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} - .x-ebookmaker .ol_1 li {padding-left: 1em; text-indent: 0em; } - body {font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: justify; } - table {font-size: .9em; padding: 1.5em .5em 1em; page-break-inside: avoid; - clear: both; } - div.titlepage {text-align: center; page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; } - div.titlepage p {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 3em; } - .ph1 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: xx-large; - margin: .67em auto; page-break-before: always; } - .ph2 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; - page-break-before: always; } - .left {text-align: justify; display: block; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: auto; - max-width: 50%;top: 1em; } - .border {border-style: solid;border-width: 1px; } - .x-ebookmaker p.dropcap:first-letter { float: left; } -</style> - </head> - <body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Viking's love, by Ottilie A. Liljencrantz</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: A Viking's love</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>and other tales of the North</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Ottilie A. Liljencrantz</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 30, 2023 [eBook #69907]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VIKING'S LOVE ***</div> - -<div class='tnotes covernote'> - -<p class='c000'><strong>Transcriber’s Note:</strong></p> - -<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter ph1'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Viking’s Love</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='border'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>List of Published Books</span></div> - <div class='c003'><span class='large'>By OTTILIE A. LILJENCRANTZ</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c004'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>THE SCRAPE THAT JACK BUILT</div> - <div class='line in8'>Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co. 1896</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>THE THRALL OF LEIF THE LUCKY</div> - <div class='line in8'>Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co. 1902</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>THE WARD OF KING CANUTE</div> - <div class='line in8'>Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co. 1903</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>THE VINLAND CHAMPIONS</div> - <div class='line in8'>New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1904</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>RANDVAR THE SONGSMITH</div> - <div class='line in8'>New York: Harper & Brothers. 1906</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - - <dl class='dl_1'> - <dt>Also:</dt> - <dd>Various Magazine Stories and Articles published in later years - </dd> - </dl> - -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_frontispiece.jpg' alt='' class='ig001'> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='left'><span class='small'><i>Drawn by Arthur E. Becher.</i></span></span><br><br>“<i>Schooling her how she must put him from her heart and forget him.</i>”</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='titlepage'> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_title.jpg' alt='' class='ig001'> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>[Title page image with border.]</p> -</div> -</div> -<div> - <h1 class='c005'><span class='sc'>A Viking’s Love</span><br> <span class='color_CadetBlue'><span class='large'>AND OTHER</span><br> <span class='xlarge'>TALES of the NORTH</span></span></h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c006'> - <div><span class='large'><span class='fss'>BY</span> OTTILIE A LILJENCRANTZ</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_007.jpg' alt='' class='ig001'> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>CHICAGO</div> - <div><span class='color_CadetBlue'>A C M<sup>c</sup>CLURG & CO</span></div> - <div>1911</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div><span class='small'>Copyright 1911</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>A. C. McClurg & Co.</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>Published October, 1911</span></div> - <div class='c006'><span class='small'>The Caslon Press</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>Chicago</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c007'>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0'> - <tr> - <th class='c008'></th> - <th class='c009'> </th> - <th class='c010'><span class='small'>Page</span></th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'>I</td> - <td class='c009'>A Viking’s Love</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_13'>13</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'>II</td> - <td class='c009'>The Hostage</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_29'>29</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'>III</td> - <td class='c009'>As The Norns Weave</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_41'>41</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'>IV</td> - <td class='c009'>How Thor Recovered His Hammer</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_63'>63</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_009.jpg' alt='' class='ig001'> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c007'>OTTILIE A. LILJENCRANTZ</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c011'>Ottilie A. Liljencrantz was born in -Chicago in 1876, the daughter of Gustave -A. M. and Adeline C. Liljencrantz. On -her mother’s side, she was a descendant of -the Puritans; on her father’s she could -trace her lineage from Laurentius Petrie, an Archbishop -in Upsala, a disciple of Martin Luther, and a translator -of the Bible in the sixteenth century. The first ancestor -to bear the family name was Count Johan Liljencrantz, -Councillor of State and Minister of Finance, who was -ennobled for his valuable services to the Kingdom during -the reign of Gustavus III.</p> - -<p class='c012'>She received her education at Dearborn Seminary in -Chicago, graduating in 1903. While her health did not -admit of a college course, she took a post-graduate course -in literature and was always a persistent student in that -line. She showed a marked literary taste at an early -age. “I was brought up,” she said, “on Longfellow -and Bret Harte, as well as on the myths and sagas of -the North, and wrote my first story at the age of seven, -a tragic love story, which was a great deal funnier than -anything I have ever written since.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>While yet a school-girl, she wrote a number of plays -for amateur theatricals, and some short stories. Her -first book, “The Scrape that Jack Built,” was published -in 1896, but the tales of the North, with the daring exploits -of its Heroes, were alluring, and she made a thorough -and exhaustive study of Northern literature—Paul -Du Chaillu’s “The Viking Age,” “Frithiof’s Saga,” -Rasmus B. Anderson’s introduction to Norse Mythology, -and nearly forty other works of the same character. -Among these should be specially mentioned “Havamal,” -which comprises the sayings of Odin and is regarded -as the laws of the Vikings, and from which quotations -appear at every chapter in her two great historical novels, -“The Thrall of Leif the Lucky” and “The Ward of -King Canute.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Her writings are all morally wholesome, for both the -virtues and the vices of her Viking heroes are those of -their own times. In the eyes of a Viking, the slaughter -of an enemy was not a crime, but a noble and righteous -deed; and on the other hand, he would cheerfully lay -down his life for a friend.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Ottilie A. Liljencrantz had a most charming personality, -and she was an honored member of “The Little -Room,” “The Chicago Woman’s Club,” and of the -“Lyceum Club” of London.</p> - -<p class='c012'>She died in Chicago on the seventh of October, 1910.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span> -<img src='images/i_013.jpg' alt='' class='ig001'> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>[Sample page with border. All pages from here on have the same border.]</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c007'>A VIKING’S LOVE</h2> -</div> - -<div class='c013'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/di_013.jpg' width='69' alt=''> -</div><p class='drop-capi_8'> -It was long ago, when the world -was so young that peace meant -little more than a breathing -spell between battles. At the -Royal Farm of Augvaldsnes, in -Norway, King Olaf Haraldsson -sat at an Easter feast with his -men.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Right and left on either hand the long tables -stretched away, cleared of all their bounty, save -two lines of brimming ale-horns. Down the -middle of the hall fires burned brightly, flushing -the delicate faces of the women on the -cross-benches, sending the golden light higher—higher—until -every shield upon the tapestried -wall flashed back an answer. Overhead, -through the smoke-holes between the sooty -rafters, shone the still white stars.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“So, it may be, the eyes of angels look down upon our -earthly pastimes,” King Olaf said thoughtfully, and his -stern face softened with the satisfaction he had in a scene -of such orderly good cheer. Rolling his ale on his tongue, -he settled himself to listen to a man who had just risen -from a place on the left of the high-seat.</p> - -<p class='c012'><span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>Thorer Sel was the man’s name, and he was the bailiff -that had this royal farm of Augvaldsnes under his management. -As he stood now, a showy figure in the firelight, -he would have been good to look at if his eyes had -not been shifty and his mouth coarsely overbearing. He -smiled jeeringly at the man who had addressed him.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“So you want to know what took place between me -and your friend, Sigurd Asbiornsson, do you?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“If you will,” the man on the bench answered. “I -was away on a Viking voyage last summer when it happened.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Next above this man on the bench sat a tall, broad-shouldered -young fellow with a frank, comely face and -the air of one amiably used to having his own way. He -was the son of King Olaf’s most powerful vassal, and his -name was Erling Erlingsson. Now suddenly he, too, -spoke up.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I, also, would like to hear that story. If it is true, -as I have heard it, then are you the only man in the world -who has ever made Sigurd Asbiornsson bow his neck.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Thorer Sel threw him a glance over his shoulder.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I forgot that it would not sit comfortably in your -ears,” he said. “It had slipped my mind that the Halogalander -is your kinsman.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Kinsman or not, I like to see justice done to men of -courage,” young Erlingsson answered. “I say, in the -presence of everybody, that Sigurd Asbiornsson is one -of the bravest men that ever drew sword or breath.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“The story will show,” Thorer Sel said mockingly, -and began forthwith.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“To start at the beginning, Sigurd Asbiornsson is the -man who came down here from the north and bought -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>corn and malt to carry home for the entertaining of his -friends, though it was well known to him that because -of the bad seasons, King Olaf had forbidden that any -meal should be carried out of the south of the country. -Dauntless as I am wont, I went down where he had put -in under the island for the night and stripped him of his -cargo and his fine embroidered sail, and drove him home -in disgrace—all in the manner which I will truthfully -relate.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I have seen that you have his sail in your possession,” -Erling said slowly, “but only he could convince -me that you got it without a trick, if you got it against -his will.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>That was not a bad guess, since the only cause to -which the bailiff owed his success was his forethought -in providing himself with sixty men, as against Sigurd -Asbiornsson’s twenty, and in falling upon him at the -moment when he and his crew were dressing after a -morning swim and stood utterly defenseless against -attack. But a guess is only a guess—and no one stood -up to confirm it.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“The story will show,” sneered Thorer Sel, and proceeded -to tell it at great length, with less and less regard -for the truth.</p> - -<p class='c012'>He drew it out so long that many of the feasters tired -of him and began talking among themselves; but four -people continued to listen attentively. One was the -Viking who had asked for the tale. Another was Erling, -ominously fingering his sword-hilt. A third was a young -girl sitting among the matrons on the cross-bench—a -beautiful girl who bore her small fair head with brave -dignity. The fourth was a strange man in poor attire -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>who had come in unnoticed among the servants that were -fetching fresh supplies of ale.</p> - -<p class='c012'>The stranger listened the most keenly of all—it -almost seemed as if the bailiff might have left him hanging -on the words. Step by step, he was drawn forward until -only a space of bare table lay between him and the storyteller.</p> - -<p class='c012'>He was a tall man, with a mighty girth of chest and -limb. For all that he wore a shabby hat and held a hayfork -in his hand, he did not carry himself like a churl. -As he moved from the shadow of the last pillar into the -firelight, the girl on the cross-bench stifled an exclamation, -and her cheeks went white as the linen before her.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Astrid, my friend, what ails you?” the housewife -beside her asked kindly.</p> - -<p class='c012'>A woman on the matron’s other side admonished her -with a nudge.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Have you forgot,” she whispered, “that Asbiornsson -wooed her before her father married her to Hall the -Wealthy? Naturally she would be troubled at hearing -him ill-spoken of.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then both forgot her and their gossip and all else.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“How did Sigurd behave when you unloaded his vessel?” -the Viking had just inquired.</p> - -<p class='c012'>And the bailiff had answered brazenly: “When we -were discharging the cargo, he bore it tolerably, though -not well; but when we took the sail from him, he wept.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>They were the last words Thorer Sel spoke on earth. -While they were still on his lips, the stranger cleared the -table at a bound. There was a flaming of warrior-scarlet -from under homespun gray, a hiss of steel, the sound of -a blow—and then the whole room seemed turning scarlet, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>and the head of Thorer Sel rolled on the table before the -king.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Sigurd!” the girl on the cross-bench cried piercingly.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Sigurd!” shouted young Erlingsson, leaping to his -feet.</p> - -<p class='c012'>After that, it was hard to tell what any one said. -Pushing forward in obedience to an awful gesture from -King Olaf, guards laid hold of Sigurd Asbiornsson and -hurried him from the hall, and thralls came running with -towels and water and a board. While some took up what -lay heavily among the reeds of the floor, others spread -fresh linen, and still others removed the bespattered -mantle from the king’s shoulders. Only in one thing -they all acted alike—no man raised his eyes to the king’s -furious face.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Of a different mettle was Erling Erlingsson. Coming -back from the door through which the guards had led his -friend, he came straight up to the high-seat.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Lord,” he said, “I will pay the blood-money for your -bailiff, so that my kinsman may retain life and limbs. All -the rest do according to your pleasure.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>King Olaf’s voice was very low. It was his way when -his rage was highest.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Is it not a matter of death, Erling, when a man -breaks the Easter peace, and breaks it in the king’s lodgings, -and makes the king’s feet his execution-block? -Though it may well be that it seems a small matter to -you and your father!” His teeth showed through his -quietness.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Erling tried his unpractised tongue at entreaty.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“The deed is ill-done, Lord, in so far as it displeases -you, though otherwise done excellently well. But though -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>it is so much against your will, yet may I not expect -something for my services to you?”</p> - -<p class='c012'>After a little, King Olaf said:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“You have made me greatly indebted to you, Erling, -but even for your sake I will not break the law nor cast -aside my own dignity.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>By a gesture he forbade a reply, and spoke on, asking -what had been done with the murderer.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“He sits in irons, upon the doorstep, with his guard,” -Erling said, heavily.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then he roused himself to ask one thing which he -thought might not be denied him.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Lord, it is a year since I have seen him, and we have -been blood-brothers since we were children. Give him -into my charge this one night, and I will answer for him -in the morning.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>After a long time, King Olaf said grimly:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“It is true that to hang a man after sunset is called -murder. Take him, then, for the rest of the night. But -know for certain that your own life shall pay for it if he -escape in any way.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“It must be as you will,” Erling answered, and went -out of the feasting-hall that but a short while before had -seemed to him a place of such good cheer.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Upon the doorstep, ironed hand and foot, Sigurd -Asbiornsson sat listening quietly to the excited expostulations -of his guard. Now that the broad-brimmed hat -had fallen off, it could be seen that there was nothing -blood-thirsty in his handsome sun-browned face. Strong-willed -and proud and hard, it might be, and yet in some -delicate curve of his mouth, some light of his fine gray -eyes, lay that which won him, unsought, women’s trust -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>and men’s love. He looked up with a smile to meet -Erling’s troubled gaze.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Why take your failure so much to heart, comrade?” -he remonstrated. “I came prepared to pay Olaf’s price. -Stay here by me that we may at least have to-night -together, for I suppose he thinks too much of his wonderful -laws to hang me before sunrise.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Nodding, Erling turned and spoke to one of the -guards, who caught up a hammer and commenced knocking -the chains off the prisoner’s limbs with far greater -alacrity than he had shown in putting them on.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“What is the meaning of that?” Sigurd asked in surprise.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Olaf has given you into my charge until morning,” -Erling explained briefly.</p> - -<p class='c012'>For as long as the space between one breath and the -next, the prisoner grew tense and alert.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“What pledge did you give for my safety?” he asked -quickly.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Less quickly, Erling answered: “My own life.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>The half-formed hope faded. Sigurd’s mighty frame -relaxed.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I give you thanks,” he said, and no more was spoken -on the subject.</p> - -<p class='c012'>One by one, the guards drifted back to the ale-horns, -and the friends were left alone in the starlit silence of the -courtyard. Suddenly, Erling laid hold of the great shoulders -before him and shook him fiercely, while at the same -time his fingers clung to them in a caress.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“You madman!” he burst out. “Could you not -guess that I was going to kill him for you? Olaf dare -not slay me—a fine would be the uttermost. What fiend -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>possessed you! Did you imagine Olaf loved you because -you had always defied his laws? You madman! Did -you not know that I would do it for you?”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Would that have rubbed out my disgrace, if you had -done it for me?” Sigurd asked quietly.</p> - -<p class='c012'>He laid his hands on the other’s shoulders, and they -stood breast to breast and eye to eye.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Come, come, kinsman, these are useless words; why -waste breath on them? If you knew how Thorer Sel -spoke to me that morning—spoke to me before my men!—and -how the tale spread northward until churls that -had never dared sneer behind my back before, taunted -me to my face! No, no, it was the only way to do it, -boldly and openly, with every one looking on. Now I -shall leave a clean name behind me. What more could I -do if I lived to be a hundred?”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Erling was silent; only, his hands that rested on his -friend’s shoulders gripped and held them so that marks -were left on the flesh, and the two men remained looking -into each other’s eyes until a mist came between.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then, without speaking, they freed each other; and -Sigurd said quickly:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“One more thing lies on me to do. Will you -help me?”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I trust there is killing in it,” Erling said through his -teeth.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“It is to get a message to Astrid, Gudbrand’s daughter,” -Sigurd replied.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Erling cried out in amazement: “The wife of Hall -the Wealthy!”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Hall the Wealthy has been dead two seasons.”</p> - -<p class='c012'><span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>But Erling exclaimed again: “Gudbrand’s daughter! -Of whom you could not speak bitter words enough—even -though you knew they would reach her ear!”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I spoke unfairly,” Sigurd said, flushing. “She sent -me a token that I did not receive—I cannot tell you -more. I do not ask now that she should stoop to see me -herself, but if she would send some woman who has her -confidence—if I could speak my message to her with the -certainty that it would come truthfully to Astrid’s -ear——” His dark face flushed redder and redder in -the moonlight, and he did not turn away to hide it. “It -is the greatest service you could render me, kinsman,” -he finished.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Stifling an impatient breath, Erling flung the end of -his cloak over his shoulder and turned.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“The sooner the better, then—before they are gone -to bed. Wait in the herb-garden, yonder. It is the spot -where you will be the least liable to interruption.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Netted around with bare bushes and strewn underfoot -with shriveled leaves, the herb-garden lay in desolation. -Yet even here the slender sides of branches showed the -swelling hopes of springtime. A thought came to Sigurd -of the budding trees at home, and the harvest he would -never reap; then he thrust it from him angrily, and strode -up and down the pathway, waiting.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Three times the wind rustling through the bushes -tricked him. But at last there was the ring of spurs on -gravel, and Erling came out of the shadows, followed by -a slender figure wrapped from head to foot in a hooded -cloak of blue.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Trying to guess which one of Astrid’s women the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>silken folds hid, Sigurd stood gazing at her silently. She -halted before him without speaking; but Erling said -shortly:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“You have little enough time. I was only able to -manage it because Gudbrand is still swilling drink in the -hall. The instant I see his torch-bearers, I shall call -you.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>He disappeared again into the gloom that lay between -them and the gate.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Unconsciously, Sigurd’s glance must have followed -him, for when it came back to the girl, she had answered -the question in his mind. The blue hood was thrown -back, and the moon shone on a small fair head, upborne -with brave dignity, even while the lovely eyes and lips -were tremulous.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Astrid!” he breathed.</p> - -<p class='c012'>She returned his look with the grave steadiness that -was a little pathetic in so young a girl.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“For the second time I have lowered the point of my -pride to you,” she said. “Are you going to make me -sorry this time also?”</p> - -<p class='c012'>He began to speak eagerly. It seemed that he would -have caught her hands if he had dared.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Astrid, I was not to blame! I beg you not to believe -that I would slight a token from you who have always sat -highest in my heart. The churl you gave your rune-ring -to—he must have mislaid it, and then feared to give it to -me when he found it afterwards. Not until this Spring, -when he died and his relation came upon it among his -things and brought it to me, did I know that you had -sent me a message of love after your father refused to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>bargain with me. Because I was not in the king’s service, -Gudbrand was even disrespectful in his treatment of me. -And the next month, I heard that you had married Hall. -And I had had no farewell from you. What could I think -but that you had held me lightly, and lightly let me go? -What else could I think?”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“You could have remembered that I was helpless,” -Astrid answered slowly. “Could I wed you against my -father’s will? Could I hold back from marrying Hall, -though he was in everything what I detested most?”</p> - -<p class='c012'>She steadied her lip in her little white teeth.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“You could have believed in me,” she said, “as I -would have believed in you. Three seasons we had -spoken and feasted and ridden together, and when had -you ever found me changeable toward my friends, or -greedy after gold? You could have believed in me.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I ought to have believed,” Sigurd said humbly.</p> - -<p class='c012'>His face had grown white, as no man had ever seen it. -Even when spurs clanked on the path, he stood before -her helplessly.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I ought to have believed,” was all he could say.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Moving a step nearer, she laid her hands upon his -breast and looked up at him with a little flickering smile.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“You would have believed—if you had loved me as I -loved you,” she said.</p> - -<p class='c012'>She touched her finger to his lips, as he would have -cried out.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I do not think it is in your nature to feel much love -for a woman, my friend. If you had not loved your own -way better than me, would you not have entered the -king’s service to win me, when only that lay between us? -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>Your land—your chiefship over your men—the freedom -to do as you pleased—all those you loved; and what was -left over, you gave to me. It was not very much, was it? -Yet perhaps it does not matter, since I was so glad to -get it.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Though her eyes were misty with tears, she held up -her mouth to him bravely.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I give you thanks for telling me,” he whispered -softly, when he had kissed her.</p> - -<p class='c012'>As Erling’s voice sounded urgently, she drew her -hood over her head and was gone.</p> - -<p class='c012'>It was a soberly thoughtful man that was pacing the -garden-paths when Erling came back. They walked -away the rest of the night in silence, while the moon -went on in darkness, and the gray dawn which is neither -light nor shadow spread coldly over the sky.</p> - -<p class='c012'>It was this new expression which caught King Olaf’s -eye, when he and his outlaw faced each other again.</p> - -<p class='c012'>With the first burst of morning sunshine, the king -came out of the hall on his way to mass, followed by the -high-born people of his household. Blinking laughingly -in the dazzle, and drawing in great breaths of the fresh -sweet air, the retinue made an odd contrast to the other -group waiting on the doorstep—three swarthy thralls -testing a coil of rope in their hairy fists, and Sigurd -Asbiornsson once more ironed and guarded.</p> - -<p class='c012'>King Olaf stopped abruptly.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“How is it that things which I dislike are always kept -before my mind?” he demanded. “Why was he not put -to death at sunrise?” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>The guard answered that the king had named no definite -time, and they feared to misunderstand his will.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I have seldom heard a poorer excuse,” King Olaf -returned coldly.</p> - -<p class='c012'>But he did not make his will clearer. He remained -scrutinizing the prisoner with a touch of uncertainty in -his strongly marked brows. Fearless, Sigurd Asbiornsson -looked, as always, but for the first time that something -seemed gone from his boldness which had stirred -the king’s temper against him.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Olaf smiled slowly as a test came to his mind.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“To please your friends, Sigurd,” he said, “I will make -you an offer which you can do as you like about accepting. -It is the law of the land that a man who kills a -servant of the king shall undertake that man’s service, if -the king will. Would you submit to that law, and undertake -the office of bailiff which Thorer Sel had, if I gave -you life and safety in return?”</p> - -<p class='c012'>He gathered up his mantle to depart, as he concluded, -so sure was he that his offer would be rejected. Of all -the throng, from Gudbrand’s daughter to Erling, not one -believed that it stood any chance of acceptance. They -almost ceased to breathe when—slowly—with a flaming -face and the stiffness of a pride that was cracking at the -joints, Sigurd Asbiornsson bent his head and kissed the -king’s hand.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Not to save his life could he have spoken. His power -of speech did not come back to him until the churchgoers -had swept on across the court, and he was left alone -with Astrid in his arms.</p> - -<p class='c012'><span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>“Do you believe now that I love you?” he asked, raising -her face between his hands.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then it smote his heart that he should even seem to -reproach her, and he finished lightly:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“What does it matter? We will make a jest of it -between ourselves. Let the world think me the king’s -man—we know that I am yours!”</p> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span> -<img src='images/i_027.jpg' alt='' class='ig001'> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span> - <h2 class='c007'>THE HOSTAGE</h2> -</div> - -<div class='c013'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/di_029.jpg' width='71' alt=''> -</div><p class='drop-capi_8'> -I seek to tell of a Danish hostage, -called Valgard the Fair, that -in his youth was ceded to our -great Alfred by the Danish king -Guthrum when they two made -peace together in the year -eight hundred and seventy-eight.</p> - -<p class='c012'>From Denmark young Valgard came to -England in the following of Ogmund Monks-bane, -who was his elder brother and Guthrum’s -first war chief; and though no warrior of more -accursed memory than this same Ogmund ever -fed the ravens, it was known that toward his -young brother alone of all living things he -showed a human heart. Wherefore those on -whom it lay to choose the hostages were swift -to name the comely boy as the one pledge that -might clinch the Monks-bane’s shifty faith. And that -nothing might be lacking, they further fixed it in the bond -what would be the fate of Valgard and the eleven other -hostages if they that gave them should break any part of -their oath; and it was this—that the discipline of the -Holy Church should take hold of them, and after that -they should die a shameful death.</p> - -<p class='c012'>A snared and a savage man was Ogmund Monks-bane -when they brought this word to the tent of skins in which -he laired; and it saddened him besides that the boy Valgard -strove to contend him, saying:</p> - -<p class='c012'><span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>“It will be no hindrance to you, kinsman. Never will -you so much as think of me when the battle-lust comes -on you. And I shall bear it well.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>In our king’s will at London, therefore, young Valgard -grew into man’s estate and, contrary to his expectations, -throve mightily, discovering a rare aptitude for gentle accomplishments. -And for that his heart was noble as -well as brave and he was as <i>débonaire</i> as he was comely, -the king and the royal household came to love him exceeding -well until—as the years went by and the peace -held—they scarcely remembered that he might one day -stand as a scapegoat for loathsomest crimes against them.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Only Valgard himself never for the span of one -candle’s burning forgot it. Like poison at the bottom of -a honeyed cup it lay behind every honor he achieved. -Yet even as he had promised his brother, he bore it well -and gallantly enough—until, in the sixth year of his -captivity, it fortuned to him to fall in love.</p> - -<p class='c012'>She of whom he become enamoured was a young maid -in the queen’s service, whose rightful name was Adeleve -but whom men called Little Nun both by virtue of the -celestial sweetness of her face and because of her being -but newly come from a cloister school. And in this -cloister they had taught her so much of heaven and so -little of earth that whenso her heart was taken by Valgard’s -brave and <i>débonaire</i> ways she knew neither fear -nor shame therein, but continued to demean herself with -the lovely straightforwardness of an angel or a child. -Wherefore Valgard, who was used to women that smiled -at him from under heavy lids or drew full red lips into -rosebuds of enticement, might not dream that she felt -more than friendship. And since in her presence he was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>always silent and humble as he had been before Our -Blessed Lady herself, though elsewhere light speeches -sparkled on his lips as bubbles on the clear wine, he wist -not for a long time the true name of what he felt.</p> - -<p class='c012'>But one day at that season of the year when the king’s -household rode often to hunt the wild boar in the woody -groves that compassed London round, it happened to -Valgard to become separated from the rest and stray -alone through still and shadowy glades. There in the -solitude, as was ever his unhappy case, his gayety fell -away and his forebodings climbed up behind and went -with him heavily. Riding thus, it chanced to him to approach -the spot where the queen and her maidens tarried -and so to come upon the Little Nun herself, that also -rode apart, following a brook which sang as it went. -Then at last was he made aware of his love, for suddenly -it was neither a dislike of death nor any rebellious wish -to flee therefrom that possessed him, but solely the dread -of being parted from her, which so racked him that he -was in very agony.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Now as soon as ever Little Nun perceived that a great -trouble was upon him she spoke straight from her heart, -though timidly as a child knowing the narrowness of its -power, and prayed him to say whether his distress were -aught which her love might assuage. When he heard her -speak thus sweetly and marked the angelic tenderness of -her eyes under her little dove-colored hood, lo! everything -fell clean out of his mind before one almighty longing. -Descending from his horse, he took her hands and spoke -to her passionately, so:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Tell me whether you love me. My heart cries out -for you with every beat. Must it be as the voice of one -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>calling into emptiness? Tell me that you return my love -and my life will be whole though it end to-night.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>The Little Nun’s face of cloistral paleness flushed -deeply like an alabaster vase into which is being poured -the red wine of the sacrament, but her crystalline eyes -neither fell nor turned aside.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I love you as much as you love me—and more,” she -answered softly.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Whereupon he would have caught her in passionate -arms, but that even as he reached this pinnacle of bliss it -came back to him how he was a doomed man; and he was -as one that is cast down from a height and stunned by the -fall.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Anon his voice returned, and sinking to his knee he -begged her in broken words to forgive the wrong he had -done her in gaining her love, that well knew himself to be -set aside for shame and dole and apart from the favor of -woman.</p> - -<p class='c012'>To which the Little Nun listened as it might be one of -God’s angels, bending over the golden bar of Heaven, -would listen to the wailing in the Pit. And so soon as -he paused she spoke with halting breath.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Alas, could anything so cruel happen? Ah, no! The -peace has held six years—the king believes it firm—and -every night and morning I will pray to Our Lady to -change your brother’s heart.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>As she said this, her face bloomed again with her hope. -But Valgard only bowed his head upon his hands and -groaned; for that albeit he had faith in the Virgin, he -knew the nature of Ogmund Monks-bane.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Soon after, constraining himself to hardness for her -sake, he rose and drew her away and continued to speak -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>with the dulness of one in great pain, schooling her how -she must put him from her heart and forget him.</p> - -<p class='c012'>But to that, when she had listened a while with widening -eyes, the Little Nun cried out piteously:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Alas! what then shall I do with my love? It came -into being before you called it—it cannot cease at your -bidding. Oh, if it be God’s will that we shall have a long -life together, then God’s will be done, but make not a -thwarted useless thing out of the love which He has permitted -me! Let me give it to you. Even though it be -too poor to ease you much, yet let me give it! How else -shall I find comfort?”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Suddenly, as their eyes met, she stretched out her -hands to him with a little sobbing cry that was half -piteous and half pitying. And so drew him back, <i>malgre</i> -his will, until he had put his arms about her where she -sat in the saddle above him, when she gathered his head -to her breast and cherished it there, with little soft wordless -sounds of comforting.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Thus, for that he was so well-nigh spent with struggling, -he leaned a while upon her love. And it heartened -him. And he lifted his head, thinking to set burning -lips to her sweet mouth.</p> - -<p class='c012'>But even as he thought to do this, something in himself -or her checked him, so that he kissed instead her -small ministering hands. Wherefore the Little Nun remained -unstartled and blessedly trustful, and raising her -eyes to the blue heavens of which they seemed so much -a part prayed softly to Our Dear Lady to keep true the -heart of Ogmund Monks-bane.</p> - -<p class='c012'>The fourth morning after this, the queen’s maiden -Adeleve was wedded to Valgard the Hostage. And that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>day at noon did our benignant king and his housewifely -queen make a marriage feast for the young pair that both -of them held dear. A marriage feast, well-a-way!</p> - -<p class='c012'>It happened to the sweet bride to come to it last and -alone, for that she had lingered above to pray once more -to her on whom she fixed her faith. Blissfully enough -she began the descent of the stairs that cored the massive -wall; but ere she reached the foot, where a door gave -upon the king’s hall, dead was her joy. For this is what -befell.</p> - -<p class='c012'>First, a quavering shriek as of an aged woman stabbed -by evil tidings; and after that a deathlike stillness. Then -the door opened and a girl staggered forth up the stairs, -her hands groping before her as her staring eyes had been -sightless, the while she moaned over and over the name -of her soldier lover.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Though she knew not why, little Adeleve shrank from -the groping hands and crept by them down the stairs. -Whither rose these words in a man’s loud voice:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“—but last week came a load of Danish pirates to -the shore, reeking of slaughter and gorged with Irish -spoil. And every night thereafter a band of them sat at -drink with the Monks-bane, stirring his fighting lust, -until——”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Here the voice was lost in the outburst of many voices, -till it overleapt them hoarsely to answer a question from -the king.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“The twoscore English soldiers I named to your -grace; besides all the nuns of Saint Helena’s that lie -stark in their blood——”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then once again the tumult rose, which now there -was no overleaping, and the bride cowering against the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>wall saw how all heads turned toward him who stood -opposite the king in the mockery of gay feasting clothes. -And suddenly one called down Christ’s curse on the race -of Ogmund Monks-bane, and a second echoed the cry. -Whereat the other Danish hostages—to show that their -hands were clean—took up the shout more fierce than -any, and smote Valgard so that he reeled under their -fists. And the aged woman whose son had been slain -flung her cup of wine in his face.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Thereafter the young wife saw only the figure of her -doomed lord upon whom it seemed that the curses descended -as a visible blight, withering to ghastliness his -fresh beauty and blasting his spirit so that he shrank -farther and farther from the damning looks and tongues -till he might no longer in any wise endure them, but calling -in agony upon his God strove with his hands to stop -his sight and his hearing. And when presently he -became aware of the Little Nun approaching, he cried -out to know whether she also was come to curse him, and -bent his arms around his head as against a blow.</p> - -<p class='c012'>But even as he did this, he met the anguished love in -her eyes and saw how she was laboring to make of her -fragile self a buckler for him against the press of crowding -bodies; whereupon he caught hold of her shoulder -and held to her as a man sinking into Hell might hold to -the robe of an angel. Until brutal hands thrust her one -way and dragged him the other.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Now the sentence was that he should die at sunrise, -unto which time the Church should have him to chasten. -And this sentence our king might not alter, for that he -was called the Truth-teller and had sworn to take the -atonement of life for any breach of the faith. But this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>much he granted, out of the pity and love he had toward -the young pair, that they might be together when the -end drew near. And stranger than betrothal or marriage -feast was this vigil of their wedding night!</p> - -<p class='c012'>Strange was all the world now to the Little Nun, since -the arch of her Heaven had fallen about her with the destruction -of its keystone, which was her faith in the Virgin. -As the white dove of the Ark hovering over a -changed earth whereon it might see no familiar foothold, -she hung falteringly on the threshold of the king’s chapel, -while the bells tolled the midnight hour, gazing at the -group of deathful men looming amid blended smoke and -starlight and torch-glare, at the pitiless shining figure of -Our Lady above the altar, at him who stood in grim endurance -before it, stripped to naked feet and a single garment -of horsehair.</p> - -<p class='c012'>When Valgard felt her eyes and turned his set face -toward her, she fluttered to him as the dove to the Ark. -But no longer to brood or minister; only to cling to him -in utter helpless woe of her helpless love. And when it -happened to her hand to touch his horsehair shirt where -it was wet with the blood of his atonement, she screamed -sharply and was like to go wild with weeping over him -and lamenting that she might not bear any of his punishment -on her own soft flesh. It was he that kneeling on -the stones gathered her to his breast and cherished her, -speaking to comfort her such words of resignation as no -priest’s scourge had drawn from him with his life-blood.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Lo! it was so that from the very helplessness of her -love he drew his best strength, that he no longer cared -anything at all for his own woe but only for lightening -hers. When she cried out piteously that she must always -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>fear Christ’s Mother now her whole life long, and all the -world saving him alone, he spoke with tenderest artfulness, -thus:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“For my sake then, heart beloved of my heart! Be -brave for my sake—because your tears are the only part -of my doom that is heavier than I can bear.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Which was the one plea in all the world that had a -meaning for her, so that she tried obediently to choke -down her sobs.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Yet which was the easier to bear, her courage or her -tears, it were hard to say. When the time of parting came -and she had suffered him to loosen her clinging hands and -fold them upon her breast and leave her, a little white and -shaking figure at the Virgin’s feet, it seemed to Valgard -looking back that death was easier to him than life, and he -pressed with mad haste upon those who went before him -to the door.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Now in this vill it was that the king’s chapel was hollowed -out of the wall of the king’s hall; wherefore the -opening of the door permitted Valgard and those surrounding -him to look down into the great dim room -wherein our king kept sorrowful vigil with his knights, -and to behold also a man that stood before the high-seat -with the mud and mire of the road yet besmirching him. -Upon whom Valgard’s glance fell amazedly for that he -knew him to be a Danish thrall and his brother’s trusted -slave, albeit the Monks-bane had used him so cruelly that -some of his features were lacking.</p> - -<p class='c012'>As the door opened, the thrall began speaking, thus, -in the dull voice of one who has neither wit nor will but -only dogged faithfulness:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“This is the message of Ogmund Monks-bane, that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>because as soon as he got into his senses again he disliked -the thought that he should cause the death of his brother -whom he loved, he sends you this atonement.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Saying which, he thrust his hand under his cloak and -drew therefrom, by the knotted yellow hair, a bloody -head. And the ashen face on the head was the face of -Ogmund Monks-bane.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Through stillness, the thrall spoke again. “Do you -accept this atonement, king?”</p> - -<p class='c012'>To whom, after a little time has passed, our king answered -in a strange voice: “I accept this atonement.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then, his task being accomplished, the thrall loosed -an awful discordant sound of grief; and raising the head -between his palms kissed it on either cheek, crying:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I slew you and I brought you hither because I have -never dared go against your will in anything, but even -you cannot hinder me from following you now!”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Wherewith he slew himself with the knife he had at -his belt. And the sound of his falling body broke the -spell, so that the bars of silence were let down and men’s -voices rushed in like lowing cattle.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Excepting only in the little chapel in the wall. There -Valgard stood as a man in a dream, gazing on the dead -face of his brother; while the Little Nun, clasping him -close, yet lifted awe-filled eyes to Our Lady that thus in -her own inscrutable way answered the prayer to keep -alive in the nature of an evil man its one good part.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Let us all give thanks that there is such a Lady, and -pray that she may harken to us in our need!</p> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span> -<img src='images/i_039.jpg' alt='' class='ig001'> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span> - <h2 class='c007'>AS THE NORNS WEAVE</h2> -</div> - -<div class='c013'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/di_041.jpg' width='138' alt=''> -</div><p class='drop-capi_8'> -There was a man named -Thorolf; he was -Thrain’s son, Eric the -White’s son, of Norway. -He kept house at Thorolfstede, -in the Rangrivervales -in Iceland. He -was an honorable man, and wealthy -in goods. His wife’s name was -Thorhilda, but she does not come -into the story for she died the year -after she was married to him. The name of their daughter -was Rodny. While she was yet in her childhood, it could -be seen that she was going to be fair of face, and her eyes -were as blue as the sea where it is deepest.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Lambi was the name of another man, a son of Grim -the Easterling. He dwelt in the east dales when he was -at home, but he was more often at Thorolf’s for the bond -of friendship was strong between them. He was a true-hearted -man, but somewhat soft-tempered. The name of -his son was Skapti, and he comes shortly into the story.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Now one spring while Rodny was still a child in -years, Thorolf took a sickness and died; but before he -breathed his last he spoke to Lambi and asked him to -see after his daughter and take in hand the care of her -goods, and Lambi gave his word to do that.</p> - -<p class='c012'><span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>So Thorolf died and was laid in a cairn in the Rangrivervales, -and Lambi came to live at Thorolfstede to -see after Rodny and her household. And Skapti, his -son, came with him. And so they sat for ten winters, and -nothing noteworthy happened.</p> - -<p class='c012'>At the end of that time Rodny was grown up, and the -fairest of women to look upon. Some said that she was -rather wilful in her temper, but for all that she was one -of the best loved of maidens. A fast friend she was, too, -and warm-hearted and generous; and the best proof of -that is that she never grudged Skapti, Lambi’s son, his -way about anything.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Skapti was this manner of man. He was so born -that one foot was withered and there was a hump on -his back, and he never waxed large of frame or sturdy. -But in his face he was the most handsome of men, and -his hair hung down in long curls of good color. It was -thought that his father’s rearing had not bettered his -disposition. In order that his spirit should not be humbled -by his deformity, Lambi praised his face and his -wit and all he did, and begged everyone else to do the -same; and the upshot of it was that Skapti thought there -was no man like himself for dash and keenness, and was -always bragging and boasting, and every one had to give -way to him or have his wrath. He had a shrewd mind, -but he was so spiteful that many were afraid of him.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Now a fourth man is named in the story. He was -called Hallvard, the son of Asgrim the White. He owned -a good homestead in the Laxriverdales, but he lived more -on his longship than on land for every spring he went -a-sea-roving. He was the most soldier-like of men, and -the best skilled in arms; tall in growth, too, and powerful -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>and well-knit. Some said that his wits were rather slow -because he lived so much where it was of most importance -that hands should be quick; still for all that he was -fair-spoken and bountiful, and better liked and more -humble than any other man.</p> - -<p class='c012'>It happened one spring that he rode to the Assembly, -with all his shipmates at his back. Many great chiefs -were there besides, but everyone said that no band was so -soldier-like as his; and a group of women that stood near -the booths of the Rangrivervale men turned their heads -to look after him; and one of them who knew him called -out merrily and bade him stop and talk to them.</p> - -<p class='c012'>He got red in his face at that, for his mates were -much given to gibes and jeering; still he would not refuse -her; so he rode back and got off his horse and -greeted her well, and told her all the news she wished to -hear. It is told about his dress that it was of red-scarlet -and very showy, and he had on his head a gilded helmet -that King Sigurd had given him, and his face was brown -from the sea-winds.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Now the maiden that stood next to the one that had -hailed him was Rodny, and no woman there was as fair -as she. She was so clad that she had on a kirtle of a rich -blue color that trailed behind her when she walked, and -a silver girdle around her waist. Hallvard could not -keep his eyes off her as he talked, until his tongue began -to blunder and say the same thing twice over. Rodny -kept her feelings better in hand; still it could be seen that -she listened eagerly to everything he said, and the color -trembled in her cheeks as the Northern Lights tremble -in the sky.</p> - -<p class='c012'>As soon as he got a chance to speak apart with the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>woman he knew, Hallvard asked her what maiden that -might be. The woman told him; and then she managed it -so that he should talk alone with Rodny, though the -others stood near and spoke among themselves. And -they talked together a long time; though sometimes there -were silences between them, but neither of them seemed -to mind that.</p> - -<p class='c012'>At last Hallvard said: “Many strange wonders have -I seen abroad, yet the thing which seems strangest to -me I see here in Iceland.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“What is that?” says Rodny.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“It is that a maid like you should be unwed.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Oh!” says Rodny.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Hallvard said: “It is easily seen that you would be -thrown away on any match you should make; yet that -would not hinder me from trying my luck if you thought -me good enough to ask for you.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>She was rather slow in answering that, but at last -she spoke in a well-behaved way and said there could be -no two minds about that since every one thought him a -man of the greatest mark.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I might be all that,” said Hallvard, “and still not be -at all to your mind. I should be glad if you would say -that you would have nothing in your heart against such -a bargain.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then Rodny could no longer keep herself altogether in -hand, and she began to laugh a little and said that he was -hard to deal with, and that perhaps if she should say that -she had nothing against the bargain, he might answer -that that was too bad because he had no mind to it. But -the end of her jesting was that she broke off without -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>finishing, for he got red in his face again, and it could be -seen that he was much in earnest.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I should have thought that the risk as to that lay all -on my side,” he said, “but now I will say right out that -my life will never seem good to me again unless I get you -to wife.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then Rodny answered him well and straightforwardly, -and said: “From what I have seen of you so -far, I think I could love you well; but you must see my -foster-father, Lambi, about it; though it will go as I -say in the end.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>After that they left off speaking together.</p> - -<p class='c012'>But the next day Hallvard came to Lambi’s booth, -and all his shipmates with him to show him honor, -though they had gibed much when they first heard what -he had it in mind to do.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Skapti sat in front of the booth entertaining himself -with the antics of a tumbling-girl, that cut capers -there while an old man played on a fiddle. The man’s -name was Kol, and his nickname was Fiddling Kol. -Jofried was the name of the girl, and she was Fiddling -Kol’s daughter. She had on a man’s kirtle, and she was -well-shaped and not ugly of face, though one could tell by -her mouth that she was determined in disposition. They -were vagabond folk, that went from house to house and -lodged where they could. Skapti always talked with -the girl because she had the greatest store of gossip at -her tongue’s end; while on her side it could be seen that -she set a value on every look he gave her.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Hallvard greeted Skapti kindly, and his mates did -the same, for when they saw his deformity they thought -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>that there was more than enough that was wanting in -his life; and Skapti took their greeting well because it -seemed to him that they could not but be envious of the -fairness of his face. And so they talked together -smoothly, for a while, and Skapti offered to give them -his help about their errand—whatever it might be—and -sent a man to call Lambi out, when he heard that that -was what they wanted; but he himself went back to his -sport with the tumbling-girl.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Lambi came out of the booth at once, and gave them -a good welcome. After that they fell to talking, and -Hallvard asked for Rodny, and added that he had spoken -to her about it and the match was not as far from her -mind as might have been expected.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Now Lambi had long had it at heart to wed Rodny to -his son, and there was no bargain that he would not have -been more willing to make than this one. And at the -same time he knew that it would be pulling an oar -against a strong current to go against Rodny’s will. So -he held his peace for a while, and after that he answered -in this way:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Every Spring since you have been able to stretch -your hand over a sword, Hallvard, you have fared abroad; -and for all that we in Iceland can tell, you may have -wooed a maiden in every land your ship has touched. -It is said that the sea’s own fickleness soaks into the -bones of them who live on her, and many a man has -done such things and been thought no less of. But with -Rodny I will not have it so, and these are the terms I lay -down. You shall sail abroad as you had the intention -to do, and there shall be no betrothal between you; but -if you think of her often enough while you are gone so -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>that four times during the summer you send a man out -to Iceland to greet her from you, then when you come -home in the Autumn the bargain shall be made. But if -you do not think of her that often, it is unlikely that she -would get any pleasure out of her love even if she were -wedded to you, and you shall not get her.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Hallvard said at once: “I agree to those terms. And -now let us take witnesses.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>So they stood up and shook hands, and the bargain -was struck; though Hallvard’s friends murmured among -themselves and said that such terms ought not to be laid -down for a man like Hallvard.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then Hallvard said: “I only make this condition—that -Rodny should give me her word not to betroth herself -to any other man while I am gone.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I have no fault to find with that,” said Lambi.</p> - -<p class='c012'>So he sent for Rodny, and she came thither, and with -her three women. She spoke to them all well and courteously; -and after that she sat down, and Lambi told her -all about the bargain and left nothing out.</p> - -<p class='c012'>It could be seen from her way that she thought the -terms far too strong. And when she heard what it was -that Hallvard wanted of her, she answered without waiting:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I will promise that, and more besides. I will promise -that when his ship comes to land in the Autumn, I -will come down half-way between my house and the -shore to meet him, that some honor may be done him, as -too much has not been shown so far.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Hallvard said that it was honor enough that he got -the right to woo her, still he would not fling back the -kindness she offered him; and they made a bargain about -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>that also. After that, they bade each other farewell, -and Hallvard and his friends rode away to their booth.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Now it must be told how Skapti wearied of his pastime -and came in and asked his father what it might be -that Hallvard wanted, and Lambi told him of the bargain -he had made.</p> - -<p class='c012'>At first it looked as Skapti could not believe it, and -then it seemed as if he would never leave off scolding.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Now,” he said, “it is proved true what I have long -suspected, that you are a doting old man that no longer -knows how to behave with sense, when you thus give -away to another man the woman that I have always had -it in my own mind to marry.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>So he went on, and made it known in every way that -he thought he had been wrongfully used.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then Lambi said: “You take it ill, kinsman, and -there is some excuse for you. But now this is to be -taken into consideration, that Rodny had set her heart -on the man, and his honor is great everywhere.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“His body is great,” said Skapti, “as big as a bear’s; -and he shall yet dance to my wit as a bear dances to a -willow pipe.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then they had many words about it, until they were -both wroth; and Lambi said:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“There is no use in troubling oneself about what is -done and over, but I see now that my rearing has made -you crooked in your temper as well, and limping in your -sense.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>After that he went away; and Skapti flew into a great -rage, so that there was no speaking to him; and he laid -saddle on a horse and rode without drawing rein until -he came to the booths of the Laxriverdale men.</p> - -<p class='c012'><span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>It happened that Hallvard and his friends were still -out of doors; and they were in a merry mood, and drank -and made jesting wishes about the bridegroom; and Hallvard -wore a joyful face, and took all their jibing blithely.</p> - -<p class='c012'>When Skapti rode up, Hallvard greeted him well and -asked him to get down and drink with them. But -Skapti began at once to talk in the most ill-tempered -way, and the end of his scolding was that he bade Hallvard -turn his steps and his thoughts away from Rodny -from that time henceforward because he had the intention -to wed her himself.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Now in the beginning of his speech it was so that -Hallvard looked at him and did not know what to make -of him. And in the middle of it, his temper got a little -tried. But when he came to the end, Hallvard burst -out laughing. And his friends began to laugh, one after -the other; and no one took further heed of Skapti, but -all went back to their drinking.</p> - -<p class='c012'>It is said that Skapti was so wroth, and had his temper -so little in hand, that he wept. Then he went away by -himself, aside from other men, and stayed so a long while. -After that he rode over the plain until he found Jofried, -the tumbling-girl. He talked long and low to her, and -no man knew what passed between them. But when -they stood up to part, Skapti said this out loud:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“So things shall take this turn, that she shall not -come down to meet him when his ship makes land next -Fall, nor shall he have courage enough to follow her up -in her hall. And then it will be put to proof whether or -not I am to be set aside and made game of.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then the tumbling-girl spoke so as to flatter him, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>and said that she had never heard a plan that promised -to work out better.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Skapti swelled out his chest and said: “Jofried, this is -how it is, that when I look at the clods around me it -seems as if it were given me to know their every weak -spot; and I declare with truth that I can take their life-threads -and weave them as the Norns weave, and my -judgments are no more to be spoken against than theirs!”</p> - -<p class='c012'>After that, Skapti rode home. But Jofried did as he -had bidden her and went down to the shore where Hallvard’s -ship lay, and prayed Hallvard to give her and her -father leave to fare abroad with him that they might -show their accomplishments to other audiences and increase -their goods.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Hallvard gave them leave; and now the story follows -the ship for a while.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Shortly after, they got a fair wind and sailed away to -sea. Hallvard stood by the steering-oar, but Jofried sat -on the deck at his feet. When they could no longer -see the land, Jofried began to weep much and bemoan -herself, so that Hallvard asked what was on her mind.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Jofried said: “I would give all I own that I had never -come hither; and it will stand me in little stead though I -get all the goods in Norway, if by going away I lose my -chance of Skapti’s love.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Hallvard laughed and said: “I did not know before -that Skapti got on so well with women. But tell me who -it is that you think is likely to rob you of his heart.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“It is Rodny, Thorolf’s daughter,” said Jofried. “He -has always looked upon her with eyes of love, but now I -can see by his manner that his love is at the harvest; and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>the likelihood is that they will be wedded before we get -back.” And as she said this, she wept.</p> - -<p class='c012'>But Hallvard looked as if he did not know whether -to laugh or get wroth, and at last he said: “I think -there is no need for this to look so big in your eyes, messmate. -Skapti sets too much store by himself to love -anyone who does not love him, and there is little danger -that Rodny will ever do that.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“But she will do it,” Jofried answered, “for he is the -most handsome man that men ever saw; and his hair is -as fine as silk; and there is so much of it that it hides -his lame back like a cloak of gold.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“He is a little crooked stick with a gilded head,” -says Hallvard.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“You can call him that if you want to,” said Jofried, -“but it only proves what I knew before, that you know -nothing at all about women; for with a woman, a gilded -head counts for more than a great clumsy body like a -dancing-bear’s.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Now it had happened to Hallvard, each time he came -before Rodny, to feel himself very big and clumsy and -out of place; so he got red in his face at that, and went -away to another part of the ship, and he and Jofried saw -little of each other for a time.</p> - -<p class='c012'>But when they had been out three weeks they came -to Norway, and sailed into the Bay there and made land -at the King’s Crag. And Hallvard went up to the town, -where some trading-booths were, and bought a good -gold finger-ring and sent it out to Rodny on a ship that -stood ready to sail. Jofried praised the ring much, and -Hallvard was so pleased at that that he answered her -eagerly and said:</p> - -<p class='c012'><span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>“It is no lie what you say of me, Jofried, that I know -little about women; yet this has occurred to me which -should also be borne in mind, that Rodny is different -from other maidens. I know it for true that she sets -great store by weapon-skill and deeds of might, and I -tell you for your comfort that she will never give herself -away to a man who spends his days kissing the maidservants -by the fire.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>But Jofried shook her head and answered: “That -may well be, master; and yet Rodny is a woman for all -that, and all women think alike. And the proof of that -is this, that although I am no more than a gangrel woman, -I have the same feelings as a maiden reared in a bower; -and to me as to them, all other men look like shambling -giants when Skapti, Lambi’s son, is by.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>In this manner she kept on speaking about Skapti’s -fairness until it seemed to Hallvard as if it could be no -otherwise than so; and he got wroth and said that if it -went as she foretold, Skapti would not be so handsome of -feature after he got through with him. And after that -he was very short with her for a while.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then they sailed from the Bay out into the open sea -again; and there they fell in with sea-rovers and a great -fight sprung up; and they got the victory, and much -goods. Among the spoil there was a necklace of fine -gold and the best workmanship; and Hallvard took that -for his share, and sent it out to Rodny by a trading-ship -that was shaping her course toward Iceland. But before -he sent it, he showed it to Jofried and said:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Do you not think that will get me some favor in her -eyes?”</p> - -<p class='c012'><span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>Jofried answered: “Good is the gift, but methinks -it would be still better if it were not dumb.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>He asked her what she meant by that, and she went on: -“I should think any one could see that when Rodny has -hung the necklace around her neck, she will think no -further about it; but Skapti will sit by her side and be -always speaking so as to flatter and gladden her, and the -end will be that he will have all her thoughts; for in the -whole of Iceland there is not his equal for a quick wit.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Now Hallvard knew himself for a slow-witted man, so -his heart went down at this; and thereafter he took no -pleasure in the gifts he sent. And from that day forth he -grew very silent, so that men noticed it.</p> - -<p class='c012'>At first no one could guess what was at the bottom of -it, but soon Jofried repeated everything that she had told -him about Skapti.</p> - -<p class='c012'>All spoke against it, in the beginning; but the end was -that they believed her. After that the matter was their -daily talk, when Hallvard was not by; and the more they -talked, the more wroth they became for his sake. At last -they went so far as to go before him, one after the other, -and beg him not to stop at the Rangrivervales as he had -intended, lest Rodny should break the tryst and make a -laughing-stock of them, but to hold his course north to -the Laxriverdales and send a man back from there to see -how the land lay.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Hallvard listened to them all without speaking, but it -was easy to see that each piece of advice left him more -sick at heart than before.</p> - -<p class='c012'>And now the days run on until the time comes to turn -their faces toward Iceland.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then one night when the shipmates were drinking -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>under the tents on the forecastle, Hallvard came among -them and said:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I have taken counsel with myself about what you -want of me; and though I will not sail past the Rangrivervales -as you wish, neither will I ask you to ride up to -the trysting-place, as was intended. But we will so manage -it that we come to land after sunset, and make a -night-camp on the shore; and there we will be that night -and the next day. And if it happens that during that -time Rodny sends anyone down to us with a bidding, we -will ride up to her hall and make the excuse that we could -not come before because we had much goods to see to; -but if she does not send any welcome down, then—when -we have camped on the shore one more night—we will -weigh anchor and sail away north.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>All said that was a better way than to keep the tryst -and run the risk of being laughed at. And now the story -goes back to Thorolfstede, and what happened there.</p> - -<p class='c012'>When Hallvard had been away six weeks, a ship came -out from Norway and ran into the Rangriver, and a man -that was on board came to Thorolfstede and greeted -Rodny from Hallvard and gave her the gold finger-ring -that Hallvard had sent. And Rodny was glad, and put -it on her hand where she could see it all the time that she -stood at her loom; and at night the hand that wore it -rested under her cheek.</p> - -<p class='c012'>But when the next month had worn away, and that -trading-ship came into the river which had on board the -necklace that Hallvard had taken from the sea-rovers, -Skapti went down to meet her, and sought out Hallvard’s -man and made him drunk and robbed him of the necklace -and threw it into the river. And when the man came into -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>his wits again and saw what had befallen him, he was so -frightened that he dared not come near Rodny at all, but -fled back to the ship and stayed there while she held her -course northward. And Skapti came home and told -Rodny that no greeting had been sent.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Rodny was rather cast down at first, for she had made -sure that the ship would have some word for her. Still -it was not long before she had thought of many good -reasons why Hallvard might have been hindered from -sending; and she looked at her ring more often than -before, and was soon light-hearted again. So another -month passes away.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then a third ship came out from Norway, and on her -was one of Hallvard’s men that had in his keeping for -Rodny a brooch of gold with four silver crosses hanging -from it. But Skapti went down to meet him, and then it -was the same story over again. The man leapt overboard -and swam to a ship that was just pulling out for -the east. But Skapti went home and told Rodny that no -greetings had come.</p> - -<p class='c012'>At that Rodny held her peace for a long while; and -once tears came into her eyes, and that was not her way. -But still, when Lambi spoke and said that it began to -look as if her lover had forgotten her, she answered -quickly and said:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“If he has forgotten me, it is in doing deeds that men -will praise; and so it may well be forgiven him. And -besides, it will not be long now before he remembers me -again.” And in this way she answered all who found -fault with him, and showed herself big-hearted in everything.</p> - -<p class='c012'>But when the Summer had worn away till it lacked -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>but five weeks of Winter, a fourth ship came out of the -east; and Rodny got no greetings that time either, for the -man that was bringing a gold arm-ring to her was in such -haste to take passage back again that he handed over his -charge to Skapti of his own free will, and rowed out to -another ship as fast as he could go. And Skapti threw -the gift into the sea, and told Rodny the same lie as -before.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then Rodny could no longer speak up for Hallvard, -but sat biting her lips in silence, when Lambi spoke -against him and said how much better it was to make -bargains with men whose lives she knew all about. Men -thought that this time her pride was put to a hard trial. -Yet she never spoke any ill words of Hallvard.</p> - -<p class='c012'>And now the time goes on until the last of the days -before winter comes. One day at even, Rodny’s shepherd -came galloping up to the door and said that Hallvard’s -ship had sailed into the river. Skapti and everyone -looked at Rodny; and first her face was as though it -were all blood, and then it was as white to look on as the -moon.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Skapti thought there was little risk, but that her temper -would jump the way he wanted it to, and yet to make -sure he spoke up sharp and quick and said:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Now Hallvard has forgotten much, but one thing I -hope he will remember, and that is that he has promised -to meet you half-way between your hall and the shore; -for you would get the greatest shame if you went down -and he was not there.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then Lambi said: “If you will lean on my counsel, -foster-daughter, you will call up your pride and stay at -home. Hallvard has broken agreements enough to set -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>you free, and more besides; and it is even as my son says, -that mocking tongues will not be wanting to shame you -if you keep a tryst that your lover has forgotten.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>But Rodny, when she had held her peace for a little, -answered them slowly and said: “It is true that Hallvard -has seemed to forget me, and that my pride has been -sorely tried; and it is no less true that if he gives me fresh -cause for anger, I may let my temper go as far as it will. -But now you both show how little you guess what love -is in a woman’s breast, or you would know that while -there is any chance at all that he may prove himself guiltless -of meaning disrespect toward me, I care no more -about mocking tongues than I do about the blowing of -the wind.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>After that she went away, and at first Skapti thought -matters had taken a bad turn. But shortly he saw that -it was unlikely that Hallvard would keep the tryst himself, -and that would become a fresh cause of strife -between them; and then he was merry again.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Now it must be told how Rodny rode the next morning -to the trysting-place, and Lambi and Skapti and ten -men with her. And when they got there, there was no -one to meet them.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“What did I tell you?” said Skapti.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“It is early yet,” replied Rodny; and so they sat for a -while.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then there came the noise of hoofs trampling over -brush. But it was only one of Rodny’s house-carles that -had taken horse and come after her to tell her that he had -just been up on a high hill that overlooked the river, and -there he had seen Hallvard’s men camping on the shore, -and taking no steps to get ready to ride, but lying about -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>on the sand and amusing themselves with the tumbling-girl.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Rodny made him tell it three times over, and then she -was so wroth that no one had ever seen any woman so -wroth before. She swung her horse about and was for -riding home without a word, when Hallvard came out of -the wood before her, red in his face and out of breath -because he had come on foot from the shore while his -mates thought him sleeping on the ship.</p> - -<p class='c012'>As soon as Skapti saw that, it seemed to him that he -had got into a luckless state; and he slipped behind a bush -and made off toward the shore to find Jofried and scold -her for her great falling-off of wit. But Hallvard went up -to Rodny and gave her a joyful greeting; and after a little -she welcomed him with both hands.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then he said: “I see that you dislike my tardiness, -and I want to beg off from your wrath; for it is the truth -that I came as fast as I could.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Rodny said: “But where are your friends, that you -come alone and unattended like a man of no honor?”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Hallvard seemed to find that hard to answer, and he -waited a while; but at last he said: “I will tell it just as -it is and not lie about it. I did not want my mates along -for fear that you would not keep faith with me, and I -should be put to shame before them. And now I see that -I have behaved like a great fool from the beginning; -though the reason is that it seemed so wondrous a thing -that you should love a man like me, that I could hardly -believe it when you were no longer before my eyes.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>At that Rodny was so well pleased that she did not -want him to see how much pleased she was, and kept her -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>eyes on her hands where they lay in his. But shortly he -spoke again, and then his voice was a little down-hearted.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Though I see,” said he, “that you did not like my -gifts, since you wear them neither on your neck nor your -breast nor your arm. And yet I had hoped that they -would please you a little.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Gifts!” said Rodny. Then he began to ask questions, -and it came out that she had never set eyes on the -pretty things.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Hallvard was so wroth that it looked for a while as -if some man would have to go down before him. But -Rodny took it in quite another way.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“It is to me as though I had got the three best gifts -in the world,” said she. “And I care not a whit what -became of the gold so long as you remembered to send it.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>With that, she slipped off her horse and put her arms -around Hallvard’s neck and kissed him; and thereafter -their love ran smoothly enough.</p> - -<p class='c012'>And now all that is left to tell is how Skapti came -down to the shore and began to scold Jofried, and she -answered in this way:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“No more of the blame for this lies on me than on -you; for it is proved by this that though you know much -of men’s weaknesses, you know nothing at all about the -strong parts of their natures. And now you may have -your choice of two things—either you shall take me to -wife and give me equal rights with yourself over your -goods, or I shall go to Hallvard and tell him everything -about this plan, and then you will have his wrath to bear, -and you know as well as I whether you would be able to -stand up under that.”</p> - -<p class='c012'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>Because he thought he knew enough of her to be sure -that she would do as she said if he did not give way to -her, Skapti took her to wife; though he thought the -choice a hard one. They went away into the east dales -to live on a homestead that Lambi gave them; and Jofried -stood up for her rights in word and deed.</p> - -<p class='c012'>And here we end the story of how the Norns wove.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span> -<img src='images/i_061.jpg' alt='' class='ig001'> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span> - <h2 class='c007'>HOW THOR RECOVERED HIS HAMMER</h2> -</div> -<h3 class='c014'>In Three Parts.</h3> - -<div class='c013'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/di_063.jpg' width='138' alt=''> -</div><p class='drop-capi_8'> -As I have told you before, -Bilskirner, the palace -of Thor the Strong-One, -was built in his kingdom -of Thrudvang, the -realm that lay beyond -the thunder-clouds. It -was the very largest palace that -was ever roofed over, for it had five -hundred and forty halls beneath its -silver dome; and it was so dazzling -bright that when people on earth caught a glimpse of it -through the clouds, they blinked and said they had seen -lightning. In a tremendous hall in the centre of it, Thor -spent most of his time when he was not away fighting -giants or attending assembly-meetings. There were -benches all around the walls for his followers; gleaming -weapons hung above them; a fire blazed on the golden -hearth; and in the middle of the line of seats the Strong-One -had his splendid shining throne or high-seat.</p> - -<p class='c012'>One would have supposed that such a bright place -would have been difficult to sleep in, yet here every night, -when the feasting was over, the members of the household -stretched themselves on the cushioned benches and -took their rest; and here, on this particular morning of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>which I am going to tell you, they all lay sleeping soundly—perhaps -even snoring, if the truth were known. Thor -leaned back in his high-seat, his red beard tossed up and -down by his deep breathing. Loki the Sly-One, who -was visiting him, sprawled unconscious among the cushions -beside him; even the fire was slumbering and only -roused now and then to wink a drowsy red eye down -among the embers.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Amid all this peace and comfort, Thor’s bushy brows -began to frown as though a bad dream were troubling -him. You know how proud he was of the hammer that -the dwarfs had made for him? He called it The Crusher -(Mjolner) because nothing could withstand a blow from -it; and always while he slept it stood on the floor leaning -against the arm of his seat, within easy reach of his -hand. Now he dreamed that Thrym, the giant king, had -stolen it and borne it away to his stronghold.</p> - -<p class='c012'>He awoke with a start and sat up and looked about -him. He was safe in his own hall, surrounded by his -own men. It was impossible that anything could have -happened. Yet—just to make sure—he put out his -hand and felt for The Crusher.</p> - -<p class='c012'>If you will believe me, it really was gone!</p> - -<p class='c012'>The Strong-One uttered such a shout that down on -the earth people thought they had heard a thunder-clap. -His hair and his beard rose and quivered like a million -tiny flames. He bent over and shook the sleeping Sly-One.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Mark, now, Loki, what I say! What no one knows -on earth or in high heaven—my hammer is stolen!”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Loki was instantly awake. He was a very handsome -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>youth and one of the cleverest of all the mighty beings -who lived above the clouds. Sometimes he was more -clever than honest, which is why I call him the Sly-One. -There came a time when he was so wicked that he -brought a terrible punishment upon himself. But just -now his shrewdness was of great use to Thor.</p> - -<p class='c012'>He answered as soon as he had heard about the dream, -“It is likely that you are right and that Thrym is the -thief. But it would be unadvisable for you to go to him. -You are so fiery that you would kill him before you had -learned anything. I will borrow the feather-dress of -Freyja the Lovely and do the errand for you.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I should be very thankful to you,” said Thor.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Hastening out, they harnessed to the chariot The-Goat-That-Gnashes-His-Teeth -(Tanngnjost) and The-Goat-That-Flashes-His-Teeth -(Tanngrisner) and drove -to Folkvang, where Freyja’s immense palace (Sessrymner) -stood. No mansion in the upper world had so many -seats for guests as hers; and she was as generous as she -was hospitable.</p> - -<p class='c012'>When Thor had told her why they had come, she answered -with the sweetest of smiles, “I would give you the -dress gladly though it were of gold. Though it were of -silver, I would give it to you instantly.” And she -ordered her attendants to bring it at once from the chest -in which it was stored.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Though it was neither of gold nor of silver, yet it was -very handsome. It was made of the white and brown -plumage of falcons and fitted Loki’s graceful body like a -glove.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I only hope no one will think me such a pretty bird -<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>that he will catch me and shut me in a cage,” the Sly-One -laughed, rustling his feathers as you have seen -canaries do after a bath.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then he spread his shining wings and flew out of the -window, over the world, on and on. By the time the goats -had brought Thor back again to Thrudvang, the magic -pinions had carried Loki into the Land of the Giants -(Jotunheim).</p> - -<p class='c012'>It would almost seem as if Thrym were expecting -him, for he had placed himself where he was very easy -to find—on a mound in front of the royal cavern. There -he sat sunning himself and braiding gold collars for his -greyhounds, while half a score of his horses nosed and -browsed around him. He was very, very large and very, -very old. His long beard and hair glittered like frost, and -short glistening hairs grew all over his face and his hands. -When Loki alighted before him he did not seem in the -least surprised, but looked up with a wicked grin.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“How fare the mighty ones? How fare the elves? -Why come you alone to Jotunheim?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Loki answered sternly, “Ill fare the mighty ones. -Ill fare the elves. Have you concealed the hammer of -Thor?”</p> - -<p class='c012'>The giant’s grin broadened until the mouth looked -like a wide crack across his face. It was evident that he -thought he had played a very clever trick. He answered -promptly, “I have concealed the hammer of Thor eight -lengths beneath the ground. No man brings it back -unless he gives me Freyja as my bride.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Freyja the Lovely the bride of such a hoary old monster! -Loki burst out laughing. But the giant only -turned his back upon him and began talking to his horses -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>and running his huge fingers through their snowy manes. -They were all of them as large as hail-clouds. It suddenly -occurred to Loki that if one of them should chance -to step upon him, there would be very little of him left.</p> - -<p class='c012'>There was nothing to do but carry the answer back to -Thor. So again he spread the shining wings, leaped into -the air, and flew back over the world to Thrudvang.</p> - -<h3 class='c014'>II</h3> -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c015'>Although he was not long kept waiting, Thor had -time to imagine all sorts of unpleasant things—even -to fancy that perhaps the Sly-One was playing another -of his tricks and would not return at all. The -instant Loki in the feather-dress appeared upon the -threshold, he called out sternly:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Have you succeeded in doing your errand? Then -give me the message before you sit down. What one -tells after he has had time to sit down and think up -fibs, is often of little value.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>As Loki happened to be acting honestly for once, he -felt somewhat aggrieved at this.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Well have I succeeded in doing my errand,” he answered; -“Thrym the King of Giants has your hammer. -No man brings it back unless he gives him Freyja as -bride.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Thor snorted so that his red beard streamed far out, -and down on the earth people thought they had seen the -fiery northern lights streak across the sky.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Is it to win her that he has made all this trouble? -Ride we to Freyja without delay.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>They mounted the chariot, and in an astonishingly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>short time the lightning-swift goats had drawn them to -Folkvang.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Freyja the Lovely sat in her high-seat playing with -her wonderful necklace, whose beads sparkled and flashed -like water-drops in the sun. When she heard wheels, she -guessed that the Strong-One was approaching and came -out into the courtyard to meet him.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I give you good greeting,” she said, smiling kindly -as Loki flew to her and dropped the feather-dress at her -feet.</p> - -<p class='c012'>But she did not smile so sweetly when Thor had -reined in the goats before her and told her of the giant’s -demand.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Dress yourself, Freyja, in bridal robes,” he finished, -“together we will ride to Jotunheim.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>The Lovely One straightened up so quickly that her -hand caught in her necklace and broke it into a shower -of sparkling balls.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Sooner will I die than put on bridal robes for such a -monster,” she declared.</p> - -<p class='c012'>The Strong-One looked at her in surprise. The hammer -was so important to him and to them all that he -thought any one ought to be willing to do anything to -recover it.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“It is likely that you will die if I do not get The -Crusher back,” he said at last. “If the giants should invade -the sky, I would have nothing to fight them with -and they could get the victory over us.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Freyja answered nothing whatever, but she put back -her beautiful shining hair from her beautiful rosy face -and looked at him sorrowfully. All at once it occurred to -Thor that she was much too lovely to be given to such a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>wicked old creature. He made only one more very faint -attempt.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I am told for certain that Thrym has got great -riches,” he said, “he has a herd of all-black oxen and all -his cows have gold horns.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then Freyja stamped her foot.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“I would be a love-sick maid indeed if with you I -would ride to Jotunheim!” she said severely. And with -that she left them and ran into the house—and I am not -sure that she did not close the door pretty hard behind -her.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Thor scratched his head thoughtfully.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Much goes worse than is expected,” he said at last. -“We will see now what advice my kinsmen have to -offer.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Again he puffed and snorted so that the trees on the -earth below were stirred and swayed as by a rushing -wind.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Certainly there is going to be a great storm,” the -earth-people said to each other. And as they heard the -chariot-wheels rumbling along above the clouds, they -added, “Hark! Do you hear the thunder?”</p> - -<p class='c012'>They must have thought it a very long storm for -before he stopped, Thor had driven to almost every palace -in the sky. Odin the All-wise Ruler, Balder the Bright, -and Heimdal the White One, Tyr, Brage, Vale—he -visited each of them. Soon they were all gathered together -at their meeting-place on the plains of Ida.</p> - -<p class='c012'>They consulted long and earnestly. At last Heimdal -the White One, who had the gift of fore-knowledge, gave -them this counsel:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“It is my advice that we play a trick upon the King -<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>of the Giants and allow him to believe that we have -done as he asked. We will dress Thor in bridal robes -and send him to Thrym.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>At this, loud laughter went up from the others. You -remember that Thor was not only stronger than any -man on earth, but he was also mightier than any being -in the sky. Imagine dressing him up for a beautiful -graceful woman!</p> - -<p class='c012'>“That is cleverly devised!” cried Loki. “With a -bridal veil will we hide the red beard, and Thrym shall -not know him until the Strong-One has got his hand on -his hammer. Then will he know him to his sorrow!”</p> - -<p class='c012'>They all laughed again; but the mighty Thor frowned -angrily.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Never will I submit to it,” he growled. “Every -living thing would mock at me, should I go dressed in -bridal robes.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Perhaps Loki wished to revenge himself on the -Strong-One for having spoken so sternly to him when -he first brought the message from Jotunheim. Now in -his turn he said sternly:</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Be silent, Thor. Stop such talk. Soon will the -giants build in the sky if you do not bring your hammer -back.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Because he knew this to be true, Thor could say -nothing more. He stood frowning and stamping and -growling in his beard while they brought Freyja’s jewels -and her beautiful robes to dress him in.</p> - -<p class='c012'>They put on him a very long gown that trailed about -his feet so that he was certain that it would trip him up -when he should try to walk. They hung sparkling necklaces -around his neck, and placed a bunch of jingling -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>keys at his belt to show that he was a good house-keeper. -Broad gold brooches they pinned on his breast, and then -they braided his red-gold hair into two beautiful wavy -braids.</p> - -<p class='c012'>How the Mighty-One did stamp and fume at all this! -And how the others laughed at him! The more they -laughed, the angrier he grew—and the angrier he became, -the funnier he looked in his bridal robes. The -whole vault of the sky echoed and re-echoed with their -mirth.</p> - -<p class='c012'>At last he was all dressed and they dropped the bridal -veil over his furious face.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then Loki said, with a slim grimace, that such a lovely -bride could not be allowed to travel without at least one -serving-maid. So he took the dress of one of Freyja’s -attendants and put it on himself. As he was young and -handsome and with no more beard than either you or -I, he made a very pretty waiting-damsel.</p> - -<p class='c012'>He got into the chariot beside Thor, the lightning-swift -goats were hitched to the car, and away they went -to Jotunheim.</p> - -<h3 class='c014'>III</h3> -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c015'>The chariot-wheels rumbled like thunder. The-Goat-That-Gnashes-His-Teeth -and The-Goat-That-Flashes-His-Teeth -struck out fiery sparks from their -gold-shod hoofs. So came Loki and the Strong-One into -Jotunheim.</p> - -<p class='c012'>While they were yet a long way off, Thrym heard -them coming and laughed exultantly.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>“Much wealth have I!</div> - <div class='line'>Many gifts have I!</div> - <div class='line'>Freyja, methinks, is all I lack!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c017'>he sang; then he called out to his followers, “Giants, -arise and spread the embroidered cloths over the benches. -Freyja comes to be my bride.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>The servants tumbled over each other in wild excitement. -Some covered the seats and the walls with embroidered -tapestries. Some strewed fresh straw upon -the floor. Others scoured the shields and brought in the -tables and set forth the massive golden dishes.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Just as twilight was falling, the chariot thundered into -the courtyard.</p> - -<p class='c012'>When he saw Freyja’s robes and Freyja’s jewels, it -never occurred to Thrym to doubt that it was really -Freyja under the veil. He took the bride’s hand and led -her to her seat, laughing exultantly and singing his boastful -song:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Much wealth have I!</div> - <div class='line'>Many gifts have I!</div> - <div class='line'>Freyja, methinks, was all I lacked!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c012'>Then he ordered the food to be brought in, and invited -every one to help him keep his wedding-feast.</p> - -<p class='c012'>When they began to eat, it was a wonder that Thor’s -appetite did not betray him the very first thing. Either -he was so hungry that he did not care what they thought, -or else he forgot that he was pretending to be a dainty -lady. Besides all the cheese and the curds and the honey, -he ate seven whole salmon and one whole ox, and after -that he drank three barrels of the sweet spicy mead. -Loki pinched him under the table as a sign for him to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>stop, but he only growled in his beard and ate one salmon -more.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Thrym’s eyes grew as big as milk-bowls.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Saw I never such a hungry bride!” he exclaimed, -pushing back to stare at her. “Saw I never a bride eat so -much! Saw I never a maid drink so much mead!”</p> - -<p class='c012'>At that, even Thor was a little alarmed, for if the -giant king should discover them before they got the -hammer, not only would their plan fail but they would -lose their lives into the bargain. He could think of nothing -to answer, however, so he sat silent. Lucky was it -for him that Loki always had his wits about him.</p> - -<p class='c012'>The Sly-One answered quickly, “Hungry is Freyja, -thirsty is Freyja, for nothing has she eaten or drunk for -eight days—so much did she long to come to Jotunheim.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Thrym’s look of surprise changed to one of complacency.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Is it so indeed!” he exclaimed, and finished his supper -very pleasantly.</p> - -<p class='c012'>But by and by he became so pleased with his bride -that he wanted to kiss her. Before Thor could hinder it, -he reached out his great hairy hand and pulled at the veil. -It slipped aside just enough to disclose Thor’s furious, -fiery eyes.</p> - -<p class='c012'>The giant king sprang back the whole length of the -hall.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Why are Freyja’s eyes so sharp?” he cried. “It -seems that fire burns in her eyes.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>By this time, the Strong-One was so angry that I -think he hardly cared what happened. Lucky was it for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>all the folk of the sky that Loki was there to answer -for him.</p> - -<p class='c012'>The Sly-One spoke up quickly, “Sharp are Freyja’s -eyes, fiery are Freyja’s eyes. She has not slept for -eight nights, so much did she long to come to Jotunheim.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Is it true indeed!” said Thrym, much flattered that -his bride had been so eager to come to him. And he -came back and sat down beside her and looked at her -affectionately.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Finally the time came for the giving of the bridal -gifts. An old sister of Thrym came and bowed low before -the bride.</p> - -<p class='c012'>“Give from your hand the golden rings if you desire -friendship of me,” she demanded, “if you desire friendship -of me—and love.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Because he was determined that he would never give -her anything but a blow, Thor answered nothing whatever. -Thrym feared that his bride was offended by the -questions he had asked, so he hastened to do something to -appease her.</p> - -<p class='c012'>He called to his servants, “Bring me the hammer to -please my bride. Place the hammer on the lap of the -maid. Wed us together in the name of Var.”</p> - -<p class='c012'>Thor’s heart laughed within him when he saw his -beloved hammer drawn out of its hiding-place and borne -toward him. But he sat as stiff as a stick. Until his -hand grasped it, there was still danger. Nearer they -came with it. Nearer—and all unsuspecting, they laid -it upon his knee.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Then at last Thrym learned how the cleverness of -the sky-people surpassed his cleverness. Thor’s mighty -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>hand closed upon the handle; he threw back the veil; he -leaped to his feet. His terrible eyes blazed upon them -as his arm flew back to strike.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Once! and Thrym fell dead at his feet. Twice! and -the old giantess lay beside her brother. Again and -again and again—until the whole race of giants were -felled like a forest of towering trees.</p> - -<p class='c012'>Thus came Odin’s son again by his hammer.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003'> -</div> -<div class='tnotes x-ebookmaker'> - -<div class='chapter ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - - <ol class='ol_1 c006'> - <li>Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling. - - </li> - <li>Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. - </li> - <li>All pages after p. <a href='#Page_13'>13</a> on have the same Cadet Blue border. 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