered a papal +nuncio his spiritual slave? No, lord Cardinal! In that case, you know +neither me, nor the meritorious servant of the Lord here, at our side. +If he hath already for my sake, and that of the church, with courageous +energy exposed himself to the tyrant's wrath, and even to tumult and +sedition in his own town, he will surely not now stoop to degrade +himself by an act of treachery which would brand him as a dastardly +traitor. My safety and freedom are provided for; any moment I please I +can embark, and neither the king nor the seditious burgher-pack shall +forbid me to wend free from hence, and seek justice before St. Peter's +judgment seat. Here I dare speak out freely that which I deem of you, +as well as of that presumptuous and ungodly king. You have not +fulfilled your duty here as papal nuncio.--Instead of confirming ban +and interdict with the holy Father's authority----" + +"That is my own affair, my brother!" interrupted Isarnus, with cool +calmness, "Since your own counsellors have enforced the interdict +according to the constitution of Veilé no confirmation was needed. We +speak now only of the king, and whether you will be reconciled to him +and recall the ban." + +"No, never! To all eternity!" cried Grand, impetuously; "and I laugh at +his accusations: that which I once spoke of his father's murder, and +which he now makes the plea for his tyrannical conduct, I dare repeat +here, and before the highest judgment seat. If the king's murder was +_destined_ to take place, it was unfortunate that it did _not_ take +place sixteen years before, then that wretched monarch would have left +no posterity behind him, and the descendants of Eric Glipping would +never have dishonoured Denmark's throne. Yes! I made that intrepid +speech, and I repeat it now; but I deny all share in the tyrant's +murder, and all connection with Duke Valdemar and the outlaws. It +matters not to me, henceforth, who reigns in Denmark, be it Duke +Valdemar or a Jew, a Saracen or a heathen, or--the devil himself, if +only King Eric and his wretched brother may never be obeyed here as +kings and lieges." + +"Will you also defend what you _now_ say, before the highest judgment +seat? venerable brother!" asked Isarnus, with unruffled calmness, and +with an almost imperceptible smile. "Your bodily weakness is, however, +reasonable excuse for your not being always master of your mind and +tongue. Now I have heard your declaration, despite the exaggeration of +feeling it betrays, it still in some sort agrees, both with the will of +the Holy Father and of the king. Your cause immediately depends upon +the papal see; nevertheless, let the king's ambassadors appear, my +worthy brother!" he said to Bishop Johan, who instantly rose and left +the hall. + +There was a silence of a few moments. Grand had resumed his seat; he +rested his long chin upon his clenched hand, and seemed angry, both at +his own vehemence, and the calmness of the cardinal. Shortly afterwards +Bishop Johan entered, accompanied by two ecclesiastics. They were the +king's ambassadors; the provincial prior of the Dominicans, the +venerable Master Olaus, with his handsome snow-white head, and Esger +Iuul, the canon of Ribé--a young priest, well versed in law, and of a +bold, intelligent countenance. They had been waiting for admission some +hours in an antechamber. They now greeted the prelates with reverence, +and the cardinal half rose from his seat to return their salutation; +but the Archbishop remained seated in gloomy reverie. Bishop Johan +requested the king's plenipotentiaries to seat themselves. The +provincial prior sat down, but the canon remained standing, and began, +"Pardon me, your eminence! and you, most learned lord archbishop! and +all ye reverend ecclesiastics! if I am here necessitated to say what +displeases you I stand forth here, not as the church's, but as the +king's, my temporal master's, servant and spokesman. What he hath +ordered me to propound, I must utter, even though I may not dare to +attribute to myself the thoughts and opinions which I have taken on +myself to expound." + +"Speak boldly, brother Canonicus! I have been advised of your +authority," interrupted the cardinal, with a gracious nod, and the +canon continued, "My lord and king hath three hours ago arrived at his +royal castle here in the village of Sorretslóv, without the town of +Copenhagen, in order personally to confirm and sign what may be here, +with his consent, agreed upon; and, in case of need, with his royal +power and authority to hinder the breach of the public peace, with +which state and kingdom are threatened by the presence of Bishop Grand, +and the enforcement of the interdict. He desires not to see _that_ man +in his presence whom he considers as an accomplice in the murder of his +royal father of blessed memory, and who hath also dared to pronounce +the church's ban on his own royal head; but the peace and safe conduct +he hath promised his opponent, he will honourably and chivalrously +observe. The King hath expressly enjoined me to declare, that he comes +hither in no wise to excuse and defend that, which, compelled by +necessity, he hath been forced to enact against canonical law and the +constitution of Veilé, by the personal imprisonment of Archbishop +Grand. This affair he confidently trusts to justify before the highest +tribunal in Christendom; but he comes hither as lord of the land, for +the restoration of public peace, and as the accuser of the fugitive +archbishop before his eminence the papal nuncio. All reconciliation in +this kingdom with this prelate, charged as he is with treason, my +liege, the king, decidedly rejects; but he promises him free and safe +departure for Rome, whither he hath already expedited his ambassadors, +and whence he awaits a righteous sentence upon the accused. Till this +sentence is awarded, he demands to be freed from the unlawful ban +pronounced upon him by a prisoned traitor. (These are not my words, but +the king's.) He demands likewise that the kingdom be freed from the +interdict, which the councils of Veilé, Roskild, and Lund, have +announced to his loyal and innocent people. Against the right of the +councils and bishops therein assisting, to take this step without +consent of their chapter and the rest of the clergy, the chapter of the +cathedral of Roskild hath solemnly protested--and the provincial prior +of the Dominicans, the venerable Master Olaus, is here present in +person to confirm the protest." + +The aged provincial prior now rose--"In the name of my holy order, and +that of the chapter of Roskild cathedral, I declare the conduct of the +councils in this matter to be unlawful and invalid," he said in a clear +and calm voice, "I consider not the chapters and the Danish clergy to +be under the necessity of giving up the performance of divine worship, +and I require you, Bishop Johan of Roskild! as speedily as possible to +recall the unhappy church interdict, which hath already caused such +great disturbance here in the town, where you, yourself, meanwhile, +bear rule. If God's service is to cease, Satan's service will soon +commence, with all manner of dissoluteness and profligacy; of discord +and variance between the shepherd and his flock; spiritual, as well as +all temporal peace and security will be at an end, and no priest will +be sure of his life. Enthusiasts and sectarians, atheists and Leccar +brothers, will inundate the land, and mislead the people; laymen and +drunken guild-brethren will preside in the congregation, as they have +already begun to do here. Neither the church nor the holy father can +desire that we, to maintain the stern and impracticable constitution of +Veilé, should overthrow all order and fear of God in Denmark, and +suffer the people to fall into barbarism, and into the greatest +errors--ay, even into heathenism and devil-worship. In the name of the +Danish clergy, I solemnly protest against the interdict; but in thus +protesting against it, I consider that I in nowise encroach on the +churches freedom, or attack you, most learned archbishop!--or any other +spiritual authority. The church but uses its freedom and power in such +wise, that we, its servants, should not corrupt and destroy the souls +entrusted to us, instead of leading them to the peace of God and +eternal salvation! Dixi et liberavi animam. Now act as you can answer +to God and your conscience, venerable sirs! but you will be responsible +in this world and the next for the consequences! They might prove +bloody and terrible." + +He hardly finished speaking, ere a shower of stones and arrows struck +against the wall with great noise, forced in the windows, and poured +into the midst of the hall, among the dismayed ecclesiastics, who +started from their seats, and sought safety between the massive window +pillars, and behind the thick walls of the hall; the cardinal also +quitted his seat, but the archbishop remained seated with an air of +defiance. + +"Doth he break his promise of safe conduct? the godless king of +Belial!" cried Grand. "Shall I and my faithful friends be stoned here +like prophets and martyrs, that our blood may cry to Heaven and call +down the lightnings of eternal damnation upon his head?" + +"I witness before the Lord and our Holy Lady! The king hath no share in +this attack," resumed the provincial prior, who remained standing. +"When he hears of it, he will assuredly highly disapprove this unlawful +and presumptuous breach of peace: but here, venerable sirs! you already +see the consequences of the interdict; the whole town is in uproar; the +mob was storming against the closed churches of St. Peter and Our Lady, +as we were on our way hither, and threatened with fire and sword. If +you do not now yield to necessity. Bishop Johan! Axelhuus will be +perhaps taken by storm, or laid in ashes ere midnight." + +A fresh shower of stones and arrows interrupted the provincial prior's +speech; he crossed himself and retreated. A large stone from a balista +fell just before the archbishop's face, and split the table. Grand +arose, with a look which flashed fire, and quitted his dangerous +position. + +"Follow me, my guests!" said the little Bishop Johan in a squeaking +voice, and hastily opening a door,--"Could we but pass unharmed through +the north corridor to the tower, no arrow or balista stone shall reach +us. The castle can stand both siege and storm. I will show you that I +suffer not myself to be thus mastered by my rebellious flock; but we +must hasten--here we are still exposed to the greatest danger." So +saying, he himself quitted the hall in great trepidation; all followed +him through a long corridor to a more secure retreat. Meanwhile, the +attack upon the castle increased in vigour every moment, and the +whole northern wing, which looked upon the town, was everywhere +exposed to arrows and showers of stones. Some exclaimed that they were +wounded--they rushed forward headlong, and jostled each other without +ceremony. Care for personal safety had nearly chased away all regard to +rank and position and decorum--most of the ecclesiastics ran past the +archbishop and the cardinal. The papal nuncio, however, passed hastily +and unharmed through the corridor, accompanied by the provincial prior +and Esger Iuul. Grand's slow and laboured step was alone supported by +the abbot from the forest monastery, whose heavy-built person permitted +him not to haste. The long corridor, through the whole length of which +they were forced to pass, had, on the one side, open gothic arches over +a walled parapet. Here at every moment poured in a number of arrows and +stones, which forced the fugitive prelates to pursue their way, +stooping, and almost creeping under the parapet. + +"God's judgment upon the presumptuous, and upon their traitorous king!" +panted forth the archbishop. "It is his creatures who stir up the +people. Now he rejoices over our distress, and would make use of it for +our humiliation." + +"St. Bent and St. Peter assist us! Stoop your head!" cried the heavy +Abbot, creeping under the parapet. "Yonder comes another balista stone! +Merciful heaven, what a swarm of people!" he continued, looking out +cautiously towards the town. "Hear how they bluster! They utter your +name, venerable brother, with ungodly oaths; they are busy with +boats--they are dragging more balista forward. I see one of the king's +halberdiers among them." + +"Mark! _he_ is the ring-leader, the faithless despot!" cried the +archbishop, "from him comes all our tribulation, and the country's +misery! Send forth thy destroying angel, righteous Lord! root out the +perjurer! Pluck him up by the roots!" + +"This way, venerable sirs! and ye are safe!" said a hollow voice from +the end of the corridor, and a tall manly form with a wild pallid +countenance, appeared at the door; he was clad like a German pepper +'prentice, and had a large red scar on his forehead. + +"My guest of the sanctuary! your persecuted friend and avenger!" +whispered the abbot from the forest monastery. "St. Peter and St. Bent +be thanked--the All-righteous hath heard your prayer, the destroying +angel is come." + +The tall form in the door-way laid his finger on his lips, and +disappeared with the two prelates, while the door of the corridor +closed after them. + + + + + CHAP. III. + + +The attack upon Axelhuus had thrown the whole town into the greatest +agitation. Even the most quiet and peaceable burghers could not conceal +their satisfaction on the occasion, and many of them took an open share +in the insurrection. The wild shouts of exultation which were heard +each time a shower of stones poured into the castle, sufficiently +showed the general feeling of indignation, not alone against prelatical +rule but chiefly against the archbishop, for whose sake, and by whose +powerful influence, the exasperating interdict had been enforced. +Grand's name was the watchword on the commencement of every fresh +attack. The provost, with his armed attendants, vainly strove to +restore order and quietness; wherever he appeared with the bishop's +men-at-arms, he was instantly driven back by the enraged populace. The +report of the king's arrival at Sorretslóv, and the uneasy terms he was +on with the inmates of Axelhuus, had given a new and loyal impulse to +the insurrection; as the mob now believed that, by their attack on the +ecclesiastical dignitaries, they were making common cause with the +king, against his and the kingdom's arrogant foes. The provost had +ordered all the gates of the town to be locked, but the insurgents had +forced them, and a great number of people, among whom were some of the +richest and most peaceable inhabitants, hastened out of the north gate +of Sorretslóv to see the king and intreat his support. Another crowd +flocked to the tower of St. Mary's church, and rang the alarm bell. +"Away with the holy wolves at the castle!" was the cry throughout the +streets. Without the well-lighted council-house, where the council was +assembled, and whither several captive insurgents had been brought, +there was a fearful uproar. The mob demanded the liberation of the +prisoners and threatened to fire the council-house. There was a great +tumult also at the Catsound:--"Out with all the boats!" was the cry of +the mob, "Throw the grocer-wares overboard! Drive the pepper 'prentices +to the devil! Let's fire the castle! Let no soul escape! Death to the +foes of king and country!" + +Meanwhile there were more cries and shouts than deeds in most places, +and the wild alarmists were in motion in the most opposite directions, +but, on the old strand, a person was seen who had brought order and +plan into the attack; it was Sir Helmer Blaa, who, with warlike +eagerness, posted the balista on the strand, and instructed the +burghers how to use these engines with force and effect. For some hours +he stood unwearied at this his favourite occupation, and where he led +the attack the castle sustained considerable damage. + +The captive insurgents meanwhile had been liberated at the +council-house. A great number of the council had joined the insurgents' +party, and taken up arms against the bishop. The rest of the +counsellors had escaped at the imminent peril of their lives, and some +of them had succeeded in getting out amongst the crowd through the +north gate, and reaching the king's castle at Sorretslóv, where they +found the king already on horseback, at the head of his knights and +spearmen, in readiness to enter the town himself and quell the +insurrection. + +The evening was closing in. The insurrection had already risen to such +a height that most of the burghers had become alarmed at their own +undertaking, and every resident inhabitant began to fear for the safety +of his property and family; while the unbridled mob considered +themselves freed from all laws of decency and order. The king now +galloped in through the north gate, by Count Henrik's side, at +the head of his troop of knights, and followed by the tall, handsome, +lance-bearers who formed his body guard. + +At St. Peter's church, close to the northern gate of the town, and at +St. Mary's, his progress was almost hindered by the thronging crowds. +At both places the insurgents had forced the church doors and compelled +the priests to perform mass. The pious chaunts from the churches +sounded strange and mournful, amid the wild shouts of the mutineers. + +"That devotion doubtless proceeds more from defiance that piety," said +the king to Count Henrik, "yet assuredly, none shall hinder them from +God's worship, provided it be conducted with decency and order." He +ordered a guard to be stationed by both churches to check all +disturbances, and rode on. Wherever he appeared he was received with +the most devoted homage, and with joyous acclamations; which were, +however, somewhat subdued in those who were most obstreperous, on +seeing the provost and two of the council among the king's nearest +followers. An uneasy murmur was heard, here and there, and the people +gradually began to comprehend that the king came not hither to take +part with the insurgents against their rulers, but to maintain the +lawful government of the town, and restore public tranquillity. + +"Silence, good people! Let every one go to his home! Lay down your +arms!" said the king, in a grave but kindly tone, as he returned the +greetings of the people and stopped his horse. + +A silence ensued and the crowd thronged around him with attention to +hear what he said. "I come as your protector, and the upholder of law +and justice in my kingdom," he continued. "That which you can +reasonably demand of the bishop he shall grant you. The shutting +of the churches shall be at an end--the church-doors shall be thrown +open--that I promise you. As to the rest, you must obey your rulers," +he added sternly. "What hath happened here shall be narrowly inquired +into. There shall be peace and order in the town; he who from this hour +takes the law into his own hands, shall lose his life and reap the +reward of his deeds." An instant stillness prevailed wherever these +words were heard. The insurgents, and all who bore arms, decamped; but +a great crowd of unarmed burghers followed the king with loud +acclamations through the streets. + +At the old strand the bombardment of Axelhuus was still carried on with +great zeal. The castle island was surrounded by boats filled with +bowmen and torch-bearers. Preparations were already begun for storming +and firing Axelhuus, The fight was now maintained on both sides, and +arrows and stones from balista were shot from the towers and +battlements of the castle. + +"The king!--the king! with the provost and council," was re-echoed from +mouth to mouth, and it seemed as if a stroke of lightning had lamed +every arm. "Long live the king!" shouted the insurgents, and many threw +down their weapons. "No more war!--the king will judge between us and +the bishop!" The clattering of the horses' hoofs was already heard; the +crowd gave way on all sides to make room for the king and his knights. +The people shouted and made signals to the bowmen and brandmen in the +numerous boats which surrounded the castle island; in an instant nearly +all the brands and torches were extinguished in the water, and the +assailants rowed hastily back from the besieged castle. The shooting, +however, still continued from a battery of balista on the shore: it was +here Sir Helmer had stationed himself. His whole attention was so +engrossed in the working of the balista, that he was unconscious of +what was passing around him; he thought the bowmen and torch-throwers +had been put to flight, but observed not the general cessation of the +attack, nor the arrival of the king. "Go on, go on, countrymen!" he +shouted. "Cheerily! brave Danish men! Will you let yourselves be +worsted by the bishop's slaves? Down with their towers and walls!" He +was still issuing the word of command to the balista slingers, when, to +his dismay, he heard the king's voice over head. + +"What see I? Sir Helmer! you here! and in the midst of rebels? Is this +accompanying the Drost to Stockholm? Is it thus you serve and obey your +king? He is your prisoner, Count Henrik!" + +"My liege and sovereign!" exclaimed Sir Helmer, stretching out his arms +towards the king, who halted before him on his tall white charger, with +a look of stern menace. "Hear me, I conjure you!" + +"Not a word!" interrupted the king, with vehemence; "would you make me +a faithless perjurer? In the castle you are besieging I have promised +peace and safety to my deadly foe. I break not my word, even were it +pledged to the devil. If a hair of his head hath been injured it shall +cost you dear. Take my halberdier with you, Count Henrik--put him under +knightly arrest at the castle! To-morrow he shall be judged for his +lawless conduct. Take my greeting and assurance of peace to the bishop +and cardinal," he added in a lower tone. "Take to Grand my last behest +and warning! You are responsible for the observance of our passport!" + +"Your will shall be obeyed, my liege!" answered Count Henrik, springing +from his horse. "Follow me quietly, Sir Helmer," he whispered to the +restless and impetuous captain of the balista slingers, "to-morrow you +can justify yourself--now you must be silent and obey." + +Helmer bit his lip in wrath as he gave up his sword to Henrik, and +followed him in silence. Count Henrik, with a considerable train of +knights and squires, took instant possession of a barge which the +insurgents had just deserted. He caused a white flag to be hoisted, and +made preparations for crossing over to the castle island, while the +king furthermore enjoined peace and quietness in the town, and rode +with the rest of his train the whole length of the strand, amid the +vast concourse of people, who partly from curiosity, partly from +attachment, continued to accompany him. The balista were instantly +dragged off the shore, from whence the armed insurgents had also +decamped, awed apparently by the king's severity towards one of his +favourite knights. + +By the church of St. Nicolas, opposite the little island called "The +Skipper's Ground," the king was again stopped by a numerous and unruly +mob, in which there were many armed men of a gloomy and wild +appearance, who were muttering prayers and psalms, interlarded with +imprecations and threats against all priests and bishops. On the king's +appearance the uproar was hushed, and most of the weapons disappeared +at his command. The church doors were also forced here; all the +ecclesiastics and their attendants had fled. The people themselves had +rung the bell for vespers, and had dragged a monk into the church in +order to compel him to sing the Avé, despite the interdict of bishop +and pope. + +The king instantly dismounted and entered the church. Half dead with +terror, and as it were with his life in his hands, an aged Dominican +stood before the altar with rent garments, and strove in vain to chaunt +the customary evening prayers with calmness and dignity, while the +turbulent crowd surrounded him with looks of wild menace, and with +torches, axes, and glittering swords in their hands. A group of +butchers and half-drunken mechanics, headed by a tall carpenter, stood +nearest the altar, and frequently interrupted the monk with scoffs and +threats. + +"Peace here, in the Lord's house!" said the king in a loud voice, as he +entered the church. "Bend the knee, all of ye, and pray the merciful +God to pardon you! Go in peace, pious father!--if thou darest not to +pray for our souls.--God hears us, however, despite the ban, if we are +but sincere. The All-righteous be gracious to us all, and pardon us our +sins!" So saying, the king bent his knee before the altar, and all +fell, as if struck by lightning, on the floor. A deathlike silence +prevailed for a moment. + +It now appeared as if the aged Dominican was suddenly inspired by a +feeling of lofty and intrepid enthusiasm. In a solemn voice he chaunted +a "Gloria," and afterwards an "Ave," in which he was followed by the +king and the whole congregation. The king then arose, and calm and +silent quitted the church. He mounted his horse and rode onwards. "Holy +Virgin, pray for us!" still resounded with calm solemnity from the +kneeling congregation in St. Nicolas church; and when the king again +returned through the strand street opposite Axelhuus, to repair to his +castle at Sorretslóv, tranquillity appeared to be fully restored. +Lights gleamed in the calm spring eve in most of the windows; at +Axelhuus also, all now seemed tranquil. Count Henrik had sent the +provost and two counsellors on before him in a small boat to announce +his coming to the bishop, while the Count himself with his train in the +great barge approached the castle island with tardy strokes of the oar. +Sir Helmer stood silent and thoughtful, as a disarmed captive, in the +barge by Count Henrik's side, indignant at being now carried to +imprisonment in that castle which he had recently, as a conquering +general, assisted the burghers to besiege. He now, indeed, perceived +that he had acted rashly in taking a part in the insurrection; but he +thought, nevertheless, that the king's conduct towards him was much too +severe; his looks and glowing cheek betrayed that his pride was deeply +wounded. As he revolved these thoughts a boat from the castle island +rowed rapidly towards them, and glided close past the barge. "Ha! the +pepper 'prentice!" exclaimed Sir Helmer, suddenly springing like a +madman into the boat. Count Henrik saw with surprise that his captive +commenced wrestling on the gunwale with a German pepper 'prentice, and +plunged with his antagonist into the deep stream, while the boat +disappeared with the speed of an arrow in the twilight. + +"Save him, save him!" shouted Count Henrik, and stopped the rowers. Sir +Helmer's plumed hat floated on the water at some distance; it was taken +up; but neither himself nor his unknown adversary were to be seen. The +rapid current appeared to have instantly borne them away, and all +search after them with oars and boat-hooks proved fruitless. + +"The Lord have mercy on his soul!" said Count Henrik with a sigh. "He +was the boldest knight I ever knew--but a thoughtless madcap he ever +was. He hath escaped captivity though, and perhaps a stern sentence +to-morrow; but the king hath lost a true friend. On, fellows! We find +him not--perhaps he hath helped himself; he was a good swimmer." + +In the boat which shot past, and which had been nearly upset by the +sudden and violent struggle, two persons attired as ecclesiastics had +been seen, and the rowers thought they recognised in one of them the +archbishop's crafty friend Johan Rodis. + +In the harbour of Axelhuus lay the royal vessel "Waldemar the +Victorious," on board of which the archbishop, through the mediation of +the cardinal, had been brought from Hammershuus, under royal convoy. +According to the tenor of the passport, the captain with all his crew +had been sworn by the archbishop, and had bound themselves to convey +him from Axelhuus at a moment's warning, in case he should not believe +himself safe, and also to bring him and the papal nuncio to whatever +foreign port they chose. Just as Count Henrik was about to land on the +castle island a large rowing boat approached the royal vessel. + +"Our lord bishop, with the archbishop, and the red hat!" said the +boatmen; "they are making for the Waldemar." + +"Then row after them with all your might!" ordered Count Henrik; "there +is no time to lose; haste!" Ere they reached the ship, the cardinal and +the archbishop were already on board, and the sails were about to be +hoisted. In the boat stood Bishop Johan with a number of clerks, and +was wishing his exalted guests a safe and fortunate passage. + +"I bring you the same good wishes from my liege and sovereign, most +venerable sirs!" cried County Henrik, taking off his hat. "Your safe +departure hath been cared for. As soon as the king learnt your +distress, and the insurrection of the mob, he hasted hither in person +to your protection. I have commands to escort you out of the harbour, +and see you safe from all possible danger." + +"Bring the King of Denmark my farewell, and my thanks for his support," +answered the cardinal, through his interpreter. "I have been myself a +witness to it, and I must see justice done to his generosity towards +his foe, as well as to his kingly temper, and his strict keeping of +promise. I now quit the country without having succeeded in +establishing here the peace I desired; but I trust once again to see +King Eric and Denmark under happier auspices." + +"When you come with peace and blessing, your eminence will be welcome!" +answered Count Henrik; "but you have already seen solemn proofs of the +temper with which the Danish people put up with ban and interdict. My +liege the king prays your eminence to bring the holy father tidings of +this, together with his humble and filial greeting; he places with +confidence his own and his people's just cause before the judgment seat +of his holiness; but whatever the sentence may prove to be, according +to ecclesiastical and canonical law, my liege, King Eric of Denmark, as +the temporal ruler of this land and the protector of public peace, is +necessitated in the most peremptory manner to declare Archbishop Grand +of Lund for ever banished from these kingdoms and lands." + +"Banished!" repeated a hollow voice from the vessel, and the tall +Archbishop Grand appeared at the gangway. "Who dares pronounce that +sentence upon an anointed prince of the church? For this no king on +earth hath power. That king's servant who hath dared to bring me such a +message, I declare to be under the ban of the church." + +Count Henrik started, but still stood calm and courteous with hat in +hand waiting to hear what the bishop had further to say. + +"Whether I again set foot on Danish ground," continued Grand, "depends +upon myself and the holy father. I now shake off the dust from my +martyred feet, and quit my ungrateful father-land; but ere the fullest +compensation hath been made me for all I have here suffered contrary to +the laws of God and man, there shall no blessing come upon state and +country, and upon Denmark's excommunicated king--that I swear by the +Almighty and all the saints! Tell the tyrant who sent you--from me, the +church's primate in the north--should King Eric Erieson now dare, +without dispensation and consent of the church, to complete his ungodly +espousals in forbidden consanguinity, it shall surely be to the eternal +damnation of himself and kingdom. Amen!" + +At these words Count Henrik stamped in the barge, without however +vouchsafing an answer to the incensed prelate. "Captain!" he called to +the commander of the ship, who stood with his hat in his hand at the +forecastle; "you will convey Archbishop Grand, in the king's name and +under his convoy, safe on shore wherever he chooses, excepting only the +king's states and kingdom. Whoever should dare to bring back this +disturber of the peace to Denmark shall be judged as a traitor and +rebel." + +At Count Henrik's signal, the sails were hoisted, and the vessel sailed +out of port with the dangerous prelate, whose last words to his native +land were those of the so oft-repeated ban. + +Count Henrik now greeted the lord of the castle of Axelhuus, the little +bishop Johan, and delivered the king's message of peace and protection; +under conditions, however, which he was invited to consider in an +interview with the king at his castle of Sorretslóv. Count Henrik then +gave a parting salutation to this friend and unsuccessful imitator of +the archbishop, who seemed to meditate a haughty and impressive reply; +but without awaiting it, Henrik made a signal to his boatmen to row +forward, and followed the departing vessel at some distance, until it +was seen to be fairly out of port and in open sea. The count then +returned with his train to the town, where he instantly mounted his +horse, and rode in silent and serious thought, but with cheerful looks +and at a brisk trot through the town, and from thence on the road to +Sorretslóv. + + + + + CHAP. IV. + + +At night there were great rejoicings in Copenhagen. The king's presence +seemed to secure the peaceable part of the community against further +disturbance of the public tranquillity. + +The occurrences of the day had given satisfaction, and there was a +general feeling of enthusiasm respecting the fortunate issue of the +insurrection. That which had been aimed at was attained. The shutting +of the churches was at an end, and the stern prelatical government of +the town had been cowed. After this violent outbreak of the people's +wrath, it was now hoped that no interdict would ever be carried into +effect in Denmark. The report that the archbishop and the cardinal had +quitted Axelhuus, and that the archbishop was banished for life, was +spread throughout the whole town, ere midnight, and increased the +general rejoicing. Where the lights had been extinguished in the +windows after the king's departure, they were now re-lighted. The +archbishop's flight and banishment were thus celebrated throughout the +town as an important victory over ecclesiastical tyranny, and as a +happy consequence of the public spirit of the burghers, and of the +king's high courage. In the tavern near the Catsound, in the vicinity +of St. Clement's church, sat the Drost's squire Canute, late at night, +merrily carousing with a number of young Copenhageners, who had eagerly +taken part in the besieging of Axelhuus. In the midst of the group sat +an elderly burgher, with a full cup of mead in his hand drinking with +them, amid songs and bold scoffs, at the strict law which prohibited +late tavern keeping and nightly intemperance, which they now regarded +as a dead letter. It was the same personage who at noon had +peregrinated the town as an official authority, and who, as the +summoning herald of the council, had forbidden every one to bear arms +in the streets. His herald's mantle, and the white staff bearing the +bishop's arms, had been thrown under the drinking table; he now +appeared in the usual burgher's dress, and had himself a warlike sword +at his side. From his talk it could be gathered that he had also joined +in the siege of Axelhuus. + +The carousers spoke openly and boldly against prelatical government, to +which they believed they had given a good fillip. They lauded the king +and the brisk Sir Helmer, and opined that the king had only feignedly, +and for the sake of appearances, caused that brave knight to be placed +under arrest. They unanimously agreed, also, that the king's stern +words to the balista slingers, and those who were storming the castle, +could not have come much further than from between his teeth, since, +after all, it was but his worst foe they had attacked. + +There were bursts of exultation at the flight and exile of the +archbishop, which had been related to them by two newly-arrived guests, +and the party took credit to themselves for having stoned Master Grand +out of the country. + +"Ay, laud us Copenhageners!" said the herald, with a self-satisfied +nod; "we have helped the king before at a pinch." + +"What can the pope and all the world's bishops do to him _now_?" said +the squire, draining his cup. "The game is won, comrades, provided all +we Danes from this day forward act like you, brave Copenhageners of +this town. Against those Latin curses we have arrows, swords, and +balista, and good Danish granite stone; and if they lock us up the +church doors again, we have, the Lord be thanked, iron crows and axes, +and men who can lift a church door as easy as a barrel of wheat. Now is +my master the Drost over in Sweden to fetch the king's betrothed," he +continued; "had I been with him there the arrogant Hanse would not have +pounced on me. Matters may go hard enough with the king's marriage; +they say these priests would fain put a spoke in the wheel, and shut +all Heaven's gates on us; but what shall we wager, comrades, that the +king snaps his fingers at them, touching the dispension, or whatever it +is called, and keeps his bridal, when the Lord and he himself pleases? +Then will there be sport and jollity over all the country. Long live +the king's true love!" + +"But she is a Swede," objected one of the young fellows. + +"Pah! hereafter will Swede and Dane be good and boon companions," +continued Canute, with a jolly flourish of his cup. "When our kings +give each other their sisters we will dance with the Swedish maidens, +and their young fellows again with ours, and no one shall look sour on +the other, because we have tried our strength before in another sort of +game. The Swedish princess, they say, is the fairest king's daughter in +the world, as fair and straight as a lily, and as pious and mild as the +blessed Queen Dagmar. Long life to her, by my soul and honour, and to +our excellent young king besides, and to all frank and free men, and +all pretty maidens, both here and in Sweden's land! Hurra for the king +and his true love! He is a scoundrel who drinks not with me." + +All the jolly carousers joined in the toast; but the merriment in the +tavern-room was now interrupted by the noise of an eager scuffle in the +chamber above, where several guests of higher rank were playing at +draughts. The squire and his comrades crowded inquisitively to the +door, and looked into the chamber. "Ay, indeed! my fat Rostocker here!" +exclaimed Canute; "would he tweak the Copenhageners by the nose also? I +should think he would come badly off at that game." He now related to +his companions what had happened at Skanör fair--how the arrogant +traders, who were now in the fray, had brought the false coin of the +outlaws into the country--and how the Rostocker, with his crafty +comrade, had dared to threaten the king at Sjöborg. + +"Let's have at him!" shouted all with one accord, and rushed into the +chamber, where Berner Kopmand and Henrik Gullandsfar, with a crowd of +foreign merchants and agents, were engaged in fierce dispute with two +of the richest burghers of the town, who accused them of dishonest +play, and of cheating with false money. The squire and his young +comrades took the part of the Copenhageners, and a wild and bloody +fray, with pitchers and cans, sticks and clenched fists, soon +commenced. The Rostocker and Henrik Gullandsfar first drew their +swords; they laid about them with courage and valour. The pepper +'prentices cried and shouted desperately, but were unable to defend +themselves with their long ell measures; at last they all took to +flight, with Henrik Gullandsfar at their head. Berner Kopmand would +have followed them, but the incensed squire placed himself in his way, +and forced him into a desperate encounter. "Out of the way, comrades!" +he shouted; "leave me to deal alone with this fellow; I have a little +reckoning to settle with him!" + +All gave way, and formed a ring round the combatants; the heavy-built +hot-headed Rostocker laid frantically about him, but was wounded every +moment by the man-at-arms, who, though far less in stature, was his +superior in swordsmanship. "Take that for thy false money, good fellow, +and that for thy false play, and that for thy shameless arrogance!" +shouted the squire at every wound he gave his antagonist; "that because +thou wouldest hang Sir Helmer and me, and that because thou hast +threatened our king, thou grocer hero!" This last thrust ended the +fight. The merchant fell mortally wounded to the ground, among the +overturned wine-flasks and draught-boards. Meanwhile the routed pepper +'prentices had given the alarm in the streets, and, with a fearful cry +of murder, assembled the night-watch, and as many of the provost's men, +who, as yet, had sufficient courage to maintain order in the town. The +bishop's famulus had arrived with some men-at-arms, on the part of the +provost, and when Berner Kopmand fell the tavern of St. Clement's was +already surrounded by a guard. The famulus made his way into the tavern +with his men, and surrounded the squire, who stood in silence with the +bloody sword in his hand, gazing on the dying Rostocker. + +"Seize him! Shackle him! The godless murderer, in the name of the +bishop and council!" cried the famulus, in a screeching voice, +springing up on a bench to bring himself into notice. He was a little +man, clad in a short black cloak over a blue lay brother's dress, with +a roll of parchment in his hand, which he flourished like a commander's +staff. All the jolly revellers had retreated, and the Drost's squire +stood alone by the Rostocker's body in the faint light of the oil-lamp, +which was suspended from the roof. He menacingly brandished his bloody +sword, and no one dared to approach him. + +"Let him go; he is guiltless!" cried a powerful but stuttering voice, +and the burgher herald stepped forward half intoxicated, with glowing +cheeks and reeling steps, from a corner of the apartment. He had again +attired himself in his herald's mantle, and brandished the white staff +with the bishop's arms in his hand. He elbowed his way through the +crowd, and placed himself, with solemn, official mien, between the +squire and the provost's men, directly opposite the little famulus on +the bench. "Let none touch this fellow; he is guiltless!" he continued: +"the other drunken guest hath got his deserts; he has fallen, as was +meet and fit in a regular tavern brawl, and at the dice-board; that _I_ +can witness--he is to get no chastisement, according to the law and +right of our good city, that you must know full as well as I, Master +Famulus." + +"Believe him not, he is drunk!" cried the bishop's famulus with +eagerness; "the ale speaks through him; he exercises his office, and +expounds law and justice like a toper and partizan. The law he prates +about concerns but fisty-cuffs and pulling of hair; but a murder hath +been committed within the town paling; it should at least be punished +with perpetual imprisonment, according to the town law. Seize the +murderer instantly, say I!" + +"Touch him not, say I," resumed the herald, "he hath slain a cheat, a +false player, a shameless scoundrel, who had defied the king; it was +done in honourable fight; it was in self-defence,--that I saw myself; +the fat Rostocker struck the first blow with a sharp weapon, although +he got the first cuff, but from an wholly unarmed fist; _that_ I can +take my oath of, let me be ever so drunk. He is a knave and a sorry +Christian who gets not honestly drunk to-night, now that we have forced +the shut gate of heaven. This brave young fellow is, besides, the +Drost's squire, and my good friend. We have no right to imprison him, I +will stand security for him, with all my substance!" + +"But what are ye thinking of?" bawled the famulus, stamping on the +bench, "he hath certainly slain a man here." + +"Even so! naught else! Know ye not better our pious Lord Bishop's +orders! Master Famulus!" shouted the burgher herald in an overpowering +voice, as he leaned on his staff of office. "_This_ is a worldly tavern +and place of entertainment--_here_, where gaming, pastime, and toping +have full swing from morning to night--none hath a right to require +safety for life and limb, it is all in due order; and a very wise and +reasonable regulation; mad cats get torn skins, and where one sets +aside the law, every one must take the damage as wages. The scoundrel +who lies there fell at the forbidden draught-board; if there is law and +justice in the town, he shall never be laid in christian ground. That I +will uphold, as surely as I bear this sacred staff." As he, at the +conclusion of his speech, was about again to brandish the herald's +staff over his head, he had nearly lost his balance; but his +authoritative conduct, and stern official deportment, seemed, however, +not without its effect upon the provost's men, especially as the +bishop's famulus was forced to allow the justice of his protest against +the burial of the slain in christian ground. + +While they were yet disputing, whether they had or had not the right of +imprisoning the murderer, the squire rushed out of the door, with his +drawn sword in his hand, and none dared to stop him. + +As soon as he found himself in the open air, he concealed his sword +under his mantle, slouched his hat over his brow, and mingled in the +throng which surrounded the house, and had thrust the guard aside. It +appeared, even to him, somewhat doubtful and improbable that persons +might thus be slain with perfect impunity at the gaming table; what he +had heard respecting perpetual imprisonment in the bishop's city, still +sounded very unpleasantly in his ear, and he thought it most advisable +to decamp as soon as possible; but in order not to excite suspicion, he +walked on quietly, and whistled a blithe drinking song. "There's +desperate work in the house between the pepper 'prentices and the +king's men," he said aloud, "the devil take me if I stand here gaping +any longer." As soon as he was fairly out of the crowd, he quickened +his steps and hastened down past the Catsound towards the old strand. +He went onward without knowing whither, and often looked behind to see +whether any one pursued him. He saw lights in all the houses on the +strand--mirth and song resounded, contrary to usage, in many quarters +of the generally quiet town, in defiance of the strict regulations of +the bishop and archbishop; but all was gloomy and still at Axelhuus. He +pursued his way along the level shore, and approached the church of St. +Nicholas. In the churchyard he saw a crowd of people assembled. A +strange, half devout, half seditious murmur, was heard in the crowd, +and a solemn council appeared to be held. He hastened past the sullen +muttering assemblage, and reached the ferry opposite Bremen-island. +Here all the great warehouses were desolate and deserted; he sat down +quite breathless on the quay to recover himself, and think of the means +of escape. It was past midnight. The moon shone upon the broad stream +and the tall warehouses on Bremen island. He felt oppressed by the +death-like stillness around him. The wild scene of the murder in the +alehouse was now solemnly and fearfully present to his imagination--he +heard his heart beat; he wiped the blood from off his sword, and put it +into the sheath. He perceived spots of blood upon his clothes, and was +about to go down to the water to wash them out, but he now heard a +sound near him like the gasping of a dying man; he looked around him +with uneasiness, but no human being was to be seen. The singular sound +still fell on his ear, and mingled with his vivid recollection of the +death-rattle of the slain Rostocker. He had felt no dread of the living +adversary,--now he shuddered at the thought of the dead. The hair of +the fugitive squire stood on end; he hastily started off from the quay, +and would have fled further; but he now distinctly heard that the sound +which terrified him proceeded from the sea-shore. The faint ray of the +moon now lit up the beach, on which he beheld a man lying stretched at +full length. "The pepper 'prentice! What became of him?"--he heard the +voice gasp forth, and recognised its tones. "Our Lady be merciful to +us! Sir Helmer! what hath happened you?" exclaimed Canute, aghast, and +hasted down to the half-expiring knight, who was utterly exhausted by +fighting and swimming, and whom, with much difficulty, he raised on his +legs, and in some degree restored to consciousness. His drenched +clothes were rent and bloody; his long brown locks clung to his swollen +cheeks, and in his left hand, which was convulsively clenched, he held +a thick tuft of reddish hair. "Look! look!" he said, "it was all I got +hold of, the rest the devil hath taken. He twined round me like a +water-snake. He bit and tore like the devil. The stream put an end to +our embrace, it had well nigh put an end to my life, I perceive." + +"Our Lady and St. George help you, noble sir!" said the squire, +crossing himself, as he reached him a small flask. "Take something to +strengthen your heart after that joust! If you have fought with the +evil one at the bottom of the sea you have surely had to stand a hard +encounter." + +"I hope it was the right one," said Helmer, and drained the flask, +"Thanks, countryman! it hath helped me! Now I have got my strength +again. I ail nothing in reality; my limbs are sound; I am but a little +bruised, and dizzy in my head." + +"But what in all the world have you been about? Have you been seeking +the pepper 'prentice, or Satan himself, at the bottom of the sea, and +know not rightly yourself whether you found him?" + +"I was hard pressed for time, thou must know. The king rode quietly +past the beach. I was somewhat wrath with him, I must needs confess. I +was on the way to the bishop's dungeon, on account of my having taken +the balista a little in hand; but then I caught a sight of that devil +of a pepper 'prentice; he stood not a yard from me in a boat, and would +have pushed past us; it seemed to me that he stared after the king, and +fumbled with his hand in his breast, as if after a dagger. Whether it +was the right rascal or not, there was not time to discover. The fellow +looked confoundedly suspicious, and one pepper 'prentice, more or less, +of what consequence was it, when the king's life was in question? so I +jumped into the boat. Ere I wast fully sensible of it I had the fellow +by the throat, and had tumbled blithely with him into the stream." + +"Have you sent the pepper 'prentice down to his home, noble sir?" said +Canute with restored cheerfulness, and somewhat proudly,--"then I have +sent a bottle-nosed Hanse grocer to hell, from an ale tavern. None can +say we have been idle here in Copenhagen. We serve the king as well as +we can--although we may have come a little out of the way he sent us. +If you only have but hit on the right man! your exploit was far more +daring and dangerous than mine, noble sir! But in two particulars I +have been more lucky, however; I _know_ I hit on the right person, and +know also I mastered the rascal to some purpose. It was he who would +have hung us in the morning, and who would have taken the king's life, +had he had power and courage to do so." + +"The Rostocker! Berner Kopmand?" + +"The same! He now lies dead as a herring, in the ale-house; he will +never be laid in Christian ground, if my honest friend the herald is in +the right. But come, sir!--if you can bestir yourself, let's get out of +the bishop's town, and the sooner the better! If the provost or the +bishop's men pounce on us, we shall not 'scape from their dungeons all +our life-time." + +With some difficulty the wounded knight followed the squire, and they +soon reached the east gate at the end of East Street. The gate was +shut, but its lock and bolts had been forced in the insurrection. The +fugitives opened it without difficulty, and entered into the large +grass-grown marketplace, where the Halland vegetable vendors especially +had their landing-places and stalls. Meanwhile, Sir Helmer felt weaker +at every step. With the help of the squire he dragged himself with +difficulty to the chapel by St. Anna's bridge; here he sank down +powerless before the chapel door;--all grew dark before his eyes, and +he was near falling into a swoon. + +"The Lord and St. Anna assist us!" said the squire, hastily seizing a +wooden bowl which stood near the chapel; he sprang with it to the +running stream under the bridge, and soon returned with the bowl full +of clear, pure water. + +"Drink, sir! drink in St. Anna's blessed name!" he said, eagerly, "and +then I will bathe you on the head, and on every part where you feel +pain. If St. Anna's stream hath the wondrous healing power it is said +to have you will assuredly soon feel yourself strengthened, provided +you are a good Christian, as I surely hope." + +The knight drank, and washed the blood from his face, which, as well as +his neck, was scratched and lacerated; he was besides bruised all over +his body, and exhausted to a great degree. The cold water refreshed and +strengthened him, as he fancied, in a wonderful and incomprehensible +manner. Around the chapel lay a number of crutches and rags, cast aside +by the sick and paralytic who had here been healed. Inspired with +sudden enthusiasm by his regained strength, and by the miracle he +believed he had here experienced, Sir Helmer sprang up and knelt before +the image of St. Anna over the chapel door. "Thanks and honour, holy +Anna!" he exclaimed in a lowered voice, and with clasped hands, "it was +nobly done of thee; it was doubtless for the sake of my fair young +wife--for the sake of my Anna's pious prayers! When we meet again in +health, we will assuredly not forget the wax lights and purple velvet +for thine altar." He then arose, and exulting in his strength, flapped +his arms around him, as if to certify himself of the fact of this +restoration; he embraced the squire, and then flung him off to some +distance on the grass, with as much ease as he would have flung his +glove. "Look, there lies my crutch also, to thy thanks and honour, holy +Anna!" he exclaimed in a loud voice, "he is a rascal who doubts of thy +wondrous power; thou hast given me strength and vigour again." + +"Ay, indeed! thanks and honour be to St. Anna for it!" panted the +squire, as he rose half in alarm. "You are now, by my troth, in full +vigour. Sir Helmer! as I can testify; but you are somewhat strange and +violent in your devotion; you must excuse my not continuing to lie here +among the other crutches!" + +Helmer bounded blithely on the green sward, to try whether his legs +also stood him in good stead; he seemed again preparing to wrestle with +the squire, but Canute sprang aside. "Keep your devotion within bounds, +noble sir! and listen to a word of sense!" he said, seizing the +intractable knight by the arm. "A boat lies unmoored here, let's take +possession of it, and row up the great canal!--then perhaps we may slip +whole-skinned out of the town, and get to Sorretslóv. If there is any +reasonableness whatever in the king, he will not cause us to be hanged, +because we have chastised his enemies and persecutors; but if they get +hold of us here he will find it hard, despite all his power, to save +us." + +"Had I but my good sword!"--said Helmer. "Lend me thine, brisk +countryman! Do thou row the boat! and I will defend us both." + +"Yes, if you will be mannerly, Sir Knight, and not try your sword on +me, in honour of St. Anna!" + +Helmer laughed, and clapped him on the shoulder. They were soon both +seated in the boat, and pondering how best to provide for their safety. +Helmer sat sword in hand at the rudder, and the squire, despite the +pain of his lacerated hand, rowed with powerful strokes of the oar up +the stream which enclosed the town on the north-east. They stopped not +until they reached the fishermen's houses at Pustervig. Here the +northern boundary of the town was protected by a new fortification of +palisades. While the squire rested his wearied arms, they consulted +together whether they should now row to the left, through the canal, to +get out through the north gate, where, however, it was uncertain +whether they would not be stopped and seized,--or whether they might +not with greater safety, although with more difficulty, pursue their +flight up the stream to Sorretslóv lake. This last plan they considered +to be the most expedient. Helmer now seized the one oar, and they began +to row briskly forward. The night was calm, and during the whole +passage from St. Anna's bridge they had not seen a single human being. +But an arrow from a cross-bow now suddenly whistled over the heads of +the fugitives; they heard a splashing of oars behind them, and saw two +boats push off from the beach at Pustervig. + +"The murderer! stop him, shoot him! a hundred silver crowns to the man +who seizes him!" called a loud voice from one of the boats. + +Helmer and the squire recognised the voice of Henrik Gullandsfar, and +kept on rowing. The one boat lay to behind them to stop the way in case +they should retreat. The other, which was manned with the provost's +men, and was steered by Henrik Gullandsfar himself, pursued them with +four oars up the river. In the bow stood two cross-bowmen, who +constantly aimed and shot, but as it appeared without real skill in the +management of this dangerous weapon, with which the strongest armour +might be pierced, and people wounded almost without perceiving it. + +"You shoot badly, knaves!" shouted Helmer. "Is that the way to hold a +cross-bow? Come but nearer, and I will teach ye to handle it!" he +continued, letting go the oar and brandishing his sword over his +uncovered head, as he stood in the stern of the boat. "As surely as St. +Anna hath given me my strength again, it shall not fare a hair better +with ye than with my departed brothers-in-law." Another cross-bow bolt +whistled over his head, but without injuring a hair of it--another +split the gunwale and broke the tiller. Helmer seized the harmless +bolt, and just as he was about to be overtaken, flung it back with all +his might whence it came. It whistled past both the cross-bowmen, but +hit Henrik Gullandsfar on the forehead, and the merchant fell backwards +without life sufficient to utter a cry. + +"Death and misfortune! 'Twas Helmer Blaa who threw!" cried one of the +provost's men. "The devil a bit will I fight with _him_.--Let's be +off!" + +The provost's men and the cross-bow shooters now took to flight down +the stream with the body of Gullandsfar. Sir Helmer again seized the +one oar, and the two bold fugitives rowed unmolested up to Sorretslóv +lake. Here they sprang ashore on the green sward, leaving the boat to +float back with the current. + +"We have got thus far on dry land," said Helmer, looking around him; +"we are without the town paling, and are scarce a hundred paces distant +from the king's castle. When the king hears of our exploits, perhaps he +will say, it was bravely done, but will cause us to be bound and thrown +into the tower, according to strict law, and there we may be suffered +to lie until his council and the bishops are agreed whether we are to +be punished with death or only with imprisonment for life." + +"Would you scare me, Sir Helmer?" exclaimed Canute, in dismay. "As soon +as we reach the king's castle yonder, we surely stand under the king's +protection." + +"But here he is on the bishop's preserve as well as we. We have +forgotten that in our hurry," observed Helmer; "the sixteen villages in +this neighbourhood belong to the little Roskild bishop. Bishop law and +church law are valid here; and this I know beforehand, the king will +not swerve a hair's-breadth from what is lawful for _our_ sake, even +though we were his best friends, and had saved his life an hundred +times over." + +"Death and confusion! What shall we do then? In that case we were mad +should we take refuge with him here?" + +"So I think, countryman! But help us he _shall_, whether he will it or +no. Knowest thou the two white horses here in the meadow? Look! how +they dance in the tether and snort towards the dawn." + +"The king's tournament prancers!--the very apple of his eye! Every +knights' squire knows _them_. You have surely not lost your wits, Sir +Helmer! What would you be at?" + +"Thou shalt soon see," said Helmer, approaching the starting and +rearing steeds. "So! ho! old fellows! stand still!--if we have risked +our lives for the king, he can doubtless lend us a pair of horses. Had +I my good Arab it should fly with us both faster than the wind. The +pepper 'prentice I answer for," he continued, still enticing the +horses. "I have soused and pumelled him so soundly, that he will do no +mischief again in a hurry, if there is life in him yet--and I dare +wager my head it was the right one. If thou hast made an end of Berner +Kopmand, countryman, I answer for Henrik Gullandsfar, and the +archbishop hath gone to the devil; there is now no great danger astir, +and the king needs us no longer here. I am no great lover of trial and +imprisonment, seest thou? and if the king does not need my life, I know +of one who will give me a kiss for saving it.--So ho, there! That's +right, my lad!--a noble animal, by my soul! I desert not from the +service to run home to my young wife,--that none shall say of me. Do +thou like me, countryman! I will now ride on the king's prancer as his +bridesman to Sweden, to perform what I have neglected. If thou wilt +come with me, come then!" Meanwhile Helmer had caught one of the +spirited steeds. In an instant he was upon its back, and galloped away +over hedge and ditch with the swiftness of a deer. The Drost's squire +did not long hesitate; he was soon seated on the back of the other, and +followed Sir Helmer at a brisk gallop. + + + + + CHAP. V. + + +When the sun rose over the Sound, signs of cheerful animation and +active stir were already perceptible in the village of Sorretslóv, +while the bishop's town still lay shrouded in fog, ensconced behind its +trenches and palisades, and seemed to slumber after the wild revels of +the preceding night. Peasants were seen removing cattle on the +pastures, between the village and the northern gate of the town. The +grooms of the king's household were riding the horses to water from the +farms and meadows of the royal castle, at the large pool in the midst +of the village; but around the pasture near Sorretslóv lake, where the +king's trained tournament-steeds had grazed, two grooms were running in +despair, vainly seeking the fine horses which were entrusted to their +charge. + +"Help us, St. Alban! and all saints!" cried the younger groom. "If the +Marsk comes home he will slay us, at the least." + +"And the king!" groaned the other--"the king will be wrath; and that is +even far worse. We must find them though we should have to run to the +world's end. Come!"--They sprang away over hedge and ditch, where they +saw the dew brushed off from the grass, and fresh traces of galloping +horses' feet on the meadow; at last they recognised the well-known +trained step of the steeds on the road between the two lakes, and were +soon far away. + +It was a fine spring morning;--the king was, as usual, stirring at an +early hour. Accompanied by Count Henrik, he had mounted the flat-roofed +tower of the castle, from whence there was an extensive and noble +prospect over the whole adjacent country. Count Henrik had been +required, circumstantially to repeat his account of the flight of the +cardinal and the archbishop, and the very different greeting of the +prelates. The king was grave, but in good spirits; even the last threat +of the archbishop had not discouraged him. + +"With God's blessing," he said with emphasis, "I await my chief +happiness from the hand of the Almighty, and the heart of my pious +Ingeborg, but neither from the mercy of the pope nor the archbishop. +Were my hope and success in love really sin and ungodliness, no +dispensation could ever sanctify it before Heaven and to myself."--He +paused, and gazed with a calm and enthusiastic look on the rising sun, +and a heartfelt prayer seemed as it were to beam from his bright eye. +"My deadly foe went hence alive," he continued;--"well! I have now +performed my promise to him. I let him 'scape hence alive. More none +can ask of a frail mortal; but it is the last time I promise peace and +respite of life to the enemy of my soul. So long as the Lord grants me +life and crown the presence of Grand shall never more infect the air I +breathe." + +"This insurrection was quite opportune for us, my liege," observed +Count Henrik, with a confidential smile--"the foe you came hither to +banish hath been as good as stoned out of this country by the brisk men +of Copenhagen, on their own responsibility." + +"That _I_ asked them not to do," answered the king, with proud +eagerness; "had I willed to use temporal power, against my +ecclesiastical foes here, I should not have needed the help of a +mutinous mob. The town hath suffered wrong; but mutiny is, and ever +will be, mutiny; and, _as such_, deserving of punishment, whether it +happens to suit my convenience or not. I consider the conduct of the +bishop and council to be arbitrary and illegal," he continued. "I hate +ban and interdict as I do the plague, as is well known; but it shall +not therefore be believed I favour revolt and rebellion against any +lawful authority. It was well done to force the locked churches. No +Roskild bishop shall place bars and bulwarks between us and our Lord; +but it was not for the Lord's sake they besieged the bishop's castle: +their devotion was also very moderate; it was more like howling wolves +singing 'credo,' than christianly-baptized people. Had you seen, with +me, the riots yesterday evening, in St. Nicholas church. Count Henrik! +you would hardly take on yourself the defence of these insurgents." + +"I rode past St. Nicholas church-yard in the night, my liege!" answered +Count Henrik. "What was doing there pleased me but little, it is true. +It seemed as though a crowd of spirits moved among the graves, in the +moonshine: there was a strange muttering. I heard shouts and prayers, +which sounded to me like curses. It was St. Erik's Guild brethren, who +were chaunting prayers, it was said, and taking counsel against the +bishop. Those good people I will no longer defend; there must be wild +fanatics and turbulent spirits among them. But chastise them not too +hardly, in your wrath, my liege!--even though you should now be forced +to lend a helping hand to prelatical government. When the Lord's +servants shut the Lord's house themselves, and hinder all orderly +worship, it is surely no wonder that the plain man seeks to edify +himself as well as he can in his own way: a mixture of defiance and +ferocious fanaticism with this species of devotion is inevitable, but +whose is the blame, your grace? Where God's word is silent, the evil +one instantly sends forth his priests among the people, and drives them +mad." + +"Ay indeed! those are true words. Count! It is usually the fault of the +shepherd when the flock strays. Spiritual government is a matter I dare +not much intermeddle with, but this I have promised, and I shall +honestly keep my promise: every church door in the country which they +would hereafter shut, I will cause myself without further ado to be +forced with the staff of the spear; and every priest or bishop who +hinders my, or my people's lawful and orderly devotion, I banish from +state and country, as I have banished Archbishop Grand--let the pope +excommunicate me a thousand times over for it! Look! in this I am +agreed with my brave and loyal people, and with these rather too brisk +Copenhageners. What I here tell you, I cannot give any one under sign +and seal," he added, "but I will whisper it in confidence into the ear +of every Danish bishop and future archbishop; none shall say, however, +I side with rebels. If authority is to be used, that is my affair; but +there _shall_ be peace and order here. I will uphold the rights of +every lawful authority, whether it be spiritual or temporal, our +highest rights, as God's children, and the rights and authority of the +crown, unimpaired." + +The king was silent--his cheek glowed, and an expression of fervid +energy beamed in his countenance, as he turned from the fair spectacle +of the rising sun, and looked out upon the fog-enveloped town, the +church towers of which glittered in the dawn of morning. He now opened +a letter and a small packet, which a skipper from Skanör had brought +him from Drost Aagé. He read the letter with attention. It contained an +account of the Drost's meeting with the Hanseatic merchants and Thrand +Fistlier at Kjöge, and at Skanör fair, as well as of the disturbance +which had been caused by this mountebank, and the Hanseatic forgers; +and also how the Drost, partly to save the artist's life, had been +under the necessity of sending him prisoner to Helsingborg. In the +packet was one of Master Thrand's optic tubes, and some polished +glasses, which Aagé had bought at Skanör fair, and which he now +presented to the king as extraordinary rarities. In the letter, Aagé +had not been able to conceal his suspicion of the wonderful mountebank, +and the singular uneasiness which this man's operations and expressions +had caused him. + +Count Henrik also, had lately received and read a secret epistle from +the Drost, in which Aagé conjured him to caution the king respecting +the captive Icelander, and above all to keep a watchful eye on whoever +approached him. "Trust not the junker!" Aagé wrote, "God forgive me if +I do him injustice! Kaggé is alive and under convoy of the foreign +merchants, who threatened the king at Sjöborg; Helmer and my bravest +squire are in their power. The revenge of the outlaws is unwearied. +Stir not from the king's side! watch over his life, while I care for +his happiness." + +"Truly! my good Drost Aagé is a strange visionary," said the King, +shaking his head with a smile, as he tried the glasses with a feeling +of wonder at the power of these instruments; "my much-loved Aagé is +ready to side with the ignorant mob, and regard the fruits of the noble +arts and sciences as the work of the evil one." + +"How! my liege!" asked Count Henrik, in surprise. + +"That good friend of mine is still somewhat weak both in mind and body;" +continued the king, "he is afraid our whole fair world will perish, +because here and there people get their eyes opened, and learn to see +things better and more justly in nature. The Lord knows what new danger +he can now be dreaming of from this artist. Just look here. Count!" The +king reached Henrik the optic tube. "It is one of the discoveries of +the great Roger Bacon, the wise English monk we have heard so much +of--a skilful Icelander hath arrived here in the country, who hath +known him, and learned the art from him. These kind of things he brings +with him; he is said to understand many wonderful arts, and knows +secrets in nature which may be of importance, as well in war as in the +general advancement of the country; Aagé, I suppose, means only we +should be cautious and not trust him over much. I will see and know +that man; he certainly doth honour to our northern lands, and he shall +not have visited me in vain;--now what say you, Count? Such glass eyes +may be useful, I think, both for a king and a general, when he should +take a wide survey!" + +"Noble! astonishing!" exclaimed Count Henrik, "the town, the river, the +whole of Solbierg, seem as near as if close at hand." + +"And a skilful coiner, and a rare judge of metals, is this Icelander +besides," resumed the king with satisfaction, as he glanced over the +letter, "he is just the man we need, now that the land is inundated +with the false coin of the outlaws; if he were in league with my foes, +as Aagé fears, he would hardly venture into my sight; as yet no enemy +hath faced me, unpunished. He is reported to hold many erring opinions +in matters of faith; but what is that to me? If he be a heretic, so +much the worse for himself; in what concerns temporal things he is apt, +I must confess." + +"If he be a Leccar brother, as Drost Aagé thinks, then beware of him, +my liege!" observed Count Henrik. "I thought that sect was banished in +all Christian lands, and in Denmark also, on account of their dangerous +opinions." + +"On account of opinions, I have never banished any living soul," said +the king: "for ought I care, every man may think and believe what he +will, provided he obeys but the laws of the land, and seduces not the +people to insurrection and ungodliness. One description of madmen I +once banished, however--it is true," he added, recollecting himself: +"what they called themselves I have now forgot; but the madness I +remember well enough--they were self-appointed priests, without a +consecrated church or true doctrine. They scoured the country round, +and preached both to high and low, and would, in short, have made us +all heathens. They denied both our Lord and our blessed Lady, and all +the saints and martyrs besides; they would have nought to do either +with church or pope; and in fact, just as little with kings and +princes, or any temporal government; they zealously affirmed that we +should obey our Lord only--but when it came to the point, their Lord +was but their own ignorant and perverted will. From such mad doctrine +we may well pray our Lord to preserve us and all Christian lands." + +"But that is exactly, as far as I know, the creed of the Leccar +brethren," observed Count Henrik. "We have chased the sect from +Mecklenborg also, and the pope hath doomed them to fire and faggot." + +"You are right, they are called Leccarii in Latin," answered the king: +"the holy father's caring for their _souls_, by burning their _bodies_, +suits me just as little as his excommunicating, and giving us over to +the devil. That mistakes may be made in Rome we are all agreed. If the +learned Icelander belongs to yon sect, he must doubtless decamp," he +added, "and that I should be sorry for; but I must hear it from +himself, ere I will believe it; it is inconceivable to me how madness +and learning can dwell together in one brain." + +"Look once again, my liege!" said Count Henrik, handing the optic tube +to the king. "Yonder comes a boat up the canal towards St. George's +hospital; if I am not mistaken it is steered by a couple of clerks; +perhaps the bishop would now vouchsafe us tidings, and put up with your +protection." + +From St. George's lake flowed a broad rivulet, which bounded the +pasture ground of Sorretslóv and divided it from the meadows of the +village of Solbierg. This rivulet, which widened into a canal, flowed +down under the west gate of the town, and ended its course in the +Catsound. Between the stream and the town of Sorretslóv lay St. +George's Hospital. A large boat came slowly up the river, in which the +forms of two men, attired in black, were discernible. They rowed with +unsteady strokes of the oar, and with great exertion, against the +stream. The boat put ashore at the pasture ground opposite St. George's +hospital. The sable-clad personages sprang out of the boat and drew it +on land. The king and Count Henrik thought they recognised the +archbishop's confidential friends, Hans Rodis and the canon Nicolaus, +and paid close attention to their proceedings. A large loose sail was +taken from the boat, from under which four ecclesiastics rose up, one +after another, and stepped on shore. They looked around on all sides +with caution, and proceeded along a by-path, with slow and uncertain +steps towards the royal castle. They were all four soon recognised. It +was the domineering little Bishop Johan, with the haughty abbot from +the forest monastery, accompanied by the provincial prior, and the +inspector of the Copenhagen chapter. They seemed to have secretly taken +flight from Axelhuus in the morning fog, to place themselves under the +king's protection, and perhaps to demand the help of arms against the +mutinous town. + +When the king recognised them he became grave, and fell into a reverie. +He reached the optic tube to Count Henrik, and seated himself in +silence on a bench on the southern side of the tower, whence he had a +view of the town and the north gate. Count Henrik remarked that the two +suspicious-looking canons had yet another person in the boat, whom they +carried on shore; he appeared to be either sick or dead, and was +closely shrouded in a mantle. The canons looked around on all sides, +and bore, seemingly with doubtful and anxious steps, the sick or dead +man up to St. George's Hospital, where they were instantly admitted. +Count Henrik considered their conduct most suspicious; he determined, +however, not to name it to the king; and resolved to examine himself +into the affair, and to inspect the hospital that very day. + +The town was by no means so tranquil as was supposed. The nocturnal +assemblage in the churchyard of St. Nicholas had not dispersed until +near daybreak. The bishop's men had heard wild threats of fire and +murder, and taunting speeches against their master. A new and bloody +outbreak of the insurrection was feared whereupon the bishop had not +deemed it advisable to await the dawn of day at Axelhuus, although it +was probable that he most unwillingly took refuge with the king, who he +knew was incensed at the enforcement of the interdict. + +The bishop's stern protest against the demi-ecclesiastical assemblies +of the guild-brethren of St. Canute, had rendered that fraternity his +bitterest and most dangerous foes. During the shutting of the churches, +the devotion of the guild-brethren, which was almost always blended +with fanaticism and intemperance, had assumed a wild and desperate +character. They were charged with the most licentious impiety, it was +believed there were atheists and Leccar brethren among them, who sought +to sever them from the church and from Christendom, as well as from +burgher-rule and obedience. A secret dread of the extravagancies and +gloomy deportment of these persons prevailed among the best-informed +and better class of burghers, who, however, had themselves, on +account of the shutting of the churches, made common cause with the +guild-brethren, and deemed a general revolt against prelatic tyranny to +be necessary. + +Ere the sun had dispersed the thick morning mist which lay over +the town, the burghers of Copenhagen thronged in crowds to the +council-house, where they assembled a council, though it was not the +usual day of meeting. + +Meanwhile, mattins were performed in all the churches in the town, and +no priest dared any longer to observe the interdict. All the churches +were unusually crowded, but no disturbances took place. It was only +from the stone-built houses, where St. Canute's and St. Eric's +guild-brethren had rung their bells ere daylight, and were now +performing their morning's devotions, before full goblets and with +locked doors, that wild cries and sounds of tumult proceeded. As soon +as early mass was ended, a great procession passed through North Street +and through the north gate. It was the deputies of the town and +council, who had drawn up at the council-house a long list of +complaints against the bishop, and as long a justification of the +recently-suppressed insurrection. This document they now intended to +present to the king, as they were willing to enter into any treaty with +the spiritual Lord of the town, which their sovereign might consider +just and reasonable. A continually increasing crowd accompanied this +procession. None of the guild-brethren were to be seen among the +deputies of the town; but a number of these gloomy agitators soon +joined themselves to the train, and sought to excite suspicion in the +populace respecting this negotiation of peace. The guild-brethren, +meanwhile, seemed at variance among themselves; the king's presence had +struck terror into many, and their wild plans of overthrowing all +spiritual and temporal rule lacked concert and counsel. Hardly had they +quitted their guild houses ere the provost's men and the bishop's +retainers, assisted even by the burghers, took possession of these +buildings, and stationed guards before them. The dispersion of this +degenerate and dangerous fraternity was now become one of the most +earnest wishes of the council and burghers. + +The king had not left the tower of Sorretslóv when the throng hastened +forward towards the village and his unfortified castle, in the +direction of the southern gate; while the bishop and the three +prelates, with their slow and dubious pace, had not as yet reached the +approach from the by-path to the western castle gate. Count Henrik's +attention had been wholly engrossed in watching the tardy and undecided +movements of the ecclesiastics, and the king had been so lost in +thought that he did not observe the crowd until the distant murmur of +many thousand voices reached his ear. He rose hastily, with a quick +glance on both sides, and appeared wroth, but undecided only for a +moment. "The gate shall be barred. Count! the black snails shall be +brought up here!" he exclaimed impetuously in a loud voice to Count +Henrik, pointing to the ecclesiastics below, who again paused on the +by-path, and seemed to hesitate. "Let them be brought to my private +chamber instantly, even though it should be by force. They are my +prisoners." + +Count Henrik started. + +"Look!" continued the king, pointing towards the village and the road. +"They flock out hither by thousands; but, by all the holy men! whoever +disturbs the peace of the royal castle shall be chastised as he +deserves. Ride to meet the throng. Count! announce my will to them--say +their bishop is in my power. Every fitting proposition I will listen +to; but every agitator shall instantly be banished; whoever obeys not +shall be punished as a rebel." + +"Now I understand you, my liege," said Count Henrik, and instantly +departed. + +The king's command was immediately put into execution. With great fear +and dismay, the bishop and his three ecclesiastical companions beheld a +troop of horsemen gallop out of the castle towards them, while a willow +hedge hid the main road and the concourse of people from their sight, +and they still stood close to the meadow gate, debating whether they +had not acted with precipitation, and were not about to encounter a +still greater danger here than that from which they had fled. + +"Treachery!" cried the bishop, drawing back. "I feared it would be so. +Fools that we are to trust to the generosity of an excommunicated +tyrant! Now we may all fare as did Grand, and may come to rot alive in +his dungeons." + +"I will answer for the king's justice, even should he imprison us," +said the general superior of the chapter. + +"Ha! you betray me! you side with the tyrant! _you_ counselled me to +this step." + +"Look, my brother!" cried the abbot of the forest monastery, pointing +in dismay to the right, where but a single-fenced meadow separated them +from the road and the concourse of people which now came in view. "The +whole town is flocking hither. They have spied us--hear how they howl +and bluster! They are springing over hedge and ditch towards us. Let us +thank God and our guardian saint for the king's horsemen; it is better +after all to fall into the hands of one tyrant than into those of a +thousand." + +At this moment the king's horsemen surrounded them, and saluted them +with courtesy. "Follow us, venerable sirs," said their leader, a brisk +young halberdier. "We have orders to bring you to the king's castle." + +"In the name of the Lord and all the saints we accept the king's +convoy!" said the bishop, looking around with uneasiness, while his +cheeks glowed, and he seemed but half to trust to this unexpected safe +conduct. + +"The bishop! the bishop! Seize him! stone him!" shouted a whole crowd +of the excited rabble, who, headed by some guild-brethren, had quitted +the burgher procession, and ran, with weapons and stones in their +hands, over the meadow towards the ecclesiastics. + +"Back, countrymen!" shouted the leader of the horsemen, brandishing his +sword. "We lead him captive to the king." + +"Captive! the bishop captive!" exclaimed the insurgents with joyous +shouts. "That's right!--long live the king!--to the dungeon with +Grand's friends and all king-priests!" + +"Captive!" repeated the bishop, clasping his hands; "ha, the +presumptuous traitors!" + +"Compose yourselves, venerable sirs," said the young halberdier, in a +lowered tone. "I obey the commands of my sovereign; if you refuse to +comply I shall be compelled to use force; but whether you are the +king's guests or his prisoners you will assuredly be treated as beseems +your rank and condition." + +The ecclesiastics were soon within the gates of the king's castle, and +looked doubtfully at each other, as one door after another was with +much deference shut behind them, and they stood at last in anxious +expectation in a vaulted chamber, which, with its high windows and the +little iron-cased door, which was also secured behind them, bore a +greater resemblance to a prison than an apartment destined for the +reception of guests. There was no want, however, of furniture or +comfort; there were writing materials as well as both edifying and +entertaining books. It was the king's private chamber. + +The deputies of the burghers and counsel started almost in as great +dismay as the bishop and his clerical companions, when they beheld +themselves surrounded on a sudden by royal halberdiers and horsemen +before the castle gate. The captain of halberdiers dismissed the +half-armed mob, who had followed the procession with shouts and threats +against the bishop, and with frequent acclamations for the king, on +occasion of his having (according to report) thrown the bishop into +prison. + +"In the name of my liege and sovereign!" called Count Henrik, on +horseback, as he waved his hat, "the castle is open to the deputies of +the loyal burghers; but every one who bears arms here, or combines to +cause riot and uproar disturbs the peace of the king's castle, and is +guilty of treason. Your lord bishop is at this moment in the king's +power, but he is also his guest and under his protection. Every insult +to the bishop here is an insult to the ruler of the land. The king will +judge justly, and negociate a peace between you and your lord. Ere the +sun goes down the result of his mediation shall be made known. Now, +back! all here who would not pass for rebels!" + +The restless crowd returned silent and downcast to the town. The +arrogant bravado of the insurgents that they had the king on their +side, had been suddenly put down. Their confidence in his presumed +wrath against the bishop, and his partiality to the burghers of +Copenhagen, appeared to have given way to a reasonable apprehension of +his justice and known severity. It even seemed to them no good sign +that the bishop, in his distress, had sought shelter at the royal +castle--and the guild-brethren muttered that when it came to the push, +the powerful and the great ever sided together after all; even though +they were deadly foes at heart, and that every thing was visited upon +those of low degree whether they were guilty or not. + + + + + CHAP. VI. + + +During the whole day an anxious stillness prevailed in the town. The +crowds indeed still continued to pour like a tide through the streets, +but with order, and in silent expectation. The sun was about to set, +and, as yet, no tidings had been received of the issue of the royal +negociation. Meanwhile, an unusual procession attracted the attention +of the restless and fickle populace. A funeral train proceeded past St. +Clement's church down to the old Strand, but without chaunting and +ringing of bells, and without being accompanied by any choristers or +ecclesiastics. This procession consisted of a great number of foreign +merchants and skippers, and all the pepper 'prentices, who (several +hundreds in number, and clad in precise and rich mourning attire) +followed two large coffins covered with costly palls of black velvet. +The coffins were borne by Hanseatic seamen; over them waved the Rostock +and Visbye flags. The train halted at the church of St. Nicholas. They +would have pursued their way across the church-yard, and requested to +have a mass chaunted over the dead in the church; but this was denied. +The bishop's servants shut the gates of the church-yard and forbade the +corpse-bearers to approach the church, or tread on consecrated ground, +as one of the coffins they carried contained the body of a man who had +been slain in the ale-house at the draught board. Amid wrathful +muttering against the hard-hearted prelatical government, the +procession proceeded past the outside of the church-yard wall to the +quay on Bremen Island, where a number of boats with rowers, clad in +white, received the coffins and the whole troop of mourners. They +landed on the island, and here, where the Hanseatic merchants alone +governed, the train burst forth into a solemn German funeral hymn, +while the bodies of Berner Kopmand and Henrik Gullandsfar were carried +on board two Hanseatic vessels, which were to convey them to Christian +burial in Rostock and Visbye. As soon as the ships were under +weigh the funeral train was received in a large warehouse, where three +ale-barrels and two keys over a cross were carved in stone over the +door. Here the whole party of seamen and trading agents were served out +of huge barrels of the famous Embden ale, the intoxicating properties +of which soon changed the funeral feast into a wild and mirthful +carouse. There was no lack either of wine or mead, and the large dish +of salted meat, which was constantly replenished, increased the thirst +of the funeral guests. The rabble who had followed the train through +the streets, long remained standing on the beach and the quay to hear +and watch the intoxicated pepper 'prentices, who here, with none but +countrymen and boon companions beside them, seemed determined to +indemnify themselves for the restraint to which they were subjected in +the foreign town. Some wept, while they reeled, and held moving +discourses on the mournful fate of the rich Berner Kopmand and Henrik +Gullandsfar, and on the mutability of all power and wealth in this +world; while others sung drinking songs and piping love-ditties by way +of accompaniment to the pathetic funeral speeches. + +At last, attention was withdrawn from these riotous revels by the cry +of "The herald! The herald!" and the people thronged in dense crowds +down towards the north gate. A herald with a large sheet of parchment +and a white staff in his hand, rode, accompanied by a halberdier and a +numerous troop of horsemen, through the gate. The train halted at the +corners of all the streets, and at all the public squares; two +trumpeters on white horses made a signal for silence, whereupon the +herald read aloud a treaty between the lord of the town, Bishop Johan, +and the council and congregation of Copenhagen. The burghers admitted +in this treaty that they had, as well in deed as in word, grossly +misbehaved towards their spiritual and temporal lord the bishop, and +that they had been implicated in an unlawful and criminal insurrection, +the circumstances of which were enumerated. Meanwhile the bishop +pardoned them these trespasses at the king's intercession, in return +for which the deputies of the council and congregation promised, on the +part of the town and of the burghers, that each burgher should +instantly return to his duty, and obey all the laws and regulations +which the bishop, "_with consent of the chapter_," had given or +hereafter might give them, which they would publicly and solemnly swear +to do at the council-house, with laying on of hands on the holy +Gospels. No one dared to protest against the validity of this treaty; +as the herald displayed the round seal of the town with the three +towers, which was suspended to the document by a green silken string, +together with the seal of the Copenhagen chapter. + +As soon as the inhabitants of the town were informed of this treaty, +and it was understood what had thereby been tacitly conceded to them, +and with how much leniency this untoward affair had been adjusted, +alarm and anxiety were succeeded by still greater and more general +satisfaction; but the guild-brethren were displeased and murmured. + +At the market-place without the east gate, where the herald had read +the treaty for the last time, the numbers of the mob which had followed +the procession through the town were considerably augmented, chiefly by +day-labourers and ale-house frequenters, who felt that the treaty was +an obstacle to the disorder and licentious liberty for which the revolt +had given them opportunity. Here discontent was openly manifested; and +it was muttered aloud that the bishop after all had got justice in +everything, and that the burghers had suffered injustice. But a man now +stepped forward who was held in high esteem among these people; he was +a remarkably fat and sturdy ale-house keeper, with a large red nose and +a pair of hands like bears paws; he was known as the greatest toper and +brawler in the town, and his tavern was the resort of the wildest and +most turbulent revellers. He mounted upon the great ale barrel which +stood before his door, and which served the house for a sign. + +"It is altogether right and reasonable, my excellent friends and +customers!--my honest and highly esteemed fellow burghers!" he shouted, +with his powerful well-known voice, and a round oath. "The bishop hath +but got justice for appearance sake; he is, besides, the lord of our +good town, and hath a right to require that one should drink one's ale +in peace, and pay every man that which is his. When he will grant us +what we need both for soul and body, we have surely nought to complain +of. When he lets priests sing mass for you, and me tap good ale for you +from morn till even, and somewhat past at times--then he is, by my +soul! as excellent a bishop and lord as we can ask for, and I will pay +without grumbling my yearly tax. For soul and salvation ye need not +hereafter to fear, comrades! That matter the king hath taken upon +himself, like an honest man. Heard ye not what he promised us +yesterday, and what there stood in the treaty? _Without consent of the +chapter the bishop_ can command us nothing, and praised be the chapter! +They are a wise set: they will just as little deny you absolution every +day, for your little bosom sins, as I would deny you what you may +stand in need of and can pay for on opportunity! Let rascals and +guild-brothers grumble as they may!" he continued, as he clenched his +broad fist, "we will keep those fellows in check;--I will wager a +drinking match to-day, with every honest man, to the king's and the +bishop's prosperity; but those who would stir up strife and wrangling +between us peaceable people shall feel our fists. Come in now, +comrades! and get something to keep up your hearts! Long live the king! +and our lord the bishop besides!" + +"Long live the king and the bishop!" cried a great number of the +influential tavern-keeper's friends and customers; and the malcontents +slunk off. + +"They come! they come! The king and bishop are here!" was now echoed +from mouth to mouth,--and the crowd again poured in through East +Street, towards the quarter where all the butchers of the place had +their dwellings, and where some murmurs against the treaty had also +been heard. Every burst of dissatisfaction was meanwhile kept down by +the opposite feeling which prevailed among the town's most influential +burghers, and yet more by the spectacle of the king's entry, and of the +crushed pride and dejected deportment of the little bishop Johan. With +downcast eyes and manifest signs of fear, this prelate rode, with his +ecclesiastical train, at the king's right hand, through his own town, +guarded by Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, and the knight-halberdiers. The +king met everywhere with a favourable reception; the bishop was +received with no demonstrations of welcome, but there was order and +peace;--no agitator dared to scoff at him by the king's side, and +no voice of discontent was heard. The procession stopped at the +council-house, where the treaty was solemnly ratified. + +The public tranquillity was thus restored. The dignity of the +prelatical government was upheld, and the arrogance of the insurgents +subdued. The turbulent guild-brethren had dispersed, and there was no +reason to apprehend a fresh outbreak of the revolt, as the burghers +themselves, with the permission of the bishop, had agreed with the +provost's men and the bishop's retainers to observe the treaty and +prevent all disturbances. Despite this apparent victory, the bishop was +notwithstanding extremely pensive and taciturn. The king's generous +protection appeared to have confounded him, and he seemed to experience +a feeling of painful humiliation, by the side of his temporal +protector. The revolt, and the danger which had menaced his life, had +taught him to know his own powerlessness. The king had indeed treated +him, while at Sorretslóv castle, as a distinguished guest, but with +cold courtesy, without even giving vent to his displeasure by a +single word; it was those words only in the treaty relating to the +bishop's dependence on the assent of the chapter, which the king had +ordered to be inserted, in an emphatic tone (with the approval of the +general-superior there present), and in a voice of command, which +admitted of no contradiction. The bishop of Roskild, lately so +confident and haughty, who a few days since sat between a cardinal and +an archbishop in his fortified castle, and had, for the first time, +issued the exasperating church interdict in his own town, was now +forced to acknowledge, in silent anger, that since, the cardinal's +departure, the banishment of the archbishop, and his having himself +been subjected to the scoffs of the lowest rabble, he would be able to +maintain the authority of the church in Denmark only so far as the +Danish clergy considered it expedient, and as the king himself would +support ecclesiastical government. + +During the whole of the transaction at the council-house, the bishop +was quiet and dejected. The king treated him here also with cold +courtesy. His looks were stern and grave; another important and serious +matter seemed to have weighed on his heart since he heard the last +words of the archbishop to Count Henrik. + +From the council-house the whole procession rode to St. Mary's church, +where, besides the customary Avé, a Te Deum was sung on occasion of the +treaty. The king then immediately rode back to Sorretslóv, from whence +he purposed to set out on his journey the following morning. The +bishop, with the abbot of the Forest Monastery, and the other +ecclesiastics, accompanied him (in compliance with customary courtesy), +besides the deputies of the town and the burghers. + +The bishop desired not to return to Axelhuus ere every trace of hostile +attack on the castle was effaced, and the humiliating insurrection +forgotten. He purposed to accompany the king, the following day, to +Roskild, where some disturbances had taken place on the occasion of +their rulers' attempt to enforce the interdict. + +The bishop was thus, in some sort, houseless on this evening, and +accepted, as an attention which was his due, the king's invitation to +him and his train to take up their quarters for the night at his +castle, where all who had accompanied the king were also invited to a +festive supper. + +The sun had just set as the train reached Sorretslóv, and Count Henrik +proposed to the king that they should now, ere it grew dark, inspect +the bishop's charitable institution at St. George's hospital, for +lepers and those who were sick of pestilential disorders, since it lay +but a stone's throw from the castle. At this proposal the bishop, and +the abbot of the Forest Monastery, became evidently uneasy; but this +was remarked by no one except Count Henrik, who watched them closely, +and had on their account proposed aloud this plan, which he readily +conjectured the king would reject. + +"It is top late. Count! and I have guests besides," answered the king. +"If you desire it, inspect the hospital yourself, and describe the +establishment to me! I know it doth honour to the bishop's +philanthropy!--although I should have deemed it more fitting had that +lazzaretto been erected elsewhere. That there is no one sick of the +plague there at the present moment I know," Count Henrik bowed in +silence, and instantly rode, with a couple of young knights, across +Sorretslóv meadow, towards the hospital. + +"Permit me to accompany you. Sir knights! I desire also to see this +pious institution," said the abbot of the Forest Monastery, +endeavouring to overtake them on his palfrey; but they heard him not, +and ere the abbot reached St. George's hospital. Count Henrik stood +already in the chamber of the sick, gazing with a look of sharp +scrutiny on a man who seemed to sleep, but whose head was so closely +muffled that he might be considered as masked. On the upper part of the +sick man's forehead the beginning of a large scar was visible. "What is +the name of this man?" inquired Count Henrik, in a stern tone, of the +alarmed and embarrassed brethren of St. George. + +"No one knows him, gracious sir!" answered the guardian; "he was +brought bruised and wounded hither yesterday, by two stranger canons +from the town; they had found him half dead on the beach: we were +forced instantly to lay a plaster over his whole face and we cannot now +remove it without endangering his life." + +"As I live! it is the outlawed Kaggé," said Count Henrik, and all gave +way in consternation. "You have housed and healed a regicide," +continued the count; "they who brought him hither were traitors: all +are such who hide an outlaw." + +"Outlaw or not, here he hath peace to die or recover, if it be the will +of the Lord and St. George;--that shall not be denied him by any king +or king's servant," said an authoritative voice behind them, and the +tall abbot of the Forest Monastery stood in the door-way of the +chamber. "No tyrant's hand reaches unto this sanctuary of compassion," +continued the prelate. "I command you, brother-guardian, and every +charitable brother who here serves St. George, I command ye, in the +name of the bishop, and our heavenly Lord, to cherish this sick man as +your redeemed brother, without fear of man, and without asking of his +name and calling in the world! Perhaps he now suffers for his sins; but +of that the All-righteous must judge: if he hath fallen by the hand of +Divine chastisement he will indeed soon stand before his Judge; in such +case, pray for his soul, and give him Christian burial! but if he is +healed by the help and prayers of man, or by the merits and miracles of +any saint, then let him wander forth free in St. George's name, whether +he goes to friend or foe--whether he goes to life and happiness in the +world, or to ignominy and death on the scaffold--ye are set here to +heal and comfort;--to wound and vex the wretched, there are tyrants +enough in the world." + +Count Henrik looked in astonishment at the dignified prelate, who spoke +with authoritative firmness, and really seemed actuated by pious zeal +and compassion; a transient flush passed over the countenance of the +proud warrior; it seemed as though he blushed at having persecuted this +miserable being, who appeared unable to move a limb, and looked more +dead than alive. "In the name of the Lord and St. George," he said, +stepping back, "fulfil your duty to the criminal as unto my saint, and +the saint of all knights! I require not you nor any one to be +merciless; but this I will say once again, you shelter an outlawed and +dishonoured traitor. You must yourselves be answerable for the +consequences." He cast another glance at the object of his suspicions, +who lay immovable, and without any discernible expression in his +frightful and shrouded countenance. The count then quitted the +hospital, and allowed the abbot to precede him. On the way back to the +king's castle he exchanged not a word with the ecclesiastic, who, +haughty and silent, gazed on him with a triumphant mien. Count Henrik +said nothing of his discovery to the king; he was not, indeed, +perfectly certain that he had not been mistaken; but during the whole +evening he was in an unusually silent and thoughtful mood. The unhappy +criminal now appeared to him so wretched and insignificant that he +began to regard all dread of such a foe as contemptible. At the evening +repast the king principally conversed with the deputies of the council +and the burghers of Copenhagen. It was the first time they sat at the +table with the king and their ruler the bishop, and at the commencement +of the repast appeared somewhat abashed by this unwonted honour. The +king repeated his commendation of the loyalty and bravery of the +Copenhageners in Marsk Stig's feud, and the war with Norway; he +promised them compensation for every loss they might sustain hereafter +for his and the kingdom's sake, so long as the outlaws disquieted the +country, and soon contrived to induce the plain, straight-forward +citizens to express themselves freely and frankly respecting the +advantages and disadvantages of their town in regard to its trade +and commerce. They thanked the bishop and the king for their wise +town-laws, and for the many liberties and privileges which the town +already enjoyed; but they hesitated not to mention how important it +might be for the public revenue if the monopolies of the towns could be +curtailed, and the burghers allowed at least the same privileges as +those granted to foreigners. + +"Truly! I have long thought of that," said the king; "this matter +deserves to be thought upon. I shall await further proposals and +consideration of the subject from your Lord the bishop and your +assembled council." + +Great joy was manifest in the countenances of the burgers at this +speech; but the bishop appeared little pleased with the king's zealous +interest in the town and its concerns. The conversation between the +ecclesiastics from Axelhuus was reserved and laconic. The king himself +was often silent and abstracted; at times he appeared striving to +repress the expression of his wrath against the bishop, and the abbot, +who he knew, was one of the most devoted friends of Grand. After the +repast the burghers took a cheerful and hearty farewell of the king, +whom they once more thanked for the rescue and peace of their good +town; after which they returned to Copenhagen, with high panegyrics on +the king's mildness and favour. Count Henrik and the knights repaired +to the chess-table in the upper hall, and Eric remained almost alone +among the ecclesiastics. With an air of mysterious confidence the abbot +and the provincial prior drew closer to the bishop, whose authority and +drooping courage they strove to sustain in the king's presence. + +The two ecclesiastics who had principally conducted the treaty, and had +impartially defended the rights of the bishop, as well as the liberties +of the people, kept nearest the king, and strove furthermore to prevent +every outbreak of his anger against the friends of the banished +archbishop: they were the provincial prior of the Dominicans, Master +Olans (who, as the king's counsellor in this important affair, had +accompanied him from Wordingborg), and the general-superior of the +Copenhagen chapter, who belonged to the bishop's train, but was +secretly devoted to the king, and had even dared to protest against the +interdict. To these personages the king, shortly before retiring to +rest, addressed a question which had been weighing on his heart the +whole day, and which he seemed desirous should be answered in the +presence of the bishop, ere he retired to rest. + +"Tell me, venerable sirs," said Eric, "how far the canonical law +reasonably extends with regard to marriage within the ties of +consanguinity, and how far the dispensation of the church can really be +consisted as necessary, according to the law of God, when the +relationship is so distant that it is hardly remembered?" + +"It is a prolix and difficult question, your grace," answered the +general-superior of the chapter, evasively, with a dubious side-glance +at the bishop and the abbot of the Forest Monastery. "I must crave some +time for reflection in order to answer it rightly." + +"If the prevailing senseless law is followed," said the aged provincial +prior in a firm tone, and with an undaunted glance at the attentive +prelates, "almost every computable degree of relationship may be an +impediment, and may call for an indulgence; but when this is carried +out too far I believe the church's holy father will agree with me that +such an extreme doth but uselessly burden the conscience, just as it +also may lightly become a subject for scoffing and scandal, instead of +being a means of edification to Christian and reasonable persons. If +one were to be consistent in these matters, no marriage would at last +take place in Christendom without dispensation from the papal see, +seeing that all persons are kindred in the flesh, inasmuch as they all +descend from old Adam and Eve." + +"That is precisely my own opinion," said the king, with a smile of +satisfaction; "it would take a tolerably long reckoning.--What is +_your_ opinion of this, pious Bishop Johan?" + +The bishop appeared confused, at the half-jesting tone with which the +king asked his opinion; he was not prepared for this, and seemed to +wish just as little to tread on the heels of papal authority, as to +dare at this moment to rouse the anger of the king--he stammered out a +few words, and strove to evade a decided declaration. + +"Permit me, venerable brother! To answer this question," began the +abbot, with a proud and collected deportment:--"an example will best +explain the case," he continued, addressing himself to the king; "no +case is more in point than that of your grace's relationship to your +young kinswoman, Princess Ingeborg of Sweden." + +"Truly!" exclaimed the king, with a start, "you use no circumlocution, +Sir Abbot! you go straight to the point. It suits me best, however. Let +us keep to that example! I am more, every way, interested in it than in +any other!" + +"Ere the church can bless your meditated marriage union with this your +high-born relative," continued the abbot, with calm coldness, "the holy +father's dispensation and indulgence are altogether necessary, and this +on a two-fold account; pro primo,--because of the tie of relationship +by marriage; and pro secundo,--because of the taint of relationship by +blood. As regards the first point, royal sir! the aforesaid Princess +Ingeborg's uncle, Count Gerhard of Holstein, is, as is well known, by +his marriage with your most royal mother, the dowager Queen Agnes, your +grace's present step-father. Count Gerhard's fatherly relationship, as +well to that noble princess, as to your Grace! causes an almost +brotherly and sisterly connection between you and the young +princess;--and marriage between brother and sister, or between those +who may be considered as such, is sternly forbidden by every law of God +and man----" + +"You have made us out brother and sister in a trice; it is a singular +way of bringing people into near relationship," interrupted the king, +"yet pass but over the relationship by marriage, with my stepfather's +niece, venerable sir!--there is not a single drop of the same blood +therein. Nought but a near and actual blood relationship do I +acknowledge to be so real a hindrance that it can only be removed by +God's vicegerent upon earth." + +"Your grace is right in some respects," answered the abbot, "inasmuch +as it _is_ the tie of blood, which in this instance constitutes the +sin, and makes every marriage union between relations, which hath not +been sanctified by the indulgence of the church, an unholy act, a +deadly sin, and a damnable connection." + +"Ha! do you rave?" cried the king: his brow flushed; anger glowed in +his cheek and on his lofty brow, but he subdued his rising ire. "If +terrible words, without truth or reason, had power to slay the soul, I +should long since have been spiritually murdered," he continued in a +lower tone. "Now, say on, Sir Abbot!--how near reckon you, then, the +blood relationship, which, according to your bold assertion, may plunge +me into deadly sin, and into a gulf of horror and ignominy, if I await +not a permit from Rome to perpetrate such crime?" + +"It is easy to reckon up the degrees of forbidden affinity," answered +the abbot, with imperturbable coolness. "The high-born Princess +Ingeborg is, as is known, a legitimate daughter of King Magnus, who was +a legitimate son of the high-born Birger Jarl, whose consort, the lady +Ingeborg, was a legitimate daughter of King Eric the tenth, whose Queen +Regizé was, lastly, a legitimate daughter of your grace's departed +royal father's--father's--father's father;--ergo, the princess is a +great-great grandchild of your grace's grandfather's departed royal +father, Waldemar the Great, of blessed memory!" + +"Perfectly right, grand-children's grand-children's children then, of +my great-great grandfather--a near relationship, doubtless!" said the +king, bursting into a laugh. "I now wish you a good and quiet night, +venerable and most learned sirs!" he added, apparently with a lightened +heart, and with a cheerful and determined look: "I never rightly +considered the matter before; now it is perfectly clear to me; I can +sleep as quietly as in Abraham's bosom, when I think on the sin which I, +with mature deliberation and full resolve, purpose to perpetrate as +soon as possible. I could wish no one among you may ever have a heavier +sin on his conscience." So saying, he bowed with a smile, and departed. + +The king's eager talk with the ecclesiastics had attracted the +attention of Count Henrik and his companions, who had approached, and +heard the subject of the conversation. On the king's laughingly +repeating the abbot's calculation, some of the young knights had +laughed right heartily also. The abbot was crimson with rage. "It is +the mark of eye-servants," he said aloud, "to vie with each other in +laughing at what their gracious lords consider to be absurd, even +though such merriment doth but disgrace them and their short-sighted +masters. This scoffing and contempt shall be avenged, my brother," he +whispered in the bishop's ear, with a significant look. The bishop +started, and looked anxiously around; he winked at his incensed +colleague, and observed aloud, that it was high time to retire to rest, +and bid good-night to all discord and worldly thoughts. The master of +the household now appeared with a number of torch-bearers, and the +knights, as well as the ecclesiastics, repaired to the chambers +assigned to them, in the knights' story in the western wing of the +castle. + + + + + CHAP. VII. + + +Towards midnight, Count Henrik stood in his apartment, next the +king's chamber, in the upper story of the castle. He had extinguished +his light, in order to retire to rest, but remained standing +half-undressed, at the high arched-window, which looked towards the +east, and from which he gazed out in the moonlight upon the Sound, +watching the distant vessels gliding away over the glittering mirror of +the waters. Since his visit to St. George's hospital, he had been +silent and pensive. At the evening repast he had constantly drained his +cup, for the purpose of raising his spirits. His pulse beat hard; +recollections of the past, and hopes for the future, passed rapidly +through his mind, in fair and vivid imagery. At the sight of the ocean +and the distant prospect, he gave himself up to visionary longings +after his distant fatherland, and a beloved form seemed to flit before +him, as he pressed the blue shoulder-scarf to his lips, and hung it +carefully over a high-backed chair. He took a gold chain, which the +king had lately given him, from his breast, and laid his sword aside. +"Deeds, achievements, honour, first!" he said to himself, "and then +love will surely also twine me a wreath. Now that _his_ life and +happiness are at stake, he shall not have called me his friend in vain. +Let him become a Waldemar the Victorious! and Henrik of Mecklenborg's +name shall be famed like that of Albert of Orlamund[oe]. But another +sort of fellow, and a right merry one, will _I_ be." He now heard the +weapons of the bodyguard clashing in the antechamber, where a young +halberdier kept guard, with twelve spearmen. It was not, however, usual +for the king to be surrounded by a guard, when he made a progress +through the country, and passed the night at any of the royal mansions; +but here, where the banished archbishop and the outlaws still had their +numerous friends, and where the ecclesiastical rulers of the town were +on doubtful terms with the king, Count Henrik had counselled this +precaution as in some degree necessary, after so recent an +insurrection, and where the king's mediation had not been able to +satisfy all the discontented. While Count Henrik was undressing +himself, the Drost's letter dropped from his vest, and he pondered +thoughtfully over the solemn warnings it contained. "Hum! The junker," +he said to himself "his own brother--and yet surely a traitor--never +shall I forget his countenance that night at Kallundborg--the blood of +the unhappy commandant was surely upon his head--_he_ will be no joyous +wedding guest--he would assuredly rather stand by the bridegroom's +grave;--then might a crown yet fall upon his raven's head. Hum! They +are murky, these Danish royal castles," he continued, looking around +the dark gothic chamber, with its arched roof and walls, a fathom +thick, "Is he safe here among his guests? The little spying bishop was +Grand's good friend. I like him not; the haughty, gloomy abbot still +less--they are dangerous people, those holy men of God, when they will +have a finger in state affairs. Here he sleeps under the same roof with +his enemies to-night; and yonder, in the hospital, lies a disguised +regicide; perhaps he was only deadly sick for appearance sake, and my +compassion was ill bestowed." As Count Henrik was revolving these +thoughts, and delayed retiring to rest, there was a low knocking at the +door. It opened, and an ecclesiastic entered; he was a quiet, serious +old man. The moonlight fell on a pale and somewhat melancholy face, and +the Count recognised the general-superior of the Copenhagen chapter. "A +word in confidence, noble knight," he whispered mysteriously; "I come +like Nicodemus; yet it is not spiritual things, but temporal, which +have disturbed my night's rest. Your liege the king hath this day +generously saved my life and the lives of my colleagues, although he +does not regard us all as his friends, and with some reason: perhaps I +may now be able to requite him." + +"How?" exclaimed Count Henrik: "say on, venerable sir! What have you to +confide to me?" + +"When we fled from Axelhuus at break of day," continued the +ecclesiastic, "I was well nigh sick of fear and alarm, and gave but +little heed to what passed around me. A half-dead man had been found on +the beach, and out of compassion taken into the boat. I saw not his +face, and his voice was strange to me; of that I can take my oath. He +was afterwards carried to St. George's Hospital here, close by the +king's meadows. While we lay hidden under the thwarts in the boat, for +fear of the insurgents, the sick man had come to himself: and exchanged +many strange, enigmatical words with my colleague, the abbot of the +Forest Monastery. What it was I heard but half, and cannot remember; +but there must be some mystery about that person which makes me +apprehensive; deadly sick he seemed to me in no wise to be, and +appeared least of all prepared for his _own_ departure from this world. +My lord, the bishop seemed neither to know him nor his dark projects; +but as I said, the abbot knew him, and had assuredly before +administered to him the most holy Sacrament. More have I not to say; +but I felt compelled to seek you out, however late it was: I could not +sleep for disquiet thoughts. The guard without, here, I found in a deep +slumber, I know not whether it is with your knowledge." + +"How? Impossible!" exclaimed Count Henrik, in great consternation, +hastily stepping into the antechamber, where he found all the twelve +spearmen lying asleep on the floor. On the table stood an empty wine +flask and some goblets. The young halberdier, who had the command of +the guard, sat likewise asleep in a corner. Count Henrik shook them; +but they were all in a deep sleep. "Treachery!" he exclaimed, in +dismay, and hastily snatched a lance from one of the sleeping guards. +"Haste to the knights' story, venerable sir! Wake all the king's men, +and call them instantly hither! I cannot now myself quit the king's +door. I will fasten the door after you: knock three soft strokes when +you return! For the Lord's sake, haste!" + +The ecclesiastic nodded in silence, and departed. Count Henrik locked +the door of the upper story after him, and barricadoed it with tables +and benches--he strove again to waken the sleeping guards, but it was +in vain: they seemed not intoxicated by ordinary wine; their sleep +rather resembled that caused by a soporific draught. + +Count Henrik stood alone among the sleepers, and waited long in a state +of painful anxiety; there was a deathlike stillness around him: he +heard but the deep-drawn breathings of the sleepers; but the king's men +from the knights' story did not arrive, and the ecclesiastic returned +not either. He stood for full an hour, listening with lance in hand. +All was still. At last he thought he heard a noise, as if some one was +scraping the wall, or creeping to the window over the projecting +battlements near the staircase of the upper story. He cast a hasty +glance at the window, and saw a horrible and deadly pale face, which he +could not recognise, pressed flat to one of the window panes. He rushed +forward with raised lance, but when he reached the window the face had +disappeared. Count Henrik stepped back, thrilled by a feeling of horror +which he had never before experienced. It seemed as if the prostrate +warriors around him mocked his growing uneasiness by the profound +indifference of their slumbers. He felt as if secret doors were about +to open in all the old panels, and the outlawed regicides of Finnerup +were ready to rush forth masked from every corner to renew the bloody +scenes of St. Cecilia's eve, and avenge Marsk Stig and their slain +kinsmen. He kept his lance in the one hand and held his knight's sword +unsheathed in the other. Thus armed, he stationed himself without the +king's door, and just before the open door between his own chamber and +the landing of the upper story, every moment expecting an attack from +the foe, who were probably many in number. It was useless to give an +alarm; the wing containing the knights' story, where all the king's men +slept, was at too great a distance for his voice to reach thither, and +if the traitors were nigh, a shout of distress might embolden them. He +thought of waking the king; but all as yet was quiet, and he was +ashamed of showing fear in Eric's presence, where there was no enemy +either to be seen or heard. To the king's sleeping chamber there was no +other entrance than through the antechamber of the upper story and the +count's apartment. The windows of the king's chamber were furnished +with iron bars: but in the antechamber the high arched windows were +without any defence, and they looked out on the other side to the open +field. From this quarter he expected the attack would be made, and he +feared, with reason, that some mishap must have chanced to the +ecclesiastic on the way to the knights' story. The longer he pondered +over his situation, the more alarming it appeared. An idea now suddenly +struck him, which he instantly hastened to put into execution. After +he had once more unsuccessfully attempted to arouse the slumbering +men-at-arms he raised them up one by one from the floor and bound them +tight by their shoulder-scarfs, in an almost upright position, to the +strong iron hooks in the window pillars, which were used for hanging +weapons upon. In this attitude they turned their backs towards the +windows looking upon the fields, and would, therefore, appear to those +without to be awake and at their posts. Hardly had he completed this +laborious task ere he heard whispering voices, and a low clashing of +arms under the windows. He sprang suddenly forward with raised lance +and sword, to that window, which was most strongly lighted up by the +moonshine, and shouted in a loud triumphant voice, "Now's the time, +guard! Here we have them in the field." + +"Fly! fly! We are betrayed!--they are all on their legs!" said a hoarse +voice without; and Count Henrik saw in the clear moonshine a whole +troop of masked persons, in the mantles of Dominican monks, take flight +over the meadow. "St. George be praised!" he exclaimed, once more +breathing freely. "I should hardly have been able to master so many." + +The spearmen and the young halberdier still slept soundly in their +hanging position. Count Henrik bound them yet faster, and left them +in this attitude. When the king stepped forth from his chamber at +sun-rise, he beheld, to his surprise. Count Henrik pacing up and down, +half-dressed, on the landing, with weapons in both hands, while the +guard hung snoring in their shoulder-scarfs among the untenanted suits +of armour on the window pillars. At this sight he burst into a hearty +laugh, and on hearing the strange adventure shook his head and smiled. +"You have dreamed, my good Count Henrik; or, to speak plainly, you have +had a goblet of wine too much in your head," he said, gaily. "I noticed +that last night, indeed; but compared with these fellows you have +assuredly been sober: you have made rare game of them in your +merriment." + +"As I live, my liege, it was no joke," began Count Henrik eagerly; but +the lancers now began, one after another, to gape and to stretch +themselves. When they found, however, how they were bound to the +armour-hooks, and beheld the king with Count Henrik just opposite them, +they demeaned themselves most strangely, betwixt fear and bashfulness. +The king turned away to repress his laughter, as he was now compelled +to be stern; but Count Henrik was indignant at his incredulity and gay +humour. + +"Throw the whole of that dormouse guard into the tower," commanded the +king; "they can sleep themselves sober, and so be better able to keep +their eyes open another time. You yourself shall get off by putting up +with my laughter," he added, and went with the count into another +apartment. "Henceforth I can believe neither what you nor my dear Drost +Aagé see and hear in the moonshine. Out of pure love to me you spy +traitors in every corner, and vie with each other in playing mad +pranks. Hath any one ever known the like of the halberdier guard!" When +the door of the guard-room was shut, the king gave vent to his +laughter; his opinion of the real state of the case was strengthened by +observing that Count Henrik was only half-dressed, and by his disturbed +looks. + +"You wound me by your doubts, my liege," resumed Count Henrik, with +subdued vehemence, and casting his mantle around him; "but so long as +you can make laughing-stocks of your true servants; thank God, it is a +proof at least that you are of good cheer, my liege, and that should +vex no loyal subject. You can witness, fellows," he continued eagerly, +again opening the door of the guard-chamber upon the dismayed spearmen. +"No! That is true; you saw nothing of it, ye drowsy pates!" he cried in +wrath. "To the tower with you instantly! and you besides, vigilant Sir +halberdier! You never more deserve to be trusted with the guarding of +the king's person." + +The young halberdier, who had awoke in fear and dismay, and had now +extricated himself from his humiliating position, related in his excuse +how he had lost his consciousness in an unaccountable manner, after +having only drunk a single cup of the evening draught which had been +brought to them. They had all fared in the same manner. The king at +last became serious, and caused the matter to be strictly inquired +into. It could not be discovered who had brought the soporific draught. +None of the kin's attendants knew any thing of it. No one had been +roused in the knights' story. The old general-superior must have been +carried off by the traitors: he was nowhere to be found. When the +bishop and the abbot of the Forest Monastery heard what had been done +they appeared to be in the greatest consternation. The bishop loudly +expressed it as his opinion that it must have been the discontented +guild-brethren from the town, and that the attack, in all probability, +had concerned him. Since his last conversation with these +ecclesiastical dignitaries the king had altered the plan of his +journey, and determined instantly to repair to Helsingborg, there to +expedite his marriage, and prepare every thing for the reception of his +bride. + +He excused himself with cold courtesy from all further companionship +with bishop Johan and the abbot, who, silent and thoughtful, set out on +the road to Roskild; but the aged provincial prior Olaus accompanied +the king, by his desire, to supply the place of the absent chancellor, +in conducting correspondence and matters of a similar nature. + +When the king, a few hours after sunrise, was about to leave +Sorretslóv, and traversed the ante-chamber where Count Henrik had kept +his singular night-watch, he took the count's hand and pressed it with +warmth, "If you have been able to put my enemies to flight, here, with +snoring fellows on hooks, you must be able to crush them with waking +men in coats of mail. From this hour you are my Marsk, Count Henrik of +Mecklenborg, with the same authority in peace and war as Marsk +Olufsen," So saying, the king handed him a roll of parchment, with sign +and seal of this high dignity. "When I laugh another time at your +heroic deeds, brave count, and call them dreams and visions, you may +call me an unbelieving Thomas," he continued. "From my childhood +upwards I have had as many deadly foes as my father had murderers," he +added, solemnly, and with a tremulous voice; "yet truly, I thank the +Lord and our holy Lady for my foes; they teach me almost daily to know +my true friends." + +Count Henrik's eyes beamed with joy; he heartily thanked the king, and +followed him down the staircase to the court of the castle, where +Eric's numerous train already awaited his coming, on horseback. Count +Henrik sprang gaily into the saddle, with his new commission in his +hand, and instantly issued, as Marsk, the necessary orders for pursuing +and tracking the traitors. + +As they rode out of the court-yard, the king missed his two favourite +tournament steeds, and became highly displeased. "Truly this is worse +than all the rest," he said, looking around him with so stern a glance +and so clouded a countenance that the young knights looked at each +other in surprise; and a word of soothing or admonition seemed to hover +on the lips of the aged provincial prior. + +"The handsome, spirited prancers, they should have danced before +Princess Ingeborg's car on our bridal day," continued the king, turning +to Master Olaus. "This is no good omen for me. They might sooner have +burned the castle over my head than robbed me of those noble animals." + +It was now discovered that the horses were already missing in the +morning of the day preceding, together with both the grooms who had the +charge of them, and that they had been sought for everywhere in vain. + +"They shall and must be found; I will answer for that," said Count +Henrik, and instantly despatched a couple of his own grooms to look for +them. The party rode on; but the king's good humour was disturbed for +some time. "I shall never be able to find such another pair," he said +at last, in a milder tone, looking out across the Sound on the +picturesque road to Elsinore, while the larks carolled gaily above his +head, and his long fair locks floated on the spring breeze. "I always +fancied them dancing before her car every time I thought on her bridal +day; eager wishes may make us superstitious and childish, I believe. +Had we but the bride in the car we should assuredly get it drawn to +church." + +"You would have twice as many hands to draw it as there are hearts in +Denmark's kingdom," said Count Henrik, placing a green sprig of beech +in his hat. "We bring summer with us to Helsingborg, my sovereign--Look! +Denmark's forests already arch themselves into a vast Gothic church and +bridal hall." + +"_That_ church and bridal hall they shall at any rate leave wide open +to me," exclaimed the king, with some bitterness, as he raised his +glance above the woods to the clear heavens. "Yon eternal church of +God, besides," he continued, "however matters may stand with her image +here in the dust. Is it not so, Master Olaus?" + +"The true temple of God's spirit is a pious and loving heart, my +liege," answered the mild, calm, provincial prior. "Where there is love +and living faith, with the Lord's help, there will be no lack of +blessing." + +The king nodded kindly to them both, and they now rode briskly forward +on the road to Elsinore. + + + + + CHAP. VIII. + + +While in Sweden as in Denmark, in the loveliest season of the year, the +old favourite national songs, with the burden,--"The woods are decked +in leafy green," and "The birds are warbling now their song," were sung +as well in castles as behind the plough, and the court rejoiced with +the minnesingers over "the very green and lovely May," and "the mighty +power of love," couriers were constantly passing between the Swedish +and Danish courts at Stockholm and Helsingborg; and a feeling of joyous +expectation pervaded all Denmark. Drost Aagé in conjunction with the +learned and eloquent Master Petrus de Dacia, had succeeded in +overcoming the immediate scruples of the Swedish state council, +respecting the marriage of the Danish King with Princess Ingeborg. +Without in the least betraying with what ardent impetuosity their +chivalrous young king seemed willing to stake life and crown to win his +bride, and without the most distant allusion to the possibility of a +breach of peace being caused by the failure of a negociation, which had +for its object the most peaceable relations, and the most loving ties, +these faithful servants of the king, had, by adducing wise and politic +reasons, first brought the wise Regent Thorkild Knudsen over to their +side, and, despite all the hindrances which the malicious Drost Bruncké +placed in their way, at last carried their point so far as to divest +the idea of the excommunication at Sjöborg, and the enforcement of the +interdict at Copenhagen, of its paralysing and terrifying influence, +at the Swedish court. From the showing of the learned Master Petrus, +and the king's own letters, and clear explanation of the matter, the +want of dispensation from the papal court, came at last to be regarded +as the omission of an insignificant formality, afterwards to be +remedied through negotiation. The flight and formal banishment of +Archbishop Grand from Denmark, as well as the insurrection caused by +the execution of the interdict in Copenhagen, had rejoiced every brave +and free-minded man, as well in Sweden, as in Denmark, and considerably +diminished the dread entertained by the Swedish court and council of +the consequences of a possible breach with the papal see. A new and +overawing proof had been displayed of the courage of the young Danish +king, and of the unanimity with which his loyal people joined him in +opposing the usurpation of the hierarchy. Daring politicians were even +found who hoped the time might not be far distant when the free +national spirit of the north would render people, and princes, +independent of the interference of the papal see in state matters, and +the rights of citizenship. Many bold and manly speeches were uttered in +the Swedish state-council on this occasion, which did honour to +Thorkild Knudsen and his countrymen, but which were reprobated, by the +opposite party, as open heresy and ungodliness, which would be visited +upon Sweden as well as Denmark with heavy chastisement. + +Drost Bruncké, and his adherents, despised no means which might tend to +stop or protract the negotiations; he had many able prelates on his +side, but the majority of voices were against him, and he sought in +vain, by reviving the remembrance of the wrongs and animosities of the +two nations, to rekindle the ancient national hate, which now seemed +forgot, and which it was hoped a mutual alliance between the royal +houses, would entirely eradicate. + +The eager opposition party in the Swedish council, which was headed by +Drost Bruncké, and in which many were disposed to think that Prince +Christopher took a secret but important part, was calculated rather to +forward than hinder the final decision of the affair. Sweden's greatest +statesman, Marsk Thorkild Knudsen, was on this occasion called on to +display his mental superiority. He disdained having recourse to his +authority as regent, and to his influence as the guardian of King +Birger, and the darling of the Swedish nation. The opinion which he +declared from full conviction, he wished to see prevail by its own +weight, and by its accordance with the mutual feeling of both nations. +Thorkild Knudsen now stood forth in council with an address which +appealed as well to the hearts as to the sober judgment of his +countrymen. + +After a clear and calm representation of the political relations of +Sweden and Denmark, and the original affinity of the Scandinavian +people, besides what they could and might effect by alliance and +friendship for their mutual security, and the development of their +powers. Thorkild also pourtrayed, with enthusiastic and glowing +eloquence, the greatness and devotion of love's triumph over petty +scruples and national prejudices. He gave an equally true and +favourable portraiture of the constant and loveable character of the +young Danish king, as well as of the charms of the noble Princess +Ingeborg, and the mutual attachment that had subsisted between the +betrothed pair from their childhood. He finally contrived, with as much +sagacity as eloquence, to put down the objections of the opposite +party, and bring the negotiation of the Danish ambassadors to the +happiest issue; the greater number of his opponents being at last +animated by a warm feeling of enthusiasm for the royal pair, which was +mingled by the soul-enlarging feeling of the union of two nations in +that of their fairest and noblest representatives. + +The espousals were, therefore, according to the ardent wish of King +Eric and with the consent of the princess, fixed for the first of June, +which was already near at hand; and a courier from Drost Aagé was +instantly despatched with the glad tidings to Eric. The whole of the +Swedish royal family were to accompany the princess to Helsingborg, +where splendid preparations were making for the marriage, and the +chivalrous King Eric now only awaited the dawning of that happy day to +set out at the head of the chivalry of Denmark, with all the courtly +state suited to the occasion, to meet his beautiful bride and her royal +relatives. + +Towards the close of May, Helsingborg castle, together with the town +and its vicinity became daily the resort of all who were most +distinguished in Denmark and Sweden. The fair gothic castle, with its +circular walls, its bastions, and high towers, rose proudly over the +town on the summit of the steep rock or hill above. The castle was +surrounded by deep moats, and was considered to be an impregnable +fortress; but at this time the drawbridge was let down, and the great +iron-cased castle-gate, on the southern side, stood open to admit the +coming guests. The old town, which dated its origin from the days of +King Frodé[3], and was so pleasantly and advantageously situated on the +narrowest part of the Sound, owed its present prosperity to its +considerable trade, and great horse and cattle fairs. It was tolerably +extensive, but was, however, by no means, capable of accommodating so +great a concourse of strangers. The great market-place, close to the +council-house, and the handsome church of St. Mary's (the central point +of the town where many streets met), were now daily as much thronged +with people as on the great fair-days. Besides the king's nearest +relatives, and the wedding guests invited by the Marsk, from the lordly +manors and knightly castles of both kingdoms; a great crowd of curious +and sympathising persons of all ranks flocked to Helsingborg, even from +the most distant provinces, to witness the intended festival, and +partake of the public amusements, which, on this occasion, were to +render this celebration of royal nuptials a national festival for both +Denmark and Sweden. + +The king had already held his court, for some weeks, at Helsingborg. +Marsk Oluffsen had returned from Jutland, where he had been fortunate +enough to put an end to all disturbances by capturing the daring +partizans, Niels Brock and Johan Papć, with some other friends of +the archbishop's and the outlaws. The insurgents were led to the +prison-tower at Flynderborg, but the stern Marsk Oluffsen was +personally so incensed at these state prisoners, who had long plagued +and defied him, that he thought no punishment was adequate to their +deserts. At the present moment nothing was thought of at court but joy +and festivity. The king's stepfather, Count Gerhard, had arrived from +Nykiöping with his consort, the dowager queen Agnes. Next to the king +himself no one seemed more to rejoice at his marriage than his politic +and dignified mother. In her first unhappy marriage, Agnes, as +Denmark's queen, had held that wedded happiness, among royal +personages, was only the dream of visionaries. After the death of her +unhappy consort she had sacrificed the title of queen, and changed this +dream into truth and reality, in her own lot, under a humbler name. +Amid her own happiness she had often thought, with uneasiness and +regret, on having made a treaty, involving the future destiny of her +children by their betrothal in early childhood, and now saw, with +thankfulness, that a union, projected from motives of state policy, had +grown into the natural tie of kindred hearts. + +It appeared that the brave Duke of Langeland had forgotten all former +disputes with the king, at the treaty of Wordingborg, but his brother, +Duke Valdemar of Slesvig, who had also been invited out of courtesy, +had excused himself on plea of illness. + +Three days before that fixed for the bridal, Junker Christopher arrived +with a numerous train from Kallundborg. The king received him with his +wonted courtesy on the quay of Helsingborg, whither he had gone to meet +him with his new Marsk, Count Henrik, and his halberdiers; but there +was a painful expression of suppressed anger in the king's generally +joyous and kindly countenance as he gave his hand to his sullen brother +in token of welcome. It was pretty openly said that the junker lately, +by means of secret cabals, had placed obstacles in the way of the +marriage, and it was believed the king had painful conjectures on the +subject, although no proofs of this presumable treachery were +forthcoming. The junker himself had appeared latterly to suffer from a +corroding melancholy, which was often succeeded by bursts of wild +merriment,--since the storming of Kallundborg castle especially, and +the execution of his unhappy commandant, the restless and gloomy +disposition of the prince had assumed this fierce character; even those +few of his courtiers who were really devoted to him, and regarded his +gloomy reserved deportment as an effect of the wrestlings of a great +spirit with its destiny often complained of his caprices; and though +they still adhered to him, it was, however, with a species of fear, +mixed with an undefined hope of one day arriving with him at honours +and fortune. + +The mutual greeting of the brothers on Helsingborg quay was strikingly +cold, although the junker seemed desirous by his congratulations +and expressions of courtesy to do away with all appearance of +misunderstanding. To this Count Henrik in particular paid special +attention. In the king's train were seen the German professors of +minstrelsy, who had abandoned their researches at Wordingborg castle to +enliven the festival by their lays. The papers and documents which +Junker Christopher had removed from the sacristy chest at Lund, on the +archbishop's imprisonment, and brought, as it was said, to the state +archives at Wordingborg castle, had been sought for in vain by the +learned friends of the king. These documents might even yet become of +great importance to the king in the suit against the banished +archbishop; but they had disappeared at the time when matters had come +to an open breach with the junker, and the king suspected his brother +of having destroyed them, or even of having returned them to the +archbishop. + +The king's train had been also joined by the young Iceland bard, the +priest of St. Olaf, Master Laurentius of Nidaros, who had now exchanged +his layman's red mantle for the more reputable black dress of a canon; +and beside the king walked the little deformed Master Thrand Fistlier, +with a consequential deportment, and displaying on his finger a large +diamond ring, which the king had presented to him in acknowledgement of +his superior learning. On the king's arrival at Helsingborg the +scientific mountebank had been set at liberty. He instantly contrived +to arrest the attention of the king (eager as he was in the pursuit of +knowledge), after he had with dexterity and keen ability repelled every +charge against himself, as well of the Leccar heresy as of witchcraft. +This last accusation, which had drawn upon him the persecution and +peril he underwent at Skänor, he alluded to with exultation, as a +striking testimony to his own astonishing arts, and a ludicrous proof +of the dulness of the age and the absurdities of popular ignorance. The +king now presented him to his brother as a rare scholar and an +extraordinary artist. The significant look with which Junker +Christopher greeted this far-travelled adventurer seemed to betray an +earlier acquaintanceship, which, however, was acknowledged by neither. +Count Henrik placed but little reliance on Prince Christopher's +congratulations and measured courtesy. He narrowly watched the junker, +as well as the foreign mountebank, about whom Aagé had expressed +himself so dubiously. He thought he more and more perceived a secret +understanding between the prince and the mysterious scholar, and +resolved to be at his post. He ventured not, however, to grieve the +king by disclosing it, or increasing his suspicion of his brother, +which evidently pained him, and which he seemed desirous to exert +himself to the utmost to shake off. Neither on this nor the two +following days was there any nearer approach to confidence between the +brothers. Courteous phrases and stiff court etiquette were resorted to, +by way of compensation for the want of cordiality. It was only when +Junker Christopher was at the chase, or seated at the draught-board or +the drinking-table, that the king was seen to converse joyously with +his mother and Count Gerhard, or jest merrily with Count Henrik and his +knights: the German professors of minstrelsy and the learned Icelanders +exerted all their powers to while away the evenings preceding his +marriage-day, when his ardent and impatient spirit was not engrossed by +important affairs of state. But when he seemed at times in the happiest +mood he often grew suddenly silent and thoughtful at the mere sound of +his brother's voice, or on observing his wild uncertain glance from +under his dark and knitted brow. + +The evening before the impatiently expected first of June the king sat +in the upper hall of Helsingborg castle, at the chess-table, where he +was usually the victor. On this occasion, however, he had found an +almost invincible opponent in the learned Iceland philosopher, who +appeared able beforehand to calculate the plans of his adversary, and +only to need a single move in order to frustrate them. Notwithstanding +Master Thrand's decided superiority, the king had, however, won every +game; but he seemed to regard this with indifference; he was absent, +and often forgot to make his moves. At the opposite end of the hall he +heard his brother talking of hunting and horses, with Count Gerhard; +his mother was listening to the poems of the German minstrels and +Master Laurentius; while the young knights discoursed with animation of +the next day's festivities and tournament. + +"Tell me, Master Thrand," said the king to his learned antagonist, with +a thoughtful glance out of the window at the star-lit heavens, "what is +your opinion of omens, and of the wondrous art of astrology, to which +so many learned men are devoted in our time. Believe you the life and +actions of men and the changeable fortunes of this world can be so +considerable and important in the eyes of the Almighty that higher +powers should care for them, or intermeddle with them?--and think ye +the position and movements of the heavenly bodies stand in any real +relation to our life and destiny?" + +"That is almost more than science can be said as yet to have fathomed +with certainty, most gracious king!" answered the artist, with a +subtle, satirical smile on his lips, while his head almost disappeared +between his shoulders; "but if any science is to bring clearness and +demonstration into the speculations of the learned and the mysteries of +astrology, it must be that exalted science of sciences whose poor +worshipper I am. Assuredly, your grace, nothing happens in the world +but what is natural, that is to say, a necessary consequence of +foregoing causes; but it is precisely the great problem of the +mysterious and hidden causes of these things and events which it is the +province of human wisdom to solve. '_Beatas qui potuit rerum cognoscere +causas_' hath been said already by the wise heathen. Theologians and +poets indeed picture to themselves a nearer and safer road by which to +reach the same goal as ourselves, or even a far higher one," he +continued, with a scornful self-satisfied smile; "but they deceive +themselves in their simplicity and enthusiasm by looking for a kind of +supernatural influence of the Divine wisdom which in fact is the life +and soul of nature, yet which but partially discloses itself to us in +its workings, according as these by degrees unfold themselves to us in +their essences through the sacred optic tubes of science and research." + +"Now you mix up too many things together for me, Master Thrand!" said +the king, shaking his head. "You seem to me almost to confound the +great living God and Lord with his creation, or what you call nature. +With all my respect for human wisdom--for all wise and useful learning +which man may attain by the examination of earthly things, I think, +nevertheless, that the spirit of truth and beauty, commonly called +'genius' by our scholars and the poets of olden times, as also 'the +prophetic vision,' soar far above the ken of human intellect; and for +what is of paramount importance for us to see, we have most assuredly +the holiest and noblest optic tube in God's own revealed word." The +king paused a moment and gazed on the strange deportment of the little +philosopher, with a sharp and scrutinising look, "You smile as if you +pitied me for this my sincere opinion. I am a layman, but all the pious +and learned men I have known agreed with me; nor can I perceive that +our theologians err in considering the spirit of God as a surer guide +to true knowledge of divine things than all human subtlety and wisdom." + +"Far be it from me to contradict my most gracious Lord, or the pious +scholars of our time on this point," resumed Master Thrand, looking +around him with a repressed smile, and a cunning, cautious glance, "but +of this I would rather talk with your grace in your private chamber! I +doubt not that with your clear and unprejudiced views, (soaring as your +mind does above the ignorance of our age) you will understand me +rightly. I dare almost unconditionally subscribe to all that the holy +church, it is said, considers needful for him who would be called a +true believer, provided I may be allowed to interpret the words of +ancient writings and symbols according to their true and reasonable +signification;--meanwhile there is, however, much in our science which +must as yet be a mystery to the great majority, and even to the +scholars of our time, who are too but much inclined to discern heresy +and ungodliness in every free thought. Noble King!" he added, in a low, +mysterious tone, "I read no longer with the learned in the small +written volumes (out of which, as you yourself have experienced, curses +are as often quoted as blessings) but I read much more in the great +book that was not writ by the hand of man, and whose words sound forth +eternal wisdom in the din of the storm and the roaring of the ocean, in +the course of the stars above the thunder clouds, and in voices of +flame from the depths of the abyss. Mark well, my deep-thinking +king!--you the young Solomon of our north!--the holy Spirit of God, of +which so many and so foolish words are spoken, is precisely that +mainspring of forces we seek for in the great workshop of nature's +sanctuary, in the depths of our own souls, and in the philosopher's +stone, which we call the quintessence of creation. To him who but +catches a glimpse of it, (of which, however, we can but boast in +certain great moments) to him, the deepest and highest things are +revealed; the future as the past is clear before him; he is the master +and lord of nature, and of eternal power--for him life hath only limits +in his will." + +The king looked in grave silence on the singular little man's visage, +every muscle of which quivered with emotion, while sparks seemed to +flash as it were from his small deep-set eyes. "Follow me afterwards to +my private chamber," said the king rising. Meanwhile Count Henrik had +approached and heard part of this conversation; he thought he observed +a kind of triumphant smile in Master Thrand's self-satisfied +countenance; but he sought in vain for an opportunity of cautioning the +king, who quitted Thrand in a very thoughtful mood, and went to join +his mother and the three stranger bards. + +Master Laurentius had related to the Countess Agnes much of the +grandeur of Norway and Iceland, and of the remarkable bards and Saga +writers of his fatherland; he made special mention of the great +Snorro[4] and his learned nephews, who had given such a preponderance +to Saga literature, as almost to throw poetry entirely into the shade. +In order, however, to prove to Countess Agnes and the German minstrels +that poetic inspiration in his fatherland had not altogether died away, +as they believed, with heathenism and the gifted Skalds of the Edda, he +had recited several poems and heroic lays, to which they could not +refuse their approbation. + +When the king joined them, Laurentius was reciting some strophes of +Einar Skulesen's famous epic poem, "Geisli," or "The Ray," in honor of +St. Olaf. The king stopped and listened. In this poem St. Olaf was +called, "A ray of light from God's kingdom, a beam or glimmer of the +glorious Son of Grace;" and Christ was described as the light of the +world, and the Lord of Heaven, who, as "a ray from a bright star (the +Virgin Mary) manifested himself on earth for our ineffable good." The +king nodded with satisfaction; he seemed to find a consoling +counterpoise in the pious lay to what had disturbed and alarmed him in +the discourse of the wise Master Thrand. "Go on!" he said +encouragingly, to Master Laurentius. The young priest of St. Olaf, who +had been inspired with lively enthusiasm by the praises in honor of his +saint, repeated in his musical and declamatory tones some more strophes +of the beginning of the poem, touching the glory of the Saviour and of +his kingdom. From this he passed on to the praise of St. Olaf, "as the +saint confirmed by miracles;" but when he came to that passage in the +poem where the bard exclaims, that "Deceit and treachery caused King +Olaf's fall at Stiklestad[5]--" the king suddenly interrupted the +enthusiastic Master Laurentius. "Thanks!" he said, "the poem is +beautiful and edifying; but deceit and treachery I will hear nought of +the day before my bridal. Norway's sovereign and Duke Haco have +defended a bad cause against me," he continued, "but I highly esteem +the brave Northmen, notwithstanding; they deserved a king and guardian +saint like St. Olaf; he hath well merited to be called a ray from +heaven in the north; the circumstances of his downfal I will not now +think on. Sing rather of constancy and of beauty, and of that which is +the ornament and honour of our age." + +"Permit me a poor attempt to dilate upon that theme, my most gracious +lord and patron!" began Master Rumelant, hastily, and instantly +commenced a German lay in honour of the beauty and constancy of the +northern fair, in which he forgot not the praises of the still youthful +and beautiful Countess Agnes, and still less of the king's absent +bride; but the lay also included a secret defence of Marsk Stig's +daughters, whose beauty and unhappy fate had made a deep impression on +both the minstrels. Master Poppé chimed in also, and did not lose this +opportunity of putting in his good word for the captive maidens. They +could especially not sufficiently praise the piety and amiability of +the meek Margaretha in her captivity. + +The king's countenance grew dark. He had referred the cause of the +captives to the law and justice of the land; he would hear nothing of +it himself: he knew they had accused themselves before their judges of +being privy to the treasonable sojourn of Kaggé at Wordingborg. He was +silent; but it was evident that the thought of Marsk Stig and of his +father's death was again fearfully present to Eric's mind, and disposed +him but little to favour the race of the regicide or any friend of the +outlaws;--the minstrels looked doubtfully at each other, and no one +dared to say a word more on this subject. + + + + + CHAP. IX. + + +It was late, and every one retired to rest. The king repaired to his +private chamber. Count Henrik saw with uneasiness that Master Thrand +followed him. The king's chamber was immediately adjoining the library, +to which Count Henrik had access. He hesitated a moment; it seemed to +him degrading, without the king's knowledge and consent, to become a +concealed witness to his conversation with the mysterious scholar; but +his anxiety and care for the king's safety at last overcame every +scruple. He took a light with him and went to the library. The light +went out in the passage, which he deemed fortunate, as his presence +might otherwise be easily betrayed if there was the least chink in the +door between the library and the private chamber. He stepped softly +into the vaulted and flagged apartment, where a pair of bookshelves +with wire grating, together with some chairs and a reading table, were +the only furniture. The moon shone brightly through the small bow +window; he seated himself at the table close by the door of the private +chamber, fixed his eyes on an open manuscript, and listened. + +"Here we are now alone, and wholly undisturbed," he heard the king say, +and the chivalrous Count Henrik felt he blushed for himself; he made a +movement to depart, but put a constraint on his feelings and kept his +seat on hearing Master Thrand's whispering voice, but in so low and +mysterious a tone that he could not understand a word. + +"I know it all," continued the king, "and it is useless for you to deny +it, learned Master Thrand! You are what is called a heretic and Leccar +brother; as such you are doomed to fire and faggot, by the pope, with +your whole sect, and proscribed by all Christian kings; according to my +decree, and at the requirement of the papal court you are banished from +my state and country also. Yet if you can prove to me you have found +the philosopher's stone, as you seem yourself to imagine, and that +there exists a higher truth and wisdom than the revealed Word, I will +acquit you, and in defiance of pope and clergy will recal the decree of +banishment against your sect." + +"Most mighty sovereign!" now said the mountebank, distinctly, though in +a hesitating tone;--"what you know of me I have myself confided to you; +had I not known your generosity and reverence for the laws of +hospitality, and had I not known you were elevated far above this +ignorant and narrow-minded age, such a confidence in a ruler would have +stamped me as the most contemptible of fools. You have spoken truth, +great sovereign!" he continued, as it seemed with assumed firmness. "_I +am_ a heretic and Leccar brother; but, to be such I esteem a higher +honour (even should I at last die at the stake for it) than if all +blinded, gulled Christendom were to worship me as the greatest and most +admirable of saints." + +"Truly!" answered the king, sternly, "that is a bold speech, Master +Thrand; if it contain not loftier wisdom than hath yet been known to +the best and wisest scholars during the space of thirteen centuries, I +must regard it as the most mad and presumptuous declaration that hath +ever passed the lips of man. I stand myself, as you know, in dangerous +and daring strife with that power which in the church's name would rule +princes as well as people, and enslave our souls. I defy every decree +of man which would drive us to despair and ungodliness, and give over +our souls to the destroyer; but notwithstanding, I deem the church and +the divine Word on which it is founded not the less sure and stedfast, +and I would fain see that philosopher--or fool, who would cause me to +swerve a hair's breath from this belief." + +"As soon as your grace understands me fully," answered Master Thrand, +with calmness, "you will see that is nowise my aim: the real church of +truth is the invisible one which I also worship in spirit, and the true +eternal Word of God is that which hath never been wholly revealed, but +to which I hearken with reverence, and appropriate through the medium +of science, by searching into yon great book of revelation, which can +only be unlocked by the wakened power of divinity within us. Hear ye +not yourself, noble king! the mighty voice of divinity in the thunders +of heaven? See ye not the finger of the Almighty in the destructive +lightning? And must you not confess that he who is ruler over those +mighty forces of nature, is the only true powerful God whom we must +worship and adore?" + +"Well! that is a matter of course, but what of that?" asked the king, +in an impatient tone. + +"If I now could show you," continued Master Thrand, with rising zeal, +"that the same power lies in _my_ hand and in _my_ will--that _I_ +by a nod can force the voice of Omnipotence to speak and announce in +shouts of thunder, that _I_ am the Lord and master of those godlike +powers--will you then deny my right to publish the divine word, which +speaks through my will as it does through nature? Will you then any +longer doubt my having found and possessed myself of the essence of +things,--the source of power,--which shall hereafter change the form of +the world and throw down the idol temples of prejudice, and the +fortified castles of tyrants? Will you then believe I have found the +key to the great mystery of life; and that the voice of deity, which +speaks through _my_ will and _my_ works, is able to say--_Live!_ when +time, sickness, and age,--when sword and poison,--when war, pestilence, +and hunger,--when stake and executioners,--when popes and tyrants, and +all the foes of life, shout--_Die!_" + +There was a moment's silence in the private chamber, and Count Henrik +drew breath with difficulty. "Strange!" said the king's voice again; +"but no--it is impossible. I will defer forming an opinion of your +wisdom, Master Thrand, until I have seen the marvellous things you +speak of. As far as I understand you, you seem to consider yourself not +only as the lord and master of nature, but of Deity itself: such +discourse sounds to me like the greatest and most presumptuous +madness." + +"Madness and wisdom, lying and truth, evil and good, darkness and +light, border closely on each other, noble king," again whispered the +well-oiled tongue of Thrand. "This must especially be the case in all +transitions from night to day, from error to truth, from one age to +another. That which I have here dared to whisper to you in this private +chamber, in reliance on the strength of your royal mind, will one day +be openly announced from the lowest seat of learning, and seem but as +the pastime of children to the mature in spirit. How each one of us +will picture to himself the divinity is in fact his own affair; that +will depend on his own individual mental vision; and will be a +necessity like all other things. What is divine is, and must ever +partly remain, a mystery to the majority; but we can all attain clear +views of time and its mutable concerns: this lies within the sphere of +our common vision, and so far I flatter myself I shall be able to open +your penetrating eyes, great king, that no part of time shall be wholly +hidden from you, and that you may be able to look as clearly into the +future as back upon the past perishable world of things and actions." + +"Well then," said the king, impatiently, "teach me to see more clearly +with the mind's eye, if you are able. I have all reverence for your +bodily glass eyes, and you have certainly opened to me a wider view of +the outer world. One mirror of the past I know already in the study of +our chronicles; if there is also a natural mirror of the future, show +it me." + +"There are _two_, gracious king!" answered Master Thrand, with +emphasis; "we call them providence and divination: we can possess +ourselves of both by keen wisdom, and awakened inner sense. With the +first you can see much; with the second more; with both almost every +thing. Of the highly-important step you are about to take to-morrow +your grace can only judge by means of such a twofold insight." + +"What!" exclaimed the king, with vehemence; "think ye I am now about to +use my understanding for the first time, and consider the step which, +with well-advised purpose and with the help of God, I have already +taken, and which is my highest happiness? Be the consequences what they +may, and whatever the Almighty Ruler of the world hath ordained for me +and my kingdom, on this point the clearest insight into futurity cannot +change my will or extinguish the fairest hope of my life." + +"But look, great sovereign!" continued Master Thrand, with eagerness; +"cast an unprejudiced and dispassionate glance into those person's +souls which you would link with yours. Three royal brothers--your +future brothers-in-law--stand yonder beside a throne; the weakest, the +least gifted, hath been chosen to fill it; but the superior mind and +power and courage of his brothers increase mightily. The nobler spirit +can never bow before its inferior; the fermenting forces must develope +themselves; opposing ones must separate; those of close affinity must +combine; what hath been arbitrarily joined must be forcibly severed; +and he who plunges into the wild tumultuous stream must be swept along +with it and perish." + +"Silence! With thy presumptuous talk," interrupted the king, in a loud +voice, and stamping hard on the ground; "no contemptible calculation +and dread of the future shall stop my progress, or disquiet my soul. +Whatever may be working in the minds of those princes, crowns are not +left to be the sport of wild passions; justice and the highest power +are not subject to the will and authority of man, but to that of the +Almighty. A royal sceptre may repose secure in the hand of a child when +God is with him, even though that child stands surrounded by traitors +and murderers. This I have myself experienced." + +"But, your royal grace, when the minor, as yonder, never attains to +majority in mind," objected Thrand, "when the power proceeding from the +will of a free and powerful nation is, through foolish superstition and +misconception, linked to the phantom which theologians call God's +grace--an idea which only hath meaning and significance when we see +that grace revealed in the great and noble, though mutable, will of the +people, to which all connection with the weaker unapt spirit is +destruction----" + +"By all the holy men, the highest might and authority comes from +above!" interrupted the king, with vehemence, "In man's will only, not +in the Lord's, is there vacillation and change; he who justly wears a +crown hath a power in the will of God, which no mortal shall defy +unpunished. But enough of this. I called you not hither to consult with +you on state affairs. Knew I not you were a philosopher who takes but +little interest in worldly government, I should be tempted to believe +you were a wily emissary from my foes, and those who secretly strive to +undermine my happiness." + +"Heaven forefend! your grace," exclaimed Master Thrand, in dismay. + +"I called you hither to warn you--not to receive warnings," continued +the king, with stern vehemence. "I have perceived that your opinions on +spiritual things are dangerous and misleading. Keep them to yourself, +or I shall be necessitated to banish you from the country. I have all +due respect for your knowledge in worldly matters," he added; "it may +prove useful to me. My master of the mint, however, you cannot be at +present, and my spiritual adviser still less. If the wise Roger Bacon +was your teacher and master I would willingly know what he hath taught +you that is good and reasonable; but I will not hear a word more of the +philosopher's stone. I ask not to look into futurity; if you understand +that art, keep it to yourself. I regard it, if not as witchcraft, as +equally sinful and unwise. Such faculty hath as yet never made any +human being happy. + +"If you can (which, however, I much doubt) protract human life beyond +its natural limits, keep such knowledge to yourself also: it seems to +me not less presumptuous and irrational. I desire not to live an hour +longer in this world than the Almighty hath ordained; but if you can, +by natural means and without sin unveil to me the secrets of nature--if +you can imitate the thunders of heaven as you assume--then show me and +our philosophers the art, and explain it to us, at whatever price you +deem fitting; but how far soever your mastery over the powers of nature +may extend, imagine not you have usurped the power from Him, in +comparison of whom the wisest and mightiest man on earth is but a +miserable impotent worm. Go hence and pray our Lord and the holy Virgin +to pardon you the presumptuous words you have here uttered. Would that +you might one day gain a better insight into what is of higher +importance to soul and salvation than all your temporal learning!" + +Count Henrik could not hear what answer was made by Master Thrand to +this severe reproof; the words "to-morrow, noble king!" were all he +thought he understood, besides some common-place and obsequious +expressions of respect, and it seemed to him that the artist's voice +sounded hollow and hardly audible. The door of the private door opened +and shut again; Count Henrik perceived that the king was alone, and +heard him open the door to his sleeping chamber. The Count stepped +softly out of the library; he heard footsteps before him in the dark +passage. It was Master Thrand coming from the king's private chamber. +Count Henrik stood still on remarking that the little juggler often +paused in the passage, as if in secret deliberation; he muttered to +himself, and was busied with something in the dark; his whimsical gait +and figure was now suddenly lit up by a bright light, which instantly +vanished again; Master Thrand at last stopped at a private door which +led to Junker Christopher's apartments, but to which none had access +beside. The door opened and closed again, and Thrand disappeared. + +"What was that?" said Count Henrik to himself, with a start, "a spirit +of darkness lurks between the royal brothers!" He left not the passage +ere he had seen the pyrotechnic artist steal back from the junker's +apartments, and repair to the knights' story in the opposite wing of +the castle, where all the stranger guests were assigned their quarters +for the night. Count Henrik did not betake himself to rest, but watched +this night as captain of the halberdiers, without the door of the +king's sleeping apartment. + + + + + CHAP. X. + + +By the first peep of dawn, all was joyous commotion at Helsingborg +Castle. Every Danish courtier and knight knew the punctuality and +impetuosity of the young king, when it was necessary to be stirring at +an early hour, even only on occasion of a hunting expedition. Every +knight and squire who had not foot in stirrup, when the king was in the +saddle, might expect a stern glance or a serious rebuke. On this solemn +and important day, to which the attention of both kingdoms was turned, +and which had been so ardently desired by Eric, it seemed as if the sun +alone dared to put his patience to the proof. Ere day-break, the king's +handsome horses, with their silken coverings and caparisons, stood +already saddled in the court-yard of the castle; the richly-attired +knights, clad in silk or plush, thronged gaily together, and hardly had +the sun-beams of the first day of June shone upon the glittering bridal +train, before Eric, leading his royal mother by the hand, stepped forth +on the staircase of the upper story, and bowed courteously on all +sides. He followed Countess Agnes to the ladies' car, with his head +uncovered, and then vaulted into the saddle. His handsome and youthful +countenance beamed with hope and heartfelt joy, and he seemed to have +slept off every gloomy and disquieting thought. Arrayed in his most +splendid knight's attire, with a rose-coloured shoulder-scarf over his +shoulder, and with white ostrich feathers in his hat, he rode a +spirited milk-white palfrey. His blithe stepfather, Count Gerhard, rode +at his right hand, and Junker Christopher at his left. Even the junker +seemed in a gay mood, but became grave, and coloured when the king +waved his hand and greeted him with a cordiality of look and gesture +which appeared to surprise and humble him. The gilded car, drawn by six +iron-grey Andalusian horses, in which sat the king's dignified mother, +with her ladies, rolled over the castle bridge at the head of the +train, but the king soon rode impatiently past it, with a courteous +apology, which was gladly received. Count Henrik accompanied him with +the half of the knightly train, while the ladies' car and the rest of +the numerous cavalcade found it difficult to keep up with the hastening +bridegroom. All the pathways and banks on the road to Stockholm were +crowded with a countless concourse of people, who shouted with joy at +the splendid procession, and greeted the king with sympathising homage. + +While the king thus rode to meet his bride, the most magnificent +preparations were made at Helsingborg for the reception of the royal +bridal pair. St. Mary's church was decorated with garlands and +carpetted with flowers; the provincial prior of the Dominicans already +officiated at early mass, as well as the venerable bishop of Aarhuus +and Ribé, who with calm courage had supported the king in his bold +strife with the archbishop and the papal court. They had been standing +at the high altar since daybreak, in readiness to preside over the +sacred ceremonial of the day, and were accompanied by a great number of +monks, canons, and priests from all the parishes of the kingdom, who +intended by their united prayers and benedictions to consecrate this +day as an auspicious festival for two nations and two royal houses. + +On the greensward below the castle hill, lists and galleries were +erected for the tournament, and tents were pitched with refreshments +for the spectators. The whole household of the castle was in full +activity; tables were spread in the lofty halls, and barrels with mead, +ale, and wine were hoisted from the cellars. The cooks were busily +employed in the kitchen. A number of musicians tuned and tried their +instruments; pipers, lute-players, fiddlers and trumpeters, were +stationed upon the balcony of the upper story, from whence they were to +greet the bridal guests, and enliven the thronging crowds. In the +spacious gardens on the rocky steep overlooking the Sound, the trees of +the long avenues had been hung at an early hour with coloured lamps, +for the evening festivity. In a separate part of the gardens +preparations were making for exhibiting the hitherto unknown art of +fire-works, with which the mysterious Thrand Fistlier purposed to +surprise the king and court, and with which he himself and his +amanuensis, the youthful Master Laurentius, were zealously busied; +while Master Rumelant and Master Poppé wandered among the tall +yew-hedges, and practised their festal lays. The concourse of curious +guests and spectators was constantly increasing. All the ships in the +harbour were hung with wreaths and flags, and the Sound was almost +hidden by the fleet of ships arriving from Zealand and the isles. On +the quay, in the town, and on the road to Stockholm, crowds of knights, +priests, and town's-people, mingled with fishermen and Scanian peasants +with their families--there were national costumes to be seen from the +farthest Danish isles, and from many Swedish provinces. The streets +were strewed with flowers. All the windows were hung with garlands and +silken carpets, and occupied by gaily-dressed ladies. There was a +continued murmur from the many thousand voices, and a general gaze of +expectation towards that quarter from whence the bridal procession was +expected. At last it was echoed from mouth to mouth, "The procession! +The procession! now they are come! There they are!" The multitude moved +onward in one vast wave, and the provost with his men found it +difficult to keep a space clear for the entrance of the train. + +Upon a large kerb stone, in the vicinity of the drawbridge beside the +southern gate of the castle, stood a strongly-built man, in a coarse +pilgrim's cloak, with muscle shells on the cape over his broad +shoulders, and with his broad-brimmed hat, half slouched over a pair of +round sun-burnt cheeks. At his side stood an old fisherman, and a +pretty little fishermaiden in a north Zealand costume, from the +district of Gilleleié. The pilgrim was Morten the cook, who, with his +betrothed and her father, had just landed from a fishing yawl, on a +remote spot under the sand-stone cliff. The day preceding, Morten had +been set on shore at Gilleleié, from a foreign vessel, with a red sail, +which had suffered damage at sea, and had been compelled to put in +under the Kohl for repairs; of which he talked in a mysterious manner. +Although, as a party to the archbishop's flight from Sjöborg, he had +been outlawed by the king, he had not only succeeded in quieting +the fears of old Jeppé, the fisherman, and his daughter, at his +re-appearance in the country, but had even prevailed on them to +accompany him hither, where he meant to show them, he said, that, by +his pilgrimage, he had obtained peace both with God and man, and that +he now, with a bran new and clean conscience, could dare to face the +king on his bridal day. + +"Come hither. Father Jeppé! Come little Karen! let me lift thee up +here!" said Morten, jumping down from the stone--"now ye can see all +the finery and splendour. _I_ shall do most wisely in keeping within my +pilgrim's skin at first, on account of my bit of a head and neck." + +"Alack, yes! for the Lord's sake, dearest Morten!" whispered the +fishermaiden, anxiously, patting his cheek while she suffered his +strong arm to lift her, like a puppet, upon the kerb stone; "hide +thyself behind my back and my father's! I shall die of fear, if the +king sees thee!" + +"Trouble not thyself about anything, and look cheerfully at the fine +doings, little sweetheart," whispered the blithe pilgrim; "he hath but +seen me once in his life and hardly knows me; to-day he hath also +something else to think of than of hanging his dear faithful subjects." + +"He is a scoundrel who says he hath ever done _that!_" exclaimed old +Jeppé, the fisherman, with repressed vehemence. "Should he cause _thee_ +now to be hanged, thou knave! thou hast, doubtless, honestly deserved +it. If thou canst not speak and clear thyself like an honest fellow and +as thou gavest me hand and word thou wouldst ere thou left the country, +then didst thou journey to Rome like a fool, and art come home like a +simpleton." + +"Come, come, Father Jeppé!" continued Morten, "let's see the finery in +peace! Whether I am to be hanged or no can be settled time enough +to-morrow; there is no need to hurry the matter." + +"Thou art a desperate rogue, Morten!" growled the old man--"hast thou +'ticed us hither that we might have the sorrow to see thee dangle? Then +thou shalt never have my daughter--I had well nigh said--but that +follows of itself, I trow. What hath got the great lords who were to +help thee? 'Tis all chatter and bragging, we shall find, and thou art +as yet but an impudent madcap, as thou ever wast." + +"Hush, Father Jeppé! Look! yonder come great lords and knights enow; +who knows whether one of them will not break a lance with the king in +honour of Morten the cook?--And look--there he comes himself." + +"Out of the way, madcap! _him_ thou art not worthy to look on," said +the fisherman, pushing back the outlawed pilgrim with violence, while +he carefully concealed him. "_I_ dare, the Lord be thanked and praised +for it, look our noble king in the face without creeping to hide behind +an honest fellow's back." + +All eyes were now turned only upon the procession, and the air rang +with loyal acclamations for the king and his beautiful bride. + +However high expectation had been raised, and however greatly report +had exalted the beauty and loveable deportment of the noble Princess +Ingeborg, all who now beheld her seemed to be struck with her +appearance, even in a greater degree than they had anticipated. She sat +between her own mother. Queen Helvig, and the king's mother, Countess +Agnes, in the large, open ladies' car; she was as yet only attired in a +simple but tasteful travelling dress; no showy pomp and splendour +heightened her beauty; but none inquired who was the bride. + +By the side of the two elder ladies (who both, however, inspired +respect, and attracted the attention of the people, by their dignified +mien), youthful beauty still maintained its supremacy, and awakened an +admiration, which, associated with the idea of her being the king's +bride, and of her becoming, this day, Denmark's queen, asked not for a +more majestic presence. By the side of her mother, the sister of the +noble Count Gerhard, it might be seen from whom she had inherited the +innocent, good-natured smile, and the engaging expression of heartfelt +kindliness which was the very essence of her nature; and those who had +seen her renowned father. King Magnus Ladislaus, could account for the +dignity and ingenuous frankness which was combined with so much +mildness and condescension in the countenance of the lovely princess. +Opposite the princess and the two royal mothers sat two younger ladies, +belonging to the train of the princess and the Swedish queen dowager; +the younger was the fair lady Christiné, Thorkild Knudsen's daughter, +who had lately been betrothed to King Birger's younger brother, Duke +Valdemar of Finland; the elder was the instructress of the princess's +childhood, and her faithful friend, the Lady Ingé. This noble lady, +next to the pious, benevolent Queen Helvig, had exercised a real +influence on the formation of the princess's character, and early +awakened in her heart a warm affection for Denmark. She had made the +future queen of the Danes acquainted with the spirit and usages of the +nation; with its past achievements, its national ballads, and noble +traditions; and she had seen, with pleasure and enthusiasm, how the +spirit of a whole nation seemed to breathe forth from the innocent and +pious mind of Princess Ingeborg, in the tenderest affection for the +young Danish king. + +The Lady Ingé was still a young and very attractive woman, with much +determination and energy in her look and deportment; she was known and +appreciated by the people, but now seemed to rejoice at being eclipsed +by the radiance of that youthful beauty, which justly rendered Princess +Ingeborg the queen of the day and the festival. + +The princess returned the greeting and enthusiastic acclamations of the +people with the kindliest expression in her countenance and deportment. +Each time she turned her joyous glance to the right from the car it met +the king's; he rode by the side of the ladies' car on his white steed, +with his plumed hat in his hand, and, almost overwhelmed with joy, +appeared to divide his affection between his loyal people and his +bride, while his whole soul's happiness seemed to beam forth from his +eye, whether it rested on the car or on the acclaiming crowds. Yet even +in this happy mood it was not possible for him to repress a fleeting +sigh, and a cloud seemed as it were to pass over the clear heaven in +his face whenever he heard his brother's hollow voice from the opposite +side of the ladies' car, and discerned a manifest expression of rancour +and wounded pride in the restless look and passionate glow of Junker +Christopher's countenance. Christopher rode between the brothers of the +Swedish King Birger, the brave, chivalrous Duke Eric of Sudermania, and +Duke Valdemar of Finland, who both attracted much attention by their +manly beauty, their courteous bearing, and splendid attire. Each time +Christopher heard them addressed by the title of duke, and himself only +as the "high-born junker," he apparently strove, but in vain, to hide, +by a bitter smile, how deeply he felt himself aggrieved and neglected +by his brother, who had not raised him in rank and title, although he +stood in the same relative position to the King of Denmark as the +Swedish dukes[6] to the King of Sweden. + +The young King Birger himself, who could as little vie with his +chivalrous brothers in presence and dignity as in mind and bodily +strength, followed the queen's car in an easy travelling vehicle, in +which he sat, in his costly purple mantle, by a young lady's side. It +was his betrothed bride, Princess Mereté of Denmark, King Eric's +sister, who, according to the early contract of betrothal, had, while +yet a child, been received into the royal family of Sweden as Queen +Helvig's foster-daughter, and had not seen her mother or brothers since +the marriage of Queen Agnes with Count Gerhard. The Danish princess now +spoke the Swedish language like her mother tongue, and appeared already +conscious of her dignity as Sweden's future queen; she possessed, +however, neither the beauty nor the attractive mildness of Princess +Ingeborg, and it was remarked she bore a greater resemblance to the +junker and her unhappy father than to King Eric and the fair Queen +Agnes. + +The Swedish regent, Marsk Thorkild Knudsen, accompanied his sovereign +on horseback with almost regal splendour. He rode between Drost Aagé +and Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, who often nodded gaily to each other; +and the festive rejoicing of the fair summer's day was not less evident +among the gallant train of knights which followed the Swedish monarch. + +At the head of the Danish chivalry rode the powerful, but little +popular, Marsk Oluffsen. With his rough austere visage and blunt +bearing he formed a striking contrast to the agile, slender knight +Helmer Blaa, who gaily bestrode his favourite re-found Arabian, and +often unconsciously nodded assent, by way of confirmation, when he +heard the populace laud him or his horse; occasionally, however, he +glanced rather doubtfully towards the king, as if he desired not as yet +to be noticed by him, and occasionally gave Drost Aagé a monitory look. +Beside him rode a quiet ecclesiastic on a palfrey; it was the king's +confessor. Master Petrus de Dacia; his eye often dwelt on the cloudless +summer heaven, and he seemed, in his calm satisfaction, to think more +of heavenly and godly things, and of a distant unseen beauty, than of +the worldly pomp by which he was surrounded. + +Helsingborg castle could hardly accommodate the numerous trains and +wedding guests. A couple of hours after the entrance of the procession +the bridal train was seen to proceed with still greater splendour to +the church. Before the six white horses of the princess's gilded car +pranced the two white tournament steeds which the king had been so +displeased at missing from Sorretslóv castle. The two stable boys who +had unweariedly tracked the steps of the horses down to Stockholm, now +skipped joyously by the side of the noble animals. When the king beheld +the two well-known palfreys perform their trained step before the +bride's car, he was heartily pleased and surprised. Drost Aagé +instantly informed him, in a few words, of Sir Helmer's bold adventure +in Copenhagen, and that he was here among his bridegroom's-men. The +king looked back, and recognised his briskest knight. "In the saddle he +rides so free," he said, with a menacing gesture, to Sir Helmer, but +with a gay smile and a nod of approbation. + +In the church the marriage was solemnised, with all the rites of the +Romish church, by the Bishops of Aarhuus and Ribé, while the provincial +prior Olaus, together with the assembled monks, chaunted with their +deep-toned voices in full chorus a "Gloria in excelsis." While the one +bishop joined the hands of the royal pair, and pronounced upon them the +church's benediction, the other placed the queenly crown of Denmark on +the light, beautiful tresses of the bride, and now a mighty tide of +trumpet sound poured into the choral song, and the people joined in the +solemn chorus. A fairer sight had never been beheld by Danish or +Swedish man than when the royal pair, with tears of devotion and joy in +their eyes, and hand in hand, sank down, kneeling on the bridal stool +before the high and brilliantly-lighted altar, and nearly the whole +bridal train, together with the enthusiastic crowd of spectators, knelt +down, as if moved by one common impulse, in audible prayer and +devotion. + +The trumpets ceased and there was a breathless silence, while the +bridal pair, in clear and distinct tones, pronounced the vow of +unalterable love and constancy to the end of their lives. The deep amen +of the aged provincial prior was re-echoed by the monks and by many +among the people. A "Te Deum," with an accompaniment of bassoons and +trumpets, concluded the church's festival. + +After the blessing, the deeply affected pair were embraced by their +nearest relatives in the high choir. At last Prince Christopher also +approached his royal brother, and seemed preparing for a cold and +forced salutation; but at this moment it seemed as if the spirit of +darkness which had so long threatened the brothers from afar had +suddenly come between them, and shot up into a giant. They gazed in +silence, almost in dismay, upon each other, and let their arms sink; it +seemed as though the gentle tear in the king's eye congealed and froze +at his brother's frightful coldness. + +"No falsehood in this holy hour, Christopher, if thy soul and thy +salvation are dear to thee!" he whispered in a tone of stern +admonition; "brothers now in the sight of God! or--may God forgive +me!--enemies to death!" + +Christopher bowed in silence, and turned pale; his lips appeared to +move, but no sound issued from them. The king turned from him with a +flashing glance; but it seemed as if a glimpse in the open heaven +suddenly extinguished the fearful gleam of rising wrath and grief in +the king's expressive countenance as he turned round and beheld his +gently agitated bride tenderly stretch out her arms towards him; he +pressed her eagerly to his heart, and the mild tear again glistened in +his eye. "This heart, however, thou hast given me, all-merciful +Creator!" he whispered, "and I have a brother at thy right hand who +hates me not." + +"My Eric! what is this?" asked the bride in astonishment, and gazing +into his eyes; but she observed his uplifted eye resting in confidence +on the crucifix over the door of the choir, and proceeded in silence +and in tranquil joy through the aisle of the church, leaning on Eric's +arm at the head of the bridal train. The king was afterwards calm and +cheerful, but unusually pensive. No one, however, appeared to have +remarked the painful feeling which had disturbed his happiness. + + + + + CHAP. XI. + + +The attention of the people, was now turned to the tournament, which +was to commence a few hours after the ceremonies of the church were +ended. The spacious lists were surrounded by a countless crowd, and the +whole castle-hill was equally thronged with spectators. The raised +benches placed in the form of stairs around the lists were occupied +with gaily-attired ladies, rejoicing in eager anticipation of the +spectacle. At last the clang of trumpets announced the arrival of the +royal party. All the royal ladies, with their distinguished train, took +their seats in the gallery, which was hung with scarlet. There the +queen of the feast, the lovely and royal bride, again appeared, with +the diadem encircling her fair tresses; she took her place on the seat +of honour, between her mother and Queen Helvig, amid the joyous +acclamations of the people. King Birger sat at his mother's side beside +Princess Mérété; he was present only as a spectator of the tournament, +in which he purposed not to take a part. Thorkild Knudsen and a number +of elderly Swedish courtiers stood near him, with Count Gerhard, who no +longer partook in this diversion; but the young Danish sovereign, with +the Swedish dukes and other princely guests, remained on horseback +without the lists among the knights of the tournament. On a raised seat +under the royal gallery sat the judges of the combat, who were all old +and experienced knights; and within the lists walked the heralds and +pursuivants in their festal attire, with white staves in their hands, +to watch over the observance of order and usage. A large band of +trumpeters and horn-players opened the chivalrous diversion with the +music of the national tournament song. + +Amid the chorus in which the people joined, + + + "When the Danish knights ride o'er the ground, + Their horses tramp with a thund'ring sound." + + +all the knights galloped briskly into the lists, and ranged themselves +for the encounter. The tournament then commenced. Many lances were +broken amid the shouts of the bystanders. Dangerous accidents seldom +occurred in this combat with blunt lances, although a knight might +easily indeed sprain an arm or a leg by a too headlong fall from the +saddle. Many knights displayed great agility and dexterity in the +management of horse and lance; but Marsk Oluffsen, Count Henrik of +Mecklenborg, and Sir Helmer Blaa, bore off every prize. A veiled lady +often waved encouragement and approbation to Sir Helmer; she threw +gloves, kerchiefs, and silk ribands down to him from the ladies' +gallery. He bowed courteously. His shield bore the motto, "For St. Anna +and St. Eric," the guardian saints of his beloved wife and his +sovereign, in whose honour he wielded his lance on this occasion. In +his last career he unhorsed the Marsk;--the lady now threw her veil +down to him. It was his young and beautiful wife, the Lady Anna, who, +by her unlooked-for presence here, surprised and delighted him beyond +expression; as soon as he recognised her he flung up his lance high in +the air in a transport of joy. He forgot to receive the prize he had +won, but rushed like the stormer of a castle up into the gallery to +embrace her, to the great amusement of the spectators, and even of the +grave judges of the tournament, who readily forgave him this little +deviation from due order and usage. + +Among the Swedish nobles and knights who took a part in the tournament, +Duke Eric of Sudermania was pre-eminent; no knight could keep his seat +before his lance; and his sister, the young queen of the festival, +rejoiced greatly at the honour won here by her best-loved and most +chivalrous brother. Duke Valdemar of Finland also shone in this +diversion, and especially sought to display his boldness and daring +when the fears of Thorkild Knudsen's fair daughter were excited for +him. Each time a combatant fell on the sand the trumpets sounded in +honour of the victor, and the people shouted, while the vanquished +knight hastened to salute his conqueror with a courteous bow, without +complaining or showing any sign of vexation. Drost Aagé, who was wont +to be a victor at all these sports of arms, had not as yet sufficiently +recovered his strength, after his dangerous fall at Kallundborg, to be +able to take a share in this day's tournament; he was besides, even +amid his joy, at the king's successful love, in an unusually pensive +mood; he had now renounced all hope of seeing Marsk Stig's unfortunate +daughters released from their state imprisonment. The king appeared +also remarkably thoughtful, although deep and heart-felt joy beamed in +his countenance each time his eye met Queen Ingeborg's loving glance +from the gallery. His thoughts seemed often to wander from the scene +before him, and he looked not with his customary eagerness and interest +on this his favourite diversion, at which he this day, as bridegroom +and awarder of the prizes, only purposed to be a spectator. Duke Eric +of Langeland, who was celebrated as one of the most invincible +tournament knights, appeared not to have found any opponent among the +younger lords and knights against whom he cared to enter the lists +since Duke Eric of Sudermania had quitted them, having already broken +the full number of lances necessary for gaining the highest prize. +Junker Christopher looked, with gloomy disdain, on a spectacle which he +regarded as the worn-out pastime of childish vanity. He knew himself +how to wield his lance with power and skill, but seemed to consider it +beneath his dignity to contend for a tournament prize, which was to be +awarded by his brother, or to measure himself with any one below the +rank of king. By degrees King Eric's youthful countenance became +animated as he looked on the encounters. His white steed curvetted +under him; and as soon as the last prize was awarded he briskly seized +a gilded lance, and cleared the lists by a daring leap, to the great +delight of the admiring spectators. "Shall we venture a tilt together +in honour of our ladies, sir cousin?" he called gaily to Duke Eric of +Langeland. The gigantic Duke of Langeland bowed courteously, and rode +into the lists. + +"Zounds! Longshanks! Longshanks!" was re-echoed from one to the other, +among the curious bystanders, and all stood in breathless expectation. +The king caused his helmet and cuirass to be brought; a rose-coloured +silk riband fluttered down to him from the queen's gallery; he fastened +it to his helmet, gaily waved his hand to his young queen, and +gallopped to his station. The Duke fastened a knot of blue riband on +his helmet. With great dexterity and martial skill the two royal +combatants now rushed towards each other, lance in rest, at full +gallop. The king wielded his lance adroitly and parried his adversary's +thrust. The Duke's lance flew from his hand, and was driven far forward +on the course; but the king's lance broke against the duke's +breastplate, without shaking his seat in the saddle. + +The duke's as well as the king's skill and dexterity were greatly +admired; but many expressions of the people's partiality for their +chivalrous young monarch were distinctly heard. "Had but the king's +lance stood the shock," said one young fellow, "we should surely have +seen Longshanks bite the dust." + +"No wonder yon fellow kept his seat," growled a seaman, "he can +well-nigh anchor in the sand with his long shanks." + +The trumpets sounded, the combatants saluted each other with courtesy, +and the diversion now seemed to be ended; but the music continued, amid +general acclamation and a hum of voices. + +"See whether the junker dares risk his jerkin! No, _he_ does wisest in +looking on," said a bold, loud-tongued voice close behind Junker +Christopher. + +"_He_ Would sooner let his true men break their necks in earnest, than +venture his own in jest," muttered another. + +Junker Christopher appeared to have heard these speeches, for his face +flushed crimson. While the trumpets were still sounding, and the king +was about to quit the lists, the junker suddenly set spurs to his heavy +horse, and rode towards him, with lance in hand. + +"If I see aright, my brother would also try a tilt with me," said the +king starting, "Well then, strike up the tournament song, herald!--a +new lance, pursuivant!--but not of glass like the first!" + +The horn-players struck up the ancient, well-known strain. The +pursuivant presented the king a lance with a broad piece of board at +the end. Attention was again anxiously excited, and the young queen +appeared somewhat uneasy. The king had taken his place; his countenance +was not so placid and cheerful as before; his white steed snorted and +pranced impatiently. The junker had retired to some distance, and +seemed not as yet to have completed his preparations. + +"Now haste, Christopher!" called the king; "let us be brisk, as beseems +our festival!" They now quitted their respective stations. The king +rode forward in a stately ambling pace, apparently that he might not +avail himself of his superiority and greater experience; but the junker +dashed his spurs into his horse's side, and rushed forward with wild +impetuosity. The king stood almost still, on perceiving with +astonishment that his brother's lance was couched directly against his +uncovered face. "Where would'st thou strike? against the breast! +between the four limbs!" he shouted, but it seemed as though the junker +neither heard nor saw; he continued to rush forward in the same +direction, with flushed cheek and staring eye. But it was now remarked +that the king became greatly incensed,--"Down then!" cried Eric, +and at the same moment Christopher's lance was dashed aside, and the +junker himself fell backwards out of the saddle. The king instantly +sprang from his horse, and assisted him to rise, while the trumpets +sounded and the air re-echoed with the shouts of the exulting +spectators--"Thou art not bruised?" asked the king. "In what fashion +dost thou couch thy lance?" + +"Ill against you my mighty liege and vanquisher!" muttered Christopher, +"but that is all in due order--hear how the people screech for joy at +the fair spectacle you have afforded them," he added with bitterness +and in a lowered tone, "had I broken my neck the festivity would have +been complete." + +"Let not this little mischance vex thee," said the king, "such may +happen to the best of us--another time I may have a worse fate." + +"That is very possible, your grace!" answered the junker in a deep and +almost choking voice, greeting the king with measured courtesy, as he +retreated and retired. He instantly vaulted upon his horse, and rode +off through the noisy crowds, who laughed loudly, and made merry over +the ridiculous position in which the junker had thrown his legs in the +air, on receiving the thrust of the king's lance. + +Thus ended the tournament; but the acclamations with which the king was +followed to the castle bridge, appeared this time to please him but +little. He thought he had seen a fire in his brother's eye which filled +him with horror. + + + + + CHAP. XII. + + +After the tournament, the king bestowed in the knights' hall, with the +usual ceremonies, the honour of knighthood on some squires, who had +distinguished themselves in Marsk Stig's feud, and the Norwegian war. +Palfreys, splendid aims, and other honourable gifts, were also +distributed to the princely wedding guests, and some of the Swedish +nobles who had accompanied Princess Ingeborg from Stockholm. The king +was particularly desirous on this occasion to give Marsk Thorkild +Knudsen a proof of his special regard, and presented him with the +knightly sword of state, which he had this day worn himself. "Wear this +at your country's high festivals, noble Sir Marsk," he said, "but +should I ever--which the Almighty forbid!--forget the compact and the +friendship with the noble Swedish nation and its king, of which this +day hath given me and Denmark the fairest pledge! then turn it against +me, as you turned your own good sword against the heathen Kareles." +Thorkild[7] acknowledged this mark of royal favour, in an animated and +enthusiastic speech; he congratulated Denmark, as well as Sweden, on a +new and happy era, when the swords of their princes and knights should +only be drawn on each other in the honourable rivalry of the tilt and +tournay, but when required, flash like the northern lights and flaming +comets, against the common foes of the north. + +At last, the king produced a document, to which, by a green silken +string, was attached the great royal seal in wax impression, with the +three crowned leopards in the shield, on one side, and the king's image +on the throne and in royal robes, on the other. Without turning to that +side of the throne which was Junker Christopher's station, and towards +which Eric, during the whole ceremony, had not once glanced, he said in +a loud voice, and apparently with effort, "Junker Christopher Ericson +of Denmark! step forth and receive a commemorative gift from my hand, +on this the happiest day of my life! I have, out of sincere brotherly +love and good-will, and with the assent of my council, three weeks +since, signed and sealed this document, which is now for the first time +made public, and which nominates thee, Duke of Estland, with all feudal +rights and privileges. May the Lord grant his blessing on it!" After he +had pronounced these words in a clear and audible voice, it seemed as +though an oppressive weight had been removed from his spirits, and he +looked calmly and cheerfully to the side from whence he expected to see +his brother step forward; but the junker's place was vacant, none of +those present had seen him since the tournament. The junker's master of +the household, therefore, stepped forth on the part of his lord, and +received the royal investiture, while he bent his knee before the king; +he then rose, bowed low, and departed to seek the prince. + +Prince Christopher did not appear at the marriage feast. Some reported +they had seen him ride like a madman, at full gallop, through the +chase, immediately after the tournament. + +The prince had not returned as yet on the commencement of the evening +festivities. The castle resounded with music and mirth. The doors of +the knights' hall and the great antechamber were thrown open to admit +persons of all ranks to the dance and masque. The amusements here, as +at the merry carnival, consisted in whimsical mummings, and scenic +representations, in which the spectators beheld, without displeasure, +the most grotesque mixture of sacred, and profane, subjects. Even a +number of disguised ecclesiastics took part in this diversion, and +enacted what was called "a mystery," or a biblical farce; in which a +German harlequin constantly cracked his jests, while the fight between +David and Goliath was represented, to the great delight of the +populace, who thought to discern, in King David, an allusion to the +king, and in the gigantic Goliath recognized a resemblance, now to Duke +Longshanks, now to the Junker; but as soon as the Drost noticed the +unlucky interpretation of the farce, he ordered these masks away. When +Eric stepped forth among the dancers in the antechamber, the young +maidens sang the ballad, with which he was usually greeted, and which +had now become a kind of a national song. With a feeling of enthusiasm +for their youthful sovereign, and allusion to one of the most romantic +adventures which had occurred in his childhood--they sang gaily: + + + "O'er Ribé's bridge the dance is led, + The castle it is won! + In broidered shoe the knights they tread, + For young Eric this feat is done!"[8] + + +The king listened with pleasure to the lay, and talked with Aagé of his +beloved Drost Peter Hessel, of whom this song always reminded him; and +when Count Gerhard heard the ballad of Ribéhuus, he tramped gaily into +the ranks of the dancers, in joyous remembrance of that event, at which +he had himself been present. + +The king's mother and Queen Helvig now entered the antechamber, with +the young and lovely bride, and the joy of the people was uttered yet +more loudly. The ballad-singers instantly began the ballad of Queen +Dagmar's bridal; all the maidens joined in it, and the dancers moved to +the tune. The king stepped forward, with his bride, at the head of the +troop of dancers. At last the maidens sang: + + + "'Great joy there was o'er Denmark's land, + When Dagmar stepped upon the strand; + Both burgher and peasant then lived in peace, + From tax and ploughpenny-yoke had ease, + From Bohmerland[9] the lady crossed the seas!" + + +But as they were going to sing the last verse, the ballad-singers took +up the lay and sang: + + + "'Again there's joy o'er Denmark's land,' + Fair Ingeborg comes unto our strand! + Like Waldemar Seier, King Eric hath found + A Dagmar to bring us on Danish ground; + From Sweden's land so far renowned!" + + +This verse was repeated amid loud and joyous acclamations. + +"Thanks, good people! thanks!" said the king, with pleased emotion; "if +it please the Lord, and our blessed Lady, Valdemar's and Dagmar's days +shall return." + +The young queen feelingly greeted the many loyal persons who surrounded +her. + +Amid the general rejoicing and festive stir, there was no one beside +Drost Aagé who saw anything suspicious in the continuance of the mask; +but among the great number of maskers, he had especially noticed two, +who frequently made their way nearly up to the king, and disappeared +again. They were dressed up according to the ideas which the lower +classes entertained of mermen; their painted faces were hidden by green +silken hair, and they wore coats of glittering silver scales. Their +restless deportment appeared suspicious to Aagé, who paid close +attention to every movement of these masks--but his suspicion soon +vanished; a pretty little fishermaiden came to meet the second mask and +the pair soon danced so lovingly together, that Aagé conjectured a +little love affair was in progress. "Why cannot I thus dance here with +_her_?" he sighed, and his thoughts travelled to the maiden's tower at +Wordinborg. He looked with interest on the fair fisher-maiden, who with +her long hair, and her joyous sparkling eyes, bore a faint resemblance +to the Lady Margaretha's capricious sister Ulrica. "Alas, no! poor +maidens!" sighed the Drost, stepping out into the hall balcony--"they +are now in the gloomy tower over yonder; _they_ hear and see nought of +these rejoicings--and yet they are innocent--it is injustice; crying +injustice--in this matter he is stern and unyielding. To-night, +however, he is mild, and joyous, and happy--who knows----." It seemed +as if Aagé was suddenly inspired by a bold hope; he returned into the +antechamber, and approached the king, who took greater pleasure in +being a spectator of the merriment of the lower orders in the +antechamber than in looking on the more graceful and skilful dancing in +the knights' hall. But the Drost presently once more beheld one of the +frightful mermen figures near the king; his suspicions of this mask +were again awakened, and he observed the glittering handle of a dagger +between the silver scales on the merman's breast, on which his hand +often rested when he approached Eric. Aagé placed himself between the +king and the intrusive mask, and asked, "Who art thou?" + +"Rosmer[10]," said a strange, unknown voice--"ho, ho, ho!"--and the +merman now sang in a hoarse tone: + + + "Home came Rosmer from the sea, + To curse he did begin: + My right hand's scent it warneth me + A christian man's within." + + +He then once more seized the hand of the fisher-maiden, and joined in +the dance. The Drost looked after him with suspicion; he thought of the +outlaws, and of the dishonoured Knight Kaggé. The idea of this +dangerous and audacious miscreant became so vivid in his imagination, +that he seemed to recognise him in the merman, and almost in every +mask. He made a signal to some halberdiers to keep an eye on the mask, +and followed the king into the knights' hall. Here he also gave Count +Henrik a hint of what he dreaded, and a numerous troop of halberdiers +was soon stationed near the king; but neither he nor any of his guests +observed that this was done with any special design. The Drost's +scrutinising looks and the precautions which had been taken, did not, +however, seem to have escaped all the guests. Shortly afterwards the +well-known ballad of the "Merman and Agneté" was heard in the +antechamber, and a dance was performed to it, in which the merman mask +and the fisher-maiden were the principal performers. The merman only +chimed in with the burden of the song, and repeated, in a wild, hoarse +voice, + + + "Ho! ho! ho! + To the depths of the sea then lead her did he." + + +At last this masker and his partner departed: they danced out of the +door, and down the great staircase into the court-yard of the castle, +amid a crowd of disguised personages, who belonged to their party, and +represented all kinds of sea-monsters. No one knew what had become of +them: another dance began, and none concerned themselves any longer +about these unsocial maskers; but the report afterwards spread among +the people, that the masker was a real merman, who had carried off a +maiden. Some even would have it that they had seen the glittering +merman swim off with the maiden in his arms, in the clear moonlight. + + + + + CHAP. XIII. + + +It was a beautiful, calm summer evening. The dance and the mask were +confined to the antechamber and the knights' hall. The national +festival was celebrated with bonfires and torch-lights, with music and +feasting, in the court-yard of the castle and the orchard, in the chase +and on the tournament ground. The king showed himself wherever there +was a joyous group assembled, most frequently conducting his lovely +bride by the hand, and accompanied by his princely guests and several +courtiers. They were everywhere welcomed with festive songs and +acclamations. In the castle garden they were greeted by Master Rumelant +and Master Poppé the strong, who, with solemn pathos, recited an +elaborate and carefully-composed poem, in which they praised by turns +the royal bridegroom and his bride, with the royal relatives of both, +and all the nobles there present. The king thanked them with kindness +for this well-meant homage, although the exaggerated praise and trite +compliments did not suit his taste. But they were now surprised by a +new and splendid spectacle--the bridal pair, and a number of children +with wings fastened to their shoulders, who were to represent genii or +angels, were led through the illuminated avenues to a remote part of +the garden, from whence there was the most beautiful prospect over the +Sound; here many hundred vessels burst on the sight, hung with lights +in the form of crowns upon the masts. All that had excited so much +astonishment at Skänor fair, and had been regarded by the people as the +work of witchcraft and sorcery, was also to be seen here, but exhibited +with far more dazzling effect. Superstitious fear was banished by the +report of the innocence of these artists, and all were prepared to view +the spectacle as a display worthy of the festival. A number of rockets +of different and beautiful colours were let off from boats and floating +rafts; the air glittered with artificial suns, stars, and flaming +wheels, which were mirrored in the calm expanse of the sea. + +It was a new and wonder-stirring sight, and afforded great delight to +the spectators. All ceremony and court etiquette were forgotten; each +one eagerly sought that place from whence he could best behold the +dazzling pageant. + +Eric had retired with his bride to a shady spot in the garden, where +the fair aerial spectacle appeared to the greatest advantage. The +number of guests he had to entertain, as well as the festivities, had +had hitherto prevented him from exchanging a single word with her +without witnesses, and it was more than a year since they had last met. +He now found himself for a moment alone with her, under the mild and +lovely summer sky, in which the flaming stars seemed to dance round +them in the air, while the festive din was hushed, and nothing was +heard but the deep solemn notes of the horn-players, floating over the +Sound from a distant hill. A torrent of thought and feeling seemed +ready to gush from the king's heart. "My Ingeborg! my soul's beloved!" +he exclaimed, embracing her, "now hath the merciful Lord heard my +inmost prayer; he hath himself united us with an inviolable sacrament; +no power in heaven or earth can part us now. I am indeed the happiest +of human beings; were I omnipotent I would this hour make every soul +around me happy." + +"Eric! my beloved Eric!" answered Ingeborg, throwing her arms around +his neck, "I have this day seen with thee into the Lord's clear heaven; +the troth I plighted thee at the altar I shall repeat in my dying hour; +my angel shall wake me with it at the last day----" + +"Think not now of death," interrupted Eric, tenderly: "our life begins +but now." + +"One moment may contain a thousand lives," she continued, with, +heartfelt emotion; "even were one of yon flying stars to crush me in +thine arms I still should deem myself happy; thou wouldest still be +mine, although mine eyes should close upon all the glories of this +world." + +They thus talked confidentially together, and poured out their inmost +souls to each other, undisturbed by their princely guests, whose whole +attention was turned upon the aerial spectacle. The happy bridal pair +sank, with deep emotion, into each other's arms, and appeared to forget +themselves and the whole world in a silent embrace. They were suddenly +aroused by a loud explosion and a hissing sound in the air; they raised +their eyes and saw with astonishment the mild beams of the star-light +dimmed by the brightness of a large ball of fire, which ascended +hissing in the air as though it would reach the heavens. It shone clear +and bright above their heads; but as they were looking at it with +admiration it exploded, and dispersed into many thousand small stars, +which gradually waned and disappeared. + +"Noble! beautiful!" said the king. "What cannot human wisdom and art +effect! The learned artist who hath prepared us this show is certainly +right in some things; the deep insight into human nature, which the +great Pater Roger hath attained unto in our time, will probably in +after times actually change the aspect of the world, and all which we +now deem great and noble will perhaps seem but as dreaming and child's +play to posterity: but how mutable all things are, my Ingeborg!" he +added, almost with melancholy; "even the surpassing splendour of this +evening will soon fade and vanish like yon dazzling aerial vision." + +"But what there hath been of life and truth and soul, my Eric," +answered Ingeborg, looking tenderly into his eyes; "is it not so, my +heart's beloved? All which love hath brightened will surely never seem +but as an idle dream. The world will surely never be so changed that +all which is sacred and divine shall fade away like an airy vision." + +"No assuredly, by all the holy men, no sound wisdom can ever lead to +_that!_" said the king eagerly, and gazed awhile in thoughtful reverie +on the serene and unchanging heaven. "Tell me, my beloved Ingeborg," he +resumed again with tenderness, as he looked with calm delight on his +lovely bride, and pressed her hand to his lips, "wilt thou not miss thy +mother and thy brothers sadly here?" + +"My mother and my brother Eric, most----," answered Ingeborg, with a +gentle sigh; "but I am still with thee and my dear faithful Ingé. My +mother and brothers will often visit us, and we them--Shall we not? and +thou wilt aid me and my mother in preserving love and peace between the +brothers?" + +"Truly! This I know," said the king, pressing her hand warmly; "love +and peace between brothers are precious jewels, my Ingeborg; no crown +outweighs their loss." He paused suddenly, as though he would not +grieve his bride by uttering what clouded his happiness, even in this +moment of bliss. + +"Thou wouldest this day make every one happy if thou couldst," +continued Ingeborg; "grant, then, in this fair hour, the first boon I +would ask of thy heart!" + +"Name it, my Ingeborg, and it is granted," said the king. "What +couldest _thou_ ask of me which I could deny thee? What is thy +wish?--say on!" + +"Freedom for every sorrowing captive in thy kingdom who at this hour +repent their crime, or suffer while innocent." + +"Innocent!" repeated the king hastily; "none who are innocent suffer in +chains and in prison here--that I know. What can inspire thee with such +thoughts?" + +"Guilty or guiltless!" answered Ingeborg, taking his hand. "In the +sight of the All-righteous no one is wholly guiltless, and yet he +pardons us all for his dear Son's sake, and for the sake of his eternal +mercy. Pardon thy foes, my Eric--pardon them for the sake of God's +infinite love! Give the unhappy captives freedom for the sake of +eternal freedom! Give peace to the outlaws for the sake of everlasting +peace in God's kingdom!" + +There was a crimson flush on the king's cheek--his eyes flashed--his +breast heaved violently--he abruptly dropped the hand of his bride, and +clenched his own, almost convulsively, against his breast. "I swore an +oath, by my father's bloody head, in Viborg church," he said, in a +deep, low tone, "that oath I must keep, or perish eternally; my +father's murderers I can never pardon--to none of _them_ can I grant +peace while mine eyes behold the light of day!" + +"Not even their kindred and children, who have had no share in their +crime?" asked Ingeborg, anxiously. "Be not severe! be not unmerciful! +Liberate Marsk Stig's daughters from the prison at Wordingborg, for my +prayers' sake!" + +"Thou hast named a name which stirs up my inmost soul, from whomsoever +I may hear it," said the king gloomily, with his eyes fixed on the +ground; "the offspring of that traitor are my deadly foes as he was my +father's; yet," he continued, and raised his head, "for my _own_ sake I +will not hate and persecute any one; for thy prayers' sake, I can show +mercy to those who do but hate and conspire against _me_; but, by all +that is holy! those who laid bloody hands on my father, yon dark St. +Cecilia's night, may God forgive if it be possible--_I_ never can!" + +Ingeborg stood almost dismayed at his vehemence, and scarcely dared to +look at him. + +"Have I frighted thee, my Ingeborg!" continued Eric, with more +calmness, again taking her hand. "Forgive me! There is one chord in my +soul which sounds terrible when struck, wake it not again! Marsk Stig's +daughters shall be liberated tomorrow, at thy entreaty; but Denmark +they must leave.--Come, let us join the others!" + +"Thanks, thanks! Thou dear, impetuous Eric!" exclaimed Ingeborg, +joyfully, once more throwing her arms tenderly and confidingly around +his neck; "they may then wend free out of thy kingdom? They look not +for aught beside. More no one can reasonably demand. Thou dost not only +gladden me by this on my bridal day; but a noble and faithful soul +besides, whom thou truly lovest." + +"Who?" + +"The Drost, the quiet, melancholy Aagé!" + +"Did he entreat thee to ask that boon?" + +"Yes!--but he entreated me not _exactly_ to tell thee he had." + +"Hum! Aagé! should he?--yet no! in love he can scarcely be--he dreams +more of heavenly angels than earthly ones--and truly! for _that_ +description of angels he is too good. Come, my Ingeborg! They will have +missed us!" + +They returned to the company, who were still admiring the beautiful +illumination on board the vessels, and the fireworks, which became more +and more brilliant. + +While the king and his guests repaired to the gardens of the castle, +Drost Aagé stood on Helsingborg quay, and beheld three large boats, +filled with maskers in the most grotesque costumes, row off with all +possible speed towards a foreign ship which lay in the harbour, and +which soon hoisted sail and disappeared in the moonlight with the +adventurous wedding guests. When the Drost afterwards joined the +company in the castle garden, he missed the king and his bride, and +searched for them in great uneasiness, in the dusky avenues. Near to +the spot where Eric stood with the princess, he saw one of the two +suspicious merman maskers lurking among the trees, with a cross-bow in +his hand. At the same moment, in which the great ball of fire had +exploded in the air, the Drost saw this mysterious personage station +himself with his cross-bow behind a tree, and take aim. In one and the +same instant, Aagé had discovered the object of the assassin's aim, and +cleft his head with his sword. The dangerous bow was still drawn, when +the miscreant fell dead on the spot without uttering a sound. Aagé took +the mask from his face, and recognised the notorious deserter--the +one-eyed Johan Kysté, who was known to have assisted the archbishop in +his flight from Sjöberg. "God mend his soul!" said Aagé, turning away +with horror from the fearful sight; and on seeing Eric still standing +on the same spot in confidential converse with his bride, he discreetly +withdrew. + +When the king returned to the company, Aagé also stepped forth from a +dark avenue. The anxiety he had undergone, and the fatal deed which he +had secretly been forced to commit in self-defence, had chased the +blood from his cheeks. He now stood in the light of the fireworks pale +as death, yet looking on the king with loving sympathy. + +"Aagé! what ails thee? Art thou ill?" asked the king, laying his hand +on his shoulder. + +"I ail nothing on my sovereign's happiest day," answered Aagé; "those +strange blue lights yonder, make us all look somewhat pale." + +"If thou art well, I will encumber thee with a journey," continued the +king; "thou shalt announce to Marsk Stig's daughters that they are +free." + +"My liege and sovereign!" exclaimed Aagé, with heartfelt delight, and +the blood suddenly rushed back to his cheek. "Thanks! heartfelt thanks +for those words! Let me hasten even this very hour!" + +"When thou wilt," continued the king, and a stern gravity was again +perceptible in his looks and deportment. "Thou wilt announce their +freedom to them, not from me, but from my queen, though with my +approbation; but within three days they must be out of my state and +kingdom. Thou may'st escort them out of the land, my Drost! I give thee +leave of absence, with full salary, as long as thou wilt, yes--even +though it should be for thy whole lifetime," he added, in a lower tone; +"but by all the holy men! ere I see thee again, Marsk Stig's race must +be beyond Denmark's boundaries." + +Aagé gazed on the king with a strange expression of countenance; a +whole world and a whole life seemed to pass in review before his eyes; +while a desperate struggle agitated his inmost soul. "I haste, my +liege!" he said, at last, as if starting from a dream. "I follow _her_. +I follow the defenceless sisters out of the country," he paused again, +and his voice seemed almost choked, "and--I soon return to your +service," he added, with regained firmness. "May the Lord keep his hand +over you so long!" + +The king extended his hand to Aagé; he pressed it with deep emotion to +his lips. "Thanks! heartfelt thanks for your clemency to the +unfortunate," he whispered, with a faltering voice, and rushed away. + +"What is this?" said the king to himself, as he observed a tear on his +hand; "who claims this precious gem? my Aagé!---hum! poor visionary, +what thought'st thou of!--yet--his choice is free, I cannot act +otherwise, and you, Marsk Oluffsen!" he continued aloud, turning to his +warrior-like Marsk, "the rebels you have lately captured and thrown +into prison, Niels Brock and Johan Papć----" + +"Will you grant me a pleasure on your bridal day, my liege?" +interrupted the Marsk, in his rough voice, and rubbing his large hands. +"Then permit me, with my own hand, to give those fellows their +quietus." + +"What! Do you rave, Marsk!" exclaimed the king, greatly incensed; "are +you my knight and Marsk, and would you turn executioner? You will lead +the captive rebels in chains out of the country, and declare them +outlawed in my name! You will not yourself appear in our sight until, +by noble deed of knighthood, you have washed out the blot which you +have cast on yourself, and on our chivalry, by your blood-thirsty +wish." + +The Marsk was thunderstruck; he stood in the greatest astonishment, +with wide oped eyes. "Now, by all the martyrs!" he muttered to himself; +but he saw by the king's stern look this was no fitting time to speak: +he bowed in silence, and retired. + + + + + CHAP. XIV. + + +The fireworks were now ended, and much admiration was expressed by the +spectators. The king roused himself from the mood into which he had +been thrown by the faithful Aagé's farewell, and the Marsk's sternness. + +"Where is the master of that fair pageant?" he said aloud; "where is +the learned Thrand Fistlier?" + +"Here, most gracious sovereign!" said a discordant self-satisfied +voice, close beside the king; and Master Thrand stepped forth from the +dark avenue, with his amanuensis, the youthful Master Laurentius, by +his side-- + +"If my poor skill hath pleased the royal and lordly company, I esteem +it a high pleasure and honour." + +"You have surprised us in the most agreeable manner;" said the king, +"but what I have seen will please me still more, if you will explain to +us the ways and means by which such beautiful results are produced." + +"The whole is insignificant, in comparison with what I yet purpose, +according to promise, to show your grace!" answered the artist, bowing +humbly; "it is a masterpiece that requires but a moment's time. The +ways and means by which I produce it belong partly to one of my great +Master Bacon's most important discoveries, which he hath indeed named +in his writings, but hath not clearly and minutely explained. It is a +discovery which may easily be abused, and therefore can only be +entrusted to the initiated. I am the only one of his pupils who fully +comprehend it. I have myself considerably extended and substantiated +what was to my master rather a profound conjecture, than an actual +discovery, and I trust I shall not be deemed vain, if I expect, even in +preference to my great master, to be immortalised by it in the history +of science----" + +"Well, well!" interrupted the king, "what is it?" + +"The only person to whom I have imparted something of this important +secret," continued Master Thrand, with a proud look, without suffering +himself to be abashed, "is my pupil Master Laurentius; but I have not +as yet been able to initiate him in the deepest mysteries of an art +which will perhaps require centuries ere it be fully revealed to the +prejudiced human race. With you wise king! and with these enlightened +nobles and scholars, I make honourable exception, in showing you what I +have not even as yet shown my pupil, and what I now, for the first +time, and in an altogether novel manner, am about to reduce from theory +to a decisive practical result. If this marvellous art is not to die +with me----" + +"You expect to become immortal, no doubt. Master Thrand!" interrupted +the king again, somewhat impatiently, "and if I understand you aright, +even in the proper signification of the word; if your art enables you +to set even death at defiance, your important invention can never be in +danger of perishing from the world. Let us now see what you laud so +highly, and keep not our expectation longer on the stretch! You +diminish by it even the surprise you have perhaps intended us." + +"Instantly! most mighty king!" answered the artist in a lowered tone, +and produced a calf-skin, which he rolled up and placed on the ground. +He then took out of his pocket a small, unknown substance, of some few +inches thickness, which he placed under it, and commenced several other +preparations, seemingly just as simple and trivial. "Now place yourself +there, your grace!" he resumed, "and give close heed! Quit not your +place until you see me withdraw. Let the ladies step aside, it might +perhaps alarm those who are weakly, although there is no danger +whatever. As soon as I light this torch and bring it into contact with +this simple apparatus, you will hear a voice like that which nature's +great spirit sends forth from the clouds of heaven, to announce his +sovereignty over all the earth, as lord of life and death; but _this_ +voice obeys _my_ bidding and _my_ will--now mark!" The ladies stepped +aside and looked inquisitively towards the artist. Some of the noble +guests drew nearer; others drew back with suspicion. The king stood +silent and attentive, on the spot assigned him. The learned Master +Petrus de Dacia stood nearest him; his eyes were raised towards the +clear bright stars, and he appeared occasionally to look on the little +mountebank and his whole proceedings, with a kind of contemptuous pity. +Count Henrik was not present; at the Drost's suggestion he had employed +himself in securing the castle against every possible attack of the +outlaws, some of whom were supposed to have been recognised among the +masked wedding guests who, however, had already escaped. + +The expectation of the whole assemblage was now turned towards the +exhibition of art, which had been so pompously announced. The +mysterious artist was still busied with his preparations, and appeared +himself somewhat thoughtful and hesitating. He lighted a torch at some +distance, and took a book out of his pocket, which he appeared to +consult. He had placed a pair of large spectacles before his eyes, and +as he thus stood in the torch-light, with his deformed figure and fiery +red mantle, he resembled a goblin or a fire-gnome, rather than a human +being. He presently replaced the book in his pocket, and lighted +another torch. + +"Stop your ears with this, your grace!" whispered the considerate +Master Laurentius, handing a couple of wax-balls to the king, "from +what I know of this specimen of art, it may have a stunning and +injurious effect on the hearing." The king nodded and followed his +advice. The artist now held the lighted torch in his hand; the red +flame lit up his face--it was expressive of a fearful degree of +agitation--every muscle was horribly, almost convulsively, +distorted--He approached slowly with the torch towards the mysterious +apparatus, and most of the spectators drew back with apprehension. The +king stood calm and attentive in his place, by the side of Master +Petrus de Dacia, with his foot on the rolled-up hide. + +"Hence! back! life is at stake!" said a voice behind him in a frantic +tone. The king felt himself forcibly grasped by a powerful hand, and at +the same moment a fearful explosion, resembling a clap of thunder, was +heard, with a flash as of a thousand combined lightnings; many persons +fell to the ground with a cry of horror. The ladies swooned--a cloud of +smoke encompassed them, with a suffocating sulphureous vapour. The +terrible artist himself lay mangled and lifeless on the grass, with the +extinguished torch in his hand. Master Laurentius threw himself upon +the body in grief; there was a fearful panic and confusion. + +The king stood unscathed a few steps from the corpse of the wretched +Thrand, and now first perceived who had dragged him from his dangerous +position. It was his own brother Christopher, who, with his Duke's +diploma crumpled in his left hand, and with his right still +convulsively grasping the king's arm, stood pale as death gazing on the +lifeless philosopher. "The judgment of God!" he said in a deep and +scarcely audible voice. He quitted his hold of his brother's arm, and +then, as if pursued by evil spirits, rushed into the dark avenue, and +disappeared. + +"Christopher! What is this?" said the king in a low voice, as he looked +after him, with a horrible conjecture, but he quickly recovered +himself, and hastened to attend his bride and the terrified ladies. +"The danger is over," he said with calmness, "but this specimen of art +hath cost the artist his life. If he hath spoken truth, his dangerous +art hath perished with him, and the whole world is lapsed into +barbarism and ignorance. He was a wise and learned man," he added, as +he saw most of the company tranquillised, but heard the suspicion of +treachery loudly expressed--"Let us not judge his intentions! perhaps +he hath sacrificed life as a martyr to his science--'twas pity, +however, he would personate our Lord; the Almighty lets himself not be +mocked." + +None were injured but the hapless artist, and the company soon returned +composed and thoughtful to the illuminated avenues in the garden. +Ingeborg's fears were calmed and she clung tenderly to her bridegroom's +arm. It appeared to her and to all, as if an inconceivable miracle had +saved the king's life and crushed his treacherous foes. The report of +the king's peril had interrupted the bridal festivities; but wherever +he showed himself the music and merriment again commenced, and the +royal bridal pair were followed back to the castle, with almost +deafening acclamations. + +While the bridemaids conducted the bride to the bridal chamber the king +repaired to his private apartment. He went in silence to his prie-dieu, +bent his knee before the holy crucifix, and became absorbed in silent +prayer. He had shut the door after him, and believed he was alone with +God on this spot, to which none beside himself and his confessors had +access; but he presently heard some one moving behind him, and he +arose. Junker Christopher stood before him, with his wild countenance +bathed in tears. "My brother!" he exclaimed, with outstretched arms, "I +have sinned against the Lord and against thee; I am not worthy to be +called thy brother. Canst _thou_ forgive me what _I_ cannot name? Canst +thou forgive me for the sake of our murdered father's soul, and for the +sake of the All-merciful, who blots out every transgression?" + +"Christopher!" said the king, in a tone of the greatest consternation, +gazing fixedly on him with a piercing look, "thou wouldest--thou +knewest----" + +"Say not what I willed--say not what I knew!" interrupted the junker, +in a choking voice, and covering his face with both his hands; "but +give me thy hand, if thou canst, and say.--'I am reconciled,' and by +the Almighty, who hath struck me with horror, thou shalt see this face +no more ere I can say, 'Brother! now hath the great and terrible God +forgiven me, as thou hast forgiven me!'" + +"Christopher! brother! my father's son!" exclaimed Eric; the tears +gushed from his eyes, and he hastened towards his humbled brother with +open arms. "Come to my heart! may the merciful Lord forgive thee as I +have forgiven thee!" and the brothers sank in each other's arms. +"Amen!" said a friendly voice beside them. The king's confessor, the +pious Master Petrus de Dacia, who had led the despairing Christopher +hither, stepped forth from a niche in the chamber, and laid his hand on +their heads in token of blessing. + +"This day hath now become the happiest of my life," said Eric, and went +arm-in-arm with the junker out of the private chamber. + + + + + CONCLUSION. + + +Among the crowd of knights and courtiers who waited the next morning in +the antechamber of Helsingborg castle to offer their congratulations to +the king and the young queen, were present two influential and well +known persons, who had recently landed on the quay. The one was an aged +personage of short stature, with an extraordinary degree of energy and +determination in his stern yet animated countenance; he was the +renowned statesman John Little, who had made so long a sojourn at the +Romish court. A tall powerful man stood at his side, in a splendid +knight's dress, with a roll of documents in his hand. He was the king's +former master in arms, Drost Peter Hessel. They had both arrived from +Rome, with important tidings for the king. They were instantly +admitted, and those without heard that they were most joyously +welcomed. Among the glad voices in the king's chamber were recognised +those of the queen and the Drost's noble consort, the Lady Ingé. + +Close to the door of the antechamber stood Morten the cook, in his +pilgrim's dress, with old Jeppé the fisherman and his daughter at his +side. He was regarded with curiosity. At first he appeared somewhat +uneasy and dejected; but when the king was heard to speak with +animation, and in a tone of satisfaction, Morten drew himself up +fearlessly, and paced up and down with an air of importance among the +distinguished assemblage. + +The papers which Drost Hessel had under his arm contained proofs of +Archbishop Grand's treachery and connection with the outlaws; they were +copies of the same important documents which Junker Christopher, at the +time of the archbishop's imprisonment, had removed from the sacristy +chest of Lund and brought to Wordingborg. There the dexterous cook had +contrived to possess himself of them shortly before he abetted the +archbishop's flight from Sjöborg. His object had been to restore them +to Grand; but as the archbishop had broken the promise he had made to +his deliverer while on the rope-ladder of freeing the king and country +from ban and interdict, Morten determined to retain these documents, +and while on his pilgrimage to bring them to Chancellor Martinus and +the Danish embassy at Rome, where they mainly contributed to justify, +or at least excuse the king's conduct towards Grand, and ultimately to +depose him from the Archbishopric of Lund. + +Morten was soon summoned to the king. When he returned he gaily threw +aside his pilgrim's mantle, seized the pretty fishermaiden with the one +hand and Jeppé with the other, and skipped with them down the hall +staircase, as a free and wealthy man, to celebrate his wedding at +Gilléleié. + +Notwithstanding that the suit against Archbishop Grand, and the +dangerous differences with the Romish see, were not adjusted until +after the lapse of several years, and at the cost of considerable +sacrifices, King Eric succeeded at length in obtaining the deposition +of Grand, and the instalment of another and more peaceable prelate in +the archiepiscopal chair of Lund; in the person of the formerly dreaded +Isarnus, who had now, however, learned from the fate of his predecessor +how to use his spiritual authority with moderation, and wisely +refrained from all interference with state affairs. By the final treaty +with the papal court the wanting dispensation of kindred was granted to +the king, and his marriage with the noble Princess Ingeborg of Sweden +declared to be perfectly valid. + +Three weeks after the king's nuptials, the faithful Drost Aagé was +again seen at his side; but he was unalterably grave and pensive. It +was not until some years afterwards that he was freed from the ban, +together with the king. He never alluded to his journey with Marsk +Stig's daughters. Some affirmed that he had only found the elder sister +in the prison-tower of Wordingborg, but that the younger had fled. +Others insisted they had seen her among the masquers at Helsingborg +castle, on the evening of the king's bridal. It was also rumoured that +she had been carried off by a merman. A ballad, relating this supposed +adventure, has been preserved among the people. The merman was affirmed +by some to have been the outlawed Kaggé, who was shortly afterwards +seized and slain by the burghers at Viborg. Meanwhile the beautiful and +pathetic ballad, which still preserves the memory of these sisters, +bears witness to their having traversed Sweden as fugitives, and having +found protection, for the first time, at the court of Norway. According +to this ballad the youngest of these exiled sisters was afterwards +married to a Norwegian prince; probably an illegitimate son of King +Haco. + +This popular ballad, as well as many obscure traditions, and what the +chronicles record of the latter part of the thirteenth century, bear +striking testimony to that troublous time, in which the unhappy +consequences of the last regicide in Denmark, hovered, like restless +demons, over throne and country, and cast so deep a shade even over the +happiest days of the upright King Eric Ericson. + + + + THE END. + + +[Footnote 1: Pebersvend (literally pepper 'prentice) is the term still +jocosely applied to elderly bachelors in Denmark.] + +[Footnote 2: The name of a part of Russia in the middle ages.] + +[Footnote 3: Frodé according to the Icelandic historians, the third +king of Denmark, surnamed "The Peaceful," although he seems rather to +have deserved the title of "The Victorious," as he is said to have +brought Sweden, Hungary, England, and Ireland under his sway. The +history of Frodé as related by the marvel-loving Saxo Grammaticus, +contains, as might be expected from the writer and the age, no slight +mixture of fable.--_Translator_.] + +[Footnote 4: Snorro Sturlesen, born 1178, died 1241, the author of the +"Heims Kringla," or the history of the Norwegian kings, and the +compiler of the Younger Edda, also called "Snorro's Edda." The Elder +Edda is the compilation of Sćmund Frodé, or "the learned," who +was born in Iceland, 1054, and died a priest at Oddé, in his 78th year. +Both the Eddas are collections of religious and mythic poems, and the +chief sources whence the knowledge of the northern mythology is +derived. The Elder Edda was first known in the middle of the 17th +century. It has been translated into Danish by Professor Finn +Magnussen.--_Translator_.] + +[Footnote 5: Snorro Sturlesen, the Norwegian historian, thus pourtrays +the character of this monarch,--"King Olaf was a noble prince, +possessed of shining virtues and great piety. When driven by Knud +(Canute the Great) from Norway, and compelled to take refuge with +Jarislaf of Moscow, he bore his exile with patience, and spent his time +in prayer and acts of devotion. While in this situation his peace of +mind was only disturbed by the apprehension lest the Christian faith, +which he had so carefully implanted in Norway, should suffer from the +kingdom having passed into the hands of other rulers, and it was +chiefly on this account that he made an attempt to regain his crown, +and with that purpose once more repaired to Norway, where he was +received by many good and true men who desired his return, and were +ready to sacrifice their lives in his service. The armies of Canute and +Olaf met at Sticklestad in the year 1030. Ere the engagement began, +Olaf addressed his troops in a pious and touching discourse. He ordered +them to make use of one common watchword, and shout when they attacked +the enemy, 'On! Christian men! Chosen men! Kings men!' The battle was +fought with equal bravery and obstinacy on both sides, but at last Olaf +was slain by one of his own traitorous subjects, who had deserted to +Canute's army. Vide _Holberg's Hist. of Denmark_, vol. i.--_Translator_.] + +[Footnote 6: An old Danish ballad entitled "King Birger and his +brothers," records the crimes of the former, and the melancholy fate of +the Swedish dukes. After years of strife between the brothers, Sweden +was at last partitioned off into three kingdoms, and possessed three +sovereigns and three distinct courts. In 1317, King Birger invited his +brothers to visit him at the castle of Nykioping, on the plea of +renewing the fraternal intercourse which had been so unhappily +interrupted, and the dukes unsuspectingly accepted the king's +invitation. On the evening of their arrival, however, after being +received with the greatest cordiality by the king, and sumptuously +entertained, they were seized by his order, bound hand and foot, and +thrown into the dungeon of the castle. This act of treachery soon +became known, and the king, fearing the interference of the people in +behalf of the dukes, fled from the castle, having first thrown the keys +of the dungeon into the deepest part of the river, and given orders +that the doors of the dungeon should not be opened until he returned. +On his departure Nykioping was instantly besieged, and crowds flocked +thither from all quarters, but ere the castle was taken the dukes had +expired. Eric died on the third day of his captivity, from the wounds +he had received in defending himself against his captors; but Valdemar +lived till the twelfth day without food.--_Translator_.] + +[Footnote 7: Holberg thus relates the fate of this able and upright +statesman:--"After a long period of civil war and discord, the feud +between King Birger and his brothers was at last accommodated, through +the mediation of their mutual counsellors; but on the conclusion of the +treaty, the Swedish dukes did their utmost to bring Thorkild Knudsen +into discredit with the king, to whom he was represented by them as +having been the instigator of the disturbances which had prevailed +throughout the country, as well as having stirred up strife among the +members of the royal family, and as having abused the confidence of the +crown. King Birger, who was glad of any pretext for escaping the blame +he himself deserved, turned his back upon his faithful servant, and +permitted him to be brought to trial. Thorkild ably defended his +rightful cause, but his innocence and eloquence were of no avail. He +had been marked out as a victim, was doomed to death as a traitor, and +beheaded at Stockholm in the year 1306. It was not without difficulty +that his friends obtained permission to inter the body in consecrated +ground. Thorkild's treacherous foe, Drost Johan Brunké, continued his +career of political intrigue until the year 1318, when he and his +partizans were seized in the king's absence, by the opposite faction, +and put to death. Brunké's body was exposed on the wheel on a hill +without the city, which since that time has borne the name of Brunké's +Hill." Vide _Holberg's Hist. of Denmark_, vol. i.--_Trans_.] + +[Footnote 8: The subject of the ballad of Ribéhuus is the taking of the +castle of Ribé, which had fallen into the hands of the outlaws during +the minority of Eric, by a party of fifty loyal knights, headed by +Count Gerhard and Drost Hessel. In the middle ages it was not unusual +for the knights to join in the public festivities of the burghers. At +one of these, the king's knights took the opportunity of joining a +dance by torch lights to be led according to usage through the streets +up to the castle. The ballad describes the long row of dancers, as +being kept in a straight file by a chain of wreathed green leaves and +roses. Each knight held a lady in his left hand and a lighted torch in +the right, their drawn swords being carefully concealed under their +scarlet mantles. The castle bridge was lowered and the gates thrown +open to admit the dancers by permission of the commandant, who in a few +minutes found himself a prisoner, and the castle (which was wholly +unprepared for the attack) in the hands of King Eric's adherents. The +ballad concludes as follows;-- + + + "Thus danced we into the castle hall, + With unsheathed sword 'neath scarlet pall, + The castle it is won! + Ne'er saw I before a castle by chance, + Won by rose-wreaths and the knightly dance, + For young Eric the feat was done!"--_Translator_.] + +[Footnote 9: Bohemia.] + +[Footnote 10: Rosmer. An allusion to an old Danish ballad, the hero of +which is called "Rosmer the Merman."--_Translator_.] + + + + + + London: + Printed by A. Spottiswoode, + New-Street-Square. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 3, by +Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 3 *** + +***** This file should be named 36633-8.txt or 36633-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/6/3/36633/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + +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: King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 3 + or, the Throne, the Church, and the People in the Thirteenth + Century. Vol. I. + +Author: Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +Translator: Jane Frances Chapman + +Release Date: July 5, 2011 [EBook #36633] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 3 *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + +</pre> + + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Note:<br> + +1. Page scan source:<br> +http://www.archive.org/details/kingericandoutl01chapgoog</p> + + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="line-height:200%"> +<h2>KING ERIC</h2> + +<h5>AND</h5> + +<h3>THE OUTLAWS.</h3> + +<h4>VOL. III.</h4> +</div> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:40%"> +<h5><span class="sc">London</span>: +Printed by <span class="sc">A. Spottiswoode</span>, +New-Street-Square.</h5> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="line-height:200%"> +<h1>KING ERIC</h1> + +<h5>AND</h5> + +<h2>THE OUTLAWS;</h2> + +<h5>OR,</h5> + +<h3>THE THRONE, THE CHURCH, AND THE PEOPLE,</h3> +</div> +<h4>IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.</h4> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h5>BY</h5> +<h3>INGEMANN</h3> +<br> +<br> +<h4>TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH BY</h4> +<h3>JANE FRANCES CHAPMAN.</h3> +<br> +<br> + +<hr style="width:10%; color:black"> +<h4>IN THREE VOLUMES.</h4> +<h3>VOL. III.</h3> +<hr style="width:10%; color:black"> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>LONDON:</h3> +<h4>LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS,</h4> +<h5>PATERNOSTER-ROW.</h5> +<h3>1843.</h3> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + + +<p class="normal">As soon as they reached the quay, Sir Helmer put his head out of the +hatchway, and beheld a man jump on shore in great haste from the +forecastle. Helmer had only seen his back; he was clad like a German +grocer's apprentice; but he felt pretty certain it was the outlawed +Kaggé. The mantle of the order of the Holy Ghost lay under the +foremost rowing bench. With his drawn sword in his hand. Sir Helmer +now sprang upon deck, together with the Drost's squire, whose left +hand was wrapped in his mantle. Their attire was somewhat rent and +blood-stained, yet they appeared to have found time to bind up each +other's wounds, and even to arrange their dress. Without saying a word, +they passed the armed crew of the vessel, with a salutation of defiance +to Henrik Gullandsfar, and a jeering smile at the heavy and wrathful +Rostocker, whose broad visage glowed with anger. Helmer and the squire +sheathed their swords on the quay, and those who saw them come up from +thence, without noticing the spots of blood upon their clothes, took +them for fellow-travellers, who, in all peacefulness, had arrived in +the Rostock vessel.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The 'prentice! mark him, Canute!" whispered Sir Helmer to the squire +as they both left the quay with hasty steps, and looked around them on +all sides. "What hath become of him? There!--no--that is another--ha, +there!--no, another again!"</p> + +<p class="normal">At every turn they fancied they saw the disguised outlaw, but were +frequently deceived by a similar dress and figure. The German grocer's +apprentices thronged in busy crowds on the quay, and near the vessels +in the haven, where they were in constant occupation, and had a number +of porters at work.</p> + +<p class="normal">These foreign mercantile agents were usually elderly single men, most +frequently with sour, unpleasant countenances, and maintaining much +spruce neatness in their dress, and preciseness in their deportment. As +pepper was the chief article sold in their grocers' booths, they were +usually called pepper 'prentices<a name="div2Ref_01" href="#div2_01"><sup>[1]</sup></a>, not without a design to jeer at +their peevishness and irritability. They made themselves conspicuous by +large silver buttons on their long-skirted coats of German cloth; a +woollen cap from Garderige<a name="div2Ref_02" href="#div2_02"><sup>[2]</sup></a>, and a long Spanish gold-headed cane, +which served them at the same time for an ell measure, formed part of +their finery; and they were so remarkable for the sameness of their +appearance and deportment, the effect of their living apart from +others, and pursuing a uniform occupation, that they were often exposed +to the jibes and jeers of the people, especially on account of their +celibacy, which was enjoined them by their Hanseatic masters, and was a +necessary consequence of their position as traders in a foreign city, +where they were not privileged to become residents with families.</p> + +<p class="normal">Sir Helmer stared attentively at every German grocer's apprentice he +met, and became at last so wroth at his frequent mistakes that he was +ready to insult those personages, who in their busy vocation frequently +jostled him in the crowd, "Those accursed pepper-'prentices, they drive +me mad!" he exclaimed at length, and stamped on the ground. "I will +break the neck of the first that brushes against my arm!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is just and reasonable, noble Sir," said the squire; "my fingers +itch every time I see such a fellow. If they will be monks, they should +not be running here and staring every maiden in the face in broad day +light. They are as soon enamoured as any shaven crown--I had well nigh +said--St. Antony forgive me my wicked thought! Look! here we have one +again I saw ye how he twisted his eyes in his head to goggle at that +pretty kitchen maid with the cabbage basket? Shall I buffet him down to +the Catsound, noble Sir?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, surely not, crack-brains!" answered Sir Helmer, sharply; "let us +behave reasonably. Do thou stay here in the ale-house near the haven, +and keep an eye on the outlaw, that he slinks not back to the vessel; +if there is law and justice in the town, he 'scapes us not. Thou dost +surely know him well?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, assuredly! Kaggé with the scar; him from whom they scalded off +his knightly honour on the scaffold. I should know him among a thousand +scoundrels, and his black horse to boot. 'Tis a sin such a handsome +beast----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perhaps it was a God's Providence we came here against our will," +interrupted Helmer. "The red hat from Rome wants to negotiate a treaty +here betwixt the king and the run-away bishop from Hammershuus; they +are now at the castle, and have got the little bishop Johan in their +clutches. It will doubtless end in nothing; but comes the king hither +where the Roskild bishop rules, he may chance to need both our eyes and +our swords. But, what in all the world is the matter here? Look, how +the people flock together!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Sir Helmer now, for the first time, remarked a singular stir and +disturbance among the inhabitants of the town; there were far greater +numbers of persons in the street than were usually to be seen in the +most populous towns. He went onward, still looking around in search of +the outlawed fugitive; he now heard loud talk among the burghers and +mechanics who passed him, and expressions of wild wrath against the +Lord Bishop Johan and his ecclesiastical guests at Axelhuus. The people +assembled in groups in the streets, and only dispersed, grumbling and +murmuring on the appearance of a troop of men-at-arms. "The provost's +people! The bishop's men!" they muttered one to another, by way of +warning. "Aside! make way, comrades! as yet it is not time. Down to the +old strand!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"What means this?" said Helmer to the squire, who still followed him on +the quay, alongside the ships in the harbour, staring around with +surprise and curiosity. "It looks like sedition and mutiny."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who are ye who bear arms in the bishop's town? Know ye not the rights +and town-law of Copenhagen?" said a powerful voice behind them. They +turned round and saw a man who from his attire seemed to be a burgher, +but who wore a kind of herald's mantle over his long coat, and held a +white staff in his hand, on which were painted the arms of the Bishop +of Roskild. He was accompanied by a crowd of the bishop's retainers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am the king's knight and halberdier, as you see well enough," +answered Helmer. "What hath your bishop and his town-law to do with +me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ho! ho, my bold sir!--stick your finger in the ground, and smell where +ye are! You surely come from worldly towns and castles where neither +order nor discipline are kept. What's your name, Sir Halberdier?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Helmer Blaa," answered the knight, laying his hand on the hilt of his +sword. "You have perhaps heard that name before?--or shall I teach you +to know it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"By your favour, noble sir!" answered the herald in a lowered tone, and +looking at him with surprise; "are you the renowned knight, Helmer, who +beat all the six brothers at once, and of whom the whole town sings the +ballad--</p> + + +<p class="center" style="font-size:90%">"He rides in the saddle so free."</p> + + +<p class="normal">"That I will never deny," answered Helmer, with a nod of satisfaction; +"he that made that ballad about me hath not lied. I will not pride +myself on that account," he added, "it concerned but my own life and +fortune. You brave Copenhageners have won full as much honour in Marsk +Stig's feud, and we shall soon come to an understanding I think."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I think so too, by my troth, Sir Helmer," said the burgher herald with +cheerfulness, frankly giving him his hand at the same time. "I would +just as little insult you as your master, our excellent young king. As +free as you ride in the saddle by his side, so frank and free for aught +I would hinder it, may you walk here; but the service is strict at this +time. Here's mutiny as you see against our lord, the bishop. I must in +the council's name summon every man bearing arms to the lay court, and +to the council in 'Endaboth.' With the king's knights, especially with +a man like you, I think, however, the lord bishop would make a +difference."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If the bishop wills to keep his beard, he will doubtless allow the +knight to keep his sword," said Helmer. "If he hath appointed you to +hinder misdeed and crime then help me rather to seize an outlawed +criminal who has been set on shore here from yonder Rostocker. He hath +crept into a German pepper-'prentice coat; he seeks after the king's +life--he is easy to know, it is Kaggé with the scar. If you catch him +dead or alive, I will laud you as a true Danish man, and brave subject +of the king."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That are we all here at heart, noble Sir," answered the herald, +lowering his voice, and looking cautiously around him while he made a +signal to his armed followers to fall back. "Our loyalty to the king we +have, as you say yourself, shewn right honestly in Marsk Stig's feud; +the king also hath recompensed us for that; he hath honourably helped +us with the fortifications of our good town, and with the new palisade. +Every honest man in Copenhagen would rather obey him than the priestly +rulers; but if we would speak out aloud of any other master here than +the bishop, we must give all our chattels to his treasury, and wander +houseless out of the town. Go in peace, Sir Helmer; but hide your sword +under your mantle! If I light upon the evil doer ye seek, I shall +assuredly seize him and summon him in your name to the council. Where +may you be found yourself?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here, in the inn, close to St. Clement's church--you are an honest man +I perceive--tell me frankly, countryman! would it avail were I to speak +to the provost, or to your bishop touching yon miscreant? He is one of +those impudent regicides. I have my eye also on that braggart +Rostocker; he brings false coin into the country, and hath threatened +the king. What I know further about him I have promised not to speak +of--but wherever I meet him--I am his man!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will surely get no justice here on the king's enemies, Sir +Knight!" whispered the herald. "If ye will take my advice ye will keep +as far off from our bishop and his provost as possible! The king's +friends are not exactly theirs, and must not, either, seem to be ours. +Had I not a good dame and children, you would hardly have seen me with +this staff in hand. If you would catch hold of the pepper 'prentices," +he added, shutting one eye, "you must seek them at the dice boards in +the ale-house! What may chance there, none need do penance for--but in +the harbour and on the quay none dare touch them. On, fellows! The +stranger knight hath given account of himself like an honourable man," +cried the herald, with a voice of authority, and proceeded onwards with +his armed train.</p> + +<p class="normal">Helmer looked after him, and nodded to the squire. "Brisk fellows, +these Copenhageners!" said he. "It is shameful they are forced +to be under the bishop's thumb! That counsel about the taverns and +draught-boards suits not my humour either. We will seek the foe in the +straight path. First, however, let us thank St. George and St. Clement +for our deliverance, and then we can with a good conscience despatch +the rascals wherever we light on them." He approached St. Clement's +church, but found the church door locked, and marked with a large black +cross. "What means this?" he exclaimed. "Is there pestilence in God's +house?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Prohibition, interdict, son! according to the enactment 'cum ecclesiâ +Dacianâ,'" answered an old Dominican monk, who was kneeling before a +stone crucifix without the closed church door, and now arose slowly. +"The sins of the high-born are about to be visited upon those of low +degree; our most pious bishop hath no longer dared to withhold the +great national punishment which the holy Father hath commanded on +account of the presumptuous imprisonment of the archbishop, contrary to +the constitution of all holy laws. Virgo amata! ora pro nobis!" he +muttered, and folded his hands.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The devil take those Latin laws, with reverence be it spoken, +venerable father!" answered the knight. "The archbishop is at liberty; +and is it now the time to punish a nation and country for that old sin +of the king's, if it really was a sin?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Assuredly it was a heavy sin and injustice," answered the monk; "but +the chastisement is too hard--that is the truth--and it falls on the +souls of the innocent--the people are only made ungodly and uproarious +by it; as we have proofs daily. If the king is not come hither to +bethink himself, and do penance, the prospect may be a drear one for us +all."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is he come?" asked Helmer hastily.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not here to the town--but to the royal castle at Sorretslóv; his +plenipotentiaries are already at Axelhuus. Alas! yes! it is high time +he should give in, ere the interdict drives the whole nation to +rebellion and destruction.--Ora pro nobis!" he muttered again, and +turned towards the crucifix.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Believe ye he hath come hither to humble himself, and crouch at the +bishop's feet? venerable father?" answered the knight; "then you will +find your belief to fail you in this matter, as I observe this tumult +concerns not the king, but your own little bishop and his overbearing +guests. Against this stupid church-shutting, a remedy will surely be +found at home. The nation is pitiful indeed which would let itself be +shut out from God's house while there are sturdy axes and iron crows in +the country."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Alas, ye children of the world! ye worldly lords! ye will ever forward +with might and violence,--ye would at last storm heaven's gates if ye +were able," groaned the monk; "from the great and mighty doth all that +defiance and scandal proceed; and the poor, deluded people! <i>they</i> +listen but too willingly to such wild and ungodly counsel. Look! yonder +comes another flock of erring sheep, who have turned into wolves! There +they come, with spears and staves, like those who followed Judas, that +child of wrath. Hear how they bluster and storm. God be merciful! They +are surely rushing hither; they will assuredly open the church by +force."</p> + +<p class="normal">The dismayed Dominican was preparing to fly, but the insurgents placed +themselves in his way. "Tarry a little, pious father!" shouted the +ringleader of the troop, a tall carpenter, with a large axe in his +hand. "Thou shalt read us the Holy Scripture before St. Clement's +altar; we have heard neither vespers nor mass for three days. Force the +church door, comrades!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are ye distraught?" cried the monk; "will ye do violence to the house +of God!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No chattering! Force the door, countrymen!" shouted the leader. +"Neither St. Peter nor our Lady have taken it amiss of us. Mass goes on +cheerily in all the churches. We will hear our vespers at St. Nicholas. +Well done my lads! Look! now is the interdict ended! The church door +gave way before the ponderous strokes; the insurgents poured into the +church with a wild shout of victory, dragging the Dominican along with +them.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That will be but a disturbed worship, noble sir," said the squire; "we +had better reserve our piety for another time. Look, yonder comes a +fresh troop! Nay, look! They have balista and cross-bows with them; +they will now surely assault Axelhuus."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That hits my fancy!" exclaimed Sir Helmer, joyfully. "This prelatical +tyranny should not be tolerated by any Danish man. I come at the right +time; there may be something to take a hand in here. If they will +besiege the bishop's nest, I Will teach them at least to do it briskly. +Stay thou on the quay, and watch the pepper 'prentices, Canute! I must +set the honest burghers a little to rights with the balista." So saying +Sir Helmer hastened with rapid strides down to the old strand, where +the restless crowds of insurgents flocked together in wild tumult.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. II.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The inmates of Axelhuus appeared to feel sufficiently secure to despise +these disturbances which had commenced, though in a less degree, some +days before.</p> + +<p class="normal">The bishop's well-fortified castle was situated on an island, the +ferry-boats that usually plied there lay, during these commotions, in +the harbour, under the high walls of the castle, by which means all +communication between the town and the castle Island was cut off. The +distance from the town, however, was not so great, but that Axelhuus +might be reached from the strand by arrows, and especially by balista, +when these dangerous engines of war were worked with proper skill. In +the upper hall at Axelhuus, sat the spiritual and temporal ruler of the +town, the little authoritative bishop Johan of Roskild, in solemn +council, between his guests Archbishop Grand and Cardinal Isarnus. At +the archbishop's right hand sat his faithful friend, the haughty abbot +from the forest monastery. Grand's agent, the canon Nicholas from +Roskild, was also present, as well as the canon Hans Rodis, who had +assisted his flight from Sjöberg. At the great hall table sat also the +cardinal's famulus and his secretary, with two Italian ecclesiastics +belonging to his train. For the convenience of the foreign cardinal, +the conversation was chiefly carried on in Latin. The lord of the +castle, the little bishop Johan, seemed to have assumed a determined +and authoritative deportment in imitation of the archbishop, by whose +side, however, he appeared wholly insignificant, although he now acted +as the protector both of the powerful Grand, and of the cardinal. He +now and then cast an observant glance out of the window towards the +town and the increasing crowd on the strand, yet without betraying fear +or uneasiness. Archbishop Grand had not yet overcome the consequences +of his severe imprisonment. He rested his swollen feet on a soft +stuffed foot-stool. There was a look of gloomy asperity on his pale, +emaciated countenance. Every movement appeared to cost him an effort, +while all his vital energy seemed as if concentrated in his large +flashing eye. He sat lost in reverie, gazing before him in silence, +while the cardinal, with a lurking smile in his small crafty eye, +perused a document which his secretary had just drawn up.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Trust him not, venerable brother," whispered the abbot from the forest +monastery in the archbishop's ear; "he secretly sides with the king: I +know it; he aims at your archbishopric."</p> + +<p class="normal">Grand changed colour and clenched his hands convulsively, but was +silent, and cast a searching look at the papal nuncio.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In the name and on the behalf of the holy father!" commenced the +cardinal, in Latin, ridding himself of the red cap which covered his +tonsure; "ere the royal ambassadors come into our presence, I once more +counsel my aggrieved brother to submission and a wise resignation. In +this treaty which I have here caused to be cursorily drawn up, and the +contents of which you already know Archbishop Grand! I have at your own +request, according to the strict principles of ecclesiastical law, +enjoined the King of Denmark to make such a considerable compensation +for towns, villages, castles, and temporal offices, that I see +beforehand he will reject the negociation."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I now reject it also, even on these conditions," answered the +Archbishop impetuously, "That in which King Eric hath sinned against me +and my holy office, he can never fully atone for, even with the loss of +his--crown!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You surely would not, however, strain the bow still tighter, venerable +brother! and at last insist on your king being punished by loss of +honour, life, and possessions, like a criminal by temporal justice?" +asked the cardinal, with a crafty smile on his unruffled countenance, +"in the matter of soul and salvation, you have dealt as hardly with him +as possible. Forget not, my venerable brother! That your opponent is a +crowned and anointed monarch, at the head of a brave and loyal people, +and with many mighty princes for his friends! Every spiritual decree to +which a temporal potentate will not <i>voluntarily</i> submit out of +christian piety and humility, will be ineffectual, and become the scoff +of the children of this world, especially here in the north, where even +the holy lightnings, as I perceive, fall somewhat cooled and weakened. +The king's charges against my venerable brother in Christ are, besides, +very grave and heavy, and," added the Cardinal with a thoughtful look, +"if the royal advocate in Rome can but prove the half of what is +alleged, you will assuredly act most wisely in lowering your demands +somewhat, and will even desire yourself that the whole unhappy affair +should be hushed up. This, at all events, is my brotherly counsel, and +if you could master yourself so far as to follow it, an honourable +treaty will doubtless be possible. It is my heartfelt wish, as well for +your peace as that of the church, and to prevent all scandal and +dissension for the future--that you, with consent of the holy father, +should exchange the archbishopric of Lund for another (perhaps of more +importance, and more worthy of your merits) without these northern +lands, where your personal misunderstanding with temporal authorities +will hardly ever be wholly removed. I say this with kindly concern for +my excellent brother's peace and safety. Even at this moment we are +both, in some sort, in the power of the temporal ruler, of whose +impetuosity you have had such sensible proofs."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ay indeed, your eminence!" exclaimed Grand in the greatest +exasperation, as he kicked the footstool from him, and rose, "Speak ye +now to me in this tone? Was it for this you summoned me from my secure +Hammershuus, and bade me trust to the passport of my deadly foe? You +think, perhaps, to have trapped me into a snare I cannot escape from! +You imagine, perhaps, that my pious colleague, our mutual and venerable +host, who here sways town and castle, will, out of base and cowardly +fear, betray his friend and guest, and lawful archbishop, to flatter +the temporal tyrant, who already, as I perceive, hath rendered a papal +nuncio his spiritual slave? No, lord Cardinal! In that case, you know +neither me, nor the meritorious servant of the Lord here, at our side. +If he hath already for my sake, and that of the church, with courageous +energy exposed himself to the tyrant's wrath, and even to tumult and +sedition in his own town, he will surely not now stoop to degrade +himself by an act of treachery which would brand him as a dastardly +traitor. My safety and freedom are provided for; any moment I please I +can embark, and neither the king nor the seditious burgher-pack shall +forbid me to wend free from hence, and seek justice before St. Peter's +judgment seat. Here I dare speak out freely that which I deem of you, +as well as of that presumptuous and ungodly king. You have not +fulfilled your duty here as papal nuncio.--Instead of confirming ban +and interdict with the holy Father's authority----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is my own affair, my brother!" interrupted Isarnus, with cool +calmness, "Since your own counsellors have enforced the interdict +according to the constitution of Veilé no confirmation was needed. We +speak now only of the king, and whether you will be reconciled to him +and recall the ban."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, never! To all eternity!" cried Grand, impetuously; "and I laugh at +his accusations: that which I once spoke of his father's murder, and +which he now makes the plea for his tyrannical conduct, I dare repeat +here, and before the highest judgment seat. If the king's murder was +<i>destined</i> to take place, it was unfortunate that it did <i>not</i> take +place sixteen years before, then that wretched monarch would have left +no posterity behind him, and the descendants of Eric Glipping would +never have dishonoured Denmark's throne. Yes! I made that intrepid +speech, and I repeat it now; but I deny all share in the tyrant's +murder, and all connection with Duke Valdemar and the outlaws. It +matters not to me, henceforth, who reigns in Denmark, be it Duke +Valdemar or a Jew, a Saracen or a heathen, or--the devil himself, if +only King Eric and his wretched brother may never be obeyed here as +kings and lieges."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will you also defend what you <i>now</i> say, before the highest judgment +seat? venerable brother!" asked Isarnus, with unruffled calmness, and +with an almost imperceptible smile. "Your bodily weakness is, however, +reasonable excuse for your not being always master of your mind and +tongue. Now I have heard your declaration, despite the exaggeration of +feeling it betrays, it still in some sort agrees, both with the will of +the Holy Father and of the king. Your cause immediately depends upon +the papal see; nevertheless, let the king's ambassadors appear, my +worthy brother!" he said to Bishop Johan, who instantly rose and left +the hall.</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a silence of a few moments. Grand had resumed his seat; he +rested his long chin upon his clenched hand, and seemed angry, both at +his own vehemence, and the calmness of the cardinal. Shortly afterwards +Bishop Johan entered, accompanied by two ecclesiastics. They were the +king's ambassadors; the provincial prior of the Dominicans, the +venerable Master Olaus, with his handsome snow-white head, and Esger +Iuul, the canon of Ribé--a young priest, well versed in law, and of a +bold, intelligent countenance. They had been waiting for admission some +hours in an antechamber. They now greeted the prelates with reverence, +and the cardinal half rose from his seat to return their salutation; +but the Archbishop remained seated in gloomy reverie. Bishop Johan +requested the king's plenipotentiaries to seat themselves. The +provincial prior sat down, but the canon remained standing, and began, +"Pardon me, your eminence! and you, most learned lord archbishop! and +all ye reverend ecclesiastics! if I am here necessitated to say what +displeases you I stand forth here, not as the church's, but as the +king's, my temporal master's, servant and spokesman. What he hath +ordered me to propound, I must utter, even though I may not dare to +attribute to myself the thoughts and opinions which I have taken on +myself to expound."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Speak boldly, brother Canonicus! I have been advised of your +authority," interrupted the cardinal, with a gracious nod, and the +canon continued, "My lord and king hath three hours ago arrived at his +royal castle here in the village of Sorretslóv, without the town of +Copenhagen, in order personally to confirm and sign what may be here, +with his consent, agreed upon; and, in case of need, with his royal +power and authority to hinder the breach of the public peace, with +which state and kingdom are threatened by the presence of Bishop Grand, +and the enforcement of the interdict. He desires not to see <i>that</i> man +in his presence whom he considers as an accomplice in the murder of his +royal father of blessed memory, and who hath also dared to pronounce +the church's ban on his own royal head; but the peace and safe conduct +he hath promised his opponent, he will honourably and chivalrously +observe. The King hath expressly enjoined me to declare, that he comes +hither in no wise to excuse and defend that, which, compelled by +necessity, he hath been forced to enact against canonical law and the +constitution of Veilé, by the personal imprisonment of Archbishop +Grand. This affair he confidently trusts to justify before the highest +tribunal in Christendom; but he comes hither as lord of the land, for +the restoration of public peace, and as the accuser of the fugitive +archbishop before his eminence the papal nuncio. All reconciliation in +this kingdom with this prelate, charged as he is with treason, my +liege, the king, decidedly rejects; but he promises him free and safe +departure for Rome, whither he hath already expedited his ambassadors, +and whence he awaits a righteous sentence upon the accused. Till this +sentence is awarded, he demands to be freed from the unlawful ban +pronounced upon him by a prisoned traitor. (These are not my words, but +the king's.) He demands likewise that the kingdom be freed from the +interdict, which the councils of Veilé, Roskild, and Lund, have +announced to his loyal and innocent people. Against the right of the +councils and bishops therein assisting, to take this step without +consent of their chapter and the rest of the clergy, the chapter of the +cathedral of Roskild hath solemnly protested--and the provincial prior +of the Dominicans, the venerable Master Olaus, is here present in +person to confirm the protest."</p> + +<p class="normal">The aged provincial prior now rose--"In the name of my holy order, and +that of the chapter of Roskild cathedral, I declare the conduct of the +councils in this matter to be unlawful and invalid," he said in a clear +and calm voice, "I consider not the chapters and the Danish clergy to +be under the necessity of giving up the performance of divine worship, +and I require you, Bishop Johan of Roskild! as speedily as possible to +recall the unhappy church interdict, which hath already caused such +great disturbance here in the town, where you, yourself, meanwhile, +bear rule. If God's service is to cease, Satan's service will soon +commence, with all manner of dissoluteness and profligacy; of discord +and variance between the shepherd and his flock; spiritual, as well as +all temporal peace and security will be at an end, and no priest will +be sure of his life. Enthusiasts and sectarians, atheists and Leccar +brothers, will inundate the land, and mislead the people; laymen and +drunken guild-brethren will preside in the congregation, as they have +already begun to do here. Neither the church nor the holy father can +desire that we, to maintain the stern and impracticable constitution of +Veilé, should overthrow all order and fear of God in Denmark, and +suffer the people to fall into barbarism, and into the greatest +errors--ay, even into heathenism and devil-worship. In the name of the +Danish clergy, I solemnly protest against the interdict; but in thus +protesting against it, I consider that I in nowise encroach on the +churches freedom, or attack you, most learned archbishop!--or any other +spiritual authority. The church but uses its freedom and power in such +wise, that we, its servants, should not corrupt and destroy the souls +entrusted to us, instead of leading them to the peace of God and +eternal salvation! Dixi et liberavi animam. Now act as you can answer +to God and your conscience, venerable sirs! but you will be responsible +in this world and the next for the consequences! They might prove +bloody and terrible."</p> + +<p class="normal">He hardly finished speaking, ere a shower of stones and arrows struck +against the wall with great noise, forced in the windows, and poured +into the midst of the hall, among the dismayed ecclesiastics, who +started from their seats, and sought safety between the massive window +pillars, and behind the thick walls of the hall; the cardinal also +quitted his seat, but the archbishop remained seated with an air of +defiance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Doth he break his promise of safe conduct? the godless king of +Belial!" cried Grand. "Shall I and my faithful friends be stoned here +like prophets and martyrs, that our blood may cry to Heaven and call +down the lightnings of eternal damnation upon his head?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I witness before the Lord and our Holy Lady! The king hath no share in +this attack," resumed the provincial prior, who remained standing. +"When he hears of it, he will assuredly highly disapprove this unlawful +and presumptuous breach of peace: but here, venerable sirs! you already +see the consequences of the interdict; the whole town is in uproar; the +mob was storming against the closed churches of St. Peter and Our Lady, +as we were on our way hither, and threatened with fire and sword. If +you do not now yield to necessity. Bishop Johan! Axelhuus will be +perhaps taken by storm, or laid in ashes ere midnight."</p> + +<p class="normal">A fresh shower of stones and arrows interrupted the provincial prior's +speech; he crossed himself and retreated. A large stone from a balista +fell just before the archbishop's face, and split the table. Grand +arose, with a look which flashed fire, and quitted his dangerous +position.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Follow me, my guests!" said the little Bishop Johan in a squeaking +voice, and hastily opening a door,--"Could we but pass unharmed through +the north corridor to the tower, no arrow or balista stone shall reach +us. The castle can stand both siege and storm. I will show you that I +suffer not myself to be thus mastered by my rebellious flock; but we +must hasten--here we are still exposed to the greatest danger." So +saying, he himself quitted the hall in great trepidation; all followed +him through a long corridor to a more secure retreat. Meanwhile, the +attack upon the castle increased in vigour every moment, and the +whole northern wing, which looked upon the town, was everywhere +exposed to arrows and showers of stones. Some exclaimed that they were +wounded--they rushed forward headlong, and jostled each other without +ceremony. Care for personal safety had nearly chased away all regard to +rank and position and decorum--most of the ecclesiastics ran past the +archbishop and the cardinal. The papal nuncio, however, passed hastily +and unharmed through the corridor, accompanied by the provincial prior +and Esger Iuul. Grand's slow and laboured step was alone supported by +the abbot from the forest monastery, whose heavy-built person permitted +him not to haste. The long corridor, through the whole length of which +they were forced to pass, had, on the one side, open gothic arches over +a walled parapet. Here at every moment poured in a number of arrows and +stones, which forced the fugitive prelates to pursue their way, +stooping, and almost creeping under the parapet.</p> + +<p class="normal">"God's judgment upon the presumptuous, and upon their traitorous king!" +panted forth the archbishop. "It is his creatures who stir up the +people. Now he rejoices over our distress, and would make use of it for +our humiliation."</p> + +<p class="normal">"St. Bent and St. Peter assist us! Stoop your head!" cried the heavy +Abbot, creeping under the parapet. "Yonder comes another balista stone! +Merciful heaven, what a swarm of people!" he continued, looking out +cautiously towards the town. "Hear how they bluster! They utter your +name, venerable brother, with ungodly oaths; they are busy with +boats--they are dragging more balista forward. I see one of the king's +halberdiers among them."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Mark! <i>he</i> is the ring-leader, the faithless despot!" cried the +archbishop, "from him comes all our tribulation, and the country's +misery! Send forth thy destroying angel, righteous Lord! root out the +perjurer! Pluck him up by the roots!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"This way, venerable sirs! and ye are safe!" said a hollow voice from +the end of the corridor, and a tall manly form with a wild pallid +countenance, appeared at the door; he was clad like a German pepper +'prentice, and had a large red scar on his forehead.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My guest of the sanctuary! your persecuted friend and avenger!" +whispered the abbot from the forest monastery. "St. Peter and St. Bent +be thanked--the All-righteous hath heard your prayer, the destroying +angel is come."</p> + +<p class="normal">The tall form in the door-way laid his finger on his lips, and +disappeared with the two prelates, while the door of the corridor +closed after them.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. III.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The attack upon Axelhuus had thrown the whole town into the greatest +agitation. Even the most quiet and peaceable burghers could not conceal +their satisfaction on the occasion, and many of them took an open share +in the insurrection. The wild shouts of exultation which were heard +each time a shower of stones poured into the castle, sufficiently +showed the general feeling of indignation, not alone against prelatical +rule but chiefly against the archbishop, for whose sake, and by whose +powerful influence, the exasperating interdict had been enforced. +Grand's name was the watchword on the commencement of every fresh +attack. The provost, with his armed attendants, vainly strove to +restore order and quietness; wherever he appeared with the bishop's +men-at-arms, he was instantly driven back by the enraged populace. The +report of the king's arrival at Sorretslóv, and the uneasy terms he was +on with the inmates of Axelhuus, had given a new and loyal impulse to +the insurrection; as the mob now believed that, by their attack on the +ecclesiastical dignitaries, they were making common cause with the +king, against his and the kingdom's arrogant foes. The provost had +ordered all the gates of the town to be locked, but the insurgents had +forced them, and a great number of people, among whom were some of the +richest and most peaceable inhabitants, hastened out of the north gate +of Sorretslóv to see the king and intreat his support. Another crowd +flocked to the tower of St. Mary's church, and rang the alarm bell. +"Away with the holy wolves at the castle!" was the cry throughout the +streets. Without the well-lighted council-house, where the council was +assembled, and whither several captive insurgents had been brought, +there was a fearful uproar. The mob demanded the liberation of the +prisoners and threatened to fire the council-house. There was a great +tumult also at the Catsound:--"Out with all the boats!" was the cry of +the mob, "Throw the grocer-wares overboard! Drive the pepper 'prentices +to the devil! Let's fire the castle! Let no soul escape! Death to the +foes of king and country!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Meanwhile there were more cries and shouts than deeds in most places, +and the wild alarmists were in motion in the most opposite directions, +but, on the old strand, a person was seen who had brought order and +plan into the attack; it was Sir Helmer Blaa, who, with warlike +eagerness, posted the balista on the strand, and instructed the +burghers how to use these engines with force and effect. For some hours +he stood unwearied at this his favourite occupation, and where he led +the attack the castle sustained considerable damage.</p> + +<p class="normal">The captive insurgents meanwhile had been liberated at the +council-house. A great number of the council had joined the insurgents' +party, and taken up arms against the bishop. The rest of the +counsellors had escaped at the imminent peril of their lives, and some +of them had succeeded in getting out amongst the crowd through the +north gate, and reaching the king's castle at Sorretslóv, where they +found the king already on horseback, at the head of his knights and +spearmen, in readiness to enter the town himself and quell the +insurrection.</p> + +<p class="normal">The evening was closing in. The insurrection had already risen to such +a height that most of the burghers had become alarmed at their own +undertaking, and every resident inhabitant began to fear for the safety +of his property and family; while the unbridled mob considered +themselves freed from all laws of decency and order. The king now +galloped in through the north gate, by Count Henrik's side, at +the head of his troop of knights, and followed by the tall, handsome, +lance-bearers who formed his body guard.</p> + +<p class="normal">At St. Peter's church, close to the northern gate of the town, and at +St. Mary's, his progress was almost hindered by the thronging crowds. +At both places the insurgents had forced the church doors and compelled +the priests to perform mass. The pious chaunts from the churches +sounded strange and mournful, amid the wild shouts of the mutineers.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That devotion doubtless proceeds more from defiance that piety," said +the king to Count Henrik, "yet assuredly, none shall hinder them from +God's worship, provided it be conducted with decency and order." He +ordered a guard to be stationed by both churches to check all +disturbances, and rode on. Wherever he appeared he was received with +the most devoted homage, and with joyous acclamations; which were, +however, somewhat subdued in those who were most obstreperous, on +seeing the provost and two of the council among the king's nearest +followers. An uneasy murmur was heard, here and there, and the people +gradually began to comprehend that the king came not hither to take +part with the insurgents against their rulers, but to maintain the +lawful government of the town, and restore public tranquillity.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Silence, good people! Let every one go to his home! Lay down your +arms!" said the king, in a grave but kindly tone, as he returned the +greetings of the people and stopped his horse.</p> + +<p class="normal">A silence ensued and the crowd thronged around him with attention to +hear what he said. "I come as your protector, and the upholder of law +and justice in my kingdom," he continued. "That which you can +reasonably demand of the bishop he shall grant you. The shutting +of the churches shall be at an end--the church-doors shall be thrown +open--that I promise you. As to the rest, you must obey your rulers," +he added sternly. "What hath happened here shall be narrowly inquired +into. There shall be peace and order in the town; he who from this hour +takes the law into his own hands, shall lose his life and reap the +reward of his deeds." An instant stillness prevailed wherever these +words were heard. The insurgents, and all who bore arms, decamped; but +a great crowd of unarmed burghers followed the king with loud +acclamations through the streets.</p> + +<p class="normal">At the old strand the bombardment of Axelhuus was still carried on with +great zeal. The castle island was surrounded by boats filled with +bowmen and torch-bearers. Preparations were already begun for storming +and firing Axelhuus, The fight was now maintained on both sides, and +arrows and stones from balista were shot from the towers and +battlements of the castle.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The king!--the king! with the provost and council," was re-echoed from +mouth to mouth, and it seemed as if a stroke of lightning had lamed +every arm. "Long live the king!" shouted the insurgents, and many threw +down their weapons. "No more war!--the king will judge between us and +the bishop!" The clattering of the horses' hoofs was already heard; the +crowd gave way on all sides to make room for the king and his knights. +The people shouted and made signals to the bowmen and brandmen in the +numerous boats which surrounded the castle island; in an instant nearly +all the brands and torches were extinguished in the water, and the +assailants rowed hastily back from the besieged castle. The shooting, +however, still continued from a battery of balista on the shore: it was +here Sir Helmer had stationed himself. His whole attention was so +engrossed in the working of the balista, that he was unconscious of +what was passing around him; he thought the bowmen and torch-throwers +had been put to flight, but observed not the general cessation of the +attack, nor the arrival of the king. "Go on, go on, countrymen!" he +shouted. "Cheerily! brave Danish men! Will you let yourselves be +worsted by the bishop's slaves? Down with their towers and walls!" He +was still issuing the word of command to the balista slingers, when, to +his dismay, he heard the king's voice over head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What see I? Sir Helmer! you here! and in the midst of rebels? Is this +accompanying the Drost to Stockholm? Is it thus you serve and obey your +king? He is your prisoner, Count Henrik!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My liege and sovereign!" exclaimed Sir Helmer, stretching out his arms +towards the king, who halted before him on his tall white charger, with +a look of stern menace. "Hear me, I conjure you!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not a word!" interrupted the king, with vehemence; "would you make me +a faithless perjurer? In the castle you are besieging I have promised +peace and safety to my deadly foe. I break not my word, even were it +pledged to the devil. If a hair of his head hath been injured it shall +cost you dear. Take my halberdier with you, Count Henrik--put him under +knightly arrest at the castle! To-morrow he shall be judged for his +lawless conduct. Take my greeting and assurance of peace to the bishop +and cardinal," he added in a lower tone. "Take to Grand my last behest +and warning! You are responsible for the observance of our passport!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your will shall be obeyed, my liege!" answered Count Henrik, springing +from his horse. "Follow me quietly, Sir Helmer," he whispered to the +restless and impetuous captain of the balista slingers, "to-morrow you +can justify yourself--now you must be silent and obey."</p> + +<p class="normal">Helmer bit his lip in wrath as he gave up his sword to Henrik, and +followed him in silence. Count Henrik, with a considerable train of +knights and squires, took instant possession of a barge which the +insurgents had just deserted. He caused a white flag to be hoisted, and +made preparations for crossing over to the castle island, while the +king furthermore enjoined peace and quietness in the town, and rode +with the rest of his train the whole length of the strand, amid the +vast concourse of people, who partly from curiosity, partly from +attachment, continued to accompany him. The balista were instantly +dragged off the shore, from whence the armed insurgents had also +decamped, awed apparently by the king's severity towards one of his +favourite knights.</p> + +<p class="normal">By the church of St. Nicolas, opposite the little island called "The +Skipper's Ground," the king was again stopped by a numerous and unruly +mob, in which there were many armed men of a gloomy and wild +appearance, who were muttering prayers and psalms, interlarded with +imprecations and threats against all priests and bishops. On the king's +appearance the uproar was hushed, and most of the weapons disappeared +at his command. The church doors were also forced here; all the +ecclesiastics and their attendants had fled. The people themselves had +rung the bell for vespers, and had dragged a monk into the church in +order to compel him to sing the Avé, despite the interdict of bishop +and pope.</p> + +<p class="normal">The king instantly dismounted and entered the church. Half dead with +terror, and as it were with his life in his hands, an aged Dominican +stood before the altar with rent garments, and strove in vain to chaunt +the customary evening prayers with calmness and dignity, while the +turbulent crowd surrounded him with looks of wild menace, and with +torches, axes, and glittering swords in their hands. A group of +butchers and half-drunken mechanics, headed by a tall carpenter, stood +nearest the altar, and frequently interrupted the monk with scoffs and +threats.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Peace here, in the Lord's house!" said the king in a loud voice, as he +entered the church. "Bend the knee, all of ye, and pray the merciful +God to pardon you! Go in peace, pious father!--if thou darest not to +pray for our souls.--God hears us, however, despite the ban, if we are +but sincere. The All-righteous be gracious to us all, and pardon us our +sins!" So saying, the king bent his knee before the altar, and all +fell, as if struck by lightning, on the floor. A deathlike silence +prevailed for a moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">It now appeared as if the aged Dominican was suddenly inspired by a +feeling of lofty and intrepid enthusiasm. In a solemn voice he chaunted +a "Gloria," and afterwards an "Ave," in which he was followed by the +king and the whole congregation. The king then arose, and calm and +silent quitted the church. He mounted his horse and rode onwards. "Holy +Virgin, pray for us!" still resounded with calm solemnity from the +kneeling congregation in St. Nicolas church; and when the king again +returned through the strand street opposite Axelhuus, to repair to his +castle at Sorretslóv, tranquillity appeared to be fully restored. +Lights gleamed in the calm spring eve in most of the windows; at +Axelhuus also, all now seemed tranquil. Count Henrik had sent the +provost and two counsellors on before him in a small boat to announce +his coming to the bishop, while the Count himself with his train in the +great barge approached the castle island with tardy strokes of the oar. +Sir Helmer stood silent and thoughtful, as a disarmed captive, in the +barge by Count Henrik's side, indignant at being now carried to +imprisonment in that castle which he had recently, as a conquering +general, assisted the burghers to besiege. He now, indeed, perceived +that he had acted rashly in taking a part in the insurrection; but he +thought, nevertheless, that the king's conduct towards him was much too +severe; his looks and glowing cheek betrayed that his pride was deeply +wounded. As he revolved these thoughts a boat from the castle island +rowed rapidly towards them, and glided close past the barge. "Ha! the +pepper 'prentice!" exclaimed Sir Helmer, suddenly springing like a +madman into the boat. Count Henrik saw with surprise that his captive +commenced wrestling on the gunwale with a German pepper 'prentice, and +plunged with his antagonist into the deep stream, while the boat +disappeared with the speed of an arrow in the twilight.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Save him, save him!" shouted Count Henrik, and stopped the rowers. Sir +Helmer's plumed hat floated on the water at some distance; it was taken +up; but neither himself nor his unknown adversary were to be seen. The +rapid current appeared to have instantly borne them away, and all +search after them with oars and boat-hooks proved fruitless.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The Lord have mercy on his soul!" said Count Henrik with a sigh. "He +was the boldest knight I ever knew--but a thoughtless madcap he ever +was. He hath escaped captivity though, and perhaps a stern sentence +to-morrow; but the king hath lost a true friend. On, fellows! We find +him not--perhaps he hath helped himself; he was a good swimmer."</p> + +<p class="normal">In the boat which shot past, and which had been nearly upset by the +sudden and violent struggle, two persons attired as ecclesiastics had +been seen, and the rowers thought they recognised in one of them the +archbishop's crafty friend Johan Rodis.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the harbour of Axelhuus lay the royal vessel "Waldemar the +Victorious," on board of which the archbishop, through the mediation of +the cardinal, had been brought from Hammershuus, under royal convoy. +According to the tenor of the passport, the captain with all his crew +had been sworn by the archbishop, and had bound themselves to convey +him from Axelhuus at a moment's warning, in case he should not believe +himself safe, and also to bring him and the papal nuncio to whatever +foreign port they chose. Just as Count Henrik was about to land on the +castle island a large rowing boat approached the royal vessel.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Our lord bishop, with the archbishop, and the red hat!" said the +boatmen; "they are making for the Waldemar."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then row after them with all your might!" ordered Count Henrik; "there +is no time to lose; haste!" Ere they reached the ship, the cardinal and +the archbishop were already on board, and the sails were about to be +hoisted. In the boat stood Bishop Johan with a number of clerks, and +was wishing his exalted guests a safe and fortunate passage.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I bring you the same good wishes from my liege and sovereign, most +venerable sirs!" cried County Henrik, taking off his hat. "Your safe +departure hath been cared for. As soon as the king learnt your +distress, and the insurrection of the mob, he hasted hither in person +to your protection. I have commands to escort you out of the harbour, +and see you safe from all possible danger."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Bring the King of Denmark my farewell, and my thanks for his support," +answered the cardinal, through his interpreter. "I have been myself a +witness to it, and I must see justice done to his generosity towards +his foe, as well as to his kingly temper, and his strict keeping of +promise. I now quit the country without having succeeded in +establishing here the peace I desired; but I trust once again to see +King Eric and Denmark under happier auspices."</p> + +<p class="normal">"When you come with peace and blessing, your eminence will be welcome!" +answered Count Henrik; "but you have already seen solemn proofs of the +temper with which the Danish people put up with ban and interdict. My +liege the king prays your eminence to bring the holy father tidings of +this, together with his humble and filial greeting; he places with +confidence his own and his people's just cause before the judgment seat +of his holiness; but whatever the sentence may prove to be, according +to ecclesiastical and canonical law, my liege, King Eric of Denmark, as +the temporal ruler of this land and the protector of public peace, is +necessitated in the most peremptory manner to declare Archbishop Grand +of Lund for ever banished from these kingdoms and lands."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Banished!" repeated a hollow voice from the vessel, and the tall +Archbishop Grand appeared at the gangway. "Who dares pronounce that +sentence upon an anointed prince of the church? For this no king on +earth hath power. That king's servant who hath dared to bring me such a +message, I declare to be under the ban of the church."</p> + +<p class="normal">Count Henrik started, but still stood calm and courteous with hat in +hand waiting to hear what the bishop had further to say.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Whether I again set foot on Danish ground," continued Grand, "depends +upon myself and the holy father. I now shake off the dust from my +martyred feet, and quit my ungrateful father-land; but ere the fullest +compensation hath been made me for all I have here suffered contrary to +the laws of God and man, there shall no blessing come upon state and +country, and upon Denmark's excommunicated king--that I swear by the +Almighty and all the saints! Tell the tyrant who sent you--from me, the +church's primate in the north--should King Eric Erieson now dare, +without dispensation and consent of the church, to complete his ungodly +espousals in forbidden consanguinity, it shall surely be to the eternal +damnation of himself and kingdom. Amen!"</p> + +<p class="normal">At these words Count Henrik stamped in the barge, without however +vouchsafing an answer to the incensed prelate. "Captain!" he called to +the commander of the ship, who stood with his hat in his hand at the +forecastle; "you will convey Archbishop Grand, in the king's name and +under his convoy, safe on shore wherever he chooses, excepting only the +king's states and kingdom. Whoever should dare to bring back this +disturber of the peace to Denmark shall be judged as a traitor and +rebel."</p> + +<p class="normal">At Count Henrik's signal, the sails were hoisted, and the vessel sailed +out of port with the dangerous prelate, whose last words to his native +land were those of the so oft-repeated ban.</p> + +<p class="normal">Count Henrik now greeted the lord of the castle of Axelhuus, the little +bishop Johan, and delivered the king's message of peace and protection; +under conditions, however, which he was invited to consider in an +interview with the king at his castle of Sorretslóv. Count Henrik then +gave a parting salutation to this friend and unsuccessful imitator of +the archbishop, who seemed to meditate a haughty and impressive reply; +but without awaiting it, Henrik made a signal to his boatmen to row +forward, and followed the departing vessel at some distance, until it +was seen to be fairly out of port and in open sea. The count then +returned with his train to the town, where he instantly mounted his +horse, and rode in silent and serious thought, but with cheerful looks +and at a brisk trot through the town, and from thence on the road to +Sorretslóv.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. IV.</h2> + +<p class="normal">At night there were great rejoicings in Copenhagen. The king's presence +seemed to secure the peaceable part of the community against further +disturbance of the public tranquillity.</p> + +<p class="normal">The occurrences of the day had given satisfaction, and there was a +general feeling of enthusiasm respecting the fortunate issue of the +insurrection. That which had been aimed at was attained. The shutting +of the churches was at an end, and the stern prelatical government of +the town had been cowed. After this violent outbreak of the people's +wrath, it was now hoped that no interdict would ever be carried into +effect in Denmark. The report that the archbishop and the cardinal had +quitted Axelhuus, and that the archbishop was banished for life, was +spread throughout the whole town, ere midnight, and increased the +general rejoicing. Where the lights had been extinguished in the +windows after the king's departure, they were now re-lighted. The +archbishop's flight and banishment were thus celebrated throughout the +town as an important victory over ecclesiastical tyranny, and as a +happy consequence of the public spirit of the burghers, and of the +king's high courage. In the tavern near the Catsound, in the vicinity +of St. Clement's church, sat the Drost's squire Canute, late at night, +merrily carousing with a number of young Copenhageners, who had eagerly +taken part in the besieging of Axelhuus. In the midst of the group sat +an elderly burgher, with a full cup of mead in his hand drinking with +them, amid songs and bold scoffs, at the strict law which prohibited +late tavern keeping and nightly intemperance, which they now regarded +as a dead letter. It was the same personage who at noon had +peregrinated the town as an official authority, and who, as the +summoning herald of the council, had forbidden every one to bear arms +in the streets. His herald's mantle, and the white staff bearing the +bishop's arms, had been thrown under the drinking table; he now +appeared in the usual burgher's dress, and had himself a warlike sword +at his side. From his talk it could be gathered that he had also joined +in the siege of Axelhuus.</p> + +<p class="normal">The carousers spoke openly and boldly against prelatical government, to +which they believed they had given a good fillip. They lauded the king +and the brisk Sir Helmer, and opined that the king had only feignedly, +and for the sake of appearances, caused that brave knight to be placed +under arrest. They unanimously agreed, also, that the king's stern +words to the balista slingers, and those who were storming the castle, +could not have come much further than from between his teeth, since, +after all, it was but his worst foe they had attacked.</p> + +<p class="normal">There were bursts of exultation at the flight and exile of the +archbishop, which had been related to them by two newly-arrived guests, +and the party took credit to themselves for having stoned Master Grand +out of the country.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ay, laud us Copenhageners!" said the herald, with a self-satisfied +nod; "we have helped the king before at a pinch."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What can the pope and all the world's bishops do to him <i>now</i>?" said +the squire, draining his cup. "The game is won, comrades, provided all +we Danes from this day forward act like you, brave Copenhageners of +this town. Against those Latin curses we have arrows, swords, and +balista, and good Danish granite stone; and if they lock us up the +church doors again, we have, the Lord be thanked, iron crows and axes, +and men who can lift a church door as easy as a barrel of wheat. Now is +my master the Drost over in Sweden to fetch the king's betrothed," he +continued; "had I been with him there the arrogant Hanse would not have +pounced on me. Matters may go hard enough with the king's marriage; +they say these priests would fain put a spoke in the wheel, and shut +all Heaven's gates on us; but what shall we wager, comrades, that the +king snaps his fingers at them, touching the dispension, or whatever it +is called, and keeps his bridal, when the Lord and he himself pleases? +Then will there be sport and jollity over all the country. Long live +the king's true love!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But she is a Swede," objected one of the young fellows.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pah! hereafter will Swede and Dane be good and boon companions," +continued Canute, with a jolly flourish of his cup. "When our kings +give each other their sisters we will dance with the Swedish maidens, +and their young fellows again with ours, and no one shall look sour on +the other, because we have tried our strength before in another sort of +game. The Swedish princess, they say, is the fairest king's daughter in +the world, as fair and straight as a lily, and as pious and mild as the +blessed Queen Dagmar. Long life to her, by my soul and honour, and to +our excellent young king besides, and to all frank and free men, and +all pretty maidens, both here and in Sweden's land! Hurra for the king +and his true love! He is a scoundrel who drinks not with me."</p> + +<p class="normal">All the jolly carousers joined in the toast; but the merriment in the +tavern-room was now interrupted by the noise of an eager scuffle in the +chamber above, where several guests of higher rank were playing at +draughts. The squire and his comrades crowded inquisitively to the +door, and looked into the chamber. "Ay, indeed! my fat Rostocker here!" +exclaimed Canute; "would he tweak the Copenhageners by the nose also? I +should think he would come badly off at that game." He now related to +his companions what had happened at Skanör fair--how the arrogant +traders, who were now in the fray, had brought the false coin of the +outlaws into the country--and how the Rostocker, with his crafty +comrade, had dared to threaten the king at Sjöborg.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let's have at him!" shouted all with one accord, and rushed into the +chamber, where Berner Kopmand and Henrik Gullandsfar, with a crowd of +foreign merchants and agents, were engaged in fierce dispute with two +of the richest burghers of the town, who accused them of dishonest +play, and of cheating with false money. The squire and his young +comrades took the part of the Copenhageners, and a wild and bloody +fray, with pitchers and cans, sticks and clenched fists, soon +commenced. The Rostocker and Henrik Gullandsfar first drew their +swords; they laid about them with courage and valour. The pepper +'prentices cried and shouted desperately, but were unable to defend +themselves with their long ell measures; at last they all took to +flight, with Henrik Gullandsfar at their head. Berner Kopmand would +have followed them, but the incensed squire placed himself in his way, +and forced him into a desperate encounter. "Out of the way, comrades!" +he shouted; "leave me to deal alone with this fellow; I have a little +reckoning to settle with him!"</p> + +<p class="normal">All gave way, and formed a ring round the combatants; the heavy-built +hot-headed Rostocker laid frantically about him, but was wounded every +moment by the man-at-arms, who, though far less in stature, was his +superior in swordsmanship. "Take that for thy false money, good fellow, +and that for thy false play, and that for thy shameless arrogance!" +shouted the squire at every wound he gave his antagonist; "that because +thou wouldest hang Sir Helmer and me, and that because thou hast +threatened our king, thou grocer hero!" This last thrust ended the +fight. The merchant fell mortally wounded to the ground, among the +overturned wine-flasks and draught-boards. Meanwhile the routed pepper +'prentices had given the alarm in the streets, and, with a fearful cry +of murder, assembled the night-watch, and as many of the provost's men, +who, as yet, had sufficient courage to maintain order in the town. The +bishop's famulus had arrived with some men-at-arms, on the part of the +provost, and when Berner Kopmand fell the tavern of St. Clement's was +already surrounded by a guard. The famulus made his way into the tavern +with his men, and surrounded the squire, who stood in silence with the +bloody sword in his hand, gazing on the dying Rostocker.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Seize him! Shackle him! The godless murderer, in the name of the +bishop and council!" cried the famulus, in a screeching voice, +springing up on a bench to bring himself into notice. He was a little +man, clad in a short black cloak over a blue lay brother's dress, with +a roll of parchment in his hand, which he flourished like a commander's +staff. All the jolly revellers had retreated, and the Drost's squire +stood alone by the Rostocker's body in the faint light of the oil-lamp, +which was suspended from the roof. He menacingly brandished his bloody +sword, and no one dared to approach him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let him go; he is guiltless!" cried a powerful but stuttering voice, +and the burgher herald stepped forward half intoxicated, with glowing +cheeks and reeling steps, from a corner of the apartment. He had again +attired himself in his herald's mantle, and brandished the white staff +with the bishop's arms in his hand. He elbowed his way through the +crowd, and placed himself, with solemn, official mien, between the +squire and the provost's men, directly opposite the little famulus on +the bench. "Let none touch this fellow; he is guiltless!" he continued: +"the other drunken guest hath got his deserts; he has fallen, as was +meet and fit in a regular tavern brawl, and at the dice-board; that <i>I</i> +can witness--he is to get no chastisement, according to the law and +right of our good city, that you must know full as well as I, Master +Famulus."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Believe him not, he is drunk!" cried the bishop's famulus with +eagerness; "the ale speaks through him; he exercises his office, and +expounds law and justice like a toper and partizan. The law he prates +about concerns but fisty-cuffs and pulling of hair; but a murder hath +been committed within the town paling; it should at least be punished +with perpetual imprisonment, according to the town law. Seize the +murderer instantly, say I!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Touch him not, say I," resumed the herald, "he hath slain a cheat, a +false player, a shameless scoundrel, who had defied the king; it was +done in honourable fight; it was in self-defence,--that I saw myself; +the fat Rostocker struck the first blow with a sharp weapon, although +he got the first cuff, but from an wholly unarmed fist; <i>that</i> I can +take my oath of, let me be ever so drunk. He is a knave and a sorry +Christian who gets not honestly drunk to-night, now that we have forced +the shut gate of heaven. This brave young fellow is, besides, the +Drost's squire, and my good friend. We have no right to imprison him, I +will stand security for him, with all my substance!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"But what are ye thinking of?" bawled the famulus, stamping on the +bench, "he hath certainly slain a man here."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Even so! naught else! Know ye not better our pious Lord Bishop's +orders! Master Famulus!" shouted the burgher herald in an overpowering +voice, as he leaned on his staff of office. "<i>This</i> is a worldly tavern +and place of entertainment--<i>here</i>, where gaming, pastime, and toping +have full swing from morning to night--none hath a right to require +safety for life and limb, it is all in due order; and a very wise and +reasonable regulation; mad cats get torn skins, and where one sets +aside the law, every one must take the damage as wages. The scoundrel +who lies there fell at the forbidden draught-board; if there is law and +justice in the town, he shall never be laid in christian ground. That I +will uphold, as surely as I bear this sacred staff." As he, at the +conclusion of his speech, was about again to brandish the herald's +staff over his head, he had nearly lost his balance; but his +authoritative conduct, and stern official deportment, seemed, however, +not without its effect upon the provost's men, especially as the +bishop's famulus was forced to allow the justice of his protest against +the burial of the slain in christian ground.</p> + +<p class="normal">While they were yet disputing, whether they had or had not the right of +imprisoning the murderer, the squire rushed out of the door, with his +drawn sword in his hand, and none dared to stop him.</p> + +<p class="normal">As soon as he found himself in the open air, he concealed his sword +under his mantle, slouched his hat over his brow, and mingled in the +throng which surrounded the house, and had thrust the guard aside. It +appeared, even to him, somewhat doubtful and improbable that persons +might thus be slain with perfect impunity at the gaming table; what he +had heard respecting perpetual imprisonment in the bishop's city, still +sounded very unpleasantly in his ear, and he thought it most advisable +to decamp as soon as possible; but in order not to excite suspicion, he +walked on quietly, and whistled a blithe drinking song. "There's +desperate work in the house between the pepper 'prentices and the +king's men," he said aloud, "the devil take me if I stand here gaping +any longer." As soon as he was fairly out of the crowd, he quickened +his steps and hastened down past the Catsound towards the old strand. +He went onward without knowing whither, and often looked behind to see +whether any one pursued him. He saw lights in all the houses on the +strand--mirth and song resounded, contrary to usage, in many quarters +of the generally quiet town, in defiance of the strict regulations of +the bishop and archbishop; but all was gloomy and still at Axelhuus. He +pursued his way along the level shore, and approached the church of St. +Nicholas. In the churchyard he saw a crowd of people assembled. A +strange, half devout, half seditious murmur, was heard in the crowd, +and a solemn council appeared to be held. He hastened past the sullen +muttering assemblage, and reached the ferry opposite Bremen-island. +Here all the great warehouses were desolate and deserted; he sat down +quite breathless on the quay to recover himself, and think of the means +of escape. It was past midnight. The moon shone upon the broad stream +and the tall warehouses on Bremen island. He felt oppressed by the +death-like stillness around him. The wild scene of the murder in the +alehouse was now solemnly and fearfully present to his imagination--he +heard his heart beat; he wiped the blood from off his sword, and put it +into the sheath. He perceived spots of blood upon his clothes, and was +about to go down to the water to wash them out, but he now heard a +sound near him like the gasping of a dying man; he looked around him +with uneasiness, but no human being was to be seen. The singular sound +still fell on his ear, and mingled with his vivid recollection of the +death-rattle of the slain Rostocker. He had felt no dread of the living +adversary,--now he shuddered at the thought of the dead. The hair of +the fugitive squire stood on end; he hastily started off from the quay, +and would have fled further; but he now distinctly heard that the sound +which terrified him proceeded from the sea-shore. The faint ray of the +moon now lit up the beach, on which he beheld a man lying stretched at +full length. "The pepper 'prentice! What became of him?"--he heard the +voice gasp forth, and recognised its tones. "Our Lady be merciful to +us! Sir Helmer! what hath happened you?" exclaimed Canute, aghast, and +hasted down to the half-expiring knight, who was utterly exhausted by +fighting and swimming, and whom, with much difficulty, he raised on his +legs, and in some degree restored to consciousness. His drenched +clothes were rent and bloody; his long brown locks clung to his swollen +cheeks, and in his left hand, which was convulsively clenched, he held +a thick tuft of reddish hair. "Look! look!" he said, "it was all I got +hold of, the rest the devil hath taken. He twined round me like a +water-snake. He bit and tore like the devil. The stream put an end to +our embrace, it had well nigh put an end to my life, I perceive."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Our Lady and St. George help you, noble sir!" said the squire, +crossing himself, as he reached him a small flask. "Take something to +strengthen your heart after that joust! If you have fought with the +evil one at the bottom of the sea you have surely had to stand a hard +encounter."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I hope it was the right one," said Helmer, and drained the flask, +"Thanks, countryman! it hath helped me! Now I have got my strength +again. I ail nothing in reality; my limbs are sound; I am but a little +bruised, and dizzy in my head."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But what in all the world have you been about? Have you been seeking +the pepper 'prentice, or Satan himself, at the bottom of the sea, and +know not rightly yourself whether you found him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was hard pressed for time, thou must know. The king rode quietly +past the beach. I was somewhat wrath with him, I must needs confess. I +was on the way to the bishop's dungeon, on account of my having taken +the balista a little in hand; but then I caught a sight of that devil +of a pepper 'prentice; he stood not a yard from me in a boat, and would +have pushed past us; it seemed to me that he stared after the king, and +fumbled with his hand in his breast, as if after a dagger. Whether it +was the right rascal or not, there was not time to discover. The fellow +looked confoundedly suspicious, and one pepper 'prentice, more or less, +of what consequence was it, when the king's life was in question? so I +jumped into the boat. Ere I wast fully sensible of it I had the fellow +by the throat, and had tumbled blithely with him into the stream."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have you sent the pepper 'prentice down to his home, noble sir?" said +Canute with restored cheerfulness, and somewhat proudly,--"then I have +sent a bottle-nosed Hanse grocer to hell, from an ale tavern. None can +say we have been idle here in Copenhagen. We serve the king as well as +we can--although we may have come a little out of the way he sent us. +If you only have but hit on the right man! your exploit was far more +daring and dangerous than mine, noble sir! But in two particulars I +have been more lucky, however; I <i>know</i> I hit on the right person, and +know also I mastered the rascal to some purpose. It was he who would +have hung us in the morning, and who would have taken the king's life, +had he had power and courage to do so."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The Rostocker! Berner Kopmand?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The same! He now lies dead as a herring, in the ale-house; he will +never be laid in Christian ground, if my honest friend the herald is in +the right. But come, sir!--if you can bestir yourself, let's get out of +the bishop's town, and the sooner the better! If the provost or the +bishop's men pounce on us, we shall not 'scape from their dungeons all +our life-time."</p> + +<p class="normal">With some difficulty the wounded knight followed the squire, and they +soon reached the east gate at the end of East Street. The gate was +shut, but its lock and bolts had been forced in the insurrection. The +fugitives opened it without difficulty, and entered into the large +grass-grown marketplace, where the Halland vegetable vendors especially +had their landing-places and stalls. Meanwhile, Sir Helmer felt weaker +at every step. With the help of the squire he dragged himself with +difficulty to the chapel by St. Anna's bridge; here he sank down +powerless before the chapel door;--all grew dark before his eyes, and +he was near falling into a swoon.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The Lord and St. Anna assist us!" said the squire, hastily seizing a +wooden bowl which stood near the chapel; he sprang with it to the +running stream under the bridge, and soon returned with the bowl full +of clear, pure water.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Drink, sir! drink in St. Anna's blessed name!" he said, eagerly, "and +then I will bathe you on the head, and on every part where you feel +pain. If St. Anna's stream hath the wondrous healing power it is said +to have you will assuredly soon feel yourself strengthened, provided +you are a good Christian, as I surely hope."</p> + +<p class="normal">The knight drank, and washed the blood from his face, which, as well as +his neck, was scratched and lacerated; he was besides bruised all over +his body, and exhausted to a great degree. The cold water refreshed and +strengthened him, as he fancied, in a wonderful and incomprehensible +manner. Around the chapel lay a number of crutches and rags, cast aside +by the sick and paralytic who had here been healed. Inspired with +sudden enthusiasm by his regained strength, and by the miracle he +believed he had here experienced, Sir Helmer sprang up and knelt before +the image of St. Anna over the chapel door. "Thanks and honour, holy +Anna!" he exclaimed in a lowered voice, and with clasped hands, "it was +nobly done of thee; it was doubtless for the sake of my fair young +wife--for the sake of my Anna's pious prayers! When we meet again in +health, we will assuredly not forget the wax lights and purple velvet +for thine altar." He then arose, and exulting in his strength, flapped +his arms around him, as if to certify himself of the fact of this +restoration; he embraced the squire, and then flung him off to some +distance on the grass, with as much ease as he would have flung his +glove. "Look, there lies my crutch also, to thy thanks and honour, holy +Anna!" he exclaimed in a loud voice, "he is a rascal who doubts of thy +wondrous power; thou hast given me strength and vigour again."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ay, indeed! thanks and honour be to St. Anna for it!" panted the +squire, as he rose half in alarm. "You are now, by my troth, in full +vigour. Sir Helmer! as I can testify; but you are somewhat strange and +violent in your devotion; you must excuse my not continuing to lie here +among the other crutches!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Helmer bounded blithely on the green sward, to try whether his legs +also stood him in good stead; he seemed again preparing to wrestle with +the squire, but Canute sprang aside. "Keep your devotion within bounds, +noble sir! and listen to a word of sense!" he said, seizing the +intractable knight by the arm. "A boat lies unmoored here, let's take +possession of it, and row up the great canal!--then perhaps we may slip +whole-skinned out of the town, and get to Sorretslóv. If there is any +reasonableness whatever in the king, he will not cause us to be hanged, +because we have chastised his enemies and persecutors; but if they get +hold of us here he will find it hard, despite all his power, to save +us."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Had I but my good sword!"--said Helmer. "Lend me thine, brisk +countryman! Do thou row the boat! and I will defend us both."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, if you will be mannerly, Sir Knight, and not try your sword on +me, in honour of St. Anna!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Helmer laughed, and clapped him on the shoulder. They were soon both +seated in the boat, and pondering how best to provide for their safety. +Helmer sat sword in hand at the rudder, and the squire, despite the +pain of his lacerated hand, rowed with powerful strokes of the oar up +the stream which enclosed the town on the north-east. They stopped not +until they reached the fishermen's houses at Pustervig. Here the +northern boundary of the town was protected by a new fortification of +palisades. While the squire rested his wearied arms, they consulted +together whether they should now row to the left, through the canal, to +get out through the north gate, where, however, it was uncertain +whether they would not be stopped and seized,--or whether they might +not with greater safety, although with more difficulty, pursue their +flight up the stream to Sorretslóv lake. This last plan they considered +to be the most expedient. Helmer now seized the one oar, and they began +to row briskly forward. The night was calm, and during the whole +passage from St. Anna's bridge they had not seen a single human being. +But an arrow from a cross-bow now suddenly whistled over the heads of +the fugitives; they heard a splashing of oars behind them, and saw two +boats push off from the beach at Pustervig.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The murderer! stop him, shoot him! a hundred silver crowns to the man +who seizes him!" called a loud voice from one of the boats.</p> + +<p class="normal">Helmer and the squire recognised the voice of Henrik Gullandsfar, and +kept on rowing. The one boat lay to behind them to stop the way in case +they should retreat. The other, which was manned with the provost's +men, and was steered by Henrik Gullandsfar himself, pursued them with +four oars up the river. In the bow stood two cross-bowmen, who +constantly aimed and shot, but as it appeared without real skill in the +management of this dangerous weapon, with which the strongest armour +might be pierced, and people wounded almost without perceiving it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You shoot badly, knaves!" shouted Helmer. "Is that the way to hold a +cross-bow? Come but nearer, and I will teach ye to handle it!" he +continued, letting go the oar and brandishing his sword over his +uncovered head, as he stood in the stern of the boat. "As surely as St. +Anna hath given me my strength again, it shall not fare a hair better +with ye than with my departed brothers-in-law." Another cross-bow bolt +whistled over his head, but without injuring a hair of it--another +split the gunwale and broke the tiller. Helmer seized the harmless +bolt, and just as he was about to be overtaken, flung it back with all +his might whence it came. It whistled past both the cross-bowmen, but +hit Henrik Gullandsfar on the forehead, and the merchant fell backwards +without life sufficient to utter a cry.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Death and misfortune! 'Twas Helmer Blaa who threw!" cried one of the +provost's men. "The devil a bit will I fight with <i>him</i>.--Let's be +off!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The provost's men and the cross-bow shooters now took to flight down +the stream with the body of Gullandsfar. Sir Helmer again seized the +one oar, and the two bold fugitives rowed unmolested up to Sorretslóv +lake. Here they sprang ashore on the green sward, leaving the boat to +float back with the current.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We have got thus far on dry land," said Helmer, looking around him; +"we are without the town paling, and are scarce a hundred paces distant +from the king's castle. When the king hears of our exploits, perhaps he +will say, it was bravely done, but will cause us to be bound and thrown +into the tower, according to strict law, and there we may be suffered +to lie until his council and the bishops are agreed whether we are to +be punished with death or only with imprisonment for life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Would you scare me, Sir Helmer?" exclaimed Canute, in dismay. "As soon +as we reach the king's castle yonder, we surely stand under the king's +protection."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But here he is on the bishop's preserve as well as we. We have +forgotten that in our hurry," observed Helmer; "the sixteen villages in +this neighbourhood belong to the little Roskild bishop. Bishop law and +church law are valid here; and this I know beforehand, the king will +not swerve a hair's-breadth from what is lawful for <i>our</i> sake, even +though we were his best friends, and had saved his life an hundred +times over."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Death and confusion! What shall we do then? In that case we were mad +should we take refuge with him here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"So I think, countryman! But help us he <i>shall</i>, whether he will it or +no. Knowest thou the two white horses here in the meadow? Look! how +they dance in the tether and snort towards the dawn."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The king's tournament prancers!--the very apple of his eye! Every +knights' squire knows <i>them</i>. You have surely not lost your wits, Sir +Helmer! What would you be at?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thou shalt soon see," said Helmer, approaching the starting and +rearing steeds. "So! ho! old fellows! stand still!--if we have risked +our lives for the king, he can doubtless lend us a pair of horses. Had +I my good Arab it should fly with us both faster than the wind. The +pepper 'prentice I answer for," he continued, still enticing the +horses. "I have soused and pumelled him so soundly, that he will do no +mischief again in a hurry, if there is life in him yet--and I dare +wager my head it was the right one. If thou hast made an end of Berner +Kopmand, countryman, I answer for Henrik Gullandsfar, and the +archbishop hath gone to the devil; there is now no great danger astir, +and the king needs us no longer here. I am no great lover of trial and +imprisonment, seest thou? and if the king does not need my life, I know +of one who will give me a kiss for saving it.--So ho, there! That's +right, my lad!--a noble animal, by my soul! I desert not from the +service to run home to my young wife,--that none shall say of me. Do +thou like me, countryman! I will now ride on the king's prancer as his +bridesman to Sweden, to perform what I have neglected. If thou wilt +come with me, come then!" Meanwhile Helmer had caught one of the +spirited steeds. In an instant he was upon its back, and galloped away +over hedge and ditch with the swiftness of a deer. The Drost's squire +did not long hesitate; he was soon seated on the back of the other, and +followed Sir Helmer at a brisk gallop.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. V.</h2> + +<p class="normal">When the sun rose over the Sound, signs of cheerful animation and +active stir were already perceptible in the village of Sorretslóv, +while the bishop's town still lay shrouded in fog, ensconced behind its +trenches and palisades, and seemed to slumber after the wild revels of +the preceding night. Peasants were seen removing cattle on the +pastures, between the village and the northern gate of the town. The +grooms of the king's household were riding the horses to water from the +farms and meadows of the royal castle, at the large pool in the midst +of the village; but around the pasture near Sorretslóv lake, where the +king's trained tournament-steeds had grazed, two grooms were running in +despair, vainly seeking the fine horses which were entrusted to their +charge.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Help us, St. Alban! and all saints!" cried the younger groom. "If the +Marsk comes home he will slay us, at the least."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And the king!" groaned the other--"the king will be wrath; and that is +even far worse. We must find them though we should have to run to the +world's end. Come!"--They sprang away over hedge and ditch, where they +saw the dew brushed off from the grass, and fresh traces of galloping +horses' feet on the meadow; at last they recognised the well-known +trained step of the steeds on the road between the two lakes, and were +soon far away.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a fine spring morning;--the king was, as usual, stirring at an +early hour. Accompanied by Count Henrik, he had mounted the flat-roofed +tower of the castle, from whence there was an extensive and noble +prospect over the whole adjacent country. Count Henrik had been +required, circumstantially to repeat his account of the flight of the +cardinal and the archbishop, and the very different greeting of the +prelates. The king was grave, but in good spirits; even the last threat +of the archbishop had not discouraged him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"With God's blessing," he said with emphasis, "I await my chief +happiness from the hand of the Almighty, and the heart of my pious +Ingeborg, but neither from the mercy of the pope nor the archbishop. +Were my hope and success in love really sin and ungodliness, no +dispensation could ever sanctify it before Heaven and to myself."--He +paused, and gazed with a calm and enthusiastic look on the rising sun, +and a heartfelt prayer seemed as it were to beam from his bright eye. +"My deadly foe went hence alive," he continued;--"well! I have now +performed my promise to him. I let him 'scape hence alive. More none +can ask of a frail mortal; but it is the last time I promise peace and +respite of life to the enemy of my soul. So long as the Lord grants me +life and crown the presence of Grand shall never more infect the air I +breathe."</p> + +<p class="normal">"This insurrection was quite opportune for us, my liege," observed +Count Henrik, with a confidential smile--"the foe you came hither to +banish hath been as good as stoned out of this country by the brisk men +of Copenhagen, on their own responsibility."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That <i>I</i> asked them not to do," answered the king, with proud +eagerness; "had I willed to use temporal power, against my +ecclesiastical foes here, I should not have needed the help of a +mutinous mob. The town hath suffered wrong; but mutiny is, and ever +will be, mutiny; and, <i>as such</i>, deserving of punishment, whether it +happens to suit my convenience or not. I consider the conduct of the +bishop and council to be arbitrary and illegal," he continued. "I hate +ban and interdict as I do the plague, as is well known; but it shall +not therefore be believed I favour revolt and rebellion against any +lawful authority. It was well done to force the locked churches. No +Roskild bishop shall place bars and bulwarks between us and our Lord; +but it was not for the Lord's sake they besieged the bishop's castle: +their devotion was also very moderate; it was more like howling wolves +singing 'credo,' than christianly-baptized people. Had you seen, with +me, the riots yesterday evening, in St. Nicholas church. Count Henrik! +you would hardly take on yourself the defence of these insurgents."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I rode past St. Nicholas church-yard in the night, my liege!" answered +Count Henrik. "What was doing there pleased me but little, it is true. +It seemed as though a crowd of spirits moved among the graves, in the +moonshine: there was a strange muttering. I heard shouts and prayers, +which sounded to me like curses. It was St. Erik's Guild brethren, who +were chaunting prayers, it was said, and taking counsel against the +bishop. Those good people I will no longer defend; there must be wild +fanatics and turbulent spirits among them. But chastise them not too +hardly, in your wrath, my liege!--even though you should now be forced +to lend a helping hand to prelatical government. When the Lord's +servants shut the Lord's house themselves, and hinder all orderly +worship, it is surely no wonder that the plain man seeks to edify +himself as well as he can in his own way: a mixture of defiance and +ferocious fanaticism with this species of devotion is inevitable, but +whose is the blame, your grace? Where God's word is silent, the evil +one instantly sends forth his priests among the people, and drives them +mad."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ay indeed! those are true words. Count! It is usually the fault of the +shepherd when the flock strays. Spiritual government is a matter I dare +not much intermeddle with, but this I have promised, and I shall +honestly keep my promise: every church door in the country which they +would hereafter shut, I will cause myself without further ado to be +forced with the staff of the spear; and every priest or bishop who +hinders my, or my people's lawful and orderly devotion, I banish from +state and country, as I have banished Archbishop Grand--let the pope +excommunicate me a thousand times over for it! Look! in this I am +agreed with my brave and loyal people, and with these rather too brisk +Copenhageners. What I here tell you, I cannot give any one under sign +and seal," he added, "but I will whisper it in confidence into the ear +of every Danish bishop and future archbishop; none shall say, however, +I side with rebels. If authority is to be used, that is my affair; but +there <i>shall</i> be peace and order here. I will uphold the rights of +every lawful authority, whether it be spiritual or temporal, our +highest rights, as God's children, and the rights and authority of the +crown, unimpaired."</p> + +<p class="normal">The king was silent--his cheek glowed, and an expression of fervid +energy beamed in his countenance, as he turned from the fair spectacle +of the rising sun, and looked out upon the fog-enveloped town, the +church towers of which glittered in the dawn of morning. He now opened +a letter and a small packet, which a skipper from Skanör had brought +him from Drost Aagé. He read the letter with attention. It contained an +account of the Drost's meeting with the Hanseatic merchants and Thrand +Fistlier at Kjöge, and at Skanör fair, as well as of the disturbance +which had been caused by this mountebank, and the Hanseatic forgers; +and also how the Drost, partly to save the artist's life, had been +under the necessity of sending him prisoner to Helsingborg. In the +packet was one of Master Thrand's optic tubes, and some polished +glasses, which Aagé had bought at Skanör fair, and which he now +presented to the king as extraordinary rarities. In the letter, Aagé +had not been able to conceal his suspicion of the wonderful mountebank, +and the singular uneasiness which this man's operations and expressions +had caused him.</p> + +<p class="normal">Count Henrik also, had lately received and read a secret epistle from +the Drost, in which Aagé conjured him to caution the king respecting +the captive Icelander, and above all to keep a watchful eye on whoever +approached him. "Trust not the junker!" Aagé wrote, "God forgive me if +I do him injustice! Kaggé is alive and under convoy of the foreign +merchants, who threatened the king at Sjöborg; Helmer and my bravest +squire are in their power. The revenge of the outlaws is unwearied. +Stir not from the king's side! watch over his life, while I care for +his happiness."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Truly! my good Drost Aagé is a strange visionary," said the King, +shaking his head with a smile, as he tried the glasses with a feeling +of wonder at the power of these instruments; "my much-loved Aagé is +ready to side with the ignorant mob, and regard the fruits of the noble +arts and sciences as the work of the evil one."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How! my liege!" asked Count Henrik, in surprise.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That good friend of mine is still somewhat weak both in mind and body;" +continued the king, "he is afraid our whole fair world will perish, +because here and there people get their eyes opened, and learn to see +things better and more justly in nature. The Lord knows what new danger +he can now be dreaming of from this artist. Just look here. Count!" The +king reached Henrik the optic tube. "It is one of the discoveries of +the great Roger Bacon, the wise English monk we have heard so much +of--a skilful Icelander hath arrived here in the country, who hath +known him, and learned the art from him. These kind of things he brings +with him; he is said to understand many wonderful arts, and knows +secrets in nature which may be of importance, as well in war as in the +general advancement of the country; Aagé, I suppose, means only we +should be cautious and not trust him over much. I will see and know +that man; he certainly doth honour to our northern lands, and he shall +not have visited me in vain;--now what say you, Count? Such glass eyes +may be useful, I think, both for a king and a general, when he should +take a wide survey!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Noble! astonishing!" exclaimed Count Henrik, "the town, the river, the +whole of Solbierg, seem as near as if close at hand."</p> + +<p class="normal">"And a skilful coiner, and a rare judge of metals, is this Icelander +besides," resumed the king with satisfaction, as he glanced over the +letter, "he is just the man we need, now that the land is inundated +with the false coin of the outlaws; if he were in league with my foes, +as Aagé fears, he would hardly venture into my sight; as yet no enemy +hath faced me, unpunished. He is reported to hold many erring opinions +in matters of faith; but what is that to me? If he be a heretic, so +much the worse for himself; in what concerns temporal things he is apt, +I must confess."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If he be a Leccar brother, as Drost Aagé thinks, then beware of him, +my liege!" observed Count Henrik. "I thought that sect was banished in +all Christian lands, and in Denmark also, on account of their dangerous +opinions."</p> + +<p class="normal">"On account of opinions, I have never banished any living soul," said +the king: "for ought I care, every man may think and believe what he +will, provided he obeys but the laws of the land, and seduces not the +people to insurrection and ungodliness. One description of madmen I +once banished, however--it is true," he added, recollecting himself: +"what they called themselves I have now forgot; but the madness I +remember well enough--they were self-appointed priests, without a +consecrated church or true doctrine. They scoured the country round, +and preached both to high and low, and would, in short, have made us +all heathens. They denied both our Lord and our blessed Lady, and all +the saints and martyrs besides; they would have nought to do either +with church or pope; and in fact, just as little with kings and +princes, or any temporal government; they zealously affirmed that we +should obey our Lord only--but when it came to the point, their Lord +was but their own ignorant and perverted will. From such mad doctrine +we may well pray our Lord to preserve us and all Christian lands."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But that is exactly, as far as I know, the creed of the Leccar +brethren," observed Count Henrik. "We have chased the sect from +Mecklenborg also, and the pope hath doomed them to fire and faggot."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right, they are called Leccarii in Latin," answered the king: +"the holy father's caring for their <i>souls</i>, by burning their <i>bodies</i>, +suits me just as little as his excommunicating, and giving us over to +the devil. That mistakes may be made in Rome we are all agreed. If the +learned Icelander belongs to yon sect, he must doubtless decamp," he +added, "and that I should be sorry for; but I must hear it from +himself, ere I will believe it; it is inconceivable to me how madness +and learning can dwell together in one brain."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Look once again, my liege!" said Count Henrik, handing the optic tube +to the king. "Yonder comes a boat up the canal towards St. George's +hospital; if I am not mistaken it is steered by a couple of clerks; +perhaps the bishop would now vouchsafe us tidings, and put up with your +protection."</p> + +<p class="normal">From St. George's lake flowed a broad rivulet, which bounded the +pasture ground of Sorretslóv and divided it from the meadows of the +village of Solbierg. This rivulet, which widened into a canal, flowed +down under the west gate of the town, and ended its course in the +Catsound. Between the stream and the town of Sorretslóv lay St. +George's Hospital. A large boat came slowly up the river, in which the +forms of two men, attired in black, were discernible. They rowed with +unsteady strokes of the oar, and with great exertion, against the +stream. The boat put ashore at the pasture ground opposite St. George's +hospital. The sable-clad personages sprang out of the boat and drew it +on land. The king and Count Henrik thought they recognised the +archbishop's confidential friends, Hans Rodis and the canon Nicolaus, +and paid close attention to their proceedings. A large loose sail was +taken from the boat, from under which four ecclesiastics rose up, one +after another, and stepped on shore. They looked around on all sides +with caution, and proceeded along a by-path, with slow and uncertain +steps towards the royal castle. They were all four soon recognised. It +was the domineering little Bishop Johan, with the haughty abbot from +the forest monastery, accompanied by the provincial prior, and the +inspector of the Copenhagen chapter. They seemed to have secretly taken +flight from Axelhuus in the morning fog, to place themselves under the +king's protection, and perhaps to demand the help of arms against the +mutinous town.</p> + +<p class="normal">When the king recognised them he became grave, and fell into a reverie. +He reached the optic tube to Count Henrik, and seated himself in +silence on a bench on the southern side of the tower, whence he had a +view of the town and the north gate. Count Henrik remarked that the two +suspicious-looking canons had yet another person in the boat, whom they +carried on shore; he appeared to be either sick or dead, and was +closely shrouded in a mantle. The canons looked around on all sides, +and bore, seemingly with doubtful and anxious steps, the sick or dead +man up to St. George's Hospital, where they were instantly admitted. +Count Henrik considered their conduct most suspicious; he determined, +however, not to name it to the king; and resolved to examine himself +into the affair, and to inspect the hospital that very day.</p> + +<p class="normal">The town was by no means so tranquil as was supposed. The nocturnal +assemblage in the churchyard of St. Nicholas had not dispersed until +near daybreak. The bishop's men had heard wild threats of fire and +murder, and taunting speeches against their master. A new and bloody +outbreak of the insurrection was feared whereupon the bishop had not +deemed it advisable to await the dawn of day at Axelhuus, although it +was probable that he most unwillingly took refuge with the king, who he +knew was incensed at the enforcement of the interdict.</p> + +<p class="normal">The bishop's stern protest against the demi-ecclesiastical assemblies +of the guild-brethren of St. Canute, had rendered that fraternity his +bitterest and most dangerous foes. During the shutting of the churches, +the devotion of the guild-brethren, which was almost always blended +with fanaticism and intemperance, had assumed a wild and desperate +character. They were charged with the most licentious impiety, it was +believed there were atheists and Leccar brethren among them, who sought +to sever them from the church and from Christendom, as well as from +burgher-rule and obedience. A secret dread of the extravagancies and +gloomy deportment of these persons prevailed among the best-informed +and better class of burghers, who, however, had themselves, on +account of the shutting of the churches, made common cause with the +guild-brethren, and deemed a general revolt against prelatic tyranny to +be necessary.</p> + +<p class="normal">Ere the sun had dispersed the thick morning mist which lay over +the town, the burghers of Copenhagen thronged in crowds to the +council-house, where they assembled a council, though it was not the +usual day of meeting.</p> + +<p class="normal">Meanwhile, mattins were performed in all the churches in the town, and +no priest dared any longer to observe the interdict. All the churches +were unusually crowded, but no disturbances took place. It was only +from the stone-built houses, where St. Canute's and St. Eric's +guild-brethren had rung their bells ere daylight, and were now +performing their morning's devotions, before full goblets and with +locked doors, that wild cries and sounds of tumult proceeded. As soon +as early mass was ended, a great procession passed through North Street +and through the north gate. It was the deputies of the town and +council, who had drawn up at the council-house a long list of +complaints against the bishop, and as long a justification of the +recently-suppressed insurrection. This document they now intended to +present to the king, as they were willing to enter into any treaty with +the spiritual Lord of the town, which their sovereign might consider +just and reasonable. A continually increasing crowd accompanied this +procession. None of the guild-brethren were to be seen among the +deputies of the town; but a number of these gloomy agitators soon +joined themselves to the train, and sought to excite suspicion in the +populace respecting this negotiation of peace. The guild-brethren, +meanwhile, seemed at variance among themselves; the king's presence had +struck terror into many, and their wild plans of overthrowing all +spiritual and temporal rule lacked concert and counsel. Hardly had they +quitted their guild houses ere the provost's men and the bishop's +retainers, assisted even by the burghers, took possession of these +buildings, and stationed guards before them. The dispersion of this +degenerate and dangerous fraternity was now become one of the most +earnest wishes of the council and burghers.</p> + +<p class="normal">The king had not left the tower of Sorretslóv when the throng hastened +forward towards the village and his unfortified castle, in the +direction of the southern gate; while the bishop and the three +prelates, with their slow and dubious pace, had not as yet reached the +approach from the by-path to the western castle gate. Count Henrik's +attention had been wholly engrossed in watching the tardy and undecided +movements of the ecclesiastics, and the king had been so lost in +thought that he did not observe the crowd until the distant murmur of +many thousand voices reached his ear. He rose hastily, with a quick +glance on both sides, and appeared wroth, but undecided only for a +moment. "The gate shall be barred. Count! the black snails shall be +brought up here!" he exclaimed impetuously in a loud voice to Count +Henrik, pointing to the ecclesiastics below, who again paused on the +by-path, and seemed to hesitate. "Let them be brought to my private +chamber instantly, even though it should be by force. They are my +prisoners."</p> + +<p class="normal">Count Henrik started.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Look!" continued the king, pointing towards the village and the road. +"They flock out hither by thousands; but, by all the holy men! whoever +disturbs the peace of the royal castle shall be chastised as he +deserves. Ride to meet the throng. Count! announce my will to them--say +their bishop is in my power. Every fitting proposition I will listen +to; but every agitator shall instantly be banished; whoever obeys not +shall be punished as a rebel."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now I understand you, my liege," said Count Henrik, and instantly +departed.</p> + +<p class="normal">The king's command was immediately put into execution. With great fear +and dismay, the bishop and his three ecclesiastical companions beheld a +troop of horsemen gallop out of the castle towards them, while a willow +hedge hid the main road and the concourse of people from their sight, +and they still stood close to the meadow gate, debating whether they +had not acted with precipitation, and were not about to encounter a +still greater danger here than that from which they had fled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Treachery!" cried the bishop, drawing back. "I feared it would be so. +Fools that we are to trust to the generosity of an excommunicated +tyrant! Now we may all fare as did Grand, and may come to rot alive in +his dungeons."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will answer for the king's justice, even should he imprison us," +said the general superior of the chapter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ha! you betray me! you side with the tyrant! <i>you</i> counselled me to +this step."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Look, my brother!" cried the abbot of the forest monastery, pointing +in dismay to the right, where but a single-fenced meadow separated them +from the road and the concourse of people which now came in view. "The +whole town is flocking hither. They have spied us--hear how they howl +and bluster! They are springing over hedge and ditch towards us. Let us +thank God and our guardian saint for the king's horsemen; it is better +after all to fall into the hands of one tyrant than into those of a +thousand."</p> + +<p class="normal">At this moment the king's horsemen surrounded them, and saluted them +with courtesy. "Follow us, venerable sirs," said their leader, a brisk +young halberdier. "We have orders to bring you to the king's castle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"In the name of the Lord and all the saints we accept the king's +convoy!" said the bishop, looking around with uneasiness, while his +cheeks glowed, and he seemed but half to trust to this unexpected safe +conduct.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The bishop! the bishop! Seize him! stone him!" shouted a whole crowd +of the excited rabble, who, headed by some guild-brethren, had quitted +the burgher procession, and ran, with weapons and stones in their +hands, over the meadow towards the ecclesiastics.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Back, countrymen!" shouted the leader of the horsemen, brandishing his +sword. "We lead him captive to the king."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Captive! the bishop captive!" exclaimed the insurgents with joyous +shouts. "That's right!--long live the king!--to the dungeon with +Grand's friends and all king-priests!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Captive!" repeated the bishop, clasping his hands; "ha, the +presumptuous traitors!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Compose yourselves, venerable sirs," said the young halberdier, in a +lowered tone. "I obey the commands of my sovereign; if you refuse to +comply I shall be compelled to use force; but whether you are the +king's guests or his prisoners you will assuredly be treated as beseems +your rank and condition."</p> + +<p class="normal">The ecclesiastics were soon within the gates of the king's castle, and +looked doubtfully at each other, as one door after another was with +much deference shut behind them, and they stood at last in anxious +expectation in a vaulted chamber, which, with its high windows and the +little iron-cased door, which was also secured behind them, bore a +greater resemblance to a prison than an apartment destined for the +reception of guests. There was no want, however, of furniture or +comfort; there were writing materials as well as both edifying and +entertaining books. It was the king's private chamber.</p> + +<p class="normal">The deputies of the burghers and counsel started almost in as great +dismay as the bishop and his clerical companions, when they beheld +themselves surrounded on a sudden by royal halberdiers and horsemen +before the castle gate. The captain of halberdiers dismissed the +half-armed mob, who had followed the procession with shouts and threats +against the bishop, and with frequent acclamations for the king, on +occasion of his having (according to report) thrown the bishop into +prison.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In the name of my liege and sovereign!" called Count Henrik, on +horseback, as he waved his hat, "the castle is open to the deputies of +the loyal burghers; but every one who bears arms here, or combines to +cause riot and uproar disturbs the peace of the king's castle, and is +guilty of treason. Your lord bishop is at this moment in the king's +power, but he is also his guest and under his protection. Every insult +to the bishop here is an insult to the ruler of the land. The king will +judge justly, and negociate a peace between you and your lord. Ere the +sun goes down the result of his mediation shall be made known. Now, +back! all here who would not pass for rebels!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The restless crowd returned silent and downcast to the town. The +arrogant bravado of the insurgents that they had the king on their +side, had been suddenly put down. Their confidence in his presumed +wrath against the bishop, and his partiality to the burghers of +Copenhagen, appeared to have given way to a reasonable apprehension of +his justice and known severity. It even seemed to them no good sign +that the bishop, in his distress, had sought shelter at the royal +castle--and the guild-brethren muttered that when it came to the push, +the powerful and the great ever sided together after all; even though +they were deadly foes at heart, and that every thing was visited upon +those of low degree whether they were guilty or not.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. VI.</h2> + +<p class="normal">During the whole day an anxious stillness prevailed in the town. The +crowds indeed still continued to pour like a tide through the streets, +but with order, and in silent expectation. The sun was about to set, +and, as yet, no tidings had been received of the issue of the royal +negociation. Meanwhile, an unusual procession attracted the attention +of the restless and fickle populace. A funeral train proceeded past St. +Clement's church down to the old Strand, but without chaunting and +ringing of bells, and without being accompanied by any choristers or +ecclesiastics. This procession consisted of a great number of foreign +merchants and skippers, and all the pepper 'prentices, who (several +hundreds in number, and clad in precise and rich mourning attire) +followed two large coffins covered with costly palls of black velvet. +The coffins were borne by Hanseatic seamen; over them waved the Rostock +and Visbye flags. The train halted at the church of St. Nicholas. They +would have pursued their way across the church-yard, and requested to +have a mass chaunted over the dead in the church; but this was denied. +The bishop's servants shut the gates of the church-yard and forbade the +corpse-bearers to approach the church, or tread on consecrated ground, +as one of the coffins they carried contained the body of a man who had +been slain in the ale-house at the draught board. Amid wrathful +muttering against the hard-hearted prelatical government, the +procession proceeded past the outside of the church-yard wall to the +quay on Bremen Island, where a number of boats with rowers, clad in +white, received the coffins and the whole troop of mourners. They +landed on the island, and here, where the Hanseatic merchants alone +governed, the train burst forth into a solemn German funeral hymn, +while the bodies of Berner Kopmand and Henrik Gullandsfar were carried +on board two Hanseatic vessels, which were to convey them to Christian +burial in Rostock and Visbye. As soon as the ships were under +weigh the funeral train was received in a large warehouse, where three +ale-barrels and two keys over a cross were carved in stone over the +door. Here the whole party of seamen and trading agents were served out +of huge barrels of the famous Embden ale, the intoxicating properties +of which soon changed the funeral feast into a wild and mirthful +carouse. There was no lack either of wine or mead, and the large dish +of salted meat, which was constantly replenished, increased the thirst +of the funeral guests. The rabble who had followed the train through +the streets, long remained standing on the beach and the quay to hear +and watch the intoxicated pepper 'prentices, who here, with none but +countrymen and boon companions beside them, seemed determined to +indemnify themselves for the restraint to which they were subjected in +the foreign town. Some wept, while they reeled, and held moving +discourses on the mournful fate of the rich Berner Kopmand and Henrik +Gullandsfar, and on the mutability of all power and wealth in this +world; while others sung drinking songs and piping love-ditties by way +of accompaniment to the pathetic funeral speeches.</p> + +<p class="normal">At last, attention was withdrawn from these riotous revels by the cry +of "The herald! The herald!" and the people thronged in dense crowds +down towards the north gate. A herald with a large sheet of parchment +and a white staff in his hand, rode, accompanied by a halberdier and a +numerous troop of horsemen, through the gate. The train halted at the +corners of all the streets, and at all the public squares; two +trumpeters on white horses made a signal for silence, whereupon the +herald read aloud a treaty between the lord of the town, Bishop Johan, +and the council and congregation of Copenhagen. The burghers admitted +in this treaty that they had, as well in deed as in word, grossly +misbehaved towards their spiritual and temporal lord the bishop, and +that they had been implicated in an unlawful and criminal insurrection, +the circumstances of which were enumerated. Meanwhile the bishop +pardoned them these trespasses at the king's intercession, in return +for which the deputies of the council and congregation promised, on the +part of the town and of the burghers, that each burgher should +instantly return to his duty, and obey all the laws and regulations +which the bishop, "<i>with consent of the chapter</i>," had given or +hereafter might give them, which they would publicly and solemnly swear +to do at the council-house, with laying on of hands on the holy +Gospels. No one dared to protest against the validity of this treaty; +as the herald displayed the round seal of the town with the three +towers, which was suspended to the document by a green silken string, +together with the seal of the Copenhagen chapter.</p> + +<p class="normal">As soon as the inhabitants of the town were informed of this treaty, +and it was understood what had thereby been tacitly conceded to them, +and with how much leniency this untoward affair had been adjusted, +alarm and anxiety were succeeded by still greater and more general +satisfaction; but the guild-brethren were displeased and murmured.</p> + +<p class="normal">At the market-place without the east gate, where the herald had read +the treaty for the last time, the numbers of the mob which had followed +the procession through the town were considerably augmented, chiefly by +day-labourers and ale-house frequenters, who felt that the treaty was +an obstacle to the disorder and licentious liberty for which the revolt +had given them opportunity. Here discontent was openly manifested; and +it was muttered aloud that the bishop after all had got justice in +everything, and that the burghers had suffered injustice. But a man now +stepped forward who was held in high esteem among these people; he was +a remarkably fat and sturdy ale-house keeper, with a large red nose and +a pair of hands like bears paws; he was known as the greatest toper and +brawler in the town, and his tavern was the resort of the wildest and +most turbulent revellers. He mounted upon the great ale barrel which +stood before his door, and which served the house for a sign.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is altogether right and reasonable, my excellent friends and +customers!--my honest and highly esteemed fellow burghers!" he shouted, +with his powerful well-known voice, and a round oath. "The bishop hath +but got justice for appearance sake; he is, besides, the lord of our +good town, and hath a right to require that one should drink one's ale +in peace, and pay every man that which is his. When he will grant us +what we need both for soul and body, we have surely nought to complain +of. When he lets priests sing mass for you, and me tap good ale for you +from morn till even, and somewhat past at times--then he is, by my +soul! as excellent a bishop and lord as we can ask for, and I will pay +without grumbling my yearly tax. For soul and salvation ye need not +hereafter to fear, comrades! That matter the king hath taken upon +himself, like an honest man. Heard ye not what he promised us +yesterday, and what there stood in the treaty? <i>Without consent of the +chapter the bishop</i> can command us nothing, and praised be the chapter! +They are a wise set: they will just as little deny you absolution every +day, for your little bosom sins, as I would deny you what you may +stand in need of and can pay for on opportunity! Let rascals and +guild-brothers grumble as they may!" he continued, as he clenched his +broad fist, "we will keep those fellows in check;--I will wager a +drinking match to-day, with every honest man, to the king's and the +bishop's prosperity; but those who would stir up strife and wrangling +between us peaceable people shall feel our fists. Come in now, +comrades! and get something to keep up your hearts! Long live the king! +and our lord the bishop besides!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Long live the king and the bishop!" cried a great number of the +influential tavern-keeper's friends and customers; and the malcontents +slunk off.</p> + +<p class="normal">"They come! they come! The king and bishop are here!" was now echoed +from mouth to mouth,--and the crowd again poured in through East +Street, towards the quarter where all the butchers of the place had +their dwellings, and where some murmurs against the treaty had also +been heard. Every burst of dissatisfaction was meanwhile kept down by +the opposite feeling which prevailed among the town's most influential +burghers, and yet more by the spectacle of the king's entry, and of the +crushed pride and dejected deportment of the little bishop Johan. With +downcast eyes and manifest signs of fear, this prelate rode, with his +ecclesiastical train, at the king's right hand, through his own town, +guarded by Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, and the knight-halberdiers. The +king met everywhere with a favourable reception; the bishop was +received with no demonstrations of welcome, but there was order and +peace;--no agitator dared to scoff at him by the king's side, and +no voice of discontent was heard. The procession stopped at the +council-house, where the treaty was solemnly ratified.</p> + +<p class="normal">The public tranquillity was thus restored. The dignity of the +prelatical government was upheld, and the arrogance of the insurgents +subdued. The turbulent guild-brethren had dispersed, and there was no +reason to apprehend a fresh outbreak of the revolt, as the burghers +themselves, with the permission of the bishop, had agreed with the +provost's men and the bishop's retainers to observe the treaty and +prevent all disturbances. Despite this apparent victory, the bishop was +notwithstanding extremely pensive and taciturn. The king's generous +protection appeared to have confounded him, and he seemed to experience +a feeling of painful humiliation, by the side of his temporal +protector. The revolt, and the danger which had menaced his life, had +taught him to know his own powerlessness. The king had indeed treated +him, while at Sorretslóv castle, as a distinguished guest, but with +cold courtesy, without even giving vent to his displeasure by a +single word; it was those words only in the treaty relating to the +bishop's dependence on the assent of the chapter, which the king had +ordered to be inserted, in an emphatic tone (with the approval of the +general-superior there present), and in a voice of command, which +admitted of no contradiction. The bishop of Roskild, lately so +confident and haughty, who a few days since sat between a cardinal and +an archbishop in his fortified castle, and had, for the first time, +issued the exasperating church interdict in his own town, was now +forced to acknowledge, in silent anger, that since, the cardinal's +departure, the banishment of the archbishop, and his having himself +been subjected to the scoffs of the lowest rabble, he would be able to +maintain the authority of the church in Denmark only so far as the +Danish clergy considered it expedient, and as the king himself would +support ecclesiastical government.</p> + +<p class="normal">During the whole of the transaction at the council-house, the bishop +was quiet and dejected. The king treated him here also with cold +courtesy. His looks were stern and grave; another important and serious +matter seemed to have weighed on his heart since he heard the last +words of the archbishop to Count Henrik.</p> + +<p class="normal">From the council-house the whole procession rode to St. Mary's church, +where, besides the customary Avé, a Te Deum was sung on occasion of the +treaty. The king then immediately rode back to Sorretslóv, from whence +he purposed to set out on his journey the following morning. The +bishop, with the abbot of the Forest Monastery, and the other +ecclesiastics, accompanied him (in compliance with customary courtesy), +besides the deputies of the town and the burghers.</p> + +<p class="normal">The bishop desired not to return to Axelhuus ere every trace of hostile +attack on the castle was effaced, and the humiliating insurrection +forgotten. He purposed to accompany the king, the following day, to +Roskild, where some disturbances had taken place on the occasion of +their rulers' attempt to enforce the interdict.</p> + +<p class="normal">The bishop was thus, in some sort, houseless on this evening, and +accepted, as an attention which was his due, the king's invitation to +him and his train to take up their quarters for the night at his +castle, where all who had accompanied the king were also invited to a +festive supper.</p> + +<p class="normal">The sun had just set as the train reached Sorretslóv, and Count Henrik +proposed to the king that they should now, ere it grew dark, inspect +the bishop's charitable institution at St. George's hospital, for +lepers and those who were sick of pestilential disorders, since it lay +but a stone's throw from the castle. At this proposal the bishop, and +the abbot of the Forest Monastery, became evidently uneasy; but this +was remarked by no one except Count Henrik, who watched them closely, +and had on their account proposed aloud this plan, which he readily +conjectured the king would reject.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is top late. Count! and I have guests besides," answered the king. +"If you desire it, inspect the hospital yourself, and describe the +establishment to me! I know it doth honour to the bishop's +philanthropy!--although I should have deemed it more fitting had that +lazzaretto been erected elsewhere. That there is no one sick of the +plague there at the present moment I know," Count Henrik bowed in +silence, and instantly rode, with a couple of young knights, across +Sorretslóv meadow, towards the hospital.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Permit me to accompany you. Sir knights! I desire also to see this +pious institution," said the abbot of the Forest Monastery, +endeavouring to overtake them on his palfrey; but they heard him not, +and ere the abbot reached St. George's hospital. Count Henrik stood +already in the chamber of the sick, gazing with a look of sharp +scrutiny on a man who seemed to sleep, but whose head was so closely +muffled that he might be considered as masked. On the upper part of the +sick man's forehead the beginning of a large scar was visible. "What is +the name of this man?" inquired Count Henrik, in a stern tone, of the +alarmed and embarrassed brethren of St. George.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No one knows him, gracious sir!" answered the guardian; "he was +brought bruised and wounded hither yesterday, by two stranger canons +from the town; they had found him half dead on the beach: we were +forced instantly to lay a plaster over his whole face and we cannot now +remove it without endangering his life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As I live! it is the outlawed Kaggé," said Count Henrik, and all gave +way in consternation. "You have housed and healed a regicide," +continued the count; "they who brought him hither were traitors: all +are such who hide an outlaw."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Outlaw or not, here he hath peace to die or recover, if it be the will +of the Lord and St. George;--that shall not be denied him by any king +or king's servant," said an authoritative voice behind them, and the +tall abbot of the Forest Monastery stood in the door-way of the +chamber. "No tyrant's hand reaches unto this sanctuary of compassion," +continued the prelate. "I command you, brother-guardian, and every +charitable brother who here serves St. George, I command ye, in the +name of the bishop, and our heavenly Lord, to cherish this sick man as +your redeemed brother, without fear of man, and without asking of his +name and calling in the world! Perhaps he now suffers for his sins; but +of that the All-righteous must judge: if he hath fallen by the hand of +Divine chastisement he will indeed soon stand before his Judge; in such +case, pray for his soul, and give him Christian burial! but if he is +healed by the help and prayers of man, or by the merits and miracles of +any saint, then let him wander forth free in St. George's name, whether +he goes to friend or foe--whether he goes to life and happiness in the +world, or to ignominy and death on the scaffold--ye are set here to +heal and comfort;--to wound and vex the wretched, there are tyrants +enough in the world."</p> + +<p class="normal">Count Henrik looked in astonishment at the dignified prelate, who spoke +with authoritative firmness, and really seemed actuated by pious zeal +and compassion; a transient flush passed over the countenance of the +proud warrior; it seemed as though he blushed at having persecuted this +miserable being, who appeared unable to move a limb, and looked more +dead than alive. "In the name of the Lord and St. George," he said, +stepping back, "fulfil your duty to the criminal as unto my saint, and +the saint of all knights! I require not you nor any one to be +merciless; but this I will say once again, you shelter an outlawed and +dishonoured traitor. You must yourselves be answerable for the +consequences." He cast another glance at the object of his suspicions, +who lay immovable, and without any discernible expression in his +frightful and shrouded countenance. The count then quitted the +hospital, and allowed the abbot to precede him. On the way back to the +king's castle he exchanged not a word with the ecclesiastic, who, +haughty and silent, gazed on him with a triumphant mien. Count Henrik +said nothing of his discovery to the king; he was not, indeed, +perfectly certain that he had not been mistaken; but during the whole +evening he was in an unusually silent and thoughtful mood. The unhappy +criminal now appeared to him so wretched and insignificant that he +began to regard all dread of such a foe as contemptible. At the evening +repast the king principally conversed with the deputies of the council +and the burghers of Copenhagen. It was the first time they sat at the +table with the king and their ruler the bishop, and at the commencement +of the repast appeared somewhat abashed by this unwonted honour. The +king repeated his commendation of the loyalty and bravery of the +Copenhageners in Marsk Stig's feud, and the war with Norway; he +promised them compensation for every loss they might sustain hereafter +for his and the kingdom's sake, so long as the outlaws disquieted the +country, and soon contrived to induce the plain, straight-forward +citizens to express themselves freely and frankly respecting the +advantages and disadvantages of their town in regard to its trade +and commerce. They thanked the bishop and the king for their wise +town-laws, and for the many liberties and privileges which the town +already enjoyed; but they hesitated not to mention how important it +might be for the public revenue if the monopolies of the towns could be +curtailed, and the burghers allowed at least the same privileges as +those granted to foreigners.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Truly! I have long thought of that," said the king; "this matter +deserves to be thought upon. I shall await further proposals and +consideration of the subject from your Lord the bishop and your +assembled council."</p> + +<p class="normal">Great joy was manifest in the countenances of the burgers at this +speech; but the bishop appeared little pleased with the king's zealous +interest in the town and its concerns. The conversation between the +ecclesiastics from Axelhuus was reserved and laconic. The king himself +was often silent and abstracted; at times he appeared striving to +repress the expression of his wrath against the bishop, and the abbot, +who he knew, was one of the most devoted friends of Grand. After the +repast the burghers took a cheerful and hearty farewell of the king, +whom they once more thanked for the rescue and peace of their good +town; after which they returned to Copenhagen, with high panegyrics on +the king's mildness and favour. Count Henrik and the knights repaired +to the chess-table in the upper hall, and Eric remained almost alone +among the ecclesiastics. With an air of mysterious confidence the abbot +and the provincial prior drew closer to the bishop, whose authority and +drooping courage they strove to sustain in the king's presence.</p> + +<p class="normal">The two ecclesiastics who had principally conducted the treaty, and had +impartially defended the rights of the bishop, as well as the liberties +of the people, kept nearest the king, and strove furthermore to prevent +every outbreak of his anger against the friends of the banished +archbishop: they were the provincial prior of the Dominicans, Master +Olans (who, as the king's counsellor in this important affair, had +accompanied him from Wordingborg), and the general-superior of the +Copenhagen chapter, who belonged to the bishop's train, but was +secretly devoted to the king, and had even dared to protest against the +interdict. To these personages the king, shortly before retiring to +rest, addressed a question which had been weighing on his heart the +whole day, and which he seemed desirous should be answered in the +presence of the bishop, ere he retired to rest.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tell me, venerable sirs," said Eric, "how far the canonical law +reasonably extends with regard to marriage within the ties of +consanguinity, and how far the dispensation of the church can really be +consisted as necessary, according to the law of God, when the +relationship is so distant that it is hardly remembered?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is a prolix and difficult question, your grace," answered the +general-superior of the chapter, evasively, with a dubious side-glance +at the bishop and the abbot of the Forest Monastery. "I must crave some +time for reflection in order to answer it rightly."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If the prevailing senseless law is followed," said the aged provincial +prior in a firm tone, and with an undaunted glance at the attentive +prelates, "almost every computable degree of relationship may be an +impediment, and may call for an indulgence; but when this is carried +out too far I believe the church's holy father will agree with me that +such an extreme doth but uselessly burden the conscience, just as it +also may lightly become a subject for scoffing and scandal, instead of +being a means of edification to Christian and reasonable persons. If +one were to be consistent in these matters, no marriage would at last +take place in Christendom without dispensation from the papal see, +seeing that all persons are kindred in the flesh, inasmuch as they all +descend from old Adam and Eve."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is precisely my own opinion," said the king, with a smile of +satisfaction; "it would take a tolerably long reckoning.--What is +<i>your</i> opinion of this, pious Bishop Johan?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The bishop appeared confused, at the half-jesting tone with which the +king asked his opinion; he was not prepared for this, and seemed to +wish just as little to tread on the heels of papal authority, as to +dare at this moment to rouse the anger of the king--he stammered out a +few words, and strove to evade a decided declaration.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Permit me, venerable brother! To answer this question," began the +abbot, with a proud and collected deportment:--"an example will best +explain the case," he continued, addressing himself to the king; "no +case is more in point than that of your grace's relationship to your +young kinswoman, Princess Ingeborg of Sweden."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Truly!" exclaimed the king, with a start, "you use no circumlocution, +Sir Abbot! you go straight to the point. It suits me best, however. Let +us keep to that example! I am more, every way, interested in it than in +any other!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ere the church can bless your meditated marriage union with this your +high-born relative," continued the abbot, with calm coldness, "the holy +father's dispensation and indulgence are altogether necessary, and this +on a two-fold account; pro primo,--because of the tie of relationship +by marriage; and pro secundo,--because of the taint of relationship by +blood. As regards the first point, royal sir! the aforesaid Princess +Ingeborg's uncle, Count Gerhard of Holstein, is, as is well known, by +his marriage with your most royal mother, the dowager Queen Agnes, your +grace's present step-father. Count Gerhard's fatherly relationship, as +well to that noble princess, as to your Grace! causes an almost +brotherly and sisterly connection between you and the young +princess;--and marriage between brother and sister, or between those +who may be considered as such, is sternly forbidden by every law of God +and man----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have made us out brother and sister in a trice; it is a singular +way of bringing people into near relationship," interrupted the king, +"yet pass but over the relationship by marriage, with my stepfather's +niece, venerable sir!--there is not a single drop of the same blood +therein. Nought but a near and actual blood relationship do I +acknowledge to be so real a hindrance that it can only be removed by +God's vicegerent upon earth."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Your grace is right in some respects," answered the abbot, "inasmuch +as it <i>is</i> the tie of blood, which in this instance constitutes the +sin, and makes every marriage union between relations, which hath not +been sanctified by the indulgence of the church, an unholy act, a +deadly sin, and a damnable connection."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ha! do you rave?" cried the king: his brow flushed; anger glowed in +his cheek and on his lofty brow, but he subdued his rising ire. "If +terrible words, without truth or reason, had power to slay the soul, I +should long since have been spiritually murdered," he continued in a +lower tone. "Now, say on, Sir Abbot!--how near reckon you, then, the +blood relationship, which, according to your bold assertion, may plunge +me into deadly sin, and into a gulf of horror and ignominy, if I await +not a permit from Rome to perpetrate such crime?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is easy to reckon up the degrees of forbidden affinity," answered +the abbot, with imperturbable coolness. "The high-born Princess +Ingeborg is, as is known, a legitimate daughter of King Magnus, who was +a legitimate son of the high-born Birger Jarl, whose consort, the lady +Ingeborg, was a legitimate daughter of King Eric the tenth, whose Queen +Regizé was, lastly, a legitimate daughter of your grace's departed +royal father's--father's--father's father;--ergo, the princess is a +great-great grandchild of your grace's grandfather's departed royal +father, Waldemar the Great, of blessed memory!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Perfectly right, grand-children's grand-children's children then, of +my great-great grandfather--a near relationship, doubtless!" said the +king, bursting into a laugh. "I now wish you a good and quiet night, +venerable and most learned sirs!" he added, apparently with a lightened +heart, and with a cheerful and determined look: "I never rightly +considered the matter before; now it is perfectly clear to me; I can +sleep as quietly as in Abraham's bosom, when I think on the sin which I, +with mature deliberation and full resolve, purpose to perpetrate as +soon as possible. I could wish no one among you may ever have a heavier +sin on his conscience." So saying, he bowed with a smile, and departed.</p> + +<p class="normal">The king's eager talk with the ecclesiastics had attracted the +attention of Count Henrik and his companions, who had approached, and +heard the subject of the conversation. On the king's laughingly +repeating the abbot's calculation, some of the young knights had +laughed right heartily also. The abbot was crimson with rage. "It is +the mark of eye-servants," he said aloud, "to vie with each other in +laughing at what their gracious lords consider to be absurd, even +though such merriment doth but disgrace them and their short-sighted +masters. This scoffing and contempt shall be avenged, my brother," he +whispered in the bishop's ear, with a significant look. The bishop +started, and looked anxiously around; he winked at his incensed +colleague, and observed aloud, that it was high time to retire to rest, +and bid good-night to all discord and worldly thoughts. The master of +the household now appeared with a number of torch-bearers, and the +knights, as well as the ecclesiastics, repaired to the chambers +assigned to them, in the knights' story in the western wing of the +castle.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. VII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">Towards midnight, Count Henrik stood in his apartment, next the +king's chamber, in the upper story of the castle. He had extinguished +his light, in order to retire to rest, but remained standing +half-undressed, at the high arched-window, which looked towards the +east, and from which he gazed out in the moonlight upon the Sound, +watching the distant vessels gliding away over the glittering mirror of +the waters. Since his visit to St. George's hospital, he had been +silent and pensive. At the evening repast he had constantly drained his +cup, for the purpose of raising his spirits. His pulse beat hard; +recollections of the past, and hopes for the future, passed rapidly +through his mind, in fair and vivid imagery. At the sight of the ocean +and the distant prospect, he gave himself up to visionary longings +after his distant fatherland, and a beloved form seemed to flit before +him, as he pressed the blue shoulder-scarf to his lips, and hung it +carefully over a high-backed chair. He took a gold chain, which the +king had lately given him, from his breast, and laid his sword aside. +"Deeds, achievements, honour, first!" he said to himself, "and then +love will surely also twine me a wreath. Now that <i>his</i> life and +happiness are at stake, he shall not have called me his friend in vain. +Let him become a Waldemar the Victorious! and Henrik of Mecklenborg's +name shall be famed like that of Albert of Orlamund[oe]. But another +sort of fellow, and a right merry one, will <i>I</i> be." He now heard the +weapons of the bodyguard clashing in the antechamber, where a young +halberdier kept guard, with twelve spearmen. It was not, however, usual +for the king to be surrounded by a guard, when he made a progress +through the country, and passed the night at any of the royal mansions; +but here, where the banished archbishop and the outlaws still had their +numerous friends, and where the ecclesiastical rulers of the town were +on doubtful terms with the king, Count Henrik had counselled this +precaution as in some degree necessary, after so recent an +insurrection, and where the king's mediation had not been able to +satisfy all the discontented. While Count Henrik was undressing +himself, the Drost's letter dropped from his vest, and he pondered +thoughtfully over the solemn warnings it contained. "Hum! The junker," +he said to himself "his own brother--and yet surely a traitor--never +shall I forget his countenance that night at Kallundborg--the blood of +the unhappy commandant was surely upon his head--<i>he</i> will be no joyous +wedding guest--he would assuredly rather stand by the bridegroom's +grave;--then might a crown yet fall upon his raven's head. Hum! They +are murky, these Danish royal castles," he continued, looking around +the dark gothic chamber, with its arched roof and walls, a fathom +thick, "Is he safe here among his guests? The little spying bishop was +Grand's good friend. I like him not; the haughty, gloomy abbot still +less--they are dangerous people, those holy men of God, when they will +have a finger in state affairs. Here he sleeps under the same roof with +his enemies to-night; and yonder, in the hospital, lies a disguised +regicide; perhaps he was only deadly sick for appearance sake, and my +compassion was ill bestowed." As Count Henrik was revolving these +thoughts, and delayed retiring to rest, there was a low knocking at the +door. It opened, and an ecclesiastic entered; he was a quiet, serious +old man. The moonlight fell on a pale and somewhat melancholy face, and +the Count recognised the general-superior of the Copenhagen chapter. "A +word in confidence, noble knight," he whispered mysteriously; "I come +like Nicodemus; yet it is not spiritual things, but temporal, which +have disturbed my night's rest. Your liege the king hath this day +generously saved my life and the lives of my colleagues, although he +does not regard us all as his friends, and with some reason: perhaps I +may now be able to requite him."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How?" exclaimed Count Henrik: "say on, venerable sir! What have you to +confide to me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"When we fled from Axelhuus at break of day," continued the +ecclesiastic, "I was well nigh sick of fear and alarm, and gave but +little heed to what passed around me. A half-dead man had been found on +the beach, and out of compassion taken into the boat. I saw not his +face, and his voice was strange to me; of that I can take my oath. He +was afterwards carried to St. George's Hospital here, close by the +king's meadows. While we lay hidden under the thwarts in the boat, for +fear of the insurgents, the sick man had come to himself: and exchanged +many strange, enigmatical words with my colleague, the abbot of the +Forest Monastery. What it was I heard but half, and cannot remember; +but there must be some mystery about that person which makes me +apprehensive; deadly sick he seemed to me in no wise to be, and +appeared least of all prepared for his <i>own</i> departure from this world. +My lord, the bishop seemed neither to know him nor his dark projects; +but as I said, the abbot knew him, and had assuredly before +administered to him the most holy Sacrament. More have I not to say; +but I felt compelled to seek you out, however late it was: I could not +sleep for disquiet thoughts. The guard without, here, I found in a deep +slumber, I know not whether it is with your knowledge."</p> + +<p class="normal">"How? Impossible!" exclaimed Count Henrik, in great consternation, +hastily stepping into the antechamber, where he found all the twelve +spearmen lying asleep on the floor. On the table stood an empty wine +flask and some goblets. The young halberdier, who had the command of +the guard, sat likewise asleep in a corner. Count Henrik shook them; +but they were all in a deep sleep. "Treachery!" he exclaimed, in +dismay, and hastily snatched a lance from one of the sleeping guards. +"Haste to the knights' story, venerable sir! Wake all the king's men, +and call them instantly hither! I cannot now myself quit the king's +door. I will fasten the door after you: knock three soft strokes when +you return! For the Lord's sake, haste!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The ecclesiastic nodded in silence, and departed. Count Henrik locked +the door of the upper story after him, and barricadoed it with tables +and benches--he strove again to waken the sleeping guards, but it was +in vain: they seemed not intoxicated by ordinary wine; their sleep +rather resembled that caused by a soporific draught.</p> + +<p class="normal">Count Henrik stood alone among the sleepers, and waited long in a state +of painful anxiety; there was a deathlike stillness around him: he +heard but the deep-drawn breathings of the sleepers; but the king's men +from the knights' story did not arrive, and the ecclesiastic returned +not either. He stood for full an hour, listening with lance in hand. +All was still. At last he thought he heard a noise, as if some one was +scraping the wall, or creeping to the window over the projecting +battlements near the staircase of the upper story. He cast a hasty +glance at the window, and saw a horrible and deadly pale face, which he +could not recognise, pressed flat to one of the window panes. He rushed +forward with raised lance, but when he reached the window the face had +disappeared. Count Henrik stepped back, thrilled by a feeling of horror +which he had never before experienced. It seemed as if the prostrate +warriors around him mocked his growing uneasiness by the profound +indifference of their slumbers. He felt as if secret doors were about +to open in all the old panels, and the outlawed regicides of Finnerup +were ready to rush forth masked from every corner to renew the bloody +scenes of St. Cecilia's eve, and avenge Marsk Stig and their slain +kinsmen. He kept his lance in the one hand and held his knight's sword +unsheathed in the other. Thus armed, he stationed himself without the +king's door, and just before the open door between his own chamber and +the landing of the upper story, every moment expecting an attack from +the foe, who were probably many in number. It was useless to give an +alarm; the wing containing the knights' story, where all the king's men +slept, was at too great a distance for his voice to reach thither, and +if the traitors were nigh, a shout of distress might embolden them. He +thought of waking the king; but all as yet was quiet, and he was +ashamed of showing fear in Eric's presence, where there was no enemy +either to be seen or heard. To the king's sleeping chamber there was no +other entrance than through the antechamber of the upper story and the +count's apartment. The windows of the king's chamber were furnished +with iron bars: but in the antechamber the high arched windows were +without any defence, and they looked out on the other side to the open +field. From this quarter he expected the attack would be made, and he +feared, with reason, that some mishap must have chanced to the +ecclesiastic on the way to the knights' story. The longer he pondered +over his situation, the more alarming it appeared. An idea now suddenly +struck him, which he instantly hastened to put into execution. After +he had once more unsuccessfully attempted to arouse the slumbering +men-at-arms he raised them up one by one from the floor and bound them +tight by their shoulder-scarfs, in an almost upright position, to the +strong iron hooks in the window pillars, which were used for hanging +weapons upon. In this attitude they turned their backs towards the +windows looking upon the fields, and would, therefore, appear to those +without to be awake and at their posts. Hardly had he completed this +laborious task ere he heard whispering voices, and a low clashing of +arms under the windows. He sprang suddenly forward with raised lance +and sword, to that window, which was most strongly lighted up by the +moonshine, and shouted in a loud triumphant voice, "Now's the time, +guard! Here we have them in the field."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Fly! fly! We are betrayed!--they are all on their legs!" said a hoarse +voice without; and Count Henrik saw in the clear moonshine a whole +troop of masked persons, in the mantles of Dominican monks, take flight +over the meadow. "St. George be praised!" he exclaimed, once more +breathing freely. "I should hardly have been able to master so many."</p> + +<p class="normal">The spearmen and the young halberdier still slept soundly in their +hanging position. Count Henrik bound them yet faster, and left them +in this attitude. When the king stepped forth from his chamber at +sun-rise, he beheld, to his surprise. Count Henrik pacing up and down, +half-dressed, on the landing, with weapons in both hands, while the +guard hung snoring in their shoulder-scarfs among the untenanted suits +of armour on the window pillars. At this sight he burst into a hearty +laugh, and on hearing the strange adventure shook his head and smiled. +"You have dreamed, my good Count Henrik; or, to speak plainly, you have +had a goblet of wine too much in your head," he said, gaily. "I noticed +that last night, indeed; but compared with these fellows you have +assuredly been sober: you have made rare game of them in your +merriment."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As I live, my liege, it was no joke," began Count Henrik eagerly; but +the lancers now began, one after another, to gape and to stretch +themselves. When they found, however, how they were bound to the +armour-hooks, and beheld the king with Count Henrik just opposite them, +they demeaned themselves most strangely, betwixt fear and bashfulness. +The king turned away to repress his laughter, as he was now compelled +to be stern; but Count Henrik was indignant at his incredulity and gay +humour.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Throw the whole of that dormouse guard into the tower," commanded the +king; "they can sleep themselves sober, and so be better able to keep +their eyes open another time. You yourself shall get off by putting up +with my laughter," he added, and went with the count into another +apartment. "Henceforth I can believe neither what you nor my dear Drost +Aagé see and hear in the moonshine. Out of pure love to me you spy +traitors in every corner, and vie with each other in playing mad +pranks. Hath any one ever known the like of the halberdier guard!" When +the door of the guard-room was shut, the king gave vent to his +laughter; his opinion of the real state of the case was strengthened by +observing that Count Henrik was only half-dressed, and by his disturbed +looks.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You wound me by your doubts, my liege," resumed Count Henrik, with +subdued vehemence, and casting his mantle around him; "but so long as +you can make laughing-stocks of your true servants; thank God, it is a +proof at least that you are of good cheer, my liege, and that should +vex no loyal subject. You can witness, fellows," he continued eagerly, +again opening the door of the guard-chamber upon the dismayed spearmen. +"No! That is true; you saw nothing of it, ye drowsy pates!" he cried in +wrath. "To the tower with you instantly! and you besides, vigilant Sir +halberdier! You never more deserve to be trusted with the guarding of +the king's person."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young halberdier, who had awoke in fear and dismay, and had now +extricated himself from his humiliating position, related in his excuse +how he had lost his consciousness in an unaccountable manner, after +having only drunk a single cup of the evening draught which had been +brought to them. They had all fared in the same manner. The king at +last became serious, and caused the matter to be strictly inquired +into. It could not be discovered who had brought the soporific draught. +None of the kin's attendants knew any thing of it. No one had been +roused in the knights' story. The old general-superior must have been +carried off by the traitors: he was nowhere to be found. When the +bishop and the abbot of the Forest Monastery heard what had been done +they appeared to be in the greatest consternation. The bishop loudly +expressed it as his opinion that it must have been the discontented +guild-brethren from the town, and that the attack, in all probability, +had concerned him. Since his last conversation with these +ecclesiastical dignitaries the king had altered the plan of his +journey, and determined instantly to repair to Helsingborg, there to +expedite his marriage, and prepare every thing for the reception of his +bride.</p> + +<p class="normal">He excused himself with cold courtesy from all further companionship +with bishop Johan and the abbot, who, silent and thoughtful, set out on +the road to Roskild; but the aged provincial prior Olaus accompanied +the king, by his desire, to supply the place of the absent chancellor, +in conducting correspondence and matters of a similar nature.</p> + +<p class="normal">When the king, a few hours after sunrise, was about to leave +Sorretslóv, and traversed the ante-chamber where Count Henrik had kept +his singular night-watch, he took the count's hand and pressed it with +warmth, "If you have been able to put my enemies to flight, here, with +snoring fellows on hooks, you must be able to crush them with waking +men in coats of mail. From this hour you are my Marsk, Count Henrik of +Mecklenborg, with the same authority in peace and war as Marsk +Olufsen," So saying, the king handed him a roll of parchment, with sign +and seal of this high dignity. "When I laugh another time at your +heroic deeds, brave count, and call them dreams and visions, you may +call me an unbelieving Thomas," he continued. "From my childhood +upwards I have had as many deadly foes as my father had murderers," he +added, solemnly, and with a tremulous voice; "yet truly, I thank the +Lord and our holy Lady for my foes; they teach me almost daily to know +my true friends."</p> + +<p class="normal">Count Henrik's eyes beamed with joy; he heartily thanked the king, and +followed him down the staircase to the court of the castle, where +Eric's numerous train already awaited his coming, on horseback. Count +Henrik sprang gaily into the saddle, with his new commission in his +hand, and instantly issued, as Marsk, the necessary orders for pursuing +and tracking the traitors.</p> + +<p class="normal">As they rode out of the court-yard, the king missed his two favourite +tournament steeds, and became highly displeased. "Truly this is worse +than all the rest," he said, looking around him with so stern a glance +and so clouded a countenance that the young knights looked at each +other in surprise; and a word of soothing or admonition seemed to hover +on the lips of the aged provincial prior.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The handsome, spirited prancers, they should have danced before +Princess Ingeborg's car on our bridal day," continued the king, turning +to Master Olaus. "This is no good omen for me. They might sooner have +burned the castle over my head than robbed me of those noble animals."</p> + +<p class="normal">It was now discovered that the horses were already missing in the +morning of the day preceding, together with both the grooms who had the +charge of them, and that they had been sought for everywhere in vain.</p> + +<p class="normal">"They shall and must be found; I will answer for that," said Count +Henrik, and instantly despatched a couple of his own grooms to look for +them. The party rode on; but the king's good humour was disturbed for +some time. "I shall never be able to find such another pair," he said +at last, in a milder tone, looking out across the Sound on the +picturesque road to Elsinore, while the larks carolled gaily above his +head, and his long fair locks floated on the spring breeze. "I always +fancied them dancing before her car every time I thought on her bridal +day; eager wishes may make us superstitious and childish, I believe. +Had we but the bride in the car we should assuredly get it drawn to +church."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You would have twice as many hands to draw it as there are hearts in +Denmark's kingdom," said Count Henrik, placing a green sprig of beech +in his hat. "We bring summer with us to Helsingborg, my sovereign--Look! +Denmark's forests already arch themselves into a vast Gothic church and +bridal hall."</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>That</i> church and bridal hall they shall at any rate leave wide open +to me," exclaimed the king, with some bitterness, as he raised his +glance above the woods to the clear heavens. "Yon eternal church of +God, besides," he continued, "however matters may stand with her image +here in the dust. Is it not so, Master Olaus?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The true temple of God's spirit is a pious and loving heart, my +liege," answered the mild, calm, provincial prior. "Where there is love +and living faith, with the Lord's help, there will be no lack of +blessing."</p> + +<p class="normal">The king nodded kindly to them both, and they now rode briskly forward +on the road to Elsinore.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. VIII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">While in Sweden as in Denmark, in the loveliest season of the year, the +old favourite national songs, with the burden,--"The woods are decked +in leafy green," and "The birds are warbling now their song," were sung +as well in castles as behind the plough, and the court rejoiced with +the minnesingers over "the very green and lovely May," and "the mighty +power of love," couriers were constantly passing between the Swedish +and Danish courts at Stockholm and Helsingborg; and a feeling of joyous +expectation pervaded all Denmark. Drost Aagé in conjunction with the +learned and eloquent Master Petrus de Dacia, had succeeded in +overcoming the immediate scruples of the Swedish state council, +respecting the marriage of the Danish King with Princess Ingeborg. +Without in the least betraying with what ardent impetuosity their +chivalrous young king seemed willing to stake life and crown to win his +bride, and without the most distant allusion to the possibility of a +breach of peace being caused by the failure of a negociation, which had +for its object the most peaceable relations, and the most loving ties, +these faithful servants of the king, had, by adducing wise and politic +reasons, first brought the wise Regent Thorkild Knudsen over to their +side, and, despite all the hindrances which the malicious Drost Bruncké +placed in their way, at last carried their point so far as to divest +the idea of the excommunication at Sjöborg, and the enforcement of the +interdict at Copenhagen, of its paralysing and terrifying influence, +at the Swedish court. From the showing of the learned Master Petrus, +and the king's own letters, and clear explanation of the matter, the +want of dispensation from the papal court, came at last to be regarded +as the omission of an insignificant formality, afterwards to be +remedied through negotiation. The flight and formal banishment of +Archbishop Grand from Denmark, as well as the insurrection caused by +the execution of the interdict in Copenhagen, had rejoiced every brave +and free-minded man, as well in Sweden, as in Denmark, and considerably +diminished the dread entertained by the Swedish court and council of +the consequences of a possible breach with the papal see. A new and +overawing proof had been displayed of the courage of the young Danish +king, and of the unanimity with which his loyal people joined him in +opposing the usurpation of the hierarchy. Daring politicians were even +found who hoped the time might not be far distant when the free +national spirit of the north would render people, and princes, +independent of the interference of the papal see in state matters, and +the rights of citizenship. Many bold and manly speeches were uttered in +the Swedish state-council on this occasion, which did honour to +Thorkild Knudsen and his countrymen, but which were reprobated, by the +opposite party, as open heresy and ungodliness, which would be visited +upon Sweden as well as Denmark with heavy chastisement.</p> + +<p class="normal">Drost Bruncké, and his adherents, despised no means which might tend to +stop or protract the negotiations; he had many able prelates on his +side, but the majority of voices were against him, and he sought in +vain, by reviving the remembrance of the wrongs and animosities of the +two nations, to rekindle the ancient national hate, which now seemed +forgot, and which it was hoped a mutual alliance between the royal +houses, would entirely eradicate.</p> + +<p class="normal">The eager opposition party in the Swedish council, which was headed by +Drost Bruncké, and in which many were disposed to think that Prince +Christopher took a secret but important part, was calculated rather to +forward than hinder the final decision of the affair. Sweden's greatest +statesman, Marsk Thorkild Knudsen, was on this occasion called on to +display his mental superiority. He disdained having recourse to his +authority as regent, and to his influence as the guardian of King +Birger, and the darling of the Swedish nation. The opinion which he +declared from full conviction, he wished to see prevail by its own +weight, and by its accordance with the mutual feeling of both nations. +Thorkild Knudsen now stood forth in council with an address which +appealed as well to the hearts as to the sober judgment of his +countrymen.</p> + +<p class="normal">After a clear and calm representation of the political relations of +Sweden and Denmark, and the original affinity of the Scandinavian +people, besides what they could and might effect by alliance and +friendship for their mutual security, and the development of their +powers. Thorkild also pourtrayed, with enthusiastic and glowing +eloquence, the greatness and devotion of love's triumph over petty +scruples and national prejudices. He gave an equally true and +favourable portraiture of the constant and loveable character of the +young Danish king, as well as of the charms of the noble Princess +Ingeborg, and the mutual attachment that had subsisted between the +betrothed pair from their childhood. He finally contrived, with as much +sagacity as eloquence, to put down the objections of the opposite +party, and bring the negotiation of the Danish ambassadors to the +happiest issue; the greater number of his opponents being at last +animated by a warm feeling of enthusiasm for the royal pair, which was +mingled by the soul-enlarging feeling of the union of two nations in +that of their fairest and noblest representatives.</p> + +<p class="normal">The espousals were, therefore, according to the ardent wish of King +Eric and with the consent of the princess, fixed for the first of June, +which was already near at hand; and a courier from Drost Aagé was +instantly despatched with the glad tidings to Eric. The whole of the +Swedish royal family were to accompany the princess to Helsingborg, +where splendid preparations were making for the marriage, and the +chivalrous King Eric now only awaited the dawning of that happy day to +set out at the head of the chivalry of Denmark, with all the courtly +state suited to the occasion, to meet his beautiful bride and her royal +relatives.</p> + +<p class="normal">Towards the close of May, Helsingborg castle, together with the town +and its vicinity became daily the resort of all who were most +distinguished in Denmark and Sweden. The fair gothic castle, with its +circular walls, its bastions, and high towers, rose proudly over the +town on the summit of the steep rock or hill above. The castle was +surrounded by deep moats, and was considered to be an impregnable +fortress; but at this time the drawbridge was let down, and the great +iron-cased castle-gate, on the southern side, stood open to admit the +coming guests. The old town, which dated its origin from the days of +King Frodé<a name="div2Ref_03" href="#div2_03"><sup>[3]</sup></a>, and was so pleasantly and advantageously situated on the +narrowest part of the Sound, owed its present prosperity to its +considerable trade, and great horse and cattle fairs. It was tolerably +extensive, but was, however, by no means, capable of accommodating so +great a concourse of strangers. The great market-place, close to the +council-house, and the handsome church of St. Mary's (the central point +of the town where many streets met), were now daily as much thronged +with people as on the great fair-days. Besides the king's nearest +relatives, and the wedding guests invited by the Marsk, from the lordly +manors and knightly castles of both kingdoms; a great crowd of curious +and sympathising persons of all ranks flocked to Helsingborg, even from +the most distant provinces, to witness the intended festival, and +partake of the public amusements, which, on this occasion, were to +render this celebration of royal nuptials a national festival for both +Denmark and Sweden.</p> + +<p class="normal">The king had already held his court, for some weeks, at Helsingborg. +Marsk Oluffsen had returned from Jutland, where he had been fortunate +enough to put an end to all disturbances by capturing the daring +partizans, Niels Brock and Johan Papć, with some other friends of +the archbishop's and the outlaws. The insurgents were led to the +prison-tower at Flynderborg, but the stern Marsk Oluffsen was +personally so incensed at these state prisoners, who had long plagued +and defied him, that he thought no punishment was adequate to their +deserts. At the present moment nothing was thought of at court but joy +and festivity. The king's stepfather, Count Gerhard, had arrived from +Nykiöping with his consort, the dowager queen Agnes. Next to the king +himself no one seemed more to rejoice at his marriage than his politic +and dignified mother. In her first unhappy marriage, Agnes, as +Denmark's queen, had held that wedded happiness, among royal +personages, was only the dream of visionaries. After the death of her +unhappy consort she had sacrificed the title of queen, and changed this +dream into truth and reality, in her own lot, under a humbler name. +Amid her own happiness she had often thought, with uneasiness and +regret, on having made a treaty, involving the future destiny of her +children by their betrothal in early childhood, and now saw, with +thankfulness, that a union, projected from motives of state policy, had +grown into the natural tie of kindred hearts.</p> + +<p class="normal">It appeared that the brave Duke of Langeland had forgotten all former +disputes with the king, at the treaty of Wordingborg, but his brother, +Duke Valdemar of Slesvig, who had also been invited out of courtesy, +had excused himself on plea of illness.</p> + +<p class="normal">Three days before that fixed for the bridal, Junker Christopher arrived +with a numerous train from Kallundborg. The king received him with his +wonted courtesy on the quay of Helsingborg, whither he had gone to meet +him with his new Marsk, Count Henrik, and his halberdiers; but there +was a painful expression of suppressed anger in the king's generally +joyous and kindly countenance as he gave his hand to his sullen brother +in token of welcome. It was pretty openly said that the junker lately, +by means of secret cabals, had placed obstacles in the way of the +marriage, and it was believed the king had painful conjectures on the +subject, although no proofs of this presumable treachery were +forthcoming. The junker himself had appeared latterly to suffer from a +corroding melancholy, which was often succeeded by bursts of wild +merriment,--since the storming of Kallundborg castle especially, and +the execution of his unhappy commandant, the restless and gloomy +disposition of the prince had assumed this fierce character; even those +few of his courtiers who were really devoted to him, and regarded his +gloomy reserved deportment as an effect of the wrestlings of a great +spirit with its destiny often complained of his caprices; and though +they still adhered to him, it was, however, with a species of fear, +mixed with an undefined hope of one day arriving with him at honours +and fortune.</p> + +<p class="normal">The mutual greeting of the brothers on Helsingborg quay was strikingly +cold, although the junker seemed desirous by his congratulations +and expressions of courtesy to do away with all appearance of +misunderstanding. To this Count Henrik in particular paid special +attention. In the king's train were seen the German professors of +minstrelsy, who had abandoned their researches at Wordingborg castle to +enliven the festival by their lays. The papers and documents which +Junker Christopher had removed from the sacristy chest at Lund, on the +archbishop's imprisonment, and brought, as it was said, to the state +archives at Wordingborg castle, had been sought for in vain by the +learned friends of the king. These documents might even yet become of +great importance to the king in the suit against the banished +archbishop; but they had disappeared at the time when matters had come +to an open breach with the junker, and the king suspected his brother +of having destroyed them, or even of having returned them to the +archbishop.</p> + +<p class="normal">The king's train had been also joined by the young Iceland bard, the +priest of St. Olaf, Master Laurentius of Nidaros, who had now exchanged +his layman's red mantle for the more reputable black dress of a canon; +and beside the king walked the little deformed Master Thrand Fistlier, +with a consequential deportment, and displaying on his finger a large +diamond ring, which the king had presented to him in acknowledgement of +his superior learning. On the king's arrival at Helsingborg the +scientific mountebank had been set at liberty. He instantly contrived +to arrest the attention of the king (eager as he was in the pursuit of +knowledge), after he had with dexterity and keen ability repelled every +charge against himself, as well of the Leccar heresy as of witchcraft. +This last accusation, which had drawn upon him the persecution and +peril he underwent at Skänor, he alluded to with exultation, as a +striking testimony to his own astonishing arts, and a ludicrous proof +of the dulness of the age and the absurdities of popular ignorance. The +king now presented him to his brother as a rare scholar and an +extraordinary artist. The significant look with which Junker +Christopher greeted this far-travelled adventurer seemed to betray an +earlier acquaintanceship, which, however, was acknowledged by neither. +Count Henrik placed but little reliance on Prince Christopher's +congratulations and measured courtesy. He narrowly watched the junker, +as well as the foreign mountebank, about whom Aagé had expressed +himself so dubiously. He thought he more and more perceived a secret +understanding between the prince and the mysterious scholar, and +resolved to be at his post. He ventured not, however, to grieve the +king by disclosing it, or increasing his suspicion of his brother, +which evidently pained him, and which he seemed desirous to exert +himself to the utmost to shake off. Neither on this nor the two +following days was there any nearer approach to confidence between the +brothers. Courteous phrases and stiff court etiquette were resorted to, +by way of compensation for the want of cordiality. It was only when +Junker Christopher was at the chase, or seated at the draught-board or +the drinking-table, that the king was seen to converse joyously with +his mother and Count Gerhard, or jest merrily with Count Henrik and his +knights: the German professors of minstrelsy and the learned Icelanders +exerted all their powers to while away the evenings preceding his +marriage-day, when his ardent and impatient spirit was not engrossed by +important affairs of state. But when he seemed at times in the happiest +mood he often grew suddenly silent and thoughtful at the mere sound of +his brother's voice, or on observing his wild uncertain glance from +under his dark and knitted brow.</p> + +<p class="normal">The evening before the impatiently expected first of June the king sat +in the upper hall of Helsingborg castle, at the chess-table, where he +was usually the victor. On this occasion, however, he had found an +almost invincible opponent in the learned Iceland philosopher, who +appeared able beforehand to calculate the plans of his adversary, and +only to need a single move in order to frustrate them. Notwithstanding +Master Thrand's decided superiority, the king had, however, won every +game; but he seemed to regard this with indifference; he was absent, +and often forgot to make his moves. At the opposite end of the hall he +heard his brother talking of hunting and horses, with Count Gerhard; +his mother was listening to the poems of the German minstrels and +Master Laurentius; while the young knights discoursed with animation of +the next day's festivities and tournament.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Tell me, Master Thrand," said the king to his learned antagonist, with +a thoughtful glance out of the window at the star-lit heavens, "what is +your opinion of omens, and of the wondrous art of astrology, to which +so many learned men are devoted in our time. Believe you the life and +actions of men and the changeable fortunes of this world can be so +considerable and important in the eyes of the Almighty that higher +powers should care for them, or intermeddle with them?--and think ye +the position and movements of the heavenly bodies stand in any real +relation to our life and destiny?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is almost more than science can be said as yet to have fathomed +with certainty, most gracious king!" answered the artist, with a +subtle, satirical smile on his lips, while his head almost disappeared +between his shoulders; "but if any science is to bring clearness and +demonstration into the speculations of the learned and the mysteries of +astrology, it must be that exalted science of sciences whose poor +worshipper I am. Assuredly, your grace, nothing happens in the world +but what is natural, that is to say, a necessary consequence of +foregoing causes; but it is precisely the great problem of the +mysterious and hidden causes of these things and events which it is the +province of human wisdom to solve. '<i>Beatas qui potuit rerum cognoscere +causas</i>' hath been said already by the wise heathen. Theologians and +poets indeed picture to themselves a nearer and safer road by which to +reach the same goal as ourselves, or even a far higher one," he +continued, with a scornful self-satisfied smile; "but they deceive +themselves in their simplicity and enthusiasm by looking for a kind of +supernatural influence of the Divine wisdom which in fact is the life +and soul of nature, yet which but partially discloses itself to us in +its workings, according as these by degrees unfold themselves to us in +their essences through the sacred optic tubes of science and research."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now you mix up too many things together for me, Master Thrand!" said +the king, shaking his head. "You seem to me almost to confound the +great living God and Lord with his creation, or what you call nature. +With all my respect for human wisdom--for all wise and useful learning +which man may attain by the examination of earthly things, I think, +nevertheless, that the spirit of truth and beauty, commonly called +'genius' by our scholars and the poets of olden times, as also 'the +prophetic vision,' soar far above the ken of human intellect; and for +what is of paramount importance for us to see, we have most assuredly +the holiest and noblest optic tube in God's own revealed word." The +king paused a moment and gazed on the strange deportment of the little +philosopher, with a sharp and scrutinising look, "You smile as if you +pitied me for this my sincere opinion. I am a layman, but all the pious +and learned men I have known agreed with me; nor can I perceive that +our theologians err in considering the spirit of God as a surer guide +to true knowledge of divine things than all human subtlety and wisdom."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Far be it from me to contradict my most gracious Lord, or the pious +scholars of our time on this point," resumed Master Thrand, looking +around him with a repressed smile, and a cunning, cautious glance, "but +of this I would rather talk with your grace in your private chamber! I +doubt not that with your clear and unprejudiced views, (soaring as your +mind does above the ignorance of our age) you will understand me +rightly. I dare almost unconditionally subscribe to all that the holy +church, it is said, considers needful for him who would be called a +true believer, provided I may be allowed to interpret the words of +ancient writings and symbols according to their true and reasonable +signification;--meanwhile there is, however, much in our science which +must as yet be a mystery to the great majority, and even to the +scholars of our time, who are too but much inclined to discern heresy +and ungodliness in every free thought. Noble King!" he added, in a low, +mysterious tone, "I read no longer with the learned in the small +written volumes (out of which, as you yourself have experienced, curses +are as often quoted as blessings) but I read much more in the great +book that was not writ by the hand of man, and whose words sound forth +eternal wisdom in the din of the storm and the roaring of the ocean, in +the course of the stars above the thunder clouds, and in voices of +flame from the depths of the abyss. Mark well, my deep-thinking +king!--you the young Solomon of our north!--the holy Spirit of God, of +which so many and so foolish words are spoken, is precisely that +mainspring of forces we seek for in the great workshop of nature's +sanctuary, in the depths of our own souls, and in the philosopher's +stone, which we call the quintessence of creation. To him who but +catches a glimpse of it, (of which, however, we can but boast in +certain great moments) to him, the deepest and highest things are +revealed; the future as the past is clear before him; he is the master +and lord of nature, and of eternal power--for him life hath only limits +in his will."</p> + +<p class="normal">The king looked in grave silence on the singular little man's visage, +every muscle of which quivered with emotion, while sparks seemed to +flash as it were from his small deep-set eyes. "Follow me afterwards to +my private chamber," said the king rising. Meanwhile Count Henrik had +approached and heard part of this conversation; he thought he observed +a kind of triumphant smile in Master Thrand's self-satisfied +countenance; but he sought in vain for an opportunity of cautioning the +king, who quitted Thrand in a very thoughtful mood, and went to join +his mother and the three stranger bards.</p> + +<p class="normal">Master Laurentius had related to the Countess Agnes much of the +grandeur of Norway and Iceland, and of the remarkable bards and Saga +writers of his fatherland; he made special mention of the great +Snorro<a name="div2Ref_04" href="#div2_04"><sup>[4]</sup></a> and his learned nephews, who had given such a preponderance +to Saga literature, as almost to throw poetry entirely into the shade. +In order, however, to prove to Countess Agnes and the German minstrels +that poetic inspiration in his fatherland had not altogether died away, +as they believed, with heathenism and the gifted Skalds of the Edda, he +had recited several poems and heroic lays, to which they could not +refuse their approbation.</p> + +<p class="normal">When the king joined them, Laurentius was reciting some strophes of +Einar Skulesen's famous epic poem, "Geisli," or "The Ray," in honor of +St. Olaf. The king stopped and listened. In this poem St. Olaf was +called, "A ray of light from God's kingdom, a beam or glimmer of the +glorious Son of Grace;" and Christ was described as the light of the +world, and the Lord of Heaven, who, as "a ray from a bright star (the +Virgin Mary) manifested himself on earth for our ineffable good." The +king nodded with satisfaction; he seemed to find a consoling +counterpoise in the pious lay to what had disturbed and alarmed him in +the discourse of the wise Master Thrand. "Go on!" he said +encouragingly, to Master Laurentius. The young priest of St. Olaf, who +had been inspired with lively enthusiasm by the praises in honor of his +saint, repeated in his musical and declamatory tones some more strophes +of the beginning of the poem, touching the glory of the Saviour and of +his kingdom. From this he passed on to the praise of St. Olaf, "as the +saint confirmed by miracles;" but when he came to that passage in the +poem where the bard exclaims, that "Deceit and treachery caused King +Olaf's fall at Stiklestad<a name="div2Ref_05" href="#div2_05"><sup>[5]</sup></a>--" the king suddenly interrupted the +enthusiastic Master Laurentius. "Thanks!" he said, "the poem is +beautiful and edifying; but deceit and treachery I will hear nought of +the day before my bridal. Norway's sovereign and Duke Haco have +defended a bad cause against me," he continued, "but I highly esteem +the brave Northmen, notwithstanding; they deserved a king and guardian +saint like St. Olaf; he hath well merited to be called a ray from +heaven in the north; the circumstances of his downfal I will not now +think on. Sing rather of constancy and of beauty, and of that which is +the ornament and honour of our age."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Permit me a poor attempt to dilate upon that theme, my most gracious +lord and patron!" began Master Rumelant, hastily, and instantly +commenced a German lay in honour of the beauty and constancy of the +northern fair, in which he forgot not the praises of the still youthful +and beautiful Countess Agnes, and still less of the king's absent +bride; but the lay also included a secret defence of Marsk Stig's +daughters, whose beauty and unhappy fate had made a deep impression on +both the minstrels. Master Poppé chimed in also, and did not lose this +opportunity of putting in his good word for the captive maidens. They +could especially not sufficiently praise the piety and amiability of +the meek Margaretha in her captivity.</p> + +<p class="normal">The king's countenance grew dark. He had referred the cause of the +captives to the law and justice of the land; he would hear nothing of +it himself: he knew they had accused themselves before their judges of +being privy to the treasonable sojourn of Kaggé at Wordingborg. He was +silent; but it was evident that the thought of Marsk Stig and of his +father's death was again fearfully present to Eric's mind, and disposed +him but little to favour the race of the regicide or any friend of the +outlaws;--the minstrels looked doubtfully at each other, and no one +dared to say a word more on this subject.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. IX.</h2> + +<p class="normal">It was late, and every one retired to rest. The king repaired to his +private chamber. Count Henrik saw with uneasiness that Master Thrand +followed him. The king's chamber was immediately adjoining the library, +to which Count Henrik had access. He hesitated a moment; it seemed to +him degrading, without the king's knowledge and consent, to become a +concealed witness to his conversation with the mysterious scholar; but +his anxiety and care for the king's safety at last overcame every +scruple. He took a light with him and went to the library. The light +went out in the passage, which he deemed fortunate, as his presence +might otherwise be easily betrayed if there was the least chink in the +door between the library and the private chamber. He stepped softly +into the vaulted and flagged apartment, where a pair of bookshelves +with wire grating, together with some chairs and a reading table, were +the only furniture. The moon shone brightly through the small bow +window; he seated himself at the table close by the door of the private +chamber, fixed his eyes on an open manuscript, and listened.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here we are now alone, and wholly undisturbed," he heard the king say, +and the chivalrous Count Henrik felt he blushed for himself; he made a +movement to depart, but put a constraint on his feelings and kept his +seat on hearing Master Thrand's whispering voice, but in so low and +mysterious a tone that he could not understand a word.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I know it all," continued the king, "and it is useless for you to deny +it, learned Master Thrand! You are what is called a heretic and Leccar +brother; as such you are doomed to fire and faggot, by the pope, with +your whole sect, and proscribed by all Christian kings; according to my +decree, and at the requirement of the papal court you are banished from +my state and country also. Yet if you can prove to me you have found +the philosopher's stone, as you seem yourself to imagine, and that +there exists a higher truth and wisdom than the revealed Word, I will +acquit you, and in defiance of pope and clergy will recal the decree of +banishment against your sect."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Most mighty sovereign!" now said the mountebank, distinctly, though in +a hesitating tone;--"what you know of me I have myself confided to you; +had I not known your generosity and reverence for the laws of +hospitality, and had I not known you were elevated far above this +ignorant and narrow-minded age, such a confidence in a ruler would have +stamped me as the most contemptible of fools. You have spoken truth, +great sovereign!" he continued, as it seemed with assumed firmness. "<i>I +am</i> a heretic and Leccar brother; but, to be such I esteem a higher +honour (even should I at last die at the stake for it) than if all +blinded, gulled Christendom were to worship me as the greatest and most +admirable of saints."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Truly!" answered the king, sternly, "that is a bold speech, Master +Thrand; if it contain not loftier wisdom than hath yet been known to +the best and wisest scholars during the space of thirteen centuries, I +must regard it as the most mad and presumptuous declaration that hath +ever passed the lips of man. I stand myself, as you know, in dangerous +and daring strife with that power which in the church's name would rule +princes as well as people, and enslave our souls. I defy every decree +of man which would drive us to despair and ungodliness, and give over +our souls to the destroyer; but notwithstanding, I deem the church and +the divine Word on which it is founded not the less sure and stedfast, +and I would fain see that philosopher--or fool, who would cause me to +swerve a hair's breath from this belief."</p> + +<p class="normal">"As soon as your grace understands me fully," answered Master Thrand, +with calmness, "you will see that is nowise my aim: the real church of +truth is the invisible one which I also worship in spirit, and the true +eternal Word of God is that which hath never been wholly revealed, but +to which I hearken with reverence, and appropriate through the medium +of science, by searching into yon great book of revelation, which can +only be unlocked by the wakened power of divinity within us. Hear ye +not yourself, noble king! the mighty voice of divinity in the thunders +of heaven? See ye not the finger of the Almighty in the destructive +lightning? And must you not confess that he who is ruler over those +mighty forces of nature, is the only true powerful God whom we must +worship and adore?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well! that is a matter of course, but what of that?" asked the king, +in an impatient tone.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I now could show you," continued Master Thrand, with rising zeal, +"that the same power lies in <i>my</i> hand and in <i>my</i> will--that <i>I</i> +by a nod can force the voice of Omnipotence to speak and announce in +shouts of thunder, that <i>I</i> am the Lord and master of those godlike +powers--will you then deny my right to publish the divine word, which +speaks through my will as it does through nature? Will you then any +longer doubt my having found and possessed myself of the essence of +things,--the source of power,--which shall hereafter change the form of +the world and throw down the idol temples of prejudice, and the +fortified castles of tyrants? Will you then believe I have found the +key to the great mystery of life; and that the voice of deity, which +speaks through <i>my</i> will and <i>my</i> works, is able to say--<i>Live!</i> +when +time, sickness, and age,--when sword and poison,--when war, pestilence, +and hunger,--when stake and executioners,--when popes and tyrants, and +all the foes of life, shout--<i>Die!</i>"</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a moment's silence in the private chamber, and Count Henrik +drew breath with difficulty. "Strange!" said the king's voice again; +"but no--it is impossible. I will defer forming an opinion of your +wisdom, Master Thrand, until I have seen the marvellous things you +speak of. As far as I understand you, you seem to consider yourself not +only as the lord and master of nature, but of Deity itself: such +discourse sounds to me like the greatest and most presumptuous +madness."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Madness and wisdom, lying and truth, evil and good, darkness and +light, border closely on each other, noble king," again whispered the +well-oiled tongue of Thrand. "This must especially be the case in all +transitions from night to day, from error to truth, from one age to +another. That which I have here dared to whisper to you in this private +chamber, in reliance on the strength of your royal mind, will one day +be openly announced from the lowest seat of learning, and seem but as +the pastime of children to the mature in spirit. How each one of us +will picture to himself the divinity is in fact his own affair; that +will depend on his own individual mental vision; and will be a +necessity like all other things. What is divine is, and must ever +partly remain, a mystery to the majority; but we can all attain clear +views of time and its mutable concerns: this lies within the sphere of +our common vision, and so far I flatter myself I shall be able to open +your penetrating eyes, great king, that no part of time shall be wholly +hidden from you, and that you may be able to look as clearly into the +future as back upon the past perishable world of things and actions."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well then," said the king, impatiently, "teach me to see more clearly +with the mind's eye, if you are able. I have all reverence for your +bodily glass eyes, and you have certainly opened to me a wider view of +the outer world. One mirror of the past I know already in the study of +our chronicles; if there is also a natural mirror of the future, show +it me."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There are <i>two</i>, gracious king!" answered Master Thrand, with +emphasis; "we call them providence and divination: we can possess +ourselves of both by keen wisdom, and awakened inner sense. With the +first you can see much; with the second more; with both almost every +thing. Of the highly-important step you are about to take to-morrow +your grace can only judge by means of such a twofold insight."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What!" exclaimed the king, with vehemence; "think ye I am now about to +use my understanding for the first time, and consider the step which, +with well-advised purpose and with the help of God, I have already +taken, and which is my highest happiness? Be the consequences what they +may, and whatever the Almighty Ruler of the world hath ordained for me +and my kingdom, on this point the clearest insight into futurity cannot +change my will or extinguish the fairest hope of my life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But look, great sovereign!" continued Master Thrand, with eagerness; +"cast an unprejudiced and dispassionate glance into those person's +souls which you would link with yours. Three royal brothers--your +future brothers-in-law--stand yonder beside a throne; the weakest, the +least gifted, hath been chosen to fill it; but the superior mind and +power and courage of his brothers increase mightily. The nobler spirit +can never bow before its inferior; the fermenting forces must develope +themselves; opposing ones must separate; those of close affinity must +combine; what hath been arbitrarily joined must be forcibly severed; +and he who plunges into the wild tumultuous stream must be swept along +with it and perish."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Silence! With thy presumptuous talk," interrupted the king, in a loud +voice, and stamping hard on the ground; "no contemptible calculation +and dread of the future shall stop my progress, or disquiet my soul. +Whatever may be working in the minds of those princes, crowns are not +left to be the sport of wild passions; justice and the highest power +are not subject to the will and authority of man, but to that of the +Almighty. A royal sceptre may repose secure in the hand of a child when +God is with him, even though that child stands surrounded by traitors +and murderers. This I have myself experienced."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But, your royal grace, when the minor, as yonder, never attains to +majority in mind," objected Thrand, "when the power proceeding from the +will of a free and powerful nation is, through foolish superstition and +misconception, linked to the phantom which theologians call God's +grace--an idea which only hath meaning and significance when we see +that grace revealed in the great and noble, though mutable, will of the +people, to which all connection with the weaker unapt spirit is +destruction----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"By all the holy men, the highest might and authority comes from +above!" interrupted the king, with vehemence, "In man's will only, not +in the Lord's, is there vacillation and change; he who justly wears a +crown hath a power in the will of God, which no mortal shall defy +unpunished. But enough of this. I called you not hither to consult with +you on state affairs. Knew I not you were a philosopher who takes but +little interest in worldly government, I should be tempted to believe +you were a wily emissary from my foes, and those who secretly strive to +undermine my happiness."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Heaven forefend! your grace," exclaimed Master Thrand, in dismay.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I called you hither to warn you--not to receive warnings," continued +the king, with stern vehemence. "I have perceived that your opinions on +spiritual things are dangerous and misleading. Keep them to yourself, +or I shall be necessitated to banish you from the country. I have all +due respect for your knowledge in worldly matters," he added; "it may +prove useful to me. My master of the mint, however, you cannot be at +present, and my spiritual adviser still less. If the wise Roger Bacon +was your teacher and master I would willingly know what he hath taught +you that is good and reasonable; but I will not hear a word more of the +philosopher's stone. I ask not to look into futurity; if you understand +that art, keep it to yourself. I regard it, if not as witchcraft, as +equally sinful and unwise. Such faculty hath as yet never made any +human being happy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If you can (which, however, I much doubt) protract human life beyond +its natural limits, keep such knowledge to yourself also: it seems to +me not less presumptuous and irrational. I desire not to live an hour +longer in this world than the Almighty hath ordained; but if you can, +by natural means and without sin unveil to me the secrets of nature--if +you can imitate the thunders of heaven as you assume--then show me and +our philosophers the art, and explain it to us, at whatever price you +deem fitting; but how far soever your mastery over the powers of nature +may extend, imagine not you have usurped the power from Him, in +comparison of whom the wisest and mightiest man on earth is but a +miserable impotent worm. Go hence and pray our Lord and the holy Virgin +to pardon you the presumptuous words you have here uttered. Would that +you might one day gain a better insight into what is of higher +importance to soul and salvation than all your temporal learning!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Count Henrik could not hear what answer was made by Master Thrand to +this severe reproof; the words "to-morrow, noble king!" were all he +thought he understood, besides some common-place and obsequious +expressions of respect, and it seemed to him that the artist's voice +sounded hollow and hardly audible. The door of the private door opened +and shut again; Count Henrik perceived that the king was alone, and +heard him open the door to his sleeping chamber. The Count stepped +softly out of the library; he heard footsteps before him in the dark +passage. It was Master Thrand coming from the king's private chamber. +Count Henrik stood still on remarking that the little juggler often +paused in the passage, as if in secret deliberation; he muttered to +himself, and was busied with something in the dark; his whimsical gait +and figure was now suddenly lit up by a bright light, which instantly +vanished again; Master Thrand at last stopped at a private door which +led to Junker Christopher's apartments, but to which none had access +beside. The door opened and closed again, and Thrand disappeared.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What was that?" said Count Henrik to himself, with a start, "a spirit +of darkness lurks between the royal brothers!" He left not the passage +ere he had seen the pyrotechnic artist steal back from the junker's +apartments, and repair to the knights' story in the opposite wing of +the castle, where all the stranger guests were assigned their quarters +for the night. Count Henrik did not betake himself to rest, but watched +this night as captain of the halberdiers, without the door of the +king's sleeping apartment.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. X.</h2> + +<p class="normal">By the first peep of dawn, all was joyous commotion at Helsingborg +Castle. Every Danish courtier and knight knew the punctuality and +impetuosity of the young king, when it was necessary to be stirring at +an early hour, even only on occasion of a hunting expedition. Every +knight and squire who had not foot in stirrup, when the king was in the +saddle, might expect a stern glance or a serious rebuke. On this solemn +and important day, to which the attention of both kingdoms was turned, +and which had been so ardently desired by Eric, it seemed as if the sun +alone dared to put his patience to the proof. Ere day-break, the king's +handsome horses, with their silken coverings and caparisons, stood +already saddled in the court-yard of the castle; the richly-attired +knights, clad in silk or plush, thronged gaily together, and hardly had +the sun-beams of the first day of June shone upon the glittering bridal +train, before Eric, leading his royal mother by the hand, stepped forth +on the staircase of the upper story, and bowed courteously on all +sides. He followed Countess Agnes to the ladies' car, with his head +uncovered, and then vaulted into the saddle. His handsome and youthful +countenance beamed with hope and heartfelt joy, and he seemed to have +slept off every gloomy and disquieting thought. Arrayed in his most +splendid knight's attire, with a rose-coloured shoulder-scarf over his +shoulder, and with white ostrich feathers in his hat, he rode a +spirited milk-white palfrey. His blithe stepfather, Count Gerhard, rode +at his right hand, and Junker Christopher at his left. Even the junker +seemed in a gay mood, but became grave, and coloured when the king +waved his hand and greeted him with a cordiality of look and gesture +which appeared to surprise and humble him. The gilded car, drawn by six +iron-grey Andalusian horses, in which sat the king's dignified mother, +with her ladies, rolled over the castle bridge at the head of the +train, but the king soon rode impatiently past it, with a courteous +apology, which was gladly received. Count Henrik accompanied him with +the half of the knightly train, while the ladies' car and the rest of +the numerous cavalcade found it difficult to keep up with the hastening +bridegroom. All the pathways and banks on the road to Stockholm were +crowded with a countless concourse of people, who shouted with joy at +the splendid procession, and greeted the king with sympathising homage.</p> + +<p class="normal">While the king thus rode to meet his bride, the most magnificent +preparations were made at Helsingborg for the reception of the royal +bridal pair. St. Mary's church was decorated with garlands and +carpetted with flowers; the provincial prior of the Dominicans already +officiated at early mass, as well as the venerable bishop of Aarhuus +and Ribé, who with calm courage had supported the king in his bold +strife with the archbishop and the papal court. They had been standing +at the high altar since daybreak, in readiness to preside over the +sacred ceremonial of the day, and were accompanied by a great number of +monks, canons, and priests from all the parishes of the kingdom, who +intended by their united prayers and benedictions to consecrate this +day as an auspicious festival for two nations and two royal houses.</p> + +<p class="normal">On the greensward below the castle hill, lists and galleries were +erected for the tournament, and tents were pitched with refreshments +for the spectators. The whole household of the castle was in full +activity; tables were spread in the lofty halls, and barrels with mead, +ale, and wine were hoisted from the cellars. The cooks were busily +employed in the kitchen. A number of musicians tuned and tried their +instruments; pipers, lute-players, fiddlers and trumpeters, were +stationed upon the balcony of the upper story, from whence they were to +greet the bridal guests, and enliven the thronging crowds. In the +spacious gardens on the rocky steep overlooking the Sound, the trees of +the long avenues had been hung at an early hour with coloured lamps, +for the evening festivity. In a separate part of the gardens +preparations were making for exhibiting the hitherto unknown art of +fire-works, with which the mysterious Thrand Fistlier purposed to +surprise the king and court, and with which he himself and his +amanuensis, the youthful Master Laurentius, were zealously busied; +while Master Rumelant and Master Poppé wandered among the tall +yew-hedges, and practised their festal lays. The concourse of curious +guests and spectators was constantly increasing. All the ships in the +harbour were hung with wreaths and flags, and the Sound was almost +hidden by the fleet of ships arriving from Zealand and the isles. On +the quay, in the town, and on the road to Stockholm, crowds of knights, +priests, and town's-people, mingled with fishermen and Scanian peasants +with their families--there were national costumes to be seen from the +farthest Danish isles, and from many Swedish provinces. The streets +were strewed with flowers. All the windows were hung with garlands and +silken carpets, and occupied by gaily-dressed ladies. There was a +continued murmur from the many thousand voices, and a general gaze of +expectation towards that quarter from whence the bridal procession was +expected. At last it was echoed from mouth to mouth, "The procession! +The procession! now they are come! There they are!" The multitude moved +onward in one vast wave, and the provost with his men found it +difficult to keep a space clear for the entrance of the train.</p> + +<p class="normal">Upon a large kerb stone, in the vicinity of the drawbridge beside the +southern gate of the castle, stood a strongly-built man, in a coarse +pilgrim's cloak, with muscle shells on the cape over his broad +shoulders, and with his broad-brimmed hat, half slouched over a pair of +round sun-burnt cheeks. At his side stood an old fisherman, and a +pretty little fishermaiden in a north Zealand costume, from the +district of Gilleleié. The pilgrim was Morten the cook, who, with his +betrothed and her father, had just landed from a fishing yawl, on a +remote spot under the sand-stone cliff. The day preceding, Morten had +been set on shore at Gilleleié, from a foreign vessel, with a red sail, +which had suffered damage at sea, and had been compelled to put in +under the Kohl for repairs; of which he talked in a mysterious manner. +Although, as a party to the archbishop's flight from Sjöborg, he had +been outlawed by the king, he had not only succeeded in quieting +the fears of old Jeppé, the fisherman, and his daughter, at his +re-appearance in the country, but had even prevailed on them to +accompany him hither, where he meant to show them, he said, that, by +his pilgrimage, he had obtained peace both with God and man, and that +he now, with a bran new and clean conscience, could dare to face the +king on his bridal day.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come hither. Father Jeppé! Come little Karen! let me lift thee up +here!" said Morten, jumping down from the stone--"now ye can see all +the finery and splendour. <i>I</i> shall do most wisely in keeping within my +pilgrim's skin at first, on account of my bit of a head and neck."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Alack, yes! for the Lord's sake, dearest Morten!" whispered the +fishermaiden, anxiously, patting his cheek while she suffered his +strong arm to lift her, like a puppet, upon the kerb stone; "hide +thyself behind my back and my father's! I shall die of fear, if the +king sees thee!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Trouble not thyself about anything, and look cheerfully at the fine +doings, little sweetheart," whispered the blithe pilgrim; "he hath but +seen me once in his life and hardly knows me; to-day he hath also +something else to think of than of hanging his dear faithful subjects."</p> + +<p class="normal">"He is a scoundrel who says he hath ever done <i>that!</i>" exclaimed old +Jeppé, the fisherman, with repressed vehemence. "Should he cause <i>thee</i> +now to be hanged, thou knave! thou hast, doubtless, honestly deserved +it. If thou canst not speak and clear thyself like an honest fellow and +as thou gavest me hand and word thou wouldst ere thou left the country, +then didst thou journey to Rome like a fool, and art come home like a +simpleton."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Come, come, Father Jeppé!" continued Morten, "let's see the finery in +peace! Whether I am to be hanged or no can be settled time enough +to-morrow; there is no need to hurry the matter."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thou art a desperate rogue, Morten!" growled the old man--"hast thou +'ticed us hither that we might have the sorrow to see thee dangle? Then +thou shalt never have my daughter--I had well nigh said--but that +follows of itself, I trow. What hath got the great lords who were to +help thee? 'Tis all chatter and bragging, we shall find, and thou art +as yet but an impudent madcap, as thou ever wast."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hush, Father Jeppé! Look! yonder come great lords and knights enow; +who knows whether one of them will not break a lance with the king in +honour of Morten the cook?--And look--there he comes himself."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Out of the way, madcap! <i>him</i> thou art not worthy to look on," said +the fisherman, pushing back the outlawed pilgrim with violence, while +he carefully concealed him. "<i>I</i> dare, the Lord be thanked and praised +for it, look our noble king in the face without creeping to hide behind +an honest fellow's back."</p> + +<p class="normal">All eyes were now turned only upon the procession, and the air rang +with loyal acclamations for the king and his beautiful bride.</p> + +<p class="normal">However high expectation had been raised, and however greatly report +had exalted the beauty and loveable deportment of the noble Princess +Ingeborg, all who now beheld her seemed to be struck with her +appearance, even in a greater degree than they had anticipated. She sat +between her own mother. Queen Helvig, and the king's mother, Countess +Agnes, in the large, open ladies' car; she was as yet only attired in a +simple but tasteful travelling dress; no showy pomp and splendour +heightened her beauty; but none inquired who was the bride.</p> + +<p class="normal">By the side of the two elder ladies (who both, however, inspired +respect, and attracted the attention of the people, by their dignified +mien), youthful beauty still maintained its supremacy, and awakened an +admiration, which, associated with the idea of her being the king's +bride, and of her becoming, this day, Denmark's queen, asked not for a +more majestic presence. By the side of her mother, the sister of the +noble Count Gerhard, it might be seen from whom she had inherited the +innocent, good-natured smile, and the engaging expression of heartfelt +kindliness which was the very essence of her nature; and those who had +seen her renowned father. King Magnus Ladislaus, could account for the +dignity and ingenuous frankness which was combined with so much +mildness and condescension in the countenance of the lovely princess. +Opposite the princess and the two royal mothers sat two younger ladies, +belonging to the train of the princess and the Swedish queen dowager; +the younger was the fair lady Christiné, Thorkild Knudsen's daughter, +who had lately been betrothed to King Birger's younger brother, Duke +Valdemar of Finland; the elder was the instructress of the princess's +childhood, and her faithful friend, the Lady Ingé. This noble lady, +next to the pious, benevolent Queen Helvig, had exercised a real +influence on the formation of the princess's character, and early +awakened in her heart a warm affection for Denmark. She had made the +future queen of the Danes acquainted with the spirit and usages of the +nation; with its past achievements, its national ballads, and noble +traditions; and she had seen, with pleasure and enthusiasm, how the +spirit of a whole nation seemed to breathe forth from the innocent and +pious mind of Princess Ingeborg, in the tenderest affection for the +young Danish king.</p> + +<p class="normal">The Lady Ingé was still a young and very attractive woman, with much +determination and energy in her look and deportment; she was known and +appreciated by the people, but now seemed to rejoice at being eclipsed +by the radiance of that youthful beauty, which justly rendered Princess +Ingeborg the queen of the day and the festival.</p> + +<p class="normal">The princess returned the greeting and enthusiastic acclamations of the +people with the kindliest expression in her countenance and deportment. +Each time she turned her joyous glance to the right from the car it met +the king's; he rode by the side of the ladies' car on his white steed, +with his plumed hat in his hand, and, almost overwhelmed with joy, +appeared to divide his affection between his loyal people and his +bride, while his whole soul's happiness seemed to beam forth from his +eye, whether it rested on the car or on the acclaiming crowds. Yet even +in this happy mood it was not possible for him to repress a fleeting +sigh, and a cloud seemed as it were to pass over the clear heaven in +his face whenever he heard his brother's hollow voice from the opposite +side of the ladies' car, and discerned a manifest expression of rancour +and wounded pride in the restless look and passionate glow of Junker +Christopher's countenance. Christopher rode between the brothers of the +Swedish King Birger, the brave, chivalrous Duke Eric of Sudermania, and +Duke Valdemar of Finland, who both attracted much attention by their +manly beauty, their courteous bearing, and splendid attire. Each time +Christopher heard them addressed by the title of duke, and himself only +as the "high-born junker," he apparently strove, but in vain, to hide, +by a bitter smile, how deeply he felt himself aggrieved and neglected +by his brother, who had not raised him in rank and title, although he +stood in the same relative position to the King of Denmark as the +Swedish dukes<a name="div2Ref_06" href="#div2_06"><sup>[6]</sup></a> to the King of Sweden.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young King Birger himself, who could as little vie with his +chivalrous brothers in presence and dignity as in mind and bodily +strength, followed the queen's car in an easy travelling vehicle, in +which he sat, in his costly purple mantle, by a young lady's side. It +was his betrothed bride, Princess Mereté of Denmark, King Eric's +sister, who, according to the early contract of betrothal, had, while +yet a child, been received into the royal family of Sweden as Queen +Helvig's foster-daughter, and had not seen her mother or brothers since +the marriage of Queen Agnes with Count Gerhard. The Danish princess now +spoke the Swedish language like her mother tongue, and appeared already +conscious of her dignity as Sweden's future queen; she possessed, +however, neither the beauty nor the attractive mildness of Princess +Ingeborg, and it was remarked she bore a greater resemblance to the +junker and her unhappy father than to King Eric and the fair Queen +Agnes.</p> + +<p class="normal">The Swedish regent, Marsk Thorkild Knudsen, accompanied his sovereign +on horseback with almost regal splendour. He rode between Drost Aagé +and Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, who often nodded gaily to each other; +and the festive rejoicing of the fair summer's day was not less evident +among the gallant train of knights which followed the Swedish monarch.</p> + +<p class="normal">At the head of the Danish chivalry rode the powerful, but little +popular, Marsk Oluffsen. With his rough austere visage and blunt +bearing he formed a striking contrast to the agile, slender knight +Helmer Blaa, who gaily bestrode his favourite re-found Arabian, and +often unconsciously nodded assent, by way of confirmation, when he +heard the populace laud him or his horse; occasionally, however, he +glanced rather doubtfully towards the king, as if he desired not as yet +to be noticed by him, and occasionally gave Drost Aagé a monitory look. +Beside him rode a quiet ecclesiastic on a palfrey; it was the king's +confessor. Master Petrus de Dacia; his eye often dwelt on the cloudless +summer heaven, and he seemed, in his calm satisfaction, to think more +of heavenly and godly things, and of a distant unseen beauty, than of +the worldly pomp by which he was surrounded.</p> + +<p class="normal">Helsingborg castle could hardly accommodate the numerous trains and +wedding guests. A couple of hours after the entrance of the procession +the bridal train was seen to proceed with still greater splendour to +the church. Before the six white horses of the princess's gilded car +pranced the two white tournament steeds which the king had been so +displeased at missing from Sorretslóv castle. The two stable boys who +had unweariedly tracked the steps of the horses down to Stockholm, now +skipped joyously by the side of the noble animals. When the king beheld +the two well-known palfreys perform their trained step before the +bride's car, he was heartily pleased and surprised. Drost Aagé +instantly informed him, in a few words, of Sir Helmer's bold adventure +in Copenhagen, and that he was here among his bridegroom's-men. The +king looked back, and recognised his briskest knight. "In the saddle he +rides so free," he said, with a menacing gesture, to Sir Helmer, but +with a gay smile and a nod of approbation.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the church the marriage was solemnised, with all the rites of the +Romish church, by the Bishops of Aarhuus and Ribé, while the provincial +prior Olaus, together with the assembled monks, chaunted with their +deep-toned voices in full chorus a "Gloria in excelsis." While the one +bishop joined the hands of the royal pair, and pronounced upon them the +church's benediction, the other placed the queenly crown of Denmark on +the light, beautiful tresses of the bride, and now a mighty tide of +trumpet sound poured into the choral song, and the people joined in the +solemn chorus. A fairer sight had never been beheld by Danish or +Swedish man than when the royal pair, with tears of devotion and joy in +their eyes, and hand in hand, sank down, kneeling on the bridal stool +before the high and brilliantly-lighted altar, and nearly the whole +bridal train, together with the enthusiastic crowd of spectators, knelt +down, as if moved by one common impulse, in audible prayer and +devotion.</p> + +<p class="normal">The trumpets ceased and there was a breathless silence, while the +bridal pair, in clear and distinct tones, pronounced the vow of +unalterable love and constancy to the end of their lives. The deep amen +of the aged provincial prior was re-echoed by the monks and by many +among the people. A "Te Deum," with an accompaniment of bassoons and +trumpets, concluded the church's festival.</p> + +<p class="normal">After the blessing, the deeply affected pair were embraced by their +nearest relatives in the high choir. At last Prince Christopher also +approached his royal brother, and seemed preparing for a cold and +forced salutation; but at this moment it seemed as if the spirit of +darkness which had so long threatened the brothers from afar had +suddenly come between them, and shot up into a giant. They gazed in +silence, almost in dismay, upon each other, and let their arms sink; it +seemed as though the gentle tear in the king's eye congealed and froze +at his brother's frightful coldness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No falsehood in this holy hour, Christopher, if thy soul and thy +salvation are dear to thee!" he whispered in a tone of stern +admonition; "brothers now in the sight of God! or--may God forgive +me!--enemies to death!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Christopher bowed in silence, and turned pale; his lips appeared to +move, but no sound issued from them. The king turned from him with a +flashing glance; but it seemed as if a glimpse in the open heaven +suddenly extinguished the fearful gleam of rising wrath and grief in +the king's expressive countenance as he turned round and beheld his +gently agitated bride tenderly stretch out her arms towards him; he +pressed her eagerly to his heart, and the mild tear again glistened in +his eye. "This heart, however, thou hast given me, all-merciful +Creator!" he whispered, "and I have a brother at thy right hand who +hates me not."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My Eric! what is this?" asked the bride in astonishment, and gazing +into his eyes; but she observed his uplifted eye resting in confidence +on the crucifix over the door of the choir, and proceeded in silence +and in tranquil joy through the aisle of the church, leaning on Eric's +arm at the head of the bridal train. The king was afterwards calm and +cheerful, but unusually pensive. No one, however, appeared to have +remarked the painful feeling which had disturbed his happiness.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. XI.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The attention of the people, was now turned to the tournament, which +was to commence a few hours after the ceremonies of the church were +ended. The spacious lists were surrounded by a countless crowd, and the +whole castle-hill was equally thronged with spectators. The raised +benches placed in the form of stairs around the lists were occupied +with gaily-attired ladies, rejoicing in eager anticipation of the +spectacle. At last the clang of trumpets announced the arrival of the +royal party. All the royal ladies, with their distinguished train, took +their seats in the gallery, which was hung with scarlet. There the +queen of the feast, the lovely and royal bride, again appeared, with +the diadem encircling her fair tresses; she took her place on the seat +of honour, between her mother and Queen Helvig, amid the joyous +acclamations of the people. King Birger sat at his mother's side beside +Princess Mérété; he was present only as a spectator of the tournament, +in which he purposed not to take a part. Thorkild Knudsen and a number +of elderly Swedish courtiers stood near him, with Count Gerhard, who no +longer partook in this diversion; but the young Danish sovereign, with +the Swedish dukes and other princely guests, remained on horseback +without the lists among the knights of the tournament. On a raised seat +under the royal gallery sat the judges of the combat, who were all old +and experienced knights; and within the lists walked the heralds and +pursuivants in their festal attire, with white staves in their hands, +to watch over the observance of order and usage. A large band of +trumpeters and horn-players opened the chivalrous diversion with the +music of the national tournament song.</p> + +<p class="normal">Amid the chorus in which the people joined,</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px"> +"When the Danish knights ride o'er the ground,<br> +Their horses tramp with a thund'ring sound."</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">all the knights galloped briskly into the lists, and ranged themselves +for the encounter. The tournament then commenced. Many lances were +broken amid the shouts of the bystanders. Dangerous accidents seldom +occurred in this combat with blunt lances, although a knight might +easily indeed sprain an arm or a leg by a too headlong fall from the +saddle. Many knights displayed great agility and dexterity in the +management of horse and lance; but Marsk Oluffsen, Count Henrik of +Mecklenborg, and Sir Helmer Blaa, bore off every prize. A veiled lady +often waved encouragement and approbation to Sir Helmer; she threw +gloves, kerchiefs, and silk ribands down to him from the ladies' +gallery. He bowed courteously. His shield bore the motto, "For St. Anna +and St. Eric," the guardian saints of his beloved wife and his +sovereign, in whose honour he wielded his lance on this occasion. In +his last career he unhorsed the Marsk;--the lady now threw her veil +down to him. It was his young and beautiful wife, the Lady Anna, who, +by her unlooked-for presence here, surprised and delighted him beyond +expression; as soon as he recognised her he flung up his lance high in +the air in a transport of joy. He forgot to receive the prize he had +won, but rushed like the stormer of a castle up into the gallery to +embrace her, to the great amusement of the spectators, and even of the +grave judges of the tournament, who readily forgave him this little +deviation from due order and usage.</p> + +<p class="normal">Among the Swedish nobles and knights who took a part in the tournament, +Duke Eric of Sudermania was pre-eminent; no knight could keep his seat +before his lance; and his sister, the young queen of the festival, +rejoiced greatly at the honour won here by her best-loved and most +chivalrous brother. Duke Valdemar of Finland also shone in this +diversion, and especially sought to display his boldness and daring +when the fears of Thorkild Knudsen's fair daughter were excited for +him. Each time a combatant fell on the sand the trumpets sounded in +honour of the victor, and the people shouted, while the vanquished +knight hastened to salute his conqueror with a courteous bow, without +complaining or showing any sign of vexation. Drost Aagé, who was wont +to be a victor at all these sports of arms, had not as yet sufficiently +recovered his strength, after his dangerous fall at Kallundborg, to be +able to take a share in this day's tournament; he was besides, even +amid his joy, at the king's successful love, in an unusually pensive +mood; he had now renounced all hope of seeing Marsk Stig's unfortunate +daughters released from their state imprisonment. The king appeared +also remarkably thoughtful, although deep and heart-felt joy beamed in +his countenance each time his eye met Queen Ingeborg's loving glance +from the gallery. His thoughts seemed often to wander from the scene +before him, and he looked not with his customary eagerness and interest +on this his favourite diversion, at which he this day, as bridegroom +and awarder of the prizes, only purposed to be a spectator. Duke Eric +of Langeland, who was celebrated as one of the most invincible +tournament knights, appeared not to have found any opponent among the +younger lords and knights against whom he cared to enter the lists +since Duke Eric of Sudermania had quitted them, having already broken +the full number of lances necessary for gaining the highest prize. +Junker Christopher looked, with gloomy disdain, on a spectacle which he +regarded as the worn-out pastime of childish vanity. He knew himself +how to wield his lance with power and skill, but seemed to consider it +beneath his dignity to contend for a tournament prize, which was to be +awarded by his brother, or to measure himself with any one below the +rank of king. By degrees King Eric's youthful countenance became +animated as he looked on the encounters. His white steed curvetted +under him; and as soon as the last prize was awarded he briskly seized +a gilded lance, and cleared the lists by a daring leap, to the great +delight of the admiring spectators. "Shall we venture a tilt together +in honour of our ladies, sir cousin?" he called gaily to Duke Eric of +Langeland. The gigantic Duke of Langeland bowed courteously, and rode +into the lists.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Zounds! Longshanks! Longshanks!" was re-echoed from one to the other, +among the curious bystanders, and all stood in breathless expectation. +The king caused his helmet and cuirass to be brought; a rose-coloured +silk riband fluttered down to him from the queen's gallery; he fastened +it to his helmet, gaily waved his hand to his young queen, and +gallopped to his station. The Duke fastened a knot of blue riband on +his helmet. With great dexterity and martial skill the two royal +combatants now rushed towards each other, lance in rest, at full +gallop. The king wielded his lance adroitly and parried his adversary's +thrust. The Duke's lance flew from his hand, and was driven far forward +on the course; but the king's lance broke against the duke's +breastplate, without shaking his seat in the saddle.</p> + +<p class="normal">The duke's as well as the king's skill and dexterity were greatly +admired; but many expressions of the people's partiality for their +chivalrous young monarch were distinctly heard. "Had but the king's +lance stood the shock," said one young fellow, "we should surely have +seen Longshanks bite the dust."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No wonder yon fellow kept his seat," growled a seaman, "he can +well-nigh anchor in the sand with his long shanks."</p> + +<p class="normal">The trumpets sounded, the combatants saluted each other with courtesy, +and the diversion now seemed to be ended; but the music continued, amid +general acclamation and a hum of voices.</p> + +<p class="normal">"See whether the junker dares risk his jerkin! No, <i>he</i> does wisest in +looking on," said a bold, loud-tongued voice close behind Junker +Christopher.</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>He</i> Would sooner let his true men break their necks in earnest, than +venture his own in jest," muttered another.</p> + +<p class="normal">Junker Christopher appeared to have heard these speeches, for his face +flushed crimson. While the trumpets were still sounding, and the king +was about to quit the lists, the junker suddenly set spurs to his heavy +horse, and rode towards him, with lance in hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I see aright, my brother would also try a tilt with me," said the +king starting, "Well then, strike up the tournament song, herald!--a +new lance, pursuivant!--but not of glass like the first!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The horn-players struck up the ancient, well-known strain. The +pursuivant presented the king a lance with a broad piece of board at +the end. Attention was again anxiously excited, and the young queen +appeared somewhat uneasy. The king had taken his place; his countenance +was not so placid and cheerful as before; his white steed snorted and +pranced impatiently. The junker had retired to some distance, and +seemed not as yet to have completed his preparations.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now haste, Christopher!" called the king; "let us be brisk, as beseems +our festival!" They now quitted their respective stations. The king +rode forward in a stately ambling pace, apparently that he might not +avail himself of his superiority and greater experience; but the junker +dashed his spurs into his horse's side, and rushed forward with wild +impetuosity. The king stood almost still, on perceiving with +astonishment that his brother's lance was couched directly against his +uncovered face. "Where would'st thou strike? against the breast! +between the four limbs!" he shouted, but it seemed as though the junker +neither heard nor saw; he continued to rush forward in the same +direction, with flushed cheek and staring eye. But it was now remarked +that the king became greatly incensed,--"Down then!" cried Eric, +and at the same moment Christopher's lance was dashed aside, and the +junker himself fell backwards out of the saddle. The king instantly +sprang from his horse, and assisted him to rise, while the trumpets +sounded and the air re-echoed with the shouts of the exulting +spectators--"Thou art not bruised?" asked the king. "In what fashion +dost thou couch thy lance?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Ill against you my mighty liege and vanquisher!" muttered Christopher, +"but that is all in due order--hear how the people screech for joy at +the fair spectacle you have afforded them," he added with bitterness +and in a lowered tone, "had I broken my neck the festivity would have +been complete."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Let not this little mischance vex thee," said the king, "such may +happen to the best of us--another time I may have a worse fate."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is very possible, your grace!" answered the junker in a deep and +almost choking voice, greeting the king with measured courtesy, as he +retreated and retired. He instantly vaulted upon his horse, and rode +off through the noisy crowds, who laughed loudly, and made merry over +the ridiculous position in which the junker had thrown his legs in the +air, on receiving the thrust of the king's lance.</p> + +<p class="normal">Thus ended the tournament; but the acclamations with which the king was +followed to the castle bridge, appeared this time to please him but +little. He thought he had seen a fire in his brother's eye which filled +him with horror.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. XII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">After the tournament, the king bestowed in the knights' hall, with the +usual ceremonies, the honour of knighthood on some squires, who had +distinguished themselves in Marsk Stig's feud, and the Norwegian war. +Palfreys, splendid aims, and other honourable gifts, were also +distributed to the princely wedding guests, and some of the Swedish +nobles who had accompanied Princess Ingeborg from Stockholm. The king +was particularly desirous on this occasion to give Marsk Thorkild +Knudsen a proof of his special regard, and presented him with the +knightly sword of state, which he had this day worn himself. "Wear this +at your country's high festivals, noble Sir Marsk," he said, "but +should I ever--which the Almighty forbid!--forget the compact and the +friendship with the noble Swedish nation and its king, of which this +day hath given me and Denmark the fairest pledge! then turn it against +me, as you turned your own good sword against the heathen Kareles." +Thorkild<a name="div2Ref_07" href="#div2_07"><sup>[7]</sup></a> acknowledged this mark of royal favour, in an animated and +enthusiastic speech; he congratulated Denmark, as well as Sweden, on a +new and happy era, when the swords of their princes and knights should +only be drawn on each other in the honourable rivalry of the tilt and +tournay, but when required, flash like the northern lights and flaming +comets, against the common foes of the north.</p> + +<p class="normal">At last, the king produced a document, to which, by a green silken +string, was attached the great royal seal in wax impression, with the +three crowned leopards in the shield, on one side, and the king's image +on the throne and in royal robes, on the other. Without turning to that +side of the throne which was Junker Christopher's station, and towards +which Eric, during the whole ceremony, had not once glanced, he said in +a loud voice, and apparently with effort, "Junker Christopher Ericson +of Denmark! step forth and receive a commemorative gift from my hand, +on this the happiest day of my life! I have, out of sincere brotherly +love and good-will, and with the assent of my council, three weeks +since, signed and sealed this document, which is now for the first time +made public, and which nominates thee, Duke of Estland, with all feudal +rights and privileges. May the Lord grant his blessing on it!" After he +had pronounced these words in a clear and audible voice, it seemed as +though an oppressive weight had been removed from his spirits, and he +looked calmly and cheerfully to the side from whence he expected to see +his brother step forward; but the junker's place was vacant, none of +those present had seen him since the tournament. The junker's master of +the household, therefore, stepped forth on the part of his lord, and +received the royal investiture, while he bent his knee before the king; +he then rose, bowed low, and departed to seek the prince.</p> + +<p class="normal">Prince Christopher did not appear at the marriage feast. Some reported +they had seen him ride like a madman, at full gallop, through the +chase, immediately after the tournament.</p> + +<p class="normal">The prince had not returned as yet on the commencement of the evening +festivities. The castle resounded with music and mirth. The doors of +the knights' hall and the great antechamber were thrown open to admit +persons of all ranks to the dance and masque. The amusements here, as +at the merry carnival, consisted in whimsical mummings, and scenic +representations, in which the spectators beheld, without displeasure, +the most grotesque mixture of sacred, and profane, subjects. Even a +number of disguised ecclesiastics took part in this diversion, and +enacted what was called "a mystery," or a biblical farce; in which a +German harlequin constantly cracked his jests, while the fight between +David and Goliath was represented, to the great delight of the +populace, who thought to discern, in King David, an allusion to the +king, and in the gigantic Goliath recognized a resemblance, now to Duke +Longshanks, now to the Junker; but as soon as the Drost noticed the +unlucky interpretation of the farce, he ordered these masks away. When +Eric stepped forth among the dancers in the antechamber, the young +maidens sang the ballad, with which he was usually greeted, and which +had now become a kind of a national song. With a feeling of enthusiasm +for their youthful sovereign, and allusion to one of the most romantic +adventures which had occurred in his childhood--they sang gaily:</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px">"O'er Ribé's bridge the dance is led,</p> +<p class="t1">The castle it is won!</p> +<p class="t0">In broidered shoe the knights they tread,</p> +<p class="t1">For young Eric this feat is done!"<a name="div2Ref_08" href="#div2_08"><sup>[8]</sup></a></p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">The king listened with pleasure to the lay, and talked with Aagé of his +beloved Drost Peter Hessel, of whom this song always reminded him; and +when Count Gerhard heard the ballad of Ribéhuus, he tramped gaily into +the ranks of the dancers, in joyous remembrance of that event, at which +he had himself been present.</p> + +<p class="normal">The king's mother and Queen Helvig now entered the antechamber, with +the young and lovely bride, and the joy of the people was uttered yet +more loudly. The ballad-singers instantly began the ballad of Queen +Dagmar's bridal; all the maidens joined in it, and the dancers moved to +the tune. The king stepped forward, with his bride, at the head of the +troop of dancers. At last the maidens sang:</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-16px"> +"'Great joy there was o'er Denmark's land,<br> +When Dagmar stepped upon the strand;<br> +Both burgher and peasant then lived in peace,<br> +From tax and ploughpenny-yoke had ease,<br> +From Bohmerland<a name="div2Ref_09" href="#div2_09"><sup>[9]</sup></a> the lady crossed the seas!"</p> +</div> + +<p class="continue">But as they were going to sing the last verse, the ballad-singers took +up the lay and sang:</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-16px"> +"'Again there's joy o'er Denmark's land,'<br> +Fair Ingeborg comes unto our strand!<br> +Like Waldemar Seier, King Eric hath found<br> +A Dagmar to bring us on Danish ground;<br> +From Sweden's land so far renowned!"</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">This verse was repeated amid loud and joyous acclamations.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thanks, good people! thanks!" said the king, with pleased emotion; "if +it please the Lord, and our blessed Lady, Valdemar's and Dagmar's days +shall return."</p> + +<p class="normal">The young queen feelingly greeted the many loyal persons who surrounded +her.</p> + +<p class="normal">Amid the general rejoicing and festive stir, there was no one beside +Drost Aagé who saw anything suspicious in the continuance of the mask; +but among the great number of maskers, he had especially noticed two, +who frequently made their way nearly up to the king, and disappeared +again. They were dressed up according to the ideas which the lower +classes entertained of mermen; their painted faces were hidden by green +silken hair, and they wore coats of glittering silver scales. Their +restless deportment appeared suspicious to Aagé, who paid close +attention to every movement of these masks--but his suspicion soon +vanished; a pretty little fishermaiden came to meet the second mask and +the pair soon danced so lovingly together, that Aagé conjectured a +little love affair was in progress. "Why cannot I thus dance here with +<i>her</i>?" he sighed, and his thoughts travelled to the maiden's tower at +Wordinborg. He looked with interest on the fair fisher-maiden, who with +her long hair, and her joyous sparkling eyes, bore a faint resemblance +to the Lady Margaretha's capricious sister Ulrica. "Alas, no! poor +maidens!" sighed the Drost, stepping out into the hall balcony--"they +are now in the gloomy tower over yonder; <i>they</i> hear and see nought of +these rejoicings--and yet they are innocent--it is injustice; crying +injustice--in this matter he is stern and unyielding. To-night, +however, he is mild, and joyous, and happy--who knows----." It seemed +as if Aagé was suddenly inspired by a bold hope; he returned into the +antechamber, and approached the king, who took greater pleasure in +being a spectator of the merriment of the lower orders in the +antechamber than in looking on the more graceful and skilful dancing in +the knights' hall. But the Drost presently once more beheld one of the +frightful mermen figures near the king; his suspicions of this mask +were again awakened, and he observed the glittering handle of a dagger +between the silver scales on the merman's breast, on which his hand +often rested when he approached Eric. Aagé placed himself between the +king and the intrusive mask, and asked, "Who art thou?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rosmer<a name="div2Ref_10" href="#div2_10"><sup>[10]</sup></a>," said a strange, unknown voice--"ho, ho, ho!"--and the +merman now sang in a hoarse tone:</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px"> +"Home came Rosmer from the sea,</p> +<p class="t1">To curse he did begin:</p> +<p class="t0">My right hand's scent it warneth me</p> +<p class="t1">A christian man's within."</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">He then once more seized the hand of the fisher-maiden, and joined in +the dance. The Drost looked after him with suspicion; he thought of the +outlaws, and of the dishonoured Knight Kaggé. The idea of this +dangerous and audacious miscreant became so vivid in his imagination, +that he seemed to recognise him in the merman, and almost in every +mask. He made a signal to some halberdiers to keep an eye on the mask, +and followed the king into the knights' hall. Here he also gave Count +Henrik a hint of what he dreaded, and a numerous troop of halberdiers +was soon stationed near the king; but neither he nor any of his guests +observed that this was done with any special design. The Drost's +scrutinising looks and the precautions which had been taken, did not, +however, seem to have escaped all the guests. Shortly afterwards the +well-known ballad of the "Merman and Agneté" was heard in the +antechamber, and a dance was performed to it, in which the merman mask +and the fisher-maiden were the principal performers. The merman only +chimed in with the burden of the song, and repeated, in a wild, hoarse +voice,</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t4">"Ho! ho! ho!</p> +<p class="t0">To the depths of the sea then lead her did he."</p> +</div> + +<p class="normal">At last this masker and his partner departed: they danced out of the +door, and down the great staircase into the court-yard of the castle, +amid a crowd of disguised personages, who belonged to their party, and +represented all kinds of sea-monsters. No one knew what had become of +them: another dance began, and none concerned themselves any longer +about these unsocial maskers; but the report afterwards spread among +the people, that the masker was a real merman, who had carried off a +maiden. Some even would have it that they had seen the glittering +merman swim off with the maiden in his arms, in the clear moonlight.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. XIII.</h2> + +<p class="normal">It was a beautiful, calm summer evening. The dance and the mask were +confined to the antechamber and the knights' hall. The national +festival was celebrated with bonfires and torch-lights, with music and +feasting, in the court-yard of the castle and the orchard, in the chase +and on the tournament ground. The king showed himself wherever there +was a joyous group assembled, most frequently conducting his lovely +bride by the hand, and accompanied by his princely guests and several +courtiers. They were everywhere welcomed with festive songs and +acclamations. In the castle garden they were greeted by Master Rumelant +and Master Poppé the strong, who, with solemn pathos, recited an +elaborate and carefully-composed poem, in which they praised by turns +the royal bridegroom and his bride, with the royal relatives of both, +and all the nobles there present. The king thanked them with kindness +for this well-meant homage, although the exaggerated praise and trite +compliments did not suit his taste. But they were now surprised by a +new and splendid spectacle--the bridal pair, and a number of children +with wings fastened to their shoulders, who were to represent genii or +angels, were led through the illuminated avenues to a remote part of +the garden, from whence there was the most beautiful prospect over the +Sound; here many hundred vessels burst on the sight, hung with lights +in the form of crowns upon the masts. All that had excited so much +astonishment at Skänor fair, and had been regarded by the people as the +work of witchcraft and sorcery, was also to be seen here, but exhibited +with far more dazzling effect. Superstitious fear was banished by the +report of the innocence of these artists, and all were prepared to view +the spectacle as a display worthy of the festival. A number of rockets +of different and beautiful colours were let off from boats and floating +rafts; the air glittered with artificial suns, stars, and flaming +wheels, which were mirrored in the calm expanse of the sea.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was a new and wonder-stirring sight, and afforded great delight to +the spectators. All ceremony and court etiquette were forgotten; each +one eagerly sought that place from whence he could best behold the +dazzling pageant.</p> + +<p class="normal">Eric had retired with his bride to a shady spot in the garden, where +the fair aerial spectacle appeared to the greatest advantage. The +number of guests he had to entertain, as well as the festivities, had +had hitherto prevented him from exchanging a single word with her +without witnesses, and it was more than a year since they had last met. +He now found himself for a moment alone with her, under the mild and +lovely summer sky, in which the flaming stars seemed to dance round +them in the air, while the festive din was hushed, and nothing was +heard but the deep solemn notes of the horn-players, floating over the +Sound from a distant hill. A torrent of thought and feeling seemed +ready to gush from the king's heart. "My Ingeborg! my soul's beloved!" +he exclaimed, embracing her, "now hath the merciful Lord heard my +inmost prayer; he hath himself united us with an inviolable sacrament; +no power in heaven or earth can part us now. I am indeed the happiest +of human beings; were I omnipotent I would this hour make every soul +around me happy."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Eric! my beloved Eric!" answered Ingeborg, throwing her arms around +his neck, "I have this day seen with thee into the Lord's clear heaven; +the troth I plighted thee at the altar I shall repeat in my dying hour; +my angel shall wake me with it at the last day----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Think not now of death," interrupted Eric, tenderly: "our life begins +but now."</p> + +<p class="normal">"One moment may contain a thousand lives," she continued, with, +heartfelt emotion; "even were one of yon flying stars to crush me in +thine arms I still should deem myself happy; thou wouldest still be +mine, although mine eyes should close upon all the glories of this +world."</p> + +<p class="normal">They thus talked confidentially together, and poured out their inmost +souls to each other, undisturbed by their princely guests, whose whole +attention was turned upon the aerial spectacle. The happy bridal pair +sank, with deep emotion, into each other's arms, and appeared to forget +themselves and the whole world in a silent embrace. They were suddenly +aroused by a loud explosion and a hissing sound in the air; they raised +their eyes and saw with astonishment the mild beams of the star-light +dimmed by the brightness of a large ball of fire, which ascended +hissing in the air as though it would reach the heavens. It shone clear +and bright above their heads; but as they were looking at it with +admiration it exploded, and dispersed into many thousand small stars, +which gradually waned and disappeared.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Noble! beautiful!" said the king. "What cannot human wisdom and art +effect! The learned artist who hath prepared us this show is certainly +right in some things; the deep insight into human nature, which the +great Pater Roger hath attained unto in our time, will probably in +after times actually change the aspect of the world, and all which we +now deem great and noble will perhaps seem but as dreaming and child's +play to posterity: but how mutable all things are, my Ingeborg!" he +added, almost with melancholy; "even the surpassing splendour of this +evening will soon fade and vanish like yon dazzling aerial vision."</p> + +<p class="normal">"But what there hath been of life and truth and soul, my Eric," +answered Ingeborg, looking tenderly into his eyes; "is it not so, my +heart's beloved? All which love hath brightened will surely never seem +but as an idle dream. The world will surely never be so changed that +all which is sacred and divine shall fade away like an airy vision."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No assuredly, by all the holy men, no sound wisdom can ever lead to +<i>that!</i>" said the king eagerly, and gazed awhile in thoughtful reverie +on the serene and unchanging heaven. "Tell me, my beloved Ingeborg," he +resumed again with tenderness, as he looked with calm delight on his +lovely bride, and pressed her hand to his lips, "wilt thou not miss thy +mother and thy brothers sadly here?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My mother and my brother Eric, most----," answered Ingeborg, with a +gentle sigh; "but I am still with thee and my dear faithful Ingé. My +mother and brothers will often visit us, and we them--Shall we not? and +thou wilt aid me and my mother in preserving love and peace between the +brothers?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Truly! This I know," said the king, pressing her hand warmly; "love +and peace between brothers are precious jewels, my Ingeborg; no crown +outweighs their loss." He paused suddenly, as though he would not +grieve his bride by uttering what clouded his happiness, even in this +moment of bliss.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thou wouldest this day make every one happy if thou couldst," +continued Ingeborg; "grant, then, in this fair hour, the first boon I +would ask of thy heart!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Name it, my Ingeborg, and it is granted," said the king. "What +couldest <i>thou</i> ask of me which I could deny thee? What is thy +wish?--say on!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Freedom for every sorrowing captive in thy kingdom who at this hour +repent their crime, or suffer while innocent."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Innocent!" repeated the king hastily; "none who are innocent suffer in +chains and in prison here--that I know. What can inspire thee with such +thoughts?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Guilty or guiltless!" answered Ingeborg, taking his hand. "In the +sight of the All-righteous no one is wholly guiltless, and yet he +pardons us all for his dear Son's sake, and for the sake of his eternal +mercy. Pardon thy foes, my Eric--pardon them for the sake of God's +infinite love! Give the unhappy captives freedom for the sake of +eternal freedom! Give peace to the outlaws for the sake of everlasting +peace in God's kingdom!"</p> + +<p class="normal">There was a crimson flush on the king's cheek--his eyes flashed--his +breast heaved violently--he abruptly dropped the hand of his bride, and +clenched his own, almost convulsively, against his breast. "I swore an +oath, by my father's bloody head, in Viborg church," he said, in a +deep, low tone, "that oath I must keep, or perish eternally; my +father's murderers I can never pardon--to none of <i>them</i> can I grant +peace while mine eyes behold the light of day!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not even their kindred and children, who have had no share in their +crime?" asked Ingeborg, anxiously. "Be not severe! be not unmerciful! +Liberate Marsk Stig's daughters from the prison at Wordingborg, for my +prayers' sake!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thou hast named a name which stirs up my inmost soul, from whomsoever +I may hear it," said the king gloomily, with his eyes fixed on the +ground; "the offspring of that traitor are my deadly foes as he was my +father's; yet," he continued, and raised his head, "for my <i>own</i> sake I +will not hate and persecute any one; for thy prayers' sake, I can show +mercy to those who do but hate and conspire against <i>me</i>; but, by all +that is holy! those who laid bloody hands on my father, yon dark St. +Cecilia's night, may God forgive if it be possible--<i>I</i> never can!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Ingeborg stood almost dismayed at his vehemence, and scarcely dared to +look at him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Have I frighted thee, my Ingeborg!" continued Eric, with more +calmness, again taking her hand. "Forgive me! There is one chord in my +soul which sounds terrible when struck, wake it not again! Marsk Stig's +daughters shall be liberated tomorrow, at thy entreaty; but Denmark +they must leave.--Come, let us join the others!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thanks, thanks! Thou dear, impetuous Eric!" exclaimed Ingeborg, +joyfully, once more throwing her arms tenderly and confidingly around +his neck; "they may then wend free out of thy kingdom? They look not +for aught beside. More no one can reasonably demand. Thou dost not only +gladden me by this on my bridal day; but a noble and faithful soul +besides, whom thou truly lovest."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The Drost, the quiet, melancholy Aagé!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did he entreat thee to ask that boon?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes!--but he entreated me not <i>exactly</i> to tell thee he had."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hum! Aagé! should he?--yet no! in love he can scarcely be--he dreams +more of heavenly angels than earthly ones--and truly! for <i>that</i> +description of angels he is too good. Come, my Ingeborg! They will have +missed us!"</p> + +<p class="normal">They returned to the company, who were still admiring the beautiful +illumination on board the vessels, and the fireworks, which became more +and more brilliant.</p> + +<p class="normal">While the king and his guests repaired to the gardens of the castle, +Drost Aagé stood on Helsingborg quay, and beheld three large boats, +filled with maskers in the most grotesque costumes, row off with all +possible speed towards a foreign ship which lay in the harbour, and +which soon hoisted sail and disappeared in the moonlight with the +adventurous wedding guests. When the Drost afterwards joined the +company in the castle garden, he missed the king and his bride, and +searched for them in great uneasiness, in the dusky avenues. Near to +the spot where Eric stood with the princess, he saw one of the two +suspicious merman maskers lurking among the trees, with a cross-bow in +his hand. At the same moment, in which the great ball of fire had +exploded in the air, the Drost saw this mysterious personage station +himself with his cross-bow behind a tree, and take aim. In one and the +same instant, Aagé had discovered the object of the assassin's aim, and +cleft his head with his sword. The dangerous bow was still drawn, when +the miscreant fell dead on the spot without uttering a sound. Aagé took +the mask from his face, and recognised the notorious deserter--the +one-eyed Johan Kysté, who was known to have assisted the archbishop in +his flight from Sjöberg. "God mend his soul!" said Aagé, turning away +with horror from the fearful sight; and on seeing Eric still standing +on the same spot in confidential converse with his bride, he discreetly +withdrew.</p> + +<p class="normal">When the king returned to the company, Aagé also stepped forth from a +dark avenue. The anxiety he had undergone, and the fatal deed which he +had secretly been forced to commit in self-defence, had chased the +blood from his cheeks. He now stood in the light of the fireworks pale +as death, yet looking on the king with loving sympathy.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Aagé! what ails thee? Art thou ill?" asked the king, laying his hand +on his shoulder.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I ail nothing on my sovereign's happiest day," answered Aagé; "those +strange blue lights yonder, make us all look somewhat pale."</p> + +<p class="normal">"If thou art well, I will encumber thee with a journey," continued the +king; "thou shalt announce to Marsk Stig's daughters that they are +free."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My liege and sovereign!" exclaimed Aagé, with heartfelt delight, and +the blood suddenly rushed back to his cheek. "Thanks! heartfelt thanks +for those words! Let me hasten even this very hour!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"When thou wilt," continued the king, and a stern gravity was again +perceptible in his looks and deportment. "Thou wilt announce their +freedom to them, not from me, but from my queen, though with my +approbation; but within three days they must be out of my state and +kingdom. Thou may'st escort them out of the land, my Drost! I give thee +leave of absence, with full salary, as long as thou wilt, yes--even +though it should be for thy whole lifetime," he added, in a lower tone; +"but by all the holy men! ere I see thee again, Marsk Stig's race must +be beyond Denmark's boundaries."</p> + +<p class="normal">Aagé gazed on the king with a strange expression of countenance; a +whole world and a whole life seemed to pass in review before his eyes; +while a desperate struggle agitated his inmost soul. "I haste, my +liege!" he said, at last, as if starting from a dream. "I follow <i>her</i>. +I follow the defenceless sisters out of the country," he paused again, +and his voice seemed almost choked, "and--I soon return to your +service," he added, with regained firmness. "May the Lord keep his hand +over you so long!"</p> + +<p class="normal">The king extended his hand to Aagé; he pressed it with deep emotion to +his lips. "Thanks! heartfelt thanks for your clemency to the +unfortunate," he whispered, with a faltering voice, and rushed away.</p> + +<p class="normal">"What is this?" said the king to himself, as he observed a tear on his +hand; "who claims this precious gem? my Aagé!---hum! poor visionary, +what thought'st thou of!--yet--his choice is free, I cannot act +otherwise, and you, Marsk Oluffsen!" he continued aloud, turning to his +warrior-like Marsk, "the rebels you have lately captured and thrown +into prison, Niels Brock and Johan Papć----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will you grant me a pleasure on your bridal day, my liege?" +interrupted the Marsk, in his rough voice, and rubbing his large hands. +"Then permit me, with my own hand, to give those fellows their +quietus."</p> + +<p class="normal">"What! Do you rave, Marsk!" exclaimed the king, greatly incensed; "are +you my knight and Marsk, and would you turn executioner? You will lead +the captive rebels in chains out of the country, and declare them +outlawed in my name! You will not yourself appear in our sight until, +by noble deed of knighthood, you have washed out the blot which you +have cast on yourself, and on our chivalry, by your blood-thirsty +wish."</p> + +<p class="normal">The Marsk was thunderstruck; he stood in the greatest astonishment, +with wide oped eyes. "Now, by all the martyrs!" he muttered to himself; +but he saw by the king's stern look this was no fitting time to speak: +he bowed in silence, and retired.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHAP. XIV.</h2> + +<p class="normal">The fireworks were now ended, and much admiration was expressed by the +spectators. The king roused himself from the mood into which he had +been thrown by the faithful Aagé's farewell, and the Marsk's sternness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where is the master of that fair pageant?" he said aloud; "where is +the learned Thrand Fistlier?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Here, most gracious sovereign!" said a discordant self-satisfied +voice, close beside the king; and Master Thrand stepped forth from the +dark avenue, with his amanuensis, the youthful Master Laurentius, by +his side--</p> + +<p class="normal">"If my poor skill hath pleased the royal and lordly company, I esteem +it a high pleasure and honour."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You have surprised us in the most agreeable manner;" said the king, +"but what I have seen will please me still more, if you will explain to +us the ways and means by which such beautiful results are produced."</p> + +<p class="normal">"The whole is insignificant, in comparison with what I yet purpose, +according to promise, to show your grace!" answered the artist, bowing +humbly; "it is a masterpiece that requires but a moment's time. The +ways and means by which I produce it belong partly to one of my great +Master Bacon's most important discoveries, which he hath indeed named +in his writings, but hath not clearly and minutely explained. It is a +discovery which may easily be abused, and therefore can only be +entrusted to the initiated. I am the only one of his pupils who fully +comprehend it. I have myself considerably extended and substantiated +what was to my master rather a profound conjecture, than an actual +discovery, and I trust I shall not be deemed vain, if I expect, even in +preference to my great master, to be immortalised by it in the history +of science----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, well!" interrupted the king, "what is it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"The only person to whom I have imparted something of this important +secret," continued Master Thrand, with a proud look, without suffering +himself to be abashed, "is my pupil Master Laurentius; but I have not +as yet been able to initiate him in the deepest mysteries of an art +which will perhaps require centuries ere it be fully revealed to the +prejudiced human race. With you wise king! and with these enlightened +nobles and scholars, I make honourable exception, in showing you what I +have not even as yet shown my pupil, and what I now, for the first +time, and in an altogether novel manner, am about to reduce from theory +to a decisive practical result. If this marvellous art is not to die +with me----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You expect to become immortal, no doubt. Master Thrand!" interrupted +the king again, somewhat impatiently, "and if I understand you aright, +even in the proper signification of the word; if your art enables you +to set even death at defiance, your important invention can never be in +danger of perishing from the world. Let us now see what you laud so +highly, and keep not our expectation longer on the stretch! You +diminish by it even the surprise you have perhaps intended us."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Instantly! most mighty king!" answered the artist in a lowered tone, +and produced a calf-skin, which he rolled up and placed on the ground. +He then took out of his pocket a small, unknown substance, of some few +inches thickness, which he placed under it, and commenced several other +preparations, seemingly just as simple and trivial. "Now place yourself +there, your grace!" he resumed, "and give close heed! Quit not your +place until you see me withdraw. Let the ladies step aside, it might +perhaps alarm those who are weakly, although there is no danger +whatever. As soon as I light this torch and bring it into contact with +this simple apparatus, you will hear a voice like that which nature's +great spirit sends forth from the clouds of heaven, to announce his +sovereignty over all the earth, as lord of life and death; but <i>this</i> +voice obeys <i>my</i> bidding and <i>my</i> will--now mark!" The ladies stepped +aside and looked inquisitively towards the artist. Some of the noble +guests drew nearer; others drew back with suspicion. The king stood +silent and attentive, on the spot assigned him. The learned Master +Petrus de Dacia stood nearest him; his eyes were raised towards the +clear bright stars, and he appeared occasionally to look on the little +mountebank and his whole proceedings, with a kind of contemptuous pity. +Count Henrik was not present; at the Drost's suggestion he had employed +himself in securing the castle against every possible attack of the +outlaws, some of whom were supposed to have been recognised among the +masked wedding guests who, however, had already escaped.</p> + +<p class="normal">The expectation of the whole assemblage was now turned towards the +exhibition of art, which had been so pompously announced. The +mysterious artist was still busied with his preparations, and appeared +himself somewhat thoughtful and hesitating. He lighted a torch at some +distance, and took a book out of his pocket, which he appeared to +consult. He had placed a pair of large spectacles before his eyes, and +as he thus stood in the torch-light, with his deformed figure and fiery +red mantle, he resembled a goblin or a fire-gnome, rather than a human +being. He presently replaced the book in his pocket, and lighted +another torch.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stop your ears with this, your grace!" whispered the considerate +Master Laurentius, handing a couple of wax-balls to the king, "from +what I know of this specimen of art, it may have a stunning and +injurious effect on the hearing." The king nodded and followed his +advice. The artist now held the lighted torch in his hand; the red +flame lit up his face--it was expressive of a fearful degree of +agitation--every muscle was horribly, almost convulsively, +distorted--He approached slowly with the torch towards the mysterious +apparatus, and most of the spectators drew back with apprehension. The +king stood calm and attentive in his place, by the side of Master +Petrus de Dacia, with his foot on the rolled-up hide.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hence! back! life is at stake!" said a voice behind him in a frantic +tone. The king felt himself forcibly grasped by a powerful hand, and at +the same moment a fearful explosion, resembling a clap of thunder, was +heard, with a flash as of a thousand combined lightnings; many persons +fell to the ground with a cry of horror. The ladies swooned--a cloud of +smoke encompassed them, with a suffocating sulphureous vapour. The +terrible artist himself lay mangled and lifeless on the grass, with the +extinguished torch in his hand. Master Laurentius threw himself upon +the body in grief; there was a fearful panic and confusion.</p> + +<p class="normal">The king stood unscathed a few steps from the corpse of the wretched +Thrand, and now first perceived who had dragged him from his dangerous +position. It was his own brother Christopher, who, with his Duke's +diploma crumpled in his left hand, and with his right still +convulsively grasping the king's arm, stood pale as death gazing on the +lifeless philosopher. "The judgment of God!" he said in a deep and +scarcely audible voice. He quitted his hold of his brother's arm, and +then, as if pursued by evil spirits, rushed into the dark avenue, and +disappeared.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Christopher! What is this?" said the king in a low voice, as he looked +after him, with a horrible conjecture, but he quickly recovered +himself, and hastened to attend his bride and the terrified ladies. +"The danger is over," he said with calmness, "but this specimen of art +hath cost the artist his life. If he hath spoken truth, his dangerous +art hath perished with him, and the whole world is lapsed into +barbarism and ignorance. He was a wise and learned man," he added, as +he saw most of the company tranquillised, but heard the suspicion of +treachery loudly expressed--"Let us not judge his intentions! perhaps +he hath sacrificed life as a martyr to his science--'twas pity, +however, he would personate our Lord; the Almighty lets himself not be +mocked."</p> + +<p class="normal">None were injured but the hapless artist, and the company soon returned +composed and thoughtful to the illuminated avenues in the garden. +Ingeborg's fears were calmed and she clung tenderly to her bridegroom's +arm. It appeared to her and to all, as if an inconceivable miracle had +saved the king's life and crushed his treacherous foes. The report of +the king's peril had interrupted the bridal festivities; but wherever +he showed himself the music and merriment again commenced, and the +royal bridal pair were followed back to the castle, with almost +deafening acclamations.</p> + +<p class="normal">While the bridemaids conducted the bride to the bridal chamber the king +repaired to his private apartment. He went in silence to his prie-dieu, +bent his knee before the holy crucifix, and became absorbed in silent +prayer. He had shut the door after him, and believed he was alone with +God on this spot, to which none beside himself and his confessors had +access; but he presently heard some one moving behind him, and he +arose. Junker Christopher stood before him, with his wild countenance +bathed in tears. "My brother!" he exclaimed, with outstretched arms, "I +have sinned against the Lord and against thee; I am not worthy to be +called thy brother. Canst <i>thou</i> forgive me what <i>I</i> cannot name? +Canst +thou forgive me for the sake of our murdered father's soul, and for the +sake of the All-merciful, who blots out every transgression?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Christopher!" said the king, in a tone of the greatest consternation, +gazing fixedly on him with a piercing look, "thou wouldest--thou +knewest----"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Say not what I willed--say not what I knew!" interrupted the junker, +in a choking voice, and covering his face with both his hands; "but +give me thy hand, if thou canst, and say.--'I am reconciled,' and by +the Almighty, who hath struck me with horror, thou shalt see this face +no more ere I can say, 'Brother! now hath the great and terrible God +forgiven me, as thou hast forgiven me!'"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Christopher! brother! my father's son!" exclaimed Eric; the tears +gushed from his eyes, and he hastened towards his humbled brother with +open arms. "Come to my heart! may the merciful Lord forgive thee as I +have forgiven thee!" and the brothers sank in each other's arms. +"Amen!" said a friendly voice beside them. The king's confessor, the +pious Master Petrus de Dacia, who had led the despairing Christopher +hither, stepped forth from a niche in the chamber, and laid his hand on +their heads in token of blessing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"This day hath now become the happiest of my life," said Eric, and went +arm-in-arm with the junker out of the private chamber.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONCLUSION.</h2> + + +<p class="normal">Among the crowd of knights and courtiers who waited the next morning in +the antechamber of Helsingborg castle to offer their congratulations to +the king and the young queen, were present two influential and well +known persons, who had recently landed on the quay. The one was an aged +personage of short stature, with an extraordinary degree of energy and +determination in his stern yet animated countenance; he was the +renowned statesman John Little, who had made so long a sojourn at the +Romish court. A tall powerful man stood at his side, in a splendid +knight's dress, with a roll of documents in his hand. He was the king's +former master in arms, Drost Peter Hessel. They had both arrived from +Rome, with important tidings for the king. They were instantly +admitted, and those without heard that they were most joyously +welcomed. Among the glad voices in the king's chamber were recognised +those of the queen and the Drost's noble consort, the Lady Ingé.</p> + +<p class="normal">Close to the door of the antechamber stood Morten the cook, in his +pilgrim's dress, with old Jeppé the fisherman and his daughter at his +side. He was regarded with curiosity. At first he appeared somewhat +uneasy and dejected; but when the king was heard to speak with +animation, and in a tone of satisfaction, Morten drew himself up +fearlessly, and paced up and down with an air of importance among the +distinguished assemblage.</p> + +<p class="normal">The papers which Drost Hessel had under his arm contained proofs of +Archbishop Grand's treachery and connection with the outlaws; they were +copies of the same important documents which Junker Christopher, at the +time of the archbishop's imprisonment, had removed from the sacristy +chest of Lund and brought to Wordingborg. There the dexterous cook had +contrived to possess himself of them shortly before he abetted the +archbishop's flight from Sjöborg. His object had been to restore them +to Grand; but as the archbishop had broken the promise he had made to +his deliverer while on the rope-ladder of freeing the king and country +from ban and interdict, Morten determined to retain these documents, +and while on his pilgrimage to bring them to Chancellor Martinus and +the Danish embassy at Rome, where they mainly contributed to justify, +or at least excuse the king's conduct towards Grand, and ultimately to +depose him from the Archbishopric of Lund.</p> + +<p class="normal">Morten was soon summoned to the king. When he returned he gaily threw +aside his pilgrim's mantle, seized the pretty fishermaiden with the one +hand and Jeppé with the other, and skipped with them down the hall +staircase, as a free and wealthy man, to celebrate his wedding at +Gilléleié.</p> + +<p class="normal">Notwithstanding that the suit against Archbishop Grand, and the +dangerous differences with the Romish see, were not adjusted until +after the lapse of several years, and at the cost of considerable +sacrifices, King Eric succeeded at length in obtaining the deposition +of Grand, and the instalment of another and more peaceable prelate in +the archiepiscopal chair of Lund; in the person of the formerly dreaded +Isarnus, who had now, however, learned from the fate of his predecessor +how to use his spiritual authority with moderation, and wisely +refrained from all interference with state affairs. By the final treaty +with the papal court the wanting dispensation of kindred was granted to +the king, and his marriage with the noble Princess Ingeborg of Sweden +declared to be perfectly valid.</p> + +<p class="normal">Three weeks after the king's nuptials, the faithful Drost Aagé was +again seen at his side; but he was unalterably grave and pensive. It +was not until some years afterwards that he was freed from the ban, +together with the king. He never alluded to his journey with Marsk +Stig's daughters. Some affirmed that he had only found the elder sister +in the prison-tower of Wordingborg, but that the younger had fled. +Others insisted they had seen her among the masquers at Helsingborg +castle, on the evening of the king's bridal. It was also rumoured that +she had been carried off by a merman. A ballad, relating this supposed +adventure, has been preserved among the people. The merman was affirmed +by some to have been the outlawed Kaggé, who was shortly afterwards +seized and slain by the burghers at Viborg. Meanwhile the beautiful and +pathetic ballad, which still preserves the memory of these sisters, +bears witness to their having traversed Sweden as fugitives, and having +found protection, for the first time, at the court of Norway. According +to this ballad the youngest of these exiled sisters was afterwards +married to a Norwegian prince; probably an illegitimate son of King +Haco.</p> + +<p class="normal">This popular ballad, as well as many obscure traditions, and what the +chronicles record of the latter part of the thirteenth century, bear +striking testimony to that troublous time, in which the unhappy +consequences of the last regicide in Denmark, hovered, like restless +demons, over throne and country, and cast so deep a shade even over the +happiest days of the upright King Eric Ericson.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>FOOTNOTES</h3> +<br> +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_01" href="#div2Ref_01">Footnote 1</a>: Pebersvend +(literally pepper 'prentice) is the term still +jocosely applied to elderly bachelors in Denmark.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_02" href="#div2Ref_02">Footnote 2</a>: The name +of a part of Russia in the middle ages.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_03" href="#div2Ref_03">Footnote 3</a>: Frodé +according to the Icelandic historians, the third +king of Denmark, surnamed "The Peaceful," although he seems rather to +have deserved the title of "The Victorious," as he is said to have +brought Sweden, Hungary, England, and Ireland under his sway. The +history of Frodé as related by the marvel-loving Saxo Grammaticus, +contains, as might be expected from the writer and the age, no slight +mixture of fable.--<i>Translator</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_04" href="#div2Ref_04">Footnote 4</a>: Snorro +Sturlesen, born 1178, died 1241, the author of the +"Heims Kringla," or the history of the Norwegian kings, and the +compiler of the Younger Edda, also called "Snorro's Edda." The Elder +Edda is the compilation of Sćmund Frodé, or "the learned," who +was born in Iceland, 1054, and died a priest at Oddé, in his 78th year. +Both the Eddas are collections of religious and mythic poems, and the +chief sources whence the knowledge of the northern mythology is +derived. The Elder Edda was first known in the middle of the 17th +century. It has been translated into Danish by Professor Finn +Magnussen.--<i>Translator</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_05" href="#div2Ref_05">Footnote 5</a>: Snorro +Sturlesen, the Norwegian historian, thus pourtrays +the character of this monarch,--"King Olaf was a noble prince, +possessed of shining virtues and great piety. When driven by Knud +(Canute the Great) from Norway, and compelled to take refuge with +Jarislaf of Moscow, he bore his exile with patience, and spent his time +in prayer and acts of devotion. While in this situation his peace of +mind was only disturbed by the apprehension lest the Christian faith, +which he had so carefully implanted in Norway, should suffer from the +kingdom having passed into the hands of other rulers, and it was +chiefly on this account that he made an attempt to regain his crown, +and with that purpose once more repaired to Norway, where he was +received by many good and true men who desired his return, and were +ready to sacrifice their lives in his service. The armies of Canute and +Olaf met at Sticklestad in the year 1030. Ere the engagement began, +Olaf addressed his troops in a pious and touching discourse. He ordered +them to make use of one common watchword, and shout when they attacked +the enemy, 'On! Christian men! Chosen men! Kings men!' The battle was +fought with equal bravery and obstinacy on both sides, but at last Olaf +was slain by one of his own traitorous subjects, who had deserted to +Canute's army. Vide <i>Holberg's Hist. of Denmark</i>, vol. i.--<i>Translator</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_06" href="#div2Ref_06">Footnote 6</a>: An old +Danish ballad entitled "King Birger and his +brothers," records the crimes of the former, and the melancholy fate of +the Swedish dukes. After years of strife between the brothers, Sweden +was at last partitioned off into three kingdoms, and possessed three +sovereigns and three distinct courts. In 1317, King Birger invited his +brothers to visit him at the castle of Nykioping, on the plea of +renewing the fraternal intercourse which had been so unhappily +interrupted, and the dukes unsuspectingly accepted the king's +invitation. On the evening of their arrival, however, after being +received with the greatest cordiality by the king, and sumptuously +entertained, they were seized by his order, bound hand and foot, and +thrown into the dungeon of the castle. This act of treachery soon +became known, and the king, fearing the interference of the people in +behalf of the dukes, fled from the castle, having first thrown the keys +of the dungeon into the deepest part of the river, and given orders +that the doors of the dungeon should not be opened until he returned. +On his departure Nykioping was instantly besieged, and crowds flocked +thither from all quarters, but ere the castle was taken the dukes had +expired. Eric died on the third day of his captivity, from the wounds +he had received in defending himself against his captors; but Valdemar +lived till the twelfth day without food.--<i>Translator</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_07" href="#div2Ref_07">Footnote 7</a>: Holberg +thus relates the fate of this able and upright +statesman:--"After a long period of civil war and discord, the feud +between King Birger and his brothers was at last accommodated, through +the mediation of their mutual counsellors; but on the conclusion of the +treaty, the Swedish dukes did their utmost to bring Thorkild Knudsen +into discredit with the king, to whom he was represented by them as +having been the instigator of the disturbances which had prevailed +throughout the country, as well as having stirred up strife among the +members of the royal family, and as having abused the confidence of the +crown. King Birger, who was glad of any pretext for escaping the blame +he himself deserved, turned his back upon his faithful servant, and +permitted him to be brought to trial. Thorkild ably defended his +rightful cause, but his innocence and eloquence were of no avail. He +had been marked out as a victim, was doomed to death as a traitor, and +beheaded at Stockholm in the year 1306. It was not without difficulty +that his friends obtained permission to inter the body in consecrated +ground. Thorkild's treacherous foe, Drost Johan Brunké, continued his +career of political intrigue until the year 1318, when he and his +partizans were seized in the king's absence, by the opposite faction, +and put to death. Brunké's body was exposed on the wheel on a hill +without the city, which since that time has borne the name of Brunké's +Hill." Vide <i>Holberg's Hist. of Denmark</i>, vol. i.--<i>Trans</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_08" href="#div2Ref_08">Footnote 8</a>: The +subject of the ballad of Ribéhuus is the taking of the +castle of Ribé, which had fallen into the hands of the outlaws during +the minority of Eric, by a party of fifty loyal knights, headed by +Count Gerhard and Drost Hessel. In the middle ages it was not unusual +for the knights to join in the public festivities of the burghers. At +one of these, the king's knights took the opportunity of joining a +dance by torch lights to be led according to usage through the streets +up to the castle. The ballad describes the long row of dancers, as +being kept in a straight file by a chain of wreathed green leaves and +roses. Each knight held a lady in his left hand and a lighted torch in +the right, their drawn swords being carefully concealed under their +scarlet mantles. The castle bridge was lowered and the gates thrown +open to admit the dancers by permission of the commandant, who in a few +minutes found himself a prisoner, and the castle (which was wholly +unprepared for the attack) in the hands of King Eric's adherents. The +ballad concludes as follows;--</p> + +<div class="poem2"> +<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-8px"> +"Thus danced we into the castle hall,<br> +With unsheathed sword 'neath scarlet pall,</p> +<p class="t1">The castle it is won!</p> +<p class="t0">Ne'er saw I before a castle by chance,<br> +Won by rose-wreaths and the knightly dance,</p> +<p class="t1">For young Eric the feat was done!"--<i>Translator</i>.</p> +</div> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_09" href="#div2Ref_09">Footnote 9</a>: Bohemia.</p> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_10" href="#div2Ref_10">Footnote 10</a>: Rosmer. +An allusion to an old Danish ballad, the hero of +which is called "Rosmer the Merman."--<i>Translator</i>.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>THE END.</h3> +<br> +<br> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h5><span class="sc">London</span>:<br> +Printed by <span class="sc">A. Spottiswoode</span>,<br> +New-Street-Square.</h5> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 3, by +Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 3 *** + +***** This file should be named 36633-h.htm or 36633-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/6/3/36633/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + +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: King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 3 + or, the Throne, the Church, and the People in the Thirteenth + Century. Vol. I. + +Author: Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +Translator: Jane Frances Chapman + +Release Date: July 5, 2011 [EBook #36633] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 3 *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + 1. Page scan source: + http://www.archive.org/details/kingericandoutl01chapgoog + + 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. + + + + + KING ERIC + + AND + + THE OUTLAWS. + + VOL. III. + + + + + + + London: + Printed by A. Spottiswoode, + New-Street-Square. + + + + + + + KING ERIC + + AND + + THE OUTLAWS; + + OR, + + THE THRONE, THE CHURCH, AND THE PEOPLE, + + IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. + + + + BY + INGEMANN + + + TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH BY + JANE FRANCES CHAPMAN. + + + + * * * * + IN THREE VOLUMES. + VOL. III. + * * * * + + + + LONDON: + LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, + PATERNOSTER-ROW. + 1843. + + + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + +As soon as they reached the quay, Sir Helmer put his head out of the +hatchway, and beheld a man jump on shore in great haste from the +forecastle. Helmer had only seen his back; he was clad like a German +grocer's apprentice; but he felt pretty certain it was the outlawed +Kagge. The mantle of the order of the Holy Ghost lay under the +foremost rowing bench. With his drawn sword in his hand. Sir Helmer +now sprang upon deck, together with the Drost's squire, whose left +hand was wrapped in his mantle. Their attire was somewhat rent and +blood-stained, yet they appeared to have found time to bind up each +other's wounds, and even to arrange their dress. Without saying a word, +they passed the armed crew of the vessel, with a salutation of defiance +to Henrik Gullandsfar, and a jeering smile at the heavy and wrathful +Rostocker, whose broad visage glowed with anger. Helmer and the squire +sheathed their swords on the quay, and those who saw them come up from +thence, without noticing the spots of blood upon their clothes, took +them for fellow-travellers, who, in all peacefulness, had arrived in +the Rostock vessel. + +"The 'prentice! mark him, Canute!" whispered Sir Helmer to the squire +as they both left the quay with hasty steps, and looked around them on +all sides. "What hath become of him? There!--no--that is another--ha, +there!--no, another again!" + +At every turn they fancied they saw the disguised outlaw, but were +frequently deceived by a similar dress and figure. The German grocer's +apprentices thronged in busy crowds on the quay, and near the vessels +in the haven, where they were in constant occupation, and had a number +of porters at work. + +These foreign mercantile agents were usually elderly single men, most +frequently with sour, unpleasant countenances, and maintaining much +spruce neatness in their dress, and preciseness in their deportment. As +pepper was the chief article sold in their grocers' booths, they were +usually called pepper 'prentices[1], not without a design to jeer at +their peevishness and irritability. They made themselves conspicuous by +large silver buttons on their long-skirted coats of German cloth; a +woollen cap from Garderige[2], and a long Spanish gold-headed cane, +which served them at the same time for an ell measure, formed part of +their finery; and they were so remarkable for the sameness of their +appearance and deportment, the effect of their living apart from +others, and pursuing a uniform occupation, that they were often exposed +to the jibes and jeers of the people, especially on account of their +celibacy, which was enjoined them by their Hanseatic masters, and was a +necessary consequence of their position as traders in a foreign city, +where they were not privileged to become residents with families. + +Sir Helmer stared attentively at every German grocer's apprentice he +met, and became at last so wroth at his frequent mistakes that he was +ready to insult those personages, who in their busy vocation frequently +jostled him in the crowd, "Those accursed pepper-'prentices, they drive +me mad!" he exclaimed at length, and stamped on the ground. "I will +break the neck of the first that brushes against my arm!" + +"That is just and reasonable, noble Sir," said the squire; "my fingers +itch every time I see such a fellow. If they will be monks, they should +not be running here and staring every maiden in the face in broad day +light. They are as soon enamoured as any shaven crown--I had well nigh +said--St. Antony forgive me my wicked thought! Look! here we have one +again I saw ye how he twisted his eyes in his head to goggle at that +pretty kitchen maid with the cabbage basket? Shall I buffet him down to +the Catsound, noble Sir?" + +"No, surely not, crack-brains!" answered Sir Helmer, sharply; "let us +behave reasonably. Do thou stay here in the ale-house near the haven, +and keep an eye on the outlaw, that he slinks not back to the vessel; +if there is law and justice in the town, he 'scapes us not. Thou dost +surely know him well?" + +"Yes, assuredly! Kagge with the scar; him from whom they scalded off +his knightly honour on the scaffold. I should know him among a thousand +scoundrels, and his black horse to boot. 'Tis a sin such a handsome +beast----" + +"Perhaps it was a God's Providence we came here against our will," +interrupted Helmer. "The red hat from Rome wants to negotiate a treaty +here betwixt the king and the run-away bishop from Hammershuus; they +are now at the castle, and have got the little bishop Johan in their +clutches. It will doubtless end in nothing; but comes the king hither +where the Roskild bishop rules, he may chance to need both our eyes and +our swords. But, what in all the world is the matter here? Look, how +the people flock together!" + +Sir Helmer now, for the first time, remarked a singular stir and +disturbance among the inhabitants of the town; there were far greater +numbers of persons in the street than were usually to be seen in the +most populous towns. He went onward, still looking around in search of +the outlawed fugitive; he now heard loud talk among the burghers and +mechanics who passed him, and expressions of wild wrath against the +Lord Bishop Johan and his ecclesiastical guests at Axelhuus. The people +assembled in groups in the streets, and only dispersed, grumbling and +murmuring on the appearance of a troop of men-at-arms. "The provost's +people! The bishop's men!" they muttered one to another, by way of +warning. "Aside! make way, comrades! as yet it is not time. Down to the +old strand!" + +"What means this?" said Helmer to the squire, who still followed him on +the quay, alongside the ships in the harbour, staring around with +surprise and curiosity. "It looks like sedition and mutiny." + +"Who are ye who bear arms in the bishop's town? Know ye not the rights +and town-law of Copenhagen?" said a powerful voice behind them. They +turned round and saw a man who from his attire seemed to be a burgher, +but who wore a kind of herald's mantle over his long coat, and held a +white staff in his hand, on which were painted the arms of the Bishop +of Roskild. He was accompanied by a crowd of the bishop's retainers. + +"I am the king's knight and halberdier, as you see well enough," +answered Helmer. "What hath your bishop and his town-law to do with +me?" + +"Ho! ho, my bold sir!--stick your finger in the ground, and smell where +ye are! You surely come from worldly towns and castles where neither +order nor discipline are kept. What's your name, Sir Halberdier?" + +"Helmer Blaa," answered the knight, laying his hand on the hilt of his +sword. "You have perhaps heard that name before?--or shall I teach you +to know it?" + +"By your favour, noble sir!" answered the herald in a lowered tone, and +looking at him with surprise; "are you the renowned knight, Helmer, who +beat all the six brothers at once, and of whom the whole town sings the +ballad-- + + + "He rides in the saddle so free." + + +"That I will never deny," answered Helmer, with a nod of satisfaction; +"he that made that ballad about me hath not lied. I will not pride +myself on that account," he added, "it concerned but my own life and +fortune. You brave Copenhageners have won full as much honour in Marsk +Stig's feud, and we shall soon come to an understanding I think." + +"I think so too, by my troth, Sir Helmer," said the burgher herald with +cheerfulness, frankly giving him his hand at the same time. "I would +just as little insult you as your master, our excellent young king. As +free as you ride in the saddle by his side, so frank and free for aught +I would hinder it, may you walk here; but the service is strict at this +time. Here's mutiny as you see against our lord, the bishop. I must in +the council's name summon every man bearing arms to the lay court, and +to the council in 'Endaboth.' With the king's knights, especially with +a man like you, I think, however, the lord bishop would make a +difference." + +"If the bishop wills to keep his beard, he will doubtless allow the +knight to keep his sword," said Helmer. "If he hath appointed you to +hinder misdeed and crime then help me rather to seize an outlawed +criminal who has been set on shore here from yonder Rostocker. He hath +crept into a German pepper-'prentice coat; he seeks after the king's +life--he is easy to know, it is Kagge with the scar. If you catch him +dead or alive, I will laud you as a true Danish man, and brave subject +of the king." + +"That are we all here at heart, noble Sir," answered the herald, +lowering his voice, and looking cautiously around him while he made a +signal to his armed followers to fall back. "Our loyalty to the king we +have, as you say yourself, shewn right honestly in Marsk Stig's feud; +the king also hath recompensed us for that; he hath honourably helped +us with the fortifications of our good town, and with the new palisade. +Every honest man in Copenhagen would rather obey him than the priestly +rulers; but if we would speak out aloud of any other master here than +the bishop, we must give all our chattels to his treasury, and wander +houseless out of the town. Go in peace, Sir Helmer; but hide your sword +under your mantle! If I light upon the evil doer ye seek, I shall +assuredly seize him and summon him in your name to the council. Where +may you be found yourself?" + +"Here, in the inn, close to St. Clement's church--you are an honest man +I perceive--tell me frankly, countryman! would it avail were I to speak +to the provost, or to your bishop touching yon miscreant? He is one of +those impudent regicides. I have my eye also on that braggart +Rostocker; he brings false coin into the country, and hath threatened +the king. What I know further about him I have promised not to speak +of--but wherever I meet him--I am his man!" + +"You will surely get no justice here on the king's enemies, Sir +Knight!" whispered the herald. "If ye will take my advice ye will keep +as far off from our bishop and his provost as possible! The king's +friends are not exactly theirs, and must not, either, seem to be ours. +Had I not a good dame and children, you would hardly have seen me with +this staff in hand. If you would catch hold of the pepper 'prentices," +he added, shutting one eye, "you must seek them at the dice boards in +the ale-house! What may chance there, none need do penance for--but in +the harbour and on the quay none dare touch them. On, fellows! The +stranger knight hath given account of himself like an honourable man," +cried the herald, with a voice of authority, and proceeded onwards with +his armed train. + +Helmer looked after him, and nodded to the squire. "Brisk fellows, +these Copenhageners!" said he. "It is shameful they are forced +to be under the bishop's thumb! That counsel about the taverns and +draught-boards suits not my humour either. We will seek the foe in the +straight path. First, however, let us thank St. George and St. Clement +for our deliverance, and then we can with a good conscience despatch +the rascals wherever we light on them." He approached St. Clement's +church, but found the church door locked, and marked with a large black +cross. "What means this?" he exclaimed. "Is there pestilence in God's +house?" + +"Prohibition, interdict, son! according to the enactment 'cum ecclesia +Daciana,'" answered an old Dominican monk, who was kneeling before a +stone crucifix without the closed church door, and now arose slowly. +"The sins of the high-born are about to be visited upon those of low +degree; our most pious bishop hath no longer dared to withhold the +great national punishment which the holy Father hath commanded on +account of the presumptuous imprisonment of the archbishop, contrary to +the constitution of all holy laws. Virgo amata! ora pro nobis!" he +muttered, and folded his hands. + +"The devil take those Latin laws, with reverence be it spoken, +venerable father!" answered the knight. "The archbishop is at liberty; +and is it now the time to punish a nation and country for that old sin +of the king's, if it really was a sin?" + +"Assuredly it was a heavy sin and injustice," answered the monk; "but +the chastisement is too hard--that is the truth--and it falls on the +souls of the innocent--the people are only made ungodly and uproarious +by it; as we have proofs daily. If the king is not come hither to +bethink himself, and do penance, the prospect may be a drear one for us +all." + +"Is he come?" asked Helmer hastily. + +"Not here to the town--but to the royal castle at Sorretslov; his +plenipotentiaries are already at Axelhuus. Alas! yes! it is high time +he should give in, ere the interdict drives the whole nation to +rebellion and destruction.--Ora pro nobis!" he muttered again, and +turned towards the crucifix. + +"Believe ye he hath come hither to humble himself, and crouch at the +bishop's feet? venerable father?" answered the knight; "then you will +find your belief to fail you in this matter, as I observe this tumult +concerns not the king, but your own little bishop and his overbearing +guests. Against this stupid church-shutting, a remedy will surely be +found at home. The nation is pitiful indeed which would let itself be +shut out from God's house while there are sturdy axes and iron crows in +the country." + +"Alas, ye children of the world! ye worldly lords! ye will ever forward +with might and violence,--ye would at last storm heaven's gates if ye +were able," groaned the monk; "from the great and mighty doth all that +defiance and scandal proceed; and the poor, deluded people! _they_ +listen but too willingly to such wild and ungodly counsel. Look! yonder +comes another flock of erring sheep, who have turned into wolves! There +they come, with spears and staves, like those who followed Judas, that +child of wrath. Hear how they bluster and storm. God be merciful! They +are surely rushing hither; they will assuredly open the church by +force." + +The dismayed Dominican was preparing to fly, but the insurgents placed +themselves in his way. "Tarry a little, pious father!" shouted the +ringleader of the troop, a tall carpenter, with a large axe in his +hand. "Thou shalt read us the Holy Scripture before St. Clement's +altar; we have heard neither vespers nor mass for three days. Force the +church door, comrades!" + +"Are ye distraught?" cried the monk; "will ye do violence to the house +of God!" + +"No chattering! Force the door, countrymen!" shouted the leader. +"Neither St. Peter nor our Lady have taken it amiss of us. Mass goes on +cheerily in all the churches. We will hear our vespers at St. Nicholas. +Well done my lads! Look! now is the interdict ended! The church door +gave way before the ponderous strokes; the insurgents poured into the +church with a wild shout of victory, dragging the Dominican along with +them. + +"That will be but a disturbed worship, noble sir," said the squire; "we +had better reserve our piety for another time. Look, yonder comes a +fresh troop! Nay, look! They have balista and cross-bows with them; +they will now surely assault Axelhuus." + +"That hits my fancy!" exclaimed Sir Helmer, joyfully. "This prelatical +tyranny should not be tolerated by any Danish man. I come at the right +time; there may be something to take a hand in here. If they will +besiege the bishop's nest, I Will teach them at least to do it briskly. +Stay thou on the quay, and watch the pepper 'prentices, Canute! I must +set the honest burghers a little to rights with the balista." So saying +Sir Helmer hastened with rapid strides down to the old strand, where +the restless crowds of insurgents flocked together in wild tumult. + + + + + CHAP. II. + + +The inmates of Axelhuus appeared to feel sufficiently secure to despise +these disturbances which had commenced, though in a less degree, some +days before. + +The bishop's well-fortified castle was situated on an island, the +ferry-boats that usually plied there lay, during these commotions, in +the harbour, under the high walls of the castle, by which means all +communication between the town and the castle Island was cut off. The +distance from the town, however, was not so great, but that Axelhuus +might be reached from the strand by arrows, and especially by balista, +when these dangerous engines of war were worked with proper skill. In +the upper hall at Axelhuus, sat the spiritual and temporal ruler of the +town, the little authoritative bishop Johan of Roskild, in solemn +council, between his guests Archbishop Grand and Cardinal Isarnus. At +the archbishop's right hand sat his faithful friend, the haughty abbot +from the forest monastery. Grand's agent, the canon Nicholas from +Roskild, was also present, as well as the canon Hans Rodis, who had +assisted his flight from Sjoeberg. At the great hall table sat also the +cardinal's famulus and his secretary, with two Italian ecclesiastics +belonging to his train. For the convenience of the foreign cardinal, +the conversation was chiefly carried on in Latin. The lord of the +castle, the little bishop Johan, seemed to have assumed a determined +and authoritative deportment in imitation of the archbishop, by whose +side, however, he appeared wholly insignificant, although he now acted +as the protector both of the powerful Grand, and of the cardinal. He +now and then cast an observant glance out of the window towards the +town and the increasing crowd on the strand, yet without betraying fear +or uneasiness. Archbishop Grand had not yet overcome the consequences +of his severe imprisonment. He rested his swollen feet on a soft +stuffed foot-stool. There was a look of gloomy asperity on his pale, +emaciated countenance. Every movement appeared to cost him an effort, +while all his vital energy seemed as if concentrated in his large +flashing eye. He sat lost in reverie, gazing before him in silence, +while the cardinal, with a lurking smile in his small crafty eye, +perused a document which his secretary had just drawn up. + +"Trust him not, venerable brother," whispered the abbot from the forest +monastery in the archbishop's ear; "he secretly sides with the king: I +know it; he aims at your archbishopric." + +Grand changed colour and clenched his hands convulsively, but was +silent, and cast a searching look at the papal nuncio. + +"In the name and on the behalf of the holy father!" commenced the +cardinal, in Latin, ridding himself of the red cap which covered his +tonsure; "ere the royal ambassadors come into our presence, I once more +counsel my aggrieved brother to submission and a wise resignation. In +this treaty which I have here caused to be cursorily drawn up, and the +contents of which you already know Archbishop Grand! I have at your own +request, according to the strict principles of ecclesiastical law, +enjoined the King of Denmark to make such a considerable compensation +for towns, villages, castles, and temporal offices, that I see +beforehand he will reject the negociation." + +"I now reject it also, even on these conditions," answered the +Archbishop impetuously, "That in which King Eric hath sinned against me +and my holy office, he can never fully atone for, even with the loss of +his--crown!" + +"You surely would not, however, strain the bow still tighter, venerable +brother! and at last insist on your king being punished by loss of +honour, life, and possessions, like a criminal by temporal justice?" +asked the cardinal, with a crafty smile on his unruffled countenance, +"in the matter of soul and salvation, you have dealt as hardly with him +as possible. Forget not, my venerable brother! That your opponent is a +crowned and anointed monarch, at the head of a brave and loyal people, +and with many mighty princes for his friends! Every spiritual decree to +which a temporal potentate will not _voluntarily_ submit out of +christian piety and humility, will be ineffectual, and become the scoff +of the children of this world, especially here in the north, where even +the holy lightnings, as I perceive, fall somewhat cooled and weakened. +The king's charges against my venerable brother in Christ are, besides, +very grave and heavy, and," added the Cardinal with a thoughtful look, +"if the royal advocate in Rome can but prove the half of what is +alleged, you will assuredly act most wisely in lowering your demands +somewhat, and will even desire yourself that the whole unhappy affair +should be hushed up. This, at all events, is my brotherly counsel, and +if you could master yourself so far as to follow it, an honourable +treaty will doubtless be possible. It is my heartfelt wish, as well for +your peace as that of the church, and to prevent all scandal and +dissension for the future--that you, with consent of the holy father, +should exchange the archbishopric of Lund for another (perhaps of more +importance, and more worthy of your merits) without these northern +lands, where your personal misunderstanding with temporal authorities +will hardly ever be wholly removed. I say this with kindly concern for +my excellent brother's peace and safety. Even at this moment we are +both, in some sort, in the power of the temporal ruler, of whose +impetuosity you have had such sensible proofs." + +"Ay indeed, your eminence!" exclaimed Grand in the greatest +exasperation, as he kicked the footstool from him, and rose, "Speak ye +now to me in this tone? Was it for this you summoned me from my secure +Hammershuus, and bade me trust to the passport of my deadly foe? You +think, perhaps, to have trapped me into a snare I cannot escape from! +You imagine, perhaps, that my pious colleague, our mutual and venerable +host, who here sways town and castle, will, out of base and cowardly +fear, betray his friend and guest, and lawful archbishop, to flatter +the temporal tyrant, who already, as I perceive, hath rendered a papal +nuncio his spiritual slave? No, lord Cardinal! In that case, you know +neither me, nor the meritorious servant of the Lord here, at our side. +If he hath already for my sake, and that of the church, with courageous +energy exposed himself to the tyrant's wrath, and even to tumult and +sedition in his own town, he will surely not now stoop to degrade +himself by an act of treachery which would brand him as a dastardly +traitor. My safety and freedom are provided for; any moment I please I +can embark, and neither the king nor the seditious burgher-pack shall +forbid me to wend free from hence, and seek justice before St. Peter's +judgment seat. Here I dare speak out freely that which I deem of you, +as well as of that presumptuous and ungodly king. You have not +fulfilled your duty here as papal nuncio.--Instead of confirming ban +and interdict with the holy Father's authority----" + +"That is my own affair, my brother!" interrupted Isarnus, with cool +calmness, "Since your own counsellors have enforced the interdict +according to the constitution of Veile no confirmation was needed. We +speak now only of the king, and whether you will be reconciled to him +and recall the ban." + +"No, never! To all eternity!" cried Grand, impetuously; "and I laugh at +his accusations: that which I once spoke of his father's murder, and +which he now makes the plea for his tyrannical conduct, I dare repeat +here, and before the highest judgment seat. If the king's murder was +_destined_ to take place, it was unfortunate that it did _not_ take +place sixteen years before, then that wretched monarch would have left +no posterity behind him, and the descendants of Eric Glipping would +never have dishonoured Denmark's throne. Yes! I made that intrepid +speech, and I repeat it now; but I deny all share in the tyrant's +murder, and all connection with Duke Valdemar and the outlaws. It +matters not to me, henceforth, who reigns in Denmark, be it Duke +Valdemar or a Jew, a Saracen or a heathen, or--the devil himself, if +only King Eric and his wretched brother may never be obeyed here as +kings and lieges." + +"Will you also defend what you _now_ say, before the highest judgment +seat? venerable brother!" asked Isarnus, with unruffled calmness, and +with an almost imperceptible smile. "Your bodily weakness is, however, +reasonable excuse for your not being always master of your mind and +tongue. Now I have heard your declaration, despite the exaggeration of +feeling it betrays, it still in some sort agrees, both with the will of +the Holy Father and of the king. Your cause immediately depends upon +the papal see; nevertheless, let the king's ambassadors appear, my +worthy brother!" he said to Bishop Johan, who instantly rose and left +the hall. + +There was a silence of a few moments. Grand had resumed his seat; he +rested his long chin upon his clenched hand, and seemed angry, both at +his own vehemence, and the calmness of the cardinal. Shortly afterwards +Bishop Johan entered, accompanied by two ecclesiastics. They were the +king's ambassadors; the provincial prior of the Dominicans, the +venerable Master Olaus, with his handsome snow-white head, and Esger +Iuul, the canon of Ribe--a young priest, well versed in law, and of a +bold, intelligent countenance. They had been waiting for admission some +hours in an antechamber. They now greeted the prelates with reverence, +and the cardinal half rose from his seat to return their salutation; +but the Archbishop remained seated in gloomy reverie. Bishop Johan +requested the king's plenipotentiaries to seat themselves. The +provincial prior sat down, but the canon remained standing, and began, +"Pardon me, your eminence! and you, most learned lord archbishop! and +all ye reverend ecclesiastics! if I am here necessitated to say what +displeases you I stand forth here, not as the church's, but as the +king's, my temporal master's, servant and spokesman. What he hath +ordered me to propound, I must utter, even though I may not dare to +attribute to myself the thoughts and opinions which I have taken on +myself to expound." + +"Speak boldly, brother Canonicus! I have been advised of your +authority," interrupted the cardinal, with a gracious nod, and the +canon continued, "My lord and king hath three hours ago arrived at his +royal castle here in the village of Sorretslov, without the town of +Copenhagen, in order personally to confirm and sign what may be here, +with his consent, agreed upon; and, in case of need, with his royal +power and authority to hinder the breach of the public peace, with +which state and kingdom are threatened by the presence of Bishop Grand, +and the enforcement of the interdict. He desires not to see _that_ man +in his presence whom he considers as an accomplice in the murder of his +royal father of blessed memory, and who hath also dared to pronounce +the church's ban on his own royal head; but the peace and safe conduct +he hath promised his opponent, he will honourably and chivalrously +observe. The King hath expressly enjoined me to declare, that he comes +hither in no wise to excuse and defend that, which, compelled by +necessity, he hath been forced to enact against canonical law and the +constitution of Veile, by the personal imprisonment of Archbishop +Grand. This affair he confidently trusts to justify before the highest +tribunal in Christendom; but he comes hither as lord of the land, for +the restoration of public peace, and as the accuser of the fugitive +archbishop before his eminence the papal nuncio. All reconciliation in +this kingdom with this prelate, charged as he is with treason, my +liege, the king, decidedly rejects; but he promises him free and safe +departure for Rome, whither he hath already expedited his ambassadors, +and whence he awaits a righteous sentence upon the accused. Till this +sentence is awarded, he demands to be freed from the unlawful ban +pronounced upon him by a prisoned traitor. (These are not my words, but +the king's.) He demands likewise that the kingdom be freed from the +interdict, which the councils of Veile, Roskild, and Lund, have +announced to his loyal and innocent people. Against the right of the +councils and bishops therein assisting, to take this step without +consent of their chapter and the rest of the clergy, the chapter of the +cathedral of Roskild hath solemnly protested--and the provincial prior +of the Dominicans, the venerable Master Olaus, is here present in +person to confirm the protest." + +The aged provincial prior now rose--"In the name of my holy order, and +that of the chapter of Roskild cathedral, I declare the conduct of the +councils in this matter to be unlawful and invalid," he said in a clear +and calm voice, "I consider not the chapters and the Danish clergy to +be under the necessity of giving up the performance of divine worship, +and I require you, Bishop Johan of Roskild! as speedily as possible to +recall the unhappy church interdict, which hath already caused such +great disturbance here in the town, where you, yourself, meanwhile, +bear rule. If God's service is to cease, Satan's service will soon +commence, with all manner of dissoluteness and profligacy; of discord +and variance between the shepherd and his flock; spiritual, as well as +all temporal peace and security will be at an end, and no priest will +be sure of his life. Enthusiasts and sectarians, atheists and Leccar +brothers, will inundate the land, and mislead the people; laymen and +drunken guild-brethren will preside in the congregation, as they have +already begun to do here. Neither the church nor the holy father can +desire that we, to maintain the stern and impracticable constitution of +Veile, should overthrow all order and fear of God in Denmark, and +suffer the people to fall into barbarism, and into the greatest +errors--ay, even into heathenism and devil-worship. In the name of the +Danish clergy, I solemnly protest against the interdict; but in thus +protesting against it, I consider that I in nowise encroach on the +churches freedom, or attack you, most learned archbishop!--or any other +spiritual authority. The church but uses its freedom and power in such +wise, that we, its servants, should not corrupt and destroy the souls +entrusted to us, instead of leading them to the peace of God and +eternal salvation! Dixi et liberavi animam. Now act as you can answer +to God and your conscience, venerable sirs! but you will be responsible +in this world and the next for the consequences! They might prove +bloody and terrible." + +He hardly finished speaking, ere a shower of stones and arrows struck +against the wall with great noise, forced in the windows, and poured +into the midst of the hall, among the dismayed ecclesiastics, who +started from their seats, and sought safety between the massive window +pillars, and behind the thick walls of the hall; the cardinal also +quitted his seat, but the archbishop remained seated with an air of +defiance. + +"Doth he break his promise of safe conduct? the godless king of +Belial!" cried Grand. "Shall I and my faithful friends be stoned here +like prophets and martyrs, that our blood may cry to Heaven and call +down the lightnings of eternal damnation upon his head?" + +"I witness before the Lord and our Holy Lady! The king hath no share in +this attack," resumed the provincial prior, who remained standing. +"When he hears of it, he will assuredly highly disapprove this unlawful +and presumptuous breach of peace: but here, venerable sirs! you already +see the consequences of the interdict; the whole town is in uproar; the +mob was storming against the closed churches of St. Peter and Our Lady, +as we were on our way hither, and threatened with fire and sword. If +you do not now yield to necessity. Bishop Johan! Axelhuus will be +perhaps taken by storm, or laid in ashes ere midnight." + +A fresh shower of stones and arrows interrupted the provincial prior's +speech; he crossed himself and retreated. A large stone from a balista +fell just before the archbishop's face, and split the table. Grand +arose, with a look which flashed fire, and quitted his dangerous +position. + +"Follow me, my guests!" said the little Bishop Johan in a squeaking +voice, and hastily opening a door,--"Could we but pass unharmed through +the north corridor to the tower, no arrow or balista stone shall reach +us. The castle can stand both siege and storm. I will show you that I +suffer not myself to be thus mastered by my rebellious flock; but we +must hasten--here we are still exposed to the greatest danger." So +saying, he himself quitted the hall in great trepidation; all followed +him through a long corridor to a more secure retreat. Meanwhile, the +attack upon the castle increased in vigour every moment, and the +whole northern wing, which looked upon the town, was everywhere +exposed to arrows and showers of stones. Some exclaimed that they were +wounded--they rushed forward headlong, and jostled each other without +ceremony. Care for personal safety had nearly chased away all regard to +rank and position and decorum--most of the ecclesiastics ran past the +archbishop and the cardinal. The papal nuncio, however, passed hastily +and unharmed through the corridor, accompanied by the provincial prior +and Esger Iuul. Grand's slow and laboured step was alone supported by +the abbot from the forest monastery, whose heavy-built person permitted +him not to haste. The long corridor, through the whole length of which +they were forced to pass, had, on the one side, open gothic arches over +a walled parapet. Here at every moment poured in a number of arrows and +stones, which forced the fugitive prelates to pursue their way, +stooping, and almost creeping under the parapet. + +"God's judgment upon the presumptuous, and upon their traitorous king!" +panted forth the archbishop. "It is his creatures who stir up the +people. Now he rejoices over our distress, and would make use of it for +our humiliation." + +"St. Bent and St. Peter assist us! Stoop your head!" cried the heavy +Abbot, creeping under the parapet. "Yonder comes another balista stone! +Merciful heaven, what a swarm of people!" he continued, looking out +cautiously towards the town. "Hear how they bluster! They utter your +name, venerable brother, with ungodly oaths; they are busy with +boats--they are dragging more balista forward. I see one of the king's +halberdiers among them." + +"Mark! _he_ is the ring-leader, the faithless despot!" cried the +archbishop, "from him comes all our tribulation, and the country's +misery! Send forth thy destroying angel, righteous Lord! root out the +perjurer! Pluck him up by the roots!" + +"This way, venerable sirs! and ye are safe!" said a hollow voice from +the end of the corridor, and a tall manly form with a wild pallid +countenance, appeared at the door; he was clad like a German pepper +'prentice, and had a large red scar on his forehead. + +"My guest of the sanctuary! your persecuted friend and avenger!" +whispered the abbot from the forest monastery. "St. Peter and St. Bent +be thanked--the All-righteous hath heard your prayer, the destroying +angel is come." + +The tall form in the door-way laid his finger on his lips, and +disappeared with the two prelates, while the door of the corridor +closed after them. + + + + + CHAP. III. + + +The attack upon Axelhuus had thrown the whole town into the greatest +agitation. Even the most quiet and peaceable burghers could not conceal +their satisfaction on the occasion, and many of them took an open share +in the insurrection. The wild shouts of exultation which were heard +each time a shower of stones poured into the castle, sufficiently +showed the general feeling of indignation, not alone against prelatical +rule but chiefly against the archbishop, for whose sake, and by whose +powerful influence, the exasperating interdict had been enforced. +Grand's name was the watchword on the commencement of every fresh +attack. The provost, with his armed attendants, vainly strove to +restore order and quietness; wherever he appeared with the bishop's +men-at-arms, he was instantly driven back by the enraged populace. The +report of the king's arrival at Sorretslov, and the uneasy terms he was +on with the inmates of Axelhuus, had given a new and loyal impulse to +the insurrection; as the mob now believed that, by their attack on the +ecclesiastical dignitaries, they were making common cause with the +king, against his and the kingdom's arrogant foes. The provost had +ordered all the gates of the town to be locked, but the insurgents had +forced them, and a great number of people, among whom were some of the +richest and most peaceable inhabitants, hastened out of the north gate +of Sorretslov to see the king and intreat his support. Another crowd +flocked to the tower of St. Mary's church, and rang the alarm bell. +"Away with the holy wolves at the castle!" was the cry throughout the +streets. Without the well-lighted council-house, where the council was +assembled, and whither several captive insurgents had been brought, +there was a fearful uproar. The mob demanded the liberation of the +prisoners and threatened to fire the council-house. There was a great +tumult also at the Catsound:--"Out with all the boats!" was the cry of +the mob, "Throw the grocer-wares overboard! Drive the pepper 'prentices +to the devil! Let's fire the castle! Let no soul escape! Death to the +foes of king and country!" + +Meanwhile there were more cries and shouts than deeds in most places, +and the wild alarmists were in motion in the most opposite directions, +but, on the old strand, a person was seen who had brought order and +plan into the attack; it was Sir Helmer Blaa, who, with warlike +eagerness, posted the balista on the strand, and instructed the +burghers how to use these engines with force and effect. For some hours +he stood unwearied at this his favourite occupation, and where he led +the attack the castle sustained considerable damage. + +The captive insurgents meanwhile had been liberated at the +council-house. A great number of the council had joined the insurgents' +party, and taken up arms against the bishop. The rest of the +counsellors had escaped at the imminent peril of their lives, and some +of them had succeeded in getting out amongst the crowd through the +north gate, and reaching the king's castle at Sorretslov, where they +found the king already on horseback, at the head of his knights and +spearmen, in readiness to enter the town himself and quell the +insurrection. + +The evening was closing in. The insurrection had already risen to such +a height that most of the burghers had become alarmed at their own +undertaking, and every resident inhabitant began to fear for the safety +of his property and family; while the unbridled mob considered +themselves freed from all laws of decency and order. The king now +galloped in through the north gate, by Count Henrik's side, at +the head of his troop of knights, and followed by the tall, handsome, +lance-bearers who formed his body guard. + +At St. Peter's church, close to the northern gate of the town, and at +St. Mary's, his progress was almost hindered by the thronging crowds. +At both places the insurgents had forced the church doors and compelled +the priests to perform mass. The pious chaunts from the churches +sounded strange and mournful, amid the wild shouts of the mutineers. + +"That devotion doubtless proceeds more from defiance that piety," said +the king to Count Henrik, "yet assuredly, none shall hinder them from +God's worship, provided it be conducted with decency and order." He +ordered a guard to be stationed by both churches to check all +disturbances, and rode on. Wherever he appeared he was received with +the most devoted homage, and with joyous acclamations; which were, +however, somewhat subdued in those who were most obstreperous, on +seeing the provost and two of the council among the king's nearest +followers. An uneasy murmur was heard, here and there, and the people +gradually began to comprehend that the king came not hither to take +part with the insurgents against their rulers, but to maintain the +lawful government of the town, and restore public tranquillity. + +"Silence, good people! Let every one go to his home! Lay down your +arms!" said the king, in a grave but kindly tone, as he returned the +greetings of the people and stopped his horse. + +A silence ensued and the crowd thronged around him with attention to +hear what he said. "I come as your protector, and the upholder of law +and justice in my kingdom," he continued. "That which you can +reasonably demand of the bishop he shall grant you. The shutting +of the churches shall be at an end--the church-doors shall be thrown +open--that I promise you. As to the rest, you must obey your rulers," +he added sternly. "What hath happened here shall be narrowly inquired +into. There shall be peace and order in the town; he who from this hour +takes the law into his own hands, shall lose his life and reap the +reward of his deeds." An instant stillness prevailed wherever these +words were heard. The insurgents, and all who bore arms, decamped; but +a great crowd of unarmed burghers followed the king with loud +acclamations through the streets. + +At the old strand the bombardment of Axelhuus was still carried on with +great zeal. The castle island was surrounded by boats filled with +bowmen and torch-bearers. Preparations were already begun for storming +and firing Axelhuus, The fight was now maintained on both sides, and +arrows and stones from balista were shot from the towers and +battlements of the castle. + +"The king!--the king! with the provost and council," was re-echoed from +mouth to mouth, and it seemed as if a stroke of lightning had lamed +every arm. "Long live the king!" shouted the insurgents, and many threw +down their weapons. "No more war!--the king will judge between us and +the bishop!" The clattering of the horses' hoofs was already heard; the +crowd gave way on all sides to make room for the king and his knights. +The people shouted and made signals to the bowmen and brandmen in the +numerous boats which surrounded the castle island; in an instant nearly +all the brands and torches were extinguished in the water, and the +assailants rowed hastily back from the besieged castle. The shooting, +however, still continued from a battery of balista on the shore: it was +here Sir Helmer had stationed himself. His whole attention was so +engrossed in the working of the balista, that he was unconscious of +what was passing around him; he thought the bowmen and torch-throwers +had been put to flight, but observed not the general cessation of the +attack, nor the arrival of the king. "Go on, go on, countrymen!" he +shouted. "Cheerily! brave Danish men! Will you let yourselves be +worsted by the bishop's slaves? Down with their towers and walls!" He +was still issuing the word of command to the balista slingers, when, to +his dismay, he heard the king's voice over head. + +"What see I? Sir Helmer! you here! and in the midst of rebels? Is this +accompanying the Drost to Stockholm? Is it thus you serve and obey your +king? He is your prisoner, Count Henrik!" + +"My liege and sovereign!" exclaimed Sir Helmer, stretching out his arms +towards the king, who halted before him on his tall white charger, with +a look of stern menace. "Hear me, I conjure you!" + +"Not a word!" interrupted the king, with vehemence; "would you make me +a faithless perjurer? In the castle you are besieging I have promised +peace and safety to my deadly foe. I break not my word, even were it +pledged to the devil. If a hair of his head hath been injured it shall +cost you dear. Take my halberdier with you, Count Henrik--put him under +knightly arrest at the castle! To-morrow he shall be judged for his +lawless conduct. Take my greeting and assurance of peace to the bishop +and cardinal," he added in a lower tone. "Take to Grand my last behest +and warning! You are responsible for the observance of our passport!" + +"Your will shall be obeyed, my liege!" answered Count Henrik, springing +from his horse. "Follow me quietly, Sir Helmer," he whispered to the +restless and impetuous captain of the balista slingers, "to-morrow you +can justify yourself--now you must be silent and obey." + +Helmer bit his lip in wrath as he gave up his sword to Henrik, and +followed him in silence. Count Henrik, with a considerable train of +knights and squires, took instant possession of a barge which the +insurgents had just deserted. He caused a white flag to be hoisted, and +made preparations for crossing over to the castle island, while the +king furthermore enjoined peace and quietness in the town, and rode +with the rest of his train the whole length of the strand, amid the +vast concourse of people, who partly from curiosity, partly from +attachment, continued to accompany him. The balista were instantly +dragged off the shore, from whence the armed insurgents had also +decamped, awed apparently by the king's severity towards one of his +favourite knights. + +By the church of St. Nicolas, opposite the little island called "The +Skipper's Ground," the king was again stopped by a numerous and unruly +mob, in which there were many armed men of a gloomy and wild +appearance, who were muttering prayers and psalms, interlarded with +imprecations and threats against all priests and bishops. On the king's +appearance the uproar was hushed, and most of the weapons disappeared +at his command. The church doors were also forced here; all the +ecclesiastics and their attendants had fled. The people themselves had +rung the bell for vespers, and had dragged a monk into the church in +order to compel him to sing the Ave, despite the interdict of bishop +and pope. + +The king instantly dismounted and entered the church. Half dead with +terror, and as it were with his life in his hands, an aged Dominican +stood before the altar with rent garments, and strove in vain to chaunt +the customary evening prayers with calmness and dignity, while the +turbulent crowd surrounded him with looks of wild menace, and with +torches, axes, and glittering swords in their hands. A group of +butchers and half-drunken mechanics, headed by a tall carpenter, stood +nearest the altar, and frequently interrupted the monk with scoffs and +threats. + +"Peace here, in the Lord's house!" said the king in a loud voice, as he +entered the church. "Bend the knee, all of ye, and pray the merciful +God to pardon you! Go in peace, pious father!--if thou darest not to +pray for our souls.--God hears us, however, despite the ban, if we are +but sincere. The All-righteous be gracious to us all, and pardon us our +sins!" So saying, the king bent his knee before the altar, and all +fell, as if struck by lightning, on the floor. A deathlike silence +prevailed for a moment. + +It now appeared as if the aged Dominican was suddenly inspired by a +feeling of lofty and intrepid enthusiasm. In a solemn voice he chaunted +a "Gloria," and afterwards an "Ave," in which he was followed by the +king and the whole congregation. The king then arose, and calm and +silent quitted the church. He mounted his horse and rode onwards. "Holy +Virgin, pray for us!" still resounded with calm solemnity from the +kneeling congregation in St. Nicolas church; and when the king again +returned through the strand street opposite Axelhuus, to repair to his +castle at Sorretslov, tranquillity appeared to be fully restored. +Lights gleamed in the calm spring eve in most of the windows; at +Axelhuus also, all now seemed tranquil. Count Henrik had sent the +provost and two counsellors on before him in a small boat to announce +his coming to the bishop, while the Count himself with his train in the +great barge approached the castle island with tardy strokes of the oar. +Sir Helmer stood silent and thoughtful, as a disarmed captive, in the +barge by Count Henrik's side, indignant at being now carried to +imprisonment in that castle which he had recently, as a conquering +general, assisted the burghers to besiege. He now, indeed, perceived +that he had acted rashly in taking a part in the insurrection; but he +thought, nevertheless, that the king's conduct towards him was much too +severe; his looks and glowing cheek betrayed that his pride was deeply +wounded. As he revolved these thoughts a boat from the castle island +rowed rapidly towards them, and glided close past the barge. "Ha! the +pepper 'prentice!" exclaimed Sir Helmer, suddenly springing like a +madman into the boat. Count Henrik saw with surprise that his captive +commenced wrestling on the gunwale with a German pepper 'prentice, and +plunged with his antagonist into the deep stream, while the boat +disappeared with the speed of an arrow in the twilight. + +"Save him, save him!" shouted Count Henrik, and stopped the rowers. Sir +Helmer's plumed hat floated on the water at some distance; it was taken +up; but neither himself nor his unknown adversary were to be seen. The +rapid current appeared to have instantly borne them away, and all +search after them with oars and boat-hooks proved fruitless. + +"The Lord have mercy on his soul!" said Count Henrik with a sigh. "He +was the boldest knight I ever knew--but a thoughtless madcap he ever +was. He hath escaped captivity though, and perhaps a stern sentence +to-morrow; but the king hath lost a true friend. On, fellows! We find +him not--perhaps he hath helped himself; he was a good swimmer." + +In the boat which shot past, and which had been nearly upset by the +sudden and violent struggle, two persons attired as ecclesiastics had +been seen, and the rowers thought they recognised in one of them the +archbishop's crafty friend Johan Rodis. + +In the harbour of Axelhuus lay the royal vessel "Waldemar the +Victorious," on board of which the archbishop, through the mediation of +the cardinal, had been brought from Hammershuus, under royal convoy. +According to the tenor of the passport, the captain with all his crew +had been sworn by the archbishop, and had bound themselves to convey +him from Axelhuus at a moment's warning, in case he should not believe +himself safe, and also to bring him and the papal nuncio to whatever +foreign port they chose. Just as Count Henrik was about to land on the +castle island a large rowing boat approached the royal vessel. + +"Our lord bishop, with the archbishop, and the red hat!" said the +boatmen; "they are making for the Waldemar." + +"Then row after them with all your might!" ordered Count Henrik; "there +is no time to lose; haste!" Ere they reached the ship, the cardinal and +the archbishop were already on board, and the sails were about to be +hoisted. In the boat stood Bishop Johan with a number of clerks, and +was wishing his exalted guests a safe and fortunate passage. + +"I bring you the same good wishes from my liege and sovereign, most +venerable sirs!" cried County Henrik, taking off his hat. "Your safe +departure hath been cared for. As soon as the king learnt your +distress, and the insurrection of the mob, he hasted hither in person +to your protection. I have commands to escort you out of the harbour, +and see you safe from all possible danger." + +"Bring the King of Denmark my farewell, and my thanks for his support," +answered the cardinal, through his interpreter. "I have been myself a +witness to it, and I must see justice done to his generosity towards +his foe, as well as to his kingly temper, and his strict keeping of +promise. I now quit the country without having succeeded in +establishing here the peace I desired; but I trust once again to see +King Eric and Denmark under happier auspices." + +"When you come with peace and blessing, your eminence will be welcome!" +answered Count Henrik; "but you have already seen solemn proofs of the +temper with which the Danish people put up with ban and interdict. My +liege the king prays your eminence to bring the holy father tidings of +this, together with his humble and filial greeting; he places with +confidence his own and his people's just cause before the judgment seat +of his holiness; but whatever the sentence may prove to be, according +to ecclesiastical and canonical law, my liege, King Eric of Denmark, as +the temporal ruler of this land and the protector of public peace, is +necessitated in the most peremptory manner to declare Archbishop Grand +of Lund for ever banished from these kingdoms and lands." + +"Banished!" repeated a hollow voice from the vessel, and the tall +Archbishop Grand appeared at the gangway. "Who dares pronounce that +sentence upon an anointed prince of the church? For this no king on +earth hath power. That king's servant who hath dared to bring me such a +message, I declare to be under the ban of the church." + +Count Henrik started, but still stood calm and courteous with hat in +hand waiting to hear what the bishop had further to say. + +"Whether I again set foot on Danish ground," continued Grand, "depends +upon myself and the holy father. I now shake off the dust from my +martyred feet, and quit my ungrateful father-land; but ere the fullest +compensation hath been made me for all I have here suffered contrary to +the laws of God and man, there shall no blessing come upon state and +country, and upon Denmark's excommunicated king--that I swear by the +Almighty and all the saints! Tell the tyrant who sent you--from me, the +church's primate in the north--should King Eric Erieson now dare, +without dispensation and consent of the church, to complete his ungodly +espousals in forbidden consanguinity, it shall surely be to the eternal +damnation of himself and kingdom. Amen!" + +At these words Count Henrik stamped in the barge, without however +vouchsafing an answer to the incensed prelate. "Captain!" he called to +the commander of the ship, who stood with his hat in his hand at the +forecastle; "you will convey Archbishop Grand, in the king's name and +under his convoy, safe on shore wherever he chooses, excepting only the +king's states and kingdom. Whoever should dare to bring back this +disturber of the peace to Denmark shall be judged as a traitor and +rebel." + +At Count Henrik's signal, the sails were hoisted, and the vessel sailed +out of port with the dangerous prelate, whose last words to his native +land were those of the so oft-repeated ban. + +Count Henrik now greeted the lord of the castle of Axelhuus, the little +bishop Johan, and delivered the king's message of peace and protection; +under conditions, however, which he was invited to consider in an +interview with the king at his castle of Sorretslov. Count Henrik then +gave a parting salutation to this friend and unsuccessful imitator of +the archbishop, who seemed to meditate a haughty and impressive reply; +but without awaiting it, Henrik made a signal to his boatmen to row +forward, and followed the departing vessel at some distance, until it +was seen to be fairly out of port and in open sea. The count then +returned with his train to the town, where he instantly mounted his +horse, and rode in silent and serious thought, but with cheerful looks +and at a brisk trot through the town, and from thence on the road to +Sorretslov. + + + + + CHAP. IV. + + +At night there were great rejoicings in Copenhagen. The king's presence +seemed to secure the peaceable part of the community against further +disturbance of the public tranquillity. + +The occurrences of the day had given satisfaction, and there was a +general feeling of enthusiasm respecting the fortunate issue of the +insurrection. That which had been aimed at was attained. The shutting +of the churches was at an end, and the stern prelatical government of +the town had been cowed. After this violent outbreak of the people's +wrath, it was now hoped that no interdict would ever be carried into +effect in Denmark. The report that the archbishop and the cardinal had +quitted Axelhuus, and that the archbishop was banished for life, was +spread throughout the whole town, ere midnight, and increased the +general rejoicing. Where the lights had been extinguished in the +windows after the king's departure, they were now re-lighted. The +archbishop's flight and banishment were thus celebrated throughout the +town as an important victory over ecclesiastical tyranny, and as a +happy consequence of the public spirit of the burghers, and of the +king's high courage. In the tavern near the Catsound, in the vicinity +of St. Clement's church, sat the Drost's squire Canute, late at night, +merrily carousing with a number of young Copenhageners, who had eagerly +taken part in the besieging of Axelhuus. In the midst of the group sat +an elderly burgher, with a full cup of mead in his hand drinking with +them, amid songs and bold scoffs, at the strict law which prohibited +late tavern keeping and nightly intemperance, which they now regarded +as a dead letter. It was the same personage who at noon had +peregrinated the town as an official authority, and who, as the +summoning herald of the council, had forbidden every one to bear arms +in the streets. His herald's mantle, and the white staff bearing the +bishop's arms, had been thrown under the drinking table; he now +appeared in the usual burgher's dress, and had himself a warlike sword +at his side. From his talk it could be gathered that he had also joined +in the siege of Axelhuus. + +The carousers spoke openly and boldly against prelatical government, to +which they believed they had given a good fillip. They lauded the king +and the brisk Sir Helmer, and opined that the king had only feignedly, +and for the sake of appearances, caused that brave knight to be placed +under arrest. They unanimously agreed, also, that the king's stern +words to the balista slingers, and those who were storming the castle, +could not have come much further than from between his teeth, since, +after all, it was but his worst foe they had attacked. + +There were bursts of exultation at the flight and exile of the +archbishop, which had been related to them by two newly-arrived guests, +and the party took credit to themselves for having stoned Master Grand +out of the country. + +"Ay, laud us Copenhageners!" said the herald, with a self-satisfied +nod; "we have helped the king before at a pinch." + +"What can the pope and all the world's bishops do to him _now_?" said +the squire, draining his cup. "The game is won, comrades, provided all +we Danes from this day forward act like you, brave Copenhageners of +this town. Against those Latin curses we have arrows, swords, and +balista, and good Danish granite stone; and if they lock us up the +church doors again, we have, the Lord be thanked, iron crows and axes, +and men who can lift a church door as easy as a barrel of wheat. Now is +my master the Drost over in Sweden to fetch the king's betrothed," he +continued; "had I been with him there the arrogant Hanse would not have +pounced on me. Matters may go hard enough with the king's marriage; +they say these priests would fain put a spoke in the wheel, and shut +all Heaven's gates on us; but what shall we wager, comrades, that the +king snaps his fingers at them, touching the dispension, or whatever it +is called, and keeps his bridal, when the Lord and he himself pleases? +Then will there be sport and jollity over all the country. Long live +the king's true love!" + +"But she is a Swede," objected one of the young fellows. + +"Pah! hereafter will Swede and Dane be good and boon companions," +continued Canute, with a jolly flourish of his cup. "When our kings +give each other their sisters we will dance with the Swedish maidens, +and their young fellows again with ours, and no one shall look sour on +the other, because we have tried our strength before in another sort of +game. The Swedish princess, they say, is the fairest king's daughter in +the world, as fair and straight as a lily, and as pious and mild as the +blessed Queen Dagmar. Long life to her, by my soul and honour, and to +our excellent young king besides, and to all frank and free men, and +all pretty maidens, both here and in Sweden's land! Hurra for the king +and his true love! He is a scoundrel who drinks not with me." + +All the jolly carousers joined in the toast; but the merriment in the +tavern-room was now interrupted by the noise of an eager scuffle in the +chamber above, where several guests of higher rank were playing at +draughts. The squire and his comrades crowded inquisitively to the +door, and looked into the chamber. "Ay, indeed! my fat Rostocker here!" +exclaimed Canute; "would he tweak the Copenhageners by the nose also? I +should think he would come badly off at that game." He now related to +his companions what had happened at Skanoer fair--how the arrogant +traders, who were now in the fray, had brought the false coin of the +outlaws into the country--and how the Rostocker, with his crafty +comrade, had dared to threaten the king at Sjoeborg. + +"Let's have at him!" shouted all with one accord, and rushed into the +chamber, where Berner Kopmand and Henrik Gullandsfar, with a crowd of +foreign merchants and agents, were engaged in fierce dispute with two +of the richest burghers of the town, who accused them of dishonest +play, and of cheating with false money. The squire and his young +comrades took the part of the Copenhageners, and a wild and bloody +fray, with pitchers and cans, sticks and clenched fists, soon +commenced. The Rostocker and Henrik Gullandsfar first drew their +swords; they laid about them with courage and valour. The pepper +'prentices cried and shouted desperately, but were unable to defend +themselves with their long ell measures; at last they all took to +flight, with Henrik Gullandsfar at their head. Berner Kopmand would +have followed them, but the incensed squire placed himself in his way, +and forced him into a desperate encounter. "Out of the way, comrades!" +he shouted; "leave me to deal alone with this fellow; I have a little +reckoning to settle with him!" + +All gave way, and formed a ring round the combatants; the heavy-built +hot-headed Rostocker laid frantically about him, but was wounded every +moment by the man-at-arms, who, though far less in stature, was his +superior in swordsmanship. "Take that for thy false money, good fellow, +and that for thy false play, and that for thy shameless arrogance!" +shouted the squire at every wound he gave his antagonist; "that because +thou wouldest hang Sir Helmer and me, and that because thou hast +threatened our king, thou grocer hero!" This last thrust ended the +fight. The merchant fell mortally wounded to the ground, among the +overturned wine-flasks and draught-boards. Meanwhile the routed pepper +'prentices had given the alarm in the streets, and, with a fearful cry +of murder, assembled the night-watch, and as many of the provost's men, +who, as yet, had sufficient courage to maintain order in the town. The +bishop's famulus had arrived with some men-at-arms, on the part of the +provost, and when Berner Kopmand fell the tavern of St. Clement's was +already surrounded by a guard. The famulus made his way into the tavern +with his men, and surrounded the squire, who stood in silence with the +bloody sword in his hand, gazing on the dying Rostocker. + +"Seize him! Shackle him! The godless murderer, in the name of the +bishop and council!" cried the famulus, in a screeching voice, +springing up on a bench to bring himself into notice. He was a little +man, clad in a short black cloak over a blue lay brother's dress, with +a roll of parchment in his hand, which he flourished like a commander's +staff. All the jolly revellers had retreated, and the Drost's squire +stood alone by the Rostocker's body in the faint light of the oil-lamp, +which was suspended from the roof. He menacingly brandished his bloody +sword, and no one dared to approach him. + +"Let him go; he is guiltless!" cried a powerful but stuttering voice, +and the burgher herald stepped forward half intoxicated, with glowing +cheeks and reeling steps, from a corner of the apartment. He had again +attired himself in his herald's mantle, and brandished the white staff +with the bishop's arms in his hand. He elbowed his way through the +crowd, and placed himself, with solemn, official mien, between the +squire and the provost's men, directly opposite the little famulus on +the bench. "Let none touch this fellow; he is guiltless!" he continued: +"the other drunken guest hath got his deserts; he has fallen, as was +meet and fit in a regular tavern brawl, and at the dice-board; that _I_ +can witness--he is to get no chastisement, according to the law and +right of our good city, that you must know full as well as I, Master +Famulus." + +"Believe him not, he is drunk!" cried the bishop's famulus with +eagerness; "the ale speaks through him; he exercises his office, and +expounds law and justice like a toper and partizan. The law he prates +about concerns but fisty-cuffs and pulling of hair; but a murder hath +been committed within the town paling; it should at least be punished +with perpetual imprisonment, according to the town law. Seize the +murderer instantly, say I!" + +"Touch him not, say I," resumed the herald, "he hath slain a cheat, a +false player, a shameless scoundrel, who had defied the king; it was +done in honourable fight; it was in self-defence,--that I saw myself; +the fat Rostocker struck the first blow with a sharp weapon, although +he got the first cuff, but from an wholly unarmed fist; _that_ I can +take my oath of, let me be ever so drunk. He is a knave and a sorry +Christian who gets not honestly drunk to-night, now that we have forced +the shut gate of heaven. This brave young fellow is, besides, the +Drost's squire, and my good friend. We have no right to imprison him, I +will stand security for him, with all my substance!" + +"But what are ye thinking of?" bawled the famulus, stamping on the +bench, "he hath certainly slain a man here." + +"Even so! naught else! Know ye not better our pious Lord Bishop's +orders! Master Famulus!" shouted the burgher herald in an overpowering +voice, as he leaned on his staff of office. "_This_ is a worldly tavern +and place of entertainment--_here_, where gaming, pastime, and toping +have full swing from morning to night--none hath a right to require +safety for life and limb, it is all in due order; and a very wise and +reasonable regulation; mad cats get torn skins, and where one sets +aside the law, every one must take the damage as wages. The scoundrel +who lies there fell at the forbidden draught-board; if there is law and +justice in the town, he shall never be laid in christian ground. That I +will uphold, as surely as I bear this sacred staff." As he, at the +conclusion of his speech, was about again to brandish the herald's +staff over his head, he had nearly lost his balance; but his +authoritative conduct, and stern official deportment, seemed, however, +not without its effect upon the provost's men, especially as the +bishop's famulus was forced to allow the justice of his protest against +the burial of the slain in christian ground. + +While they were yet disputing, whether they had or had not the right of +imprisoning the murderer, the squire rushed out of the door, with his +drawn sword in his hand, and none dared to stop him. + +As soon as he found himself in the open air, he concealed his sword +under his mantle, slouched his hat over his brow, and mingled in the +throng which surrounded the house, and had thrust the guard aside. It +appeared, even to him, somewhat doubtful and improbable that persons +might thus be slain with perfect impunity at the gaming table; what he +had heard respecting perpetual imprisonment in the bishop's city, still +sounded very unpleasantly in his ear, and he thought it most advisable +to decamp as soon as possible; but in order not to excite suspicion, he +walked on quietly, and whistled a blithe drinking song. "There's +desperate work in the house between the pepper 'prentices and the +king's men," he said aloud, "the devil take me if I stand here gaping +any longer." As soon as he was fairly out of the crowd, he quickened +his steps and hastened down past the Catsound towards the old strand. +He went onward without knowing whither, and often looked behind to see +whether any one pursued him. He saw lights in all the houses on the +strand--mirth and song resounded, contrary to usage, in many quarters +of the generally quiet town, in defiance of the strict regulations of +the bishop and archbishop; but all was gloomy and still at Axelhuus. He +pursued his way along the level shore, and approached the church of St. +Nicholas. In the churchyard he saw a crowd of people assembled. A +strange, half devout, half seditious murmur, was heard in the crowd, +and a solemn council appeared to be held. He hastened past the sullen +muttering assemblage, and reached the ferry opposite Bremen-island. +Here all the great warehouses were desolate and deserted; he sat down +quite breathless on the quay to recover himself, and think of the means +of escape. It was past midnight. The moon shone upon the broad stream +and the tall warehouses on Bremen island. He felt oppressed by the +death-like stillness around him. The wild scene of the murder in the +alehouse was now solemnly and fearfully present to his imagination--he +heard his heart beat; he wiped the blood from off his sword, and put it +into the sheath. He perceived spots of blood upon his clothes, and was +about to go down to the water to wash them out, but he now heard a +sound near him like the gasping of a dying man; he looked around him +with uneasiness, but no human being was to be seen. The singular sound +still fell on his ear, and mingled with his vivid recollection of the +death-rattle of the slain Rostocker. He had felt no dread of the living +adversary,--now he shuddered at the thought of the dead. The hair of +the fugitive squire stood on end; he hastily started off from the quay, +and would have fled further; but he now distinctly heard that the sound +which terrified him proceeded from the sea-shore. The faint ray of the +moon now lit up the beach, on which he beheld a man lying stretched at +full length. "The pepper 'prentice! What became of him?"--he heard the +voice gasp forth, and recognised its tones. "Our Lady be merciful to +us! Sir Helmer! what hath happened you?" exclaimed Canute, aghast, and +hasted down to the half-expiring knight, who was utterly exhausted by +fighting and swimming, and whom, with much difficulty, he raised on his +legs, and in some degree restored to consciousness. His drenched +clothes were rent and bloody; his long brown locks clung to his swollen +cheeks, and in his left hand, which was convulsively clenched, he held +a thick tuft of reddish hair. "Look! look!" he said, "it was all I got +hold of, the rest the devil hath taken. He twined round me like a +water-snake. He bit and tore like the devil. The stream put an end to +our embrace, it had well nigh put an end to my life, I perceive." + +"Our Lady and St. George help you, noble sir!" said the squire, +crossing himself, as he reached him a small flask. "Take something to +strengthen your heart after that joust! If you have fought with the +evil one at the bottom of the sea you have surely had to stand a hard +encounter." + +"I hope it was the right one," said Helmer, and drained the flask, +"Thanks, countryman! it hath helped me! Now I have got my strength +again. I ail nothing in reality; my limbs are sound; I am but a little +bruised, and dizzy in my head." + +"But what in all the world have you been about? Have you been seeking +the pepper 'prentice, or Satan himself, at the bottom of the sea, and +know not rightly yourself whether you found him?" + +"I was hard pressed for time, thou must know. The king rode quietly +past the beach. I was somewhat wrath with him, I must needs confess. I +was on the way to the bishop's dungeon, on account of my having taken +the balista a little in hand; but then I caught a sight of that devil +of a pepper 'prentice; he stood not a yard from me in a boat, and would +have pushed past us; it seemed to me that he stared after the king, and +fumbled with his hand in his breast, as if after a dagger. Whether it +was the right rascal or not, there was not time to discover. The fellow +looked confoundedly suspicious, and one pepper 'prentice, more or less, +of what consequence was it, when the king's life was in question? so I +jumped into the boat. Ere I wast fully sensible of it I had the fellow +by the throat, and had tumbled blithely with him into the stream." + +"Have you sent the pepper 'prentice down to his home, noble sir?" said +Canute with restored cheerfulness, and somewhat proudly,--"then I have +sent a bottle-nosed Hanse grocer to hell, from an ale tavern. None can +say we have been idle here in Copenhagen. We serve the king as well as +we can--although we may have come a little out of the way he sent us. +If you only have but hit on the right man! your exploit was far more +daring and dangerous than mine, noble sir! But in two particulars I +have been more lucky, however; I _know_ I hit on the right person, and +know also I mastered the rascal to some purpose. It was he who would +have hung us in the morning, and who would have taken the king's life, +had he had power and courage to do so." + +"The Rostocker! Berner Kopmand?" + +"The same! He now lies dead as a herring, in the ale-house; he will +never be laid in Christian ground, if my honest friend the herald is in +the right. But come, sir!--if you can bestir yourself, let's get out of +the bishop's town, and the sooner the better! If the provost or the +bishop's men pounce on us, we shall not 'scape from their dungeons all +our life-time." + +With some difficulty the wounded knight followed the squire, and they +soon reached the east gate at the end of East Street. The gate was +shut, but its lock and bolts had been forced in the insurrection. The +fugitives opened it without difficulty, and entered into the large +grass-grown marketplace, where the Halland vegetable vendors especially +had their landing-places and stalls. Meanwhile, Sir Helmer felt weaker +at every step. With the help of the squire he dragged himself with +difficulty to the chapel by St. Anna's bridge; here he sank down +powerless before the chapel door;--all grew dark before his eyes, and +he was near falling into a swoon. + +"The Lord and St. Anna assist us!" said the squire, hastily seizing a +wooden bowl which stood near the chapel; he sprang with it to the +running stream under the bridge, and soon returned with the bowl full +of clear, pure water. + +"Drink, sir! drink in St. Anna's blessed name!" he said, eagerly, "and +then I will bathe you on the head, and on every part where you feel +pain. If St. Anna's stream hath the wondrous healing power it is said +to have you will assuredly soon feel yourself strengthened, provided +you are a good Christian, as I surely hope." + +The knight drank, and washed the blood from his face, which, as well as +his neck, was scratched and lacerated; he was besides bruised all over +his body, and exhausted to a great degree. The cold water refreshed and +strengthened him, as he fancied, in a wonderful and incomprehensible +manner. Around the chapel lay a number of crutches and rags, cast aside +by the sick and paralytic who had here been healed. Inspired with +sudden enthusiasm by his regained strength, and by the miracle he +believed he had here experienced, Sir Helmer sprang up and knelt before +the image of St. Anna over the chapel door. "Thanks and honour, holy +Anna!" he exclaimed in a lowered voice, and with clasped hands, "it was +nobly done of thee; it was doubtless for the sake of my fair young +wife--for the sake of my Anna's pious prayers! When we meet again in +health, we will assuredly not forget the wax lights and purple velvet +for thine altar." He then arose, and exulting in his strength, flapped +his arms around him, as if to certify himself of the fact of this +restoration; he embraced the squire, and then flung him off to some +distance on the grass, with as much ease as he would have flung his +glove. "Look, there lies my crutch also, to thy thanks and honour, holy +Anna!" he exclaimed in a loud voice, "he is a rascal who doubts of thy +wondrous power; thou hast given me strength and vigour again." + +"Ay, indeed! thanks and honour be to St. Anna for it!" panted the +squire, as he rose half in alarm. "You are now, by my troth, in full +vigour. Sir Helmer! as I can testify; but you are somewhat strange and +violent in your devotion; you must excuse my not continuing to lie here +among the other crutches!" + +Helmer bounded blithely on the green sward, to try whether his legs +also stood him in good stead; he seemed again preparing to wrestle with +the squire, but Canute sprang aside. "Keep your devotion within bounds, +noble sir! and listen to a word of sense!" he said, seizing the +intractable knight by the arm. "A boat lies unmoored here, let's take +possession of it, and row up the great canal!--then perhaps we may slip +whole-skinned out of the town, and get to Sorretslov. If there is any +reasonableness whatever in the king, he will not cause us to be hanged, +because we have chastised his enemies and persecutors; but if they get +hold of us here he will find it hard, despite all his power, to save +us." + +"Had I but my good sword!"--said Helmer. "Lend me thine, brisk +countryman! Do thou row the boat! and I will defend us both." + +"Yes, if you will be mannerly, Sir Knight, and not try your sword on +me, in honour of St. Anna!" + +Helmer laughed, and clapped him on the shoulder. They were soon both +seated in the boat, and pondering how best to provide for their safety. +Helmer sat sword in hand at the rudder, and the squire, despite the +pain of his lacerated hand, rowed with powerful strokes of the oar up +the stream which enclosed the town on the north-east. They stopped not +until they reached the fishermen's houses at Pustervig. Here the +northern boundary of the town was protected by a new fortification of +palisades. While the squire rested his wearied arms, they consulted +together whether they should now row to the left, through the canal, to +get out through the north gate, where, however, it was uncertain +whether they would not be stopped and seized,--or whether they might +not with greater safety, although with more difficulty, pursue their +flight up the stream to Sorretslov lake. This last plan they considered +to be the most expedient. Helmer now seized the one oar, and they began +to row briskly forward. The night was calm, and during the whole +passage from St. Anna's bridge they had not seen a single human being. +But an arrow from a cross-bow now suddenly whistled over the heads of +the fugitives; they heard a splashing of oars behind them, and saw two +boats push off from the beach at Pustervig. + +"The murderer! stop him, shoot him! a hundred silver crowns to the man +who seizes him!" called a loud voice from one of the boats. + +Helmer and the squire recognised the voice of Henrik Gullandsfar, and +kept on rowing. The one boat lay to behind them to stop the way in case +they should retreat. The other, which was manned with the provost's +men, and was steered by Henrik Gullandsfar himself, pursued them with +four oars up the river. In the bow stood two cross-bowmen, who +constantly aimed and shot, but as it appeared without real skill in the +management of this dangerous weapon, with which the strongest armour +might be pierced, and people wounded almost without perceiving it. + +"You shoot badly, knaves!" shouted Helmer. "Is that the way to hold a +cross-bow? Come but nearer, and I will teach ye to handle it!" he +continued, letting go the oar and brandishing his sword over his +uncovered head, as he stood in the stern of the boat. "As surely as St. +Anna hath given me my strength again, it shall not fare a hair better +with ye than with my departed brothers-in-law." Another cross-bow bolt +whistled over his head, but without injuring a hair of it--another +split the gunwale and broke the tiller. Helmer seized the harmless +bolt, and just as he was about to be overtaken, flung it back with all +his might whence it came. It whistled past both the cross-bowmen, but +hit Henrik Gullandsfar on the forehead, and the merchant fell backwards +without life sufficient to utter a cry. + +"Death and misfortune! 'Twas Helmer Blaa who threw!" cried one of the +provost's men. "The devil a bit will I fight with _him_.--Let's be +off!" + +The provost's men and the cross-bow shooters now took to flight down +the stream with the body of Gullandsfar. Sir Helmer again seized the +one oar, and the two bold fugitives rowed unmolested up to Sorretslov +lake. Here they sprang ashore on the green sward, leaving the boat to +float back with the current. + +"We have got thus far on dry land," said Helmer, looking around him; +"we are without the town paling, and are scarce a hundred paces distant +from the king's castle. When the king hears of our exploits, perhaps he +will say, it was bravely done, but will cause us to be bound and thrown +into the tower, according to strict law, and there we may be suffered +to lie until his council and the bishops are agreed whether we are to +be punished with death or only with imprisonment for life." + +"Would you scare me, Sir Helmer?" exclaimed Canute, in dismay. "As soon +as we reach the king's castle yonder, we surely stand under the king's +protection." + +"But here he is on the bishop's preserve as well as we. We have +forgotten that in our hurry," observed Helmer; "the sixteen villages in +this neighbourhood belong to the little Roskild bishop. Bishop law and +church law are valid here; and this I know beforehand, the king will +not swerve a hair's-breadth from what is lawful for _our_ sake, even +though we were his best friends, and had saved his life an hundred +times over." + +"Death and confusion! What shall we do then? In that case we were mad +should we take refuge with him here?" + +"So I think, countryman! But help us he _shall_, whether he will it or +no. Knowest thou the two white horses here in the meadow? Look! how +they dance in the tether and snort towards the dawn." + +"The king's tournament prancers!--the very apple of his eye! Every +knights' squire knows _them_. You have surely not lost your wits, Sir +Helmer! What would you be at?" + +"Thou shalt soon see," said Helmer, approaching the starting and +rearing steeds. "So! ho! old fellows! stand still!--if we have risked +our lives for the king, he can doubtless lend us a pair of horses. Had +I my good Arab it should fly with us both faster than the wind. The +pepper 'prentice I answer for," he continued, still enticing the +horses. "I have soused and pumelled him so soundly, that he will do no +mischief again in a hurry, if there is life in him yet--and I dare +wager my head it was the right one. If thou hast made an end of Berner +Kopmand, countryman, I answer for Henrik Gullandsfar, and the +archbishop hath gone to the devil; there is now no great danger astir, +and the king needs us no longer here. I am no great lover of trial and +imprisonment, seest thou? and if the king does not need my life, I know +of one who will give me a kiss for saving it.--So ho, there! That's +right, my lad!--a noble animal, by my soul! I desert not from the +service to run home to my young wife,--that none shall say of me. Do +thou like me, countryman! I will now ride on the king's prancer as his +bridesman to Sweden, to perform what I have neglected. If thou wilt +come with me, come then!" Meanwhile Helmer had caught one of the +spirited steeds. In an instant he was upon its back, and galloped away +over hedge and ditch with the swiftness of a deer. The Drost's squire +did not long hesitate; he was soon seated on the back of the other, and +followed Sir Helmer at a brisk gallop. + + + + + CHAP. V. + + +When the sun rose over the Sound, signs of cheerful animation and +active stir were already perceptible in the village of Sorretslov, +while the bishop's town still lay shrouded in fog, ensconced behind its +trenches and palisades, and seemed to slumber after the wild revels of +the preceding night. Peasants were seen removing cattle on the +pastures, between the village and the northern gate of the town. The +grooms of the king's household were riding the horses to water from the +farms and meadows of the royal castle, at the large pool in the midst +of the village; but around the pasture near Sorretslov lake, where the +king's trained tournament-steeds had grazed, two grooms were running in +despair, vainly seeking the fine horses which were entrusted to their +charge. + +"Help us, St. Alban! and all saints!" cried the younger groom. "If the +Marsk comes home he will slay us, at the least." + +"And the king!" groaned the other--"the king will be wrath; and that is +even far worse. We must find them though we should have to run to the +world's end. Come!"--They sprang away over hedge and ditch, where they +saw the dew brushed off from the grass, and fresh traces of galloping +horses' feet on the meadow; at last they recognised the well-known +trained step of the steeds on the road between the two lakes, and were +soon far away. + +It was a fine spring morning;--the king was, as usual, stirring at an +early hour. Accompanied by Count Henrik, he had mounted the flat-roofed +tower of the castle, from whence there was an extensive and noble +prospect over the whole adjacent country. Count Henrik had been +required, circumstantially to repeat his account of the flight of the +cardinal and the archbishop, and the very different greeting of the +prelates. The king was grave, but in good spirits; even the last threat +of the archbishop had not discouraged him. + +"With God's blessing," he said with emphasis, "I await my chief +happiness from the hand of the Almighty, and the heart of my pious +Ingeborg, but neither from the mercy of the pope nor the archbishop. +Were my hope and success in love really sin and ungodliness, no +dispensation could ever sanctify it before Heaven and to myself."--He +paused, and gazed with a calm and enthusiastic look on the rising sun, +and a heartfelt prayer seemed as it were to beam from his bright eye. +"My deadly foe went hence alive," he continued;--"well! I have now +performed my promise to him. I let him 'scape hence alive. More none +can ask of a frail mortal; but it is the last time I promise peace and +respite of life to the enemy of my soul. So long as the Lord grants me +life and crown the presence of Grand shall never more infect the air I +breathe." + +"This insurrection was quite opportune for us, my liege," observed +Count Henrik, with a confidential smile--"the foe you came hither to +banish hath been as good as stoned out of this country by the brisk men +of Copenhagen, on their own responsibility." + +"That _I_ asked them not to do," answered the king, with proud +eagerness; "had I willed to use temporal power, against my +ecclesiastical foes here, I should not have needed the help of a +mutinous mob. The town hath suffered wrong; but mutiny is, and ever +will be, mutiny; and, _as such_, deserving of punishment, whether it +happens to suit my convenience or not. I consider the conduct of the +bishop and council to be arbitrary and illegal," he continued. "I hate +ban and interdict as I do the plague, as is well known; but it shall +not therefore be believed I favour revolt and rebellion against any +lawful authority. It was well done to force the locked churches. No +Roskild bishop shall place bars and bulwarks between us and our Lord; +but it was not for the Lord's sake they besieged the bishop's castle: +their devotion was also very moderate; it was more like howling wolves +singing 'credo,' than christianly-baptized people. Had you seen, with +me, the riots yesterday evening, in St. Nicholas church. Count Henrik! +you would hardly take on yourself the defence of these insurgents." + +"I rode past St. Nicholas church-yard in the night, my liege!" answered +Count Henrik. "What was doing there pleased me but little, it is true. +It seemed as though a crowd of spirits moved among the graves, in the +moonshine: there was a strange muttering. I heard shouts and prayers, +which sounded to me like curses. It was St. Erik's Guild brethren, who +were chaunting prayers, it was said, and taking counsel against the +bishop. Those good people I will no longer defend; there must be wild +fanatics and turbulent spirits among them. But chastise them not too +hardly, in your wrath, my liege!--even though you should now be forced +to lend a helping hand to prelatical government. When the Lord's +servants shut the Lord's house themselves, and hinder all orderly +worship, it is surely no wonder that the plain man seeks to edify +himself as well as he can in his own way: a mixture of defiance and +ferocious fanaticism with this species of devotion is inevitable, but +whose is the blame, your grace? Where God's word is silent, the evil +one instantly sends forth his priests among the people, and drives them +mad." + +"Ay indeed! those are true words. Count! It is usually the fault of the +shepherd when the flock strays. Spiritual government is a matter I dare +not much intermeddle with, but this I have promised, and I shall +honestly keep my promise: every church door in the country which they +would hereafter shut, I will cause myself without further ado to be +forced with the staff of the spear; and every priest or bishop who +hinders my, or my people's lawful and orderly devotion, I banish from +state and country, as I have banished Archbishop Grand--let the pope +excommunicate me a thousand times over for it! Look! in this I am +agreed with my brave and loyal people, and with these rather too brisk +Copenhageners. What I here tell you, I cannot give any one under sign +and seal," he added, "but I will whisper it in confidence into the ear +of every Danish bishop and future archbishop; none shall say, however, +I side with rebels. If authority is to be used, that is my affair; but +there _shall_ be peace and order here. I will uphold the rights of +every lawful authority, whether it be spiritual or temporal, our +highest rights, as God's children, and the rights and authority of the +crown, unimpaired." + +The king was silent--his cheek glowed, and an expression of fervid +energy beamed in his countenance, as he turned from the fair spectacle +of the rising sun, and looked out upon the fog-enveloped town, the +church towers of which glittered in the dawn of morning. He now opened +a letter and a small packet, which a skipper from Skanoer had brought +him from Drost Aage. He read the letter with attention. It contained an +account of the Drost's meeting with the Hanseatic merchants and Thrand +Fistlier at Kjoege, and at Skanoer fair, as well as of the disturbance +which had been caused by this mountebank, and the Hanseatic forgers; +and also how the Drost, partly to save the artist's life, had been +under the necessity of sending him prisoner to Helsingborg. In the +packet was one of Master Thrand's optic tubes, and some polished +glasses, which Aage had bought at Skanoer fair, and which he now +presented to the king as extraordinary rarities. In the letter, Aage +had not been able to conceal his suspicion of the wonderful mountebank, +and the singular uneasiness which this man's operations and expressions +had caused him. + +Count Henrik also, had lately received and read a secret epistle from +the Drost, in which Aage conjured him to caution the king respecting +the captive Icelander, and above all to keep a watchful eye on whoever +approached him. "Trust not the junker!" Aage wrote, "God forgive me if +I do him injustice! Kagge is alive and under convoy of the foreign +merchants, who threatened the king at Sjoeborg; Helmer and my bravest +squire are in their power. The revenge of the outlaws is unwearied. +Stir not from the king's side! watch over his life, while I care for +his happiness." + +"Truly! my good Drost Aage is a strange visionary," said the King, +shaking his head with a smile, as he tried the glasses with a feeling +of wonder at the power of these instruments; "my much-loved Aage is +ready to side with the ignorant mob, and regard the fruits of the noble +arts and sciences as the work of the evil one." + +"How! my liege!" asked Count Henrik, in surprise. + +"That good friend of mine is still somewhat weak both in mind and body;" +continued the king, "he is afraid our whole fair world will perish, +because here and there people get their eyes opened, and learn to see +things better and more justly in nature. The Lord knows what new danger +he can now be dreaming of from this artist. Just look here. Count!" The +king reached Henrik the optic tube. "It is one of the discoveries of +the great Roger Bacon, the wise English monk we have heard so much +of--a skilful Icelander hath arrived here in the country, who hath +known him, and learned the art from him. These kind of things he brings +with him; he is said to understand many wonderful arts, and knows +secrets in nature which may be of importance, as well in war as in the +general advancement of the country; Aage, I suppose, means only we +should be cautious and not trust him over much. I will see and know +that man; he certainly doth honour to our northern lands, and he shall +not have visited me in vain;--now what say you, Count? Such glass eyes +may be useful, I think, both for a king and a general, when he should +take a wide survey!" + +"Noble! astonishing!" exclaimed Count Henrik, "the town, the river, the +whole of Solbierg, seem as near as if close at hand." + +"And a skilful coiner, and a rare judge of metals, is this Icelander +besides," resumed the king with satisfaction, as he glanced over the +letter, "he is just the man we need, now that the land is inundated +with the false coin of the outlaws; if he were in league with my foes, +as Aage fears, he would hardly venture into my sight; as yet no enemy +hath faced me, unpunished. He is reported to hold many erring opinions +in matters of faith; but what is that to me? If he be a heretic, so +much the worse for himself; in what concerns temporal things he is apt, +I must confess." + +"If he be a Leccar brother, as Drost Aage thinks, then beware of him, +my liege!" observed Count Henrik. "I thought that sect was banished in +all Christian lands, and in Denmark also, on account of their dangerous +opinions." + +"On account of opinions, I have never banished any living soul," said +the king: "for ought I care, every man may think and believe what he +will, provided he obeys but the laws of the land, and seduces not the +people to insurrection and ungodliness. One description of madmen I +once banished, however--it is true," he added, recollecting himself: +"what they called themselves I have now forgot; but the madness I +remember well enough--they were self-appointed priests, without a +consecrated church or true doctrine. They scoured the country round, +and preached both to high and low, and would, in short, have made us +all heathens. They denied both our Lord and our blessed Lady, and all +the saints and martyrs besides; they would have nought to do either +with church or pope; and in fact, just as little with kings and +princes, or any temporal government; they zealously affirmed that we +should obey our Lord only--but when it came to the point, their Lord +was but their own ignorant and perverted will. From such mad doctrine +we may well pray our Lord to preserve us and all Christian lands." + +"But that is exactly, as far as I know, the creed of the Leccar +brethren," observed Count Henrik. "We have chased the sect from +Mecklenborg also, and the pope hath doomed them to fire and faggot." + +"You are right, they are called Leccarii in Latin," answered the king: +"the holy father's caring for their _souls_, by burning their _bodies_, +suits me just as little as his excommunicating, and giving us over to +the devil. That mistakes may be made in Rome we are all agreed. If the +learned Icelander belongs to yon sect, he must doubtless decamp," he +added, "and that I should be sorry for; but I must hear it from +himself, ere I will believe it; it is inconceivable to me how madness +and learning can dwell together in one brain." + +"Look once again, my liege!" said Count Henrik, handing the optic tube +to the king. "Yonder comes a boat up the canal towards St. George's +hospital; if I am not mistaken it is steered by a couple of clerks; +perhaps the bishop would now vouchsafe us tidings, and put up with your +protection." + +From St. George's lake flowed a broad rivulet, which bounded the +pasture ground of Sorretslov and divided it from the meadows of the +village of Solbierg. This rivulet, which widened into a canal, flowed +down under the west gate of the town, and ended its course in the +Catsound. Between the stream and the town of Sorretslov lay St. +George's Hospital. A large boat came slowly up the river, in which the +forms of two men, attired in black, were discernible. They rowed with +unsteady strokes of the oar, and with great exertion, against the +stream. The boat put ashore at the pasture ground opposite St. George's +hospital. The sable-clad personages sprang out of the boat and drew it +on land. The king and Count Henrik thought they recognised the +archbishop's confidential friends, Hans Rodis and the canon Nicolaus, +and paid close attention to their proceedings. A large loose sail was +taken from the boat, from under which four ecclesiastics rose up, one +after another, and stepped on shore. They looked around on all sides +with caution, and proceeded along a by-path, with slow and uncertain +steps towards the royal castle. They were all four soon recognised. It +was the domineering little Bishop Johan, with the haughty abbot from +the forest monastery, accompanied by the provincial prior, and the +inspector of the Copenhagen chapter. They seemed to have secretly taken +flight from Axelhuus in the morning fog, to place themselves under the +king's protection, and perhaps to demand the help of arms against the +mutinous town. + +When the king recognised them he became grave, and fell into a reverie. +He reached the optic tube to Count Henrik, and seated himself in +silence on a bench on the southern side of the tower, whence he had a +view of the town and the north gate. Count Henrik remarked that the two +suspicious-looking canons had yet another person in the boat, whom they +carried on shore; he appeared to be either sick or dead, and was +closely shrouded in a mantle. The canons looked around on all sides, +and bore, seemingly with doubtful and anxious steps, the sick or dead +man up to St. George's Hospital, where they were instantly admitted. +Count Henrik considered their conduct most suspicious; he determined, +however, not to name it to the king; and resolved to examine himself +into the affair, and to inspect the hospital that very day. + +The town was by no means so tranquil as was supposed. The nocturnal +assemblage in the churchyard of St. Nicholas had not dispersed until +near daybreak. The bishop's men had heard wild threats of fire and +murder, and taunting speeches against their master. A new and bloody +outbreak of the insurrection was feared whereupon the bishop had not +deemed it advisable to await the dawn of day at Axelhuus, although it +was probable that he most unwillingly took refuge with the king, who he +knew was incensed at the enforcement of the interdict. + +The bishop's stern protest against the demi-ecclesiastical assemblies +of the guild-brethren of St. Canute, had rendered that fraternity his +bitterest and most dangerous foes. During the shutting of the churches, +the devotion of the guild-brethren, which was almost always blended +with fanaticism and intemperance, had assumed a wild and desperate +character. They were charged with the most licentious impiety, it was +believed there were atheists and Leccar brethren among them, who sought +to sever them from the church and from Christendom, as well as from +burgher-rule and obedience. A secret dread of the extravagancies and +gloomy deportment of these persons prevailed among the best-informed +and better class of burghers, who, however, had themselves, on +account of the shutting of the churches, made common cause with the +guild-brethren, and deemed a general revolt against prelatic tyranny to +be necessary. + +Ere the sun had dispersed the thick morning mist which lay over +the town, the burghers of Copenhagen thronged in crowds to the +council-house, where they assembled a council, though it was not the +usual day of meeting. + +Meanwhile, mattins were performed in all the churches in the town, and +no priest dared any longer to observe the interdict. All the churches +were unusually crowded, but no disturbances took place. It was only +from the stone-built houses, where St. Canute's and St. Eric's +guild-brethren had rung their bells ere daylight, and were now +performing their morning's devotions, before full goblets and with +locked doors, that wild cries and sounds of tumult proceeded. As soon +as early mass was ended, a great procession passed through North Street +and through the north gate. It was the deputies of the town and +council, who had drawn up at the council-house a long list of +complaints against the bishop, and as long a justification of the +recently-suppressed insurrection. This document they now intended to +present to the king, as they were willing to enter into any treaty with +the spiritual Lord of the town, which their sovereign might consider +just and reasonable. A continually increasing crowd accompanied this +procession. None of the guild-brethren were to be seen among the +deputies of the town; but a number of these gloomy agitators soon +joined themselves to the train, and sought to excite suspicion in the +populace respecting this negotiation of peace. The guild-brethren, +meanwhile, seemed at variance among themselves; the king's presence had +struck terror into many, and their wild plans of overthrowing all +spiritual and temporal rule lacked concert and counsel. Hardly had they +quitted their guild houses ere the provost's men and the bishop's +retainers, assisted even by the burghers, took possession of these +buildings, and stationed guards before them. The dispersion of this +degenerate and dangerous fraternity was now become one of the most +earnest wishes of the council and burghers. + +The king had not left the tower of Sorretslov when the throng hastened +forward towards the village and his unfortified castle, in the +direction of the southern gate; while the bishop and the three +prelates, with their slow and dubious pace, had not as yet reached the +approach from the by-path to the western castle gate. Count Henrik's +attention had been wholly engrossed in watching the tardy and undecided +movements of the ecclesiastics, and the king had been so lost in +thought that he did not observe the crowd until the distant murmur of +many thousand voices reached his ear. He rose hastily, with a quick +glance on both sides, and appeared wroth, but undecided only for a +moment. "The gate shall be barred. Count! the black snails shall be +brought up here!" he exclaimed impetuously in a loud voice to Count +Henrik, pointing to the ecclesiastics below, who again paused on the +by-path, and seemed to hesitate. "Let them be brought to my private +chamber instantly, even though it should be by force. They are my +prisoners." + +Count Henrik started. + +"Look!" continued the king, pointing towards the village and the road. +"They flock out hither by thousands; but, by all the holy men! whoever +disturbs the peace of the royal castle shall be chastised as he +deserves. Ride to meet the throng. Count! announce my will to them--say +their bishop is in my power. Every fitting proposition I will listen +to; but every agitator shall instantly be banished; whoever obeys not +shall be punished as a rebel." + +"Now I understand you, my liege," said Count Henrik, and instantly +departed. + +The king's command was immediately put into execution. With great fear +and dismay, the bishop and his three ecclesiastical companions beheld a +troop of horsemen gallop out of the castle towards them, while a willow +hedge hid the main road and the concourse of people from their sight, +and they still stood close to the meadow gate, debating whether they +had not acted with precipitation, and were not about to encounter a +still greater danger here than that from which they had fled. + +"Treachery!" cried the bishop, drawing back. "I feared it would be so. +Fools that we are to trust to the generosity of an excommunicated +tyrant! Now we may all fare as did Grand, and may come to rot alive in +his dungeons." + +"I will answer for the king's justice, even should he imprison us," +said the general superior of the chapter. + +"Ha! you betray me! you side with the tyrant! _you_ counselled me to +this step." + +"Look, my brother!" cried the abbot of the forest monastery, pointing +in dismay to the right, where but a single-fenced meadow separated them +from the road and the concourse of people which now came in view. "The +whole town is flocking hither. They have spied us--hear how they howl +and bluster! They are springing over hedge and ditch towards us. Let us +thank God and our guardian saint for the king's horsemen; it is better +after all to fall into the hands of one tyrant than into those of a +thousand." + +At this moment the king's horsemen surrounded them, and saluted them +with courtesy. "Follow us, venerable sirs," said their leader, a brisk +young halberdier. "We have orders to bring you to the king's castle." + +"In the name of the Lord and all the saints we accept the king's +convoy!" said the bishop, looking around with uneasiness, while his +cheeks glowed, and he seemed but half to trust to this unexpected safe +conduct. + +"The bishop! the bishop! Seize him! stone him!" shouted a whole crowd +of the excited rabble, who, headed by some guild-brethren, had quitted +the burgher procession, and ran, with weapons and stones in their +hands, over the meadow towards the ecclesiastics. + +"Back, countrymen!" shouted the leader of the horsemen, brandishing his +sword. "We lead him captive to the king." + +"Captive! the bishop captive!" exclaimed the insurgents with joyous +shouts. "That's right!--long live the king!--to the dungeon with +Grand's friends and all king-priests!" + +"Captive!" repeated the bishop, clasping his hands; "ha, the +presumptuous traitors!" + +"Compose yourselves, venerable sirs," said the young halberdier, in a +lowered tone. "I obey the commands of my sovereign; if you refuse to +comply I shall be compelled to use force; but whether you are the +king's guests or his prisoners you will assuredly be treated as beseems +your rank and condition." + +The ecclesiastics were soon within the gates of the king's castle, and +looked doubtfully at each other, as one door after another was with +much deference shut behind them, and they stood at last in anxious +expectation in a vaulted chamber, which, with its high windows and the +little iron-cased door, which was also secured behind them, bore a +greater resemblance to a prison than an apartment destined for the +reception of guests. There was no want, however, of furniture or +comfort; there were writing materials as well as both edifying and +entertaining books. It was the king's private chamber. + +The deputies of the burghers and counsel started almost in as great +dismay as the bishop and his clerical companions, when they beheld +themselves surrounded on a sudden by royal halberdiers and horsemen +before the castle gate. The captain of halberdiers dismissed the +half-armed mob, who had followed the procession with shouts and threats +against the bishop, and with frequent acclamations for the king, on +occasion of his having (according to report) thrown the bishop into +prison. + +"In the name of my liege and sovereign!" called Count Henrik, on +horseback, as he waved his hat, "the castle is open to the deputies of +the loyal burghers; but every one who bears arms here, or combines to +cause riot and uproar disturbs the peace of the king's castle, and is +guilty of treason. Your lord bishop is at this moment in the king's +power, but he is also his guest and under his protection. Every insult +to the bishop here is an insult to the ruler of the land. The king will +judge justly, and negociate a peace between you and your lord. Ere the +sun goes down the result of his mediation shall be made known. Now, +back! all here who would not pass for rebels!" + +The restless crowd returned silent and downcast to the town. The +arrogant bravado of the insurgents that they had the king on their +side, had been suddenly put down. Their confidence in his presumed +wrath against the bishop, and his partiality to the burghers of +Copenhagen, appeared to have given way to a reasonable apprehension of +his justice and known severity. It even seemed to them no good sign +that the bishop, in his distress, had sought shelter at the royal +castle--and the guild-brethren muttered that when it came to the push, +the powerful and the great ever sided together after all; even though +they were deadly foes at heart, and that every thing was visited upon +those of low degree whether they were guilty or not. + + + + + CHAP. VI. + + +During the whole day an anxious stillness prevailed in the town. The +crowds indeed still continued to pour like a tide through the streets, +but with order, and in silent expectation. The sun was about to set, +and, as yet, no tidings had been received of the issue of the royal +negociation. Meanwhile, an unusual procession attracted the attention +of the restless and fickle populace. A funeral train proceeded past St. +Clement's church down to the old Strand, but without chaunting and +ringing of bells, and without being accompanied by any choristers or +ecclesiastics. This procession consisted of a great number of foreign +merchants and skippers, and all the pepper 'prentices, who (several +hundreds in number, and clad in precise and rich mourning attire) +followed two large coffins covered with costly palls of black velvet. +The coffins were borne by Hanseatic seamen; over them waved the Rostock +and Visbye flags. The train halted at the church of St. Nicholas. They +would have pursued their way across the church-yard, and requested to +have a mass chaunted over the dead in the church; but this was denied. +The bishop's servants shut the gates of the church-yard and forbade the +corpse-bearers to approach the church, or tread on consecrated ground, +as one of the coffins they carried contained the body of a man who had +been slain in the ale-house at the draught board. Amid wrathful +muttering against the hard-hearted prelatical government, the +procession proceeded past the outside of the church-yard wall to the +quay on Bremen Island, where a number of boats with rowers, clad in +white, received the coffins and the whole troop of mourners. They +landed on the island, and here, where the Hanseatic merchants alone +governed, the train burst forth into a solemn German funeral hymn, +while the bodies of Berner Kopmand and Henrik Gullandsfar were carried +on board two Hanseatic vessels, which were to convey them to Christian +burial in Rostock and Visbye. As soon as the ships were under +weigh the funeral train was received in a large warehouse, where three +ale-barrels and two keys over a cross were carved in stone over the +door. Here the whole party of seamen and trading agents were served out +of huge barrels of the famous Embden ale, the intoxicating properties +of which soon changed the funeral feast into a wild and mirthful +carouse. There was no lack either of wine or mead, and the large dish +of salted meat, which was constantly replenished, increased the thirst +of the funeral guests. The rabble who had followed the train through +the streets, long remained standing on the beach and the quay to hear +and watch the intoxicated pepper 'prentices, who here, with none but +countrymen and boon companions beside them, seemed determined to +indemnify themselves for the restraint to which they were subjected in +the foreign town. Some wept, while they reeled, and held moving +discourses on the mournful fate of the rich Berner Kopmand and Henrik +Gullandsfar, and on the mutability of all power and wealth in this +world; while others sung drinking songs and piping love-ditties by way +of accompaniment to the pathetic funeral speeches. + +At last, attention was withdrawn from these riotous revels by the cry +of "The herald! The herald!" and the people thronged in dense crowds +down towards the north gate. A herald with a large sheet of parchment +and a white staff in his hand, rode, accompanied by a halberdier and a +numerous troop of horsemen, through the gate. The train halted at the +corners of all the streets, and at all the public squares; two +trumpeters on white horses made a signal for silence, whereupon the +herald read aloud a treaty between the lord of the town, Bishop Johan, +and the council and congregation of Copenhagen. The burghers admitted +in this treaty that they had, as well in deed as in word, grossly +misbehaved towards their spiritual and temporal lord the bishop, and +that they had been implicated in an unlawful and criminal insurrection, +the circumstances of which were enumerated. Meanwhile the bishop +pardoned them these trespasses at the king's intercession, in return +for which the deputies of the council and congregation promised, on the +part of the town and of the burghers, that each burgher should +instantly return to his duty, and obey all the laws and regulations +which the bishop, "_with consent of the chapter_," had given or +hereafter might give them, which they would publicly and solemnly swear +to do at the council-house, with laying on of hands on the holy +Gospels. No one dared to protest against the validity of this treaty; +as the herald displayed the round seal of the town with the three +towers, which was suspended to the document by a green silken string, +together with the seal of the Copenhagen chapter. + +As soon as the inhabitants of the town were informed of this treaty, +and it was understood what had thereby been tacitly conceded to them, +and with how much leniency this untoward affair had been adjusted, +alarm and anxiety were succeeded by still greater and more general +satisfaction; but the guild-brethren were displeased and murmured. + +At the market-place without the east gate, where the herald had read +the treaty for the last time, the numbers of the mob which had followed +the procession through the town were considerably augmented, chiefly by +day-labourers and ale-house frequenters, who felt that the treaty was +an obstacle to the disorder and licentious liberty for which the revolt +had given them opportunity. Here discontent was openly manifested; and +it was muttered aloud that the bishop after all had got justice in +everything, and that the burghers had suffered injustice. But a man now +stepped forward who was held in high esteem among these people; he was +a remarkably fat and sturdy ale-house keeper, with a large red nose and +a pair of hands like bears paws; he was known as the greatest toper and +brawler in the town, and his tavern was the resort of the wildest and +most turbulent revellers. He mounted upon the great ale barrel which +stood before his door, and which served the house for a sign. + +"It is altogether right and reasonable, my excellent friends and +customers!--my honest and highly esteemed fellow burghers!" he shouted, +with his powerful well-known voice, and a round oath. "The bishop hath +but got justice for appearance sake; he is, besides, the lord of our +good town, and hath a right to require that one should drink one's ale +in peace, and pay every man that which is his. When he will grant us +what we need both for soul and body, we have surely nought to complain +of. When he lets priests sing mass for you, and me tap good ale for you +from morn till even, and somewhat past at times--then he is, by my +soul! as excellent a bishop and lord as we can ask for, and I will pay +without grumbling my yearly tax. For soul and salvation ye need not +hereafter to fear, comrades! That matter the king hath taken upon +himself, like an honest man. Heard ye not what he promised us +yesterday, and what there stood in the treaty? _Without consent of the +chapter the bishop_ can command us nothing, and praised be the chapter! +They are a wise set: they will just as little deny you absolution every +day, for your little bosom sins, as I would deny you what you may +stand in need of and can pay for on opportunity! Let rascals and +guild-brothers grumble as they may!" he continued, as he clenched his +broad fist, "we will keep those fellows in check;--I will wager a +drinking match to-day, with every honest man, to the king's and the +bishop's prosperity; but those who would stir up strife and wrangling +between us peaceable people shall feel our fists. Come in now, +comrades! and get something to keep up your hearts! Long live the king! +and our lord the bishop besides!" + +"Long live the king and the bishop!" cried a great number of the +influential tavern-keeper's friends and customers; and the malcontents +slunk off. + +"They come! they come! The king and bishop are here!" was now echoed +from mouth to mouth,--and the crowd again poured in through East +Street, towards the quarter where all the butchers of the place had +their dwellings, and where some murmurs against the treaty had also +been heard. Every burst of dissatisfaction was meanwhile kept down by +the opposite feeling which prevailed among the town's most influential +burghers, and yet more by the spectacle of the king's entry, and of the +crushed pride and dejected deportment of the little bishop Johan. With +downcast eyes and manifest signs of fear, this prelate rode, with his +ecclesiastical train, at the king's right hand, through his own town, +guarded by Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, and the knight-halberdiers. The +king met everywhere with a favourable reception; the bishop was +received with no demonstrations of welcome, but there was order and +peace;--no agitator dared to scoff at him by the king's side, and +no voice of discontent was heard. The procession stopped at the +council-house, where the treaty was solemnly ratified. + +The public tranquillity was thus restored. The dignity of the +prelatical government was upheld, and the arrogance of the insurgents +subdued. The turbulent guild-brethren had dispersed, and there was no +reason to apprehend a fresh outbreak of the revolt, as the burghers +themselves, with the permission of the bishop, had agreed with the +provost's men and the bishop's retainers to observe the treaty and +prevent all disturbances. Despite this apparent victory, the bishop was +notwithstanding extremely pensive and taciturn. The king's generous +protection appeared to have confounded him, and he seemed to experience +a feeling of painful humiliation, by the side of his temporal +protector. The revolt, and the danger which had menaced his life, had +taught him to know his own powerlessness. The king had indeed treated +him, while at Sorretslov castle, as a distinguished guest, but with +cold courtesy, without even giving vent to his displeasure by a +single word; it was those words only in the treaty relating to the +bishop's dependence on the assent of the chapter, which the king had +ordered to be inserted, in an emphatic tone (with the approval of the +general-superior there present), and in a voice of command, which +admitted of no contradiction. The bishop of Roskild, lately so +confident and haughty, who a few days since sat between a cardinal and +an archbishop in his fortified castle, and had, for the first time, +issued the exasperating church interdict in his own town, was now +forced to acknowledge, in silent anger, that since, the cardinal's +departure, the banishment of the archbishop, and his having himself +been subjected to the scoffs of the lowest rabble, he would be able to +maintain the authority of the church in Denmark only so far as the +Danish clergy considered it expedient, and as the king himself would +support ecclesiastical government. + +During the whole of the transaction at the council-house, the bishop +was quiet and dejected. The king treated him here also with cold +courtesy. His looks were stern and grave; another important and serious +matter seemed to have weighed on his heart since he heard the last +words of the archbishop to Count Henrik. + +From the council-house the whole procession rode to St. Mary's church, +where, besides the customary Ave, a Te Deum was sung on occasion of the +treaty. The king then immediately rode back to Sorretslov, from whence +he purposed to set out on his journey the following morning. The +bishop, with the abbot of the Forest Monastery, and the other +ecclesiastics, accompanied him (in compliance with customary courtesy), +besides the deputies of the town and the burghers. + +The bishop desired not to return to Axelhuus ere every trace of hostile +attack on the castle was effaced, and the humiliating insurrection +forgotten. He purposed to accompany the king, the following day, to +Roskild, where some disturbances had taken place on the occasion of +their rulers' attempt to enforce the interdict. + +The bishop was thus, in some sort, houseless on this evening, and +accepted, as an attention which was his due, the king's invitation to +him and his train to take up their quarters for the night at his +castle, where all who had accompanied the king were also invited to a +festive supper. + +The sun had just set as the train reached Sorretslov, and Count Henrik +proposed to the king that they should now, ere it grew dark, inspect +the bishop's charitable institution at St. George's hospital, for +lepers and those who were sick of pestilential disorders, since it lay +but a stone's throw from the castle. At this proposal the bishop, and +the abbot of the Forest Monastery, became evidently uneasy; but this +was remarked by no one except Count Henrik, who watched them closely, +and had on their account proposed aloud this plan, which he readily +conjectured the king would reject. + +"It is top late. Count! and I have guests besides," answered the king. +"If you desire it, inspect the hospital yourself, and describe the +establishment to me! I know it doth honour to the bishop's +philanthropy!--although I should have deemed it more fitting had that +lazzaretto been erected elsewhere. That there is no one sick of the +plague there at the present moment I know," Count Henrik bowed in +silence, and instantly rode, with a couple of young knights, across +Sorretslov meadow, towards the hospital. + +"Permit me to accompany you. Sir knights! I desire also to see this +pious institution," said the abbot of the Forest Monastery, +endeavouring to overtake them on his palfrey; but they heard him not, +and ere the abbot reached St. George's hospital. Count Henrik stood +already in the chamber of the sick, gazing with a look of sharp +scrutiny on a man who seemed to sleep, but whose head was so closely +muffled that he might be considered as masked. On the upper part of the +sick man's forehead the beginning of a large scar was visible. "What is +the name of this man?" inquired Count Henrik, in a stern tone, of the +alarmed and embarrassed brethren of St. George. + +"No one knows him, gracious sir!" answered the guardian; "he was +brought bruised and wounded hither yesterday, by two stranger canons +from the town; they had found him half dead on the beach: we were +forced instantly to lay a plaster over his whole face and we cannot now +remove it without endangering his life." + +"As I live! it is the outlawed Kagge," said Count Henrik, and all gave +way in consternation. "You have housed and healed a regicide," +continued the count; "they who brought him hither were traitors: all +are such who hide an outlaw." + +"Outlaw or not, here he hath peace to die or recover, if it be the will +of the Lord and St. George;--that shall not be denied him by any king +or king's servant," said an authoritative voice behind them, and the +tall abbot of the Forest Monastery stood in the door-way of the +chamber. "No tyrant's hand reaches unto this sanctuary of compassion," +continued the prelate. "I command you, brother-guardian, and every +charitable brother who here serves St. George, I command ye, in the +name of the bishop, and our heavenly Lord, to cherish this sick man as +your redeemed brother, without fear of man, and without asking of his +name and calling in the world! Perhaps he now suffers for his sins; but +of that the All-righteous must judge: if he hath fallen by the hand of +Divine chastisement he will indeed soon stand before his Judge; in such +case, pray for his soul, and give him Christian burial! but if he is +healed by the help and prayers of man, or by the merits and miracles of +any saint, then let him wander forth free in St. George's name, whether +he goes to friend or foe--whether he goes to life and happiness in the +world, or to ignominy and death on the scaffold--ye are set here to +heal and comfort;--to wound and vex the wretched, there are tyrants +enough in the world." + +Count Henrik looked in astonishment at the dignified prelate, who spoke +with authoritative firmness, and really seemed actuated by pious zeal +and compassion; a transient flush passed over the countenance of the +proud warrior; it seemed as though he blushed at having persecuted this +miserable being, who appeared unable to move a limb, and looked more +dead than alive. "In the name of the Lord and St. George," he said, +stepping back, "fulfil your duty to the criminal as unto my saint, and +the saint of all knights! I require not you nor any one to be +merciless; but this I will say once again, you shelter an outlawed and +dishonoured traitor. You must yourselves be answerable for the +consequences." He cast another glance at the object of his suspicions, +who lay immovable, and without any discernible expression in his +frightful and shrouded countenance. The count then quitted the +hospital, and allowed the abbot to precede him. On the way back to the +king's castle he exchanged not a word with the ecclesiastic, who, +haughty and silent, gazed on him with a triumphant mien. Count Henrik +said nothing of his discovery to the king; he was not, indeed, +perfectly certain that he had not been mistaken; but during the whole +evening he was in an unusually silent and thoughtful mood. The unhappy +criminal now appeared to him so wretched and insignificant that he +began to regard all dread of such a foe as contemptible. At the evening +repast the king principally conversed with the deputies of the council +and the burghers of Copenhagen. It was the first time they sat at the +table with the king and their ruler the bishop, and at the commencement +of the repast appeared somewhat abashed by this unwonted honour. The +king repeated his commendation of the loyalty and bravery of the +Copenhageners in Marsk Stig's feud, and the war with Norway; he +promised them compensation for every loss they might sustain hereafter +for his and the kingdom's sake, so long as the outlaws disquieted the +country, and soon contrived to induce the plain, straight-forward +citizens to express themselves freely and frankly respecting the +advantages and disadvantages of their town in regard to its trade +and commerce. They thanked the bishop and the king for their wise +town-laws, and for the many liberties and privileges which the town +already enjoyed; but they hesitated not to mention how important it +might be for the public revenue if the monopolies of the towns could be +curtailed, and the burghers allowed at least the same privileges as +those granted to foreigners. + +"Truly! I have long thought of that," said the king; "this matter +deserves to be thought upon. I shall await further proposals and +consideration of the subject from your Lord the bishop and your +assembled council." + +Great joy was manifest in the countenances of the burgers at this +speech; but the bishop appeared little pleased with the king's zealous +interest in the town and its concerns. The conversation between the +ecclesiastics from Axelhuus was reserved and laconic. The king himself +was often silent and abstracted; at times he appeared striving to +repress the expression of his wrath against the bishop, and the abbot, +who he knew, was one of the most devoted friends of Grand. After the +repast the burghers took a cheerful and hearty farewell of the king, +whom they once more thanked for the rescue and peace of their good +town; after which they returned to Copenhagen, with high panegyrics on +the king's mildness and favour. Count Henrik and the knights repaired +to the chess-table in the upper hall, and Eric remained almost alone +among the ecclesiastics. With an air of mysterious confidence the abbot +and the provincial prior drew closer to the bishop, whose authority and +drooping courage they strove to sustain in the king's presence. + +The two ecclesiastics who had principally conducted the treaty, and had +impartially defended the rights of the bishop, as well as the liberties +of the people, kept nearest the king, and strove furthermore to prevent +every outbreak of his anger against the friends of the banished +archbishop: they were the provincial prior of the Dominicans, Master +Olans (who, as the king's counsellor in this important affair, had +accompanied him from Wordingborg), and the general-superior of the +Copenhagen chapter, who belonged to the bishop's train, but was +secretly devoted to the king, and had even dared to protest against the +interdict. To these personages the king, shortly before retiring to +rest, addressed a question which had been weighing on his heart the +whole day, and which he seemed desirous should be answered in the +presence of the bishop, ere he retired to rest. + +"Tell me, venerable sirs," said Eric, "how far the canonical law +reasonably extends with regard to marriage within the ties of +consanguinity, and how far the dispensation of the church can really be +consisted as necessary, according to the law of God, when the +relationship is so distant that it is hardly remembered?" + +"It is a prolix and difficult question, your grace," answered the +general-superior of the chapter, evasively, with a dubious side-glance +at the bishop and the abbot of the Forest Monastery. "I must crave some +time for reflection in order to answer it rightly." + +"If the prevailing senseless law is followed," said the aged provincial +prior in a firm tone, and with an undaunted glance at the attentive +prelates, "almost every computable degree of relationship may be an +impediment, and may call for an indulgence; but when this is carried +out too far I believe the church's holy father will agree with me that +such an extreme doth but uselessly burden the conscience, just as it +also may lightly become a subject for scoffing and scandal, instead of +being a means of edification to Christian and reasonable persons. If +one were to be consistent in these matters, no marriage would at last +take place in Christendom without dispensation from the papal see, +seeing that all persons are kindred in the flesh, inasmuch as they all +descend from old Adam and Eve." + +"That is precisely my own opinion," said the king, with a smile of +satisfaction; "it would take a tolerably long reckoning.--What is +_your_ opinion of this, pious Bishop Johan?" + +The bishop appeared confused, at the half-jesting tone with which the +king asked his opinion; he was not prepared for this, and seemed to +wish just as little to tread on the heels of papal authority, as to +dare at this moment to rouse the anger of the king--he stammered out a +few words, and strove to evade a decided declaration. + +"Permit me, venerable brother! To answer this question," began the +abbot, with a proud and collected deportment:--"an example will best +explain the case," he continued, addressing himself to the king; "no +case is more in point than that of your grace's relationship to your +young kinswoman, Princess Ingeborg of Sweden." + +"Truly!" exclaimed the king, with a start, "you use no circumlocution, +Sir Abbot! you go straight to the point. It suits me best, however. Let +us keep to that example! I am more, every way, interested in it than in +any other!" + +"Ere the church can bless your meditated marriage union with this your +high-born relative," continued the abbot, with calm coldness, "the holy +father's dispensation and indulgence are altogether necessary, and this +on a two-fold account; pro primo,--because of the tie of relationship +by marriage; and pro secundo,--because of the taint of relationship by +blood. As regards the first point, royal sir! the aforesaid Princess +Ingeborg's uncle, Count Gerhard of Holstein, is, as is well known, by +his marriage with your most royal mother, the dowager Queen Agnes, your +grace's present step-father. Count Gerhard's fatherly relationship, as +well to that noble princess, as to your Grace! causes an almost +brotherly and sisterly connection between you and the young +princess;--and marriage between brother and sister, or between those +who may be considered as such, is sternly forbidden by every law of God +and man----" + +"You have made us out brother and sister in a trice; it is a singular +way of bringing people into near relationship," interrupted the king, +"yet pass but over the relationship by marriage, with my stepfather's +niece, venerable sir!--there is not a single drop of the same blood +therein. Nought but a near and actual blood relationship do I +acknowledge to be so real a hindrance that it can only be removed by +God's vicegerent upon earth." + +"Your grace is right in some respects," answered the abbot, "inasmuch +as it _is_ the tie of blood, which in this instance constitutes the +sin, and makes every marriage union between relations, which hath not +been sanctified by the indulgence of the church, an unholy act, a +deadly sin, and a damnable connection." + +"Ha! do you rave?" cried the king: his brow flushed; anger glowed in +his cheek and on his lofty brow, but he subdued his rising ire. "If +terrible words, without truth or reason, had power to slay the soul, I +should long since have been spiritually murdered," he continued in a +lower tone. "Now, say on, Sir Abbot!--how near reckon you, then, the +blood relationship, which, according to your bold assertion, may plunge +me into deadly sin, and into a gulf of horror and ignominy, if I await +not a permit from Rome to perpetrate such crime?" + +"It is easy to reckon up the degrees of forbidden affinity," answered +the abbot, with imperturbable coolness. "The high-born Princess +Ingeborg is, as is known, a legitimate daughter of King Magnus, who was +a legitimate son of the high-born Birger Jarl, whose consort, the lady +Ingeborg, was a legitimate daughter of King Eric the tenth, whose Queen +Regize was, lastly, a legitimate daughter of your grace's departed +royal father's--father's--father's father;--ergo, the princess is a +great-great grandchild of your grace's grandfather's departed royal +father, Waldemar the Great, of blessed memory!" + +"Perfectly right, grand-children's grand-children's children then, of +my great-great grandfather--a near relationship, doubtless!" said the +king, bursting into a laugh. "I now wish you a good and quiet night, +venerable and most learned sirs!" he added, apparently with a lightened +heart, and with a cheerful and determined look: "I never rightly +considered the matter before; now it is perfectly clear to me; I can +sleep as quietly as in Abraham's bosom, when I think on the sin which I, +with mature deliberation and full resolve, purpose to perpetrate as +soon as possible. I could wish no one among you may ever have a heavier +sin on his conscience." So saying, he bowed with a smile, and departed. + +The king's eager talk with the ecclesiastics had attracted the +attention of Count Henrik and his companions, who had approached, and +heard the subject of the conversation. On the king's laughingly +repeating the abbot's calculation, some of the young knights had +laughed right heartily also. The abbot was crimson with rage. "It is +the mark of eye-servants," he said aloud, "to vie with each other in +laughing at what their gracious lords consider to be absurd, even +though such merriment doth but disgrace them and their short-sighted +masters. This scoffing and contempt shall be avenged, my brother," he +whispered in the bishop's ear, with a significant look. The bishop +started, and looked anxiously around; he winked at his incensed +colleague, and observed aloud, that it was high time to retire to rest, +and bid good-night to all discord and worldly thoughts. The master of +the household now appeared with a number of torch-bearers, and the +knights, as well as the ecclesiastics, repaired to the chambers +assigned to them, in the knights' story in the western wing of the +castle. + + + + + CHAP. VII. + + +Towards midnight, Count Henrik stood in his apartment, next the +king's chamber, in the upper story of the castle. He had extinguished +his light, in order to retire to rest, but remained standing +half-undressed, at the high arched-window, which looked towards the +east, and from which he gazed out in the moonlight upon the Sound, +watching the distant vessels gliding away over the glittering mirror of +the waters. Since his visit to St. George's hospital, he had been +silent and pensive. At the evening repast he had constantly drained his +cup, for the purpose of raising his spirits. His pulse beat hard; +recollections of the past, and hopes for the future, passed rapidly +through his mind, in fair and vivid imagery. At the sight of the ocean +and the distant prospect, he gave himself up to visionary longings +after his distant fatherland, and a beloved form seemed to flit before +him, as he pressed the blue shoulder-scarf to his lips, and hung it +carefully over a high-backed chair. He took a gold chain, which the +king had lately given him, from his breast, and laid his sword aside. +"Deeds, achievements, honour, first!" he said to himself, "and then +love will surely also twine me a wreath. Now that _his_ life and +happiness are at stake, he shall not have called me his friend in vain. +Let him become a Waldemar the Victorious! and Henrik of Mecklenborg's +name shall be famed like that of Albert of Orlamund[oe]. But another +sort of fellow, and a right merry one, will _I_ be." He now heard the +weapons of the bodyguard clashing in the antechamber, where a young +halberdier kept guard, with twelve spearmen. It was not, however, usual +for the king to be surrounded by a guard, when he made a progress +through the country, and passed the night at any of the royal mansions; +but here, where the banished archbishop and the outlaws still had their +numerous friends, and where the ecclesiastical rulers of the town were +on doubtful terms with the king, Count Henrik had counselled this +precaution as in some degree necessary, after so recent an +insurrection, and where the king's mediation had not been able to +satisfy all the discontented. While Count Henrik was undressing +himself, the Drost's letter dropped from his vest, and he pondered +thoughtfully over the solemn warnings it contained. "Hum! The junker," +he said to himself "his own brother--and yet surely a traitor--never +shall I forget his countenance that night at Kallundborg--the blood of +the unhappy commandant was surely upon his head--_he_ will be no joyous +wedding guest--he would assuredly rather stand by the bridegroom's +grave;--then might a crown yet fall upon his raven's head. Hum! They +are murky, these Danish royal castles," he continued, looking around +the dark gothic chamber, with its arched roof and walls, a fathom +thick, "Is he safe here among his guests? The little spying bishop was +Grand's good friend. I like him not; the haughty, gloomy abbot still +less--they are dangerous people, those holy men of God, when they will +have a finger in state affairs. Here he sleeps under the same roof with +his enemies to-night; and yonder, in the hospital, lies a disguised +regicide; perhaps he was only deadly sick for appearance sake, and my +compassion was ill bestowed." As Count Henrik was revolving these +thoughts, and delayed retiring to rest, there was a low knocking at the +door. It opened, and an ecclesiastic entered; he was a quiet, serious +old man. The moonlight fell on a pale and somewhat melancholy face, and +the Count recognised the general-superior of the Copenhagen chapter. "A +word in confidence, noble knight," he whispered mysteriously; "I come +like Nicodemus; yet it is not spiritual things, but temporal, which +have disturbed my night's rest. Your liege the king hath this day +generously saved my life and the lives of my colleagues, although he +does not regard us all as his friends, and with some reason: perhaps I +may now be able to requite him." + +"How?" exclaimed Count Henrik: "say on, venerable sir! What have you to +confide to me?" + +"When we fled from Axelhuus at break of day," continued the +ecclesiastic, "I was well nigh sick of fear and alarm, and gave but +little heed to what passed around me. A half-dead man had been found on +the beach, and out of compassion taken into the boat. I saw not his +face, and his voice was strange to me; of that I can take my oath. He +was afterwards carried to St. George's Hospital here, close by the +king's meadows. While we lay hidden under the thwarts in the boat, for +fear of the insurgents, the sick man had come to himself: and exchanged +many strange, enigmatical words with my colleague, the abbot of the +Forest Monastery. What it was I heard but half, and cannot remember; +but there must be some mystery about that person which makes me +apprehensive; deadly sick he seemed to me in no wise to be, and +appeared least of all prepared for his _own_ departure from this world. +My lord, the bishop seemed neither to know him nor his dark projects; +but as I said, the abbot knew him, and had assuredly before +administered to him the most holy Sacrament. More have I not to say; +but I felt compelled to seek you out, however late it was: I could not +sleep for disquiet thoughts. The guard without, here, I found in a deep +slumber, I know not whether it is with your knowledge." + +"How? Impossible!" exclaimed Count Henrik, in great consternation, +hastily stepping into the antechamber, where he found all the twelve +spearmen lying asleep on the floor. On the table stood an empty wine +flask and some goblets. The young halberdier, who had the command of +the guard, sat likewise asleep in a corner. Count Henrik shook them; +but they were all in a deep sleep. "Treachery!" he exclaimed, in +dismay, and hastily snatched a lance from one of the sleeping guards. +"Haste to the knights' story, venerable sir! Wake all the king's men, +and call them instantly hither! I cannot now myself quit the king's +door. I will fasten the door after you: knock three soft strokes when +you return! For the Lord's sake, haste!" + +The ecclesiastic nodded in silence, and departed. Count Henrik locked +the door of the upper story after him, and barricadoed it with tables +and benches--he strove again to waken the sleeping guards, but it was +in vain: they seemed not intoxicated by ordinary wine; their sleep +rather resembled that caused by a soporific draught. + +Count Henrik stood alone among the sleepers, and waited long in a state +of painful anxiety; there was a deathlike stillness around him: he +heard but the deep-drawn breathings of the sleepers; but the king's men +from the knights' story did not arrive, and the ecclesiastic returned +not either. He stood for full an hour, listening with lance in hand. +All was still. At last he thought he heard a noise, as if some one was +scraping the wall, or creeping to the window over the projecting +battlements near the staircase of the upper story. He cast a hasty +glance at the window, and saw a horrible and deadly pale face, which he +could not recognise, pressed flat to one of the window panes. He rushed +forward with raised lance, but when he reached the window the face had +disappeared. Count Henrik stepped back, thrilled by a feeling of horror +which he had never before experienced. It seemed as if the prostrate +warriors around him mocked his growing uneasiness by the profound +indifference of their slumbers. He felt as if secret doors were about +to open in all the old panels, and the outlawed regicides of Finnerup +were ready to rush forth masked from every corner to renew the bloody +scenes of St. Cecilia's eve, and avenge Marsk Stig and their slain +kinsmen. He kept his lance in the one hand and held his knight's sword +unsheathed in the other. Thus armed, he stationed himself without the +king's door, and just before the open door between his own chamber and +the landing of the upper story, every moment expecting an attack from +the foe, who were probably many in number. It was useless to give an +alarm; the wing containing the knights' story, where all the king's men +slept, was at too great a distance for his voice to reach thither, and +if the traitors were nigh, a shout of distress might embolden them. He +thought of waking the king; but all as yet was quiet, and he was +ashamed of showing fear in Eric's presence, where there was no enemy +either to be seen or heard. To the king's sleeping chamber there was no +other entrance than through the antechamber of the upper story and the +count's apartment. The windows of the king's chamber were furnished +with iron bars: but in the antechamber the high arched windows were +without any defence, and they looked out on the other side to the open +field. From this quarter he expected the attack would be made, and he +feared, with reason, that some mishap must have chanced to the +ecclesiastic on the way to the knights' story. The longer he pondered +over his situation, the more alarming it appeared. An idea now suddenly +struck him, which he instantly hastened to put into execution. After +he had once more unsuccessfully attempted to arouse the slumbering +men-at-arms he raised them up one by one from the floor and bound them +tight by their shoulder-scarfs, in an almost upright position, to the +strong iron hooks in the window pillars, which were used for hanging +weapons upon. In this attitude they turned their backs towards the +windows looking upon the fields, and would, therefore, appear to those +without to be awake and at their posts. Hardly had he completed this +laborious task ere he heard whispering voices, and a low clashing of +arms under the windows. He sprang suddenly forward with raised lance +and sword, to that window, which was most strongly lighted up by the +moonshine, and shouted in a loud triumphant voice, "Now's the time, +guard! Here we have them in the field." + +"Fly! fly! We are betrayed!--they are all on their legs!" said a hoarse +voice without; and Count Henrik saw in the clear moonshine a whole +troop of masked persons, in the mantles of Dominican monks, take flight +over the meadow. "St. George be praised!" he exclaimed, once more +breathing freely. "I should hardly have been able to master so many." + +The spearmen and the young halberdier still slept soundly in their +hanging position. Count Henrik bound them yet faster, and left them +in this attitude. When the king stepped forth from his chamber at +sun-rise, he beheld, to his surprise. Count Henrik pacing up and down, +half-dressed, on the landing, with weapons in both hands, while the +guard hung snoring in their shoulder-scarfs among the untenanted suits +of armour on the window pillars. At this sight he burst into a hearty +laugh, and on hearing the strange adventure shook his head and smiled. +"You have dreamed, my good Count Henrik; or, to speak plainly, you have +had a goblet of wine too much in your head," he said, gaily. "I noticed +that last night, indeed; but compared with these fellows you have +assuredly been sober: you have made rare game of them in your +merriment." + +"As I live, my liege, it was no joke," began Count Henrik eagerly; but +the lancers now began, one after another, to gape and to stretch +themselves. When they found, however, how they were bound to the +armour-hooks, and beheld the king with Count Henrik just opposite them, +they demeaned themselves most strangely, betwixt fear and bashfulness. +The king turned away to repress his laughter, as he was now compelled +to be stern; but Count Henrik was indignant at his incredulity and gay +humour. + +"Throw the whole of that dormouse guard into the tower," commanded the +king; "they can sleep themselves sober, and so be better able to keep +their eyes open another time. You yourself shall get off by putting up +with my laughter," he added, and went with the count into another +apartment. "Henceforth I can believe neither what you nor my dear Drost +Aage see and hear in the moonshine. Out of pure love to me you spy +traitors in every corner, and vie with each other in playing mad +pranks. Hath any one ever known the like of the halberdier guard!" When +the door of the guard-room was shut, the king gave vent to his +laughter; his opinion of the real state of the case was strengthened by +observing that Count Henrik was only half-dressed, and by his disturbed +looks. + +"You wound me by your doubts, my liege," resumed Count Henrik, with +subdued vehemence, and casting his mantle around him; "but so long as +you can make laughing-stocks of your true servants; thank God, it is a +proof at least that you are of good cheer, my liege, and that should +vex no loyal subject. You can witness, fellows," he continued eagerly, +again opening the door of the guard-chamber upon the dismayed spearmen. +"No! That is true; you saw nothing of it, ye drowsy pates!" he cried in +wrath. "To the tower with you instantly! and you besides, vigilant Sir +halberdier! You never more deserve to be trusted with the guarding of +the king's person." + +The young halberdier, who had awoke in fear and dismay, and had now +extricated himself from his humiliating position, related in his excuse +how he had lost his consciousness in an unaccountable manner, after +having only drunk a single cup of the evening draught which had been +brought to them. They had all fared in the same manner. The king at +last became serious, and caused the matter to be strictly inquired +into. It could not be discovered who had brought the soporific draught. +None of the kin's attendants knew any thing of it. No one had been +roused in the knights' story. The old general-superior must have been +carried off by the traitors: he was nowhere to be found. When the +bishop and the abbot of the Forest Monastery heard what had been done +they appeared to be in the greatest consternation. The bishop loudly +expressed it as his opinion that it must have been the discontented +guild-brethren from the town, and that the attack, in all probability, +had concerned him. Since his last conversation with these +ecclesiastical dignitaries the king had altered the plan of his +journey, and determined instantly to repair to Helsingborg, there to +expedite his marriage, and prepare every thing for the reception of his +bride. + +He excused himself with cold courtesy from all further companionship +with bishop Johan and the abbot, who, silent and thoughtful, set out on +the road to Roskild; but the aged provincial prior Olaus accompanied +the king, by his desire, to supply the place of the absent chancellor, +in conducting correspondence and matters of a similar nature. + +When the king, a few hours after sunrise, was about to leave +Sorretslov, and traversed the ante-chamber where Count Henrik had kept +his singular night-watch, he took the count's hand and pressed it with +warmth, "If you have been able to put my enemies to flight, here, with +snoring fellows on hooks, you must be able to crush them with waking +men in coats of mail. From this hour you are my Marsk, Count Henrik of +Mecklenborg, with the same authority in peace and war as Marsk +Olufsen," So saying, the king handed him a roll of parchment, with sign +and seal of this high dignity. "When I laugh another time at your +heroic deeds, brave count, and call them dreams and visions, you may +call me an unbelieving Thomas," he continued. "From my childhood +upwards I have had as many deadly foes as my father had murderers," he +added, solemnly, and with a tremulous voice; "yet truly, I thank the +Lord and our holy Lady for my foes; they teach me almost daily to know +my true friends." + +Count Henrik's eyes beamed with joy; he heartily thanked the king, and +followed him down the staircase to the court of the castle, where +Eric's numerous train already awaited his coming, on horseback. Count +Henrik sprang gaily into the saddle, with his new commission in his +hand, and instantly issued, as Marsk, the necessary orders for pursuing +and tracking the traitors. + +As they rode out of the court-yard, the king missed his two favourite +tournament steeds, and became highly displeased. "Truly this is worse +than all the rest," he said, looking around him with so stern a glance +and so clouded a countenance that the young knights looked at each +other in surprise; and a word of soothing or admonition seemed to hover +on the lips of the aged provincial prior. + +"The handsome, spirited prancers, they should have danced before +Princess Ingeborg's car on our bridal day," continued the king, turning +to Master Olaus. "This is no good omen for me. They might sooner have +burned the castle over my head than robbed me of those noble animals." + +It was now discovered that the horses were already missing in the +morning of the day preceding, together with both the grooms who had the +charge of them, and that they had been sought for everywhere in vain. + +"They shall and must be found; I will answer for that," said Count +Henrik, and instantly despatched a couple of his own grooms to look for +them. The party rode on; but the king's good humour was disturbed for +some time. "I shall never be able to find such another pair," he said +at last, in a milder tone, looking out across the Sound on the +picturesque road to Elsinore, while the larks carolled gaily above his +head, and his long fair locks floated on the spring breeze. "I always +fancied them dancing before her car every time I thought on her bridal +day; eager wishes may make us superstitious and childish, I believe. +Had we but the bride in the car we should assuredly get it drawn to +church." + +"You would have twice as many hands to draw it as there are hearts in +Denmark's kingdom," said Count Henrik, placing a green sprig of beech +in his hat. "We bring summer with us to Helsingborg, my sovereign--Look! +Denmark's forests already arch themselves into a vast Gothic church and +bridal hall." + +"_That_ church and bridal hall they shall at any rate leave wide open +to me," exclaimed the king, with some bitterness, as he raised his +glance above the woods to the clear heavens. "Yon eternal church of +God, besides," he continued, "however matters may stand with her image +here in the dust. Is it not so, Master Olaus?" + +"The true temple of God's spirit is a pious and loving heart, my +liege," answered the mild, calm, provincial prior. "Where there is love +and living faith, with the Lord's help, there will be no lack of +blessing." + +The king nodded kindly to them both, and they now rode briskly forward +on the road to Elsinore. + + + + + CHAP. VIII. + + +While in Sweden as in Denmark, in the loveliest season of the year, the +old favourite national songs, with the burden,--"The woods are decked +in leafy green," and "The birds are warbling now their song," were sung +as well in castles as behind the plough, and the court rejoiced with +the minnesingers over "the very green and lovely May," and "the mighty +power of love," couriers were constantly passing between the Swedish +and Danish courts at Stockholm and Helsingborg; and a feeling of joyous +expectation pervaded all Denmark. Drost Aage in conjunction with the +learned and eloquent Master Petrus de Dacia, had succeeded in +overcoming the immediate scruples of the Swedish state council, +respecting the marriage of the Danish King with Princess Ingeborg. +Without in the least betraying with what ardent impetuosity their +chivalrous young king seemed willing to stake life and crown to win his +bride, and without the most distant allusion to the possibility of a +breach of peace being caused by the failure of a negociation, which had +for its object the most peaceable relations, and the most loving ties, +these faithful servants of the king, had, by adducing wise and politic +reasons, first brought the wise Regent Thorkild Knudsen over to their +side, and, despite all the hindrances which the malicious Drost Bruncke +placed in their way, at last carried their point so far as to divest +the idea of the excommunication at Sjoeborg, and the enforcement of the +interdict at Copenhagen, of its paralysing and terrifying influence, +at the Swedish court. From the showing of the learned Master Petrus, +and the king's own letters, and clear explanation of the matter, the +want of dispensation from the papal court, came at last to be regarded +as the omission of an insignificant formality, afterwards to be +remedied through negotiation. The flight and formal banishment of +Archbishop Grand from Denmark, as well as the insurrection caused by +the execution of the interdict in Copenhagen, had rejoiced every brave +and free-minded man, as well in Sweden, as in Denmark, and considerably +diminished the dread entertained by the Swedish court and council of +the consequences of a possible breach with the papal see. A new and +overawing proof had been displayed of the courage of the young Danish +king, and of the unanimity with which his loyal people joined him in +opposing the usurpation of the hierarchy. Daring politicians were even +found who hoped the time might not be far distant when the free +national spirit of the north would render people, and princes, +independent of the interference of the papal see in state matters, and +the rights of citizenship. Many bold and manly speeches were uttered in +the Swedish state-council on this occasion, which did honour to +Thorkild Knudsen and his countrymen, but which were reprobated, by the +opposite party, as open heresy and ungodliness, which would be visited +upon Sweden as well as Denmark with heavy chastisement. + +Drost Bruncke, and his adherents, despised no means which might tend to +stop or protract the negotiations; he had many able prelates on his +side, but the majority of voices were against him, and he sought in +vain, by reviving the remembrance of the wrongs and animosities of the +two nations, to rekindle the ancient national hate, which now seemed +forgot, and which it was hoped a mutual alliance between the royal +houses, would entirely eradicate. + +The eager opposition party in the Swedish council, which was headed by +Drost Bruncke, and in which many were disposed to think that Prince +Christopher took a secret but important part, was calculated rather to +forward than hinder the final decision of the affair. Sweden's greatest +statesman, Marsk Thorkild Knudsen, was on this occasion called on to +display his mental superiority. He disdained having recourse to his +authority as regent, and to his influence as the guardian of King +Birger, and the darling of the Swedish nation. The opinion which he +declared from full conviction, he wished to see prevail by its own +weight, and by its accordance with the mutual feeling of both nations. +Thorkild Knudsen now stood forth in council with an address which +appealed as well to the hearts as to the sober judgment of his +countrymen. + +After a clear and calm representation of the political relations of +Sweden and Denmark, and the original affinity of the Scandinavian +people, besides what they could and might effect by alliance and +friendship for their mutual security, and the development of their +powers. Thorkild also pourtrayed, with enthusiastic and glowing +eloquence, the greatness and devotion of love's triumph over petty +scruples and national prejudices. He gave an equally true and +favourable portraiture of the constant and loveable character of the +young Danish king, as well as of the charms of the noble Princess +Ingeborg, and the mutual attachment that had subsisted between the +betrothed pair from their childhood. He finally contrived, with as much +sagacity as eloquence, to put down the objections of the opposite +party, and bring the negotiation of the Danish ambassadors to the +happiest issue; the greater number of his opponents being at last +animated by a warm feeling of enthusiasm for the royal pair, which was +mingled by the soul-enlarging feeling of the union of two nations in +that of their fairest and noblest representatives. + +The espousals were, therefore, according to the ardent wish of King +Eric and with the consent of the princess, fixed for the first of June, +which was already near at hand; and a courier from Drost Aage was +instantly despatched with the glad tidings to Eric. The whole of the +Swedish royal family were to accompany the princess to Helsingborg, +where splendid preparations were making for the marriage, and the +chivalrous King Eric now only awaited the dawning of that happy day to +set out at the head of the chivalry of Denmark, with all the courtly +state suited to the occasion, to meet his beautiful bride and her royal +relatives. + +Towards the close of May, Helsingborg castle, together with the town +and its vicinity became daily the resort of all who were most +distinguished in Denmark and Sweden. The fair gothic castle, with its +circular walls, its bastions, and high towers, rose proudly over the +town on the summit of the steep rock or hill above. The castle was +surrounded by deep moats, and was considered to be an impregnable +fortress; but at this time the drawbridge was let down, and the great +iron-cased castle-gate, on the southern side, stood open to admit the +coming guests. The old town, which dated its origin from the days of +King Frode[3], and was so pleasantly and advantageously situated on the +narrowest part of the Sound, owed its present prosperity to its +considerable trade, and great horse and cattle fairs. It was tolerably +extensive, but was, however, by no means, capable of accommodating so +great a concourse of strangers. The great market-place, close to the +council-house, and the handsome church of St. Mary's (the central point +of the town where many streets met), were now daily as much thronged +with people as on the great fair-days. Besides the king's nearest +relatives, and the wedding guests invited by the Marsk, from the lordly +manors and knightly castles of both kingdoms; a great crowd of curious +and sympathising persons of all ranks flocked to Helsingborg, even from +the most distant provinces, to witness the intended festival, and +partake of the public amusements, which, on this occasion, were to +render this celebration of royal nuptials a national festival for both +Denmark and Sweden. + +The king had already held his court, for some weeks, at Helsingborg. +Marsk Oluffsen had returned from Jutland, where he had been fortunate +enough to put an end to all disturbances by capturing the daring +partizans, Niels Brock and Johan Papae, with some other friends of +the archbishop's and the outlaws. The insurgents were led to the +prison-tower at Flynderborg, but the stern Marsk Oluffsen was +personally so incensed at these state prisoners, who had long plagued +and defied him, that he thought no punishment was adequate to their +deserts. At the present moment nothing was thought of at court but joy +and festivity. The king's stepfather, Count Gerhard, had arrived from +Nykioeping with his consort, the dowager queen Agnes. Next to the king +himself no one seemed more to rejoice at his marriage than his politic +and dignified mother. In her first unhappy marriage, Agnes, as +Denmark's queen, had held that wedded happiness, among royal +personages, was only the dream of visionaries. After the death of her +unhappy consort she had sacrificed the title of queen, and changed this +dream into truth and reality, in her own lot, under a humbler name. +Amid her own happiness she had often thought, with uneasiness and +regret, on having made a treaty, involving the future destiny of her +children by their betrothal in early childhood, and now saw, with +thankfulness, that a union, projected from motives of state policy, had +grown into the natural tie of kindred hearts. + +It appeared that the brave Duke of Langeland had forgotten all former +disputes with the king, at the treaty of Wordingborg, but his brother, +Duke Valdemar of Slesvig, who had also been invited out of courtesy, +had excused himself on plea of illness. + +Three days before that fixed for the bridal, Junker Christopher arrived +with a numerous train from Kallundborg. The king received him with his +wonted courtesy on the quay of Helsingborg, whither he had gone to meet +him with his new Marsk, Count Henrik, and his halberdiers; but there +was a painful expression of suppressed anger in the king's generally +joyous and kindly countenance as he gave his hand to his sullen brother +in token of welcome. It was pretty openly said that the junker lately, +by means of secret cabals, had placed obstacles in the way of the +marriage, and it was believed the king had painful conjectures on the +subject, although no proofs of this presumable treachery were +forthcoming. The junker himself had appeared latterly to suffer from a +corroding melancholy, which was often succeeded by bursts of wild +merriment,--since the storming of Kallundborg castle especially, and +the execution of his unhappy commandant, the restless and gloomy +disposition of the prince had assumed this fierce character; even those +few of his courtiers who were really devoted to him, and regarded his +gloomy reserved deportment as an effect of the wrestlings of a great +spirit with its destiny often complained of his caprices; and though +they still adhered to him, it was, however, with a species of fear, +mixed with an undefined hope of one day arriving with him at honours +and fortune. + +The mutual greeting of the brothers on Helsingborg quay was strikingly +cold, although the junker seemed desirous by his congratulations +and expressions of courtesy to do away with all appearance of +misunderstanding. To this Count Henrik in particular paid special +attention. In the king's train were seen the German professors of +minstrelsy, who had abandoned their researches at Wordingborg castle to +enliven the festival by their lays. The papers and documents which +Junker Christopher had removed from the sacristy chest at Lund, on the +archbishop's imprisonment, and brought, as it was said, to the state +archives at Wordingborg castle, had been sought for in vain by the +learned friends of the king. These documents might even yet become of +great importance to the king in the suit against the banished +archbishop; but they had disappeared at the time when matters had come +to an open breach with the junker, and the king suspected his brother +of having destroyed them, or even of having returned them to the +archbishop. + +The king's train had been also joined by the young Iceland bard, the +priest of St. Olaf, Master Laurentius of Nidaros, who had now exchanged +his layman's red mantle for the more reputable black dress of a canon; +and beside the king walked the little deformed Master Thrand Fistlier, +with a consequential deportment, and displaying on his finger a large +diamond ring, which the king had presented to him in acknowledgement of +his superior learning. On the king's arrival at Helsingborg the +scientific mountebank had been set at liberty. He instantly contrived +to arrest the attention of the king (eager as he was in the pursuit of +knowledge), after he had with dexterity and keen ability repelled every +charge against himself, as well of the Leccar heresy as of witchcraft. +This last accusation, which had drawn upon him the persecution and +peril he underwent at Skaenor, he alluded to with exultation, as a +striking testimony to his own astonishing arts, and a ludicrous proof +of the dulness of the age and the absurdities of popular ignorance. The +king now presented him to his brother as a rare scholar and an +extraordinary artist. The significant look with which Junker +Christopher greeted this far-travelled adventurer seemed to betray an +earlier acquaintanceship, which, however, was acknowledged by neither. +Count Henrik placed but little reliance on Prince Christopher's +congratulations and measured courtesy. He narrowly watched the junker, +as well as the foreign mountebank, about whom Aage had expressed +himself so dubiously. He thought he more and more perceived a secret +understanding between the prince and the mysterious scholar, and +resolved to be at his post. He ventured not, however, to grieve the +king by disclosing it, or increasing his suspicion of his brother, +which evidently pained him, and which he seemed desirous to exert +himself to the utmost to shake off. Neither on this nor the two +following days was there any nearer approach to confidence between the +brothers. Courteous phrases and stiff court etiquette were resorted to, +by way of compensation for the want of cordiality. It was only when +Junker Christopher was at the chase, or seated at the draught-board or +the drinking-table, that the king was seen to converse joyously with +his mother and Count Gerhard, or jest merrily with Count Henrik and his +knights: the German professors of minstrelsy and the learned Icelanders +exerted all their powers to while away the evenings preceding his +marriage-day, when his ardent and impatient spirit was not engrossed by +important affairs of state. But when he seemed at times in the happiest +mood he often grew suddenly silent and thoughtful at the mere sound of +his brother's voice, or on observing his wild uncertain glance from +under his dark and knitted brow. + +The evening before the impatiently expected first of June the king sat +in the upper hall of Helsingborg castle, at the chess-table, where he +was usually the victor. On this occasion, however, he had found an +almost invincible opponent in the learned Iceland philosopher, who +appeared able beforehand to calculate the plans of his adversary, and +only to need a single move in order to frustrate them. Notwithstanding +Master Thrand's decided superiority, the king had, however, won every +game; but he seemed to regard this with indifference; he was absent, +and often forgot to make his moves. At the opposite end of the hall he +heard his brother talking of hunting and horses, with Count Gerhard; +his mother was listening to the poems of the German minstrels and +Master Laurentius; while the young knights discoursed with animation of +the next day's festivities and tournament. + +"Tell me, Master Thrand," said the king to his learned antagonist, with +a thoughtful glance out of the window at the star-lit heavens, "what is +your opinion of omens, and of the wondrous art of astrology, to which +so many learned men are devoted in our time. Believe you the life and +actions of men and the changeable fortunes of this world can be so +considerable and important in the eyes of the Almighty that higher +powers should care for them, or intermeddle with them?--and think ye +the position and movements of the heavenly bodies stand in any real +relation to our life and destiny?" + +"That is almost more than science can be said as yet to have fathomed +with certainty, most gracious king!" answered the artist, with a +subtle, satirical smile on his lips, while his head almost disappeared +between his shoulders; "but if any science is to bring clearness and +demonstration into the speculations of the learned and the mysteries of +astrology, it must be that exalted science of sciences whose poor +worshipper I am. Assuredly, your grace, nothing happens in the world +but what is natural, that is to say, a necessary consequence of +foregoing causes; but it is precisely the great problem of the +mysterious and hidden causes of these things and events which it is the +province of human wisdom to solve. '_Beatas qui potuit rerum cognoscere +causas_' hath been said already by the wise heathen. Theologians and +poets indeed picture to themselves a nearer and safer road by which to +reach the same goal as ourselves, or even a far higher one," he +continued, with a scornful self-satisfied smile; "but they deceive +themselves in their simplicity and enthusiasm by looking for a kind of +supernatural influence of the Divine wisdom which in fact is the life +and soul of nature, yet which but partially discloses itself to us in +its workings, according as these by degrees unfold themselves to us in +their essences through the sacred optic tubes of science and research." + +"Now you mix up too many things together for me, Master Thrand!" said +the king, shaking his head. "You seem to me almost to confound the +great living God and Lord with his creation, or what you call nature. +With all my respect for human wisdom--for all wise and useful learning +which man may attain by the examination of earthly things, I think, +nevertheless, that the spirit of truth and beauty, commonly called +'genius' by our scholars and the poets of olden times, as also 'the +prophetic vision,' soar far above the ken of human intellect; and for +what is of paramount importance for us to see, we have most assuredly +the holiest and noblest optic tube in God's own revealed word." The +king paused a moment and gazed on the strange deportment of the little +philosopher, with a sharp and scrutinising look, "You smile as if you +pitied me for this my sincere opinion. I am a layman, but all the pious +and learned men I have known agreed with me; nor can I perceive that +our theologians err in considering the spirit of God as a surer guide +to true knowledge of divine things than all human subtlety and wisdom." + +"Far be it from me to contradict my most gracious Lord, or the pious +scholars of our time on this point," resumed Master Thrand, looking +around him with a repressed smile, and a cunning, cautious glance, "but +of this I would rather talk with your grace in your private chamber! I +doubt not that with your clear and unprejudiced views, (soaring as your +mind does above the ignorance of our age) you will understand me +rightly. I dare almost unconditionally subscribe to all that the holy +church, it is said, considers needful for him who would be called a +true believer, provided I may be allowed to interpret the words of +ancient writings and symbols according to their true and reasonable +signification;--meanwhile there is, however, much in our science which +must as yet be a mystery to the great majority, and even to the +scholars of our time, who are too but much inclined to discern heresy +and ungodliness in every free thought. Noble King!" he added, in a low, +mysterious tone, "I read no longer with the learned in the small +written volumes (out of which, as you yourself have experienced, curses +are as often quoted as blessings) but I read much more in the great +book that was not writ by the hand of man, and whose words sound forth +eternal wisdom in the din of the storm and the roaring of the ocean, in +the course of the stars above the thunder clouds, and in voices of +flame from the depths of the abyss. Mark well, my deep-thinking +king!--you the young Solomon of our north!--the holy Spirit of God, of +which so many and so foolish words are spoken, is precisely that +mainspring of forces we seek for in the great workshop of nature's +sanctuary, in the depths of our own souls, and in the philosopher's +stone, which we call the quintessence of creation. To him who but +catches a glimpse of it, (of which, however, we can but boast in +certain great moments) to him, the deepest and highest things are +revealed; the future as the past is clear before him; he is the master +and lord of nature, and of eternal power--for him life hath only limits +in his will." + +The king looked in grave silence on the singular little man's visage, +every muscle of which quivered with emotion, while sparks seemed to +flash as it were from his small deep-set eyes. "Follow me afterwards to +my private chamber," said the king rising. Meanwhile Count Henrik had +approached and heard part of this conversation; he thought he observed +a kind of triumphant smile in Master Thrand's self-satisfied +countenance; but he sought in vain for an opportunity of cautioning the +king, who quitted Thrand in a very thoughtful mood, and went to join +his mother and the three stranger bards. + +Master Laurentius had related to the Countess Agnes much of the +grandeur of Norway and Iceland, and of the remarkable bards and Saga +writers of his fatherland; he made special mention of the great +Snorro[4] and his learned nephews, who had given such a preponderance +to Saga literature, as almost to throw poetry entirely into the shade. +In order, however, to prove to Countess Agnes and the German minstrels +that poetic inspiration in his fatherland had not altogether died away, +as they believed, with heathenism and the gifted Skalds of the Edda, he +had recited several poems and heroic lays, to which they could not +refuse their approbation. + +When the king joined them, Laurentius was reciting some strophes of +Einar Skulesen's famous epic poem, "Geisli," or "The Ray," in honor of +St. Olaf. The king stopped and listened. In this poem St. Olaf was +called, "A ray of light from God's kingdom, a beam or glimmer of the +glorious Son of Grace;" and Christ was described as the light of the +world, and the Lord of Heaven, who, as "a ray from a bright star (the +Virgin Mary) manifested himself on earth for our ineffable good." The +king nodded with satisfaction; he seemed to find a consoling +counterpoise in the pious lay to what had disturbed and alarmed him in +the discourse of the wise Master Thrand. "Go on!" he said +encouragingly, to Master Laurentius. The young priest of St. Olaf, who +had been inspired with lively enthusiasm by the praises in honor of his +saint, repeated in his musical and declamatory tones some more strophes +of the beginning of the poem, touching the glory of the Saviour and of +his kingdom. From this he passed on to the praise of St. Olaf, "as the +saint confirmed by miracles;" but when he came to that passage in the +poem where the bard exclaims, that "Deceit and treachery caused King +Olaf's fall at Stiklestad[5]--" the king suddenly interrupted the +enthusiastic Master Laurentius. "Thanks!" he said, "the poem is +beautiful and edifying; but deceit and treachery I will hear nought of +the day before my bridal. Norway's sovereign and Duke Haco have +defended a bad cause against me," he continued, "but I highly esteem +the brave Northmen, notwithstanding; they deserved a king and guardian +saint like St. Olaf; he hath well merited to be called a ray from +heaven in the north; the circumstances of his downfal I will not now +think on. Sing rather of constancy and of beauty, and of that which is +the ornament and honour of our age." + +"Permit me a poor attempt to dilate upon that theme, my most gracious +lord and patron!" began Master Rumelant, hastily, and instantly +commenced a German lay in honour of the beauty and constancy of the +northern fair, in which he forgot not the praises of the still youthful +and beautiful Countess Agnes, and still less of the king's absent +bride; but the lay also included a secret defence of Marsk Stig's +daughters, whose beauty and unhappy fate had made a deep impression on +both the minstrels. Master Poppe chimed in also, and did not lose this +opportunity of putting in his good word for the captive maidens. They +could especially not sufficiently praise the piety and amiability of +the meek Margaretha in her captivity. + +The king's countenance grew dark. He had referred the cause of the +captives to the law and justice of the land; he would hear nothing of +it himself: he knew they had accused themselves before their judges of +being privy to the treasonable sojourn of Kagge at Wordingborg. He was +silent; but it was evident that the thought of Marsk Stig and of his +father's death was again fearfully present to Eric's mind, and disposed +him but little to favour the race of the regicide or any friend of the +outlaws;--the minstrels looked doubtfully at each other, and no one +dared to say a word more on this subject. + + + + + CHAP. IX. + + +It was late, and every one retired to rest. The king repaired to his +private chamber. Count Henrik saw with uneasiness that Master Thrand +followed him. The king's chamber was immediately adjoining the library, +to which Count Henrik had access. He hesitated a moment; it seemed to +him degrading, without the king's knowledge and consent, to become a +concealed witness to his conversation with the mysterious scholar; but +his anxiety and care for the king's safety at last overcame every +scruple. He took a light with him and went to the library. The light +went out in the passage, which he deemed fortunate, as his presence +might otherwise be easily betrayed if there was the least chink in the +door between the library and the private chamber. He stepped softly +into the vaulted and flagged apartment, where a pair of bookshelves +with wire grating, together with some chairs and a reading table, were +the only furniture. The moon shone brightly through the small bow +window; he seated himself at the table close by the door of the private +chamber, fixed his eyes on an open manuscript, and listened. + +"Here we are now alone, and wholly undisturbed," he heard the king say, +and the chivalrous Count Henrik felt he blushed for himself; he made a +movement to depart, but put a constraint on his feelings and kept his +seat on hearing Master Thrand's whispering voice, but in so low and +mysterious a tone that he could not understand a word. + +"I know it all," continued the king, "and it is useless for you to deny +it, learned Master Thrand! You are what is called a heretic and Leccar +brother; as such you are doomed to fire and faggot, by the pope, with +your whole sect, and proscribed by all Christian kings; according to my +decree, and at the requirement of the papal court you are banished from +my state and country also. Yet if you can prove to me you have found +the philosopher's stone, as you seem yourself to imagine, and that +there exists a higher truth and wisdom than the revealed Word, I will +acquit you, and in defiance of pope and clergy will recal the decree of +banishment against your sect." + +"Most mighty sovereign!" now said the mountebank, distinctly, though in +a hesitating tone;--"what you know of me I have myself confided to you; +had I not known your generosity and reverence for the laws of +hospitality, and had I not known you were elevated far above this +ignorant and narrow-minded age, such a confidence in a ruler would have +stamped me as the most contemptible of fools. You have spoken truth, +great sovereign!" he continued, as it seemed with assumed firmness. "_I +am_ a heretic and Leccar brother; but, to be such I esteem a higher +honour (even should I at last die at the stake for it) than if all +blinded, gulled Christendom were to worship me as the greatest and most +admirable of saints." + +"Truly!" answered the king, sternly, "that is a bold speech, Master +Thrand; if it contain not loftier wisdom than hath yet been known to +the best and wisest scholars during the space of thirteen centuries, I +must regard it as the most mad and presumptuous declaration that hath +ever passed the lips of man. I stand myself, as you know, in dangerous +and daring strife with that power which in the church's name would rule +princes as well as people, and enslave our souls. I defy every decree +of man which would drive us to despair and ungodliness, and give over +our souls to the destroyer; but notwithstanding, I deem the church and +the divine Word on which it is founded not the less sure and stedfast, +and I would fain see that philosopher--or fool, who would cause me to +swerve a hair's breath from this belief." + +"As soon as your grace understands me fully," answered Master Thrand, +with calmness, "you will see that is nowise my aim: the real church of +truth is the invisible one which I also worship in spirit, and the true +eternal Word of God is that which hath never been wholly revealed, but +to which I hearken with reverence, and appropriate through the medium +of science, by searching into yon great book of revelation, which can +only be unlocked by the wakened power of divinity within us. Hear ye +not yourself, noble king! the mighty voice of divinity in the thunders +of heaven? See ye not the finger of the Almighty in the destructive +lightning? And must you not confess that he who is ruler over those +mighty forces of nature, is the only true powerful God whom we must +worship and adore?" + +"Well! that is a matter of course, but what of that?" asked the king, +in an impatient tone. + +"If I now could show you," continued Master Thrand, with rising zeal, +"that the same power lies in _my_ hand and in _my_ will--that _I_ +by a nod can force the voice of Omnipotence to speak and announce in +shouts of thunder, that _I_ am the Lord and master of those godlike +powers--will you then deny my right to publish the divine word, which +speaks through my will as it does through nature? Will you then any +longer doubt my having found and possessed myself of the essence of +things,--the source of power,--which shall hereafter change the form of +the world and throw down the idol temples of prejudice, and the +fortified castles of tyrants? Will you then believe I have found the +key to the great mystery of life; and that the voice of deity, which +speaks through _my_ will and _my_ works, is able to say--_Live!_ when +time, sickness, and age,--when sword and poison,--when war, pestilence, +and hunger,--when stake and executioners,--when popes and tyrants, and +all the foes of life, shout--_Die!_" + +There was a moment's silence in the private chamber, and Count Henrik +drew breath with difficulty. "Strange!" said the king's voice again; +"but no--it is impossible. I will defer forming an opinion of your +wisdom, Master Thrand, until I have seen the marvellous things you +speak of. As far as I understand you, you seem to consider yourself not +only as the lord and master of nature, but of Deity itself: such +discourse sounds to me like the greatest and most presumptuous +madness." + +"Madness and wisdom, lying and truth, evil and good, darkness and +light, border closely on each other, noble king," again whispered the +well-oiled tongue of Thrand. "This must especially be the case in all +transitions from night to day, from error to truth, from one age to +another. That which I have here dared to whisper to you in this private +chamber, in reliance on the strength of your royal mind, will one day +be openly announced from the lowest seat of learning, and seem but as +the pastime of children to the mature in spirit. How each one of us +will picture to himself the divinity is in fact his own affair; that +will depend on his own individual mental vision; and will be a +necessity like all other things. What is divine is, and must ever +partly remain, a mystery to the majority; but we can all attain clear +views of time and its mutable concerns: this lies within the sphere of +our common vision, and so far I flatter myself I shall be able to open +your penetrating eyes, great king, that no part of time shall be wholly +hidden from you, and that you may be able to look as clearly into the +future as back upon the past perishable world of things and actions." + +"Well then," said the king, impatiently, "teach me to see more clearly +with the mind's eye, if you are able. I have all reverence for your +bodily glass eyes, and you have certainly opened to me a wider view of +the outer world. One mirror of the past I know already in the study of +our chronicles; if there is also a natural mirror of the future, show +it me." + +"There are _two_, gracious king!" answered Master Thrand, with +emphasis; "we call them providence and divination: we can possess +ourselves of both by keen wisdom, and awakened inner sense. With the +first you can see much; with the second more; with both almost every +thing. Of the highly-important step you are about to take to-morrow +your grace can only judge by means of such a twofold insight." + +"What!" exclaimed the king, with vehemence; "think ye I am now about to +use my understanding for the first time, and consider the step which, +with well-advised purpose and with the help of God, I have already +taken, and which is my highest happiness? Be the consequences what they +may, and whatever the Almighty Ruler of the world hath ordained for me +and my kingdom, on this point the clearest insight into futurity cannot +change my will or extinguish the fairest hope of my life." + +"But look, great sovereign!" continued Master Thrand, with eagerness; +"cast an unprejudiced and dispassionate glance into those person's +souls which you would link with yours. Three royal brothers--your +future brothers-in-law--stand yonder beside a throne; the weakest, the +least gifted, hath been chosen to fill it; but the superior mind and +power and courage of his brothers increase mightily. The nobler spirit +can never bow before its inferior; the fermenting forces must develope +themselves; opposing ones must separate; those of close affinity must +combine; what hath been arbitrarily joined must be forcibly severed; +and he who plunges into the wild tumultuous stream must be swept along +with it and perish." + +"Silence! With thy presumptuous talk," interrupted the king, in a loud +voice, and stamping hard on the ground; "no contemptible calculation +and dread of the future shall stop my progress, or disquiet my soul. +Whatever may be working in the minds of those princes, crowns are not +left to be the sport of wild passions; justice and the highest power +are not subject to the will and authority of man, but to that of the +Almighty. A royal sceptre may repose secure in the hand of a child when +God is with him, even though that child stands surrounded by traitors +and murderers. This I have myself experienced." + +"But, your royal grace, when the minor, as yonder, never attains to +majority in mind," objected Thrand, "when the power proceeding from the +will of a free and powerful nation is, through foolish superstition and +misconception, linked to the phantom which theologians call God's +grace--an idea which only hath meaning and significance when we see +that grace revealed in the great and noble, though mutable, will of the +people, to which all connection with the weaker unapt spirit is +destruction----" + +"By all the holy men, the highest might and authority comes from +above!" interrupted the king, with vehemence, "In man's will only, not +in the Lord's, is there vacillation and change; he who justly wears a +crown hath a power in the will of God, which no mortal shall defy +unpunished. But enough of this. I called you not hither to consult with +you on state affairs. Knew I not you were a philosopher who takes but +little interest in worldly government, I should be tempted to believe +you were a wily emissary from my foes, and those who secretly strive to +undermine my happiness." + +"Heaven forefend! your grace," exclaimed Master Thrand, in dismay. + +"I called you hither to warn you--not to receive warnings," continued +the king, with stern vehemence. "I have perceived that your opinions on +spiritual things are dangerous and misleading. Keep them to yourself, +or I shall be necessitated to banish you from the country. I have all +due respect for your knowledge in worldly matters," he added; "it may +prove useful to me. My master of the mint, however, you cannot be at +present, and my spiritual adviser still less. If the wise Roger Bacon +was your teacher and master I would willingly know what he hath taught +you that is good and reasonable; but I will not hear a word more of the +philosopher's stone. I ask not to look into futurity; if you understand +that art, keep it to yourself. I regard it, if not as witchcraft, as +equally sinful and unwise. Such faculty hath as yet never made any +human being happy. + +"If you can (which, however, I much doubt) protract human life beyond +its natural limits, keep such knowledge to yourself also: it seems to +me not less presumptuous and irrational. I desire not to live an hour +longer in this world than the Almighty hath ordained; but if you can, +by natural means and without sin unveil to me the secrets of nature--if +you can imitate the thunders of heaven as you assume--then show me and +our philosophers the art, and explain it to us, at whatever price you +deem fitting; but how far soever your mastery over the powers of nature +may extend, imagine not you have usurped the power from Him, in +comparison of whom the wisest and mightiest man on earth is but a +miserable impotent worm. Go hence and pray our Lord and the holy Virgin +to pardon you the presumptuous words you have here uttered. Would that +you might one day gain a better insight into what is of higher +importance to soul and salvation than all your temporal learning!" + +Count Henrik could not hear what answer was made by Master Thrand to +this severe reproof; the words "to-morrow, noble king!" were all he +thought he understood, besides some common-place and obsequious +expressions of respect, and it seemed to him that the artist's voice +sounded hollow and hardly audible. The door of the private door opened +and shut again; Count Henrik perceived that the king was alone, and +heard him open the door to his sleeping chamber. The Count stepped +softly out of the library; he heard footsteps before him in the dark +passage. It was Master Thrand coming from the king's private chamber. +Count Henrik stood still on remarking that the little juggler often +paused in the passage, as if in secret deliberation; he muttered to +himself, and was busied with something in the dark; his whimsical gait +and figure was now suddenly lit up by a bright light, which instantly +vanished again; Master Thrand at last stopped at a private door which +led to Junker Christopher's apartments, but to which none had access +beside. The door opened and closed again, and Thrand disappeared. + +"What was that?" said Count Henrik to himself, with a start, "a spirit +of darkness lurks between the royal brothers!" He left not the passage +ere he had seen the pyrotechnic artist steal back from the junker's +apartments, and repair to the knights' story in the opposite wing of +the castle, where all the stranger guests were assigned their quarters +for the night. Count Henrik did not betake himself to rest, but watched +this night as captain of the halberdiers, without the door of the +king's sleeping apartment. + + + + + CHAP. X. + + +By the first peep of dawn, all was joyous commotion at Helsingborg +Castle. Every Danish courtier and knight knew the punctuality and +impetuosity of the young king, when it was necessary to be stirring at +an early hour, even only on occasion of a hunting expedition. Every +knight and squire who had not foot in stirrup, when the king was in the +saddle, might expect a stern glance or a serious rebuke. On this solemn +and important day, to which the attention of both kingdoms was turned, +and which had been so ardently desired by Eric, it seemed as if the sun +alone dared to put his patience to the proof. Ere day-break, the king's +handsome horses, with their silken coverings and caparisons, stood +already saddled in the court-yard of the castle; the richly-attired +knights, clad in silk or plush, thronged gaily together, and hardly had +the sun-beams of the first day of June shone upon the glittering bridal +train, before Eric, leading his royal mother by the hand, stepped forth +on the staircase of the upper story, and bowed courteously on all +sides. He followed Countess Agnes to the ladies' car, with his head +uncovered, and then vaulted into the saddle. His handsome and youthful +countenance beamed with hope and heartfelt joy, and he seemed to have +slept off every gloomy and disquieting thought. Arrayed in his most +splendid knight's attire, with a rose-coloured shoulder-scarf over his +shoulder, and with white ostrich feathers in his hat, he rode a +spirited milk-white palfrey. His blithe stepfather, Count Gerhard, rode +at his right hand, and Junker Christopher at his left. Even the junker +seemed in a gay mood, but became grave, and coloured when the king +waved his hand and greeted him with a cordiality of look and gesture +which appeared to surprise and humble him. The gilded car, drawn by six +iron-grey Andalusian horses, in which sat the king's dignified mother, +with her ladies, rolled over the castle bridge at the head of the +train, but the king soon rode impatiently past it, with a courteous +apology, which was gladly received. Count Henrik accompanied him with +the half of the knightly train, while the ladies' car and the rest of +the numerous cavalcade found it difficult to keep up with the hastening +bridegroom. All the pathways and banks on the road to Stockholm were +crowded with a countless concourse of people, who shouted with joy at +the splendid procession, and greeted the king with sympathising homage. + +While the king thus rode to meet his bride, the most magnificent +preparations were made at Helsingborg for the reception of the royal +bridal pair. St. Mary's church was decorated with garlands and +carpetted with flowers; the provincial prior of the Dominicans already +officiated at early mass, as well as the venerable bishop of Aarhuus +and Ribe, who with calm courage had supported the king in his bold +strife with the archbishop and the papal court. They had been standing +at the high altar since daybreak, in readiness to preside over the +sacred ceremonial of the day, and were accompanied by a great number of +monks, canons, and priests from all the parishes of the kingdom, who +intended by their united prayers and benedictions to consecrate this +day as an auspicious festival for two nations and two royal houses. + +On the greensward below the castle hill, lists and galleries were +erected for the tournament, and tents were pitched with refreshments +for the spectators. The whole household of the castle was in full +activity; tables were spread in the lofty halls, and barrels with mead, +ale, and wine were hoisted from the cellars. The cooks were busily +employed in the kitchen. A number of musicians tuned and tried their +instruments; pipers, lute-players, fiddlers and trumpeters, were +stationed upon the balcony of the upper story, from whence they were to +greet the bridal guests, and enliven the thronging crowds. In the +spacious gardens on the rocky steep overlooking the Sound, the trees of +the long avenues had been hung at an early hour with coloured lamps, +for the evening festivity. In a separate part of the gardens +preparations were making for exhibiting the hitherto unknown art of +fire-works, with which the mysterious Thrand Fistlier purposed to +surprise the king and court, and with which he himself and his +amanuensis, the youthful Master Laurentius, were zealously busied; +while Master Rumelant and Master Poppe wandered among the tall +yew-hedges, and practised their festal lays. The concourse of curious +guests and spectators was constantly increasing. All the ships in the +harbour were hung with wreaths and flags, and the Sound was almost +hidden by the fleet of ships arriving from Zealand and the isles. On +the quay, in the town, and on the road to Stockholm, crowds of knights, +priests, and town's-people, mingled with fishermen and Scanian peasants +with their families--there were national costumes to be seen from the +farthest Danish isles, and from many Swedish provinces. The streets +were strewed with flowers. All the windows were hung with garlands and +silken carpets, and occupied by gaily-dressed ladies. There was a +continued murmur from the many thousand voices, and a general gaze of +expectation towards that quarter from whence the bridal procession was +expected. At last it was echoed from mouth to mouth, "The procession! +The procession! now they are come! There they are!" The multitude moved +onward in one vast wave, and the provost with his men found it +difficult to keep a space clear for the entrance of the train. + +Upon a large kerb stone, in the vicinity of the drawbridge beside the +southern gate of the castle, stood a strongly-built man, in a coarse +pilgrim's cloak, with muscle shells on the cape over his broad +shoulders, and with his broad-brimmed hat, half slouched over a pair of +round sun-burnt cheeks. At his side stood an old fisherman, and a +pretty little fishermaiden in a north Zealand costume, from the +district of Gilleleie. The pilgrim was Morten the cook, who, with his +betrothed and her father, had just landed from a fishing yawl, on a +remote spot under the sand-stone cliff. The day preceding, Morten had +been set on shore at Gilleleie, from a foreign vessel, with a red sail, +which had suffered damage at sea, and had been compelled to put in +under the Kohl for repairs; of which he talked in a mysterious manner. +Although, as a party to the archbishop's flight from Sjoeborg, he had +been outlawed by the king, he had not only succeeded in quieting +the fears of old Jeppe, the fisherman, and his daughter, at his +re-appearance in the country, but had even prevailed on them to +accompany him hither, where he meant to show them, he said, that, by +his pilgrimage, he had obtained peace both with God and man, and that +he now, with a bran new and clean conscience, could dare to face the +king on his bridal day. + +"Come hither. Father Jeppe! Come little Karen! let me lift thee up +here!" said Morten, jumping down from the stone--"now ye can see all +the finery and splendour. _I_ shall do most wisely in keeping within my +pilgrim's skin at first, on account of my bit of a head and neck." + +"Alack, yes! for the Lord's sake, dearest Morten!" whispered the +fishermaiden, anxiously, patting his cheek while she suffered his +strong arm to lift her, like a puppet, upon the kerb stone; "hide +thyself behind my back and my father's! I shall die of fear, if the +king sees thee!" + +"Trouble not thyself about anything, and look cheerfully at the fine +doings, little sweetheart," whispered the blithe pilgrim; "he hath but +seen me once in his life and hardly knows me; to-day he hath also +something else to think of than of hanging his dear faithful subjects." + +"He is a scoundrel who says he hath ever done _that!_" exclaimed old +Jeppe, the fisherman, with repressed vehemence. "Should he cause _thee_ +now to be hanged, thou knave! thou hast, doubtless, honestly deserved +it. If thou canst not speak and clear thyself like an honest fellow and +as thou gavest me hand and word thou wouldst ere thou left the country, +then didst thou journey to Rome like a fool, and art come home like a +simpleton." + +"Come, come, Father Jeppe!" continued Morten, "let's see the finery in +peace! Whether I am to be hanged or no can be settled time enough +to-morrow; there is no need to hurry the matter." + +"Thou art a desperate rogue, Morten!" growled the old man--"hast thou +'ticed us hither that we might have the sorrow to see thee dangle? Then +thou shalt never have my daughter--I had well nigh said--but that +follows of itself, I trow. What hath got the great lords who were to +help thee? 'Tis all chatter and bragging, we shall find, and thou art +as yet but an impudent madcap, as thou ever wast." + +"Hush, Father Jeppe! Look! yonder come great lords and knights enow; +who knows whether one of them will not break a lance with the king in +honour of Morten the cook?--And look--there he comes himself." + +"Out of the way, madcap! _him_ thou art not worthy to look on," said +the fisherman, pushing back the outlawed pilgrim with violence, while +he carefully concealed him. "_I_ dare, the Lord be thanked and praised +for it, look our noble king in the face without creeping to hide behind +an honest fellow's back." + +All eyes were now turned only upon the procession, and the air rang +with loyal acclamations for the king and his beautiful bride. + +However high expectation had been raised, and however greatly report +had exalted the beauty and loveable deportment of the noble Princess +Ingeborg, all who now beheld her seemed to be struck with her +appearance, even in a greater degree than they had anticipated. She sat +between her own mother. Queen Helvig, and the king's mother, Countess +Agnes, in the large, open ladies' car; she was as yet only attired in a +simple but tasteful travelling dress; no showy pomp and splendour +heightened her beauty; but none inquired who was the bride. + +By the side of the two elder ladies (who both, however, inspired +respect, and attracted the attention of the people, by their dignified +mien), youthful beauty still maintained its supremacy, and awakened an +admiration, which, associated with the idea of her being the king's +bride, and of her becoming, this day, Denmark's queen, asked not for a +more majestic presence. By the side of her mother, the sister of the +noble Count Gerhard, it might be seen from whom she had inherited the +innocent, good-natured smile, and the engaging expression of heartfelt +kindliness which was the very essence of her nature; and those who had +seen her renowned father. King Magnus Ladislaus, could account for the +dignity and ingenuous frankness which was combined with so much +mildness and condescension in the countenance of the lovely princess. +Opposite the princess and the two royal mothers sat two younger ladies, +belonging to the train of the princess and the Swedish queen dowager; +the younger was the fair lady Christine, Thorkild Knudsen's daughter, +who had lately been betrothed to King Birger's younger brother, Duke +Valdemar of Finland; the elder was the instructress of the princess's +childhood, and her faithful friend, the Lady Inge. This noble lady, +next to the pious, benevolent Queen Helvig, had exercised a real +influence on the formation of the princess's character, and early +awakened in her heart a warm affection for Denmark. She had made the +future queen of the Danes acquainted with the spirit and usages of the +nation; with its past achievements, its national ballads, and noble +traditions; and she had seen, with pleasure and enthusiasm, how the +spirit of a whole nation seemed to breathe forth from the innocent and +pious mind of Princess Ingeborg, in the tenderest affection for the +young Danish king. + +The Lady Inge was still a young and very attractive woman, with much +determination and energy in her look and deportment; she was known and +appreciated by the people, but now seemed to rejoice at being eclipsed +by the radiance of that youthful beauty, which justly rendered Princess +Ingeborg the queen of the day and the festival. + +The princess returned the greeting and enthusiastic acclamations of the +people with the kindliest expression in her countenance and deportment. +Each time she turned her joyous glance to the right from the car it met +the king's; he rode by the side of the ladies' car on his white steed, +with his plumed hat in his hand, and, almost overwhelmed with joy, +appeared to divide his affection between his loyal people and his +bride, while his whole soul's happiness seemed to beam forth from his +eye, whether it rested on the car or on the acclaiming crowds. Yet even +in this happy mood it was not possible for him to repress a fleeting +sigh, and a cloud seemed as it were to pass over the clear heaven in +his face whenever he heard his brother's hollow voice from the opposite +side of the ladies' car, and discerned a manifest expression of rancour +and wounded pride in the restless look and passionate glow of Junker +Christopher's countenance. Christopher rode between the brothers of the +Swedish King Birger, the brave, chivalrous Duke Eric of Sudermania, and +Duke Valdemar of Finland, who both attracted much attention by their +manly beauty, their courteous bearing, and splendid attire. Each time +Christopher heard them addressed by the title of duke, and himself only +as the "high-born junker," he apparently strove, but in vain, to hide, +by a bitter smile, how deeply he felt himself aggrieved and neglected +by his brother, who had not raised him in rank and title, although he +stood in the same relative position to the King of Denmark as the +Swedish dukes[6] to the King of Sweden. + +The young King Birger himself, who could as little vie with his +chivalrous brothers in presence and dignity as in mind and bodily +strength, followed the queen's car in an easy travelling vehicle, in +which he sat, in his costly purple mantle, by a young lady's side. It +was his betrothed bride, Princess Merete of Denmark, King Eric's +sister, who, according to the early contract of betrothal, had, while +yet a child, been received into the royal family of Sweden as Queen +Helvig's foster-daughter, and had not seen her mother or brothers since +the marriage of Queen Agnes with Count Gerhard. The Danish princess now +spoke the Swedish language like her mother tongue, and appeared already +conscious of her dignity as Sweden's future queen; she possessed, +however, neither the beauty nor the attractive mildness of Princess +Ingeborg, and it was remarked she bore a greater resemblance to the +junker and her unhappy father than to King Eric and the fair Queen +Agnes. + +The Swedish regent, Marsk Thorkild Knudsen, accompanied his sovereign +on horseback with almost regal splendour. He rode between Drost Aage +and Count Henrik of Mecklenborg, who often nodded gaily to each other; +and the festive rejoicing of the fair summer's day was not less evident +among the gallant train of knights which followed the Swedish monarch. + +At the head of the Danish chivalry rode the powerful, but little +popular, Marsk Oluffsen. With his rough austere visage and blunt +bearing he formed a striking contrast to the agile, slender knight +Helmer Blaa, who gaily bestrode his favourite re-found Arabian, and +often unconsciously nodded assent, by way of confirmation, when he +heard the populace laud him or his horse; occasionally, however, he +glanced rather doubtfully towards the king, as if he desired not as yet +to be noticed by him, and occasionally gave Drost Aage a monitory look. +Beside him rode a quiet ecclesiastic on a palfrey; it was the king's +confessor. Master Petrus de Dacia; his eye often dwelt on the cloudless +summer heaven, and he seemed, in his calm satisfaction, to think more +of heavenly and godly things, and of a distant unseen beauty, than of +the worldly pomp by which he was surrounded. + +Helsingborg castle could hardly accommodate the numerous trains and +wedding guests. A couple of hours after the entrance of the procession +the bridal train was seen to proceed with still greater splendour to +the church. Before the six white horses of the princess's gilded car +pranced the two white tournament steeds which the king had been so +displeased at missing from Sorretslov castle. The two stable boys who +had unweariedly tracked the steps of the horses down to Stockholm, now +skipped joyously by the side of the noble animals. When the king beheld +the two well-known palfreys perform their trained step before the +bride's car, he was heartily pleased and surprised. Drost Aage +instantly informed him, in a few words, of Sir Helmer's bold adventure +in Copenhagen, and that he was here among his bridegroom's-men. The +king looked back, and recognised his briskest knight. "In the saddle he +rides so free," he said, with a menacing gesture, to Sir Helmer, but +with a gay smile and a nod of approbation. + +In the church the marriage was solemnised, with all the rites of the +Romish church, by the Bishops of Aarhuus and Ribe, while the provincial +prior Olaus, together with the assembled monks, chaunted with their +deep-toned voices in full chorus a "Gloria in excelsis." While the one +bishop joined the hands of the royal pair, and pronounced upon them the +church's benediction, the other placed the queenly crown of Denmark on +the light, beautiful tresses of the bride, and now a mighty tide of +trumpet sound poured into the choral song, and the people joined in the +solemn chorus. A fairer sight had never been beheld by Danish or +Swedish man than when the royal pair, with tears of devotion and joy in +their eyes, and hand in hand, sank down, kneeling on the bridal stool +before the high and brilliantly-lighted altar, and nearly the whole +bridal train, together with the enthusiastic crowd of spectators, knelt +down, as if moved by one common impulse, in audible prayer and +devotion. + +The trumpets ceased and there was a breathless silence, while the +bridal pair, in clear and distinct tones, pronounced the vow of +unalterable love and constancy to the end of their lives. The deep amen +of the aged provincial prior was re-echoed by the monks and by many +among the people. A "Te Deum," with an accompaniment of bassoons and +trumpets, concluded the church's festival. + +After the blessing, the deeply affected pair were embraced by their +nearest relatives in the high choir. At last Prince Christopher also +approached his royal brother, and seemed preparing for a cold and +forced salutation; but at this moment it seemed as if the spirit of +darkness which had so long threatened the brothers from afar had +suddenly come between them, and shot up into a giant. They gazed in +silence, almost in dismay, upon each other, and let their arms sink; it +seemed as though the gentle tear in the king's eye congealed and froze +at his brother's frightful coldness. + +"No falsehood in this holy hour, Christopher, if thy soul and thy +salvation are dear to thee!" he whispered in a tone of stern +admonition; "brothers now in the sight of God! or--may God forgive +me!--enemies to death!" + +Christopher bowed in silence, and turned pale; his lips appeared to +move, but no sound issued from them. The king turned from him with a +flashing glance; but it seemed as if a glimpse in the open heaven +suddenly extinguished the fearful gleam of rising wrath and grief in +the king's expressive countenance as he turned round and beheld his +gently agitated bride tenderly stretch out her arms towards him; he +pressed her eagerly to his heart, and the mild tear again glistened in +his eye. "This heart, however, thou hast given me, all-merciful +Creator!" he whispered, "and I have a brother at thy right hand who +hates me not." + +"My Eric! what is this?" asked the bride in astonishment, and gazing +into his eyes; but she observed his uplifted eye resting in confidence +on the crucifix over the door of the choir, and proceeded in silence +and in tranquil joy through the aisle of the church, leaning on Eric's +arm at the head of the bridal train. The king was afterwards calm and +cheerful, but unusually pensive. No one, however, appeared to have +remarked the painful feeling which had disturbed his happiness. + + + + + CHAP. XI. + + +The attention of the people, was now turned to the tournament, which +was to commence a few hours after the ceremonies of the church were +ended. The spacious lists were surrounded by a countless crowd, and the +whole castle-hill was equally thronged with spectators. The raised +benches placed in the form of stairs around the lists were occupied +with gaily-attired ladies, rejoicing in eager anticipation of the +spectacle. At last the clang of trumpets announced the arrival of the +royal party. All the royal ladies, with their distinguished train, took +their seats in the gallery, which was hung with scarlet. There the +queen of the feast, the lovely and royal bride, again appeared, with +the diadem encircling her fair tresses; she took her place on the seat +of honour, between her mother and Queen Helvig, amid the joyous +acclamations of the people. King Birger sat at his mother's side beside +Princess Merete; he was present only as a spectator of the tournament, +in which he purposed not to take a part. Thorkild Knudsen and a number +of elderly Swedish courtiers stood near him, with Count Gerhard, who no +longer partook in this diversion; but the young Danish sovereign, with +the Swedish dukes and other princely guests, remained on horseback +without the lists among the knights of the tournament. On a raised seat +under the royal gallery sat the judges of the combat, who were all old +and experienced knights; and within the lists walked the heralds and +pursuivants in their festal attire, with white staves in their hands, +to watch over the observance of order and usage. A large band of +trumpeters and horn-players opened the chivalrous diversion with the +music of the national tournament song. + +Amid the chorus in which the people joined, + + + "When the Danish knights ride o'er the ground, + Their horses tramp with a thund'ring sound." + + +all the knights galloped briskly into the lists, and ranged themselves +for the encounter. The tournament then commenced. Many lances were +broken amid the shouts of the bystanders. Dangerous accidents seldom +occurred in this combat with blunt lances, although a knight might +easily indeed sprain an arm or a leg by a too headlong fall from the +saddle. Many knights displayed great agility and dexterity in the +management of horse and lance; but Marsk Oluffsen, Count Henrik of +Mecklenborg, and Sir Helmer Blaa, bore off every prize. A veiled lady +often waved encouragement and approbation to Sir Helmer; she threw +gloves, kerchiefs, and silk ribands down to him from the ladies' +gallery. He bowed courteously. His shield bore the motto, "For St. Anna +and St. Eric," the guardian saints of his beloved wife and his +sovereign, in whose honour he wielded his lance on this occasion. In +his last career he unhorsed the Marsk;--the lady now threw her veil +down to him. It was his young and beautiful wife, the Lady Anna, who, +by her unlooked-for presence here, surprised and delighted him beyond +expression; as soon as he recognised her he flung up his lance high in +the air in a transport of joy. He forgot to receive the prize he had +won, but rushed like the stormer of a castle up into the gallery to +embrace her, to the great amusement of the spectators, and even of the +grave judges of the tournament, who readily forgave him this little +deviation from due order and usage. + +Among the Swedish nobles and knights who took a part in the tournament, +Duke Eric of Sudermania was pre-eminent; no knight could keep his seat +before his lance; and his sister, the young queen of the festival, +rejoiced greatly at the honour won here by her best-loved and most +chivalrous brother. Duke Valdemar of Finland also shone in this +diversion, and especially sought to display his boldness and daring +when the fears of Thorkild Knudsen's fair daughter were excited for +him. Each time a combatant fell on the sand the trumpets sounded in +honour of the victor, and the people shouted, while the vanquished +knight hastened to salute his conqueror with a courteous bow, without +complaining or showing any sign of vexation. Drost Aage, who was wont +to be a victor at all these sports of arms, had not as yet sufficiently +recovered his strength, after his dangerous fall at Kallundborg, to be +able to take a share in this day's tournament; he was besides, even +amid his joy, at the king's successful love, in an unusually pensive +mood; he had now renounced all hope of seeing Marsk Stig's unfortunate +daughters released from their state imprisonment. The king appeared +also remarkably thoughtful, although deep and heart-felt joy beamed in +his countenance each time his eye met Queen Ingeborg's loving glance +from the gallery. His thoughts seemed often to wander from the scene +before him, and he looked not with his customary eagerness and interest +on this his favourite diversion, at which he this day, as bridegroom +and awarder of the prizes, only purposed to be a spectator. Duke Eric +of Langeland, who was celebrated as one of the most invincible +tournament knights, appeared not to have found any opponent among the +younger lords and knights against whom he cared to enter the lists +since Duke Eric of Sudermania had quitted them, having already broken +the full number of lances necessary for gaining the highest prize. +Junker Christopher looked, with gloomy disdain, on a spectacle which he +regarded as the worn-out pastime of childish vanity. He knew himself +how to wield his lance with power and skill, but seemed to consider it +beneath his dignity to contend for a tournament prize, which was to be +awarded by his brother, or to measure himself with any one below the +rank of king. By degrees King Eric's youthful countenance became +animated as he looked on the encounters. His white steed curvetted +under him; and as soon as the last prize was awarded he briskly seized +a gilded lance, and cleared the lists by a daring leap, to the great +delight of the admiring spectators. "Shall we venture a tilt together +in honour of our ladies, sir cousin?" he called gaily to Duke Eric of +Langeland. The gigantic Duke of Langeland bowed courteously, and rode +into the lists. + +"Zounds! Longshanks! Longshanks!" was re-echoed from one to the other, +among the curious bystanders, and all stood in breathless expectation. +The king caused his helmet and cuirass to be brought; a rose-coloured +silk riband fluttered down to him from the queen's gallery; he fastened +it to his helmet, gaily waved his hand to his young queen, and +gallopped to his station. The Duke fastened a knot of blue riband on +his helmet. With great dexterity and martial skill the two royal +combatants now rushed towards each other, lance in rest, at full +gallop. The king wielded his lance adroitly and parried his adversary's +thrust. The Duke's lance flew from his hand, and was driven far forward +on the course; but the king's lance broke against the duke's +breastplate, without shaking his seat in the saddle. + +The duke's as well as the king's skill and dexterity were greatly +admired; but many expressions of the people's partiality for their +chivalrous young monarch were distinctly heard. "Had but the king's +lance stood the shock," said one young fellow, "we should surely have +seen Longshanks bite the dust." + +"No wonder yon fellow kept his seat," growled a seaman, "he can +well-nigh anchor in the sand with his long shanks." + +The trumpets sounded, the combatants saluted each other with courtesy, +and the diversion now seemed to be ended; but the music continued, amid +general acclamation and a hum of voices. + +"See whether the junker dares risk his jerkin! No, _he_ does wisest in +looking on," said a bold, loud-tongued voice close behind Junker +Christopher. + +"_He_ Would sooner let his true men break their necks in earnest, than +venture his own in jest," muttered another. + +Junker Christopher appeared to have heard these speeches, for his face +flushed crimson. While the trumpets were still sounding, and the king +was about to quit the lists, the junker suddenly set spurs to his heavy +horse, and rode towards him, with lance in hand. + +"If I see aright, my brother would also try a tilt with me," said the +king starting, "Well then, strike up the tournament song, herald!--a +new lance, pursuivant!--but not of glass like the first!" + +The horn-players struck up the ancient, well-known strain. The +pursuivant presented the king a lance with a broad piece of board at +the end. Attention was again anxiously excited, and the young queen +appeared somewhat uneasy. The king had taken his place; his countenance +was not so placid and cheerful as before; his white steed snorted and +pranced impatiently. The junker had retired to some distance, and +seemed not as yet to have completed his preparations. + +"Now haste, Christopher!" called the king; "let us be brisk, as beseems +our festival!" They now quitted their respective stations. The king +rode forward in a stately ambling pace, apparently that he might not +avail himself of his superiority and greater experience; but the junker +dashed his spurs into his horse's side, and rushed forward with wild +impetuosity. The king stood almost still, on perceiving with +astonishment that his brother's lance was couched directly against his +uncovered face. "Where would'st thou strike? against the breast! +between the four limbs!" he shouted, but it seemed as though the junker +neither heard nor saw; he continued to rush forward in the same +direction, with flushed cheek and staring eye. But it was now remarked +that the king became greatly incensed,--"Down then!" cried Eric, +and at the same moment Christopher's lance was dashed aside, and the +junker himself fell backwards out of the saddle. The king instantly +sprang from his horse, and assisted him to rise, while the trumpets +sounded and the air re-echoed with the shouts of the exulting +spectators--"Thou art not bruised?" asked the king. "In what fashion +dost thou couch thy lance?" + +"Ill against you my mighty liege and vanquisher!" muttered Christopher, +"but that is all in due order--hear how the people screech for joy at +the fair spectacle you have afforded them," he added with bitterness +and in a lowered tone, "had I broken my neck the festivity would have +been complete." + +"Let not this little mischance vex thee," said the king, "such may +happen to the best of us--another time I may have a worse fate." + +"That is very possible, your grace!" answered the junker in a deep and +almost choking voice, greeting the king with measured courtesy, as he +retreated and retired. He instantly vaulted upon his horse, and rode +off through the noisy crowds, who laughed loudly, and made merry over +the ridiculous position in which the junker had thrown his legs in the +air, on receiving the thrust of the king's lance. + +Thus ended the tournament; but the acclamations with which the king was +followed to the castle bridge, appeared this time to please him but +little. He thought he had seen a fire in his brother's eye which filled +him with horror. + + + + + CHAP. XII. + + +After the tournament, the king bestowed in the knights' hall, with the +usual ceremonies, the honour of knighthood on some squires, who had +distinguished themselves in Marsk Stig's feud, and the Norwegian war. +Palfreys, splendid aims, and other honourable gifts, were also +distributed to the princely wedding guests, and some of the Swedish +nobles who had accompanied Princess Ingeborg from Stockholm. The king +was particularly desirous on this occasion to give Marsk Thorkild +Knudsen a proof of his special regard, and presented him with the +knightly sword of state, which he had this day worn himself. "Wear this +at your country's high festivals, noble Sir Marsk," he said, "but +should I ever--which the Almighty forbid!--forget the compact and the +friendship with the noble Swedish nation and its king, of which this +day hath given me and Denmark the fairest pledge! then turn it against +me, as you turned your own good sword against the heathen Kareles." +Thorkild[7] acknowledged this mark of royal favour, in an animated and +enthusiastic speech; he congratulated Denmark, as well as Sweden, on a +new and happy era, when the swords of their princes and knights should +only be drawn on each other in the honourable rivalry of the tilt and +tournay, but when required, flash like the northern lights and flaming +comets, against the common foes of the north. + +At last, the king produced a document, to which, by a green silken +string, was attached the great royal seal in wax impression, with the +three crowned leopards in the shield, on one side, and the king's image +on the throne and in royal robes, on the other. Without turning to that +side of the throne which was Junker Christopher's station, and towards +which Eric, during the whole ceremony, had not once glanced, he said in +a loud voice, and apparently with effort, "Junker Christopher Ericson +of Denmark! step forth and receive a commemorative gift from my hand, +on this the happiest day of my life! I have, out of sincere brotherly +love and good-will, and with the assent of my council, three weeks +since, signed and sealed this document, which is now for the first time +made public, and which nominates thee, Duke of Estland, with all feudal +rights and privileges. May the Lord grant his blessing on it!" After he +had pronounced these words in a clear and audible voice, it seemed as +though an oppressive weight had been removed from his spirits, and he +looked calmly and cheerfully to the side from whence he expected to see +his brother step forward; but the junker's place was vacant, none of +those present had seen him since the tournament. The junker's master of +the household, therefore, stepped forth on the part of his lord, and +received the royal investiture, while he bent his knee before the king; +he then rose, bowed low, and departed to seek the prince. + +Prince Christopher did not appear at the marriage feast. Some reported +they had seen him ride like a madman, at full gallop, through the +chase, immediately after the tournament. + +The prince had not returned as yet on the commencement of the evening +festivities. The castle resounded with music and mirth. The doors of +the knights' hall and the great antechamber were thrown open to admit +persons of all ranks to the dance and masque. The amusements here, as +at the merry carnival, consisted in whimsical mummings, and scenic +representations, in which the spectators beheld, without displeasure, +the most grotesque mixture of sacred, and profane, subjects. Even a +number of disguised ecclesiastics took part in this diversion, and +enacted what was called "a mystery," or a biblical farce; in which a +German harlequin constantly cracked his jests, while the fight between +David and Goliath was represented, to the great delight of the +populace, who thought to discern, in King David, an allusion to the +king, and in the gigantic Goliath recognized a resemblance, now to Duke +Longshanks, now to the Junker; but as soon as the Drost noticed the +unlucky interpretation of the farce, he ordered these masks away. When +Eric stepped forth among the dancers in the antechamber, the young +maidens sang the ballad, with which he was usually greeted, and which +had now become a kind of a national song. With a feeling of enthusiasm +for their youthful sovereign, and allusion to one of the most romantic +adventures which had occurred in his childhood--they sang gaily: + + + "O'er Ribe's bridge the dance is led, + The castle it is won! + In broidered shoe the knights they tread, + For young Eric this feat is done!"[8] + + +The king listened with pleasure to the lay, and talked with Aage of his +beloved Drost Peter Hessel, of whom this song always reminded him; and +when Count Gerhard heard the ballad of Ribehuus, he tramped gaily into +the ranks of the dancers, in joyous remembrance of that event, at which +he had himself been present. + +The king's mother and Queen Helvig now entered the antechamber, with +the young and lovely bride, and the joy of the people was uttered yet +more loudly. The ballad-singers instantly began the ballad of Queen +Dagmar's bridal; all the maidens joined in it, and the dancers moved to +the tune. The king stepped forward, with his bride, at the head of the +troop of dancers. At last the maidens sang: + + + "'Great joy there was o'er Denmark's land, + When Dagmar stepped upon the strand; + Both burgher and peasant then lived in peace, + From tax and ploughpenny-yoke had ease, + From Bohmerland[9] the lady crossed the seas!" + + +But as they were going to sing the last verse, the ballad-singers took +up the lay and sang: + + + "'Again there's joy o'er Denmark's land,' + Fair Ingeborg comes unto our strand! + Like Waldemar Seier, King Eric hath found + A Dagmar to bring us on Danish ground; + From Sweden's land so far renowned!" + + +This verse was repeated amid loud and joyous acclamations. + +"Thanks, good people! thanks!" said the king, with pleased emotion; "if +it please the Lord, and our blessed Lady, Valdemar's and Dagmar's days +shall return." + +The young queen feelingly greeted the many loyal persons who surrounded +her. + +Amid the general rejoicing and festive stir, there was no one beside +Drost Aage who saw anything suspicious in the continuance of the mask; +but among the great number of maskers, he had especially noticed two, +who frequently made their way nearly up to the king, and disappeared +again. They were dressed up according to the ideas which the lower +classes entertained of mermen; their painted faces were hidden by green +silken hair, and they wore coats of glittering silver scales. Their +restless deportment appeared suspicious to Aage, who paid close +attention to every movement of these masks--but his suspicion soon +vanished; a pretty little fishermaiden came to meet the second mask and +the pair soon danced so lovingly together, that Aage conjectured a +little love affair was in progress. "Why cannot I thus dance here with +_her_?" he sighed, and his thoughts travelled to the maiden's tower at +Wordinborg. He looked with interest on the fair fisher-maiden, who with +her long hair, and her joyous sparkling eyes, bore a faint resemblance +to the Lady Margaretha's capricious sister Ulrica. "Alas, no! poor +maidens!" sighed the Drost, stepping out into the hall balcony--"they +are now in the gloomy tower over yonder; _they_ hear and see nought of +these rejoicings--and yet they are innocent--it is injustice; crying +injustice--in this matter he is stern and unyielding. To-night, +however, he is mild, and joyous, and happy--who knows----." It seemed +as if Aage was suddenly inspired by a bold hope; he returned into the +antechamber, and approached the king, who took greater pleasure in +being a spectator of the merriment of the lower orders in the +antechamber than in looking on the more graceful and skilful dancing in +the knights' hall. But the Drost presently once more beheld one of the +frightful mermen figures near the king; his suspicions of this mask +were again awakened, and he observed the glittering handle of a dagger +between the silver scales on the merman's breast, on which his hand +often rested when he approached Eric. Aage placed himself between the +king and the intrusive mask, and asked, "Who art thou?" + +"Rosmer[10]," said a strange, unknown voice--"ho, ho, ho!"--and the +merman now sang in a hoarse tone: + + + "Home came Rosmer from the sea, + To curse he did begin: + My right hand's scent it warneth me + A christian man's within." + + +He then once more seized the hand of the fisher-maiden, and joined in +the dance. The Drost looked after him with suspicion; he thought of the +outlaws, and of the dishonoured Knight Kagge. The idea of this +dangerous and audacious miscreant became so vivid in his imagination, +that he seemed to recognise him in the merman, and almost in every +mask. He made a signal to some halberdiers to keep an eye on the mask, +and followed the king into the knights' hall. Here he also gave Count +Henrik a hint of what he dreaded, and a numerous troop of halberdiers +was soon stationed near the king; but neither he nor any of his guests +observed that this was done with any special design. The Drost's +scrutinising looks and the precautions which had been taken, did not, +however, seem to have escaped all the guests. Shortly afterwards the +well-known ballad of the "Merman and Agnete" was heard in the +antechamber, and a dance was performed to it, in which the merman mask +and the fisher-maiden were the principal performers. The merman only +chimed in with the burden of the song, and repeated, in a wild, hoarse +voice, + + + "Ho! ho! ho! + To the depths of the sea then lead her did he." + + +At last this masker and his partner departed: they danced out of the +door, and down the great staircase into the court-yard of the castle, +amid a crowd of disguised personages, who belonged to their party, and +represented all kinds of sea-monsters. No one knew what had become of +them: another dance began, and none concerned themselves any longer +about these unsocial maskers; but the report afterwards spread among +the people, that the masker was a real merman, who had carried off a +maiden. Some even would have it that they had seen the glittering +merman swim off with the maiden in his arms, in the clear moonlight. + + + + + CHAP. XIII. + + +It was a beautiful, calm summer evening. The dance and the mask were +confined to the antechamber and the knights' hall. The national +festival was celebrated with bonfires and torch-lights, with music and +feasting, in the court-yard of the castle and the orchard, in the chase +and on the tournament ground. The king showed himself wherever there +was a joyous group assembled, most frequently conducting his lovely +bride by the hand, and accompanied by his princely guests and several +courtiers. They were everywhere welcomed with festive songs and +acclamations. In the castle garden they were greeted by Master Rumelant +and Master Poppe the strong, who, with solemn pathos, recited an +elaborate and carefully-composed poem, in which they praised by turns +the royal bridegroom and his bride, with the royal relatives of both, +and all the nobles there present. The king thanked them with kindness +for this well-meant homage, although the exaggerated praise and trite +compliments did not suit his taste. But they were now surprised by a +new and splendid spectacle--the bridal pair, and a number of children +with wings fastened to their shoulders, who were to represent genii or +angels, were led through the illuminated avenues to a remote part of +the garden, from whence there was the most beautiful prospect over the +Sound; here many hundred vessels burst on the sight, hung with lights +in the form of crowns upon the masts. All that had excited so much +astonishment at Skaenor fair, and had been regarded by the people as the +work of witchcraft and sorcery, was also to be seen here, but exhibited +with far more dazzling effect. Superstitious fear was banished by the +report of the innocence of these artists, and all were prepared to view +the spectacle as a display worthy of the festival. A number of rockets +of different and beautiful colours were let off from boats and floating +rafts; the air glittered with artificial suns, stars, and flaming +wheels, which were mirrored in the calm expanse of the sea. + +It was a new and wonder-stirring sight, and afforded great delight to +the spectators. All ceremony and court etiquette were forgotten; each +one eagerly sought that place from whence he could best behold the +dazzling pageant. + +Eric had retired with his bride to a shady spot in the garden, where +the fair aerial spectacle appeared to the greatest advantage. The +number of guests he had to entertain, as well as the festivities, had +had hitherto prevented him from exchanging a single word with her +without witnesses, and it was more than a year since they had last met. +He now found himself for a moment alone with her, under the mild and +lovely summer sky, in which the flaming stars seemed to dance round +them in the air, while the festive din was hushed, and nothing was +heard but the deep solemn notes of the horn-players, floating over the +Sound from a distant hill. A torrent of thought and feeling seemed +ready to gush from the king's heart. "My Ingeborg! my soul's beloved!" +he exclaimed, embracing her, "now hath the merciful Lord heard my +inmost prayer; he hath himself united us with an inviolable sacrament; +no power in heaven or earth can part us now. I am indeed the happiest +of human beings; were I omnipotent I would this hour make every soul +around me happy." + +"Eric! my beloved Eric!" answered Ingeborg, throwing her arms around +his neck, "I have this day seen with thee into the Lord's clear heaven; +the troth I plighted thee at the altar I shall repeat in my dying hour; +my angel shall wake me with it at the last day----" + +"Think not now of death," interrupted Eric, tenderly: "our life begins +but now." + +"One moment may contain a thousand lives," she continued, with, +heartfelt emotion; "even were one of yon flying stars to crush me in +thine arms I still should deem myself happy; thou wouldest still be +mine, although mine eyes should close upon all the glories of this +world." + +They thus talked confidentially together, and poured out their inmost +souls to each other, undisturbed by their princely guests, whose whole +attention was turned upon the aerial spectacle. The happy bridal pair +sank, with deep emotion, into each other's arms, and appeared to forget +themselves and the whole world in a silent embrace. They were suddenly +aroused by a loud explosion and a hissing sound in the air; they raised +their eyes and saw with astonishment the mild beams of the star-light +dimmed by the brightness of a large ball of fire, which ascended +hissing in the air as though it would reach the heavens. It shone clear +and bright above their heads; but as they were looking at it with +admiration it exploded, and dispersed into many thousand small stars, +which gradually waned and disappeared. + +"Noble! beautiful!" said the king. "What cannot human wisdom and art +effect! The learned artist who hath prepared us this show is certainly +right in some things; the deep insight into human nature, which the +great Pater Roger hath attained unto in our time, will probably in +after times actually change the aspect of the world, and all which we +now deem great and noble will perhaps seem but as dreaming and child's +play to posterity: but how mutable all things are, my Ingeborg!" he +added, almost with melancholy; "even the surpassing splendour of this +evening will soon fade and vanish like yon dazzling aerial vision." + +"But what there hath been of life and truth and soul, my Eric," +answered Ingeborg, looking tenderly into his eyes; "is it not so, my +heart's beloved? All which love hath brightened will surely never seem +but as an idle dream. The world will surely never be so changed that +all which is sacred and divine shall fade away like an airy vision." + +"No assuredly, by all the holy men, no sound wisdom can ever lead to +_that!_" said the king eagerly, and gazed awhile in thoughtful reverie +on the serene and unchanging heaven. "Tell me, my beloved Ingeborg," he +resumed again with tenderness, as he looked with calm delight on his +lovely bride, and pressed her hand to his lips, "wilt thou not miss thy +mother and thy brothers sadly here?" + +"My mother and my brother Eric, most----," answered Ingeborg, with a +gentle sigh; "but I am still with thee and my dear faithful Inge. My +mother and brothers will often visit us, and we them--Shall we not? and +thou wilt aid me and my mother in preserving love and peace between the +brothers?" + +"Truly! This I know," said the king, pressing her hand warmly; "love +and peace between brothers are precious jewels, my Ingeborg; no crown +outweighs their loss." He paused suddenly, as though he would not +grieve his bride by uttering what clouded his happiness, even in this +moment of bliss. + +"Thou wouldest this day make every one happy if thou couldst," +continued Ingeborg; "grant, then, in this fair hour, the first boon I +would ask of thy heart!" + +"Name it, my Ingeborg, and it is granted," said the king. "What +couldest _thou_ ask of me which I could deny thee? What is thy +wish?--say on!" + +"Freedom for every sorrowing captive in thy kingdom who at this hour +repent their crime, or suffer while innocent." + +"Innocent!" repeated the king hastily; "none who are innocent suffer in +chains and in prison here--that I know. What can inspire thee with such +thoughts?" + +"Guilty or guiltless!" answered Ingeborg, taking his hand. "In the +sight of the All-righteous no one is wholly guiltless, and yet he +pardons us all for his dear Son's sake, and for the sake of his eternal +mercy. Pardon thy foes, my Eric--pardon them for the sake of God's +infinite love! Give the unhappy captives freedom for the sake of +eternal freedom! Give peace to the outlaws for the sake of everlasting +peace in God's kingdom!" + +There was a crimson flush on the king's cheek--his eyes flashed--his +breast heaved violently--he abruptly dropped the hand of his bride, and +clenched his own, almost convulsively, against his breast. "I swore an +oath, by my father's bloody head, in Viborg church," he said, in a +deep, low tone, "that oath I must keep, or perish eternally; my +father's murderers I can never pardon--to none of _them_ can I grant +peace while mine eyes behold the light of day!" + +"Not even their kindred and children, who have had no share in their +crime?" asked Ingeborg, anxiously. "Be not severe! be not unmerciful! +Liberate Marsk Stig's daughters from the prison at Wordingborg, for my +prayers' sake!" + +"Thou hast named a name which stirs up my inmost soul, from whomsoever +I may hear it," said the king gloomily, with his eyes fixed on the +ground; "the offspring of that traitor are my deadly foes as he was my +father's; yet," he continued, and raised his head, "for my _own_ sake I +will not hate and persecute any one; for thy prayers' sake, I can show +mercy to those who do but hate and conspire against _me_; but, by all +that is holy! those who laid bloody hands on my father, yon dark St. +Cecilia's night, may God forgive if it be possible--_I_ never can!" + +Ingeborg stood almost dismayed at his vehemence, and scarcely dared to +look at him. + +"Have I frighted thee, my Ingeborg!" continued Eric, with more +calmness, again taking her hand. "Forgive me! There is one chord in my +soul which sounds terrible when struck, wake it not again! Marsk Stig's +daughters shall be liberated tomorrow, at thy entreaty; but Denmark +they must leave.--Come, let us join the others!" + +"Thanks, thanks! Thou dear, impetuous Eric!" exclaimed Ingeborg, +joyfully, once more throwing her arms tenderly and confidingly around +his neck; "they may then wend free out of thy kingdom? They look not +for aught beside. More no one can reasonably demand. Thou dost not only +gladden me by this on my bridal day; but a noble and faithful soul +besides, whom thou truly lovest." + +"Who?" + +"The Drost, the quiet, melancholy Aage!" + +"Did he entreat thee to ask that boon?" + +"Yes!--but he entreated me not _exactly_ to tell thee he had." + +"Hum! Aage! should he?--yet no! in love he can scarcely be--he dreams +more of heavenly angels than earthly ones--and truly! for _that_ +description of angels he is too good. Come, my Ingeborg! They will have +missed us!" + +They returned to the company, who were still admiring the beautiful +illumination on board the vessels, and the fireworks, which became more +and more brilliant. + +While the king and his guests repaired to the gardens of the castle, +Drost Aage stood on Helsingborg quay, and beheld three large boats, +filled with maskers in the most grotesque costumes, row off with all +possible speed towards a foreign ship which lay in the harbour, and +which soon hoisted sail and disappeared in the moonlight with the +adventurous wedding guests. When the Drost afterwards joined the +company in the castle garden, he missed the king and his bride, and +searched for them in great uneasiness, in the dusky avenues. Near to +the spot where Eric stood with the princess, he saw one of the two +suspicious merman maskers lurking among the trees, with a cross-bow in +his hand. At the same moment, in which the great ball of fire had +exploded in the air, the Drost saw this mysterious personage station +himself with his cross-bow behind a tree, and take aim. In one and the +same instant, Aage had discovered the object of the assassin's aim, and +cleft his head with his sword. The dangerous bow was still drawn, when +the miscreant fell dead on the spot without uttering a sound. Aage took +the mask from his face, and recognised the notorious deserter--the +one-eyed Johan Kyste, who was known to have assisted the archbishop in +his flight from Sjoeberg. "God mend his soul!" said Aage, turning away +with horror from the fearful sight; and on seeing Eric still standing +on the same spot in confidential converse with his bride, he discreetly +withdrew. + +When the king returned to the company, Aage also stepped forth from a +dark avenue. The anxiety he had undergone, and the fatal deed which he +had secretly been forced to commit in self-defence, had chased the +blood from his cheeks. He now stood in the light of the fireworks pale +as death, yet looking on the king with loving sympathy. + +"Aage! what ails thee? Art thou ill?" asked the king, laying his hand +on his shoulder. + +"I ail nothing on my sovereign's happiest day," answered Aage; "those +strange blue lights yonder, make us all look somewhat pale." + +"If thou art well, I will encumber thee with a journey," continued the +king; "thou shalt announce to Marsk Stig's daughters that they are +free." + +"My liege and sovereign!" exclaimed Aage, with heartfelt delight, and +the blood suddenly rushed back to his cheek. "Thanks! heartfelt thanks +for those words! Let me hasten even this very hour!" + +"When thou wilt," continued the king, and a stern gravity was again +perceptible in his looks and deportment. "Thou wilt announce their +freedom to them, not from me, but from my queen, though with my +approbation; but within three days they must be out of my state and +kingdom. Thou may'st escort them out of the land, my Drost! I give thee +leave of absence, with full salary, as long as thou wilt, yes--even +though it should be for thy whole lifetime," he added, in a lower tone; +"but by all the holy men! ere I see thee again, Marsk Stig's race must +be beyond Denmark's boundaries." + +Aage gazed on the king with a strange expression of countenance; a +whole world and a whole life seemed to pass in review before his eyes; +while a desperate struggle agitated his inmost soul. "I haste, my +liege!" he said, at last, as if starting from a dream. "I follow _her_. +I follow the defenceless sisters out of the country," he paused again, +and his voice seemed almost choked, "and--I soon return to your +service," he added, with regained firmness. "May the Lord keep his hand +over you so long!" + +The king extended his hand to Aage; he pressed it with deep emotion to +his lips. "Thanks! heartfelt thanks for your clemency to the +unfortunate," he whispered, with a faltering voice, and rushed away. + +"What is this?" said the king to himself, as he observed a tear on his +hand; "who claims this precious gem? my Aage!---hum! poor visionary, +what thought'st thou of!--yet--his choice is free, I cannot act +otherwise, and you, Marsk Oluffsen!" he continued aloud, turning to his +warrior-like Marsk, "the rebels you have lately captured and thrown +into prison, Niels Brock and Johan Papae----" + +"Will you grant me a pleasure on your bridal day, my liege?" +interrupted the Marsk, in his rough voice, and rubbing his large hands. +"Then permit me, with my own hand, to give those fellows their +quietus." + +"What! Do you rave, Marsk!" exclaimed the king, greatly incensed; "are +you my knight and Marsk, and would you turn executioner? You will lead +the captive rebels in chains out of the country, and declare them +outlawed in my name! You will not yourself appear in our sight until, +by noble deed of knighthood, you have washed out the blot which you +have cast on yourself, and on our chivalry, by your blood-thirsty +wish." + +The Marsk was thunderstruck; he stood in the greatest astonishment, +with wide oped eyes. "Now, by all the martyrs!" he muttered to himself; +but he saw by the king's stern look this was no fitting time to speak: +he bowed in silence, and retired. + + + + + CHAP. XIV. + + +The fireworks were now ended, and much admiration was expressed by the +spectators. The king roused himself from the mood into which he had +been thrown by the faithful Aage's farewell, and the Marsk's sternness. + +"Where is the master of that fair pageant?" he said aloud; "where is +the learned Thrand Fistlier?" + +"Here, most gracious sovereign!" said a discordant self-satisfied +voice, close beside the king; and Master Thrand stepped forth from the +dark avenue, with his amanuensis, the youthful Master Laurentius, by +his side-- + +"If my poor skill hath pleased the royal and lordly company, I esteem +it a high pleasure and honour." + +"You have surprised us in the most agreeable manner;" said the king, +"but what I have seen will please me still more, if you will explain to +us the ways and means by which such beautiful results are produced." + +"The whole is insignificant, in comparison with what I yet purpose, +according to promise, to show your grace!" answered the artist, bowing +humbly; "it is a masterpiece that requires but a moment's time. The +ways and means by which I produce it belong partly to one of my great +Master Bacon's most important discoveries, which he hath indeed named +in his writings, but hath not clearly and minutely explained. It is a +discovery which may easily be abused, and therefore can only be +entrusted to the initiated. I am the only one of his pupils who fully +comprehend it. I have myself considerably extended and substantiated +what was to my master rather a profound conjecture, than an actual +discovery, and I trust I shall not be deemed vain, if I expect, even in +preference to my great master, to be immortalised by it in the history +of science----" + +"Well, well!" interrupted the king, "what is it?" + +"The only person to whom I have imparted something of this important +secret," continued Master Thrand, with a proud look, without suffering +himself to be abashed, "is my pupil Master Laurentius; but I have not +as yet been able to initiate him in the deepest mysteries of an art +which will perhaps require centuries ere it be fully revealed to the +prejudiced human race. With you wise king! and with these enlightened +nobles and scholars, I make honourable exception, in showing you what I +have not even as yet shown my pupil, and what I now, for the first +time, and in an altogether novel manner, am about to reduce from theory +to a decisive practical result. If this marvellous art is not to die +with me----" + +"You expect to become immortal, no doubt. Master Thrand!" interrupted +the king again, somewhat impatiently, "and if I understand you aright, +even in the proper signification of the word; if your art enables you +to set even death at defiance, your important invention can never be in +danger of perishing from the world. Let us now see what you laud so +highly, and keep not our expectation longer on the stretch! You +diminish by it even the surprise you have perhaps intended us." + +"Instantly! most mighty king!" answered the artist in a lowered tone, +and produced a calf-skin, which he rolled up and placed on the ground. +He then took out of his pocket a small, unknown substance, of some few +inches thickness, which he placed under it, and commenced several other +preparations, seemingly just as simple and trivial. "Now place yourself +there, your grace!" he resumed, "and give close heed! Quit not your +place until you see me withdraw. Let the ladies step aside, it might +perhaps alarm those who are weakly, although there is no danger +whatever. As soon as I light this torch and bring it into contact with +this simple apparatus, you will hear a voice like that which nature's +great spirit sends forth from the clouds of heaven, to announce his +sovereignty over all the earth, as lord of life and death; but _this_ +voice obeys _my_ bidding and _my_ will--now mark!" The ladies stepped +aside and looked inquisitively towards the artist. Some of the noble +guests drew nearer; others drew back with suspicion. The king stood +silent and attentive, on the spot assigned him. The learned Master +Petrus de Dacia stood nearest him; his eyes were raised towards the +clear bright stars, and he appeared occasionally to look on the little +mountebank and his whole proceedings, with a kind of contemptuous pity. +Count Henrik was not present; at the Drost's suggestion he had employed +himself in securing the castle against every possible attack of the +outlaws, some of whom were supposed to have been recognised among the +masked wedding guests who, however, had already escaped. + +The expectation of the whole assemblage was now turned towards the +exhibition of art, which had been so pompously announced. The +mysterious artist was still busied with his preparations, and appeared +himself somewhat thoughtful and hesitating. He lighted a torch at some +distance, and took a book out of his pocket, which he appeared to +consult. He had placed a pair of large spectacles before his eyes, and +as he thus stood in the torch-light, with his deformed figure and fiery +red mantle, he resembled a goblin or a fire-gnome, rather than a human +being. He presently replaced the book in his pocket, and lighted +another torch. + +"Stop your ears with this, your grace!" whispered the considerate +Master Laurentius, handing a couple of wax-balls to the king, "from +what I know of this specimen of art, it may have a stunning and +injurious effect on the hearing." The king nodded and followed his +advice. The artist now held the lighted torch in his hand; the red +flame lit up his face--it was expressive of a fearful degree of +agitation--every muscle was horribly, almost convulsively, +distorted--He approached slowly with the torch towards the mysterious +apparatus, and most of the spectators drew back with apprehension. The +king stood calm and attentive in his place, by the side of Master +Petrus de Dacia, with his foot on the rolled-up hide. + +"Hence! back! life is at stake!" said a voice behind him in a frantic +tone. The king felt himself forcibly grasped by a powerful hand, and at +the same moment a fearful explosion, resembling a clap of thunder, was +heard, with a flash as of a thousand combined lightnings; many persons +fell to the ground with a cry of horror. The ladies swooned--a cloud of +smoke encompassed them, with a suffocating sulphureous vapour. The +terrible artist himself lay mangled and lifeless on the grass, with the +extinguished torch in his hand. Master Laurentius threw himself upon +the body in grief; there was a fearful panic and confusion. + +The king stood unscathed a few steps from the corpse of the wretched +Thrand, and now first perceived who had dragged him from his dangerous +position. It was his own brother Christopher, who, with his Duke's +diploma crumpled in his left hand, and with his right still +convulsively grasping the king's arm, stood pale as death gazing on the +lifeless philosopher. "The judgment of God!" he said in a deep and +scarcely audible voice. He quitted his hold of his brother's arm, and +then, as if pursued by evil spirits, rushed into the dark avenue, and +disappeared. + +"Christopher! What is this?" said the king in a low voice, as he looked +after him, with a horrible conjecture, but he quickly recovered +himself, and hastened to attend his bride and the terrified ladies. +"The danger is over," he said with calmness, "but this specimen of art +hath cost the artist his life. If he hath spoken truth, his dangerous +art hath perished with him, and the whole world is lapsed into +barbarism and ignorance. He was a wise and learned man," he added, as +he saw most of the company tranquillised, but heard the suspicion of +treachery loudly expressed--"Let us not judge his intentions! perhaps +he hath sacrificed life as a martyr to his science--'twas pity, +however, he would personate our Lord; the Almighty lets himself not be +mocked." + +None were injured but the hapless artist, and the company soon returned +composed and thoughtful to the illuminated avenues in the garden. +Ingeborg's fears were calmed and she clung tenderly to her bridegroom's +arm. It appeared to her and to all, as if an inconceivable miracle had +saved the king's life and crushed his treacherous foes. The report of +the king's peril had interrupted the bridal festivities; but wherever +he showed himself the music and merriment again commenced, and the +royal bridal pair were followed back to the castle, with almost +deafening acclamations. + +While the bridemaids conducted the bride to the bridal chamber the king +repaired to his private apartment. He went in silence to his prie-dieu, +bent his knee before the holy crucifix, and became absorbed in silent +prayer. He had shut the door after him, and believed he was alone with +God on this spot, to which none beside himself and his confessors had +access; but he presently heard some one moving behind him, and he +arose. Junker Christopher stood before him, with his wild countenance +bathed in tears. "My brother!" he exclaimed, with outstretched arms, "I +have sinned against the Lord and against thee; I am not worthy to be +called thy brother. Canst _thou_ forgive me what _I_ cannot name? Canst +thou forgive me for the sake of our murdered father's soul, and for the +sake of the All-merciful, who blots out every transgression?" + +"Christopher!" said the king, in a tone of the greatest consternation, +gazing fixedly on him with a piercing look, "thou wouldest--thou +knewest----" + +"Say not what I willed--say not what I knew!" interrupted the junker, +in a choking voice, and covering his face with both his hands; "but +give me thy hand, if thou canst, and say.--'I am reconciled,' and by +the Almighty, who hath struck me with horror, thou shalt see this face +no more ere I can say, 'Brother! now hath the great and terrible God +forgiven me, as thou hast forgiven me!'" + +"Christopher! brother! my father's son!" exclaimed Eric; the tears +gushed from his eyes, and he hastened towards his humbled brother with +open arms. "Come to my heart! may the merciful Lord forgive thee as I +have forgiven thee!" and the brothers sank in each other's arms. +"Amen!" said a friendly voice beside them. The king's confessor, the +pious Master Petrus de Dacia, who had led the despairing Christopher +hither, stepped forth from a niche in the chamber, and laid his hand on +their heads in token of blessing. + +"This day hath now become the happiest of my life," said Eric, and went +arm-in-arm with the junker out of the private chamber. + + + + + CONCLUSION. + + +Among the crowd of knights and courtiers who waited the next morning in +the antechamber of Helsingborg castle to offer their congratulations to +the king and the young queen, were present two influential and well +known persons, who had recently landed on the quay. The one was an aged +personage of short stature, with an extraordinary degree of energy and +determination in his stern yet animated countenance; he was the +renowned statesman John Little, who had made so long a sojourn at the +Romish court. A tall powerful man stood at his side, in a splendid +knight's dress, with a roll of documents in his hand. He was the king's +former master in arms, Drost Peter Hessel. They had both arrived from +Rome, with important tidings for the king. They were instantly +admitted, and those without heard that they were most joyously +welcomed. Among the glad voices in the king's chamber were recognised +those of the queen and the Drost's noble consort, the Lady Inge. + +Close to the door of the antechamber stood Morten the cook, in his +pilgrim's dress, with old Jeppe the fisherman and his daughter at his +side. He was regarded with curiosity. At first he appeared somewhat +uneasy and dejected; but when the king was heard to speak with +animation, and in a tone of satisfaction, Morten drew himself up +fearlessly, and paced up and down with an air of importance among the +distinguished assemblage. + +The papers which Drost Hessel had under his arm contained proofs of +Archbishop Grand's treachery and connection with the outlaws; they were +copies of the same important documents which Junker Christopher, at the +time of the archbishop's imprisonment, had removed from the sacristy +chest of Lund and brought to Wordingborg. There the dexterous cook had +contrived to possess himself of them shortly before he abetted the +archbishop's flight from Sjoeborg. His object had been to restore them +to Grand; but as the archbishop had broken the promise he had made to +his deliverer while on the rope-ladder of freeing the king and country +from ban and interdict, Morten determined to retain these documents, +and while on his pilgrimage to bring them to Chancellor Martinus and +the Danish embassy at Rome, where they mainly contributed to justify, +or at least excuse the king's conduct towards Grand, and ultimately to +depose him from the Archbishopric of Lund. + +Morten was soon summoned to the king. When he returned he gaily threw +aside his pilgrim's mantle, seized the pretty fishermaiden with the one +hand and Jeppe with the other, and skipped with them down the hall +staircase, as a free and wealthy man, to celebrate his wedding at +Gilleleie. + +Notwithstanding that the suit against Archbishop Grand, and the +dangerous differences with the Romish see, were not adjusted until +after the lapse of several years, and at the cost of considerable +sacrifices, King Eric succeeded at length in obtaining the deposition +of Grand, and the instalment of another and more peaceable prelate in +the archiepiscopal chair of Lund; in the person of the formerly dreaded +Isarnus, who had now, however, learned from the fate of his predecessor +how to use his spiritual authority with moderation, and wisely +refrained from all interference with state affairs. By the final treaty +with the papal court the wanting dispensation of kindred was granted to +the king, and his marriage with the noble Princess Ingeborg of Sweden +declared to be perfectly valid. + +Three weeks after the king's nuptials, the faithful Drost Aage was +again seen at his side; but he was unalterably grave and pensive. It +was not until some years afterwards that he was freed from the ban, +together with the king. He never alluded to his journey with Marsk +Stig's daughters. Some affirmed that he had only found the elder sister +in the prison-tower of Wordingborg, but that the younger had fled. +Others insisted they had seen her among the masquers at Helsingborg +castle, on the evening of the king's bridal. It was also rumoured that +she had been carried off by a merman. A ballad, relating this supposed +adventure, has been preserved among the people. The merman was affirmed +by some to have been the outlawed Kagge, who was shortly afterwards +seized and slain by the burghers at Viborg. Meanwhile the beautiful and +pathetic ballad, which still preserves the memory of these sisters, +bears witness to their having traversed Sweden as fugitives, and having +found protection, for the first time, at the court of Norway. According +to this ballad the youngest of these exiled sisters was afterwards +married to a Norwegian prince; probably an illegitimate son of King +Haco. + +This popular ballad, as well as many obscure traditions, and what the +chronicles record of the latter part of the thirteenth century, bear +striking testimony to that troublous time, in which the unhappy +consequences of the last regicide in Denmark, hovered, like restless +demons, over throne and country, and cast so deep a shade even over the +happiest days of the upright King Eric Ericson. + + + + THE END. + + +[Footnote 1: Pebersvend (literally pepper 'prentice) is the term still +jocosely applied to elderly bachelors in Denmark.] + +[Footnote 2: The name of a part of Russia in the middle ages.] + +[Footnote 3: Frode according to the Icelandic historians, the third +king of Denmark, surnamed "The Peaceful," although he seems rather to +have deserved the title of "The Victorious," as he is said to have +brought Sweden, Hungary, England, and Ireland under his sway. The +history of Frode as related by the marvel-loving Saxo Grammaticus, +contains, as might be expected from the writer and the age, no slight +mixture of fable.--_Translator_.] + +[Footnote 4: Snorro Sturlesen, born 1178, died 1241, the author of the +"Heims Kringla," or the history of the Norwegian kings, and the +compiler of the Younger Edda, also called "Snorro's Edda." The Elder +Edda is the compilation of Saemund Frode, or "the learned," who +was born in Iceland, 1054, and died a priest at Odde, in his 78th year. +Both the Eddas are collections of religious and mythic poems, and the +chief sources whence the knowledge of the northern mythology is +derived. The Elder Edda was first known in the middle of the 17th +century. It has been translated into Danish by Professor Finn +Magnussen.--_Translator_.] + +[Footnote 5: Snorro Sturlesen, the Norwegian historian, thus pourtrays +the character of this monarch,--"King Olaf was a noble prince, +possessed of shining virtues and great piety. When driven by Knud +(Canute the Great) from Norway, and compelled to take refuge with +Jarislaf of Moscow, he bore his exile with patience, and spent his time +in prayer and acts of devotion. While in this situation his peace of +mind was only disturbed by the apprehension lest the Christian faith, +which he had so carefully implanted in Norway, should suffer from the +kingdom having passed into the hands of other rulers, and it was +chiefly on this account that he made an attempt to regain his crown, +and with that purpose once more repaired to Norway, where he was +received by many good and true men who desired his return, and were +ready to sacrifice their lives in his service. The armies of Canute and +Olaf met at Sticklestad in the year 1030. Ere the engagement began, +Olaf addressed his troops in a pious and touching discourse. He ordered +them to make use of one common watchword, and shout when they attacked +the enemy, 'On! Christian men! Chosen men! Kings men!' The battle was +fought with equal bravery and obstinacy on both sides, but at last Olaf +was slain by one of his own traitorous subjects, who had deserted to +Canute's army. Vide _Holberg's Hist. of Denmark_, vol. i.--_Translator_.] + +[Footnote 6: An old Danish ballad entitled "King Birger and his +brothers," records the crimes of the former, and the melancholy fate of +the Swedish dukes. After years of strife between the brothers, Sweden +was at last partitioned off into three kingdoms, and possessed three +sovereigns and three distinct courts. In 1317, King Birger invited his +brothers to visit him at the castle of Nykioping, on the plea of +renewing the fraternal intercourse which had been so unhappily +interrupted, and the dukes unsuspectingly accepted the king's +invitation. On the evening of their arrival, however, after being +received with the greatest cordiality by the king, and sumptuously +entertained, they were seized by his order, bound hand and foot, and +thrown into the dungeon of the castle. This act of treachery soon +became known, and the king, fearing the interference of the people in +behalf of the dukes, fled from the castle, having first thrown the keys +of the dungeon into the deepest part of the river, and given orders +that the doors of the dungeon should not be opened until he returned. +On his departure Nykioping was instantly besieged, and crowds flocked +thither from all quarters, but ere the castle was taken the dukes had +expired. Eric died on the third day of his captivity, from the wounds +he had received in defending himself against his captors; but Valdemar +lived till the twelfth day without food.--_Translator_.] + +[Footnote 7: Holberg thus relates the fate of this able and upright +statesman:--"After a long period of civil war and discord, the feud +between King Birger and his brothers was at last accommodated, through +the mediation of their mutual counsellors; but on the conclusion of the +treaty, the Swedish dukes did their utmost to bring Thorkild Knudsen +into discredit with the king, to whom he was represented by them as +having been the instigator of the disturbances which had prevailed +throughout the country, as well as having stirred up strife among the +members of the royal family, and as having abused the confidence of the +crown. King Birger, who was glad of any pretext for escaping the blame +he himself deserved, turned his back upon his faithful servant, and +permitted him to be brought to trial. Thorkild ably defended his +rightful cause, but his innocence and eloquence were of no avail. He +had been marked out as a victim, was doomed to death as a traitor, and +beheaded at Stockholm in the year 1306. It was not without difficulty +that his friends obtained permission to inter the body in consecrated +ground. Thorkild's treacherous foe, Drost Johan Brunke, continued his +career of political intrigue until the year 1318, when he and his +partizans were seized in the king's absence, by the opposite faction, +and put to death. Brunke's body was exposed on the wheel on a hill +without the city, which since that time has borne the name of Brunke's +Hill." Vide _Holberg's Hist. of Denmark_, vol. i.--_Trans_.] + +[Footnote 8: The subject of the ballad of Ribehuus is the taking of the +castle of Ribe, which had fallen into the hands of the outlaws during +the minority of Eric, by a party of fifty loyal knights, headed by +Count Gerhard and Drost Hessel. In the middle ages it was not unusual +for the knights to join in the public festivities of the burghers. At +one of these, the king's knights took the opportunity of joining a +dance by torch lights to be led according to usage through the streets +up to the castle. The ballad describes the long row of dancers, as +being kept in a straight file by a chain of wreathed green leaves and +roses. Each knight held a lady in his left hand and a lighted torch in +the right, their drawn swords being carefully concealed under their +scarlet mantles. The castle bridge was lowered and the gates thrown +open to admit the dancers by permission of the commandant, who in a few +minutes found himself a prisoner, and the castle (which was wholly +unprepared for the attack) in the hands of King Eric's adherents. The +ballad concludes as follows;-- + + + "Thus danced we into the castle hall, + With unsheathed sword 'neath scarlet pall, + The castle it is won! + Ne'er saw I before a castle by chance, + Won by rose-wreaths and the knightly dance, + For young Eric the feat was done!"--_Translator_.] + +[Footnote 9: Bohemia.] + +[Footnote 10: Rosmer. An allusion to an old Danish ballad, the hero of +which is called "Rosmer the Merman."--_Translator_.] + + + + + + London: + Printed by A. Spottiswoode, + New-Street-Square. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 3, by +Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING ERIC AND THE OUTLAWS, VOL. 3 *** + +***** This file should be named 36633.txt or 36633.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/6/3/36633/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive + +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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