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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Olaf the Glorious, by Robert Leighton
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Olaf the Glorious
+       A Story of the Viking Age
+
+Author: Robert Leighton
+
+Posting Date: August 16, 2012 [EBook #9415]
+Release Date: December, 2005
+First Posted: September 30, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLAF THE GLORIOUS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Martin Robb
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+OLAF THE GLORIOUS A STORY OF THE VIKING AGE
+
+BY ROBERT LEIGHTON
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The following narrative is not so much a story as a biography. My hero
+is not an imaginary one; he was a real flesh and blood man who reigned
+as King of Norway just nine centuries ago. The main facts of his
+adventurous career--his boyhood of slavery in Esthonia, his life at the
+court of King Valdemar, his wanderings as a viking, the many battles he
+fought, his conversion to Christianity in England, and his ultimate
+return to his native land--are set forth in the various Icelandic sagas
+dealing with the period in which he lived. I have made free use of
+these old time records, and have added only such probable incidents as
+were necessary to give a continuous thread of interest to the
+narrative. These sagas, like the epics of Homer, were handed down from
+generation to generation by word of mouth, and they were not committed
+to writing until a long time after Olaf Triggvison's death, so that it
+is not easy to discriminate between the actual facts as they occurred
+and the mere exaggerated traditions which must surely have been added
+to the story of his life as it was told by the old saga men at their
+winter firesides. But in most instances the records corroborate each
+other very exactly, and it may be taken that the leading incidents of
+the story are historically true.
+
+The Icelandic sagas have very little to say concerning Olaf
+Triggvison's unsuccessful invasion of England, and for this part of the
+story I have gone for my facts to the English chronicles of the time,
+wherein frequent allusion to him is made under such names as Anlaf,
+Olave, and Olaff. The original treaty of peace drawn up between King
+Ethelred the Second and Olaf still exists to fix the date of the
+invasion, while the famous battle of Maldon, in which the Norse
+adventurer gained a victory over the East Anglians, is described at
+length by a nameless contemporary poet, whose "Death of Brihtnoth"
+remains as one of the finest of early English narrative poems, full of
+noble patriotism and primitive simplicity.
+
+I have given no dates throughout these pages, but for the convenience
+of readers who may wish for greater exactness it may be as well to
+state here that Olaf was born A.D. 963, that he started on his
+wanderings as a viking in the year 981, that the sea fight between the
+vikings of Jomsburg and the Norwegians took place in 986, and the
+battle of Maldon in the year 991. Olaf reigned only five years as King
+of Norway, being crowned in 995, and ending his reign with his death in
+the glorious defeat at Svold in the year 1000.
+
+ROBERT LEIGHTON.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I: THE FINDING OF OLAF
+
+
+It happened in the beginning of the summer that Sigurd Erikson
+journeyed north into Esthonia to gather the king's taxes and tribute.
+His business in due course brought him into a certain seaport that
+stood upon the shores of the great Gulf of Finland.
+
+He was a very handsome man, tall and strong, with long fair hair and
+clear blue eyes. There were many armed servants in his following, for
+he was a person of great consequence, and was held in high honour
+throughout the land.
+
+He rode across the marketplace and there alighted from his horse, and
+turned his eyes towards the sea. Before him stretched the rippling,
+sunlit bay with its wooded holms. A fleet of fishing boats was putting
+out with the flood tide, and some merchant vessels lay at anchor under
+shelter of the green headland.
+
+Nearer to the strand a long dragonship, with a tall gilded prow rising
+high above the deck tent, was moored against a bank of hewn rock that
+served as a wharf. At sight of the array of white shields along this
+vessel's bulwarks his eyes brightened, for he knew that she was a
+viking ship from his own birth land in distant Norway, and he was glad.
+Not often did it chance that he could hold speech with the bold
+warriors of the fiords.
+
+Close by the ship there was a noisy crowd of men and boys. He strode
+nearer to them, and heard the hoarse voices of the vikings calling out
+in loud praise of a feat that had been performed by someone in their
+midst. Sigurd joined the crowd, and saw a boy step out upon the
+vessel's narrow gangplank, and there, standing between the ship and the
+shore, begin to throw a knife high up into the sunny air, catching it
+as it fell.
+
+It seemed that the lad was of good station, for his clothing was of
+finely woven cloth, and there was a gold neckband to his kirtle, and
+his long black hair was well combed and curled. Thrice he threw up his
+glittering knife high above his head and deftly caught it again. But
+soon, thinking perhaps to excel those who had gone before him, he took
+a second knife from his belt, and juggled with them both with such
+skill that the shipmen watching him from under the awning swore by the
+hammer of Thor that the feat could never be surpassed.
+
+"Well done, well done!" they shouted. And the boys on the bank cried
+out, "Well done, Rekoni!"
+
+At this the youth put fuller strength into his arms and flung the
+knives yet higher into the air. But his ambition for the praise of the
+warriors was greater than his caution, for, in reaching forward to
+catch one of the weapons, he lost his balance and fell headlong into
+the deep green water beneath. And as he swam to shore the vikings
+laughed aloud, and some who had thought of giving him a reward put back
+their gold into their wallets and turned away.
+
+Now, very close to where Sigurd Erikson was there stood two boys, whose
+close cropped hair and dress of coarse white vadmal showed them to be
+slaves. One of them was a tall, gaunt youth, with pale thin cheeks and
+large sad eyes. He was fair of skin, and by this Sigurd knew that he
+was not an Esthonian. His companion seemed about twelve winters old,
+sturdy and broad backed, with very fair hair. His neck and bare strong
+arms were burnt by the sun to a ruddy brown. Sigurd could not see his
+face, and might not have noticed him had not the elder lad urged him
+forward, bidding him step upon the plank and show his skill.
+
+"Not I," said the younger, with an impatient toss of his cropped head.
+And he thrust his thumbs into his belt and drew back. "Too much have I
+already done in bidding Rekoni try the feat. Well is it for me that he
+is not hurt by his fall into the sea, else would his father's whip be
+about my back. Even as the matter stands, my master will surely stop my
+food for having left his sheep to stray upon the hills."
+
+"I had but wished to see you succeed where your master's son has
+failed," sighed the elder lad. And at this the boy turned round and
+said more softly:
+
+"Well, Thorgils, for your pleasure will I do it, and not for the
+vikings' praise. Lend me your dirk."
+
+So he took the knife from Thorgils' belt, and, leaving the crowd,
+walked boldly to the end of the gangplank. Here he rubbed the soles of
+his bare feet in the dust and then stepped to the middle of the narrow
+board.
+
+"Now what thinks this child that he can do?" cried one of the vikings.
+
+The boy turned sharply and looked at the man who had spoken. He was a
+tall, red bearded man, whose nose was flat against his scarred, bronzed
+face. At sight of him the boy drew back a pace as if in fear.
+
+"Ay. What thinks the babe that he can do?" echoed another of the
+warriors. But those who were nearer made no answer, for they saw that
+the boy was very agile and strong beyond his years.
+
+Sigurd watched him as he took his stand on the plank. The sunlight
+shone upon his fair young face. His clear blue eyes flashed like stars
+under his knitted brows. He ran his fingers over his short yellow hair,
+and then, turning with his back to the sun, flung one of his knives
+high up into the air. As it turned in its descent he flung a second
+knife, then caught the first and again threw it high--higher even than
+the vane on the ship's tall mast. He stood with his bare feet firmly
+gripping the plank, and his head thrown back, and his lithe, well
+balanced body swaying in regular movement with his arms. Then as the
+two gleaming weapons were well in play, rising and falling in quick
+succession, one of his hands went to his belt, and he drew yet a third
+knife and plied it in turn with the other two.
+
+At this there was a murmur of praise from both ship and shore, and the
+vikings declared that never before had they seen one so young display
+such skill. And all the while Sigurd Erikson kept his eyes upon the
+lad's glowing, upturned face.
+
+"Who is this child?" he asked of the tall youth at his side. But the
+sad eyed Thorgils paid no heed to the question, but only crept nearer
+to the end of the gangboard, and stood there earnestly watching. As he
+looked at the ship's bulwarks he caught sight of the man with the red
+beard and broken nose--the chief of the vikings,--and he cried out to
+his companion:
+
+"Enough, Ole, enough!"
+
+Then the boy caught his knives and thrust them one by one into his
+belt, and, turning shoreward, strode quickly down the plank and made
+his way through the cheering crowd, followed by Thorgils. Many of the
+vikings called him back with offers of reward, and Sigurd Erikson tried
+to arrest him as he passed. But the young slave only gave a careless
+laugh and ran swiftly away.
+
+Now it seemed that Sigurd had a mind to go after him. But as he was
+leaving the crowd he met a certain rich merchant of the town, and he
+said:
+
+"Tell me, Biorn, who is this yellow haired lad that has just proved
+himself so skilful at the knife feat? And whence came he into Esthonia?"
+
+The merchant shook his head and said:
+
+"He is a wild and wilful loon, hersir, and of no account to any man. As
+to his feat with the knives, had I my will I'd have it instant death to
+any thrall who should so much as touch a sharpened weapon."
+
+"By his looks I would judge him to be Norway born," said Sigurd.
+
+"That may well be," returned the merchant, "for it is true that he came
+with the west wind. It was I who bought him from the vikings, with
+another of his kind--one Thorgils, who is to this day my bond slave. I
+bought them in exchange for a good he goat from Klerkon Flatface. Very
+soon I found the younger lad was worthless. There was little that I
+could do with him; so I sold him to a dalesman named Reas, who gave me
+a very fine rain cloak for him; nor do I rue my bargain, for the cloak
+is still in use and the lad is scarcely of the value of his food and
+shelter."
+
+"How do men name the lad?" inquired Sigurd. "And whose son is he?"
+
+"Whose son he may be is no concern of mine," answered the merchant.
+"Some viking's brat, it may be; for he has the viking spirit in him,
+and the salt of the sea is in his veins. No landman can tame him. As to
+his name, if ever he had one, 'tis certain he has none now, and is only
+known as Reasthrall, for he is the thrall of Reas the bonder."
+
+"If it be that Reas will sell his thrall," said Sigurd, "then I would
+willingly buy the lad, and take him back with me into Holmgard as an
+offering to the Queen Allogia."
+
+"Think twice ere you act so unkindly towards the queen," said the
+merchant. "A goodlier gift for Allogia would surely be the jewelled
+brooch that I showed you yesternight; and you shall have it very cheap.
+The price is but twelve gold marks."
+
+But before Sigurd could reply a heavy hand was laid upon his shoulder,
+and a gruff voice called out his name. He turned and saw at his side
+the tall red bearded viking chief, whose broken nose and coarse scarred
+face were now shielded from the sun's rays by a wide hat made of dry
+reeds.
+
+"Well met, Hersir Sigurd!" said the warrior. "And what lordly business
+brings you north to the coast? 'Tis long since last we met--not since
+the yuletide feast at Holmgard, two winters back, when we had the horse
+fight. How fares the Flanders mare that won such glory at that time?"
+
+"A sickness killed her," answered Sigurd. "But I have a foal in
+training that will soon beat any horse in Holmgard; ay, even in Norway.
+So if you have a mind to see a good horse fight, come when you will
+with the best horses you can find. I wager you that mine will beat them
+all."
+
+"If I meet not my death before the end of the cruising season," said
+the viking, "then will I engage to bring you the best horse in all the
+Norseland to fight against." He looked among the crowd of boys that
+still loitered near the ship, and added--"Where has the youngster gone
+who stood just now upon the plank? He has in him the makings of a good
+war man. Such lads as he are scarce, and I would buy him if he be for
+sale."
+
+And then the merchant spoke.
+
+"Why," said he, addressing the viking, "'tis but six summers since that
+you sold that self same boy, here on this marketplace. 'Twas I who
+bought him from you, Klerkon. Have you forgotten the white haired he
+goat that you got from me?"
+
+"Life is too full for me to keep mind of such small events," answered
+Klerkon. "But since the lad is yours, what price do you now put upon
+him?"
+
+"Nay, he is no chattel of mine," said the merchant. "He is the thrall
+of goodman Reas, over in Rathsdale--a morning's walk from here. If you
+would deal with him a guide will soon be got to take you over the hill."
+
+"Young flesh will keep," returned the warrior. "I will buy the lad next
+time we come to Esthonia."
+
+Sigurd said: "It may be that ere that time he will already be sold,
+Jarl Klerkon; for it chances that I also have taken a fancy to him."
+
+"In that case," said the viking, "we may make him the stake to be
+fought for in our coming horse fight. And if my horse overcomes yours,
+then the lad shall be my prize, and I will make a viking of him."
+
+"And how if the victory be mine and not yours?" asked Sigurd.
+
+"You shall have value equal to the boy, be assured of that, hersir."
+
+"Agreed," said Sigurd. "And now, what news have you from west over sea?"
+
+"Ill news and good. There has fallen a great famine in Norway. In
+Thrandheim the folk are dying for lack of corn and fish, and in
+Halogaland the snow has lain over the valleys nigh until midsummer, so
+that all the livestock have been bound in stall and fed upon birch
+buds. Men lay the famine to the account of Gunnhild's sons, who are
+over greedy of money and deal hardly with the husbandmen. There is
+little peace in the land, for the kings are for ever quarrelling over
+their jointures; but it seems that Harald Greyfell is having the upper
+hand over his brothers. Little joy is there in ruling over a realm
+these days. I had rather be as I am, an honest sea rover."
+
+"Doubtless the viking life is, after all, the most joyful that a man
+can live," said Sigurd. "How fare our friends at Jomsburg?"
+
+"Right well, as always," answered Klerkon. "Sigvaldi has built himself
+a fine new dragonship of five and twenty seats, and the Jomsvikings now
+number in all seven times ten hundred men. They speak of making a sally
+across the sea to Angle land, where there is corn and ale in plenty,
+with fine clothes, good arms, and vessels of silver and gold to be won;
+for these Christian folk are very rich, and there is abundance of
+treasure in their churches, with many a golden bowl and well wrought
+drinking horn as booty for those who are bold enough to make the
+adventure."
+
+"But these Angles are good fighting men, I hear," said Sigurd. "And
+they have many well built ships."
+
+"They are ill matched against the vikings, with all their ships,"
+returned Klerkon. "And I am told that their king is a man of peace;
+Edgar the Peaceable, they name him. And talking of kings, how fares
+King Valdemar?"
+
+"As sunny as a summer's noon," answered Sigurd.
+
+"Come, then, on board my ship, and let us pledge to him in a full horn
+of mead," said the viking. And he drew Sigurd with him across the
+gangplank, and they went below and sat drinking until one of the
+shipmen standing on the vessel's lypting, or poop deck, sounded a
+shrill horn as a sign that the ship was about to leave the harbour.
+
+Then Sigurd came ashore and went about the town on the king's business,
+and he thought no more of the yellow haired slave boy until the evening
+time.
+
+It chanced then that he was again beside the sea.
+
+Down there on the shore he stood alone, idly watching the white winged
+seabirds--some floating in their own reflections on the calm pools of
+water left by the outgoing tide, others seeking food amid the green and
+crimson weeds that lay in bright patches on the rocks--and often he
+turned his eyes in the direction of the setting sun, where, in the mid
+sea, Jarl Klerkon's dragonship moved slowly outward, with her wet oars
+glistening in the rosy light.
+
+Suddenly from behind him there came a merry childish laugh, and he
+turned quickly round, and saw very near to him the white clothed slave
+boy of the gangplank. The lad was standing at the brink of a deep pool
+of seawater, and had, as it seemed, started a fleet of empty mussel
+shells to float upon the calm surface. He was dropping pebbles from his
+full hand into the water, to give movement to the tiny boats.
+
+Sigurd stepped quietly behind him, and then said:
+
+"Why do you thus set these shells to sail?"
+
+The boy looked up in surprise, and his blue eyes rested for a long time
+upon the tall strange man. Then he answered:
+
+"Because, hersir, they are my warships, setting out upon a viking
+cruise."
+
+At this Sigurd smiled.
+
+"It may be, my boy," said he, "that you will yourself command great
+ships of war in time to come."
+
+"That is what I should wish," said the boy, "for then I might take
+blood vengeance upon my enemies."
+
+"Not often do I hear one so young thus speak of enemies," said Sigurd.
+"What is your age?"
+
+"Ten winters."
+
+"And your name?"
+
+The boy looked up once more into the stranger's face, and at his large
+crested helmet of bronze and gold. He glanced, too, at the man's great
+sword and his cloak of rich blue cloth, and guessed rightly that he was
+of noble rank. There was a smile upon his lips, and his eyes were
+tender and kindly, winning confidence.
+
+"My name is Olaf," answered the boy.
+
+"Whose son?" asked Sigurd.
+
+At this question Olaf turned aside, threw his pebbles away into the
+water, and wiped his wet hands on his coarse kirtle. Then stepping
+nearer to the stranger he stood upright and said, almost in a whisper,
+as though fearing that even the seagulls might overhear him:
+
+"I am King Triggvi's son."
+
+Sigurd drew back with a little start.
+
+"King Triggvi's son!" he echoed in surprise. And then he looked yet
+more keenly into the boy's face, as if to seek some likeness there.
+
+"Even so," returned Olaf. "And what of that? Little good can it do me
+to be a king's son if I am also a slave, made to work hard for my daily
+portion of black bread and tough horse flesh. Triggvi is in Valhalla,
+with Harald Fairhair and the rest of them, and he cannot help me now.
+But Odin be thanked, he died not like a cow upon a bed of straw, but
+with sword in hand like a brave good man."
+
+"A brave good man in truth he was," said Sigurd. "But tell me, boy,
+what token have you to prove that you are indeed the child of Triggvi
+Olafson? You are but ten winters old, you say; and yet, as I reckon it,
+Triggvi was slain full ten winters back. How can I know the truth of
+what you tell?"
+
+"No token have I but my bare words," answered Olaf proudly.
+
+Sigurd caught him by the hand and led him up the beach to a ledge of
+rock, and sat him down before him, bidding him tell how it came about
+that he was here in bondage in a foreign land.
+
+So Olaf answered him thus:
+
+"I came into the world an orphan," said he, "and never heard my
+father's voice. But my mother bade me ever remember that I was a king's
+son, and to make myself worthy. Astrid was the name of my mother. She
+was the daughter of Erik Biodaskalli, who dwelt at Ofrestead, in the
+Uplands, a mighty man. Now, after the slaying of Triggvi, Queen Astrid
+was forced to fly from the realm of Viken, lest she too should fall
+into the hands of Gunnhild and her wicked sons and be slain. And she
+travelled as a fugitive through many lands. In her company was her
+foster father, Thoralf Loosebeard by name. He never departed from her,
+but always helped her and defended her wheresoever she went. There were
+many other trusty men in her train, so no harm came to her. And at last
+she took refuge on a certain islet in the middle of Rand's fiord, and
+lay hidden there for many days. On that islet I was born, and I am told
+that they sprinkled me with water and named me Olaf, after my father's
+father. There, through the summer tide she stayed in safety. But when
+the days grew short and the nights weary and long, and when the wintry
+weather came upon us, then she left her hiding place and set forth with
+her folk into the Uplands, travelling under the shelter of night. And
+after many hardships and dangers she came to Ofrestead, her father's
+dwelling, and there we abode through the winter.
+
+"Little do I remember of these matters, which befell while yet I was a
+babe in arms. This that I tell you was taught to me by Thorgils, my
+foster brother, who is the thrall of Biorn the merchant; and he can
+tell you more than I know, for he is older than I, and the son of our
+faithful Thoralf. Thorgils has said that when Gunnhild got tidings that
+I had come into the world she sent forth many armed messengers, and
+bade them fare into the Uplands in search of this son of King Triggvi,
+that they might prevent my growing up to manhood and claiming my
+father's realm. But in good time the friends of Erik were aware of the
+messengers; so Erik arrayed Astrid for departure, and gave her good
+guides, and sent her east--away into the Swede realm to one Hakon
+Gamle, a friend of his and a man of might, with whom we abode in all
+welcome for a long while."
+
+"And what then?" urged Sigurd. For the boy had paused, and had pulled a
+tangle of brown seaweed from the rock where he was sitting, and was
+cracking the little air bladders between his fingers.
+
+"Now it chanced," continued Olaf, "that even again Queen Gunnhild
+secretly learned our hiding place. So she sent a goodly company east to
+the Swede king with good gifts and fair words, asking that he might
+send Olaf Triggvison back with them into Norway, where Gunnhild would
+foster me, and bring me up as became a king's son. And the king sent to
+Ofrestead. But my mother Astrid knew that there was treachery in
+this--for in like manner had Gunnhild beguiled my father,--and she
+would by no means let me go into the care' of my father's murderers,
+and so Gunnhild's messengers went back empty handed.
+
+"By this time I was full three winters old and strong of limb, and my
+mother took me on board a trading ship that was eastward bound for
+Gardarike; for in that land her brother was a great man, and she knew
+that he would gladly succour us until I should be of an age to avenge
+my father's death and claim my rightful heritage."
+
+At these words Sigurd grew very grave, and he put his hand gently on
+Olaf's arm, and asked to know what ill had befallen Queen Astrid, and
+whether she had reached her journey's end.
+
+"Alas!" answered Olaf. "You ask me what I cannot tell. Would that I
+knew her to be still living! But never once have I seen her or heard
+tidings of her since the dread day when we were brought into this land
+and sold into bondage."
+
+As he spoke the lad looked sadly over the sea to where the viking ship
+was slowly drifting into the shadow of the holms. Sigurd's eyes dwelt
+upon him with curious intentness.
+
+"We set sail across the Eastern Sea," Olaf went on "and there were many
+merchants on our ship with great store of money and rich merchandise.
+And, as always, Thoralf and his son Thorgils were with us. Now,
+scarcely was our vessel beyond the sight of land when we were met by a
+great viking ship, that bore down quickly upon us, and attacked our
+seamen, first with arrows and stones, and then with spear and sword,
+and there was great fighting. So the vikings killed many of our people,
+and took our ship and all that was in it. When we had been made
+captives the rovers took and shared us among themselves as their bond
+slaves, and it befell that my mother and I were parted. An Esthonian
+named Klerkon Flatface got me as his portion, along with Thoralf and
+Thorgils. Klerkon deemed Thoralf over old for a thrall, and could not
+see any work in him, so he cruelly slew him before our eyes and cast
+his body into the sea. But he had us two lads away with him, and he
+sold us here in the marketplace in exchange for a white goat. Then,
+being companions in our misfortune, Thorgils and I swore foster
+brotherhood, and we took an oath in handshaking that when we grew
+strong enough we would go out upon the sea and take vengeance upon the
+man who had slain old faithful Thoralf."
+
+Sigurd pointed outward to the ship that was afar off upon the dim
+horizon.
+
+"Jarl Klerkon, of whom you speak," said he, "is now upon yonder ship."
+
+"And well do I know it," returned Olaf. "Today when I stood upon the
+vessel's gangplank I saw him standing on the lypting; and I knew him by
+the token that his nose was flat against his face. I had a mind to
+throw one of my knives at him, but there were over many of his men
+around, who would soon have overpowered me had I been so rash. And
+now," the boy added, as he glanced up at the darkening sky, "it is time
+that I go back to the hills to gather my master's sheep into the fold,
+for the night will be dark, and wolves will be about. Too long already
+have I tarried here."
+
+And before Sigurd could put out his hand to detain him Olaf had bounded
+up the rocks, and was soon lost to sight.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II: SIGURD ERIKSON.
+
+
+On the next morning, as the red sun rose above the mist capped hills of
+Rathsdale, Olaf was at work among his master's swine, cleaning out the
+styes and filling them with new straw. As he worked he asked himself
+who the tall man could be who had spoken with him last night upon the
+beach, and he began to regret that he had told so much, believing now
+that the stranger might be an enemy--perhaps even a spy of the wicked
+Queen Gunnhild, who had so often sought to add to her own security by
+clearing her path of all who had power to dispute her rights. Gunnhild
+was a very wily woman, and it might well be that she had secretly
+discovered the abiding place of the young son of King Triggvi, and that
+she had sent this man into Esthonia to entrap him.
+
+"Never again shall I be so free in telling my story to a stranger,"
+said Olaf to himself. "Thorgils was wise to counsel me to keep secret
+my kinship with Triggvi Olafson. When I am a man, and can fight my own
+battles, then it will be time enough to lay claim to my father's realm;
+and it may be that if I remain in thraldom till that time no one will
+guess who I am. As a thrall, then, I must work, even though that work
+be no better than the cleaning of my master's stables and pig
+styes--Get back, you greedy grunter!"
+
+This last command was addressed to a great bristly boar that brushed
+past the boy and made its way to the bed of new straw. Olaf caught the
+animal by its hind leg and struggled with it for a moment, until the
+boar was thrown heavily on its side, squealing and kicking furiously.
+Then three of the other pigs rushed forward, and one knocked against
+the lad with such force that he fell on his knees. This made him very
+angry, and he rose quickly to his feet and wrestled with the pigs,
+driving them back with blows of his clenched hands. But the boar was
+not easily turned. It stood stubbornly glaring at him with its small
+bloodshot eyes, then suddenly charged at him with a savage roar. Olaf
+leapt up, but too slowly, for his left foot was caught by the boar's
+high back, and he rolled over in the mire. And now his wrath got the
+better of him, and he leapt at the boar with a wild cry, seizing its
+ears in his two hands. Then they struggled together for many minutes,
+now rolling over, now breaking asunder and again returning to the
+charge. But at last Olaf gained the mastery, and his adversary lay
+panting and exhausted on the coveted straw. Olaf sat upon the animal's
+side with his bare foot upon its snout. His arm was bleeding, and there
+was a long scratch upon his cheek. But he did not heed his wounds, for
+he had conquered.
+
+As he sat thus a shadow moved across the yellow straw. He raised his
+eyes, and beheld the faces of two men, who looked down upon him from
+over the barrier of the pig sty. One of the men was his master, Reas.
+The other he quickly recognized as the tall man who had spoken with him
+last night. Sigurd Erikson was seated on a beautiful white horse, and
+he was arrayed as for a long journey.
+
+"This is the boy you mean," said Reas, as Olaf rose and went on with
+his work--"an ill favoured loon you will think him. But had I expected
+you I should have seen that he had been well washed and decently
+clothed. If you would have him for hard labour, however, he is at least
+strong, and I will warrant you that he is healthy, and has no bodily
+faults. It may be that he is a little wild and wilful, but you can tame
+him, and a sound flogging will do him no harm, as I have ofttimes
+found. What price do you offer for him, hersir?"
+
+Olaf looked up in anxious surprise, wondering if in truth the stranger
+had come to buy him, so that he might carry him off to the wicked Queen
+Gunnhild.
+
+"I will give you two silver marks for him," said Sigurd, "and that is
+the value of a full grown man slave."
+
+Reas demurred, looking at Olaf as if regretting that the lad was not
+more presentable.
+
+"No," he said at last. "You will not find such a thrall as he in every
+day's march. If he were but a little cleaner you would see that he is a
+very pretty boy. Look at his eyes--keen as a young snake's! Why, no
+woman's eyes are more beautiful! Look at his skin, there where his
+kirtle is torn. Is it not fair? And he is skilled in many feats. My own
+son Rekoni is not more clever than he. He can run for half a day
+without being wearied. He can climb the highest pine tree in
+Rathsdale--as he did last seed time to harry a bluejay's nest; and no
+seamew can swim more lightly on the water."
+
+"As to his climbing," said Sigurd, with a curious look in his blue
+eyes, "I do not doubt that he will some day climb much higher than you
+list. But swimming is of little avail where there is no sea. And if he
+runs so well there is all the more danger of his running away. I think
+you will be well paid if I give you two silver marks. But since you set
+so high a value on him for his beauty and his skill, then I give you in
+addition this little ring of gold for your good wife's wearing. What
+say you?"
+
+"It is a bargain!" said Reas, eagerly grasping the ring that Sigurd
+took from his belt pouch; "and you may take the lad at once."
+
+Olaf drew back to the far corner of the pig sty. There was a frown on
+his brow, and his blue eyes flashed in quick anger.
+
+"I will not go!" he said firmly, and he made a rapid movement to leap
+over the barrier; but he forgot the wound in his arm, and the pain of
+it made him so awkward that Reas caught him by his wrists and held him
+there until Sigurd, springing from his horse, came and put an iron
+chain round the lad's neck. Then the two men forcibly drew him to the
+gate of the pig sty. So, when Reas had opened the gate, Sigurd, who was
+a very powerful man, caught Olaf in his arms and carried him to the
+horse's side, and, holding the end of the chain, mounted. Olaf
+struggled a little to free himself, but finding the chain secure about
+his neck, resolved to await a better chance of escape. Then Sigurd gave
+Reas the two silver marks in payment of his purchase, and urged his
+horse to a quick walk, dragging Olaf behind him.
+
+Very soon Reas and his straggling farmstead were hidden from sight
+behind a clump of tall pine trees. Then Sigurd halted at the side of a
+little stream.
+
+"You have done well," he said to Olaf, "in thus coming away with
+seeming unwillingness. But do not suppose that I value you so lightly
+as did your late master, who thinks, foolish man, that you are no
+better than many another bond slave whom he might buy in the
+marketplace. Had Reas exacted an hundred gold marks instead of two
+paltry marks of silver, I should willingly have given him them."
+
+"And why?" asked Olaf with a frown. "Is it that you think to take me
+west to Norway, and cast me like a young goat among wolves? I had
+thought when you so blandly spoke to me yesternight that you were a man
+of honour. Haply Queen Gunnhild would reward you well if you should
+deliver me into her clutches. But this you shall never do!"
+
+"Rash boy," said Sigurd as he stroked his horse's mane, "do you not
+recognize a friend when you meet one? Or is friendship so strange to
+you that you take all men to be your enemies?"
+
+"Enmity comes so often in the guise of friendship," said Olaf, "that it
+is well to be wary. I had been wiser last night if I had refused to
+speak with you."
+
+"The time will soon come," said Sigurd, "when you will not be sorry
+that you so spoke. But I will warn you that it may go very ill with you
+if you tell your story to all strangers as you told it to me."
+
+Olaf was perplexed. He looked into the man's face and saw only kindness
+there, and yet there was something very suspicious in the stranger's
+eagerness to possess him.
+
+"If you are indeed my friend," said the boy, "why do you keep this
+chain about my neck? Why do you drag me after you like a dog?"
+
+"Because I am not willing that you should escape me," answered Sigurd.
+"But if you will shake my hand and tell me that you will not run away,
+then I will take off your chain and you shall ride in front of me on my
+horse. You are King Triggvi's son, and I know that, once spoken, your
+word will be sacred."
+
+Now, Olaf had never taken any man's hand since he swore foster
+brotherhood with Thorgils Thoralf son. He looked upon handshaking as a
+most solemn covenant, only to be made when great matters were at stake.
+Also, he had never yet told or acted a lie, or been false to anyone. He
+answered promptly:
+
+"No, I will not take your hand. Neither will I give you my word that I
+shall not escape from you very soon. You may keep the chain about my
+neck. It is more easily broken than my promise."
+
+Sigurd looked at the lad and smiled.
+
+"I think," he said, "that I would admire you even more if you were a
+little cleaner. Here is a stream of water. Get in and wash yourself."
+
+"I cannot take off my clothes without removing the chain," said Olaf,
+"and if the chain be removed I shall run away to where even your horse
+cannot follow me. But if you will give me one boon I will promise you
+that I will wash myself clean and then come back to the chain."
+
+"What is your boon?" asked Sigurd.
+
+"It is," said Olaf, "that since I am now your lawful thrall, and must
+go with you wheresoever you wish, you will go to Biorn the merchant and
+buy from him my foster brother Thorgils."
+
+Sigurd leapt from his horse and at once unfastened the chain from
+Olaf's neck, and even helped him to draw off his kirtle and woollen
+sark. And when Olaf stood before him naked, Sigurd drew back amazed at
+the pure fairness of his skin, the firmness of his well knitted
+muscles, and the perfect beauty of his form.
+
+In the stream near which they had halted there was a deep, clear pool
+of water, with a high cascade tumbling into it in creamy foam. Olaf ran
+lightly over the mossy boulders and plunged into the pool, as though he
+knew it well. Sigurd watched him rolling and splashing there in
+childish delight. Sometimes the boy seemed lost in the brown depths of
+the water, but soon his white body would be seen gliding smoothly along
+under the surface, and then emerging amid the spray of the waterfall,
+where the shafts of sunlight made a rainbow arc. And at last Olaf came
+out and ran swiftly backward and forward on the grassy level until he
+was dry. Then returning to his new master he took up his woollen sark.
+But his kirtle was gone.
+
+Sigurd said: "I have thrown it away, for it is not well that a king's
+son should wear a garment that is sullied by the marks of slavery."
+
+He took off from his own shoulders a riding cloak of scarlet cloth and
+added, "Take this cloak and wear it. And when we reach the town I will
+buy you more fitting clothes, with sandals for your feet, and a cap to
+shield your head from the sun."
+
+Olaf blushed, and took the cloak and put it over him, saying nothing.
+Then he caught up an end of the chain and signed to his master to
+fasten it about his neck. Signed fastened it and then remounted his
+horse.
+
+They had gone a little distance seaward down the dale when they were
+met by three armed horsemen, who seemed to have been waiting for them.
+Sigurd gave Olaf into their keeping, bidding them guard him well, and
+himself rode on in advance. Soon from the top of a hill they came in
+sight of the blue sea, and then the little town with its wooden huts
+nestling at the foot of the cliffs.
+
+When they entered the town, two of Sigurd's servants took Olaf with
+them to the house of a certain merchant, where they gave him some
+roasted eggs and wheaten bread, and there they kept him until after
+noontide, never speaking to him, but only watching him while they
+played countless games of chess and drank many horns of ale.
+
+Now Olaf, as he sat on the floor, chained to the door post, set to
+wondering where his new master intended taking him to, and he could
+think of no likely destination but Norway. Why else should this man
+have bought him but to deliver him to Gunnhild? So thereupon he began
+to question how he could escape. And he determined in his mind very
+quickly, that when they were on the sea he would free himself from his
+chain and jump overboard and swim to land. But then came the thought
+that if he did this he would be quite alone in the world, and no one
+would ever believe him if he told them that he was the son of Triggvi
+Olafson, and perhaps he would again be taken into slavery. If Thorgils
+were with him they might do very well together, because Thorgils was
+full of the world's wisdom, and could by his wit earn food and shelter
+until they were both old enough and skilled enough to join some viking
+ship and win renown and power. But if Thorgils was to be left behind in
+Esthonia then it would not be so easy. Nothing could be done without
+Thorgils. So then Olaf thought it would be much wiser in him to try to
+escape at once, before he should be taken on board ship.
+
+The chain was tight about his neck and it was fastened behind, so that
+he could not loosen it without arousing the men's suspicions by the
+noise it would make. He looked at the other end of it, and saw it was
+so fastened that he might easily undo it. Little by little he crept
+nearer to the post as the men went on with their game. Before he could
+do more, however, there was the sound of horse's feet outside. The two
+men sprang up from their seats. One of them went to the door and
+presently returned with a bundle of clothes, which he threw down on the
+floor, bidding Olaf dress himself. Olaf saw at once that the garments
+were of very fine woven cloth, and he wondered much. Even his old
+master's son Rekoni had never worn such rich attire as this, and it was
+passing strange that he, a bond slave, should be told to clothe himself
+in such finery.
+
+He was dressing himself--albeit with great trouble, for the things were
+strange to him who had hitherto worn naught but a poor slave's
+kirtle--when a shrill horn was sounded from without. Then one of the
+men came and helped him to lace his sandals and to don his cloak, and
+hurried him out into the courtyard. Here were three horses waiting. The
+men pointed to one of them, a shaggy brown pony, and told Olaf to mount.
+
+"I cannot ride," said the boy.
+
+"You will be able to ride long before you reach our journey's end,"
+returned the man. "And, lest you should be afraid of falling off, you
+will be tied with strong ropes to the horse's back."
+
+"I had rather walk," objected Olaf.
+
+"Slaves must obey their masters," said the man; and he took hold of the
+boy to help him to mount. But Olaf drew quickly aside with a flash of
+rebellion in his eyes.
+
+Now at that moment a company of horsemen came in sight, led by Sigurd
+Erikson, and followed by many mules that were laden with bags of food
+and merchandise. All the men were well armed with swords and spears,
+bows and arrows. The sight of so many horses at once showed Olaf that
+the journey, whatever its destination, was to be made by land. As they
+came nearer and halted, his eyes quickly searched among the men for
+Thorgils Thoralfson. Yes, there indeed was his foster brother, mounted
+on one of the pack mules, with the sunlight falling on his white kirtle
+and downbent head! Then Olaf grew calm, for his master had kept his
+promise, and it mattered little where he was to be taken now that
+Thorgils was to be with him in his bondage. Sometime--not today,
+perhaps,--they would have a chance of speaking together and of
+contriving an escape.
+
+Sigurd, seated on his beautiful white horse, looked like a king
+surrounded by his bodyguard. He watched Olaf springing on the pony's
+back, and saw the men securing the boy with ropes. One of the men took
+the end of the chain, while the other held the pony's halter; and thus,
+with a mounted guard on each side of him, the young slave was led out
+through the gates.
+
+Very soon the little town in which he had lived in bondage for seven
+long years, and the sea that he loved so well, were left far behind.
+Sigurd and his followers rode southward over the hills, and then
+through long dreary dales, that were strewn with large boulder stones
+that made travelling very difficult. There was only a narrow horse
+track to guide them, and soon even this was lost in the rank herbage,
+and the land became a wild desolate waste without sign of human
+dwelling, but only the bare rugged hills, with here and there a thread
+of water streaming down them into the lower land. Olaf began to feel
+very weary, and the jolting of the pony over the rough ground became
+painful to his untrained limbs. But at last the hot sun sank in a blaze
+of gold, and the first day's journey came to an end.
+
+A halt was made within the shelter of a vast forest of pine trees, at
+the side of a wide, deep stream. Here the horses and mules were
+unburdened and allowed to wander, with dogs to watch them lest they
+strayed too far. Some of the men then set to raising tents, others
+gathered cones and dry twigs to build a fire, while two mounted guard
+over their master's moneybags. When all was ready, food and drink were
+served round to all alike.
+
+At nightfall, Olaf and Thorgils, still chained, were put to sleep on a
+bed of dry ferns. Near them was another slave, a young man who seemed
+to be of a foreign land. They watched him silently until he was asleep,
+then as they lay there with the stars shining down upon them through
+the dark tree branches, they questioned one the other concerning what
+had happened to them that day. Olaf asked Thorgils if he had heard the
+name of their new master.
+
+"No," answered Thorgils. "Nor can I guess why it is that he has bought
+us. All that I know is that he is a Norseman, and that he is very rich."
+
+"I can only think," said Olaf, "that he intends some treachery by us,
+and that he means to take us west over sea and deliver us into the
+hands of Gunnhild's sons."
+
+"There is little cause to fear such a thing," said Thorgils. "To him we
+are but as any other slaves that he might buy in the marketplace, and I
+think he has only chosen us because we are of his own country. Had he
+discovered that you were your father's son he might indeed design to
+take us to Norway. But that is not possible. There are none but our two
+selves in all Esthonia who know that you are Olaf Triggvison, and this
+man could not by any means have discovered it."
+
+Olaf was silent for many moments, then at last he said:
+
+"Thorgils, I cannot deceive you. This man knows full well whose son I
+am, and it was I who told him."
+
+Thorgils drew in his breath, as if he had received a blow.
+
+"You told him?" he cried. "Oh, rash that you are! Have I not always
+bidden you keep this secret close in your heart? What need was there to
+tell your story to the first inquiring stranger who crossed your path?
+You are over ready with your tongue, and now, alas! our misfortunes
+must only be greater than before."
+
+"He spoke kindly to me," explained Olaf, "and I could not refuse to
+answer him when he asked me how I came to be a bond slave. I little
+thought that he was an enemy."
+
+"You are unskilled in the knowledge of men, Ole," returned Thorgils.
+"There is a look in his eyes that might soon have told you that there
+is evil in his heart, and such smooth tongued men as he are not to be
+trusted. But there is one good thing that your thoughtlessness has
+done: it has brought us again under one master, so it will go ill if,
+working together, we cannot contrive to run away, and join some viking
+ship."
+
+"That will not be easy if our new master should take us to an inland
+place," said Olaf. "None of his men have the marks of the sea upon
+them; they are landmen."
+
+Thorgils glanced up into the sky and searched for the polar star.
+
+"We are journeying southward," he said presently.
+
+"And what country lies to the south?" asked Olaf.
+
+Thorgils could not tell. But he remembered that on a time some
+merchants had come to the coast from a great city in the south called
+Mikligard--which was the Norseman's name for Constantinople,--and he
+guessed that that might be their journey's end.
+
+Then Olaf crept nearer to their sleeping companion and wakened him.
+
+"Tell me," he asked, "who is this man, our master, and whither is he
+taking us?"
+
+"I cannot tell," answered the youth. "It is but three days since that
+he bought me, and I can ill understand the tongue these men speak, for
+I am not of this land. My home is far across the seas."
+
+"In what realm?" asked Thorgils.
+
+"In England."
+
+"That must be far away indeed," said Olaf, "for never have I heard of
+such a land."
+
+"It is an island, out across the Western Sea," explained Thorgils;
+"often have I heard it named. In that same land it was that King Erik
+Bloodaxe lived and died. Many vikings out of Norway have crossed the
+seas for the sake of the wealth they can win from the Angles. And if I
+were a viking it is to England I would steer my course."
+
+"Gladly would I go with you," said the English youth; "ay, even now, if
+we could but escape. But it seems that we are journeying away from the
+seacoast, and there is little hope that we can win our way on board a
+ship."
+
+"There is hope enough if we do not delay our escape," returned
+Thorgils, looking out to where the campfires burned. He was silent for
+many minutes, then, laying his hand on the stranger's arm, he asked:
+
+"What name have you?"
+
+"Egbert," the lad replied.
+
+"And how came it," inquired Thorgils, "that you were brought into
+Esthonia?"
+
+Egbert then told his story. He was born, he said, in Northumberland.
+His father, a wealthy armourer and silversmith, had been slain by one
+of the Northmen who had made a great settlement in that part of the
+country, and his mother, whose name was Edith, had then wedded the man
+who had made her a widow. The man was named Grim, and he was a warrior
+in the service of Erik Bloodaxe, the ruler in those parts. On the death
+of King Erik, Grim and many of the Norsemen went back to Norway in the
+train of Queen Gunnhild and Erik's sons, and with him he took his wife
+and young Egbert. Edith did not live to reach Norway, and Grim,
+unwilling to be burdened with her son, had sold Egbert into slavery.
+For ten years the boy had suffered in bondage under different masters,
+the last of whom--Klerkon Flatface--had brought him into Esthonia.
+
+"My one wish during all these years," said Egbert, "has been to return
+to England, where the people are Christian, and do not worship your
+heathen gods. Many times I have tried to escape, but always without
+success; for I have had no companions, and it is not easy for one so
+young as I am to make his way alone through foreign lands."
+
+"What is your age?" Olaf inquired.
+
+"Fifteen summers," answered Egbert.
+
+Thorgils stood up and leaned his hand against the trunk of a tree,
+looking down at his two companions.
+
+"I think," said he, "that it would be a very good thing if we three
+should run away from this new master of ours--now, while the darkness
+lasts,--and, keeping in company, try to get back to the coast. There we
+might take possession of a small sailboat, and so make our way over sea
+to the land of the Angles. What say you, Ole?"
+
+Olaf was silent for a while. At last he said:
+
+"It were much wiser in us to wait until we are old enough to fight our
+way in the world."
+
+"And you will not try to escape?" asked Thorgils.
+
+"No," answered Olaf firmly. "We have a good master. Why should we leave
+him?"
+
+"It is because he has given you that fine cloak that you think him
+good," returned Thorgils tauntingly; "but, believe me, he has his
+private reasons for so bribing you. I can well guess what he means to
+do with you, and I tell you that you will surely rue it if you do not
+escape while we may; for, if men bear their true nature in their faces,
+then this man who has bought us has an evil heart."
+
+"And what would it avail if we were to escape?" asked Olaf. "Boys as we
+are, we should be of little use in the world, I think."
+
+"You are afraid!" cried Thorgils.
+
+"Yes," echoed Egbert, "you are afraid." Then turning to Thorgils, he
+added: "But why should we urge the lad against his will? He is but a
+child, and would only be a burden to us. Let us leave him and go our
+ways without him."
+
+"You are not of our folk, Egbert," returned Thorgils, flinging himself
+down upon the dry leaves, "and you do not know what the vow of foster
+brotherhood means. You ask me to do that which I would sooner die than
+do. Ole and I will never part until death parts us. And if either
+should be slain, then the other will avenge his death. If Ole wills to
+remain in slavery until he is old and gray, then I will always be his
+companion in bondage. But to escape without him, that will I never do!"
+
+Nothing more was said. The three boys, weary after their long journey,
+curled themselves up to sleep.
+
+So soundly did young Olaf sleep, that at midnight, when a man's hands
+unbound the chain about his neck he was not awakened. Very cautiously
+the man took him up in his strong arms, and carried him away among the
+dark shadows of the trees to a part of the forest far removed from the
+campfires. And at last he laid the lad down on a bed of dry reeds and
+moss at the side of the stream, where the bright moon, shining through
+an open glade, shed its light upon his fair round face and his short
+gold hair. There the man stood over him, watching him as he dreamed his
+childish dreams. Then he knelt down and gently drew aside the lad's
+cloak and opened the front of his kirtle, so that the moonlight fell
+upon the white skin of his throat and breast.
+
+Suddenly Olaf awoke and saw the dark figure bending over him.
+
+"Thorgils, Thorgils!" he cried in alarm.
+
+"Be silent!" commanded Sigurd Erikson, gripping the boy's arm. "No harm
+will come to you."
+
+Olaf struggled to his feet and was about to take to flight, but his
+master's firm grip held him.
+
+"Silly child!" muttered Sigurd. "Why do you fear me? Have I not already
+told you that I am your friend?"
+
+"I do not trust your friendship," answered Olaf angrily, remembering
+Thorgil's warning. "And now I believe that you have brought me here
+only that you may secretly put me to death."
+
+"I have brought you here for your own good, my child," said Sigurd
+softly; "and I give you my solemn word that no man, whosoever he be,
+shall do you any injury while I live to be your protector. Be silent,
+and listen to me."
+
+Olaf grew calmer.
+
+"Yester eve," said Sigurd, "when you told me that you were the son of
+King Triggvi Olafson, I could not easily believe your tale. But when
+you spoke your mother's name and told me that she was from Ofrestead,
+in the Uplands of Norway, then I knew very well that you were telling
+me the truth. I looked into your eyes and I saw that they were the eyes
+of Queen Astrid--the fairest woman in all the Northland. In your very
+words I thought I could hear the music of Queen Astrid's voice--"
+
+"Can it be that my mother is known to you?" cried Olaf eagerly. "Can it
+be that you can take me to where she lives?"
+
+"Well do I know her," answered Sigurd. "But, alas! it is many summers
+since I saw her last, nor had I heard any tidings of her for a long,
+long while, until you told me that she had taken flight from Norway.
+Tell me now, what is the name of him whose succour she wished to seek
+in Gardarike?"
+
+"Her brother's name," said Olaf, "is Sigurd Erikson."
+
+"I am that same brother," smiled Sigurd, taking the boy by the hand;
+"and it is because I am your uncle that I now take you with me into
+Holmgard." He drew Olaf nearer to him and put his arm about his neck.
+"And you shall live with me as my own dear foster son," he added, "and
+I will take care of you and teach you all that a king's son should
+know, so that in the time to come you may be well fitted to claim your
+dead father's realm. But it is not without great risk that I do this
+thing, for I well know that there are many men in Norway who would
+gladly hear of your death. Now, if Gunnhild's sons should learn that
+you are living in Holmgard they would offer a rich reward to the man
+who should compass your end. You will be wise, therefore, if you
+breathe no word of your kinship with Triggvi Olafson. Also, you must
+betray to no man, not even to your foster brother Thorgils, that I am
+your uncle, or that I know your name and kin; for it is a law held
+sacred in Gardarike that no one of royal birth shall abide in the land
+without the sanction of King Valdemar. If it be known that I am
+wilfully breaking that law, then both you and I will fall into the
+sorest trouble."
+
+Amazed at hearing all this, and at learning that the man he had taken
+for a secret enemy was none other than his own uncle, Olaf was
+speechless. He silently put his hand into Sigurd's great palm, and let
+himself be led back to the place where Thorgils and Egbert still lay
+sound asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III: GERDA' S PROPHECY.
+
+
+On the morrow, when Olaf awoke, he told nothing of this that he had
+heard concerning his kinship with Sigurd Erikson, and if Thorgils saw
+that he was very moody and quiet, he no doubt thought that the lad was
+but sorrowing at being taken away from the sea that he loved so much.
+And yet Olaf seemed strangely unwilling to favour any plan of escape.
+Both Thorgils and Egbert were for ever speaking of flight, but Olaf
+always had some wise reason to offer for yet further delay, and would
+only shake his head and say that their plans were ill formed. On the
+second evening of the journey into the south, a halt was made upon the
+shores of a great inland lake. Thorgils declared that it was a part of
+the sea, and he urged his two companions to steal away with him under
+the cover of night so that they might find some fisher's boat and make
+off with it. But Olaf quickly pointed out that there were no boats to
+be seen, and that, as the horses and dogs were drinking of the water,
+it could not be salt like the waters of the great sea. Every day during
+the long and weary journey Thorgils brought up some new plan. But Olaf
+was obstinate. So at last the two elder boys, seeing that he was bent
+upon remaining in bondage, yielded to his stronger will, and agreed to
+wait in patience and to go with him wheresoever their master had a mind
+to take them.
+
+The country into which they were taken was in old times called
+Gardarike. It lay to the southeast of Esthonia, and it was a part of
+what is now known as the Russian Empire. Many Norsemen lived in that
+land, and King Valdemar was himself the son of the great Swedish
+viking, Rurik, who had made conquests and settlements in the countries
+east of the Baltic Sea. Valdemar held his court at Holmgard--the modern
+Novgorod. He was a very wise and powerful ruler, and his subjects were
+prosperous and peaceable, having many useful arts, and carrying on a
+commerce with the great city of Mikligard. The people were still
+heathen, worshipping Odin and Thor and the minor gods of the
+Scandinavians; for the faith of Christendom was as yet but vaguely
+known to them and little understood.
+
+Sigurd Erikson, who was Valdemar's high steward, lived in the king's
+palace in great dignity and had many servants. So when he returned with
+all the treasure that he had gathered as tribute he took Olaf
+Triggvison into his service. But Thorgils and Egbert were still held as
+bond slaves and put to hard labour in the king's stables.
+
+The steward was very good to Olaf, and soon grew to love him as his own
+son, guarding him from all harm, speaking with him whenever chance
+brought them together, yet never betraying by word or act that the boy
+was other than a mere thrall, whom he had bought with other chattels
+during his journey through the king's dominions. Neither did Olaf
+whisper, even to his foster brother, any word of his close kinship with
+their new master. Thorgils, who had not forgotten the name of Queen
+Astrid's brother, might indeed have discovered Olaf's secret. But it so
+chanced that the king's steward was spoken of only by his title as the
+Hersir Sigurd, and not as the son of Erik of Ofrestead.
+
+For many months Olaf fulfilled his little duties very meekly, and no
+one paid great heed to him, for he still bore the traces of his rough
+work. Sigurd was well satisfied that his secret was safe, and that
+Valdemar would never discover that his steward was breaking the law.
+But soon the lad's fair hair grew long and bright, his hands lost their
+roughness, and his growing beauty of face and limb attracted many eyes.
+Then Sigurd began to fear, for he knew the penalty he would be forced
+to pay if it should be discovered that he had wittingly brought a king
+born youth into the land.
+
+This danger grew greater when it chanced that the Queen Allogia took
+notice of young Olaf, for the queen was in some sort a spae woman; she
+was skilled in foretelling the future, and she quickly perceived that
+the boy's beauty had come to him from some noble ancestor. It seemed
+that she was bent upon knowing his history, for she besought many
+persons about the court to tell her whence he had come, and to discover
+for her the names of his parents. But none could tell.
+
+Now, Allogia was still but two and twenty years of age, and very fair,
+and the king did not like that she should be seen holding speech with
+his handsome steward, for fear that Sigurd should win her heart. But
+one day in the early winter time the queen came upon Sigurd in the
+great hall, where he was alone with Olaf, teaching the boy to read the
+runes carved in the black oak behind the king's high seat.
+
+Olaf stood back as she entered, but his eyes rested fearlessly upon
+her. She wore a blue woven mantle ornamented with lace, and under it a
+scarlet kirtle with a silver belt. There was a band of gold round her
+head, and her fine brown hair reached down to her waist on both sides.
+She approached the steward, and said as he turned to withdraw from the
+hall:
+
+"I pray you, go on with your lesson, hersir."
+
+"Your pardon, lady," said Sigurd, "I was but teaching the lad the rune
+of King Rurik, and it is of no account that I should continue."
+
+"Not often have I heard of a mere slave boy learning runes," returned
+Allogia; "such knowledge is only meant for those who are of high
+estate." She paused and looked round at Olaf, who stood apart with his
+hand caressing the head of a great dog that had risen from before the
+fire. "And yet," added the queen thoughtfully, "I would say that this
+boy Ole, as you call him, has no serf's blood in him. His fairness is
+that of a kingly race. What is his parentage, Hersir Sigurd? You who
+have shown him so much favour, who have dressed him in such fine
+clothes, and who even go so far as to teach him the reading of runes,
+surely know him to be of noble birth. Who is he, I say?"
+
+This question, coming so directly and from the queen herself, whom he
+dared not disobey, brought the guilty blood to Sigurd's brow. But
+Allogia did not observe his confusion. Her large dark eyes were gazing
+full upon Olaf, as though in admiration of the boy's silky gold hair
+and firm, well knit figure.
+
+"I bought the lad in North Esthonia," Sigurd answered after a moment's
+pause. "I bought him from a bonder in Rathsdale, and the price I paid
+for him was two silver marks. It may be that he is some viking's son, I
+cannot tell. He is quick witted and very clever at all games, and that
+is why it pleases me to teach him many things."
+
+There was a look of doubt in Allogia's eyes, as though she knew that
+the steward was telling her but a half truth. He saw her doubt and made
+a sign to Olaf to draw nearer. The boy obeyed, and stood before the
+queen with bowed head.
+
+"Of what parentage are you, boy?" demanded Sigurd. "Who is your mother,
+and what is her condition of life?"
+
+Olaf answered promptly, as he looked calmly into his master's face:
+
+"My mother is a poor bondswoman, hersir," he said. "The vikings brought
+her into Esthonia from west over sea. I have not had tidings of her
+since I was a little child."
+
+The queen smiled at him pityingly.
+
+"And what of your father?" she asked.
+
+Olaf shook his head, and looked vacantly at the queen's beautiful hands
+with their many gold rings.
+
+"I never knew my father, lady," he replied, "for he was dead before I
+came into the world."
+
+"But do you not know his name?" pursued Allogia. Now Olaf feared to
+tell a deliberate lie, and yet, for his uncle's sake, he dared not
+answer with the truth. He stammered for an instant, and then, feeling
+the dog's head against his hand, he caught the animal's ear between his
+fingers and gave it a hard, firm pinch. The dog howled with the sudden
+pain and sprang forward angrily. And the queen, startled and alarmed,
+moved aside and presently walked majestically from the hall.
+
+Not again for many weeks did Allogia seek an answer to her question.
+Sigurd, still fearing that his secret might be revealed, kept the boy
+away from the court so that he might not be seen. But for all his care
+the danger was for ever recurring.
+
+King Valdemar had a mother named Gerda, who was so old and infirm that
+she always lay abed. She was wonderfully skilled in spaedom, and it was
+always the custom at yuletide, when the guests assembled in the king's
+hall, that his mother was borne in thither and placed in the high seat.
+There she prophesied touching any danger overhanging the country, or
+similar thing, according to the questions put to her.
+
+Now it happened in the first winter of Olaf's being in Holmgard, that
+at the yule feast, when Gerda had been borne in after this fashion,
+Valdemar asked her whether any foreign prince or warrior would enter
+his dominions or turn his arms against his kingdom during the following
+year.
+
+The old mother ran her bent fingers through the thin locks of her white
+hair, and gazing with dim eyes into the vast hall, thus spoke her
+prophecy:
+
+"No token of any disastrous war do I discern," she said, "nor any other
+misfortune. But one wondrous event I see. In the land of Norway there
+has lately been born a child who will be bred up here, in Holmgard,
+until he grows to be a famous prince; one so highly gifted that there
+has never before been seen his equal. He will do no harm to this
+kingdom; but he will in every way increase thy fame. He will return to
+his native land while yet he is in the flower of his age, and he will
+reign with great glory in this northern part of the world. But not for
+long, not for long. Now, carry me away."
+
+While these words were being spoken, Queen Allogia's eyes rested upon
+Olaf Triggvison, who was acting as cup bearer to his uncle Sigurd. She
+saw the drinking horn tremble in his hand, so that the wine it held
+dripped over the silver rim, and fell upon the front of his white
+kirtle; and she divined that it was to him that the prophecy referred.
+But no sign of this suspicion did she betray, either at that time or in
+the after days. Yet none the less she watched him always, with her mind
+fixed upon the thought of his nobility, and the glory that had been
+promised him. In all that he did she was well pleased, for already she
+had found that he excelled all others of his age, not only in personal
+beauty but in skilful handling of all warlike weapons, in the training
+of dogs and horses, in wrestling and riding, in racing on snowshoes,
+and in all other exercises. Often she would have spoken with him, but,
+saving at the time of a great feast, he was never to be seen in the
+hall.
+
+Throughout the long, cold winter months, Olaf saw nothing of his foster
+brother or of Egbert the Briton, for they had both been taken across
+the river to labour on one of the king's farmsteads. There they
+remained until the early summer, when they brought over their flocks
+and herds for the sheep meeting. At that time there was held a great
+fair in Holmgard, with sports and games and manly contests. Many
+parties of men came into the town from distant parts of the kingdom.
+
+On the second morning of the fair, Sigurd Erikson entered the room in
+which Olaf slept. The boy was dressing himself in his fine clothes, and
+girding on his leather belt with its small war axe, which Sigurd had
+had made for his young kinsman.
+
+"My boy," said Sigurd, "there is little need for you to dress yourself
+in this holiday attire, for it is my will that you do not attend the
+games. You must not show yourself amid the crowd."
+
+Now, Olaf had engaged to take part in a great wrestling bout with three
+young champions from Livonia. Also, he was to have run in a footrace,
+for which the prize was a silver hilted sword, awarded by the queen. So
+at hearing his uncle thus forbid him to appear, he became very
+indignant.
+
+"It is too late for you to try to keep me within doors," he protested.
+"I have given my word to the wrestlers, and I cannot now withdraw. Do
+you wish me to be jeered at as a coward? Why do you deny me the honour
+of taking all the prizes that I may so easily win?"
+
+"It is for your own happiness that I forbid you to show yourself before
+strangers," returned Sigurd. "But, more than all, I wish you to keep in
+hiding for this great reason. There has come into Holmgard a man whom I
+met many months ago. I engaged with him to pit my best horse against
+his in the horse ring, and the prize was to be--"
+
+"What was the prize?" asked Olaf, seeing that his uncle had paused.
+
+"The prize was to be yourself, my son," said Sigurd gravely. "The man
+coveted you, and would have bought you from your old master Reas."
+
+"And why did you agree to this, knowing that I am your own kinsman and
+your sister's son?" asked Olaf.
+
+"I did not then know that you were of my kin," answered Sigurd. "But
+having given my word, I cannot go back from it. I have seen this man's
+horse, and I judge it to be a finer animal than mine. Therefore do I
+fear that I must lose you. But if you will keep within the house, I
+will tell the man that you are dead, and will offer him the young
+Englander Egbert in your stead."
+
+"Would you then tell the man a falsehood?" cried Olaf.
+
+"Gladly, if by doing so I still keep you with me, for I would not lose
+you for all the world."
+
+Olaf, obedient to his uncle's word, began to unbuckle his belt. But his
+face was very gloomy, and it was easy to see that it was only out of
+his love for his uncle that he would by any means agree to forego his
+pleasures. Olaf was already very proud of his own skill. Never yet had
+he been beaten in any contest, and he had hoped to add to his glory by
+overcoming all who might come against him on this great day. Moreover,
+it was a sorry sacrifice for him to make if he was not to be allowed to
+witness the games.
+
+As Sigurd turned to leave him, the boy suddenly caught his arm.
+
+"I will not promise!" he cried. "I cannot give you my word. I have set
+my heart upon the wrestling, and in spite of your forbiddance I shall
+go. Tell me what manner of man this is that you speak of, and I will
+avoid him. Even though he overcome you in the horse fight he shall not
+take me from you."
+
+"He is a great viking," answered Sigurd. "Men name him Klerkon
+Flatface. It is the same who sold you into bondage."
+
+A cloud came upon Olaf's brow, and he sat down upon the side of the
+trestle bed.
+
+"Klerkon Flatface?" he repeated slowly. Then raising his eyes he looked
+into his uncle's face and added: "Do not fear, hersir. Klerkon shall
+not take me from you."
+
+Now, very soon after Sigurd had gone out to attend upon the king, Olaf
+quitted the house and went by secret ways to the stables, where he
+found his foster brother at work combing out the mane of Sigurd's
+fighting steed. A very tall and powerful animal it was, with a glossy
+brown coat and a long tail that reached nearly to the ground. It was
+well trained, and many a well won fight had it fought. Sleipner was its
+name, and it was so called after the eight footed horse of Odin.
+
+Olaf went to Thorgils' side and greeted him with friendly words. Then,
+when they had spoken for a while together, Olaf bent his head close to
+Thorgils' ear, and said he:
+
+"I have news, brother."
+
+"Ill news or good?" asked Thorgils.
+
+"Judge for yourself," answered Olaf. "It is that our old enemy Klerkon
+the Viking has come into Holmgard, with many men and a mighty horse
+that is to be pitted against Sleipner."
+
+Thorgils drew back with a sudden start.
+
+"Then has our good time come," he cried. "Our vow of vengeance must be
+fulfilled. No longer are we little boys, weak of arm and failing in
+courage. Never again shall Klerkon sail the seas."
+
+"And who will hinder him?" asked Olaf, looking the while into the
+other's brightened eyes.
+
+"He shall be hindered by me," returned Thorgils. "With me alone must
+the vengeance rest, for it is not well that you, who stand so high in
+honour with the king and his court, should sully your white hands with
+blood. It was my father whom Klerkon slew that day upon the ship, and
+it is my part to avenge him."
+
+Then Olaf shook his head.
+
+"Not so shall it be," said he. "Thoralf was my own good foster father,
+and I am not afraid to face the man who sent him so cruelly to his
+death. I and not you shall bring the murderer to his bane."
+
+"Rash that you always are!" cried Thorgils. "Will you never learn to be
+cautious? Keep your peace. If I should fail, then will it be your turn
+to avenge my death as our vow of foster brotherhood demands. Now bring
+me a good weapon, for I have none but an oak cudgel."
+
+"You shall not want for a good weapon," said Olaf, and he drew a small
+sword from under his blue cloak and handed it to Thorgils. "Here is my
+new handsax. Take it, and use it to good purpose. But in the matter of
+Klerkon, it may be that I shall be before you. Odin be with you!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV: THE SLAYING OF KLERKON.
+
+
+It was yet early in the forenoon when the games began. They were held
+on the great plain beyond the gate, where fences were raised as a
+girdle round the course. Upon the sunny side was the king's tent, where
+Valdemar and Allogia sat, attended by many guests and courtiers, among
+whom was Sigurd Erikson.
+
+For a long while Sigurd, who sat near to the queen, was at his ease in
+the belief that young Olaf was keeping within doors, and he paid little
+heed to those who were within the ring. First there were jumping
+matches. Olaf did not join in these, for he was not yet tall enough to
+compete with full grown men, and there were no youths of his own height
+who were skilled enough to match him. Neither, for a like reason, did
+he take part in the sword feats. But at last it came to a trial of
+skill with the longbow. The bowmen were at the far end of the course,
+and their faces could not well be seen from the tent, even had Sigurd
+searched among them for the face of his wilful nephew. There was one,
+however, who saw better than he, and this was Queen Allogia.
+
+She waited until it came to the turn of those who were younger than
+eighteen years, and then she watched with keen eyes. Among them she
+soon discerned the youth whom she sought; nor did she lose sight of him
+until his well aimed arrow shot full into the mark, and he was
+proclaimed the victor. Then, when Olaf came before the tent to make his
+obeisance, Sigurd saw him, and was very wroth, for he knew that Klerkon
+the Viking was among the king's guests.
+
+Now, when Olaf was thus near, it seemed to Klerkon that the lad was not
+wholly a stranger to him. Indeed, had it not been for the long gold
+hair and the disguise of better clothing, he might have known him to be
+the same whom he had seen in the last summer playing at the knife feat
+on the gangplank of the viking ship. But Klerkon only admired the lad's
+skill with the longbow, and thought what a goodly warrior he would
+make. So having this in his mind, he watched Olaf closely when again
+the boy ran past in the footrace, leading his competitors by many yards.
+
+And now, being first in the race, Olaf came once more before the tent,
+and the queen gave him his well won prize.
+
+As he took the silver hilted sword from Allogia's hand, one of the
+vikings went to Klerkon's side, and said he:
+
+"Master, this youth is the same who appeared in the last summer as a
+bond slave at the time when the Hersir Sigurd came on board of us. Was
+it not this same lad who was to be the prize in our horse fight?"
+
+Then Klerkon fixed his eyes more keenly on the lad, and thought of him
+as he might be with his fair hair cropped short, and with a slave's
+white kirtle in place of the fine clothes he now wore.
+
+"It is the same!" he answered. "And now I mind that someone told me it
+was he whom we captured among others many summers ago off Alland isle.
+It was we who brought him into Esthonia. Much would I give to have him
+with us on our longship. And by the hammer of Thor, I swear that if I
+win him not over the horse fight, then I will take him by force!"
+
+So then Klerkon made his way to the side of Sigurd Erikson, and told
+him that he had recognized the boy. At which Sigurd grew very pale, and
+blamed himself in that he had not kept Olaf within doors by main force.
+
+Now, at high noon when the king and queen departed from the tent,
+Sigurd made his way round to the entrance of the lists, and there
+searched for Olaf and found him. He spoke to the lad very gravely, and,
+telling him of the viking's recognition, cautioned him against
+appearing again within the circle of the course. Olaf, seeing now that
+it was a serious matter, agreed to abandon the wrestling, and gave his
+word that he would thereafter be more cautious of showing himself.
+
+"Much do I fear," said Sigurd, "that the mischief is already done. Your
+future welfare, your happiness, your claiming of your father's
+kingdom--all depends upon the result of this horse fight. If Klerkon
+the Viking's horse should overcome Sleipner there is no help for us.
+You must go with the victor."
+
+Then Olaf smiled almost mockingly.
+
+"Be not afraid, my kinsman," said he. "Should Klerkon come to claim me
+as his prize he shall not find me. But he will never need to claim me.
+I have seen this great stallion that he has so much boasted of, and I
+know full well that it is no match for Sleipner in a fair fight."
+
+"We shall see very soon," returned Sigurd; "meanwhile, if you intend to
+witness the combat, I beg you to take your stand as far as possible
+away from the vikings. And when the fight is over--whatever be the
+result--make your way over the river and keep well hidden in old Grim
+Ormson's hut. There you will be safe from all discovery until after the
+vikings have departed."
+
+Now Olaf had no notion of hiding himself thus. He was not personally
+afraid of Klerkon, neither did he believe that the viking would go to
+much trouble to secure his prize even if his horse should be
+successful. Olaf had heard that that horse had been brought from
+England, and he did not believe that anything good could come from a
+country so far away. His uncle's horse, on the other hand, was
+celebrated all through Gardarike, and it had never been beaten either
+in the race or in the fight. Why, then, should there be any fear for
+the result of the coming contest?
+
+But Sigurd Erikson was wiser, and knew better that his steed was at
+last to meet its equal. Never before had he seen an animal so strong
+and fierce as the stallion that Klerkon the Viking had matched against
+Sleipner.
+
+Many horses were led forth into the circle, and they were taken in
+pairs to the middle, where they fought one against the other. Each
+horse was followed by its owner or the trainer, who supported and urged
+it on, inciting it with his stick. The crowd of onlookers was very
+large, for among the Northmen no amusement was more popular than the
+horse fight, unless it were the combat between men. But at first there
+was not much excitement, because many of the horses would not fight,
+and others were too easily beaten. At last Sleipner and the English
+horse were led forth into the centre. When they were let loose they
+came together fiercely, and there followed a splendid fight, both
+severe and long. Little need was there for the men to urge them or to
+use the sticks. The two horses rose high on their hind legs, biting at
+each other savagely until their manes and necks and shoulders were torn
+and bloody. Often the animals were parted, but only to renew the fight
+with greater fierceness. The combat went on until eleven rounds had
+passed. Then Klerkon's stallion took hold of the jawbone of Sleipner,
+and held on until it seemed that he would never yield his hold. Two of
+the men then rushed forward, each to his own horse, and beat and pushed
+them asunder, when Sleipner fell down from exhaustion and hard
+fighting. At which the vikings set up a loud cheer.
+
+King Valdemar was the umpire, and he said now that the fight must
+cease, for that Klerkon's horse had proved himself the victor in eight
+rounds, and that it could easily be seen that the steward's horse was
+no longer fit. Then the king asked Sigurd what prize he had staked, and
+Sigurd answered:
+
+"The prize was staked many months ago when I met Klerkon over in
+Esthonia, and it was arranged that if the viking's horse should
+overcome mine he was to take the young thrall Ole."
+
+"Let the boy be given up to him, then," said the king; "for he has won
+him very fairly."
+
+"I will take the boy tonight," said Klerkon, who stood near, "for my
+business in Holmgard is now over, and at sunrise I go back to the
+coast."
+
+Now Sigurd believed that Olaf had surely taken his advice, and gone at
+once across the river to hide himself in Grim Ormson's hut, so he was
+not in any way anxious.
+
+"Take the lad wheresoever you can find him," said he to the viking.
+"And if you cannot find him before the sunrise, then I will pay you his
+just value in gold."
+
+"Though you offered me all the gold you are worth," returned Klerkon,
+"I would not take it in place of the boy. No thrall born lad is he, but
+of noble descent, and I intend to make a viking of him and take him
+with me west over sea to England. It is not well that a youth so clever
+as he should waste his years in an inland town. He was meant by his
+nature for the sea, and I think that he will some day prove to be a
+very great warrior."
+
+At this Sigurd Erikson grew sick at heart, for he knew that the viking
+was a man of very strong will, and that no half measures would serve to
+turn him from his purpose. Also, he felt that it was now useless to
+attempt any deception concerning Olaf. The vikings had recognized the
+boy, and none other could be passed off in his stead.
+
+With a gloomy cloud on his brow, Sigurd left the tent and made his way
+back to the king's hall in search of his nephew. Olaf was not there.
+The hours went by, and still there was no sign of him. Neither did
+Klerkon come to make claim to his prize.
+
+It was in the evening time. Sigurd sat alone in his room at the back of
+the great hall. He was thinking that Olaf had become strangely restless
+and unruly of late. Many times the lad had disappointed him and caused
+him trouble, but never so much as today, when his wilfulness threatened
+to bring about very serious consequences. Had Olaf taken the advice
+that had been given him in the morning, the coming of Klerkon might
+have been a matter of small moment; but the thoughtless boy had boldly
+shown himself before the tent, and had never striven to hide himself
+from the quick eyes of the shipmen. He had been recognized--as how
+would one so distinguished from all other youths fail to be?--and now
+Klerkon would not rest until he had safely secured his coveted prize.
+
+Very different now was Olaf from what he had seemed on that day when he
+stood near the viking ship in the guise of a poor slave. In the year
+that had passed Sigurd had grown to love the lad with the love of a
+father, had taught him many useful arts and handicrafts, had given him
+fine clothes to wear, and had so improved his bodily condition and
+moulded his mind that no king's son could ever hope to excel him either
+in physical beauty or in skill of arms, in manly prowess or moral
+goodness. Never once had Olaf done anything that was mean or unworthy;
+never once had he told an untruth or gone back from his promise. At any
+time when Sigurd had told him to do what was not to his liking the boy
+had simply shaken his golden curls and said, "I will not promise"; but
+always when he had given his word he held to it firmly and faithfully.
+He could be trusted in all things. But for all this he had lately
+become most wilful, and the trouble he was now causing made his uncle
+very anxious.
+
+Sigurd knew full well that Olaf loved him, and that all the possible
+glory of being a viking would not lead him away from Holmgard of his
+own free will. But in the present case he might not be able to help
+himself, despite his having so positively said that Klerkon should
+never carry him off alive. So in his heart Sigurd feared that Olaf
+would take some mischievous and unwise measure of his own to evade the
+vikings. It might be, indeed, that he had already gone across the river
+to the security of Grim Ormson's hut; but it was greatly to be feared
+that he had fallen into the hands of Klerkon Flatface.
+
+Suddenly, as Sigurd sat there in moody thought, the door of the room
+was flung open, and Olaf rushed in. He was strangely agitated. His hair
+was rough and his clothing was torn; his large blue eyes flashed in
+anger, and his breathing was heavy and uneven.
+
+Sigurd sprang up from his seat. He saw that something ill had happened.
+
+"Why are you here?" he cried. "Why are you not in hiding? Have I not
+warned you enough that you are running into danger by letting yourself
+be seen? Klerkon has won you from me, and he may be here at any moment
+to claim you and carry you away!"
+
+Olaf did not reply for a long time. He only bent down and took a
+handful of rushes up from the floor, and began to quietly clean the
+blade of his axe that he held under his arm.
+
+"Speak!" cried Sigurd, driven to anger by the boy's silence.
+
+Then at last Olaf said in a steady, boyish voice:
+
+"Klerkon will never claim me from you, my kinsman; for he is dead."
+
+"Dead?" echoed Sigurd in alarm.
+
+"Yes," answered Olaf, "I met him in the gate. He tried to take me. I
+raised my axe and buried it in his head. Well have you taught me the
+use of my axe, Hersir Sigurd."
+
+As he spoke there came a loud hum of angry voices from without. They
+were the voices of the vikings calling aloud for the blood of him who
+had slain their chief.
+
+Without a word Sigurd Erikson crossed the room, and drew the heavy bar
+athwart the door. Then he turned upon Olaf.
+
+"Well do I discern," said he, "that you are of King Harald's race. It
+was ever so with your forefathers; thoughtless, fearless, ruthless! And
+so all my teaching of you has gone for nothing! Oh, foolish boy! To
+think that you, who might have lived to be the king of all Norway, have
+ended in being no more than a common murderer!"
+
+"Murderer?" repeated Olaf. "Not so. It is but justice that I have done.
+Klerkon was the slayer of my dear foster father. He slew him cruelly
+and in cold blood, and for no other reason than that poor Thoralf was
+old and infirm. I have done no murder. I have but taken just and lawful
+vengeance."
+
+"Just and lawful it may be in our own birthland, Olaf," returned Sigurd
+gravely; "but in this kingdom wherein we now live the peace is held
+holy, and it is ordained by law that he who kills another man in anger
+shall himself lose his life. I cannot save you. You have broken the
+peace; you have taken the life of one of the king's own guests, and you
+have insulted the king's hospitality. I fear that you must die."
+
+He broke off, listening to the furious cries of the crowd outside.
+"Hark!" he went on. "Those wild sea wolves are calling for blood
+vengeance. Come! come with me quickly. There is but one hope left, and
+in that hope lies my own despair and my own undoing."
+
+So, while yet the people were clamouring for the young peace breaker's
+life, Sigurd took Olaf through the back part of the house and by many
+secret passages into the queen's garth. Here, in a large hall that was
+most splendidly adorned with carved wood and hung with tapestry, sat
+Queen Allogia with two of her handmaids working with their needles upon
+a beautiful robe of embroidered silk.
+
+Sigurd passed the armed sentinel at the door and strode into the
+apartment, followed closely by the boy. The queen looked up in surprise
+at the unexpected visitors.
+
+"I crave your help, O queen," cried the steward excitedly.
+
+The queen stood up in alarm. She had heard the turmoil of voices from
+without.
+
+"What means all this shouting?" she inquired.
+
+Then Sigurd told her how Olaf had killed the viking, and implored her
+to help the boy out of his trouble.
+
+"Alas!" said she, when she had heard the tale. "Little power have I to
+meddle in such affairs. The penalty of murder is death, and I cannot
+hinder the law." She looked at Olaf as she spoke, and saw the pleading
+in his eyes. "And yet," she added with quick pity, "such a handsome boy
+must not be slain. I will save him if I can."
+
+She then bade Sigurd call in her bodyguard fully armed to protect the
+lad, while she went out into the king's chamber and pleaded with
+Valdemar to prevent the shedding of blood.
+
+Now, by this time, the enraged vikings and many men of the town had
+gained entrance to the outer court, and they rushed forward to claim
+the life of the offender according to their custom and laws. Long they
+waited, hammering noisily at the oaken doors of the hall wherein Olaf
+was now known to have taken refuge. But at last the door was flung
+open, and King Valdemar appeared on the threshold, guarded by many
+armed men. The crowd drew back, leaving only the chief of the vikings
+to speak for them and ask for justice. He told the king how Klerkon,
+standing within the gate, had been attacked by young Ole of the golden
+hair, and how without word or warning the boy had suddenly raised his
+axe and driven it into Klerkon's head, so that the blade stood right
+down into the brain of him.
+
+The king then declared that he could not believe a boy so young as Ole
+could have either the skill or the boldness to attack so powerful a man
+as Klerkon Flatface. But the viking turned and called upon some of his
+shipmates to bring forward the dead body of their chief, which they
+laid down before the king. Valdemar looked upon it and examined the
+death wound. The skull was cloven with one clean blow from the crown
+right down to the red bearded chin.
+
+"A wondrous strong blow!" murmured Valdemar. "But I see that it was
+struck from the front. How came it that Klerkon could not defend
+himself?"
+
+"Little time had he for that," answered the viking, "for the lad fell
+upon him with the quickness of an eagle's swoop, and although my master
+was well armed, yet he could not raise his sword ere he fell dead at
+our feet, and then Ole turned and fled with such speed that none could
+follow him."
+
+"Such an act as this," said the king, "cannot have been without some
+cause. What reason of enmity was there between this boy and Klerkon?"
+
+"No reason but wanton mischief," answered the warrior. "It was a
+causeless murder, and we claim the full and lawful punishment."
+
+"Justice shall be done," returned the king. "But I must first know what
+the peace breaker may have to say in his own defence. I beg you,
+therefore, to keep truce until the sunrise, when the penalty shall be
+adjudged."
+
+At hearing this promise the crowd dispersed in peace. Many grumbled
+that the customary sentence of death had not been instantly pronounced.
+But in causing this delay King Valdemar was but yielding to the
+pleadings of the queen, who had implored him to spare the life of the
+handsome young murderer, or at the least to save him from the fury of
+the vikings.
+
+When the crowd had gone from the courtyard Allogia returned to the hall
+in which the steward and Olaf had been kept under the protection of the
+guards. Dismissing the men, she turned to Sigurd Erikson.
+
+"You have asked me to save the boy's life, hersir," said she, "but,
+alas! I cannot do it. All that the king will do is to give a few hours'
+respite. At sunrise the law is to take its course, and much do I fear
+that its course will be death."
+
+Olaf heard her words, but did not show any fear of the expected
+punishment. It seemed, indeed, that he had become suddenly hard of
+heart and dauntless, as though he thought that the killing of a man was
+a matter to be proud of. Certainly, in his own mind, he did not look
+upon the taking of Klerkon's life as an act of guilt deserving
+punishment. He recalled what he had seen on the viking ship years
+before. The old man Thoralf had fallen to Klerkon's share in the
+dividing of booty. Thoralf had held little Olaf by the hand as they
+stood apart on the ship's deck, and Klerkon had come up to them and
+roughly separated them, flinging Olaf across to where young Thorgils
+stood. Then, tearing off Thoralf's cloak, the viking had said: "Little
+use is there in an old toothless hound, but his flesh may serve as food
+for the fishes;" and, drawing his sword, he had given the aged man his
+death blow and tilted him over into the sea. So Olaf and Thorgils had
+sworn to take vengeance upon this viking, and Olaf had now fulfilled
+his vow.
+
+The queen came nearer to Olaf, and looked at him tenderly. "It is a
+great pity," said she, "that one so fair should be doomed to die before
+he has grown to manhood. It might be that with good training he would
+become a very famous warrior, and I would gladly see him enlisted in
+the service of the king."
+
+She broke off and turned to Sigurd. "Hersir Sigurd," she said, looking
+keenly into the steward's face, "I have noticed many times that you
+take a more than common interest in this boy. Even now, when he has
+broken the law of the land, it is you who take it upon yourself to
+plead his cause. It must surely be that you have powerful reasons for
+keeping him from harm. Whose son is he? Of what kin is he? It is but
+right that I should know."
+
+Sigurd demurred, remembering that it was forbidden by the law of the
+land that any king born person should live in Gardarike, except with
+the king's permission. He thought that it would go very ill with
+himself if Olaf's kingly birth should be known.
+
+"Lady, I cannot tell you," he murmured.
+
+"Would you then rather that the boy should die?" she asked with anger
+in her tone.
+
+"Not so," answered Sigurd, drawing himself up to his full height. "If
+the boy is to be condemned to death, then I will offer to take the
+punishment in his stead."
+
+The queen glanced at him quietly.
+
+"If that be so," said she, "then the sacrifice of your own life can
+only be taken as showing that you count the boy of more value to the
+world than yourself." She paused for a moment, then added: "I am your
+queen, Hersir Sigurd, and I command you to tell me what I ask. What is
+the boy's true name, and what is his parentage?"
+
+She went across to the side of the great fireplace, and, seating
+herself in one of the large oaken chairs, signed to Sigurd and Olaf to
+approach her. Then, taking up an end of the silken robe upon which she
+had before been working, she threaded her needle.
+
+"I am ready," she said.
+
+So Sigurd, seeing that there was no way out of his difficulty and
+hoping that the telling of his secret might after all be of benefit to
+Olaf, obeyed the queen's behest, relating the story of the kings of
+Norway and showing how this boy, Olaf, the slayer of Klerkon, was
+descended in a direct line from the great King Harald Fairhair.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V: THE STORY OP THE NORSE KINGS.
+
+
+"On a time very long ago," began Sigurd, as he sat beside Olaf on a
+bench facing Queen Allogia, "there reigned in the south of Norway a
+young king named Halfdan the Swarthy. His realm was not large, for the
+country was at that time divided into many districts, each having its
+independent king. But, by warfare and by fortunate marriage, Halfdan
+soon increased the possessions which his father had left to him, so
+that he became the mightiest king in all the land. The name of his wife
+was Queen Ragnhild, who was very beautiful, and they had a son whom
+they named Harald.
+
+"This Harald grew to be a very handsome boy, tall and strong and of
+great intelligence. He was fond of manly sports, and his skill and
+beauty brought him the favour and admiration of all men of the
+northland. Well, when Harald was still a youth of ten winters, his
+father was one day crossing the ice on the Randsfjord when the ice
+broke under him and he was drowned, so his kingdom fell to his son. The
+kings whom Halfdan the Swarthy had conquered then bethought them that
+they might win back what lands they had lost, and they accordingly made
+war against the young king. Many battles were fought, but Harald was
+always victorious. Instead of yielding to his enemies he soon extended
+his dominions until they stretched as far north as Orkadale. And then
+he was content."
+
+Sigurd here raised his eyes and looked across at Allogia as she
+silently plied her busy needle.
+
+"It is a long story, lady," he said; "and it may be that it is not new
+to you."
+
+"Tell it to the end," returned the queen.
+
+"There lived at that time in Valders a maid named Gyda," continued
+Sigurd. "She was the daughter of King Erik of Hordaland, and King
+Harald, hearing that she was exceedingly fair and high minded would
+fain have her to be his wife. So he sent forth messengers to her,
+asking her to wed with him. Now the maid was proud as well as
+beautiful, and when she received this message she answered thus: 'Tell
+your master,' she said, 'that I will not sacrifice myself to be the
+wife of a king who has no more realm to rule over than a few counties.
+Marvellous it seems to me that there is no king who can make all Norway
+his own and be the sole lord thereof, as King Erik in Sweden, and King
+Gorm in Denmark. Give this message to King Harald, and tell him that I
+will only promise to be his wedded wife on this condition, that he will
+for my sake lay under him all Norway. For only then can he be accounted
+the king of a people."
+
+"Now these words of Gyda were taken duly to the king, and they awakened
+in his mind a thought which had never before occurred to him, and he
+said, in the presence of many men: 'This oath do I now solemnly make,
+and swear before that God who made me and rules over all things, that
+never more will I cut my hair nor comb it until the day when I have
+conquered all Norway, and have made myself the sole ruler of the
+Northmen. And if I do not fulfil my vow, I shall die in the attempt.'"
+
+"Spoken like a true king!" interrupted Allogia. "I trust, for the proud
+maiden's sake, that he did not take long to fulfil his vow."
+
+"Ten long years it took him," returned Sigurd.  "Northward he sallied
+with a vast army and conquered Orkadale, Trondelag, and Naumdale, and
+all the country about Thrandheim, making himself the overlord of all
+the old kings who thereafter became his earls and vassals. Those who
+would not be subdued he killed or maimed. He made new laws, took from
+the peasants their odal estates, and declared all land to be the king's
+property. Many of the conquered people rebelled against his rule and
+his strict feudal laws, and some of his provinces had to be conquered
+twice over. But with every year he came nearer to his goal, and those
+who opposed him only brought about their own ruin.
+
+"At last the old kings, smarting in their subjection, banded themselves
+together, resolving to assert their ancient rights in a pitched battle.
+They assembled a great fleet of warships and met the conqueror in the
+Hafrsfjord. In the sea fight that followed many of Harald's bravest men
+were slain; spears and stones fell about them on every side; the air
+was filled with the flying arrows as with winter hail. But the king's
+berserks at length took on their fury and won for their master the
+greatest battle that has ever been fought in Norway. Thus, after a ten
+years' struggle, did Harald fulfil his vow.
+
+"At a feast which followed this fight his hair was cut and combed. Men
+had formerly named him Harald Shockhead; but now they marvelled at his
+new made beauty and called him Harald Fairhair. Then, having done what
+he set out to do, he married Gyda and lived with her until she died.
+
+"From that day forth," continued Sigurd, "Harald Fairhair ruled with
+great rigour, and so severely did he tax his people that many of the
+nobler and prouder sort grew discontented and straightway abandoned
+Norway to seek new homes across the sea. Many were content to roam upon
+the waters as vikings; others sailed west to the Faroe Isles, some
+settled in Shetland and the Orkneys, while others went far north into
+Iceland--a country so rich that, as I have heard, every blade of grass
+drips with butter. But Harald followed these adventurous men who had
+thus sought to escape his rule, with the result that he reduced all
+these islands to his sway."
+
+At this point of the steward's narrative the queen moved impatiently
+and said:
+
+"All this may be very well, Hersir Sigurd. But I fail to see how this
+history can bear upon the story of the boy Ole."
+
+"You shall see its bearing very soon," returned Sigurd. "But, if you so
+wish, I will cut it short."
+
+"Nay, tell it in your own way," said the queen, "for my time is of no
+account."
+
+"You must know, then," pursued Sigurd, "that King Harald Fairhair had
+many wives, other than Gyda. And as he had many wives, so had he many
+sons. These sons as they grew up to manhood became to him a serious
+trouble. They were jealous of each other and for ever quarrelling among
+themselves. A chief cause of their disagreement was their bitter
+jealousy of Erik, the son whom Harald favoured above all the rest.
+
+"When Erik was but a mere boy--no older than young Ole, here--his
+father gave him the command of five great ships of war, and with a
+picked crew of hardy warriors the boy went a-viking along the coasts,
+harrying and plundering, fighting and slaughtering wherever he fell in
+with ships less powerful than his own. He became a terror to all
+peaceful folk, and for his murderous deeds by sea and land he won the
+name of Erik Bloodaxe.
+
+"It was through his foolish love of this wild hearted son that Harald
+Fairhair was led to commit an act whereby he undid all the great work
+of his life. He had succeeded in uniting all Norway into one nation,
+and this was good. But now nothing would suit him but that he should
+once more divide his great realm into many provinces. He therefore
+created all his sons kings, and gave to each his portion of the
+country, on condition that after his own death they should all
+acknowledge Erik Bloodaxe their overlord.
+
+"But no sooner had this unwise course been taken than the sons began to
+quarrel more wildly than ever. There was but one son among them who was
+wise enough to enjoy his share in contentment and keep peace. This was
+Olaf, the son of Queen Swanhild. To him King Harald had given the
+country of Viken, in the south of Norway. Olaf was the father of
+Triggvi, and the grandfather of the boy who is now before you."'
+
+Allogia's eyes were now fixed upon young Olaf, who sat at his ease in
+front of her with his arm resting on the back of the bench and his
+fingers playing idly with his long gold curls.
+
+"Truly did I guess," said she, "that the boy had kingly blood in him.
+Such silken hair, such clear soft skin, and beautiful blue eyes could
+not possibly have come of lowly birth. And now do I well believe that
+it was he whom the king's mother meant when, at the yuletide feast, she
+spoke of the child who was destined to be brought up here in Holmgard,
+and who was to grow to be a famous prince." She smiled softly on the
+boy as she said this.  "And now, hersir," she added, "we will hear the
+rest of your saga."
+
+Sigurd rose from the bench and began to pace slowly to and fro with his
+hands clasped behind his back.
+
+"Of all King Harald's sons," said he, "Erik Bloodaxe was the one who
+had the most ambition and who fought hardest to win worship from his
+brothers. In his strivings he did not scruple to act unfairly. He
+stooped to treachery, and even to murder. He first killed his brother,
+Ragnvald Rattlebone, because he was said to be a sorcerer. Next he
+killed his brother Biorn, because he refused to pay him homage and
+tribute. None of Harald's sons could be safe while Erik was thus
+allowed to take the law into his own hands; so two other of the
+brothers attempted to take Erik's life, by setting fire to a farmhouse
+in which he was feasting. But Erik escaped with four men, secured his
+father's protection, and for a time there was peace.
+
+"Now King Harald Fairhair had a young son named Hakon, the child of his
+old age, and this son became in the after years a very great man in the
+land, and was called Hakon the Good.
+
+"The King of England in those days was named Athelstane the Victorious,
+and it is told that on a time Athelstane, who was passing jealous of
+the power of Harald Fairhair, sent a messenger to Norway bearing a
+precious sword as a gift to King Harald. The sword was done with gold
+about the hilt and set with dear bought gems, and well tempered in the
+blade. So the messenger fared to Lade, in Thrandheim, where Harald
+dwelt, and said he: 'Here is a sword which the King of England sendeth
+thee, bidding thee take it withal.' So the king took the grip of it.
+Then said the messenger: 'Thou hast taken the sword even as our king
+wished, and thou art therefore his sword taker and vassal.'
+
+"Well, Harald was angry at being thus tricked, and he pondered how he
+might pay back King Athelstane, so the next year he got ship and sent
+his young son Hakon to England, along with a great berserker, or
+champion, named Hawk, and thirty warriors. They found the king in
+London town, and, being fully armed, they entered his feasting hall
+where he sat. Hawk took the child Hakon and placed him on King
+Athelstane's knee, saying: 'The King of Norway biddeth thee foster this
+his child.'
+
+"Athelstane was exceeding wroth, and he caught up his sword that lay
+beside him and drew it as if he would slay the lad. Then said Hawk:
+'Thou hast set the child on thy knee and mayest murder him if thou
+wilt, but not thus withal wilt thou make an end of all the sons of King
+Harald Fairhair.'
+
+"Thus did the King of Norway pay back the King of England in his own
+coin, for men ever account the fosterer less noble than him whose child
+he fosters. Howbeit, King Athelstane kept the lad and fostered him
+right well. Thereafter he treated young Hakon with great kindness,
+taught him good manners and all kinds of prowess, and in the end grew
+to love him more than any of his own kin. In England, Hakon abandoned
+his faith in the gods of Scandinavia, and became a worshipper of the
+White Christ, for in that land all men are Christians, and Thor and
+Odin have no power.
+
+"Now, while Hakon was away in England, his elder brother, Erik
+Bloodaxe, went a-warring in his viking ships to many lands--Scotland,
+Wales, Ireland, and Normandy, and north away in Finland. And in Finland
+he found a certain woman, the like of whom he had never seen for
+fairness in all his roamings. She was named Gunnhild, and had learned
+all kinds of sorcery and witchcraft among the Finns. Erik wedded with
+this woman, and it afterwards befell that she wrought more evil in
+Norway than even Erik himself. She was his evil genius, egging him on
+to deeds of treachery and violence which made him detested of all men.
+
+"Glad was Gunnhild when Harald the Fairhaired, being stricken in years,
+declared that he felt no longer able to bear the burden of the
+government. This he did when he was eighty years old. He led his son
+Erik to his royal high seat and put him there as the king, so that
+Gunnhild by this became the queen, and could work her evil as she
+willed.
+
+"Three years afterwards Harald Fairhair died in his bed, having ruled
+over Norway for seventy-three years."
+
+Sigurd paused in his narrative and sat down beside Olaf. He felt that
+the queen's interest in his nephew was now secure and that it boded
+well for Olaf. Allogia set aside her needle and nodded to the steward
+as if she would tell him to continue his saga. Sigurd leaned back in
+his seat, crossed his legs, and went on.
+
+"King Erik now held dominion over the larger part of Norway," said he.
+"But there were two of his brothers who would not yield to him, and who
+yet peacefully ruled in the realms over which their father had placed
+them. Olaf--the son of King Harald and Queen Swanhild--was the
+sovereign king in Viken, and his brother Halfdan in like manner ruled
+in Thrandheim. Full ill content was Erik that he could not truthfully
+call himself the lord over all Norway. But, as he could not be king by
+favour alone, he resolved to become so by other means. Two winters
+after Erik's enthronement his brother Halfdan died a sudden and painful
+death at a feast in Thrandheim. It is told that he was cunningly
+poisoned by Queen Gunnhild. Erik straightway claimed his dead brother's
+kingdom; but the Thrandheimers would have none of him; they declared
+against him, and took another brother, Sigrod, for their king. To
+protect themselves against their overbearing brother, Sigrod and Olaf
+joined their forces. But Erik attacked them unawares with a great army
+at Tunsberg and won the day. Both Olaf and Sigrod, champions in the
+battle, were killed. Olaf's son, Triggvi, escaped, however, and fled
+away to the Uplands, where he remained as long as Erik Bloodaxe was
+master in the land. Triggvi was the biggest and strongest of men, and
+the fairest of face of all that have ever been seen.
+
+"Erik Bloodaxe had now killed four of his brothers and caused the death
+of a fifth. He had made himself the king of all Norway, even as his
+father had been. Yet the people misliked him sorely, they were for ever
+striving to displace him and to set up Triggvi Olafson in his stead.
+Then Queen Gunnhild swore that, if Erik would not make his rule a
+certainty, she at least would not rest until she had exterminated all
+the race of Harald Fairhair outside of her husband's line."
+
+Here Olaf spoke, leaning forward and looking round into Sigurd's face.
+
+"I think," said he, "that if I had been in my father's place I would
+have rid the earth of so murderous a traitor as Erik Bloodaxe."
+
+"Your father was a peace lover," returned Sigurd, "though, indeed,
+there was not in all the land at that time a more splendid warrior than
+he. But there were other reasons. The first was that Triggvi was
+passing content in the place where he was living, away in the Uplands,
+for there he had become the friend of a great earl who had most
+fruitful lands at Ofrestead, and he had won the love of the earl's
+daughter, Astrid, the most beautiful maid in all Norway. Her he had
+wedded, and they were very happy together and free from all the cares
+of state and war. This do I know full well," added Sigurd, addressing
+Allogia, "for Queen Astrid was my own dear sister, and Earl Erik of
+Ofrestead was my own father."
+
+"Then," said Queen Allogia, "it must be that Astrid was the mother of
+this boy whose cause you are now pleading; and in that case you
+yourself must be our young Ole's uncle?"
+
+"It is even so," replied Sigurd. "And now I must tell the second reason
+why Triggvi did not try to compass the death of King Erik. It was that
+Queen Gunnhild had already been seeking to fulfil her vow, and had been
+attempting through her wicked sorcery to bring about young Triggvi's
+death. So Triggvi thereupon left Astrid in the care of her father, and
+went a-warring as a viking. He sailed west over sea to Scotland, and
+there harried the coasts; and then to the Orkneys, where he had many
+battles with the vikings of the isles. So that when the people sought
+for him, wishing to make him their king, he could not be found.
+
+"Well, in the meantime there had appeared another who had rightful
+claim to the throne. Hakon, Athelstane's foster son, had come back from
+England on hearing of King Harald's death. He was now a full grown man
+and a valiant warrior. When he landed in Trondelag the people hailed
+him with great rejoicing, and declared that old Harald Fairhair had
+come back once more, gentler and more generous than before, but no less
+mighty and beautiful. They claimed him as their king, calling him Hakon
+the Good, and he reigned in Norway for many years, nor did he seek to
+do any ill to his nephew, Triggvi Olafson, but confirmed him as king in
+Viken.
+
+"Now when Hakon the Good returned it was an ill day for his elder
+brother Erik Bloodaxe, for the people had become so wroth against him
+that he could find no peace. At first he tried to raise an army, but
+none would serve him, and he was forced to flee from the land with his
+wife and children and a few weak followers. He thereupon took a ship
+and roamed about as a viking. He fared westward to the Orkneys, and got
+many vikings to join him, then he sailed south and harried all about
+the north parts of England. So greatly did he trouble the English
+people that at last King Athelstane, to win his peace, offered Erik the
+dominion over Northumberland, on the condition that he would become the
+king's vassal and defend that part of the realm against the Danes and
+other vikings. Erik agreed, allowed himself to be christened, and took
+the right troth.
+
+"Now Northumbria is accounted the fifth part of England, and the better
+bargain was on Erik's side. He made his abode in the town of York, and
+he warded the country well, for full oft did the Danes and Northmen
+harry there in the earlier time. But very soon, urged, it may be, by
+Queen Gunnhild, he sought to increase his wealth and to add to his
+lands; and when Athelstane died and King Edmund became the monarch of
+England Erik Bloodaxe went far into the land, and forcibly drove the
+people from their homes. Too greatly did he reckon upon success, for it
+happened that there was another who, like himself, had been set there
+by the king for the warding of the country. This other gathered an army
+and fell upon Erik. There was a great battle, and many of the English
+folk were killed; but ere the day was ended Erik lay dead upon the
+field, and that was the last of him.
+
+"No longer could Queen Gunnhild hope to dwell at peace in England. Her
+husband's estates were forfeited, and she had no home. So she took her
+children and sailed east to Denmark. There she was well received by the
+Danish king, Harald Bluetooth. But in spite of her misfortune her
+ambitions were not dead, for she had many sons growing up, and she had
+a mind to make them all kings in Norway. These sons, as you may well
+suppose, had little goodwill for Hakon the Good, who had dispossessed
+them of their inheritance. The eldest of them had roved for a while as
+vikings, and were already skilled in warfare, so Gunnhild contrived to
+get them ships and followers, and sent them across to Viken, the part
+of Norway where, as I have said, King Triggvi Olafson reigned. They had
+many battles with Triggvi, but they could not conquer him. But at last
+King Hakon came to his nephew's help, and with him pursued the sons of
+Gunnhild into Denmark.
+
+"This attack upon Danish soil brought about a war between the kings of
+Denmark and Norway, and in a battle at Sotoness Triggvi Olafson was
+defeated. He was forced to abandon his ships and save himself by
+flight. In a later battle Hakon the Good was killed. It is said that
+Gunnhild had bewitched the arrow that slew him.
+
+"Hakon had never tried very hard to make his people Christians, and he
+had himself drifted back to the worship of Thor and Odin. One of his
+friends, when he was dying, offered to take his body over to England,
+so that he might be buried in Christian soil, but Hakon replied: 'I am
+not worthy of it. I have lived like a heathen, and therefore it is meet
+that I should be buried like a heathen.'"
+
+Queen Allogia drew a heavy breath at this point in Sigurd's narrative,
+as if she thought that the story would have no end.
+
+"Your voice gets tired, hersir," said she, "and it may be that you
+would wish to keep the rest of the saga for another time!"
+
+"There is but little more to tell," returned Sigurd, looking up with
+anxious eyes. "And as what is left is the more important part, I beg
+you to hear it to the end."
+
+The queen assented, and Sigurd took up the thread of his story:
+
+"Little time did the sons of Gunnhild lose," said he, "in claiming the
+kingdom of their fathers; but it was only the middle part of Norway
+that they could possess in safety. To gain the whole country they had
+need to break the power of Triggvi Olafson and Gudrod Biornson, both
+grandsons of Harald Fairhair, who ruled as independent kings. To do
+this in open warfare was not easy. Gunnhild, who now forced her sons to
+action, as she had formerly forced Erik Bloodaxe, found treachery an
+easier means; so she got one of her sons to feign hostility to his
+brothers and to make a show of friendship for Triggvi Olafson. King
+Triggvi was invited by this son to go out on a cruise with him. Triggvi
+yielded to his false friend's wish, and on reaching the place of
+meeting he was foully murdered with all his men. His cousin, King
+Gudrod Biornson, was at about this same time surprised at a feast by
+Harald Greyfell and slain after a desperate fight.
+
+"Thus did the sons of Gunnhild clear their path. Thus, too, did the
+wicked queen fulfil the vow that she had sworn many years before, to
+exterminate the whole race of Harald Fairhair outside her husband's
+line.
+
+"But," added Sigurd, in a deep and solemn voice, "the flower that is
+trampled under foot may yet leave its seed behind to come forth in its
+own season and flourish. The race of King Harald was not yet dead, and
+Queen Gunnhild presently found that there was a woman in Norway whose
+true love and faithfulness were better than all the guile and treachery
+that jealousy could devise. Triggvi Olafson's widow, Queen Astrid, when
+she heard tidings of his murder, guessed rightly that Gunnhild would
+pursue her, so she fled from Viken, and journeyed north towards the
+Uplands, taking with her her two young daughters, Ingibiorg and Astrid,
+together with such chattels as she might have with her. In her company
+was her foster father, Thoralf Lusaskegg by name, and his young son
+Thorgils. Thoralf never left her, but guarded her always most
+faithfully, while other trusty men of hers went about spying for
+tidings of her foes.
+
+"Now very soon Astrid heard that Gunnhild's sons were pursuing her with
+intent to kill her, so she let herself be hidden on a little island in
+the midst of a certain lake. There on that island her son was born, and
+she had him sprinkled with water and named Olaf, after his father's
+father."
+
+Sigurd paused, and laying his hand on Olaf's shoulder, "This," said he,
+"is that same child, Olaf Triggvison, and he is the one true flower of
+which King Harald Fairhair was the parent stem. An ill thing would it
+be for Norway if, for the slaying of Klerkon the Viking, he were now to
+lose his life. And I beg you, oh, queen! to deal kindly with this
+king's son so hardly dealt with, and to deal with King Valdemar
+concerning him that his life may be spared."
+
+Then Queen Allogia answered, looking on the lad, that she would do as
+Sigurd wished.
+
+"And now," she added, "tell me how it came to pass that the boy was
+ever brought across the sea to Esthonia."
+
+So Sigurd told how Queen Astrid journeyed farther into the Uplands
+until she came to her father's manor at Ofrestead; how, dwelling there,
+she had been at last discovered by Gunnhild's spies, and been forced to
+take flight that she might save young Olaf from their murderous hands.
+For Gunnhild had now heard of the birth of this son of King Triggvi,
+and nothing would content her, but that he should die ere he could grow
+up to manhood, and so dispute with her own sons the realm that they now
+usurped.
+
+He told how Queen Astrid, leaving her two daughters at Ofrestead, had
+fared east away into Sweden, and of what privations she had borne for
+her son's sake, and of how, still pursued by her enemies, she had at
+length taken safe refuge with Hakon Gamle, a friend of her father's.
+
+"But even here," continued Sigurd, "Queen Gunnhild's enmity followed
+her. This time it was not with the sword but with soft words that
+Gunnhild sought to gain her ends. She sent a message through the King
+of Sweden, asking that she might have Olaf back in Norway to live in
+her court, and to be taught and nurtured as behoved one of such exalted
+birth. But Astrid knew full well that there was falseness underlying
+this message, and she sent word back to Norway saying that her boy
+stood in no need of such help, and that she would herself see that he
+was both well nurtured and fitly taught.
+
+"I have told you," said Sigurd, "that Queen Astrid was my own sister.
+Now, at the time I speak of I was already in the service of King
+Valdemar; so Astrid thought that the best means of escaping her enemies
+and of saving her son was that she should come here with Olaf into
+Holmgard. The boy was then three winters old and full sturdy. So Hakon
+Gamle gave her a good company of men, and took her down to the seacoast
+and gave her into the care of certain traders whose ship was bound
+eastward.
+
+"But now as they made out to sea vikings fell on them, and took both
+men and money. Some they slew, and some they shared between them for
+bondslaves. Then was Olaf parted from his mother, and the captain of
+the vikings, an Esthonian named Klerkon Flatface, got him along with
+Thoralf and Thorgils. Klerkon deemed Thoralf over old for a thrall,
+and, seeing no work in him, slew him and flung him overboard, but he
+had the lads away with him, and sold them into slavery. Olaf and
+Thorgils swore foster brotherhood, and they took oath in handshaking
+that they would bring this viking to his bane. That oath did Olaf
+fulfil this day, when he drove his axe into Klerkon's head."
+
+Sigurd rose from his seat and stood before the queen.
+
+"And now," said he, "my story is at an end, and you know of what kin
+this boy has come. Well am I aware, oh, queen! that in fostering a
+king's son I have broken the law of this land. I seek no pardon for
+myself. For Olaf alone do I ask your help. And if King Valdemar condemn
+him to death for his crime, then do I crave that my life, and not the
+boy's, be taken."
+
+"Go with the boy to your home," returned the queen. "None shall hurt
+either him or you. Wait in patience until the sun rise, and then you
+shall know the issue of my pleadings with the king."
+
+And so saying, she signed to them to leave the hall.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI: THE TRAINING OF OLAF.
+
+
+Very much of this story that Sigurd had told was strangely new to Olaf,
+and even the parts that he had before been familiar with came to him
+with fresh meaning. He had known all along of his descent from King
+Harald Fairhair, but not until now did he fully and clearly understand
+that by the death of his father and of all his father's brothers he was
+himself at this moment the sole heir to the throne of Norway. Now for
+the first time he realized that during all that past time, when he had
+been living as a poor and wretched bondslave in Esthonia, he had held
+this glorious birthright.
+
+As he lay on his bed that night, thinking over all that he had heard,
+he tried to comprehend all that it must mean to him in the future, and
+in his own boyish way he made great resolves of how, when the fitting
+moment should come, he would sail across the sea, and, landing on the
+shores of Norway, tell his people the story of his royal birth and
+heritage, so that they might know him and acknowledge him their king,
+even as they had acknowledged Hakon the Good. But in the midst of his
+dreaming there came to him the remembrance of the crime that he had
+just committed, and he began to dread that King Valdemar might hold him
+guilty, and order him to be slain.
+
+All through the long night this dread haunted him. He had killed Jarl
+Klerkon, and the sense of his own guilt now preyed upon him like a
+terrible nightmare. He wondered by what means they would take his life.
+Would they smite off his head with a sharp sword or shoot an arrow into
+his heart, or would they slowly torture him to death? Perhaps they
+would deem him too young to be thus punished by the taking of his life;
+but if they spared his life he would none the less be punished, for
+they would throw him into the dark prison that he had once seen under
+the king's castle, and there they would leave him to languish in chains
+for many years, so that his strength would go from him, and he would be
+no longer fit to be called a king.
+
+Not for a moment did Olaf think of allowing his Uncle Sigurd to take
+the punishment for his crime. He knew that Sigurd had made no idle
+offer when he had said that he would give up his life for his sake; but
+Sigurd was guiltless, and it would be a coward's act to allow him to
+make this sacrifice. With all his newborn hopes burning within him, it
+was a hard thing for Olaf to think of death. Nevertheless, before the
+night was half spent he had resolved to take whatever punishment should
+be meted out to him, and if need be to face even death with a brave
+heart.
+
+Early on the next morning he was awakened from his sleep by the touch
+of rough hands upon him. His own hands were seized, and heavy chains
+were bound upon his wrists and ankles. Then he was taken away and
+thrust into a dark cell that was cold, and damp, and airless. No food
+was given to him, and very soon the pangs of hunger made him wild and
+restless. A sudden dread came upon him that they meant to starve him to
+death. But not long had he been imprisoned before the heavy door was
+again thrown open, and he was summoned forth. Two men of the king's
+bodyguard led him into the great hall, where he was met by a loud
+clamour of voices. He looked about him fearlessly at the crowd of
+townsfolk and vikings, who were there, as he now well knew, to bear
+witness against him and to hear him condemned. As he stood facing them
+the vikings broke into fierce cries for speedy vengeance, and he felt
+the hot blood rush to his cheeks and brow. His clear blue eyes flashed
+in bold challenge as one of the seamen called out aloud:
+
+"Death to him! Death to the slayer of our chief!" Then one of the
+king's lawmen demanded silence, and Olaf was made to turn with his face
+to the high seat. There sat King Valdemar in his robes of justice, and
+with his naked sword lying before him on the oaken table. At his right
+side sat Queen Allogia, with her eyes fixed gravely upon the young
+criminal.
+
+Presently, when there was complete silence, Olaf's accuser stepped
+forward, and making the sign of Thor's hammer, spoke aloud. He was
+named Rand the Strong, and the vikings had chosen him as their captain
+in the place of the dead Jarl Klerkon. He told very truthfully how the
+young prisoner had made his attack upon Klerkon, and showed that it was
+in no mean and underhand way that he had committed this crime, but with
+such boldness that none had guessed what was happening until they saw
+Klerkon fall to the ground with the lad's axe buried deep in his skull.
+
+Then came others, both townsfolk and seafolk, declaring that Rand had
+spoken truly. And so when all who accused the boy had spoken, Sigurd,
+the king's steward, was bidden to rise and say what he knew in Olaf's
+favour.
+
+"The boy is my own servant," said he, "and I bought him as a thrall
+from a certain yeoman in Esthonia. I know no ill against him, and it
+was not in his nature to commit any violent act without cause. Rash he
+certainly was in killing this viking without due warning. But Jarl
+Klerkon was a man whose skill and prowess have made him well known on
+all the seas where the vikings are wont to do battle, and I think he
+might easily have defended himself against this child, who, as you have
+heard, attacked him face to face in the full daylight. As to the cause
+of this attack it was this: some seven summers back Jarl Klerkon
+assailed and captured a certain merchant ship, on board of which were
+this boy Ole, his mother, and his foster father. Klerkon slew the boy's
+foster father and sold the mother and her child into bondage. The boy
+took oath of vengeance, which oath he has now fulfilled. Now,"
+continued Sigurd, raising his voice so that all could hear, "it is not
+lawful for any Esthonian viking to attack a peaceful trading ship; but
+Klerkon assuredly did this, and I therefore hold that it was he who was
+the aggressor. For this reason, and also on account of his youth, I
+crave that the boy's life be spared."
+
+While Sigurd was speaking, Olaf's eyes rested upon the queen. He saw
+her lean over and whisper in the king's ear. The king nodded and
+smiled, waited until there was silence, and then said briefly:
+
+"Little question is there that the offender is guilty. He is guilty,
+and must suffer the penalty of his crime. But as he is still little
+more than a child in years the penalty will not be death, but the
+payment of a heavy fine. He will, therefore, pay to the vikings whom he
+has injured the sum of two hundred gold marks."
+
+Now Olaf deemed this judgment very hard, for he had not the money
+wherewith to pay this fine. But his life had been spared, and that was
+a great matter. It might be that Sigurd Erikson, who was as he knew
+very wealthy, would help him to meet the weregild.
+
+Meanwhile the vikings had put their heads together in council. They
+decided that as the young murderer's death would in no way profit them
+they would accept the fine. But there was yet something that seemed to
+trouble them, and at last Rand the Strong came forward before the king.
+
+"We are well content with thy judgment, O king," said he, "and we agree
+that on receiving this money we shall not molest the lad any longer on
+account of this matter. But we are told that he is only a thrall, and
+that there is no hope of our getting the gold from him. Therefore we
+claim that he shall die the death."
+
+Olaf looked towards his uncle as if expecting that he would at once
+offer to pay this gold. But Sigurd's eyes were fixed upon Queen
+Allogia, who now slowly rose from her seat and held up her hand to
+silence the loud murmur of voices that filled the hall.
+
+"As to this money," said she, addressing the vikings in a clear ringing
+voice, "there is no need that you concern yourselves. The gold shall
+now be paid to you in full. It is here!" she cried, throwing down a bag
+of coins upon the table. "Now, loosen the boy's chains! Loosen his
+chains and set him free."
+
+Then Olaf's warders unbound him, and at a sign from the queen he
+stepped to the table and took up the bag of gold and carried it to Rand
+the Strong, who received it from him with willing hands, bidding the
+boy have no further fear.
+
+On that same day the vikings departed out of Holmgard not ill pleased,
+for they went away much richer than they had come, and none of them
+seemed at all sorry at the loss of their chief. Jarl Klerkon had gone
+to Valhalla, they said, and he was surely happier than they.
+
+Now on the day after the paying of the weregild Olaf had audience with
+Queen Allogia, and he thanked her well for the great friendship she had
+shown him.
+
+"Little do I deserve your thanks, Prince Olaf," said she. "What I have
+done is no more than I would wish any other woman to do for my own son
+if he were so hardly dealt with in a foreign land. And now," she added,
+"since I have at length learned of what great kin you are, it is my
+wish that you shall be received here as becomes your royal birth, and
+that you shall be educated as behoves a king's son. Too young are you
+yet to bear arms as a warrior. For the present, therefore, you shall
+attend upon me as my page, and you will be treated with all kindness."
+
+Not as a servant, but rather as an honoured courtier was Olaf
+Triggvison received after this time. He was twelve winters old when he
+came into Holmgard, and he abode in King Valdemar's service other five
+winters. Little can be told of his life during those years. They were
+years of preparation for his great work in the after time; and although
+he learnt very much and acquired a large part of the skill that was to
+make him famous among men, yet his days were without adventure.
+
+There was one matter which had sorely troubled him for many a long day,
+and this was the thought of his mother living in bondage. Little did he
+remember of those early times when she had done so much for his sake;
+he had been too young then to understand what sacrifices Queen Astrid
+had made and what privations she had endured. But ever as he grew older
+he thought more of her, and it pained him very much to know that even
+now, when he was living in comfort, with good food and rich apparel,
+she, to whom he owed so much, was perhaps labouring as a bondswoman
+under some cruel master.
+
+On a certain summer morning he sat in the queen's presence, playing
+upon a little harp that Allogia had given to him. And as his deft
+fingers touched the trembling strings he chanted a little song, telling
+of how the giant Loki, in punishment for all the ills he had done to
+gods and men, was bound by strong cords against the walls of a cave,
+with a serpent suspended over him dropping venom into his face drop by
+drop; and of how Sigyn his wife took pity on him and stood by him for
+hundreds of years, catching the drops as they fell in a cup which she
+held.
+
+Suddenly in the midst of his song Olaf stopped. The queen looked round
+at him and saw that there were tears in his eyes.
+
+"Why do you weep?" she asked. "Are you not happy, Olaf?"
+
+"Happy enough am I for my own sake," he replied. "It was the thought of
+my mother that brought the tears to my eyes. I was thinking that what
+Sigyn did for the wicked giant was just such a good act as my mother
+would do for anyone whom she loved."
+
+"Marvellous it seems to me," said Allogia, "that we can never learn
+what has become of the good Queen Astrid."
+
+"I think," returned Olaf, "that if ever I were to journey into Esthonia
+I might get some tidings of her. The last that I heard of her was that
+she had been sold to a rich fisherman named Hallstein, who made her
+labour at cleaning the fish for him and mending his nets."
+
+"A sorry occupation for a queen to be at!" Allogia said with a sigh.
+"But if it be that you have any hope of finding her, then it would be
+well if you made that journey you speak of. Sigurd Erikson goes north
+to Esthonia in three days' time, on business for the king. Will you not
+go with him?"
+
+"Gladly will I go with him," answered Olaf, "if it be that I may."
+
+Well, on the third day Olaf and Sigurd mounted their horses, and with a
+good company of men-at-arms set off on their journey over the rocky
+plains. Five days were they riding before they came within sight of the
+blue sea with its ships and its quiet green islands. That sight brought
+a restless yearning into Olaf's spirit. It seemed as if nothing would
+now content him but that he should go out upon the wide ocean and spend
+all his days in roving. And so much did he speak of the ships and of
+the viking life that when at last the time came for the return to
+Holmgard, Sigurd Erikson had hard work to win the boy away with him.
+
+While Sigurd was dealing with the people concerning the king's
+business, Olaf Triggvison went about from place to place in quest of
+tidings of Queen Astrid. But nothing certain could he learn, for he
+dared not say that the woman he sought was the widow of King Triggvi,
+and when he told of her fairness those whom he questioned only shook
+their heads. They had seen many bondswomen who were fair, they said,
+and how could they tell that any one of them was she whom the young
+hersir was now seeking? At last Olaf found his way to the house of
+Hallstein the fisher, only to hear that Hallstein had been drowned in
+the sea full five winters before. But Olaf described his mother to the
+fisher's widow, who bade him fare to a certain yeoman named Einar
+Ulfsson, at a farmstead over the hills. So Olaf took horse and rode
+away to this man and questioned him concerning Astrid. Einar remembered
+her, for she had been his bondwoman for two summers. He had sold her,
+he said, to a stranger, who had taken her on board his ship and carried
+her away across the seas. This was the last trace of his mother that
+Olaf could discover, and he went back to Sigurd Erikson and told him
+what he had learned. Sigurd was very sad at this, for he loved his
+sister, and it pained him to think that she was still in slavery, when,
+if she could but be found, she might live in comfort and happiness. But
+he bade Olaf to be hopeful, "for," said he, "I think it may be that
+some friendly man has bought her and taken her home to Norway. And if
+that be so, then we shall soon learn the truth. I will send messengers
+to Ofrestead, and my father, Earl Erik, will surely find her if she is
+to be found."
+
+Now when Olaf returned to Holmgard it was with the resolve that he
+would not long remain in this foreign land, but would take his first
+chance to go west over sea to the country of his birth. He had seen the
+ships passing along the rocky coasts of Esthonia; he had breathed the
+fresh free air of the sea, and the viking blood in him had been roused.
+His spirit was filled with the ambition to be the commander of a great
+warship, and to rove the ocean as his father had done, to visit distant
+lands and to make himself glorious in battle. But well he knew that to
+fit himself for the viking life he must increase his strength of body
+and acquire even greater skill than he now had in the use of all
+warlike weapons. So he set himself the task of excelling in the games
+and exercises that were then known and practised.
+
+Already he had been taught by his uncle to read runes, to recite sagas,
+to play upon the harp, to carve wood, to twist string, to bend a bow,
+and to shaft an arrow. These and many other arts had come easy to his
+active mind and his deft fingers. All that a man of peace need know he
+knew full well. Nor had he neglected to give thought to the religion of
+his times. Every day he went into the temple to bow down in devout
+worship of the heathen gods, to take part in the rites and ceremonies
+of his faith, and even to offer sacrifice to Thor and Odin. The graven
+image of Odin was to him, as to most of the Norsemen, a sacred and a
+holy thing. When he took oath it was by the sign of Thor's hammer that
+he swore; he knew the names and the special powers of all the gods in
+Asgard, and Valhalla was the heaven to which, after death, he hoped to
+go.
+
+But these arts and this religion would not alone fit him for fulfilling
+his ambition. To be such a great viking as he dreamed of becoming he
+must learn how to use his sword, how to wield his battleaxe, how to
+throw a spear and to shoot an arrow with greater skill than any other
+man could boast. He must learn, too, how to defend himself, and how, if
+wounded, to bear pain without shrinking. He was a king's son, and to be
+worthy of his father it was well that he should excel even the full
+grown men who had been well tried in battle and who had never known the
+meaning of defeat.
+
+To this end Olaf remained three other years in Holmgard, which time he
+spent in making himself strong. In the neighbouring waters of Lake
+Ilmen he practised swimming, and with such success that at last he
+could remain under the surface for many minutes, diving off a ship's
+prow and coming up again under her steering board. So quickly and
+strongly could he swim that no man rowing in a boat could keep level
+with him. He could ride the wildest horse in the king's stable. At
+running and jumping no man could surpass him. In the use of the sword
+he was so expert that he could wield the weapon with either hand, and
+he could throw two spears at once. Never was he known to shoot an arrow
+without hitting the mark. So long as daylight served him he was always
+to be found performing some manly feat.
+
+But in these matters it was not his training alone that aided him.
+Nature had given him a very beautiful and powerful frame, with well
+proportioned limbs, clear quick eyesight, and wonderful strength to
+endure all fatigue. Also, through all his life he was never known to be
+afraid of any danger or to shrink before any enemy. Other men of his
+race have won undying renown, but Olaf Triggvison has ever been
+accounted the fairest and tallest and strongest of all the heroes of
+Scandinavia, and in prowess surpassing all the warriors told of in the
+sagas.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII: THE CAPTAIN OF THE HOST.
+
+
+It befell at a time when Olaf had been in the queen's service some four
+summers that Sigurd Erikson went out into the far parts of the king's
+dominions to levy the yearly taxes upon the people, and among those
+that went with him on his journey were Thorgils Thoralfson and the
+young Egbert of England. These two had, by Olaf's favour with King
+Valdemar, been liberated from their bondage and hard labour, and Sigurd
+had taken them into his service as men-at-arms. Brave and handsome they
+looked as they sat upon their chargers with their swords hanging at
+their sides and the sun shining on their burnished bronze helmets and
+coats of ring mail. Olaf watched them with admiring eyes as they rode
+away through the town, and wished that he might be of their company.
+But their journey was one of peace, and it was only their martial array
+that made him for the moment envious.
+
+Sigurd was expected to be absent for little more than two weeks, but
+the time went by, the weeks passed into months, and he did not return.
+
+On a certain day Olaf was beyond the gates training a pair of young
+hounds. As he watched one of the dogs running in pursuit of a hare that
+had been started he espied afar off a horseman riding swiftly across
+the plain, almost hidden in a cloud of dust. Nearer and nearer he
+approached until Olaf at last saw his face, and knew him to be his
+young friend Egbert. Leaving the dogs in the care of two of the king's
+servants who were attending him, he set off at a quick run to meet the
+horseman.
+
+"What brings you back alone, Egbert?" he cried as he came near.
+
+Egbert drew rein. His garments were torn and dusty; he had lost his
+helmet and sword, and his face was so begrimed and travel stained that
+he was scarcely to be recognized.
+
+"I have brought ill news," he answered, "and am hastening with it to
+King Valdemar. It is full five days since I parted company with my
+fellows. They are all made captive--the Hersir Sigurd, Thorgils
+Thoralfson, and the rest of them--and I alone have escaped."
+
+Olaf turned, and taking Egbert's stirrup strap in his hand trotted on
+at the horse's side.
+
+"Seven days ago," Egbert went on, "we crossed in one of the king's
+ships to an island that lies out to the west of Esthonia. Dago is the
+name of the island.
+
+"There Sigurd landed, meaning to gather taxes and tribute from the
+people. But no sooner was he ashore than the people told him that they
+were no longer the subjects of King Valdemar but of a new king whom
+they had chosen for themselves. Sigurd disputed their right to elect a
+new king for themselves, and he asked to see this man and to know the
+name of him who had dared to set himself up in opposition to Valdemar.
+Then there was a commotion among the crowd, and one stepped forward and
+cried out, 'I am the king, and my name is Rand the Strong!' and we all
+knew him to be the same viking who four summers ago was here in
+Holmgard in the train of Jan Klerkon. Sigurd grew ill at ease seeing
+the vast crowd of islanders that had now gathered there, but he spoke
+boldly, and told them all that they were a pack of rebels, and that
+King Valdemar would speedily prove to them that he would not brook the
+interference of this upstart sea rover. At that Rand drew his sword and
+called to his men to stand by their rights and drive these intruders
+from their shores. There was a brief fight, in which I know not how
+many men were slain or wounded, and in the end the islanders got the
+victory. Sigurd fought bravely until he was disarmed and made prisoner.
+Thorgils and five others of our men were carried off with him. Our
+ship, too, was captured. Darkness came on ere the fight was finished,
+and under the cover of night I crept down to the seashore and waded out
+into the sea. By the light of the stars I took my bearings and swam out
+eastward to the mainland. All through the night I swam on and on. The
+sun rose, and still the land was afar off. But at the midday I came to
+a firm footing on the beach. At a farmstead I got food and a horse, and
+for two days I have been travelling without rest."
+
+"You have done wondrous well," cried Olaf. "And much do I envy you your
+adventure."
+
+"There is little cause for envy," returned Egbert. "My limbs are so
+weary that I can scarcely sit upright upon my horse's back, and he,
+poor dumb brute, is so wind broken that he can be of little more use in
+the world. As to adventure, you might now have it in plenty if the king
+would but agree to your being of those who must go to the rescue of our
+comrades. You are young, and have had no experience in warfare; but you
+can, for all that, wield a sword as well as any man in Valdemar's
+service."
+
+Olaf was silent, and when they entered the gates he did not seek to
+accompany Egbert into the presence of the king. Instead, he made his
+way into Queen Allogia's apartments, and there told the news that he
+had just heard.
+
+Not long had he been in the hall wherein the queen sat when the door
+opened and King Valdemar entered, looking very grave. Olaf rose from
+his seat and bowed before him.
+
+"What is your age, my boy?" asked Valdemar.
+
+"Sixteen summers, lord," answered Olaf, wondering at the reason of the
+question.
+
+The king eyed him from head to foot.
+
+"It is still very young," said he with a smile. "But your strength is
+greater than your years. Not often have I seen one so young with limbs
+so sturdy and with figure so nobly upright. I have been thinking that
+you have lingered long enough about the skirts of our womenfolk. Such
+skill as yours should be put to more manly uses than fingering the harp
+and carrying the wine cup, and I have now a mind to see what you can do
+in active warfare. There is trouble among the people over in the Isle
+of Dago. I have had news that a rebellion has broken out, and that the
+islanders have chosen a new king to themselves and refused to
+acknowledge their rightful sovereign. These rebels must be instantly
+quelled, and I have therefore resolved to despatch a company of men
+against them and force them to submit. What say you to your taking the
+command of the expedition?"
+
+"The command?" repeated Olaf, drawing back in astonishment. "But I am
+no more than a boy. My heart is willing and bold; but surely I am too
+young to undertake so grave a trust!"
+
+"Yes," cried the queen, growing white even to the lips at thought of
+her favourite being thus thrust into a post of danger. "Yes," she
+cried, "he is assuredly too young for such a charge!"
+
+But King Valdemar shook his head.
+
+"Not so," said he with confidence. "Young though he may be in years, I
+am well assured that there is no man now living in this kingdom who is
+better fitted for the leading of an armed host, and I will trust him to
+the full." Then turning to Olaf he added: "The matter is already
+settled. It so chances that there are at this present time six of our
+best warships, with their full number of seamen and warriors, now lying
+in the haven behind Odinsholm. You will depart hence at daybreak, with
+such armed horsemen and footmen as you choose to take in your company.
+Ere you reach the coast the ship captains will have been informed that
+I have placed you over them as their chief and commander."
+
+Scarcely able to believe in the reality of what he heard, Olaf stood
+before the king in silent perplexity. He lacked not faith in his own
+personal prowess, for that had many times been amply proved in the
+games and exercises that he had daily engaged in, nor did his courage
+fail him. But to be placed at the head of Some hundreds of well tried
+warriors and told to lead them against an enemy, this was a matter of
+which he had as yet only vaguely dreamed. For many moments he stood in
+doubt. But suddenly it seemed that a new light came into his clear blue
+eyes, and a fuller vigour into his strong young limbs.
+
+"If it be your wish, lord," he said at last, "then I will undertake the
+trust. My great forefather, King Harald Fairhair, was younger than I
+now am when he led forth his hosts to battle; and, as I am of King
+Harald's blood, so will I seek to make myself a worthy man of war."
+
+Thereupon King Valdemar led the boy away, and for a long while they sat
+together, making their plans of how Olaf's forces were to invade the
+island and rescue Sigurd Erikson from the hands of the rebel islanders.
+
+On a certain calm summer evening Olaf Triggvison, mounted upon a
+splendid white horse, and followed by some two score of picked
+men-at-arms, rode into the little town wherein, four years before, he
+had lived as a humble thrall. None knew him now for the same wild,
+wilful boy whom they had been accustomed to see playing barefooted upon
+the beach or tending his master's sheep upon the hillside. Even Reas
+the bonder himself, who had many a time flogged him for his
+disobedience and idleness, and who now watched him riding downward to
+the ships, did not recognize his former bondslave in the handsome and
+gaily attired young warrior. The people spoke among themselves of
+Olaf's beautiful fair hair, of his crested helmet of burnished brass,
+of his red silk cloak that fluttered in the breeze, and his glittering
+battleaxe that hung pendant from his saddle. They admired his easy seat
+upon horseback, and, when he spoke, they marvelled at the full richness
+of his voice. But none could say that they had ever before set eyes
+upon him.
+
+Out in the mid bay the king's six longships lay at anchor, with their
+sails furled and their high gunwales set with shields from prow to
+stern. The largest vessel had at her prow the towering figure of a
+winged dragon ornamented with beaten gold. She was the longest ship
+that Olaf had ever seen, and he counted that she was fitted for twenty
+pairs of oars. Her hull was painted red and green above the water, and
+the tent that covered her decks was made of striped red and white
+cloth. As he stood gazing at her, with wonder and admiration, a small
+boat came round from her further side, rowed by six seamen and steered
+by a stalwart, red bearded warrior, whom the young commander had once
+before seen at the king's court in Holmgard. Jarl Asbiorn was his name.
+When the boat touched at the wharf Asbiorn greeted Olaf very humbly and
+bade him step on board. Olaf called Egbert to his side and together
+they were taken out to the dragon ship and received with great honour
+by the six captains, who each in turn took vows of submission and
+obedience to him. Then, while the ships were being got ready for sea,
+Olaf was shown into a large room under the poop and told that this was
+to be his private cabin. Here he held counsel with his officers
+touching the expedition they were now entering upon.
+
+It was a proud moment for Olaf when, just at the sun's setting and at
+his own word of command, the oars of the six ships were thrust out from
+the bulwarks and the vessels began to move slowly out of the bay.
+
+The warlike spirit that had been lying quiet within him now filled him
+with a strange new energy. The fresh sea air and the sense of his own
+power seemed to have entered every vein in his body, thrilling him with
+an eager desire for glory, which amounted almost to a madness. As he
+trod his ship's deck the seamen and fighting men watched him in
+wondering interest, and declared among themselves that Balder himself
+could not have been more beautiful. At first they thought that he was
+too young to be trusted with the sole command of six great vessels of
+war, but very soon he showed them that he was well able to do all that
+was expected of him; and there was something in his voice, in the quick
+glance of his eyes, and in his alertness that made them acknowledge him
+as one who was born to be a leader of men. So they obeyed him in all
+things and yielded to his will in such wise that he had no trouble of
+any sort.
+
+Before this time he had had no experience in the working of a ship; so
+in the early part of the voyage he gave his mind to the learning of all
+matters wherein he knew himself to be most ignorant. He watched the
+setting of the sails and asked many questions concerning them, until he
+could understand why at any time a certain rope was hauled or loosened,
+and why when the wind blew strong a reef was taken in. Always he took
+great interest in the working of the oars. There were in his own ship
+four score of rowing men--two at each oar--and as he watched them he
+marvelled how they could endure the hard labour without breaking their
+backs or tearing out their arms; and to prove to himself what amount of
+strength the work required he went down into the ship's waist and,
+taking off his shirt of chain mail, took his turn upon one of the
+benches, thus winning the praise of all on board. But most of all he
+loved to take the tiller in his hand and steer the vessel through the
+dangers of the wind swept sea.
+
+On the evening of the third day the ships came within sight of the
+island of Dago, and the young commander bade his men get ready their
+weapons lest the islanders should offer resistance. During the night he
+brought his fleet to an anchorage under a small holm, whose high cliffs
+sheltered the ships from the view of the larger island. Then launching
+a small boat and disguising himself in a rough seaman's cloak, he took
+Egbert and four of the men with him and they rowed across the channel
+and made a landing.
+
+Olaf questioned a shepherd whom he met on the upland pastures, and from
+him learned that Rand the Strong was still recognized among the
+islanders as their king and that the power of King Valdemar was broken.
+So Olaf returned to the ships and brought them round into a wide bay,
+upon whose shores the town was built.
+
+Not long was Rand the Strong in mustering his little army of vikings,
+for he had seen the six ships approaching; he knew them to be the ships
+of King Valdemar, and quickly guessed with what intent they had come.
+
+At sight of the islanders massed in battle array upon the beach Olaf
+bade his rowers draw yet nearer into the shallows. Then the war horns
+were sounded on both sides, the warriors set their arrows to the
+bowstring and a fierce fight began. More than once the islanders
+retreated before the heavy rain of arrows and stones, but again and
+again they rallied and assailed the ships. Many of the vikings rushed
+into the water and swam outward to the ships, but before they could
+climb the bulwarks and set foot upon the decks they were cut down by
+Olaf's swordsmen or slain, even as they swam, by arrow or spear.
+
+Olaf himself stood at the prow of his dragon ship, surrounded by his
+berserks, whose shields protected him, and coolly he drew arrow after
+arrow from his sheath and sent it with unerring aim into the midst of
+the islanders. Stones and arrows fell about him in a constant rain,
+crashing upon his helmet and breaking against the close-knit rings of
+his coat of mail. At last he singled out the tall figure of Rand the
+Strong, who, rallying his vikings, led them nearer to the water's edge.
+Olaf chose one of his best arrows and fixed it to his bowstring, then
+bent his bow with the full strength of his arms, aiming very steadily.
+The bowstring twanged and the arrow flew whizzing through the air. Olaf
+watched its quick flight and followed it until it struck its intended
+mark and stood quivering in the bare part of the viking's throat. Rand
+staggered and fell. Then the islanders, seeing that their chief was
+slain, drew back once more to the higher beach, while Olaf brought his
+ships yet closer into the shallows and ordered his forces to land. With
+his sword in hand he led his men to the attack. There was a sharp hand
+to hand fight, in which many were killed on both sides; but at last the
+islanders gave way before the invaders and Olaf got the victory.
+
+So, when the fight was at an end, Olaf called the chief rebels before
+him and forced them to acknowledge King Valdemar as their rightful and
+sole sovereign. When peace was restored he demanded that Sigurd Erikson
+and those who had been of his following should be set at liberty. Among
+the first who were freed from the prison in Rand's stronghold was
+Thorgils Thoralfson. But Sigurd Erikson was found dead in his cell. The
+islanders declared that he had died of his wounds, but Olaf believed
+that hunger and hardship were the cause of it.
+
+Greatly did Olaf Triggvison grieve over the loss of his uncle. Sigurd
+had been as a father to him, had lifted him up out of his sordid life
+of thraldom and raised him to his present high position in the favour
+of the court. And now he was dead and there was an end of all his
+loving kindness.
+
+For the rest of that day Olaf was engaged in the burial of the brave
+islanders and vikings who had fallen in the battle, and he had a mound
+built over them and raised stones above them to mark the place. But at
+night he had Sigurd Erikson's body carried down to the beach with all
+the other men who had been of King Valdemar's host. One of the smaller
+ships was then brought in to the beach, and a pyre of tarred wood and
+dry peat was built upon its upper deck. Olaf placed the dead body of
+his uncle upon the pyre, with all the armour that Sigurd had worn. The
+ship was further loaded with the dead men and with weapons. Then, when
+the tide had risen and the vessel was afloat with her sail hoisted,
+Olaf went on board alone with a lighted torch and kindled the pyre. The
+wind blew off shore and the ship sailed slowly out upon the dark sea.
+There was a loud crackling of dry twigs and the flames rose amid a
+cloud of black smoke, showing Olaf standing at the stern with the
+tiller in his hand. Very soon the fire caught the logs of tarred wood,
+and when the pyre was all aglow and the heat became too great for him
+to bear, he fixed the steering board with the end of a rope, gave a
+farewell look at the prostrate body of his uncle, and then stepping to
+the rail threw himself overboard into the sea and swam back to the
+land. When he got his feet upon the rocks he climbed up to a grassy
+knoll and sat there watching the burning ship. The leaping flames lit
+up the sky and cast a long track of light upon the rippled sea.
+Presently both sail and mast fell over with a crash, and a cloud of
+fiery sparks rose high into the black night. Still Olaf sat watching;
+nor did he move away until at last the ship had burned down to the
+water's edge, and there was no more to be seen but a tiny gleam of
+light shining far out upon the dark and silent waves.
+
+On the next morning, having ended this work of quelling the rebel
+islanders, Olaf led his fleet out of the bay and set forth on his
+return to the mainland. In three days' time he was once more in
+Holmgard. There he remained for two other years, enjoying great favour
+in the court and performing many important services. He sustained a
+great company of men-at-arms at his own cost from the wealth that he
+had inherited from his Uncle Sigurd, and from such riches as the king
+bestowed upon him; and the leading of this host throve so well in his
+hands that all the younger men of the realm flocked to his side, eager
+to be enlisted in his service.
+
+Now it befell--as oft it must when outland men win fame and power
+beyond those of the land--that many folks envied Olaf the great love he
+had of the king, and of the queen no less. His bravery and his great
+success in all that he undertook brought him many secret enemies, who
+whispered all sorts of evil whispers to King Valdemar. They declared
+that Olaf was but increasing his influence and power so that in the end
+he might do some hurt to the king and to the realm. They slandered him
+and spoke all manner of evil against him, representing him as a
+dangerous rival to Valdemar in the affections of both the queen and the
+people. So the king, hearing these false charges and believing them,
+began to look coldly upon young Olaf and to treat him roughly. Olaf
+then knew that it was time for him to be going, for that confidence
+once lost could never be wholly restored. So he went to King Valdemar
+and spoke with him, saying that as he was now grown tall and strong he
+was minded to travel and to see the land wherein his ancestors had
+ruled and his own father had been sovereign.
+
+Little sorrow did the jealous Valdemar show at hearing of this resolve.
+And to hasten Olaf's departure he gave him great gifts of well wrought
+weapons--a splendid sword inlaid with gold on the blade and set in the
+hilt with dear bought gems, and a shield of embossed brass. Also he
+furnished him with a dragonship and four longships, ready manned and
+equipped for the sea, and bade him go a-roving wheresoever he willed in
+search of adventure and worldly furtherance.
+
+Queen Allogia, however, was very sad at thought of thus losing her
+favourite, and it was long ere she would make up her mind to let Olaf
+leave her. But in the end she saw that it was for his own good and
+advancement that he should go; so she gave him a beautiful banner of
+silken embroidery that she had worked with her own hands, told him that
+he would be accounted a noble and brave man wheresoever he should
+chance to be, and then bade him a last farewell.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII: THE YOUNG VIKINGS.
+
+
+So Olaf quitted Holmgard and went on shipboard, and stood out with his
+viking fleet into the Baltic Sea. He now owed no allegiance to any man,
+but was free to journey where he pleased, a king upon his own decks. At
+this time he was scarcely eighteen summers old; but his limbs were so
+well knit and strong, and he was withal so tall and manly, that he
+seemed already to have attained to man's estate. Yet, feeling that his
+youth might be against him, he had chosen that all his ship companions
+should be as near as possible to his own age. He had a score or so of
+bearded berserks on each of his ships--men who feared neither fire nor
+steel, but who gloried in warfare, and loved nothing better than to be
+in the midst of a great battle. These indeed were full aged men; but
+for the rest, his crew of seamen and his band of trained men-at-arms
+was comprised of youths, none of whom were older than Thorgils
+Thoralfson, or younger than Olaf himself.
+
+Olaf made his foster brother the chief in command under himself, giving
+him power over both seamen and warriors. He made his friend Egbert the
+sailing master, while one Kolbiorn Stallare became his master-of-arms.
+
+Kolbiorn was the son of a powerful viking of Sognfiord in Norway. He
+was of an age with Olaf Triggvison, and so much did the two resemble
+one the other that, when apart, they were often taken to be brothers.
+Both had the long fair hair and the blue eyes of the Norseland, both
+were of nearly equal height; and it was Kolbiorn's habit to strive, by
+wearing similar clothing, to increase the likeness between himself and
+his young master. But when the two were side by side the resemblance
+ceased, for then Olaf was seen to be both the taller and the more
+muscular; his hair was seen to be more golden and silken, his skin more
+purely fair; his eyes, too, were brighter and larger than those of
+Kolbiorn, and his teeth more even and white. So, too, when it came to a
+test of skill, Olaf had ever the advantage, notwithstanding that
+Kolbiorn had spent all his young days on shipboard, had been taught by
+the vikings to perform all manner of feats, and had taken part in many
+battles on both land and sea.
+
+On a certain calm morning, very soon after Olaf had set out on this his
+first viking cruise, he stood with Kolbiorn at the ship's rail, looking
+out over the sunlit sea as his vessel crept along propelled by her
+forty long, sweeping oars, and followed by his four longships.
+
+"I think," said he, "that we will amuse ourselves today, and try our
+skill in some new game."
+
+"I am very unfit to try my skill against yours," returned Kolbiorn
+modestly, "for you have already beaten me at chess, at swimming, at
+shooting, and at throwing the spear. Nevertheless, it shall be as you
+wish."
+
+"Choose, then, what feat we are to perform," said Olaf; "I am willing
+to join in any exercise that you may know, and I do not doubt that
+there are many in which your skill must be greater than mine."
+
+"There is one," said Kolbiorn, "that I would be glad to see you
+attempt, although there is danger in it, and I may be doing wrong in
+suggesting it."
+
+"If it be new to me, then I shall be all the more pleased," said Olaf;
+"and none the less so though the risk be great."
+
+Kolbiorn drew the young commander across to the shady side of the ship.
+
+"It is that we shall climb over the bulwarks," said he, "and walk
+outboard along the oars while the men are rowing."
+
+Olaf looked over the side, and for a few moments watched the regular
+motion of the oars as they dipped into the green water and rose
+dripping into the air. He measured with his eye the space between each
+of the twenty blades.
+
+"It seems not so difficult as I had hoped," he said, "but let me see
+you do it, and then I will follow."
+
+Kolbiorn climbed over the ship's quarter, and worked his way forward to
+the first rower's bench. Steadying himself for a moment as he hung by
+one arm from the gunwale, he dropped with his two feet upon the
+aftermost oar, and stepped out thence from oar to oar until he reached
+the one nearest to the forecastle. Then, still balancing himself with
+outstretched arms, he turned and walked aft by the same way to where
+Olaf and many of the ship's company had stood watching him. All thought
+it a very wonderful feat.
+
+Olaf praised Kolbiorn's skill, but promptly prepared to follow his
+example. Throwing off his red silk cloak, lest, by falling into the
+sea, he should injure it, he climbed overboard, and without hesitation
+dropped down upon the square shank of the aftermost oar; then going out
+near to the blade, he ran forward with quick, well measured strides.
+Once or twice, as the oars were dipped, he faltered and nearly lost his
+balance, but he reached the foremost one without accident, and returned
+with greater ease. When he again stepped upon the deck he appealed to
+Thorgils Thoralfson to decide which had shown the more skill. But
+Thorgils was unable to determine the matter.
+
+"The game has not yet had sufficient trial," said Olaf; "it must be
+gone through once more. But this time I will myself take the lead, and
+let Kolbiorn or any other of our company follow."
+
+Then he asked Thorgils and Kolbiorn to lend him their handsaxes, and
+taking his own from his belt he again climbed over the side, and
+walking along the row of moving oars played with the three dirks,
+throwing them in turn up into the air, so that one was ever aloft and
+one hilt ever in his hand. Thus he played as he strode forward, without
+once dropping one of the weapons, and without once missing his sure
+footing. Climbing over the forecastle deck he then returned along the
+oars on the other side, and reached the deck with dry shoes.
+
+No one on board could understand how Olaf had done this surprising feat
+without having practised it many times before, and when he gave back
+the two dirks to their owners, Kolbiorn stood before him and looked at
+him in silence.
+
+Olaf said: "Why do you stand thus and not try after me?"
+
+"Because I own myself beaten," answered Kolbiorn. "And yet," he added,
+"I cannot believe that you did this feat by your skill alone and
+without some secret power. Either you have the favour of Odin to aid
+you, or else you are descended from some mighty king whose natural
+skill you have inherited. Marvellous does it seem to me that whatsoever
+exercise you attempt, in that you are certain to surpass all other men."
+
+Olaf laughed lightly and turned away towards his cabin, while his ship
+fellows continued to talk among themselves of this new example of his
+great agility.
+
+Thus, even at the beginning of his free life as a sea rover, he had
+made upon his companions so deep an impression that they one and all
+respected him, and openly acknowledged him their superior in all things.
+
+But most of all, they wondered of what kin he had been born that he
+should so easily and with such little effort excel all men they had
+known. For although they well knew that he had been a favourite at the
+court of King Valdemar, yet none even guessed at the truth that he was
+a blood descendant of the great Harald Fairhair; and less still did any
+imagine that he was even now heir to the throne of Norway. None but
+Thorgils Thoralfson knew his true name. At this time, and indeed
+throughout the whole course of his after adventures in Britain, he was
+known only as Ole the Esthonian.
+
+Now although Olaf had spoken of his wish to return to the land of his
+fathers, yet now that he was upon his own dragonship, and free to
+follow where fortune should lead him, he showed no haste to make a
+landing in Norway. He bent his course across the Gulf of Finland, and
+then westward among the many green islands and rocky holms that lie in
+the mid sea between Finland and Sweden, and for many sunny days and
+calm starry nights simply enjoyed the idle pleasures of his new life of
+freedom.
+
+It was the summer season, when all the channels of the sea were clear
+of ice, and there were many trading ships abroad which might have been
+an easy prey had Olaf so chosen to fall upon them. But although he was
+a viking, and had all the viking's lust for war and plunder, he yet
+remembered the time when his own mother had been taken by Jarl Klerkon
+and sold into bondage. So he determined to let all peaceful merchant
+ships alone, and to join battle only with such vessels as were intent
+upon warfare. In token of this resolve he had the great dragon's head
+lowered from his prow, so that its wide open jaws and terrible aspect
+might not strike fear into the hearts of the peaceable traders; and the
+shields that were ranged along his outer bulwarks were peace shields,
+painted white, as showing that he meant no harm to those who might
+chance to meet him on the seas.
+
+His berserks, and many of the young men who had joined his fellowship
+in the hope of gain, grumbled sometimes when they saw him allow some
+richly laden ship to go by without attacking her, and they declared
+that after all he was a viking only in name. Olaf bade them wait in
+patience, reminding them that there was no lack of good food and well
+brewed ale on board, and that they had no need to feel discontent so
+long as their daily life was passed in bodily comfort.
+
+"And as to fighting," he added, "I cannot think that any of you would
+take pleasure in drawing arms against men who have not been trained in
+warfare."
+
+Not long did they need to wait ere their instinct for fighting was in
+part satisfied.
+
+One gloomy forenoon his ships with their sails full set were speeding
+before a strong wind through the wide channel of sea dividing the two
+large islands of Gottland and Eyland. Thorgils was at the tiller of the
+dragon ship--a post which, in the viking times, was always held by the
+chief man on deck. As he stood there, his eyes swept the wide stretch
+of the grey sea in search of ships; for Olaf Triggvison had now put his
+red war shields out on the bulwarks, and the winged dragon reared its
+great gilded head at the prow, as if in menace. Olaf himself was below
+in his cabin under the poop, watching a game of chess that Kolbiorn and
+Egbert were playing.
+
+The chessboard was a very beautiful one, its squares being of inlaid
+silver and gold, with little pegs in the centre of each space upon
+which the pieces might be fixed, and so prevented from being upset or
+from changing place when the vessel rolled. It was accounted a great
+privilege by Olaf's companions to be allowed to play upon this costly
+board, and Olaf had made it a condition that all who used it must do so
+without dispute. For a long time Kolbiorn and Egbert went on peaceably
+with their game. But while Olaf watched them, he noticed that Egbert
+became more and more ruffled, as he found himself being constantly
+baffled by his opponent's better play. So great was Kolbiorn's skill
+that Egbert at length became desperate, and only made matters worse by
+his hasty moves. He wanted to move back a knight which he had exposed,
+but Kolbiorn would not allow it. Olaf advised them to leave the knight
+where it now stood, and not to quarrel. At this Egbert's anger grew
+hot, and declaring that he would not take Olaf's advice, he swept his
+hand over the board, upset the pieces upon the cabin floor, and leaning
+forward struck Kolbiorn a blow upon the ear, so that blood flowed.
+
+Kolbiorn rose from his seat and quietly turned towards the door. There
+he was met by one of his shipmates, who called out in an excited voice
+that there was a large viking ship in sight, and that she was bearing
+down towards them as though to give battle.
+
+Olaf followed Kolbiorn from the cabin, and together they mounted to the
+deck. Looking out across the sea they saw the viking ship rowing
+towards them against the wind. In her wake there was a second vessel,
+drifting helpless and untended, with her sail flapping wildly in the
+wind and her oars all inboard. Olaf quickly noticed that there were
+people on her forward deck, and that she was slowly sinking. It was
+evident to him that she was a trading ship, which the vikings had but
+newly attacked and plundered. For a moment he hesitated, wondering
+whether he should hasten to her rescue or at once enter in battle with
+the vikings. He saw that his men were already eagerly preparing for a
+fight. Some, according to their custom before a battle, were busily
+washing themselves and combing their hair, while others were eating and
+drinking. There was no need for them to make ready their weapons, for
+these had been kept well prepared ever since the beginning of the
+cruise, and there was nothing further to be done than to bring the
+arrows up on deck and serve them round among the bowmen, twenty arrows
+to each man's quiver; and as for swords, spears, and armour, every man
+on board knew well where to put his hand on his own.
+
+Bidding Kolbiorn go forward to the forecastle and marshal his berserks
+and bowmen, Olaf took down his war horn and blew a loud blast as
+challenge. At the same moment a red painted shield was hoisted to the
+yardarm. Then he went aft and took the tiller from Thorgils, and
+steered his bark as though to meet the approaching foe. But when he got
+within arrow shot of the stranger he suddenly altered his course,
+crossing her bows. The vikings, who could not yet have noticed the four
+consort ships that were still far behind, no doubt thought that he
+meant to make his escape, and they bore round in pursuit of him. But
+now Olaf had managed to get his vessel between the two other ships,
+and, having the wind in his sail and his oars at work, he quickly
+outdistanced the viking, and sped along at a great rate towards the
+sinking trading ship.  Not too soon was he in getting alongside of her,
+for the vikings had scuttled her, and she had already settled down with
+her quarter bulwarks on a level with the water's edge. He rescued a
+full score of helpless men from her decks, and stood by her until she
+went down. By this time the viking ship had again come within bow shot
+of him, and his four longships had appeared in sight from behind the
+headland of one of the islands.
+
+Olaf had now his sail brailed up to the yard, and his vessel's prow
+turned towards the oncoming enemy. Having resigned the helm to the
+charge of one of his seamen, he donned his war armour and went forward
+to the prow. Here the strongest and most experienced of his men were
+stationed as stem defenders, armed with swords and spears, and
+protected by their shields. Among them stood Olaf's standard bearer,
+round whom they were ranged in battle order. The station abaft that
+occupied by the stem defenders was manned by the berserks, and behind
+the mast were the spearmen, archers, and stone slingers.
+
+Olaf and Kolbiorn, who were both armed with their longbows and a large
+number of picked arrows, as well as their swords, stood side by side by
+the banner bearer. Olaf again blew his war horn, while Kolbiorn fired
+an arrow of challenge high over the mast of the viking ship. When the
+two vessels drew near, Olaf saw that the stranger's forward decks were
+crowded, with fighting men, whom, by their dark hair and brown skin, he
+rightly judged to be Danes. The ships crashed together stem to stem,
+and then grappling hooks were thrown out from either side, and the
+vessels were bound close together, so that neither might escape until
+the fighting was at an end.
+
+Thus at close quarters the battle began, and very soon the air was
+thick with swift flying arrows, and with showers of spears and stones.
+The chiefs on either side shouted aloud, urging their fellows to the
+fray, and many a well tried warrior was sent that day to Odin's halls.
+For a long while it seemed that the Danes were getting the upper hand,
+for they greatly outnumbered the men on Olaf's dragonship. But as the
+fight grew fiercer Olaf's berserks worked themselves to a wild fury,
+and, led by Olaf and Kolbiorn, they made a rush upon the enemy's
+forecastle, carrying all before them as an autumn wind carries the
+withered leaves. For three long hours the battle continued, man to man;
+but at last Olaf got the victory, and took the Dane ship as his prize,
+with all the treasure and costly armour, all the slaves and stores on
+board of her. His four longships had not joined in the contest, because
+it was always considered unfair to oppose an adversary with unequal
+force. But now they were brought nearer, and when all the wreckage of
+the fight was cleared away he placed some of his own men on board the
+prize, divided the spoil among all his fellowship, and once more sailed
+off, well satisfied with his first success.
+
+Southward he sailed down the Swedish coast, and met with adventures too
+many to be told. And at length he made for Borgund holm, an island that
+lies out in the Baltic to the south of Sweden. By this time his stores
+had run short, so he fell upon the island and harried there. The
+landsmen came in great force and waged battle against him; but Olaf
+again won the victory, and got great plunder of horses and cattle.
+
+He lay by Borgund holm for many weeks, with his tents ranged in order
+along a stretch of the beach, and his ships drawn up to the high water
+mark. Every day his men held sports, and at night they all sat in their
+tents drinking and throwing dice, or listening to the sagamen's stories
+of the great deeds of byegone warriors. Olaf himself joined always in
+their feasts and revels, and he was ever the merriest and gamesomest in
+the company.
+
+One day while his ships were still at Borgund holm, his two chief men,
+Kolbiorn and Thorgils, were boasting of their skill at climbing. They
+contended as to who could climb the steepest rock, and at last they
+made a bet. Kolbiorn wagered his gold neck ring against Thorgils' best
+bronze drinking horn. After this they both climbed the high cliff.
+Thorgils went so far that he was in danger of falling down, and he
+returned in fear, saving himself with difficulty. Kolbiorn climbed up
+to the middle of the precipice; but there he dared go neither forward
+nor backward, nor even move, for he had no hold upon the rock for
+either feet or hands. His position was so perilous that he foresaw
+certain death if he should make the least movement. He shouted in great
+fear for Olaf or his men to rescue him. Olaf called some brave man to
+venture the deed and offered a large reward; but not one of his company
+stirred. Then Olaf threw off his cloak and ran up the face of the rock
+as though it had been a level plain, took Kolbiorn under his arms, and
+went farther up with him. He then turned to descend with the man under
+his arm and laid him unharmed on the ground. All praised this as a
+great feat, and the fame of it was widely spread. Long afterwards he
+performed the similar feat of climbing to the topmost peak of the
+mountain called Smalsarhorn, in Norway, and there suspending his
+shining shield upon the summit, so that it shone like a sun across the
+sea.
+
+Many tales are told of his strength and agility--of how he could smite
+alike with either hand, of how he could shoot with two spears at once.
+It is said that he could jump higher than his own height both backwards
+and forwards, and this with his weapons and complete armour on. He was
+the swiftest and strongest swimmer in all Scandinavia, and at running
+and climbing no man was his equal.
+
+And yet he was no boaster. His great deeds came of his eagerness in all
+matters, and not from a desire to belittle his companions. He was kind
+and lowly hearted, bountiful of gifts, very glorious of attire, and
+before all men for high heart in battle. It may be that he also was
+cruel, for it is told that he was stern and wrathful with all who
+offended him, and that in punishing his enemies he knew no mercy. He,
+however, sought only to do all things that it was customary for a
+viking to do. To win fame, to gain wealth, to plunder, and to
+slay--these were the passions that ruled him. The ocean was his only
+home. He derided the comforts of a warm fireside and scorned the man
+who should sleep under a sooty rafter or die on a bed of straw. To give
+up his last breath amid the clamour of battle was his one unalterable
+ambition; for only those who died thus, besprinkled with blood, could
+ever hope to win favour of the pagan gods, or to enter the sacred halls
+of Valhalla. In the spirit of his times he believed that the viking
+life was the noblest and most honourable that a man could follow; he
+believed that the truest title to all property was given by winning it
+with the sword, and very soon he became as wild and reckless as any sea
+rover on the Baltic. No danger, howsoever great, had power to daunt
+him, or to lessen his joy in the fresh freedom of the open sea with its
+wild hoarse winds and its surging perilous storms.
+
+It was in the autumntide that Olaf encountered the first serious storm.
+By this time he had added to his fleet many vessels which he had
+captured in battle, and some that he had had built by his shipwrights;
+and he bethought him that he would now sail out of the Baltic Sea and
+make his way round to the coasts of Norway, where, with his great force
+of men and ships behind him, he might surely hope to win the glory that
+he coveted. He had kept his favourite companions and his chosen
+warriors on board his dragonship, so that they might ever be near him
+in case of need. But Egbert of Britain and Kolbiorn Stallare, after
+their quarrel over the game of chess, had not been friendly towards
+each other, so Egbert was placed in command over one of the other
+vessels of the fleet--a Longship named the Snake.
+
+On a certain day the ships were making westward under easy sail when
+the storm burst suddenly upon them, with a bitter cold wind from the
+north that quickly whipped the sea into great towering waves. The hail
+and sleet fell so heavily that the men in the bow of each ship were
+hidden from those in the stern, and the seas broke over the bulwarks,
+deluging the decks and cabins, so that the men in the baling room were
+kept constantly at work with their scoops and buckets. All cried upon
+Njord, the sea god, and upon Thor and Odin no less, to save them out of
+their peril; but the raging storm continued throughout the night and
+the whole of the next day, and all the time Olaf stood at the helm,
+bravely facing the tempest and keeping his vessel's prow pointing
+northward to meet the towering waves. Often it seemed that he would be
+swept overboard by the wild rush of water, but his great strength
+endured the strain, and though nearly blinded by the pelting hail he
+still held on.
+
+With the evening of the second day the wind's force abated, and the
+heavy clouds that had darkened the sky melted away in a glow of sunset
+gold. Then Olaf looked around upon the wide turbulent sea and counted
+his ships. Some had lost their masts, and others had been swept far
+away towards the dim horizon. One of them alone was missing: it was the
+longship of Egbert of Britain. Olaf had little doubt that she had
+foundered with all on board, and yet he knew that Egbert was a brave
+and skilful seaman, and he thought it strange that he should have
+failed to weather the storm, so, finding no other explanation, he
+declared that it was because Egbert was a Christian that this disaster
+had happened. Had he been a true believer in the mighty gods of the
+northmen, said Olaf, he would surely have surmounted all dangers, and
+his ship and crew had been saved! And all who heard them regarded the
+young chief's words as words of wisdom, for they did not know, and
+neither did Olaf himself at that moment dream, that Egbert and his
+ship's company were safe and sound in the shelter of the high headland
+of Borgund holm. Not for many years thereafter did Olaf and Egbert
+again meet, and when they did so, it was face to face as foemen on the
+battle plain of Maldon, in far off England.
+
+When the storm had spent its force, and the sea was calm, Olaf brought
+his ships together, made the needful repairs, and led the way southward
+to the shores of Wendland. There he got good haven and, faring full
+peacefully, abode there throughout the winter months.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX: THE VIKINGS OF JOMSBURG.
+
+
+Burislaf was the name of the king in Wendland. He was a very wealthy
+monarch and held in high esteem throughout the countries of the Baltic,
+and his court was the frequent meeting place of the great men of that
+time. Now Burislaf had three very beautiful daughters--Geira, Gunnhild,
+and Astrid--whom many noble and kingly men sought vainly to win in
+marriage. Geira, the eldest of the three, held rule and dominion in the
+land, for it was much the wont of mighty kings in those days that they
+should let the queen, or the eldest daughter, have half the court to
+sustain it at her own cost out of the revenues that came to her share.
+So when Geira heard that alien folk were come into Wendland, with a
+great fleet of viking ships, and that the chief of them was a young man
+of unusual prowess and noble mien, she sent friendly messengers to the
+coast and bade the newcomers be her guests that wintertide, for the
+summer was now far spent, and the weather hard and stormy. And Olaf
+Triggvison took her bidding, and went with his chosen captains to the
+court, where he was well received and most hospitably entertained.
+
+It is told that when Geira saw how kingly of aspect Olaf was, and how
+handsome and courteous withal, she at once yearned for his love and
+craved that he should wed with her and become a ruler in the land. Many
+legends which have come down to us from that time even state that she
+straightway fell a-wooing him, and that in the end they were married,
+and ruled the realm side by side. But it is not easy to believe that
+one who was heir to the throne of Norway would be content to remain in
+Wendland at the bidding of a woman he did not love, and it is to be
+remembered that Olaf was still little more than a youth, while Geira
+was already well advanced in years. Moreover, Olaf had at this same
+time met Thyra, the daughter of the king of Denmark--a princess who was
+not only more beautiful, but also much nearer his own age than Geira,
+and who afterwards became his wife and queen. Howsoever it be, Olaf had
+lived but a few months in Wendland when Geira was stricken with an
+illness and died.
+
+Among the guests of King Burislaf were two men who in the later time
+had a large share in the shaping of Olaf's destiny, first as his
+friends, and afterwards as his enemies. Their names were Earl Sigvaldi
+of Jomsburg and Sweyn of Denmark.
+
+Earl Sigvaldi was the son of Strut-Harald, sometime King of Skaney, and
+at the time of his meeting with Olaf in Wendland he was lord over the
+great company of vikings who had their stronghold in Jomsburg. He was a
+very mighty man, and his wealth and personal prowess were such that
+Burislaf's daughter Astrid encouraged his wooing of her with the result
+that they were wedded.
+
+Earl Sweyn was a younger man, the son of Harald Bluetooth, King of
+Denmark. He had come into Wendland in the company of his friend
+Sigvaldi, for they had both been a-warring together, and, being beaten
+in a great sea fight, they had taken refuge in the court of Burislaf.
+Their warring had been against Sweyn's own father, King Harald. Sweyn
+had craved dominion in his father's realm, but Harald Bluetooth
+preferred to retain his throne undivided. Then Sweyn gathered warships
+together and got the help of the Jomsburg vikings, and stood towards
+Zealand, where King Harald lay with his fleet ready to fare to the wars
+against Norway. So Sweyn fell upon his father's ships, and there was a
+great battle, in which Harald Bluetooth got the victory, but also his
+death wound. Now the arrow with which King Harald was killed was one
+bearing marks which showed it to be of his own son's making, and Sweyn
+fled lest vengeance should overtake him.
+
+Now Sigvaldi, knowing that it would not be long ere the Danes claimed
+Sweyn as their king, was anxious to assure a peace between Wendland and
+Denmark, and with this purpose he had brought Sweyn in his company to
+King Burislaf's court, and it was then arranged that Sweyn should wed
+Gunnhild, daughter of Burislaf, and that thereafter there should be
+peace between the two lands. So when the wedding was over, King Sweyn
+fared home to Denmark with Gunnhild his wife, and they became the
+parents of Canute the Mighty--the same who in his manhood fought
+against Edmund Ironsides and reigned as King of England.
+
+In those days the Danes and their neighbours the Wends made great
+threats of sailing with a host to Norway, and Olaf Triggvison heard
+much talk of this threatened expedition from Earl Sigvaldi. He learned,
+too, something of what had been taking place in his native land since
+the time of the death of King Triggvi.
+
+By their evil work Queen Gunnhild and the sons of Erik Bloodaxe had, as
+they thought, put an end to the family of Harald Fairhair, for they had
+lost all trace of Queen Astrid and her boy Olaf, and none remained to
+dispute the throne of Norway. In the province of Thrandheim, however,
+there reigned a certain Earl Sigurd, who yet gave them great trouble.
+To rid themselves of all danger from him they resorted to treachery.
+They had murdered King Triggvi and his four brothers, and they had
+little scruple in employing the same means towards Earl Sigurd, so they
+entrapped him and put him to death. After this deed Harald Greyfell
+reigned as King of Norway for five troublous and unfruitful years. By
+the slaying of Earl Sigurd, however, the sons of Erik raised up against
+themselves an enemy who proved more dangerous to them than any they had
+yet encountered. This was Earl Hakon, the son of Sigurd, a most
+powerful and sagacious warrior, whose one desire was to avenge his
+father's death and drive the whole race of Erik Bloodaxe from the land.
+Nor was he long in fulfilling his designs. By a daring intrigue, and
+with help from Denmark, he succeeded not only in bringing King Harald
+Greyfell to his bane, but also in winning his own way to the throne of
+Norway. Queen Gunnhild and her two surviving sons then fled over sea to
+the Orkneys, and that was the end of them.
+
+Now, when Olaf heard these things and understood that Earl Hakon,
+although not of royal birth or lineage, was still recognized as the
+king in Norway, he resolved to join issue with the Danes and Wends in
+their projected expedition, and he spoke with Earl Sigvaldi, offering
+the support of all his ships and men. Well satisfied was Sigvaldi at
+hearing this offer made, and he gladly accepted it, for he had quickly
+discerned that Ole the Esthonian was a young warrior whose help would
+be most valuable, even apart from the great force of battleships and
+fighting men that were under his command.
+
+So when the winter had passed by, and the sea was clear of ice, Olaf
+had his ships refitted, mustered his men, and set sail along the
+Wendland coast towards the island of Wollin, at the mouth of the river
+Oder, upon which stood the great stronghold of Jomsburg.
+
+Jomsburg had been founded and built by King Harald Bluetooth of
+Denmark, who possessed a great earldom in Wendland. He had garrisoned
+the place with vikings on the condition that they should defend the
+land, and be always ready to support him in any warlike expedition.
+There was a very fine harbour or dock made within the Burgh, in which
+three hundred longships could lie at the same time, all being locked
+within the strongly built walls of granite with their massive gates of
+iron. The Jomsburg vikings were a well disciplined company of pirates
+who made war their exclusive business, living by rapine and plunder.
+Their firm belief in the heathen gods justified them in following this
+mode of life, and often they fought for mere fighting's sake. They were
+bound by very strict laws to obey their chief. No man older than fifty
+or younger than eighteen winters could be received into the fellowship;
+they were all to be between these two ages. No man could join the band
+who was known to have ever yielded in fight to an opponent his match in
+strength of arms. Every member admitted swore by the hammer of Thor to
+revenge all the rest as his brother. Slander was forbidden. No woman or
+child was ever to be molested or carried away as captive, and all the
+spoil or plunder of war was to be equally divided. One very important
+law was that no member of the band was ever to utter a word of fear or
+to flinch from pain, or to attempt to dress his wounds until they had
+bled for four and twenty hours. Nothing could occur within the Burgh
+over which the chief should not have full power to rule as he liked. If
+any broke these rules he was to be punished by instant expulsion from
+the community.
+
+For two days after the time when Olaf's fleet anchored abreast of the
+gates of Jomsburg, there was the work of inspecting all his men and
+ships and arms. Some two score of the men were rejected by Earl
+Sigvaldi, some because they were at enmity with certain vikings who
+were already of the band, others because they had killed some near
+kinsman of one of the members, and yet others who refused to follow or
+obey any other chief than Olaf Triggvison alone. But the ships and
+their equipment were all pronounced seaworthy and in good condition;
+so, after the vows had been made, there was held a great feast, and
+Olaf was chosen as a captain under Earl Sigvaldi, holding the command
+of his own division of the Jomsburg fleet.
+
+Now, during the summer months of that same year, Olaf went out upon a
+viking cruise into the Gulf of Bothnia. On the coast of Jemptland and
+Helsingialand he encountered many Swedish warships, cleared them, and
+slew many men, and took all the wealth of them. It was his habit to lie
+hidden behind some rocky promontory, or at the mouth of some vik, or
+creek, and thence dart out upon his unsuspecting prey; and he would
+thus creep along the coast from vik to vik, harrying and plundering
+wheresoever he went. And in all his battles he never received a wound
+or lost a ship, but always got the victory. He was accounted the most
+favoured by the gods among all the vikings of Jomsburg, and his renown
+spread far and wide.
+
+When Olaf returned at the beginning of the winter to Jomsburg he heard
+that Earl Sigvaldi's father, Strut-Harald of Skaney, had just died. Now
+it was the custom in those days that a high born man, before he could
+take possession of any inheritance left to him by his father, should
+hold an arvel, or inheritance feast. King Sweyn was at this time
+preparing to hold such a feast before taking possession of the Danish
+kingdom, so it was arranged that Sweyn and Sigvaldi should make one
+arvel serve for them both, and Sweyn sent word to Sigvaldi inviting him
+with all his captains and chosen warriors to join him in Zealand, and
+so arrange it that the greatest possible honour should be done to the
+dead.
+
+Sigvaldi accordingly left Jomsburg with a large host of his vikings and
+two score of ships. Among his captains were Olaf Triggvison, Kolbiorn
+Stallare, Bui the Thick of Borgund holm, Thorkel the High, and Vagn
+Akison. It was winter time, and the seas were rough, but the fleet
+passed through the Danish islands without disaster, and came to an
+anchorage in a large bay near which now stands the city of Copenhagen.
+King Sweyn welcomed Earl Sigvaldi and all his men with great kindness.
+
+The feast was held in a very large hall, specially built for the
+reception of guests, and ornamented with splendid wood carvings and
+hung about with peace shields and curtains of beautiful tapestry. King
+Sweyn was dressed in very fine clothes of purple, with gold rings on
+his arms and round his neck, and a band of burnished gold, set with
+gems, upon his head. His beard, which was as yet but short, was trimmed
+in a peculiar way--divided into two prongs--which won for him the
+nickname of Sweyn Forkbeard. The tables were loaded with cooked food
+and white bread; sufficient to serve all the great company for three
+days. The ale and mead flowed abundantly, and there was much good cheer
+in the hall. Many high born women were present, and the guests sat in
+pairs, each man and woman together. Olaf Triggvison had for his partner
+the Princess Thyra, sister of the king.
+
+In the midst of the feasting Thyra turned to Olaf and asked him his
+true name.
+
+"Men call me Ole the Esthonian," answered Olaf.
+
+"I had known so much already," returned Thyra. "It is the same name
+that you bore at the time we first met in Wendland. But when I look at
+you, and see your silken hair and your fair skin, it seems to me that
+you must be of kingly birth."
+
+"It is not well always to judge by appearances," Olaf said with a
+smile. And he drew down the gold ring from the thick part of his bare
+left arm. Thyra's eyes rested upon his arm for a moment, and she saw
+imprinted there the seared brand that showed him to have been a slave;
+and from that moment she ceased to regard him with personal interest.
+
+It was the custom at such feasts as this that the high seat, or throne,
+of the man whom the guests were met to do honour to, should be left
+vacant until the memorial toast of the deceased, and of the mightiest
+of their departed kinsmen, had been proposed. In accordance with this
+custom King Sweyn stood up and drank the cup of memory to his father.
+Then he stepped into the high seat, and by this act took possession of
+his inheritance. The cup was filled and emptied to the last drop by
+each man in turn.
+
+The Jomsburg vikings drank eagerly on that first evening, and ever as
+their drinking horns were emptied they were filled again, brimming of
+the strongest. After it had gone on thus for a while, King Sweyn saw
+that his guests were nearly all drunk.
+
+"Here is great merriment," said he, rising and holding aloft his silver
+drinking horn. "And I propose that we shall find a new entertainment
+which will long hereafter be remembered."
+
+Sigvaldi answered, "We think it most becoming and best for the
+entertainment, that you, lord, should make the first proposal, for we
+all have to obey you and follow your example."
+
+Then the king laughed and said: "I know it has always been customary at
+great feasts and meetings that all present should make vows to perform
+great and valorous deeds, and I am willing to try that now. For, as
+you, Jomsvikings, are far more famous than all other men in this
+northern half of the world, so the vows you will make here will be as
+much more renowned than others, as you are greater than other men. And
+to set you an example, I will myself begin."
+
+He filled his drinking horn to the brim and held it high, while all
+waited eagerly and silently to hear what vow he should make.
+
+"This it is," said he in a loud voice which those at the farthest end
+of the hall could clearly hear. "I vow that I will, before the third
+winter nights hereafter have passed, have driven King Ethelred of
+England out of his realm, or else have slain him, and thus have got his
+kingdom to myself!"
+
+And so saying he quaffed his deep horn.
+
+All wondered at this great vow, for not many had heard even the name of
+King Ethelred.
+
+"Now it is thy turn, Sigvaldi," cried Sweyn, wiping his wet lips with
+the back of his hand, "and make no less a vow than mine."
+
+Then the drink bearers bore to the vikings the biggest horns of the
+strongest drink that was there, and Sigvaldi rose to his feet. He first
+proposed the memory of his dead father, and before raising the drink to
+his lips added this oath:
+
+"I swear," said he, "that before three winters are worn away I will
+sail over to Norway and slay Earl Hakon, or else drive him from the
+land."
+
+Now, this was the selfsame oath that Olaf Triggvison had resolved to
+swear when it should come to his turn, and he was annoyed that Earl
+Sigvaldi had, as it were, snatched it from his lips. He now thought
+over what other vow he could make in its stead. But it chanced that ere
+his turn came round all the company were either asleep or so full of
+strong drink that they could not listen, so in the end he made no vow
+whatsoever. Yet to the last he was as sober as when he first entered
+the hall, and he remembered ever afterwards the boastful oaths that had
+been made. Many of his fellow vikings--as Thorkel the High, Bui the
+Thick, and Vagn Akison--declared that they would but follow their chief
+to Norway, while others of Sweyn's following in like manner vowed to
+accompany the king to England; and once having made these promises,
+none dared to go back from them.
+
+On the morrow, when the vikings regained their senses, they thought
+they had spoken big words enough, so they met and took counsel how they
+should bring about this expedition against Earl Hakon, and the end of
+it was that they determined to set about it as early as might be. For
+the rest of that wintertide the men of Jomsburg accordingly bestirred
+themselves in making preparations for the journey. They fitted out
+their best warships and loaded them with weapons, and their warriors
+were mustered to the number of eight thousand well trained men, with
+eighty chosen battleships.
+
+So, when the snows of that winter had melted in the vales and the seas
+were clear of ice floes, Sigvaldi led his host north through the Eyr
+Sound and lay for a time in Lyme Firth. There he divided his forces,
+leaving twenty of Olaf Triggvison's longships in the firth, so that
+they might perchance intercept Earl Hakon should he escape the main
+fleet. This was an ill judged measure, but Sigvaldi was not aware that
+the forces of Earl Hakon were vastly superior in number to his own.
+Olaf's ships were left in the charge of Kolbiorn Stallare, while Olaf
+himself went aboard the dragonship of Vagn Akison.
+
+Earl Sigvaldi then sailed out into the main with sixty ships, and came
+to Agdir, in the south of Norway. And there he fell to pillaging in the
+dominion of Earl Hakon.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X: THE BATTLE OF JOMSVIKINGS.
+
+
+The rumour of the bold vows that the Jomsvikings had made spread
+quickly throughout the land, and tidings of the great war gathering
+soon reached Norway. Earl Erik Hakonson heard them in good time at the
+place where he abode in Raum realm, and he straightway gathered his
+folk about him and fared to the Uplands, and so north over the fells to
+Thrandheim to meet Earl Hakon, his father. Now Earl Hakon greatly
+feared the vikings of Jomsburg, and on hearing this news he sent abroad
+the war arrow all about the Thrandheim country, and to Mere and
+Raumsdale, north also into Naumdale and Halogaland; and in answer to
+this summons there assembled a vast fleet of warships to the number of
+one hundred and eighty keels, and a force amounting to eleven thousand
+men. So many vessels and warriors had never before been seen together
+in the fiords.
+
+Now there was a man named Giermund who was out sailing in a fishing
+skiff among the Her isles. He fared north to Mere, and there he fell in
+with Earl Hakon, and told the earl tidings of a host that had come to
+the land from Denmark.
+
+"How can I know that what you tell is true?" asked the earl. "And what
+token have you to show?"
+
+Giermund drew forth his right arm with the hand smitten off at the
+wrist.
+
+"By this token may you know that these ships have come," said he.
+
+Then Earl Hakon questioned the man closely concerning this new come
+enemy, and Giermund told him that the men were vikings of Jomsburg, and
+that they had slain many people of the land, and had robbed far and
+wide.
+
+"Swiftly northward are they coming," said he, "and full eagerly, and no
+long time will wear by ere they are come upon you."
+
+So thereupon the earl rowed through the firths with his fleet to meet
+his foes.
+
+The Jomsvikings had sailed northward along the coast, plundering and
+ravaging wherever they landed. They made great coast raids, and often
+burned towns and hamlets. They were lying in Ulfasound, off Stad, when
+they and Hakon Jarl heard of each other. They were in want of food at
+this time, and Vagn Akison and Olaf Triggvison went on their skiff to
+the island of Hoed, not knowing that the earl lay in the bay near the
+island. Vagn and Olaf landed with their men, wishing to make a shore
+raid if they could, and they happened to meet a shepherd driving three
+cows and twelve goats.
+
+Vagn cried to his men: "Take the cows and goats and slaughter them for
+our ships."
+
+The shepherd asked: "Who commands the men on board your ship?"
+
+"Vagn Akison, of Jomsburg," was the answer.
+
+"I think then, that there are not very far from you bigger cattle for
+slaughter than my poor cows and goats," said the shepherd.
+
+Vagn did not understand his meaning. But Olaf Triggvison looked at the
+man with quick apprehension, and said:
+
+"If you know anything about the journey of Hakon Jarl, tell us at once.
+And if you can truthfully tell us where he is, then your cows and goats
+are safe."
+
+The shepherd did not speak for many moments, but at last he answered
+calmly: "Jarl Hakon lay yesternight with one or two ships under shelter
+of the island of Hoed, and you can slay him when you like, for he is
+still anchored in the bay waiting for his men."
+
+"Then your cattle are safe," rejoined Vagn. "And you shall have a good
+reward if you will come aboard our ship and show us the way into the
+bay."
+
+Ulf--for such was the shepherd's name--went on board the skiff early in
+the day, and Vagn Akison, as quickly as he could, returned to the
+Jomsburg fleet and told the news, which spread speedily round the
+ships. Earl Sigvaldi at once weighed anchor and rowed out north of the
+island, giving word meanwhile to his vikings to make ready for battle.
+
+Greatly did Olaf Triggvison rejoice at this immediate prospect of
+attacking and vanquishing the proud man who had for sixteen years held
+sovereign sway in Norway. If, as Ulf the shepherd had reported, Earl
+Hakon had but one or two ships, then it would be a very easy matter for
+the Jomsburgers to vanquish him, and who could tell what glorious
+results might not follow? Despite the fact that he was not himself the
+leader of this present expedition, Olaf was confident that the expected
+victory must bring about the furtherance of his own personal plans. It
+might indeed be that Earl Sigvaldi, on proving himself the easy
+conqueror, would attempt to place himself in possession of the realm,
+and to assume the name and dignity of King of Norway. But Olaf, ever
+hopeful and buoyant, trusted that with very little trouble on his own
+part, he could readily prove to the people that he, the direct
+descendant of Harald Fairhair, had claims of which neither Sigvaldi nor
+even the great Earl Hakon could justly boast.
+
+In his passage with the viking ships up the coast of western Norway,
+Olaf had looked for the first time upon the wild splendour of the
+fiords, with their deep blue reaches of the sea penetrating far inland
+between steep precipices braided with sparkling waterfalls. He had seen
+the giant mountains rising high into the sky, with their rugged summits
+capped with snow and their lower slopes covered with vast forests of
+tall pine trees. Often some fertile valley had opened out before him,
+with verdant pastures and narrow strips of arable land. This was the
+country over which King Harald Fairhair had ruled, and now, for the
+first time, Olaf had realized the greatness of his heritage. He
+determined to fight boldly and fearlessly in this coming battle, so
+that he might thus win his way nearer to the possession of his
+birthright and the goal of his growing ambitions.
+
+He had been placed in command of one of the largest dragonships, and
+while the fleet was sailing round the island--his own vessel being side
+by side with that of Vagn Akison--he went below and dressed himself in
+his strongest armour, and took up his heavy battleaxe and the well
+tempered sword that King Valdemar had given him. The weather was bright
+and warm, and he wore no cloak, but only his closely knit coat of chain
+mail, with his brass helmet, crested with a winged dragon, and his
+bossed shield. His long fair hair that fell down over his broad
+shoulders, his finely marked features, his beautiful blue eyes and
+clear ruddy complexion were on this day more evident than ever before;
+and his firm muscular limbs and stalwart figure distinguished him as
+the noblest and handsomest man in all the company of the vikings.
+
+When he returned on deck he went at once to his post at the tiller and
+looked out over the blue sunlit sea. A lusty cry rose at this instant
+from the prow of Sigvaldi's dragonship. The fleet was now abreast of a
+low lying point of land at the inner coast of Hoed Isle, and it was now
+seen that the wide bay beyond was crowded all over with vessels of war.
+Ulf the shepherd had betrayed the vikings into the hands of their
+awaiting foe. When his treachery was discovered he ran to the rail of
+Vagn Akison's ship and leapt overboard, intending to swim to the shore
+without waiting for his reward. Vagn threw a spear at him, but missed
+his aim. Olaf Triggvison, who saw the shepherd swimming astern, caught
+up a spear with his left hand and flung it at him. It hit him in the
+middle and killed him.
+
+The Jomsvikings rowed with their sixty ships into the great bay. They
+were formed into three divisions, and Earl Sigvaldi laid his flagship
+in the centre of the line of battle. To the north of him he arrayed
+twenty ships under the command of Bui the Thick and Sigurd Kapa, while
+Vagn Akison and Olaf Triggvison held the southern wing.
+
+Earl Hakon determined which of his captains should fight against these
+champions. It was customary in such battles for ship to fight against
+ship and man against man; but in most cases Hakon, whose forces greatly
+outnumbered those of his enemies, placed three of his longships against
+one of the vikings'. He himself was not matched against any one, but
+had to support the whole line and command it. His son Sweyn held the
+chief position in the centre of battle, facing the leader of the
+vikings. Against the division of Bui was placed a great Norwegian
+warrior named Thorkel Leira. The wing held by Vagn Akison and Olaf
+Triggvison was opposed by Earl Hakon's eldest son, Erik. Each chief had
+his own banner in the shield burg at his prow.
+
+War horns were sounded, arrows of challenge were fired over the
+opposing fleets, the berserks on either side clashed their arms and bit
+the rims of their shields, working themselves into a wild war fury.
+Then the fleets closed in upon each other amid a storm of arrows, and
+the grim battle began.
+
+The ships of the vikings were higher in the hull than those of the
+Norwegians, and this gave them an advantage, for, when the grapplings
+were thrown out and the ships were lashed together, the Jomsburgers
+could fire their arrows and spears down upon the heads of their foes.
+The onset and attack were faultlessly made, and for a long while it
+seemed uncertain which side was getting the better hand. But at length
+Earl Hakon, who was supporting his son Sweyn against Sigvaldi, saw that
+his northern wing was being forced backward, and he hastened to its
+aid. Nevertheless, Bui the Thick still pressed the Norwegians back with
+heavy blows and a ceaseless rain of arrows and spears, and it seemed
+that at this point the vikings were quickly gaining the victory. On the
+southern wing, however, the fight was more equal, and Earl Erik thought
+that he would go to his brother's help. He went thither, accordingly,
+but could do no more than set the wing in line again. Hakon then
+returned to fight against Sigvaldi.
+
+Now, by this short absence, Earl Erik had weakened the southern wing,
+and, when he came back to defend his ships, he found that Vagn Akison
+and Olaf Triggvison had broken through the line and made great havoc.
+Erik was a brave warrior, however, and he did not hesitate to make a
+bold attack upon the ships of these two champions. He encountered them
+with four of his best longships against their two. The battle at this
+point now grew furious, and the carnage on both sides was tremendous.
+Vagn and Olaf, followed by their berserks, jumped on board Erik's ship,
+and each went along either side of her, clearing his way, so that all
+fell back before the mighty blows. Erik saw that these two warriors
+were so fierce and mad that he would not long be able to withstand
+them, and that Earl Hakon's help must be got as quickly as possible.
+Yet he goaded his men on, and they made a brave resistance. Olaf was
+often attacked by three or four berserks at once, but he guarded every
+blow, and received but little hurt. He fought whiles with his sword and
+whiles with his battleaxe, and at times even with both weapons, one in
+either hand, dealing many hard and heavy blows, and slaying many a man.
+And ever when the decks were cleared there came on board other hosts of
+men from the neighbouring ships. Olaf wanted to come to a hand to hand
+combat with Earl Erik, but Erik always avoided him.
+
+In the midst of this conflict one of Erik's men went forward and cut
+the lashings that bound the ships together, so that Olaf's dragonship
+drifted apart. Olaf noticed this, and he fought his way across the deck
+to where Vagn Akison was. At this moment there was a great onrush of
+Norwegians, and Vagn and Olaf sought the safety of one of their own
+ships. They jumped on board of her, and had her rowed some distance
+away, so that they might rest themselves and make ready for a new
+attack.
+
+There was then a pause in the battle, and it was seen that Earl Hakon's
+ship had been taken landward, out of reach of the Jomsvikings' arrows.
+The legend tells that, seeing the battle going against him, he took
+some men ashore with him, together with his little son Erling--a lad of
+seven years of age. Entering a forest glade he prayed to the gods, and
+offered to propitiate them by making human sacrifice. When he thought
+that his vows and prayers were heard, he took young Erling and put him
+to death. Then he returned to the battle, and there was a sudden change
+in the weather. The sky began to darken in the north, and a heavy black
+cloud glided up from the sea, spreading quickly. A shower of hailstones
+followed at once, and the Jomsvikings had to fight with their faces
+against the blinding storm, which was so terrible that some of the men
+could do no more than stand against it, as they had previously taken
+off their clothes on account of the heat. They began to shiver, though
+for the most part they fought bravely enough.
+
+Hakon Jarl now had the advantage, confident that the gods had accepted
+the sacrifice of his son, and intended to give him the victory. It is
+said that some saw the maidens of Odin, the Valkyrias, standing at the
+prow of Hakon's ship, sending forth a deadly hail of unerring arrows.
+
+The vikings fought half blindly, though they were sorely pressed, and
+their decks were slippery with the slush of blood and melting hail, and
+in spite of the twilight and the raging storm they still held their
+own. But at last Earl Sigvaldi began to lose heart.
+
+"It seems to me," he cried, "that it is not men whom we have to fight
+today, but the worst fiends."
+
+Some one reminded him of the vow he had taken at King Sweyn's
+inheritance feast.
+
+"I did not vow to fight against fiends!" he answered; and, seeing Earl
+Hakon making ready for a renewed onslaught, he added: "Now I will flee,
+and all my men with me, for the battle is worse than when I spoke of it
+before, and I will stand it no longer."
+
+He turned away his ship, shouting to Vagn and Bui, whose ships were now
+close to his own, to follow in all haste. But these two champions were
+braver than their chief. Vagn Akison saw Sigvaldi retreating, and cried
+out to him in a frenzy of rage:
+
+"Why dost thou flee, thou evil hound, and leave thy men in the lurch?
+That shame shall cling to thee all the days of thy life!"
+
+Earl Sigvaldi made no reply, and it was well for him that he did not;
+for at the same instant a spear was hurled from Vagn's hand at the man
+who was at the helm, in the post usually occupied by the chief. But
+Sigvaldi, being cold, had taken one of the oars to warm himself, so
+that the man at the rudder was killed instead.
+
+Confusion now spread throughout the fleet of the vikings. The line was
+broken, and five and twenty of their ships followed in the wake of Earl
+Sigvaldi. At last only Vagn Akison and Bui the Thick were left. And now
+Earl Hakon pulled up alongside the ship of Bui, and a combat ensued,
+which has scarcely had its equal in all the battles of the Northmen.
+Two great berserks of Jomsburg--Havard the Hewer and Aslak
+Rockskull--vaulted over the gunwale of Hakon's ship and made tremendous
+havoc, until an Icelander seized an anvil that lay on the deck and
+dashed it against Aslak's head. Havard had both his feet cut off, but
+fought on furiously, standing on his knees. The spears and arrows
+whizzed about the head of Earl Hakon, and his coat of mail was so rent
+and cut that it fell off from him. It seemed now that the few
+Jomsvikings who were left would have the glory of victory all to
+themselves. But in the thick of the fight Earl Erik Hakonson, with a
+throng of men, boarded the galley of Bui the Thick, and in the first
+onslaught Bui received a sword cut across his lips and chin. He did not
+flinch, but tried to pass off his injury with a jest.
+
+"The pretty women in Borgund holm will not now be so fond of kissing
+me," said he.
+
+Then the Norwegians pressed in a great throng against him, and he saw
+that further resistance was useless. He took up two chests of gold, one
+in either arm, and mounting the gunwale of his ship, cried out:
+"Overboard all folk of Bui!" and sprang into the sea. Thereupon many of
+his men followed his example, while the rest were slain. So was Bui's
+ship cleared from stem to stern.
+
+Vagn Akison and Olaf Triggvison were now the only two champions
+remaining out of all the vikings of Jomsburg, and they had no more than
+fifty men to support them. Earl Erik now boarded their dragonship, and
+there was a fierce fight. But the Norwegians had the larger company,
+and when all but thirty of the vikings were slain, Vagn Akison
+surrendered and called upon Olaf to follow his example.
+
+"Never shall it be said that I surrendered to any man!" cried Olaf
+proudly. "Rather would I die fighting."
+
+And, gripping his battleaxe, he prepared to resist all who should come
+near him. But strong and valiant though he was, he could not hold his
+own against the crowd of warriors then gathered about him. He was
+seized from behind, disarmed, and bound hand and foot with strong
+ropes. In like manner were Vagn Akison and all the other captives bound.
+
+At nightfall they were taken to the shore where Earl Hakon had landed
+and pitched his tents.
+
+Now, it was a question with Earl Hakon what he should do with these
+thirty captives. He did not doubt that, because they were all that
+remained of the Jomsburgers, they were therefore the bravest and
+stoutest of all the vikings who had engaged in the great battle, and he
+feared that if they were allowed to live they would surely bring some
+great trouble upon him. So he ordered them to be slain. This order,
+added to the fact of his having sacrificed his own son for the sake of
+victory, was remembered against him by the Norwegians in the after
+time, and it went far towards gaining for him the hatred of his people.
+
+Early in the morning Vagn and Olaf, with their thirty comrades, were
+led out in front of the tents for execution. They were made to sit in a
+row on the trunk of a fallen tree. Their feet were bound with ropes,
+but their hands were left free. The man who was to act as executioner
+was one Thorkel Leira, a stalwart warrior, who had done great deeds in
+the battle. Now, this same Thorkel was an old enemy of Vagn Akison, and
+at the arvel of King Sweyn, Vagn had taken a solemn oath that he would
+be the death of him. It seemed that, like all the other vikings who had
+spoken so boldly at that feast, Vagn was to be cheated of his vow, yet
+he resolved to meet his death bravely.
+
+When all was ready Thorkel appeared before the captives, carrying a
+great axe. He put Vagn Akison at the end of the log, intending to keep
+him to the last in order to increase his agony. But Vagn sat chatting
+and joking with his companions, and there was much laughter. Earl Hakon
+wanted to know if these men were as hardy, and if their disregard of
+death were as firm, as report told, and each of them, when his turn
+came to be dealt with by the executioner, was asked some question,
+as--"How likest thou to die?" and each answered in his own fashion.
+
+"I should not be a worthy Jomsviking if I were afraid of death," said
+one; and then Thorkel dealt him the blow. Another said: "It is a great
+satisfaction to die by the hand of a brave warrior, although I would
+like better if I were allowed a chance of first striking a blow at
+him." And a third: "I shall at least die in good company; but first,
+let me tighten my belt." One of them said: "I like very well to die,
+but strike me quickly; I have my cloak clasp in my hand, and I will
+thrust it into the earth if I wot of anything after my head is off." So
+the head was smitten from him, and down fell the clasp from his
+nerveless hand.
+
+Eighteen of the vikings had been slain when it came to the turn of Olaf
+Triggvison, and at this moment Earl Erik came upon the scene. Olaf
+bared his neck, and swept up his long golden hair in a coil over his
+head.
+
+"Let none of the blood fall upon my hair!" said he. So Thorkel told one
+of the bystanders to hold the coil of hair while he struck off Olaf's
+head. The man took the beautiful hair in his two hands and held it
+fast, while Olaf stretched forth his neck. Thorkel hove up his axe.
+Then Olaf snatched back his head sharply, and so it happened that the
+blow hit the man who had hold of his hair, and the axe took off both
+his hands.
+
+"Who is this goodly young man?" asked Earl Erik, stepping forward in
+front of Olaf.
+
+"The lads call me Ole the Esthonian," Olaf replied.
+
+"You are no Esthonian born," returned Erik. "Of what land are you,
+then?"
+
+"What matters it, so long as I am from Jomsburg?" asked Olaf.
+
+"I had thought you were of Norway," Erik said, "and if that be so it
+were not well that you should die. What is your age?"
+
+Olaf answered: "If I live this winter I shall be three and twenty
+winters old."
+
+Erik said, "You shall live this winter if I have my will, for I do not
+like to see one so handsome and strong put to such a death as this.
+Will you have peace?"
+
+"That depends upon who it is that offers me life," said Olaf.
+
+"He offers it who has the power--Earl Erik himself," answered the earl.
+
+"Then I gladly accept," said Olaf. And Earl Erik ordered his men to set
+Olaf free from his tether.
+
+At this Thorkel Leira grew wrothful, fearing that since the earl was in
+a forgiving mood he himself would perhaps be thwarted in his vengeance
+on Vagn Akison.
+
+"Though you, Earl Erik, give peace to all these men," he cried, "yet
+never shall Vagn Akison depart hence alive."  And brandishing his axe
+he rushed towards his enemy. One of the men on the log, however, seeing
+his chief's danger, flung himself forward so that Thorkel stumbled and
+fell, dropping his axe. Instantly Vagn Akison sprang to his feet,
+seized the axe, and dealt Thorkel Leira his death blow.
+
+Thus Vagn Akison was the only one of the Jomsvikings who accomplished
+what he had vowed to do.
+
+Earl Erik, full of admiration of this feat, then said to Vagn:
+
+"Will you have peace, Vagn Akison?"
+
+"I will take peace gladly if it be that all my comrades have it also,"
+answered the viking.
+
+"Let them all be set free," ordered the earl. And so it was done.
+Eighteen of the captives had already been executed, but fourteen had
+peace.
+
+These remaining fourteen, as the price of their liberty, were expected
+to take service under Earl Hakon. Even Olaf made a pretence of agreeing
+to this condition, and he helped the Norwegians to clear the
+devastation of battle and to take possession of the various viking
+ships that had been either deserted by their crews or whose fighting
+men had all been slain. But he had no intention to abide by his
+compact. In the general confusion he contrived to get on board his own
+disabled dragonship. There he exchanged his tattered armour for a good
+suit of seaman's clothes, with a large cloak, a sword, and a bag of
+gold. He remained on board until nightfall, and then, dropping into a
+small sailing boat that he had been careful to provide himself with, he
+stole out of the bay and was soon far away among the skerries, safe
+from all pursuit.
+
+The disappearance of Olaf Triggvison was scarcely remarked by the
+Norwegians, who were at that time holding high revel in celebration of
+their victory. But had Earl Hakon of Lade been able to look into the
+future, and see the disasters that awaited him at the hands of this
+fair haired young viking, he would surely have swept every fiord and
+channel in Norway in the endeavour to drag the runaway back and bring
+him to the doom that he had so easily escaped.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI: WEST-OVER-SEA.
+
+
+Now when Earl Sigvaldi, finding that the chances of war were going so
+directly against him, fled from the battle, many of the vikings
+followed him in the belief that he was but intending to make a new
+rally and to presently return to the fray. That the chief of Jomsburg
+could be guilty of mean cowardice surpassed their understanding;
+moreover, they were bound by their oaths to obey him in all things.
+Some twenty of his ships followed him out of the bay, and the captains
+watched him, ready to turn back with him at his first signal. But
+Sigvaldi made no signal whatsoever, and only showed, by his extreme
+haste, that he was indeed bent upon making an unworthy and cowardly
+retreat.
+
+Justin and Guthmund, two of the viking captains who were sailing in the
+chief's wake, turned their ships and cried aloud to their neighbours to
+go back with them to the battle and to the rescue of the brave men who
+had been so heedlessly deserted; and many put about their prows. But
+already it was too late: not only were the fortunes of the fight now
+entirely in the hands of the Norwegians, but the storm of hail and
+wind, which was growing every moment more severe, made it impossible
+for the ships to make headway against its fury. All who followed
+Sigvaldi were therefore ever afterwards accused of cowardice,
+notwithstanding that the larger number of them were both willing and
+anxious to return.
+
+Southward before the wind sailed Sigvaldi in all haste, until he
+entered one of the wider channels; and then the storm ceased as
+suddenly as it had begun. In the evening the ships took shelter under
+the lee of one of the islands, and there they were anchored, so that
+the decks might be cleared and put in good order. That night, unknown
+to the chief, a council was held, and the captains, headed by Guthmund,
+decided that they would no longer serve or obey a leader who had so far
+forgotten the strict laws of the vikings as to show fear in the face of
+an enemy.
+
+In the early morning, therefore, when Earl Sigvaldi hoisted his
+standard and made out for the open sea, none followed him. He quickly
+guessed the reason, and, instead of attempting to win over his former
+friends, he had his sail set to the wind and sped out westward across
+the sea.
+
+Guthmund was then elected commander of the twenty longships, and when
+Sigvaldi's vessel had passed out of sight the anchors were weighed and
+the little fleet moved southward among the isles. Here, where the
+channels were narrow, and dangerous with hidden rocks, sails were of
+little use, and the men, wearied with fighting and smarting from their
+wounds, had little strength left for labouring at the oars, so that
+progress was slow.
+
+The ships were still but a few miles to the south of Ulfasound very
+early on the third morning, when they fell in with a small sailing boat
+far out beyond the sight of land. The boat had only one man in it, and
+he sat at the stern, holding the sheet in one hand and the tiller in
+the other. His head was bowed, and his chin rested on his chest. He was
+sound asleep.
+
+Guthmund, whose ship was nearest, called aloud to him, asking if he had
+caught any fish that night. But the boatman still slept. Then Guthmund
+took up an arrow and fired it so that it struck the boat's mast. In an
+instant the man started to his feet, threw off his cloak, and stood up.
+The morning sunlight shone on his head of tangled gold hair and on part
+of his coat of chain mail. He looked very noble and beautiful, and all
+the shipmen stared at him in amazement.
+
+"By the ravens of Odin! It is young Ole the Esthonian!" cried Guthmund.
+And he called to Olaf to come aboard.
+
+Olaf at first refused, saying that although he had been without food
+for two days and was also sick and weak from loss of blood and the want
+of rest, yet he would never demean himself by taking the hospitality of
+men who had deserted their comrades in the heat of battle.
+
+"Where is Earl Sigvaldi?" he cried. "Let me see him that I may tell him
+to his face that he is a coward!"
+
+"We have broken off from him, and are no longer his men," answered
+Guthmund. "He has sailed west over the sea towards the Orkneys. We are
+now without a chief, and would be very well satisfied if you, who are a
+well proved champion, would take the command over us; and we will one
+and all take oath to serve you and follow you wheresoever you may
+choose to lead us."
+
+"If that be so, and if there are none but brave men among you," said
+Olaf, "then I will do as you suggest."
+
+And he brought his boat to the quarter and climbed on board.
+
+When he had taken drink and food and had washed himself and combed his
+hair, he told of how the battle had ended and of how he had escaped.
+
+Now the vikings were well pleased to have such a chief as Olaf
+Triggvison, for not only had they the fullest confidence in his
+prowess, in his skill as a leader of men, and in his unfailing bravery,
+but they also remembered that he was the owner of the squadron of
+battleships which had been left in Jutland in charge of Kolbiorn
+Stallare; and they rightly guessed that Olaf, with these combined
+fleets, would not rest long ere he should start on some new and warlike
+expedition.
+
+During the southward voyage nothing was said by Olaf concerning his
+plans. But when he joined his other fleet in Lyme Firth, he went
+straightway on board his dragonship and held council with Kolbiorn.
+Glad was Kolbiorn to see his master once again, and they greeted each
+other as brothers.
+
+"It seems to me," said Kolbiorn, when Olaf had told him of the defeat
+of the Jomsvikings, "that now with these forty ships that are ours we
+might very well fare to Norway, and take vengeance upon Earl Hakon. If
+we could take him unawares our chance of defeating him would be great,
+and who can tell but you would succeed where Sigvaldi failed, and so
+make yourself the King of Norway?"
+
+But Olaf shook his head.
+
+"Not so," said he; "Earl Hakon is a much greater man than you think,
+Kolbiorn. His power is well established in the land, and his people are
+well content and prosperous under his rule. I am not afraid to meet him
+in battle. But our forces are very small compared with the great host
+of men and ships that Hakon could muster at any moment, and to attempt
+this journey you propose would only mean disaster. A better plan have I
+been nursing in my mind these three days past."
+
+"What plan is that?" Kolbiorn asked.
+
+Olaf answered: "When we were at King Sweyn's inheritance feast the oath
+that Sweyn made was, that he meant to fare across the seas to England
+and drive King Ethelred from his realm. Now it appears to me that
+England offers a far easier conquest than Norway, or Sweyn Forkbeard
+would never have resolved to make such an attempt. I have heard that
+King Ethelred is but a youth--five years younger than myself--that he
+is not a fighting man, but a weak fool. Certain it is that he has very
+few ships to defend his coasts. Moreover, the people of England are
+Christians, and it seems to me that we should be doing a great service
+to Odin and Thor, and all others of our own gods, if we were to sweep
+away all the Christian temples and restore the worship of the gods of
+Asgard. Whereas, if we make war in Norway we fight against those who
+worship as we ourselves worship, we slay men who speak the same tongue
+as we speak, whose blood is our own blood, and whose homes are the
+homes of our own birthland. Many Norsemen have reaped great plunder in
+England and have made great settlements on the English coasts. Why
+should not we follow their example?--nay, why should we not conquer the
+whole kingdom?"
+
+Kolbiorn strode to and fro in the cabin without at first expressing any
+opinion on this bold scheme.
+
+"We have now between seven and eight thousand men," continued Olaf.
+
+"A small enough force with which to invade a great nation such as
+England," said Kolbiorn. "I think there would be a far greater chance
+of success if we joined with Sweyn Forkbeard."
+
+"My experience with Earl Sigvaldi has already taught me that I can
+manage with better success when I am my own master," said Olaf.
+"Moreover, King Sweyn is at present at enmity with the Danish people,
+and it would not be easy for him to go a-warring in foreign lands
+without the risk of losing his own throne. The glory or the failure of
+this expedition must be ours alone, and so soon as we can make ready
+our ships I intend to set sail."
+
+Now it was at about this time that Olaf Triggvison's followers gave him
+the name of king. It was a title which the sea rovers of the north
+often gave to the man whom they had chosen as their chief, and it
+implied that he was a leader who ruled over warriors and who had
+acquired a large number of warships. Not often did such a king possess
+lands. His realm was the sea--"Ran's land"--and his estates were his
+ships. In the English chronicles and histories of this period, Olaf is
+referred to as King of the Norwegians; but he was not yet a king in the
+sense that Sweyn Forkbeard was King of Denmark or Ethelred King of
+England. The fact that he was of royal birth was held a secret until
+long after his invasion of England and his subsequent friendship with
+King Ethelred. Nevertheless, his companions called him King Ole, and
+the name clung to him throughout all his wanderings.
+
+There were many wounded men on board the ships, and, while Olaf was
+still lying in Lyme Firth, some of them died; others, whose limbs were
+lamed and who were no longer able to work at the oars or to engage in
+battle, were left behind in Jutland. Only those who were in every way
+fit and strong were allowed to remain in the fleet. When all was ready
+Olaf hoisted his standard and arrayed his war shields and set out to
+sea.
+
+To Saxland first he sailed. There he harried along the coasts and got a
+good store of cattle and corn, and won many men and two other ships to
+his following. Then about Friesland and the parts that are now covered
+by the Zuyder Zee, and so right away south to the land of the Flemings.
+By this time the autumn was far advanced, and Olaf thought that he
+would seek out some creek or river in Flanders where he might lie up
+for the winter.
+
+On a certain sunny evening he was out upon the deeper sea in one of his
+fast sailing skiffs. He chanced to look across the water in the
+direction of the setting sun, and far away on the line of the horizon
+he espied a ridge of white cliffs. Thorgils Thoralfson was at his side,
+and the foster brothers spoke together concerning this land that they
+saw. They presently determined that it could be no other country than
+England. So they put about their skiff and returned to the fleet.
+
+At noon on the following day the forty-two ships were within a few
+miles of the North Foreland of Kent. The cliffs stood out white as snow
+against the gray autumn sky, and where the line of the headland dipped
+the grassy slopes of a fertile valley could be seen dotted over with
+browsing sheep.
+
+Olaf Triggvison steered his dragonship down the coast, until at length
+he saw a film of blue smoke that rose in the calm air above the little
+seaport of Sandwich. The town stood at the mouth of a wide creek whose
+banks sloped backward into sandy dunes and heather covered knolls. The
+river lost itself in a forest of beech trees that still held their
+trembling leaves that the summer sun had turned to a rich russet brown.
+Across one of the meadows a herd of cattle was being driven home to the
+safety of one of the farmsteads. Olaf turned his ship's head landward
+and blew a loud blast of his war horn. The shrill notes were echoed
+from the far off woods. His fleet closed in about his wake, and he led
+the way inward to the creek, rowing right up to the walls that
+encircled the town. A few arrows were fired. But already the folk had
+fled from their homes alarmed at the sight of so large a force, and the
+invaders landed without the shedding of a drop of blood.
+
+When the ships had been safely moored in the harbour, with their masts
+lowered and their figureheads taken down, Olaf had his tents sent
+ashore, and he made an encampment along the margin of the river and in
+the shelter of the beech woods. His armourers built their forges and
+his horsemen their stables. A small temple was formed of heavy stones
+and dedicated to Odin; and so the northmen made ready their winter
+quarters and prepared to follow their daily lives in accordance with
+old time customs. There was pure water to be got in abundance from the
+higher parts of the river, while fish could be got near hand from out
+the sea. When corn and meat fell short, it was an easy matter to make a
+foraging raid upon some inland farm or monastery. At such times Olaf
+would send forth one of his captains, or himself set out, with a
+company of horsemen, and they would ride away through Kent, or even
+into Surrey, pillaging and harrying without hindrance, and returning to
+the camp after many days driving before them the cattle and swine that
+they had taken, each bullock and horse being loaded with bags of corn
+or meal.
+
+These journeys were undertaken only for the sake of providing food for
+the vikings and not with the thought of conquest. And, indeed, Olaf
+would often give ample payment to the folk who were discreet enough to
+show him no resistance, for he had a great store of gold and richly
+wrought cloth upon his ships, and his heart was always generous. But at
+the monasteries and holy places he made no such return, for he vas a
+great enemy of Christianity.
+
+All through that winter he remained unmolested, in peaceful possession
+of the two towns of Sandwich and Richborough.
+
+Now the monks of Canterbury and Rochester were greatly annoyed by the
+near presence of the heathen pirates, and they sent messengers to their
+king, telling him that the Norsemen had made this settlement upon his
+coasts and imploring his protection. It was no great news to King
+Ethelred, however. The Danes and Norwegians had so often made descents
+upon the English shores that it seemed to him useless to oppose them;
+so he sent word back to the monks that if their monasteries and
+churches were in danger it would be well to build them stronger, but
+that, for his own part, he had quite enough to trouble him without
+raising armies to fight against a pack of wolves. As well, he said,
+fight against the sea birds that eat the worms upon our fields.
+
+This calm indifference of the English king only gave greater boldness
+to Olaf Triggvison, who very naturally considered that the monarch who
+would thus allow an alien foe to settle upon his shores must be a very
+child in weakness--a man with no more spirit than a shrew mouse.
+
+Not without cause was King Ethelred nicknamed The Unready. The name
+stands not as meaning that he was unprepared, but that he was without
+counsel, or "redeless". His advisers were few and, for the most part,
+traitorous and unworthy; they swayed him and directed him just as it
+suited their own ends, and he had not the manly strength of will that
+would enable him to act for himself. Of energy he had more than enough,
+but it was always misplaced. In personal character he was one of the
+weakest of all the kings of England, and his reign was the worst and
+most shameful in English history. In the golden days of his father,
+Edgar the Peaceable, all things had gone exceeding well in the land.
+There was a strong and well disciplined navy to protect the coasts, and
+all intending invaders were held in defiance. Edgar did much for the
+good order and prosperity of his kingdom, and he personally saw to the
+administration of justice and the forming of good laws; trade and
+husbandry were encouraged by him, and commerce with foreign lands was
+increased. Archbishop Dunstan was his friend and counsellor. After the
+death of Edgar came the short reign of Edward the Martyr, whose murder
+at Corfe Castle brought about the fall of Dunstan and the enthronement
+of Ethelred.
+
+Ethelred was but ten years old on his coronation at Kingston. Little is
+told of the early years of his reign, and nothing to the young king's
+credit. Already the great fleet raised by Edgar had disappeared, and
+the vikings of the north had begun once more to pillage the coasts.
+There were other troubles, too. London was burnt to the ground, a great
+murrain of cattle happened for the first time in the English nation,
+and a terrible plague carried off many thousands of the people. For
+some unknown reason Ethelred laid siege to Rochester, and, failing to
+take the town, ravaged the lands of the bishopric. And now, with the
+coming of Olaf Triggvison, a new danger was threatening.
+
+Olaf was the first of the vikings to attempt anything like a planned
+invasion on a large scale, and his partial success was the signal for a
+yet greater descent of the northmen, which had for its object the
+conquest of the whole kingdom. It was Olaf Triggvison who, if he failed
+in his own attempt, at least pointed out the way by which King Sweyn of
+Denmark and his greater son Canute at length gained possession of the
+throne of England and infused the nation with the blood which now flows
+in the veins of every true born Briton. The ocean loving vikings of the
+north were the ancestors of the English speaking people of today. Our
+love of the sea and of ships, the roving spirit that has led us to make
+great colonies in distant lands, our skill in battle, our love of manly
+sports, even perhaps our physical strength and endurance--all these
+traits have come to us from our forefathers of Scandinavia. Nor must it
+be forgotten that the Normans, who conquered England just five and
+seventy years after the landing of Olaf, were themselves the sons of
+the vikings. Rolf the Ganger was a famous warrior in the service of
+King Harald Fairhair. Exiled by Harald from Norway, he made a
+settlement in northern France, whither many of his countrymen followed
+him. That part of France was thereafter named Normannia, or
+Normandy--the land of the Norsemen. Rolf was there made a duke. His son
+William was the father of Richard the Fearless, who was the grandfather
+of the great William the Conqueror.
+
+Now, when that same wintertide had passed, and when the new buds were
+showing on the trees, Olaf Triggvison arrayed his ships ready for the
+sea. Leaving some of his older men in occupation of Sandwich, he stood
+out northward past Thanet and across the mouth of the Thames towards
+East Anglia, where, as he understood, the bravest of the English people
+dwelt. His four best dragonships were commanded by himself, Kolbiorn,
+Guthmund, and Justin. His foster brother Thorgils had command of one of
+the longships. The fleet numbered forty sail, and each ship was manned
+by some two hundred warriors and seamen. When the men were landed to
+fight, one third of the company remained behind to guard the ships.
+Thus the forces that Olaf usually took ashore with him numbered between
+five and six thousand warriors.
+
+The first place at which the vikings landed was at the mouth of a wide
+vik, leading far inland. A man named Harald Biornson was the first to
+leap ashore. Olaf named the place Harald's vik, but it is in these days
+spelled Harwich. Olaf followed the banks of the river for many miles,
+pillaging some steads, and carrying off much treasure from a certain
+monastery. The monks and friars fought well against him, but were soon
+defeated, and their houses and barns were left in flames. Farther
+inland the northmen went until they came to a made road, which crossed
+the river by a stone bridge. Olaf thought that this road must lead to
+some large town, so he took his forces over it northward into Suffolk,
+and at length he came within sight of Ipswich, and he resolved to
+attack the place. But he was not then prepared to enter battle, as many
+of his men had come ashore without their body armour and shields,
+deeming these too heavy to carry in sunny weather. So they returned to
+the ships and approached the town by way of the sea. They sailed up the
+Orwell river, and fell upon the town first with arrow and spear and
+then with sword and axe. The men of Ipswich met their foes in the
+middle of the town, and there was a great fight. But ere the sun went
+down Olaf had got the victory. He pillaged the houses and churches, and
+having emptied them of all that was worth taking he carried off the
+booty to his ships. He found that this was a good place to harbour his
+fleet in for a time, so he remained in Ipswich until the blossom had
+fallen from the trees.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII: THE BATTLE OF MALDON.
+
+
+Now this sacking of the town of Ipswich brought terror into the hearts
+of the men of East Anglia, who well knew how useless it would be for
+them to appeal for help to King Ethelred. There were brave men in that
+part of the country, however, who, at the first alarm of the landing of
+the Norsemen, made themselves ready to defend their homes and the homes
+of their neighbours. Chief among these was a certain holy and valiant
+man named Brihtnoth. He was at this time Earldorman of East Anglia. He
+had already done great work in spreading the Christian faith among the
+poor and ignorant people over whom he stood in authority, and his
+beneficent gifts to the monasteries of Ely and Ramsey had won for him
+the reputation almost of a saint. The monks regarded him as a man of
+quiet and thoughtful life, absorbed in acts of charity; but he proved
+that he could be a man of action also, for he was soon to become the
+hero of one of the most famous and disastrous battles ever fought on
+English soil.
+
+When Brihtnoth heard that the vikings had taken possession of Ipswich
+he put aside his books, and, taking down his sword, rode about the
+country side gathering men about him. He assembled a goodly army of
+soldiers, both archers and swordmen, and marched towards the coast. It
+is told that during this march he came to a certain monastery and asked
+for food for his army. The abbot declared that he would willingly
+entertain the Earldorman and such well born men as were with him, but
+would not undertake to feed the whole host. Brihtnoth answered that he
+would take nothing in which all his soldiers could not share, so he
+marched on to the next monastery, where he fared with more success.
+
+Now it speedily came to the ears of Olaf Triggvison that this army was
+being assembled against him, and he sent out spies, who in time came
+back with the news that Brihtnoth was encamped upon a hillside near the
+town of Maldon, in Essex.
+
+Olaf at once weighed anchor, and took his fleet southward past the Naze
+until he came to the mouth of the river Panta (now called the
+Blackwater). He led his ships inward on the top of the tide. Two hours'
+rowing brought him within sight of the houses of Maldon. The town stood
+upon a hill overlooking the river, which at this point branched off in
+two separate streams, one stream passing by the foot of the hill, the
+other flowing at a little distance to the north and passing under a
+strong stone built bridge. Olaf brought his ships into the branch
+nearest to the town, and his men, on landing, gathered in a confused
+crowd in occupation of the space between the two streams.
+
+Brihtnoth had already taken up a position of vantage to the north of
+the bridge, having both streams between his army and the town. He had
+arrayed his troops in a compact mass in the form of a wedge or
+triangle, whose narrower point was opposite to the roadway of the
+bridge. The men occupying the outer lines stood with their large
+shields locked together so closely that they made a strong rampart or
+shield fortress, behind which the archers and spearmen might remain in
+safety while assailing their advancing foes. It was considered very
+important in the early part of a battle that the shield fortress should
+not be broken or opened, nor could such a breach be easily effected
+except by overpowering strength or stratagem. Mounted on a sturdy
+little white horse, the Earldorman rode backward and forward in front
+of the lines to see that his men stood firm in their ranks. When all
+was ready he alighted, sent his horse to the rear, and took his place
+among his troops, determined to share every danger of his lowlier
+comrades. From where he stood he could see the fair haired vikings
+making a landing. Their great numbers appalled him, but he spoke no
+word of fear. Presently he noticed two men whom, by their glittering
+gold helmets and beautiful shields, he took to be chiefs. They walked
+some distance apart from the host of shipmen, and took their stand on a
+grassy knoll overlooking the opposing armies.
+
+"Not wrong were the reports we heard concerning these sea wolves," said
+he to a young man at his side. "Look but at those two chiefs standing
+apart! Giants they are in sooth. The younger one--he with the flowing
+yellow hair, and with the belt of gold about his thick arm--is surely a
+head and shoulders taller than any East Anglian I have seen. It will be
+a tough encounter if we come hand to hand with that man. But let us all
+be brave, for we have our homes to defend, and God will not desert us
+in our hour of danger. And we have many good chances on our side. Very
+often the more numerous host does not gain the victory, if there are
+bold and fearless men against them."
+
+The yellow haired chief was Olaf Triggvison, and Guthmund was his
+companion. They had climbed the higher ground, so that they might
+better calculate upon the chances of the coming battle, and great was
+their surprise to see how skilfully Brihtnoth had arrayed his men. That
+triangle form in which the English stood was called by the
+Scandinavians the "swine array", and it was believed to have been
+introduced by Odin himself. Olaf well knew how strong that formation
+always proved to be against the assaults of an enemy, and how almost
+impossible it was for human force to break through it.
+
+"The man who has marshalled that little army is no unworthy foe," said
+he; "and I think we shall do well to carefully consider our plans
+before making an advance. Well has he foreseen that we should land upon
+this spot, and he has so placed his host at the farther side of the
+river that we shall not reach him without great difficulty. The water
+is deep, and the rising tide flows quick and strong."
+
+"But there is the bridge by which we may cross," returned Guthmund.
+
+Olaf smiled and shook his head.
+
+"The bridge is very narrow," he said, "and the old chief has wisely
+placed three of his champions there to defend it and bar our passage."
+
+"Though he had placed there three score of champions, I see no danger
+in our crossing," said Guthmund.
+
+"Nevertheless, the bridge would still be secure to those who hold it,"
+answered Olaf. "Indeed, I would myself engage to hold such a position
+with my own hand against a far greater force than ours. It is but a
+matter of endurance, and one good sword, well wielded, is as good as
+the strongest gate ever made."
+
+As he spoke he noticed the figure of Earldorman Brihtnoth, who now left
+his place in the ranks, and advanced towards the three champions at the
+bridge. The old man stood there awhile giving some directions to the
+bridge defenders. He was about to return when he saw that Olaf was
+sending Guthmund down to him with some message, and he waited.
+
+When Guthmund stepped upon the bridge he laid down his sword upon the
+ground. Brihtnoth went forward to meet him.
+
+"What is your will?" asked the Earldorman.
+
+"I have come with a message from my king," answered the viking.
+
+"What says your king?"
+
+"He says that since it appears to be the common practice in this
+country for kings and earls to buy off an unwelcome foe with offers of
+gold, he will engage to withdraw and go back to his ships on your
+paying him a sum of money that he will name."
+
+Brihtnoth drew back in anger at such an offer, not guessing that King
+Olaf was but testing his bravery.
+
+"And who is it that has told your chief that such is the habit of our
+English kings?" he demanded.
+
+"Little need was there for anyone to tell the tale," answered Guthmund,
+"for it is well known throughout the countries of the vikings that King
+Ethelred has not so many brave warriors at his call that he can afford
+to lose them for the sake of a few bags of gold. Not once but many
+times has he thus sought to buy off the Norsemen."
+
+"Go back to your chief," cried Brihtnoth, with an indignant sweep of
+his arm; "go back and tell him that steel, and not gold, is the only
+metal that can now judge between him and me!"
+
+"It is the metal that King Olaf has ever favoured," returned Guthmund;
+"and right glad will he be to hear that there is at least one man among
+the English who is brave enough to be of that same opinion."
+
+So, when Olaf's messenger returned, there arose a loud cry from the
+deep throats of the vikings. The cry had scarcely died away ere the air
+was filled with arrows, that fell in a heavy shower among the English.
+Then Brihtnoth's archers answered the challenge, and the battle began
+in good earnest. For a long time the two armies stood facing each
+other, with the river running between, and arrows alone were the
+weapons used. But at last one of Olaf's captains--Justin it was--ran
+forward, sword in hand and shield on arm, towards the bridge. He was
+closely followed by a large number of the vikings.
+
+Bravely did the three champions stand at their post. With their feet
+firmly set, and their shields before them, they met the onrush of their
+foes, wielding their long swords with such precision and strength that
+Justin and five of his fellows fell dead without striking a single
+blow. Onward the vikings pressed, leaping over the bodies of their
+fallen companions, but only to be themselves driven back again under
+the terrible blows that met them. Very soon the roadway of the bridge
+was so crowded with the slain that many of the men fell over the
+parapet into the deep water of the river. A party of Olaf's bowmen
+stood by the nearer end of the bridge, assailing the three dauntless
+defenders with their arrows. Again the northmen charged. This time they
+were led by Kolbiorn Stallare, who advanced slowly, and not with a
+heedless rush as the others had done. He carried his heavy battleaxe;
+but before he could raise his weapon to strike, the nearest of the
+defenders stepped unexpectedly forward and dealt him a tremendous blow
+which made him stagger backward. The blow was met by his strong shield,
+and he received no hurt; but in stepping back he tripped upon the arm
+of one of his fallen comrades, and was borne down under the weight of
+the men who, following close behind him, rushed headlong to the death
+that he had escaped. There Kolbiorn lay for a long while, and Olaf
+Triggvison, who had seen him fall, believed him to be dead.
+
+Now it was Guthmund and not Olaf who had given the command to the
+Norsemen to attempt the taking of the bridge, and Olaf was very angry
+at seeing so many of his best men sacrificed. He had seen that the tide
+in the creek was ebbing, and that very soon the bridge would cease to
+be an important post. Accordingly he ordered that those who were still
+endeavouring to cross should be withdrawn.
+
+The three champions who had thus succeeded in keeping the bridge were
+named Wulfstan, Elfhere, and Maccus. Wulfstan was the man who had
+struck Kolbiorn Stallare, and he knew that the blow could not have
+killed him. So when the vikings had left the bridge he rescued Kolbiorn
+from under the weight of slain men who had fallen over him, and
+Kolbiorn limped back to the rear of the Norse archers who, all this
+time, had kept up a constant firing of arrows upon the Englishmen.
+
+When at last the tide had fallen, and the ford could be passed, the
+bridge defenders retreated, and Brihtnoth allowed the northmen to cross
+over unhindered. Olaf led his chosen men across by the road, while the
+larger number of his warriors waded through the stream. And now the
+fight began in desperate earnest.
+
+Separating his forces into three divisions, Olaf advanced to the
+attack. He directed his left wing, under the command of Guthmund, upon
+Brihtnoth's right flank; his right wing, under Harald Biornson, wheeled
+round to the attack of Brithnoth's left. He reserved for himself the
+position which was considered the most difficult to deal with--the
+point where the English chief himself stood, surrounded by his
+strongest and most experienced soldiers. This was the narrowest part of
+the formation, and Olaf knew that if he could but break through the
+wall of shields at this point the whole mass of men, now so compact and
+impregnable, would quickly be thrown into confusion.
+
+Kolbiorn fought at Olaf's right hand, and Thorgils Thoralfson at his
+left. Behind and about them were a thousand of the most valiant vikings
+and berserks.
+
+The attack began on all sides with the hurling of javelins, but very
+soon the northmen approached closer to their enemies, and carried on a
+closer combat with their swords, and at first the vikings got the worst
+of it.
+
+Olaf and his fellows had already caught sight of the white bearded
+Brihtnoth, and they were making their way towards him when Thorgils
+Thoralfson fell forward, pierced to the heart with a spear. Now, the
+spear was one which Olaf himself had before thrown into the midst of
+the English ranks, and it had now been returned in such a manner that
+Olaf at once knew it had been hurled by some man trained as the vikings
+were in the use of the weapon. Advancing yet nearer, he searched with
+quick eye among the faces of the men before him. As he did so another
+spear was flung; this time it was aimed at Kolbiorn, who caught it on
+his uplifted shield.
+
+Kolbiorn had seen the face of the man who had thus picked him out, and
+throwing his shield aside he gripped his battleaxe, and flinging
+himself with all his great strength against the wall of men he burst
+through the ranks. Olaf saw him fighting his way into the midst of the
+soldiers, who fell back before the weighty axe. At last Kolbiorn
+reached the man he sought, and engaged with him hand to hand, while
+Olaf and the vikings followed into the breach. In a very few moments
+Olaf was at Kolbiorn's side, and then he too saw the face of the man
+who had killed Thorgils. It was the face of his own fellow-slave in far
+off Esthonia, his companion in Holmgard, his shipmate Egbert, whom he
+had believed to be drowned.
+
+The duel between Kolbiorn and Egbert lasted for several minutes, but it
+was evident that Kolbiorn was but playing with his adversary, for he
+gave him many chances.
+
+"Less skilful are you than when we last met," he said with a laugh,
+"and your wrist is not so strong. Gladly would I have given you a few
+more lessons had opportunity served; but instead I must now repay the
+blow you gave me over our game of chess."
+
+Egbert then fell, and Kolbiorn turned to the help of Olaf, who was now
+engaged with the English chief and three of his special comrades.
+
+Brihtnoth wanted to fight Olaf sword to sword, but Olaf respected his
+bravery and his grey hairs, and chose rather to encounter a very broad
+chested Englishman, who had already slain three of the vikings. As
+Kolbiorn entered the fray he saw Brihtnoth turn away from Olaf and
+cross swords with one of the berserks. The berserk fell, with a great
+cut across his head. His place was taken by one of his shipmates, whom
+the old chief also overcame. The Earldorman was wounded, but he went on
+bravely fighting until at last he was cut down by a viking named Harek
+the Hawk.
+
+The spot where the English chief had fallen became now the centre of
+the battle. Here, in defence of their dead leader's body, the bravest
+among the English fought and fell. Wulfstan, Maccus, and Elfhere--the
+three who had held the bridge--again fought shoulder to shoulder at
+this place. Wulfstan was vanquished by Olaf, and his two companions
+fell to Kolbiorn's blade. The names of some of the other English
+warriors are Alfwine, a lord of the Mercians, Eseferth, Brihtwold,
+Edward the Long, Leofsuna, and Dunnere; all of whom fell in defending
+the body of Brihtnoth. One of the vikings, thinking that Olaf meant to
+gain possession of it, carried off the body of the dead hero; but Olaf
+would not allow his men to do dishonour to so brave a foe, and he
+afterwards delivered the body to Brihtnoth's friends, who gave it a
+worthy resting place in Ely cathedral.
+
+Meanwhile the battle had fared ill with the East Anglians on the other
+parts of the field. The breaking of the fortress of shields had thrown
+the ranks into confusion. The vikings, under Guthmund and Harek,
+followed up their advantage and fought with fierce onslaught. The
+English were but ill armed; many of them had bills and swords, others
+had spears and arrows, but some had no better weapons than such as they
+had themselves contrived out of their farm implements.
+
+When it was seen that the northmen were gaining the victory on all
+hands many of the English began to lose courage, and one, a caitiff
+named Godric, mounted the horse on which Brihtnoth had ridden to the
+field, so that many thought that it was the Earldorman himself who had
+fled. After this there was a general retreat, and so the battle of
+Maldon ended.
+
+Olaf Triggvison made no assault upon the town, but pitched his tents on
+the high ground between the two streams where he had landed. He allowed
+the East Anglians to carry off their dead and give them Christian
+burial. His own dead numbered over four hundred, and he had them laid
+in a mound with all their armour and weapons, and built a cairn over
+them according to the heathen custom.
+
+He lay with his ships off Maldon during the rest of the summer, and
+raided in Essex and Suffolk without hindrance.
+
+Now it might be thought that King Ethelred, hearing, as he soon heard,
+of the taking of Ipswich and of the defeat of the East Anglians at
+Maldon, would lose no time in gathering an army to expel the invaders.
+
+The spirit of the nation was ready for a vigorous resistance of the
+northmen, and with a few such men as Brihtnoth to lead them the English
+might without much difficulty have driven every viking out of the land.
+But Ethelred was a man of quite another stamp from the valiant
+Earldorman of East Anglia, and he adopted the fatal system of looking
+to gold to do the work of steel.
+
+Olaf Triggvison and a party of his captains returned to the camp one
+day, after a great boar hunt, and they found that in their absence
+certain messengers had arrived from Andover, where the king held his
+court. Olaf directed that the men should be brought to him in his tent,
+and there he held speech with them. On entering the tent the messengers
+set down before the viking chief two heavy bags containing the sum of
+ten thousand pounds in gold, This money, the men said, had been sent by
+King Ethelred as a gift to the leader of the Norsemen.
+
+"And for what reason should King Ethelred send such a gift to me who
+have done him no good service, but have only been despoiling his lands
+and disturbing his peaceful subjects?"
+
+"It is because the king wishes you to cease your ravaging in East
+Anglia and take away your ships and men," returned the spokesman. "That
+is the condition he imposes on your accepting the gold."
+
+"And how if I refuse the gold and say that it does not suit my purpose
+to remove my ships?" asked Olaf. "Will your king then march with his
+armies against the vikings, and give us the exercise of another good
+battle?"
+
+The messenger shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"King Ethelred does not doubt that you will take the gold," said he.
+"And as to his marching against you, of that matter he has said no
+word."
+
+"In that case you may leave the money in my keeping," said Olaf. "And I
+charge you to thank King Ethelred for his generosity. It so happens
+that this part of the country is already becoming somewhat bare of food
+and we are wearying for new scenes. I think, therefore, that before the
+winter days are far advanced we shall weigh anchor and set sail. But
+our going shall not be one day earlier on account of Ethelred's desire
+to be rid of us."
+
+The messengers wanted a more definite promise from Olaf that he would
+not only sail away at this present time but also that he would not
+again invade the English coasts. But to this Olaf would not agree.
+Either the king must be satisfied that the vikings intended to quit the
+shores of East Anglia in a few weeks' time, or he might take back his
+gold and suffer his kingdom to be invaded and ravaged at whatever point
+the Norsemen chose to make a landing.
+
+It seemed for a long time that they could come to no agreement; but
+finally the matter was so arranged that the gold was delivered into
+Olaf's hands and the messengers departed, with a mere half promise of
+peace and the assurance that Olaf would remove his ships within twenty
+days. Olaf did not hold himself bound to keep these conditions;
+nevertheless he resolved to abide by them. He had already discovered
+that his forces were too small to attempt, with any certainty of
+success, a deliberate conquest of England; and, indeed, even before the
+arrival of Ethelred's messengers, he had determined to presently
+withdraw his fleet until such times as he had gathered about him a host
+large enough and strong enough to lay siege to London. His departure
+from Maldon was therefore of his own choosing and not the result of any
+threats upon the part of the English king.
+
+Meanwhile Olaf did not lose sight of the fact that the foolish policy
+of King Ethelred, instead of having the effect of securing the kingdom
+against invasion, only set forth a very strong encouragement to the
+vikings to repeat their incursions as often as they were in want of
+money. Ethelred and his advisers seem never to have learned this
+lesson, and for many years after the battle of Maldon the sea rovers,
+both Danish and Norwegian, continued to harry the English coasts, with
+the invariable result that, so soon as they had plundered a few
+monasteries and reduced a few villages to ashes, they were sure to
+receive the offer of a very handsome bribe as an inducement to put to
+sea again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII: THE HERMIT OF THE SCILLYS.
+
+
+On a certain day in the late winter of the next year Olaf Triggvison
+led his fleet across the turbulent waters of the Pentland Firth, and
+steered his course for the islands of Orkney. On his way northward
+along the coasts of England he had many times made a landing to plunder
+some seaside village and to replenish his stores of food and water. He
+had harried wide on both shores of the Humber and in Northumberland,
+had stormed King Ida's fortress of Bamborough, and made a raid upon
+Berwick. In Scotland, also, he had ravaged and plundered. But of these
+adventures there remains no record. Before the time of his crossing to
+the Orkneys he had lost five of his ships and a large number of his
+men, and from this it may be judged that he had either encountered very
+stormy weather or suffered some reverse at the hands of his enemies.
+
+The snow still lay deep upon the islands when he entered the wide
+channel named Scapa Flow, and anchored his fleet under shelter of the
+high island of Hoy. Many of his vessels were by this time in need of
+repair, so he crossed the sound and beached them near to where the port
+of Stromness now lies, and at this place he took up his quarters until
+the coming of the summer.
+
+The Orkney Islands were then, and for many generations afterwards,
+peopled by Scandinavian vikings and their families, who paid tax and
+tribute to Norway. Olaf therefore found himself among men who spoke his
+own tongue, and who were glad enough to make friends with a chief, of
+whom it could be said that he had done great and valiant deeds in
+battle. One thing which more than all else won these people to him was
+their knowledge that he was the same Ole the Esthonian who, with Vagn
+Akison, had stood out to the end in the great sea fight against Hakon
+of Lade. Earl Hakon was now the ruler over the Orkney islanders, but he
+was beginning to be so bitterly hated by them that they looked upon all
+his enemies as their own particular friends. For a little time they had
+centred their hopes in Earl Sigvaldi of Jomsburg, who had lately taken
+refuge in the Orkneys. But Sigvaldi had now gone back to his stronghold
+on the Baltic, in the hope of restoring his scattered company of
+vikings. The coming of Olaf was therefore regarded with great favour by
+the Orcadian vikings, who thought it possible that he would join them
+in an attempt to drive Earl Hakon from the Norwegian throne.
+
+In order to delay Olaf's departure from the islands the people got him
+to help them in building a great temple on the shores of one of their
+lakes, and, when the temple was finished and duly dedicated to Odin,
+they proposed to Olaf that he should lead an expedition across to
+Norway. Olaf replied that he did not consider the time ripe for such an
+attempt, and that for the present he had other plans in hand; but he
+bade them, in the meantime, busy themselves with the building of ships.
+
+Now while Olaf was still in Orkney there came one day into Scapa Flow
+one of the ships of King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark. Olaf learned from
+her captain that the Dane folk had rebelled against Sweyn, for the
+reason that, having accepted Christianity and compelled his people to
+follow his example, he had now thrown off the true belief and turned
+back to the worship of the heathen gods, demanding that his subjects
+should again acknowledge Odin and Thor to be greater than the God of
+the Christians. Rather than do this, the Danes had resolved to drive
+their unbelieving king into exile; and Sweyn Forkbeard, having lost his
+throne, had taken to vikingry.
+
+On hearing this, Olaf Triggvison gave the ship captain a message to
+take back to his master, bidding Sweyn remember the vow he had sworn at
+his inheritance feast, and saying that if he had a mind to fulfil that
+vow he might now make the attempt, for that he--Ole the Esthonian--was
+now preparing his forces for a great invasion of England, and would be
+well pleased if Sweyn would join him in the expedition. The place of
+the gathering of the forces was to be Ipswich, in East Anglia, and the
+time of meeting was to be the middle of the harvest month in the next
+summer.
+
+Olaf did not wait in the Orkneys for an answer to this message. His
+vikings were already growing weary of idleness and eager to be again
+upon the sea. So the ships were put in readiness, and when a fair wind
+offered, the anchors were weighed and the sails set, and the fleet sped
+westward through Roy Sound towards Cape Wrath. Thence they sailed down
+among the Hebrides--or the Southern Isles, as the Norsemen always
+called them. Here Olaf had many battles and won many ships from the
+descendants of Harald Fairhair's rebel subjects, who had made
+settlements in the Isles. Here, too, he gained some hundreds of men to
+his following. He harried also in the north parts of Ireland, and had
+certain battles in the Island of Man. By this time the summer was far
+spent, so he sailed east away to Cumberland and there rested throughout
+the winter.
+
+His men thought that this part of England, with its mountains and
+lakes, was so much like their own birthland in distant Norway, that
+they showed great unwillingness to leave it. Many did, indeed, remain,
+and the settlements they made in the lake country have left traces
+which even to the present day may be recognized, not only in the
+remains of heathen temples and tombs, but also in the names of places
+and in certain Norse words that occur in the common speech of the
+Cumbrian folk.
+
+From Cumberland Olaf sailed south to Wales. There again he harried wide
+about, and also in Cornwall, and at length he came to the Scilly Isles.
+King Athelstane had conquered these islands half a century before, and
+had established a monastery there, the ruins of which may still be seen.
+
+Now when Olaf Triggvison lay at Scilly, sheltering from a storm that
+had driven him out of his intended course, he heard that in the isle of
+Tresco there was a certain soothsayer who was said to be well skilled
+in the foretelling of things which had not yet come to pass. Olaf fell
+a-longing to test the spaeing of this man.
+
+"I will try him by means of a trick," Olaf said one day to Kolbiorn;
+"and in this wise: You shall go to him instead of me, and say that you
+are King Ole the Esthonion; and if he believes you, then is he no
+soothsayer."
+
+Now Olaf was already famed in all lands for being fairer and nobler
+than all other men, and he chose Kolbiorn as his messenger because he
+was the fairest and biggest of his men and most resembled himself, and
+he sent him ashore, arrayed in the most beautiful clothing.
+
+Kolbiorn searched long among the trees and rocks before he found the
+little cave in which the lonely hermit dwelt; and when he entered he
+saw a gray bearded old man, deep in meditation before a crucifix, and
+wearing the habit of a Christian priest.
+
+The hermit looked up at the tall figure of his visitor, and waited for
+him to speak. Kolbiorn answered as Olaf had bidden him, saying that his
+name was King Ole. But the hermit shook his head.
+
+"King thou art not," said he gravely; "but my counsel to thee is, that
+thou be true to thy King."
+
+No other word did he speak, and Kolbiorn turned away and fared back to
+Olaf, who, on hearing of the answer that had been given, longed all the
+more to meet this hermit, whom he now believed to be verily a
+soothsayer.
+
+So on the next day, while the wind was high and the waves broke with a
+heavy roar upon the rocks, Olaf dressed himself very simply, without
+any body armour, and went ashore, attended by two shieldmen. When he
+entered the hermit's cell he found the old man sitting at an oaken
+table with a roll of parchment before him, upon which he was inscribing
+some holy legend. He greeted Olaf most kindly, and when they had spoken
+together for a while, Olaf asked him what he could say as to how he
+should speed coming by his rightful inheritance or any other good
+fortune.
+
+Then the hermit answered:
+
+"In the time that is to come, thou shalt be a very glorious king and do
+glorious deeds. Many men shalt thou bring to the right troth and to
+christening, helping thereby both thyself and thy fellow men."
+
+"As to the first part of your prophecy--that I shall become a great
+king, that I can well believe," returned Olaf; "but that I shall ever
+help men to christening, I cannot believe, for I am now, and always
+shall be, a faithful worshipper of the gods of Asgard and an enemy to
+all believers in Christ."
+
+"Nevertheless," answered the hermit, "the second part of what I have
+said is even more certain to come true than the first; and, to the end
+that my words may be trusted, take this as a token: Hard by thy ship
+thou shall presently fall into a snare of a host of men, and battle
+will spring thence, and thou wilt be sorely hurt, and of this wound
+thou shalt look to die and be borne to ship on shield; yet thou shalt
+be whole of thy hurt within seven nights and be speedily christened
+thereafter."
+
+Olaf laughed at the good man, and presently went his way. But as he
+passed downward towards the boat that awaited him among the rocks, he
+was met by a party of unpeaceful men who fell suddenly upon him with
+their swords. Olaf called upon his two guards, who had lagged behind,
+but ere they came to his help he, being without any arms, received a
+great sword thrust in his chest. His assailants fled when they saw the
+two guards approaching from among the trees, and Olaf was left bleeding
+where he fell. His two men lifted him upon one of their shields, and
+carried him down to the boat and bore him wounded upon his ship. For
+six days he lay unconscious, and, as all thought, upon the point of
+death. But on the seventh night the danger was passed, and thereafter
+he speedily grew well.
+
+Then Olaf deemed that in having foretold this matter so exactly the old
+hermit had proved himself to be indeed a very wise soothsayer. So he
+went ashore a second time, and the two talked much and long together.
+
+It seemed that Cerdic was the hermit's name. He had once been a
+bondslave among Norsemen, and had known Olaf's father, King Triggvi,
+whom Olaf personally resembled. He could speak very well in the Norse
+tongue, and his soft and gentle voice was very soothing to all who
+heard it. At first he spoke of the ways of heathen men, of their
+revengeful spirit and their cruelty in warfare, and he condemned their
+offering of blood sacrifices and their worship of graven images. Such
+gods as Odin and Thor, Njord and Frey, were, he said, but the creations
+of men's poetic fancy, and had no real existence. Odin was at one time
+but an earthly man, with all man's faults and sins. The earthquake and
+the thunder had nothing to do with the rolling of Thor's chariot or the
+throwing of Thor's hammer. The waves of the ocean would rise in anger
+or fall into calm peace though the name of Njord had never been spoken;
+and the seasons would change in their order, fields and pastures would
+grow, without the favour of Frey.
+
+So spoke the hermit, and then he told the story of the Creation and of
+Adam's Fall, and showed how Christ had come to preach peace on earth
+and to save the world. It was a principle of the Christian faith; said
+Cerdic, that men should remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, that
+they should not bow down to graven images, that they should not steal,
+nor be covetous, nor do murder, nor bear false witness; that they
+should love their enemies and bless those who cursed them.
+
+Olaf listened in patience to all these things, asking many questions
+concerning them. At last Cerdic appealed to him and besought him most
+earnestly to come to repentance and to make himself a faithful follower
+of Christ, so that he might at the close of his earthly life be worthy
+to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
+
+Now Olaf Triggvison had until this time lived always in the firm hope
+that when he died he would be admitted into the shining hall of
+Valhalla, where he might expect to meet all the great heroes of past
+times. He believed that Odin would receive him there, and reward him
+well for all the glorious deeds that he had done. So he was not at all
+willing to abandon this Norseman's faith in a future life which, as men
+promised, should be full of warfare by day and of merry carousing by
+night.
+
+Yet it was evident that Cerdic had not spoken without good effect; for
+Olaf agreed--as many of the Scandinavians did in these times--that he
+would at once be christened, on the one condition that, while calling
+himself a follower of Christ, he should not be expected to abandon
+either his belief in Odin or his hopes of Valhalla. The holy man of
+Scilly well knew that this divided faith would not last long, but he
+was also assured that in the contest the victory would certainly rest
+with Christ.
+
+Accordingly Olaf was christened, with all his warriors and shipmen. He
+lay among the Scilly Isles for many days thereafter, and learned the
+true faith so well that it remained his guiding light throughout the
+rest of his life, and made him, as shall presently be seen, one of the
+most zealous Christians of his time.
+
+Now, as the summer days passed by and it drew near to the harvest time,
+Olaf bethought him of his tryst with King Sweyn Forkbeard, so he raised
+his anchors and sped out into the open main and round by the forelands,
+and so north to Ipswich. It was three years since he had first besieged
+the East Anglian town, and in the interval the folk had returned to
+their devastated dwellings and built them anew. Olaf now took forcible
+possession of the town for a second time. He was not yet so entirely a
+Christian that he had any scruples in attacking Christian folk and
+turning them out of their homes.
+
+He lay with his ships in the Orwell for three weeks, and at the end of
+that time King Sweyn and his fleet arrived from the Baltic. Olaf had
+already gathered about him some fifty-five vessels of war, fully manned
+and equipped; and with those which Sweyn added to the number, he had
+now a force of ninety-four ships of all sizes, from small skiffs of ten
+banks of oars and a crew of a hundred men, up to great dragonships with
+thirty pairs of oars, two towering masts, and a complete company of
+about four hundred seamen and warriors. The whole force of ninety-four
+ships carried with them some thirty thousand men.
+
+This was not to be one of the old plundering raids of a body of
+adventurers seeking merely to better their fortunes by winning
+themselves new homes at the point of the sword. It was an expedition
+greater than any that Brihtnoth had ever met with steel or Ethelred
+with gold, and its purpose was one of deliberately planned invasion and
+conquest.
+
+At first when Olaf and Sweyn met and joined their fleets and armies
+there was a disagreement between them as to which chief was to assume
+the higher command. Sweyn declared that the leading position was his by
+the right that he was a king, and should be accorded the more power in
+all things over Olaf, who (as Sweyn supposed) was lowly born. But Olaf
+stoutly maintained that as it was he who had proposed the expedition,
+and as he had the larger number of men and ships, the sole command
+should be his own, Sweyn taking the second place. In the end it was
+agreed that this should be so, and that, in the event of their success,
+they were to divide the kingdom of England between them--Sweyn taking
+the Northern half, including Northumbria and the upper part of Mercia,
+and Olaf the Southern half, including East Anglia and the whole of
+Wessex.
+
+The first point of attack was to be London--a city which, although not
+yet the capital of the kingdom, was a chief bulwark of the land and
+daily becoming one of the most important centres of trade in Western
+Europe. Alfred the Great, who had himself rescued the city from the
+Danes, had built a strong fortress for her defence, and her citizens
+had always been regarded as among the most valiant and patriotic in all
+England. Olaf Triggvison was well aware that if he should succeed in
+taking London, his conquest of the rest of Ethelred's realm would be a
+comparatively easy matter. Unfortunately for his plans, he did not
+foresee the obstacles which were to meet him.
+
+He led his procession of battleships up the Thames. Never before had
+such a splendid array been seen upon those waters. The early morning
+sun shone upon the gilded birds and dragons on the tops of the masts.
+At the prow of each vessel there was reared the tall figure of some
+strange and terrible animal, formed of carved and gilded wood or of
+wrought brass, silver, or even amber. Many of the ships had sails made
+of the finest silk, woven in beautiful designs. The decks were crowded
+with men whose glittering spears and burnished helmets gave them a very
+warlike aspect, and struck terror into the hearts of the people who saw
+them from the river's banks.
+
+The alarm spread quickly from point to point, and before the invaders
+had come well within sight of the city the gates were securely closed
+and barricaded, and the valiant burghers were fully prepared to make a
+stout resistance.
+
+As the ships came abreast of the Tower they were assailed by volleys of
+well aimed arrows, fired from the battlements. Heedless of Olaf's
+plans, King Sweyn drew his division yet nearer under the walls, with
+the intention of making an assault upon the citadel. But the attempt
+was useless. The defenders were hidden behind the ramparts and beyond
+reach of all missiles, while Sweyn's forces were fully exposed to the
+ceaseless hail of arrows and stones which seemed to issue out of the
+very walls. So many of his men fell that Sweyn was forced to retire.
+
+The garrison could frustrate an assault upon the fortress, but they
+could not prevent so vast a number of ships from passing higher up the
+river and making an attack upon the old Roman rampart. While King Sweyn
+crossed to the opposite side of the stream and led an attack upon
+Southwark, Olaf effected a landing near Billing's Gate and directed all
+his strength upon the wall. He lost many men in the attempt, but at
+last a breach was made, and at the head of many hundreds of desperate
+warriors he entered the city. He had depended upon Sweyn following him;
+and had the Danish king been content to obey, London might indeed have
+been taken by sheer strength. As it was, however, Olaf quickly found
+that he had made a fatal mistake. Vast crowds of armed citizens met him
+at the end of each narrow street and dealt the invaders such lusty
+blows, with their bills and swords and volleys of heavy stones, that
+those who were not maimed or killed outright were forced back by
+overpowering strength, their ranks being driven into hopeless
+confusion. At one moment Olaf Triggvison found himself, with some six
+or seven of his men, surrounded by several scores of the defenders. He
+fought his way through them back to the city wall, where, through the
+breach that had been made, his hosts were escaping on board the ships.
+The besiegers were utterly defeated. Once again had the men of London
+rescued their city from its foes.
+
+Sweyn Forkbeard had fared no better than Olaf had done. He had made a
+bold attempt to burn the town, but, like Olaf, he had been driven back
+to his ships with great slaughter.
+
+On that same day the two defeated chiefs sailed away in wrath and
+sorrow, and with the loss of seven ships and two thousand men.
+
+Now, under Alfred or Athelstane such a reverse as the invaders had met
+with before London would surely have been followed up by some crushing
+victory. But under the wretched Ethelred there was no attempt made to
+prevent the more fearful desolation of other parts of the kingdom. Olaf
+and Sweyn were calmly allowed to avenge their defeat by ravaging the
+coast at pleasure, and to pillage, burn and murder without meeting the
+slightest resistance. At the mouth of the Thames the two chiefs had
+divided their forces, Sweyn sailing northward towards the Humber, while
+Olaf took his course southward, and ravaged far and wide in the old
+kingdoms of Kent and Sussex.
+
+Late in the summer, Olaf crossed into Hampshire, and now at last King
+Ethelred was roused, for the invaders threatened not only the royal
+city of Andover but also the royal person. The king had no army of
+sufficient strength to encounter his Norse enemy, and his navy was of
+still less consequence. The only course he seems to have thought of,
+therefore, was the old cowardly policy of again buying peace with gold.
+Olaf was allowed to anchor his fleet for the winter at Southampton, and
+in order to avert any raiding into the surrounding country, Ethelred
+levied a special tax upon the people of Wessex to supply the crews with
+food and pay. He also levied a general tax upon all England to raise
+the sum of sixteen thousand pounds as a bribe to the invaders to quit
+the kingdom.
+
+This large sum of money was conveyed to Olaf Triggvison by the king's
+ambassadors, among whom was a certain Bishop Elfheah--a zealous
+Christian, who, in addition to gaining Olaf's solemn promise that he
+would keep the peace, took upon himself the task of converting the
+young chief to the Christian faith. Olaf had already been baptized by
+the good hermit of the Scillys; but he had not yet received the rite of
+confirmation. He now declared that he was willing to become entirely a
+Christian, and to set aside his belief in the old gods of Scandinavia.
+The bishop then led Olaf to the court at Andover, where Ethelred
+received him with every honour and enriched him with royal gifts. At
+the confirmation of Olaf, which took place with great pomp, King
+Ethelred himself was present, and even stood sponsor.
+
+Olaf lived for many weeks at Andover, as King Ethelred's friendly
+guest, and before he left to join his ships he signed a treaty in which
+he engaged never again to invade England. This promise he faithfully
+kept, and for a time there was peace in the land. Ethelred believed
+that he had now rid his kingdom of all danger from the vikings. But he
+did not reckon with King Sweyn Forkbeard. Tempted by the great sums of
+money that had been extorted from the English, Sweyn returned again and
+again, and at last succeeded in expelling Ethelred from the land. For
+many years Sweyn was the virtual ruler of England, and he thus prepared
+the way for his son, Canute the Mighty, who was afterwards the chosen
+king of the English people.
+
+Now, while Olaf Triggvison was still the guest of King Ethelred, there
+also lived at the court a certain princess named Gyda. She was the
+sister of the King of Dublin, in Ireland, and she was considered very
+beautiful. A great many wooers sought to wed with her, and among others
+a man named Alfwin, a renowned champion and man slayer. A day was fixed
+on which Gyda had promised to choose a husband, and many high born men
+had come together, hoping to be chosen. All were splendidly attired.
+
+Olaf Triggvison, clad in a coarse, wet weather cloak with a fur hood,
+stood apart with a few of his comrades, merely to look on.
+
+Gyda went here and there among her wooers, but seemed to find none that
+pleased her. But at length she came to where Olaf stood, with his head
+half hidden under his fur hood. She went nearer to him, lifted up his
+hood and looked long and earnestly into his eyes.
+
+"A taller and handsomer man I have never seen," said she. "Who art
+thou, and whence came you?"
+
+"I am an outland man here," he answered; "and I am named Ole the
+Esthonian."
+
+Gyda said, "Wilt thou have me? Then will I choose thee for my husband."
+
+Olaf replied that he was not unwilling to take her at her word. So they
+talked the matter over and, being of one mind, they were forthwith
+betrothed.
+
+Alfwin was ill content at this, and in great wrath he challenged Olaf
+to fight. It was the custom of those days in England that if any two
+men contended about a matter they should each bring twelve men and
+dispute their rights in a pitched battle. So when these two rivals met,
+Olaf gave the word to his men to do as he did. He had a great axe, and
+when Alfwin attacked him with his sword, he quickly overpowered him,
+and then bound him fast with ropes. In like wise were all Alfwin's men
+defeated; and Olaf forced them to depart from the land and never come
+back. Alfwin was a very wealthy man, and his wealth was forfeited to
+Olaf. Then Olaf wedded Princess Gyda, and went with her to Ireland, and
+lived in great happiness for many days.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV: THORIR KLAKKA.
+
+
+During all this time of Olaf Triggvison's wanderings Earl Hakon of Lade
+continued to hold the sovereign rule in Norway, and there was great
+peace in the land, with fruitful harvests and good fishing. In his
+early years he was very popular for his kindliness and generosity, his
+fearless courage and his great strength in battle. But it seems that
+the greater power which he afterwards acquired disturbed the fine
+balance of his mind, and he became deceitful, even to his nearest
+friends, and cruel to a degree which presently won for him the hatred
+of his people, who murmured against him in secret while fearing to
+break out into open rebellion.
+
+Earl Hakon knew nothing of the strong feelings that were rising against
+him, nor did he doubt that he should enjoy his power unmolested to the
+end of his days. One thought alone disturbed his sense of security. It
+chanced that rumours had reached him concerning a certain viking who
+called himself Ole, and who was said to have won great renown in the
+realm of King Ethelred. Now Hakon was told that this same Ole had spent
+his younger days in Gardarike, and he deemed that the lad must be of
+the blood of the Norse kings, for it was no secret that King Triggvi
+Olafson had had a son who had fared east into Gardarike, and been
+nourished there at the court of King Valdemar, and that he was called
+Olaf.
+
+Earl Hakon had sought far and wide for Olaf Triggvison, but in vain.
+Some men had, indeed, said that in the battle of the Jomsvikings they
+had seen a young champion, named Ole the Esthonian, whose aspect was
+that of the race of Harald Fairhair, and it was said that this same
+champion was one of those who had been made prisoners and put to death.
+But, in spite of this story, Hakon still believed in the later rumours.
+He believed that the adventurous Ole the Viking was none other than
+Olaf Triggvison, nor could he doubt that this daring young rover would
+sooner or later lay claim to the kingdom of Norway.
+
+As his own popularity grew less and less, Hakon looked forward with
+increasing uneasiness to the inevitable conflict. He well understood
+the devotion of the Norse people to the family of Harald Fairhair, and
+he now considered that his own safety could only be secured by the
+death of this possible rival.
+
+Earl Hakon had a great friend named Thorir Klakka, a man who had been
+many years at viking work, and had often gone on trading voyages to
+England and Ireland and other lands bordering on the Western Sea. The
+earl spoke with Thorir and confided to him his plan, bidding him go on
+a trading voyage to Dublin, where Ole the Esthonian was then supposed
+to be living, and if it was found that this man Ole was indeed the son
+of King Triggvi, or any other offspring of the kingly stem of the
+north, then Thorir was either to kill him or to entice him over to
+Norway where Hakon himself would deal with him.
+
+So without delay, Thorir went forth upon his mission, and sailed west
+into Ireland. It was in the early springtime when he reached Dublin,
+and he was not long in learning that Ole was then living at the court
+of King Kuaran, his brother-in-law.
+
+On a certain day Thorir was in the marketplace, buying some Irish
+horses that were for sale. There was a beautiful white pony that he
+greatly coveted, and he offered a high price for it. But there was
+another who offered yet more--a tall young man, with long fair hair and
+very clear blue eyes, who wore a very beautiful cloak of crimson silk
+bordered with gold lace. Thorir at once knew him to be a Norseman, and
+he also guessed that this was the man of whom he was in search. Now the
+pony at last fell to Thorir's bidding. Then Thorir took the animal by
+its halter and went and stood by the side of the handsome Norseman.
+
+"I beg you will take the pony as a gift from me," said he, speaking in
+the English tongue; "for I see that you are a great lord in this land,
+and such a beautiful animal is better suited to such as you than to a
+mere seafarer who has little use for it."
+
+"And why should I take such a gift from a stranger, who owes me nothing
+in the world?" returned Olaf Triggvison. "The pony is yours, my man,
+for you have bought it and paid for it in fair market. If it indeed be
+that you have no wish to keep the animal, then I will gladly buy it
+from you at the price you paid. But I cannot take it as a free gift."
+
+Olaf paid him his price in gold of Ethelred's coinage, and sent the
+pony away in charge of one of his servants. But even when the business
+was over, Thorir did not seem willing to leave, but stood near to Olaf
+looking searchingly into his face.
+
+"Why do you linger?" asked Olaf. "Is there something so very unusual
+about me that you stare at me so?"
+
+"There is much that is unusual about you, lord," answered Thorir; "and
+little marvel is there that I should look upon you with interest.
+Nowhere, save in my own birthland of Norway, have I ever seen a man so
+tall and strong and fair."
+
+"Certainly, there are many such men in Norway," said Olaf; "but also
+there are many in these western lands; as to which witness those who
+are about us here in this marketplace."
+
+He glanced across to where his friend Kolbiorn Stallare was standing.
+
+"There is one at your back who seems not less strong than I."
+
+Thorir looked round at Kolbiorn, then back at Olaf. "You are well nigh
+a head and shoulders taller than that one," said he; "and there is that
+about you which seems to tell me you have spent the larger part of your
+life in Norway."
+
+Olaf said: "Since I was a babe in arms, I have been but once in that
+land; and then only during two changes of the moon or so. Nevertheless,
+I will not deny that there is indeed a vein of the Norse blood in me,
+and for that reason I should be well enough pleased to hear from you
+some news of what has been happening in Norway these few summers past."
+
+"Little is there to tell," returned Thorir; "for, since the rascally
+sons of Erik Bloodaxe were driven from the land, there have been no
+great wars. True it is, that Earl Sigvaldi of Jomsburg did lately make
+an attempt to win dominion in Norway. He led his host of vikings, with
+I know not how many battleships, against Earl Hakon; but he was
+defeated with great slaughter and took to flight."
+
+"Of that famous fight I have already had tidings," said Olaf. "I have
+heard that many well known vikings were vanquished on that day, and
+that Vagn Akison was the only chief who stood his ground to the end."
+
+Thorir looked with quick eyes into Olaf's face, and said: "Yes, Vagn
+proved himself a valiant warrior in that encounter. But there was one
+who was quite as brave and mighty as he--one who named himself Ole the
+Esthonian. Men say that this same Ole has since won great renown in
+England."
+
+Olaf smiled, but was silent for some moments. Then at last he began to
+ask many questions concerning the Upland kings, and who of them were
+yet alive, and what dominion they had. Of Earl Hakon also he asked, and
+how well beloved he might be in the land.
+
+Thorir answered: "The earl is so mighty a man that he now has the whole
+of Norway in his power, and none dares to speak a word but in his
+praise. And yet," he added, remembering the terms of his mission, "Earl
+Hakon is not all that a peaceful people would wish. Many would prefer
+some other monarch if they but knew where to find one better to their
+taste. A pity it is that there is no man of the blood of King Harald
+Fairhair living, whom the Norsemen could put upon the throne. None such
+have we to turn to; and for this cause it would little avail any man
+not kingly born to contend with Earl Hakon."
+
+Now, when Olaf Triggvison heard these things, there came upon him a
+certain impatient desire to fare across to Norway and proclaim himself
+a direct descendant of Harald the Fairhaired and the rightful heir to
+the throne. So on the next day he again sought out the man Thorir, and
+when they had spoken together for a little while, Olaf said:
+
+"A long time ago, as I have heard, there was a young son of King
+Triggvi Olafson who escaped with his mother, Queen Astrid, into Sweden.
+Has no one heard whether that lad lived or died? Why do none of the
+Norse folk seek him out and set him to reign over them in place of this
+Hakon, who is neither kingly born nor kingly mannered?"
+
+Thorir answered: "It was not for lack of trying that Queen Gunnhild did
+not bring the child to his death. She pursued him far and wide; but the
+gods protected him and he escaped. It is said by many men that he fell
+into bondage; others say that he took refuge in Holmgard, where King
+Valdemar reigns; and I have even heard it hinted that the viking naming
+himself Ole the Esthonian, who has lately been warring in England, is
+none other than Olaf Triggvison. Howbeit, there now lives in Viken a
+woman who is said to be the widow of King Triggvi--Astrid is her
+name--and she has declared that her son Olaf is surely dead, else would
+he have come back to Norway of his own accord to claim his great
+inheritance."
+
+As he spoke these last words Thorir saw for the first time that a
+change had come into Olaf's face, and he deemed that here truly was the
+man whom Earl Hakon had sent him to entrap. Yet he held his own counsel
+for a while, believing that if this were indeed Olaf Triggvison the
+fact would speedily be brought to light, and that he would soon have
+some chance of either putting him to death or of beguiling him into the
+hands of Earl Hakon.
+
+For many moments Olaf strode to and fro in silence. There was a new
+light in his eyes, and his cheeks were flushed, and when he spoke there
+was a tremor in his voice that showed how deeply this news of his long
+lost mother had affected him.
+
+"How long time is it since this woman, this Queen Astrid, came back
+into Norway?" he asked.
+
+"Many years," answered Thorir.
+
+"Then it may be that she is already dead?" said Olaf.
+
+But Thorir shook his head.
+
+"That is not likely," said he, "for I saw her with my own eyes at
+Yuletide past, and she was then living very happily with her husband in
+Viken."
+
+"Her husband?" echoed Olaf. "And what manner of man is he? A king
+surely, for none but a king is worthy of such a wife."
+
+"He is no king, but a wealthy man and of good kin," returned Thorir.
+"His name is Lodin, and he went oft on trading voyages aboard a ship
+which he owned himself. On a certain summer he made east for Esthonia
+and there did much business. Now, in the marketplace of one of the
+Esthonian seaports many thralls were brought for sale, and, among other
+thralls who were to be sold, Lodin saw a certain woman. As he looked
+upon her he knew by the beauty of her eyes that she was Astrid, Erik's
+daughter, who had been wedded to King Triggvi Olafson. And yet she was
+very unlike what she had been in her earlier days, being pale now, and
+lean, and ill clad. So Lodin went up to her and asked her how it fared
+with her, and how she came to be in such a place, and so far away from
+Norway. She said: 'It is a heavy tale to tell. I am sold at thrall
+markets and am brought hither now for sale,' and therewith she, knowing
+Lodin, prayed him to buy her and take her back with him to her kindred
+in Norway. 'I will give you a choice over that,' said he. 'I will take
+you back to Norway if you will wed me.' Then Astrid promised him so
+much, and he bought her and took her to Norway, and wedded her with her
+kindred's goodwill."
+
+Then Olaf said, "This is indeed the gladdest news that I have heard for
+many a long year!" But the words had scarcely fallen from his lips when
+he realized that he had unwittingly betrayed his long kept secret, for
+why else should he look upon this as such glad news if he were not
+himself the lost son of this same Queen Astrid? And it seemed that
+Thorir had already guessed everything, for he said:
+
+"Glad news must it always be when a son hears that his mother, whom he
+thought dead, is still alive."
+
+"I did not tell you that Queen Astrid was my mother," Olaf cried in
+assumed surprise.
+
+"There was no need to tell me," returned Thorir. "For even before I had
+spoken a word with you I had guessed both your name and kin. You are
+the son of King Triggvi Olafson. It was you who, in your infancy, were
+pursued through the land by Queen Gunnhild's spies. It was you who,
+escaping from Sweden with your mother, were captured by Esthonian
+vikings and sold into slavery. Then, by some chance which I know not
+of, you were received at the court of King Valdemar the Sunny.
+Afterwards you joined the vikings of Jomsburg and passed by the name of
+Ole the Esthonian. It was you who, in the sea fight against Earl Hakon,
+rivalled in skill and prowess the most famous vikings of all
+Scandinavia. A pity it is that instead of going a-warring in England
+you did not again direct your force against Earl Hakon and drive him
+from the throne which you, and you alone of all living men, should
+occupy. It is you, and not Earl Hakon, who are the rightful king of all
+Norway. The realm is yours by the right of your royal descent from King
+Harald Fairhair, and I make no doubt that were you to sail into
+Thrandheim fiord, you would at once be hailed by the people as their
+deliverer and accepted as their sovereign king."
+
+Thus with guileful speech and subtle flattery did Thorir Klakka seek to
+entice Olaf over to Norway, to the end that Earl Hakon might secretly
+waylay him and bring him to his death, and so clear his own path of a
+rival whom he feared. And Olaf, listening, received it all as the very
+truth, nor doubted for an instant that the people were waiting ready to
+welcome him back to the land of his fathers.
+
+There were many reasons urging him to this journey. In the first place,
+his beautiful young wife, the Princess Gyda, had died very suddenly
+only a few weeks after their coming to Dublin. She had been taken off
+by a fever, and her death gave Olaf so much sorrow that he found no
+more happiness in the home to which she had brought him. There was all
+her wealth for Olaf to enjoy if he had so wished, and he might even
+have become the king in Dublin. But he had wealth of his own and in
+plenty, and had no great desire to wait for the death of his
+brother-in-law before being raised to the Irish kingship. There was
+also the thought of again joining Queen Astrid, his mother, who had
+done so much for him in his infancy, and who now, doubtless, believed
+him to be dead. For her sake alone, if for no other, he wanted more
+earnestly than ever before to go back to Norway. Moreover, he had heard
+from Thorir that the people of Norway were still strong believers in
+the old gods, and in blood sacrifice and the worship of wooden images;
+he had heard that Earl Hakon was a bitter enemy of the Christians, that
+he forebade his people to give hospitality to any christened man or
+woman; and this knowledge had put a new ambition into Olaf's mind--the
+ambition to establish the Christian faith throughout the length and
+breadth of Norway.
+
+So not many days had passed by ere he got ready five of his ships and
+set sail. He took with him several Christian priests who had followed
+him from England, and Thorir was in company with him. He sailed first
+to the South Isles, and thence up north into the Pentland Firth. Here
+he encountered a terrible storm. His seamen were afraid, but he called
+upon them to put their trust in God, and they took new courage. Yet the
+storm did not abate, so Olaf made for the Orkneys, and there had
+shelter in a quiet haven.
+
+Right glad were the Orkney folk to see him among them once again, for
+now they deemed that he had come to fulfil his former promise and
+deliver them from the oppressive rule of Earl Hakon.
+
+Now Thorir had charged Olaf not to reveal his true name to any man
+until he should be safe in Norway and sure of his success. Accordingly
+the islanders regarded him as a brave viking and nothing more.
+Nevertheless, they gathered round him, saying that they were ready and
+willing to follow him across the sea and to help him to drive Earl
+Hakon to his deserved doom. To test their fidelity Olaf summoned a
+great meeting of the folk and called one of their jarls before him. Few
+words were spoken before Olaf, to the surprise of all present, declared
+that the jarl must let himself be christened or that there and then he
+should die.
+
+"If you and your people refuse to be baptized," Olaf said, "then I will
+fare through the isles with fire and sword, and I will lay waste the
+whole land!"
+
+Thorir Klakka laughed to himself at hearing this bold threat, and he
+thought how ill it would go with any man who should attempt such a
+thing in Norway.
+
+But there was something in Olaf Triggvison's nature which compelled
+obedience. The Orkney jarl saw well that the threat was made in serious
+earnest, and he chose to be christened.
+
+Now this meeting of the islanders was held on the margin of one of the
+lakes, where stood the heathen temple which Olaf himself had helped to
+build. And now he had his men pull down this temple to the ground, so
+that not a stone of it remained standing in its place. Having thus made
+a semblance of banishing the old faith in Odin and Thor, he set about
+teaching the greater faith in Christ. He had in his company a certain
+priest named Thangbrand, a mighty man who could wield the sword as well
+as any viking, and whose voice was as the sound of thunder. Thangbrand
+stood up to his knees in the lake, and as the people came out to him,
+one by one, he sprinkled them with water and made upon them the sign of
+the cross. Thus were all the islanders, men, women, and children, made
+Christians. So when these ceremonies were over, Olaf weighed anchor and
+sailed out eastward for Norway.
+
+Ill content was Thorir Klakka at seeing with what ease Olaf Triggvison
+had gained influence over these people, and how ready all men were to
+follow and obey him. If his power were so strong over men who owed him
+no allegiance, and who did not even know of his royal birth, how much
+greater must it be over the people of Norway, whose adherence to the
+family of Harald Fairhair would give them a double reason for obeying
+him? If Olaf should ever set foot in Norway and proclaim his real name
+then it might go far more ill with Hakon of Lade than the earl had
+supposed, when he sent his friend Thorir across to Ireland. As the
+ships sailed eastward across the sea Thorir thought this matter over,
+and it came into his mind that it would be better for Hakon's safety
+that Olaf Triggvison should never be allowed to reach his intended
+destination.
+
+On a certain night Olaf stood alone at the forward rail of his ship,
+looking dreamily out upon the sea. The oars were inboard, and there
+were but few men about the decks, for a good wind that was blowing from
+the southwest filled the silken sails and sent the vessel onward with a
+rush of snowy foam along her deep sides, and there was no work to be
+done save by the man who stood at the tiller. To the south the sea and
+sky were dark, but in the northern heavens there was an arch of
+crimson, flickering light, from which long trembling shafts of a
+fainter red shot forth into the zenith, casting their ruddy reflections
+upon the waves. The gaunt, gilded dragon at the prow stood as though
+bathed in fire, and the burnished gold of Olaf's crested helmet, the
+rings on his bare arms, the hilt of his sword, and the knitted chains
+of his coat of mail gleamed and glanced in the red light as though they
+were studded with gems.
+
+This red light, flashing in the midnight sky, was believed by the
+Norsemen to be the shining of Thor's beard. But as Olaf Triggvison now
+looked upon it from his ship's bow, he understood it to be a message of
+hope sent from Heaven, beckoning him onward to his native land in the
+north, there to avenge his father's death, to reconquer his realm, and
+to reign as the first truly Christian King of Norway. And yet as his
+vessel sailed on, plunging through the dashing foam, with her prow
+rising and falling within the wide span of that great rosy arch,
+strange doubts came over him, the old beliefs still lingered in his
+mind, and he began to think that perhaps his new learning was false,
+that Thor might after all be supreme in the world, and that this red
+light in the sky was an evidence of his continued power, a visible
+defiance of Christ.
+
+Olaf was thinking these thoughts when, above the wailing of the wind
+and the swishing of the waves, he heard, or fancied he heard, someone
+walking behind him across the deck. He turned quickly. No one could be
+seen; but his eyes rested upon the shadow cast by the hilt of his sword
+upon the boards of the deck. The shadow was in the form of the cross.
+The sign was prophetic, and in an instant all his doubts vanished.
+
+"Christ is triumphant!" he cried.
+
+The words were still on his lips when he heard the creaking of a
+bowstring. An arrow flashed before him, struck against the peak of his
+helmet and fell at his feet upon the deck. Then he saw the cloaked
+figure of a man steal quickly away into the shadow of the sails.
+
+Olaf picked up the arrow and examined it. By a mark upon its shaft and
+the trimming of its feathers he knew it to be an arrow taken from his
+own cabin. He also knew that its point was poisoned.
+
+"Never did I suspect that I had a traitor in my following," he said as
+he went aft towards his cabin. "Some man has attempted to take my life.
+But whosoever he be, I shall surely find him and punish him!"
+
+He searched among the shadows of the bulwarks and down among the
+rowers' benches, but saw no trace of his secret enemy. When he entered
+his cabin he found only Thorir Klakka, lying, as it seemed, asleep upon
+the floor with an empty drinking horn beside him and breathing heavily.
+Olaf thought that the man had been taking over much mead, so left him
+there and went out upon the deck to tell his friend Kolbiorn of this
+attempt upon his life. But as soon as Olaf was out of the cabin Thorir
+rose, wakeful enough now that he was alone, and took from under him a
+longbow which he placed in the rack.
+
+"The man bears a charmed life!" muttered Thorir, "or else he has eyes
+in the back of his head. Ill luck is mine! Had I but aimed a finger's
+breadth lower he would now have been dead, and Earl Hakon might have
+been saved the trouble of laying traps for him!"
+
+Throughout that night Olaf was engaged searching for his unknown enemy;
+but without avail. He questioned every man on board, but all swore by
+the sign of the cross that they had seen nothing. For a time Olaf was
+forced to suspect Thorir Klakka; but he soon dismissed the thought.
+Thorir's conduct towards him had been from the time of their first
+meeting so full of goodwill and seeming friendliness that it was
+impossible to fix suspicion on him, and indeed there was no man among
+all the ship's company who showed more concern over this matter than
+did Thorir, or who made greater efforts to discover the miscreant who
+had dared to attempt the life of the well beloved chief.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV: THE EVIL EARL.
+
+
+Early on the next morning the ships were within sight of the high lying
+coast of Norway. By Thorir's treacherous advice, Olaf had steered his
+course for a part of the country where Earl Hakon's power was greatest,
+and where it was expected that Hakon himself might at that time be
+staying. Steering in among the skerries Olaf made a landing on the
+island of Moster, in the shire of Hordaland. Here he raised his land
+tent and planted in front of it the cross, together with his own
+standard; and when all the men were ashore he had his priests celebrate
+the mass. He met with no opposition, for the people of the place were
+then busy on their fields, and there was nothing unusual in the sight
+of a few peaceful ships anchoring off their shores.
+
+Thorir had advised a landing on this particular island because, as it
+had been arranged, he knew that here he would gain private news of Earl
+Hakon, and learn how he might best betray King Olaf into Hakon's
+clutches. When Thorir heard, therefore, that the earl was at Trondelag,
+he told Olaf that there was nothing for him to do but to keep it well
+hidden who he was, and to sail northward with all diligence, so that he
+might attack Earl Hakon unawares and slay him. At the same time he sent
+secret word to Hakon, bidding him prepare his plans for the slaying of
+Olaf Triggvison.
+
+Believing every word that Thorir told him, and trusting in the man's
+seeming honesty, Olaf accepted the advice, and fared northward day and
+night until he came to Agdaness, at the mouth of the Thrandheim fiord,
+and here he made a landing.
+
+Now a great surprise was in store for Thorir Klakka. All this time,
+since his setting out west to Ireland in search of Olaf, he had rested
+assured that the power of Earl Hakon was unassailable, and that the
+bonders, or landholders, were not only well disposed towards him, but
+also ready to stand firmly by him through all dangers. He had
+intentionally deceived Olaf Triggvison by representing that the earl
+might easily be overthrown and his subjects as easily won over to the
+side of a new king. To his great dismay he now discovered that, while
+telling a wilful untruth, he had all the time been unwittingly
+representing the actual condition of the country. During the absence of
+Thorir from Norway, Hakon had committed certain acts which had gained
+for him the hatred and contempt of the whole nation. The peasants of
+Thrandheim were united in open rebellion against him; they had sent a
+war summons through the countryside, and had gathered in great numbers,
+intending to fall upon the Evil Earl and slay him.
+
+Olaf Triggvison could not, therefore, have chosen a more promising
+moment for his arrival in the land. He had only to make himself known
+in order to secure the immediate allegiance and homage of the people.
+
+When Olaf entered the mouth of the fiord with his five longships and
+anchored off Agdaness, he heard that Earl Hakon was lying with his
+ships farther up the firth, and also that he was at strife with the
+bonders. So Olaf made no delay, but weighed anchor again and rowed east
+into the sunlit fiord. He had not gone very far when, from behind a
+rocky headland, three vessels of war appeared upon the blue water,
+rowing out to meet him, with their red battle shields displayed. But
+suddenly, as they drew nearer to him, they turned about towards the
+land and fled in all haste. Olaf made no doubt that they were Hakon's
+ships, so he put extra men to the oars and bade them give chase.
+
+Now the retreating ships were commanded, not by Earl Hakon, but by his
+favourite son Erland, who had come into the fiord to his father's help
+against the bonders. When Erland found that he was being pursued a
+great fear came upon him lest he should be driven farther into the
+fiord and into the clutches of the bonders, whom he knew to be waiting
+to give him battle, so when he saw that Olaf was coming close upon him
+he ran his ships aground, leapt overboard, and straightway made for the
+shore.
+
+Then Olaf brought his five ships close in upon him and assailed him
+with arrows, killing many of his men as they swam to land. Olaf saw a
+man swimming past who was exceedingly fair; so he caught up the tiller,
+and, taking good aim, flung it at him, striking him on the head. This
+man was Erland himself, and so he lost his life.
+
+Olaf and his folk took many of the men prisoners and made them take the
+peace. From them he heard the tidings that Earl Hakon had taken flight
+and that all his warriors had deserted him.
+
+Now, when this little battle was over, and Erland's ships had been
+captured, Olaf Triggvison rowed yet farther into the fiord to
+Trondelag, where all the chieftains and peasants were assembled. Here
+he went ashore and, dressed in his finest body armour, with his
+towering gold helmet and his cloak of crimson silk, walked up into the
+midst of the people, attended only by his friend Kolbiorn Stallare and
+two guards.
+
+The peasants stared at him amazed, wondering what manner of great man
+this was who had so suddenly appeared before them. And two of their
+chieftains went forward to meet him, uncovering their heads. One asked
+him his name and the reason of his coming.
+
+"Your questions are soon answered," said he; and the clear ring of his
+voice was heard even by those who stood far apart. "I am come to offer
+myself to the people of this land, to defend them against all wrong,
+and to uphold their laws and rights. My name is Olaf. I am the son of
+King Triggvi Olafson, who was the grandson of King Harald Fairhair."
+
+At hearing these words the whole crowd of people arose with one accord
+and rent the air with their joyous greetings, for it needed no great
+proof for them to be assured that he was indeed of the race of the old
+kings of Norway. Some of the elder men, seeing him, declared that he
+was surely King Hakon the Good come back to earth again, younger and
+fairer and nobler than he had been of yore. The young warriors who
+stood near were lost in admiration of his tall and handsome figure, of
+his giant strength, his large clear eyes and long golden hair, and they
+envied him the splendour of his costly armour and beautiful clothing.
+To follow such a man into battle, they thought, would be worth all the
+glories of Valhalla.
+
+"All hail to King Olaf!" they cried. And the cry was echoed upon every
+side.
+
+Many of those present wanted Olaf to be at once formally proclaimed
+king of all Norway, but others of the more sober sort objected.
+
+"King he shall surely be," they said. "But let him be made so without
+undue haste. Let him first prove his worthiness by some act of prowess."
+
+"I am ready to prove it in whatsoever way you wish," said Olaf. "What
+would you have me do?"
+
+One of the chieftains then stepped in front of him and said:
+
+"There is one thing, lord, that we would have you do; and by the doing
+of it you would gain the gratitude of every man and woman in
+Thrandheim."
+
+"And what thing is that?" asked Olaf.
+
+"It is that you shall follow in pursuit of Earl Hakon and bring him to
+his bane."
+
+"Gladly will I pursue him," returned Olaf, "if I may know what
+direction he has taken, or in what part of the land I may most surely
+find him."
+
+Then the chieftain called one of the young warriors to him and
+questioned him closely concerning Hakon.
+
+The young man explained that the earl had escaped from out of Gauldale,
+where he had been in hiding, and that he had gone off attended only by
+a certain thrall named Kark. Men had given chase to him, and at the
+edge of a deep morass they had found the footprints of the earl's
+horse. Following the footprints they had come into the middle of the
+morass, and there they found the horse itself struggling in the mire,
+with Hakon's cloak lying near, seeming to show that the morass had been
+his death.
+
+"Earl Hakon is wily enough to have put both horse and cloak in the
+morass with intent to deceive his pursuers," said one of the
+bystanders. "For my own part I would stake my hopes of Valhalla upon it
+that he might even now be found at the farmstead of Thora of Rimul; for
+Thora is his dearest friend of all the dale folk."
+
+Thora of Rimul sat spinning at the doorway of her home in a sheltered
+dale among the hills. The birch trees were breaking out into fresh
+buds, the young lambs gambolled on the flowery knolls, and the air was
+musical with the songs of birds. Thora was considered the fairest woman
+in all Thrandheim. Her hair was as fair as the flax upon her spindle,
+and her eyes were as blue as the clear sky above her head. Her heart
+was lightsome, too; for she had won the love of the great Earl
+Hakon--Hakon, the conqueror of the vikings of Jomsburg, the proud ruler
+of all Norway. It was he who had given her the gold ring that was now
+upon her white finger, and he had promised her that he would make her
+his queen. She did not believe that what people said of him was
+true--that he was black of heart, and cruel and base. His hollow words
+had not sounded hollow to her ears nor had she seen anything of
+deceitfulness in his eyes.
+
+He had praised her beauty and declared that he loved her, and so she
+loved him in return.
+
+As she sat there spinning, there was a sudden commotion among the ewes
+and lambs. She looked up and beheld two men standing in the shadow of
+the trees. One of them presently left the other and came towards her.
+He was a low browed, evil looking man, with a bushy black beard and
+long tangled hair. She rose and went to meet him, knowing him for Kark,
+Earl Hakon's thrall. He bade her go in among the trees, where the earl
+was waiting. So she went on into the wood, wondering why Hakon had not
+come forth and greeted her in the open as was his custom.
+
+Now, so soon as she saw him she knew that some great ill had happened,
+for his hands trembled and his legs shook under him. His eyes that she
+had thought so beautiful were bleared and bloodshot, and there were
+deep lines about his face which she had never before seen. It seemed to
+her that he had suddenly become a decrepit old man.
+
+"Why do you tremble so?" she asked as she took his hand.
+
+He looked about him in fear.
+
+"Hide me!" he cried. "Hide me! I am in danger. Shame and death are
+overtaking me. The young King Olaf is in the land, and he is hunting me
+down!"
+
+"And who is the young King Olaf that he has power to fill the heart of
+the great Earl Hakon with terror?" asked Thora. "You who have
+vanquished the vikings of Jomsburg can surely withstand the enmity of
+one weak man."
+
+"Not so," answered Hakon in a trembling voice. "King Olaf is mightier
+far than I. And he has the whole of Norway at his back, while I--I have
+but this one faithful servant. Saving him alone every man in the land
+is against me."
+
+He looked round in renewed fear. Even the rustling of the tree branches
+struck terror to his heart.
+
+"Hide me! hide me!" he cried again.
+
+"Little use is there in hiding you in this place," returned Thora.
+"King Olaf will be seeking you here before very long, for many men know
+that I would fain help you, and they will surely lead him here and
+search for you in my household both within and without. Yet, for the
+love I bear you, Earl Hakon, I will indeed hide you so that neither
+shame nor death shall come near you."
+
+She led him through among the trees to the back of the steadings.
+"There is but one place where I deem that King Olaf will not think of
+seeking for such a man as you," she said; "and that is in the ditch
+under the pig sty."
+
+"The place is not one that I would have chosen," said Hakon. "But we
+must take heed to our lives first of all."
+
+Then they went to the sty, which was built with its back against a
+large boulder stone. Kark took a spade and cleared away the mire, and
+dug deep until by removing many stones and logs he opened up a sort of
+cave. When the rubbish had been borne away Thora brought food and
+candles and warm rugs. Earl Hakon and the thrall hid themselves in the
+hole and then Thora covered them over with boards and mould, and the
+pigs were driven over it.
+
+Now, when evening was falling there came along the strath certain
+horsemen, and the leader of them was King Olaf Triggvison. Thora of
+Rimul saw them coming, with the light of the setting sun glittering on
+their armour, and when they halted at her door she greeted them in good
+friendship.
+
+King Olaf dismounted and asked her if she knew ought of Earl Hakon of
+Lade. At sight of the handsome young king she for a moment hesitated,
+thinking to betray the earl. But when Olaf asked her again she shook
+her head and said that she was not Earl Hakon's keeper, nor knew where
+he might be.
+
+Nevertheless, King Olaf doubted her, and he bade his followers make a
+search within and without the farmstead. This they did, but none could
+find trace of the man they sought. So Olaf called all his men about him
+to speak to them, and he stood up on the same boulder stone that was at
+the back of the swine sty. He declared in a loud voice that he would
+give a great reward and speedy furtherance to the man who should find
+Earl Hakon and bring him to his death.
+
+Now, this speech was plainly heard by both Earl Hakon himself and his
+thrall as they crouched together in the cave, and by the light of the
+candle that stood on the ground between them each eagerly watched the
+other's face.
+
+"Why are you so pale, and now again as black as earth?" asked Earl
+Hakon. "Is it not that, tempted by this offer of reward, you intend to
+betray me?"
+
+"Nay," answered Kark. "For all King Olaf's gold I will not betray you."
+
+"On one and the same night were we both born," said the earl, "and we
+shall not be far apart in our deaths."
+
+For a long time they sat in trembling silence, mistrustful of each
+other, and neither daring to sleep. But as the night wore on Kark's
+weariness got the better of him, but he tossed about and muttered in
+his sleep. The earl waked him and asked what it was that he had been
+dreaming.
+
+Kark answered, rubbing his eyes: "I dreamt that we were both on board
+the same ship, and that I stood at the helm as her captain."
+
+"That must surely mean that you rule over your own destiny as well as
+mine," said Earl Hakon. "Be faithful to me, therefore, and when better
+days come you shall be well rewarded."
+
+Again Kark curled himself up to sleep, and again, as it seemed, he was
+disturbed by dreams; so Hakon roused him once more and asked him to
+tell his dream.
+
+"I thought I was at Lade," answered the thrall, "and there I saw King
+Olaf Triggvison. He spoke to me, and I thought that he laid a gold
+necklace about my neck."
+
+"The meaning of that must be that Olaf Triggvison will put a blood red
+ring about your neck whensoever ye meet," said the earl. "Therefore
+beware of him, Kark, and be faithful to me. Then you will enjoy good
+things from me always, as you have done before; so betray me not."
+
+Thereafter they both sat wakeful, staring at each other with the
+flickering candlelight between them. Neither dared to close his eyes.
+But towards morning Earl Hakon leaned back against the rock, with his
+head thrown back. Sleep overwhelmed him, yet he was troubled, for he
+started and rolled uneasily as though in a nightmare, and at times he
+moaned and muttered as if in anguish, so that Kark could not look upon
+him but with horror. At last, when the earl was quiet, Kark sprang up,
+gripped a big knife from out of his belt and thrust it into his
+master's throat.
+
+That was the bane of Earl Hakon.
+
+On the next day Olaf Triggvison was in Lade, and there came to him a
+man naming himself Kark, bringing with him the severed head of Earl
+Hakon, which he offered to the king. When Olaf had received proof that
+the head was indeed that of the earl, he asked Kark how he had come by
+it, and the thrall told all that had befallen and claimed his reward.
+
+Now King Olaf hated a traitor beyond all men, so he had Kark led away,
+and ordered one of his berserks to smite the head off him, thus
+fulfilling the murdered earl's prophecy, for a ring not of gold but of
+blood was put about the traitor's neck.
+
+King Olaf then fared with many of the bonders out to Nid holm. This
+island, at the mouth of the river Nid, was kept in those days for the
+slaying of thieves and evil men, and a gallows stood there upon which
+the head of Earl Hakon was now hung, side by side with that of his
+thrall. The bonders crowded round the foot of the gallows, throwing
+stones and clods of earth at the heads, and crying out that there they
+fared meetly together, rascal by rascal.
+
+And now that Earl Hakon was dead the people did not shrink from
+speaking their minds concerning him, and giving free vent to their
+hatred of his low cunning and his faithlessness, his cruelty and his
+profligacy. Even his zeal for blood offering and his strong belief in
+the pagan gods were now regarded with wide disfavour, for it could not
+be forgotten that he had sacrificed his own son to propitiate the god
+of war, and this act, added to the evil deeds that he had more recently
+committed had brought upon him such contempt that the whole of Norway
+rejoiced at his death.
+
+Olaf Triggvison's claim to the throne of Norway was not for a moment
+disputed. In the first place his manly beauty and his resemblance to
+King Hakon the Good gained him immediate favour, and his personal
+strength and prowess might have been in itself sufficient to warrant
+his being chosen as a successor to Earl Hakon. But in addition to this
+there was the undoubted fact that he was a direct descendant of Harald
+Fairhair, and had therefore the greatest of all claims to the kingdom
+in which his fathers had reigned. So, very soon after the death of
+Hakon, a general Thing, or gathering of the people, was held in
+Trondelag, and Olaf was formally proclaimed the king of all Norway, and
+the rule given to him according to ancient laws.
+
+The district of Thrandheim was at that time the most populous and
+important in the land, and the Thranders had exercised the right (a
+right which they reserve to this day) of proclaiming a new monarch in
+the name of the whole nation. Nevertheless it was necessary for King
+Olaf to travel throughout the country to lay personal claim to his
+dominion, and to receive the allegiance of his subjects remote and
+near. The news of his coming into Norway was not long in reaching the
+farthest extremities of the realm. Everywhere it was told how, having
+by help of his mother's bravery escaped the wrath of the wicked Queen
+Gunnhild, he had lived as a slave in Esthonia, how he had been rescued
+by Sigurd Erikson and educated at the court of King Valdemar, how he
+had roved as a viking on the Baltic, and, after invading England, had
+at last come back to his native land to claim his own. So that wherever
+he journeyed he found that his fame had gone before him to prepare the
+way. He was greeted everywhere with enthusiastic homage. His natural
+kindliness, his manly bearing, and his winning manners attracted
+everyone with whom he came in contact, and he was recognized as a king
+of whom the nation might well be proud. In token of the glory that he
+had won in foreign lands the people gave him the name of Olaf the
+Glorious.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI: THE CHRISTENING OF NORWAY.
+
+
+King Olaf's first thought on ascending the throne of Norway was that he
+would make it his mission to convert the country to Christianity. This
+had been once before attempted by his own uncle, King Hakon the Good,
+the foster son of Athelstane of England; but Hakon the Good was a weak
+man, who, instead of winning his people to the true faith, had allowed
+himself to drift back into paganism. Olaf was by nature better fitted
+for the task, being zealous in the faith and strong in the conviction
+of the sanctity of his cause. He resolved to stand firm against all
+opposition, and if gentle persuasion should not avail he would have no
+scruple in employing physical force. To abolish the custom of blood
+sacrifice, to destroy all heathen temples, and to supplant the worship
+of the pagan gods by preaching the gospel of Christ--this was to be his
+life work.
+
+He was, however, wise enough to recognize that in order to succeed in
+his mission it was necessary for him first to make his own position as
+monarch perfectly secure and unassailable. So rapidly did he establish
+himself in the hearts of the people that even at the end of the first
+summer he found that he might with safety begin his task. His one
+possible rival and natural enemy, Earl Erik Hakonson, with some few
+others of the kin of the late earl, had fled in fear from the land,
+leaving him in absolute possession; and the lords of Viken and other
+districts of the south, who had hitherto held their lands of the King
+of Denmark, now became King Olaf's men, and paid him homage and tribute.
+
+At this time Olaf could only depend upon his priest Thangbrand for
+practical help. Thangbrand was a Saxon who had formerly been attached
+to the see of Canterbury. He was a man of very violent temper, and his
+readiness to enter a quarrel and to draw his sword must have made him a
+very singular exponent of the gospel of peace. Olaf saw very soon that
+he would require further help than this pugnacious priest could give;
+so he sent Thangbrand over to England, bidding him fare to Canterbury
+and bring back with him as many holy men as might be willing to serve
+him as missionaries.
+
+Meanwhile King Olaf, with some of his chosen companions, journeyed
+south into Viken, where his mother lived with her husband Lodin--the
+same who had bought her out of her bondage. There he abode throughout
+the winter among his own kindred as well as many who had been great
+friends with his father. They welcomed him with very great love.
+
+And now, while the king was living with his friends in quiet comfort
+and homeliness, he laid his plans most earnestly before them, craving
+that they should help him with all their might. He said that he
+intended to have the Christian faith set forth throughout all his
+realm, and that he would bring about the christening of Norway or else
+die in the endeavour. Accordingly he began by going about in Viken,
+bidding the peasants take baptism, so it came to pass that the district
+which his father, Triggvi, had formerly ruled over was the first part
+of Norway to receive the true faith.
+
+He was still in Viken when at the end of the winter Thangbrand returned
+from England with a company of priests. Among them was a certain Bishop
+Sigurd, a man of grave and gentle spirit, most learned and eloquent,
+who stood at Olaf's right hand during the whole five years of his reign.
+
+Now Bishop Sine, of Canterbury, had presented Thangbrand with a very
+costly and curiously wrought shield. It was made of burnished bronze,
+inlaid with gold and precious stones, and it bore the image of the
+crucified Christ. Olaf admired this shield and desired to buy it.
+Thangbrand loved money more than ornament, and he sold the shield to
+the king for a very large sum. Finding himself suddenly rich, the
+priest went off to enjoy himself. He fell into a drunken brawl with a
+certain viking, who challenged him to fight. A desperate duel was
+fought and the viking was killed. Great ill feeling was aroused against
+Thangbrand by this unpriestly incident, and he went back full of
+penitence to King Olaf.
+
+Olaf foresaw that he would have trouble with this man, and he would no
+longer bear to have him about his house; so, to get rid of him, he sent
+him on a mission to Iceland, to convert the heathen there. Thangbrand
+was absent in Iceland for three winters, and although he had great
+success and brought the country to the true faith, yet he was not well
+liked, and the people vexed him by making songs about him. Here, as in
+Norway, he was boisterous and boastful and over fond of the drinking
+horn. It is told that in a quarrel with the islanders he slew three
+men. Howbeit, he was obliged to return to Norway with his mission only
+half fulfilled.
+
+King Olaf met with no opposition in his endeavour to convert the people
+of Viken and Agder. In the district of Ringarike he christened a
+certain little boy, the son of Harald Groenske, who was of the race of
+Harald Fairhair. The king named the boy Olaf, and in giving him his
+blessing said that he would one day be a very great man. This same Olaf
+Haraldson afterwards became the King of Norway and a very great
+evangelist. He is known in history by the title of Olaf the Saint, and
+he is to this day regarded as the patron saint of Norway. He fought
+many battles in England, and, for this reason perhaps, he is often
+wrongly confused with his godfather, Olaf Triggvison.
+
+To tell of all the good and ill happenings that King Olaf met with in
+his progress through the land would make a long story. In many
+districts he had but to announce his mission, and the people at once
+yielded. In other places the people were very slow to understand that
+there could be any advantage in changing their religion; but Olaf never
+left them before every man and woman had been christened. Often,
+however, he was met by bands of armed men who declared that they would
+sooner die than consent to give up their old faith in Odin and Thor,
+and then the king enforced his doctrines at the point of the sword, or
+even by torture. When moved to anger he was guilty of committing
+cruelties which in his calmer moments he sorely regretted, but it is to
+be supposed that he never took to violent measures unless when very
+severely provoked. For the most part he generally found that wise words
+were a better argument than either the sword or fire.
+
+Always when he came to a place where the people were still pagan it was
+his custom to summon a great meeting, and then he would tell of how the
+folk of another district had accepted Christianity and torn down their
+sacrificing houses, and now believed in the true God, who shaped heaven
+and earth and knew all things. Then perhaps he would fall into argument
+with one of the leading men of the place and show how the God of
+christened men was almighty, and how Thor and Odin must therefore be
+rejected.
+
+On one such occasion a chief named Gudbrand answered him thus:
+
+"We do not know about whom you are talking, O king. Do you call him God
+whom neither you nor any other man can see? We have a god whom we may
+see every day, but he is not out today because the weather is so wet.
+He will look terrible and great to you, and fear will creep into your
+breast if he comes to the gathering of our people."
+
+The king then asked how their god was made, and Gudbrand answered that
+he was made in the image of Thor, that he had a hammer in his hand, was
+of large size and hollow inside, and that there was a platform made
+under him on which he stood when outside the temple.
+
+Olaf said, "I would very much like to see that god. But for my own part
+I have made up my mind never to believe in logs and stones, though they
+be in the shape of fiend or man, whose power I do not understand; and
+although I have been told that they have great power, yet it seems to
+me very unlikely, for I find that those images which are called gods
+are in every way uglier and less powerful than myself. How much less
+powerful are they therefore than the great God who rules over the whole
+universe, who makes the rain to fall and the sun shine!"
+
+"If, as you say, your God is so powerful, then let him send sunshine
+tomorrow and not rain as we have today," said Gudbrand.
+
+On the next day, as it chanced, there was no rain, and when the people
+were all gathered together in the early dawn Bishop Sigurd rose in his
+gown, with a mitre on his head and a crozier in his hand, and preached
+to the peasants and told them many tokens which God had shown. And
+presently King Olaf saw a crowd of men approaching, carrying a large
+image, ornamented all over with gold and silver. The people all stood
+up and bowed to the monster, which was placed in the middle of the
+meeting place.
+
+"Where is your God now, O king?" cried Gudbrand, rising and addressing
+Olaf. "It seems to me that your boasting, and that of the horned man,
+whom you call your bishop, is far less than yesterday. It is because
+our god, who rules all, has come, and looks on you with keen eyes. And
+I see that you are full of terror at sight of him! Now throw off this
+new superstition of yours--this belief in a God who cannot be seen--and
+acknowledge the greatness of Thor!"
+
+King Olaf whispered to Kolbiorn, who was at his side: "If during my
+speech it happens that the people look away from this idol of theirs,"
+said he, "then go you forward and strike the thing a lusty blow with
+your club."
+
+And aloud he said: "The god with whom you have threatened us is blind
+and deaf and can help neither himself nor others; nor can he move
+anywhere from his place unless he be carried. Of what use is such a
+god? Now look into the east!" he added, pointing to the rising sun.
+"Behold! There comes the messenger of our God, bringing light and
+warmth into the world!"
+
+The people all turned with their faces to the sun. At the same moment
+Kolbiorn raised his club and struck their god so that the image fell to
+pieces; and it is said that vipers and rats and mice ran out of it and
+that the peasants were afraid.
+
+"You see what has become of your god!" cried King Olaf. "What folly it
+is to believe in such things! One blow has shattered your Thor into
+fragments. Now I demand that you shall never again make images of wood
+or stone, nor worship any but the one true God. And I offer you two
+choices. Either you accept Christianity here on this spot, or you fight
+a battle with me today."
+
+So the people, unwilling to take to arms and seeing that the king had a
+great host of warriors at his back, agreed to listen to the teachings
+of the bishop, and finally to have themselves baptized. Olaf left a
+priest among them to keep them steadfast in the faith, and to keep them
+from lapsing into paganism.
+
+King Olaf stood north along the land, christening all folk wheresoever
+he came. But in the wintertime he went back into Trondelag. He built a
+town on the bank of the river Nid, and a great hall for himself up
+above Ship Creek. He called the town Nidaros, and it is to this day the
+capital of Norway, although its name has been changed to Trondhjem, or
+Drontheim.
+
+Now on a certain winter's night the king had been feasting in his hall.
+His guests had been drinking deeply, and the gray haired scalds had
+been singing and reciting until a late hour. But at last Olaf was left
+alone beside the fire, with the doors locked. He sat in his oaken chair
+gazing into the glowing wood upon the hearth. Suddenly the door swung
+wide open, and a blast of cold night air came in. He looked round and
+saw upon the threshold a very old man whose cloak was sprinkled with
+snow. Olaf saw that the stranger had but one eye.
+
+"Oh, pale and shivering graybeard!" cried the king. "Come, warm your
+vitals with this cup of spiced ale. Be not afraid. Sit here at my side
+in the light of the flames."
+
+The aged guest obeyed, quaffed the foaming draught, and then stretched
+out his withered hands before the fire. Then he began to speak to the
+king and to tell him of things that had happened many hundreds of years
+before and of many lands whose very names were strange to the king. And
+it seemed that he would never bring his tale to an end.
+
+At last Bishop Sigurd entered and reminded Olaf that the night was far
+spent and that it was time for him to go to sleep. But still the guest
+spoke on, and the king listened enthralled until sleep came over him
+and his head fell back. Yet even in his sleep he fancied that he still
+heard the old graybeard's voice telling him of the gods of Asgard and
+the glories of Valhalla.
+
+When King Olaf awoke he was alone before the black hearth, and it was
+full morning. He asked after the guest and bade his men call him; but
+nowhere could the guest be found, nor had any man seen him. They found
+the doors securely locked, the watchdog was asleep in the yard, and the
+snow bore no trace of footprints. All declared that no such stranger
+had ever entered the hall, and that the king had but been dreaming.
+
+Then Olaf called the bishop to his side and, crossing himself, said:
+
+"It is no dream that I have had. I know that my guest will never
+return, and yet I know that he was here. The triumph of our faith is
+sure. Odin the Great is dead, for the one eyed stranger was his ghost!"
+
+So certain was King Olaf that the power of Odin was broken that after
+this time he was less eager to follow up his mission, for he believed
+that he had already established the Christian faith. He said to his
+bishop that all the old gods were no more and that Christ alone was
+supreme.
+
+"Not yet is it so," answered the bishop, "for Thor still reigns among
+the sea rovers of the far north. I have heard that there lives a great
+viking in Salten fiord who is skilled in sorcery. A wizard he is, for
+he has power over the wind and the sea, and he and his great horde of
+heathens still worship Odin and Thor and offer them blood sacrifice.
+Rand is his name, and he is chief over all the Godoe Isles."
+
+Roused from his apathy, Olaf declared that he would conquer this bold
+viking and bring him to christening or himself be conquered. So he got
+together his ships and sailed into the north.
+
+At the mouth of Salten fiord he encountered foul weather, and was
+forced to lie there storm stayed for many days. So long did the storm
+continue that at length he questioned the bishop, asking if he knew any
+remedy.
+
+Bishop Sigurd answered that it was surely Rand the Wizard who, by his
+sorcery, had caused the winds to blow, and he ascended to the ship's
+forecastle and raised a large crucifix, lighting tapers around it and
+sprinkling holy water about the decks. It is told that the storm abated
+near to the ships while it still roared wildly some distance away from
+them. The lashed waves stood like a wall on either side, leaving a
+track of calm water, through which the vessels sailed.
+
+When at last King Olaf came abreast of Rand's stronghold he saw the
+viking's dragonship lying at anchor in the bay. It was the largest and
+most splendid ship that he had ever seen. The king landed with his
+priests and fighting men, and went straightway up to the wizard's
+homestead and broke open the door. Rand was taken prisoner and bound
+hand and foot, as were also a great many of his men.
+
+King Olaf had the viking brought before him, and bade him take
+christening.
+
+"I will not take your possessions and your riches from you," said the
+king, "but will be your friend if you will be worthy thereof, and
+accept the true faith."
+
+But Rand cried out at him, saying that nothing would induce him to
+believe in Christ. He blasphemed so much that Olaf became wrothful and
+said that Rand should die the worst of deaths. This threat had no
+effect upon the blasphemer. So, according to the legend, he was taken
+and tied to a tree. A gag was set between his teeth to open his mouth,
+and a live adder was forced down his throat. The adder cut its way
+through his side, killing him with its poison.
+
+This cruel act has always been regarded as a blot upon the fame of Olaf
+Triggvison, but Olaf's fanaticism led him to believe that praise rather
+than blame was due to him for thus punishing the enemies of God.
+Moreover, this man Rand had been the terror of all peaceful men. He had
+laid waste many villages, and made human sacrifices to the pagan gods.
+In bringing him to his death Olaf was, in his own way, but giving just
+punishment to a criminal.
+
+King Olaf took very great wealth from Rand's stronghold, and all the
+men who had been in the viking's service were allowed to go free on
+condition that they would first be christened. The dragonship which
+Rand had commanded now became King Olaf's property, for it was the most
+beautiful vessel in all Norway, and very much larger than the Crane,
+which Olaf had had built for himself. Forward at the prow there was a
+very tall dragon's head, overlaid with thick gold, and at the stern was
+a long dragon's tail, also of gold. When the sails were aloft they took
+the form of dragon's wings. The king named the ship the Serpent.
+
+While Olaf was in Halogaland he deemed it well to sail yet farther
+north; so he fared out to the Lafoden Isles, and thence along the
+coasts of Finmark as far even as the North Cape. He baptized all those
+regions and destroyed many heathen temples and established Christianity
+far and wide.
+
+In that same summer King Olaf was back again in the Thrandheim country,
+and had his fleet anchored off Nidaros. Now it was in this part of
+Norway that Earl Hakon's power had always been greatest, and so zealous
+had Hakon been in the keeping up of pagan customs that many of the
+chief men of those parts withstood all King Olaf's efforts to win them
+over to Christianity, and during his absence in Halogaland these men
+did all they could to undo the good work that he had done in the
+earliest days of his reign.
+
+Not many days had Olaf been back in Nidaros when he heard that the
+Thranders had re-established their temples, restored their idols, and
+offered blood sacrifice to their gods. The young king was so disturbed
+in mind over this that he resolved to put a speedy stop to it. He
+therefore sent his messengers through all the lands bordering on
+Thrandheim fiord summoning a great meeting of the bonders at a place
+named Frosta.
+
+Now the bonders quickly guessed the meaning of this summons. They knew
+that the king would have them abandon their old customs and accept the
+new faith. But they considered that he had no right to dictate to them;
+so they turned this summons into one of war, and drew together, both
+thane and thrall, from all parts of Thrandheim.
+
+When King Olaf came to the meeting, thither also had come the hosts of
+the bonders, all fully armed, ready to confront him.
+
+When the Thing was established the king rose and spoke before his
+lieges, first concerning matters of peace and law, and finally he bade
+them take christening again.
+
+There was one among the bonders named Skeggi Ironbeard, a very rich
+farmer who cared little for king or earls, but loved only the freedom
+of his farm, his ale at night, and the warmth of his fireside. He was a
+huge and cumbersome man with an iron gray beard, and as he stood by the
+side of his horse his feet were seen to be covered with the mud of his
+ploughed fields. Near him there was a beautiful girl with very black
+hair and dark brown eyes. She was his daughter Gudrun.
+
+Well, when King Olaf began to rebuke the people for having gone back
+from Christian worship, many men looked round at Ironbeard with wise
+glances.
+
+"Now hold your peace, O king!" cried he, addressing Olaf. "Say not
+another word of this Christian faith of yours, or, by the hammer of
+Thor and by the ravens of Odin, we will fall upon you and drive you
+away out of the land. Thus did we with King Hakon the Good, nor do we
+account you of a whit more worth than him."
+
+So when King Olaf saw with what fierce minds the bonders confronted
+him, and how great a force of armed men there were, he felt that he was
+not prepared to withstand them, and he so turned his speech that it
+appeared he was at one accord with them.
+
+"It is my wish," said he, "that we make peace and good fellowship
+together, even as we have hitherto done. I am willing, therefore, to be
+present at your worship at any time, and to witness your greatest
+ceremony of blood offering. We may then take counsel together and
+consider which form of worship shall prevail."
+
+Then the bonders thought that the king might easily be persuaded to
+adopt their old time customs, and their indignation against him was
+appeased. Thereafter all the talk went peacefully, and at the last it
+was determined that a great midsummer feast of offering should be held
+at Mere, and thither should come all the lords of the land and chiefs
+of the bonders. King Olaf promised also to be present.
+
+When it wore towards the time appointed for the sacrifice, Olaf gave a
+great feast at Lade, to which were invited all the chieftains and most
+powerful land owners of the country side. The guests were royally
+entertained, and when the feast was over the king ordered his priests
+to celebrate the mass. A crowd of armed men from Olaf's ships attended
+the service. The guests saw that they were powerless to resist, so they
+joined in the worship and awaited the course of events.
+
+When the service was at an end the king rose and addressed his guests.
+He said:
+
+"When we held Thing the last time, at Frosta, you will remember that I
+demanded of the peasants that they should accept baptism; and they, on
+the other hand, demanded that I should join them in sacrifice and make
+blood offering, even as my kinsman King Hakon the Good had done. I made
+no objection to this, but promised to be present at the sacrificial
+feast at Mere. Now I wish to tell you that if I am to make human
+sacrifice, then I will make the greatest offering of blood that has
+ever been made in Norway. I will offer human sacrifice to Odin and Frey
+for good crops and fine weather. But, mind you, it will not be thralls
+and evildoers that I shall offer to your gods. I will sacrifice the
+most high born men among you."  He then pointed to several of his
+guests in turn, saying, "You, Ligra of Middlehouse, shall be offered as
+a sacrifice; and you, Kar of Griting; and you, Haldor of Skerding."
+
+Eight other of the nobles he named, and bade them prepare themselves
+for death. They all stood back aghast. King Olaf laughed at their
+craven fears.
+
+"Plainly do I see that you do not relish this proposal," he said. "But
+if I am to be king in this land I will be obeyed. I have commanded that
+Norway shall be a Christian land, and I shall have it so, even if I
+lose my own life in bringing it about. Here is my bishop, ready to
+baptize you. Take christening, therefore, and you shall still live.
+Refuse, and you shall surely be sacrificed in the manner I have said."
+
+Not long did they meditate before choosing the easier alternative. They
+agreed to be christened there and then, and Bishop Sigurd at once
+baptized them, and all the bonders who were present. Before they were
+allowed to depart King Olaf demanded that they should give him their
+sons or brothers as hostages. Thus by a peaceful stratagem he gained
+his ends.
+
+Now, when the time arrived for the midsummer sacrifice at Mere, Olaf
+went thither with a great host of followers. But such of the peasants
+and land owners who had still resisted Christianity, gathered once
+more, armed to the teeth and defiant as ever. Skeggi Ironbeard was the
+ringleader of the pagans, and he was everywhere active in the forefront
+of the opposition.
+
+The king attempted to speak, but the tumult was so great that no one
+could hear him. At last, when he got a hearing, he repeated his
+commands that all present should accept baptism and believe in Christ
+the White.
+
+Ironbeard stepped forward, sword in hand, and, confronting the king,
+said:
+
+"Now, as before, O king, we protest against your interference with our
+liberty, and we are here to prevent your breaking our laws and ancient
+customs. It is held as a sacred custom among us that we shall make
+sacrifices to our gods, and we now hold that, although you are our
+king, you have no power to decide which gods we are to believe in, or
+in what manner we shall worship. It is our intention, therefore, that
+you shall make blood offering here as other kings have done before you."
+
+King Olaf listened patiently to this speech and declared himself ready
+to keep his promise. So, accompanied by many of his men, he entered the
+temple.
+
+It was a very large and splendid building. The door was of beautifully
+carved oak, and the handle was in the form of a large gold ring which
+Earl Hakon had had put there. In the inside there were two great rooms,
+the first or outer one being the chamber in which feasts of sacrifice
+were held; the inner one was the more sacred, for here the images of
+the heathen gods stood on their various altars. The walls were hung
+with tapestries and adorned with costly metals and precious stones.
+Even the roof was covered with gold plates.
+
+All who entered were unarmed, for no one was allowed to go through the
+door bearing a sword or other weapon. But the king carried a stout
+stick with a heavy gold head. He watched the bonders preparing the pyre
+for the sacrifice, but before it was lighted he went into the inner
+chamber and inspected the images of the gods. There sat the figure of
+Thor, chief among all, with his hammer in his hand and gold and silver
+rings about him. He was in a chariot of gold, into which were harnessed
+a pair of goats made of wood and silver.
+
+"What god is this one?" asked Olaf of the bonders who stood near him.
+
+"It is our god Thor," answered one of the chieftains. "He is the most
+celebrated of all gods, saving only Odin. His eyes flash in the
+lightning, the wheels of his carriage rumble in the thunder, and the
+blows of his hammer ring loud in the earthquake. The most powerful of
+all gods is he."
+
+"And yet," said Olaf; "it seems to me that he is made of nothing more
+strong than wood. You call him powerful; but I think even I am more
+powerful than he."
+
+As he spoke these words he hove up his gold headed stick, and while all
+were looking, he smote Thor a great blow, so that he fell down from his
+seat and tumbled to fragments upon the stone floor. At the same instant
+Olaf's men struck down the other idols, while at the temple door
+Ironbeard was assailed and slain.
+
+Olaf took possession of many of the treasures of the temple, and then
+razed the building to the ground. And none of the bonders dared to
+oppose him. After the death of Ironbeard they had no leader bold enough
+to encounter the king and his men. So the end of it was that they all
+forsook their heathenish customs and yielded to the king's demands that
+they should take christening.
+
+After this time King Olaf had no more trouble in Thrandheim, and in the
+whole of Norway no man dared to speak a word against the faith of
+Christ. In all places where the temples had been destroyed, the king
+had Christian churches built. He instituted monasteries throughout the
+land, governed by bishops and abbots brought over from Rome and
+Canterbury. From these monasteries many missionaries were sent out into
+the remoter parts of the country to preach the gospel and to hold the
+people firmly to the faith. Never again, so long as King Olaf lived,
+did the Norwegians attempt to return to paganism, and after his death
+his good work was taken up by his godson and namesake, Olaf the Saint.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII: SIGRID THE HAUGHTY.
+
+
+Now, although the peasants of Thrandheim yielded to King Olaf in the
+matter of their faith and the forms of their religious ceremonies, yet
+they were none the less enraged against him on account of the
+destruction of their beautiful temple and the slaying of Iron Skeggi.
+This man had been a great chief among them, much honoured for his
+bodily strength, for his wealth, and for his spirit of independence.
+Some of his nearer kin had even looked upon the possibility of his
+being a successor to the great Earl Hakon, and accordingly they
+regarded Olaf Triggvison as an interloper, who had come to spoil all
+their hopes of worldly advancement. When their favourite was slain they
+therefore cast about to find some pretext for either picking a quarrel
+with King Olaf or of forcing him to make some atonement for the wrong
+that he was supposed to have done them. And then they thought of
+Ironbeard's daughter, Gudrun, and of what a good thing it would be for
+them if the king could be made to wed her. So on a certain day they
+took Gudrun to where King Olaf was and made their proposals to him.
+
+King Olaf looked at the girl and thought her very fair of feature. Her
+hair was black as charred wood, and her cheeks were rosy red; but there
+was an evil glance in her dark eyes that mispleased him. Yet he saw
+that it was good that there should be a queen in Norway, and urged by
+his bishop, he allowed himself to be betrothed to Gudrun. It was
+arranged that they should be wedded at the next yuletide.
+
+In the midwinter King Olaf gave a great bridal feast to his friends in
+his new banqueting hall at Nidaros. His bishops and priests were there,
+as also his chief captains and warmen, his scald and his saga men. His
+mother, Queen Astrid, was at his right hand, while at the other side of
+him sat Gudrun. The fare was of the best, both food and drink, and
+there was much merriment around the board, with singing of songs and
+playing of harps, making of riddles and jests and telling of stories;
+and of all the company the king was the merriest and the lightsomest.
+No story was for him too long, nor song too boisterous, nor ale too
+strong. As often as his drinking horn was emptied, it was filled again
+to the brim by his cup bearer, and always before he quaffed it he made
+over it the sign of the cross.
+
+Brightly gleamed the firelight upon helmet and shield and spear, but
+brighter gleamed the gladness in the young king's eyes; for his realm
+was now assured to him, his mission was fulfilled, and his glory was
+complete. It seemed to him that there would now be a lasting peace in
+the land, with good fellowship among all his subjects, and no more
+bloodshed or quarrelling or discontent for ever after. He was to wed
+with Gudrun upon the morrow, and this, he believed, was to be the crown
+of his happiness.
+
+Now, as the night wore late, and the festivities flagged, the guests
+rose from the board, and either departed to their several rooms or drew
+their cloaks about them and lay upon the side benches of the hall, and
+at length King Olaf was left alone at the table. Very soon he too fell
+asleep and lay back in his high backed chair, dreaming peaceful dreams.
+At his feet lay Einar Eindridson, a sturdy lad of sixteen years, whom
+Olaf had adopted as his favourite page and cup bearer, even as he
+himself had been adopted by King Valdemar. Between the folds of the
+silken curtains that overhung the open air spaces in the wall the light
+of the full moon came in, falling upon King Olaf's handsome face and
+long golden hair. The sapphires and diamonds studding the band of gold
+about his head shone out like glittering stars in the pale light. The
+cross of blood red rubies that hung from his neck chain rose and fell
+with the regular heaving of his broad chest on which it rested.
+
+All was dark in the hall, save for that one shaft of moonlight. All was
+silent, save for the crackling of the dying embers on the hearth and
+the heavy breathing of the men who lay asleep upon the benches and
+about the rush strewn floor. But as King Olaf slept there came a
+movement at the far end of the hall, where the darkness was deepest.
+
+Presently a woman's figure glided slowly and cautiously into the fuller
+light. Her black shadow moved across the floor and crept nearer and
+nearer to the sleeping king, until at last it halted, shielding his
+closed eyes. She stood before him. Suddenly her right hand went to her
+bosom, and she drew forth a long glittering dagger. She stood over him,
+holding her hand aloft, ready to strike the fatal blow.
+
+"Your hour is at hand, proud king!" she murmured; and her voice sounded
+through the hail like the soughing of the wintry wind among the pines.
+"Your hour is at hand, Olaf Triggvison. Never shall my warm lips touch
+yours. Cold steel shall kiss you now."
+
+She stepped back a pace, so that the moonlight, falling upon him, might
+show her where to strike. As she did so the hem of her long robe swept
+across the face of young Einar. The boy awoke and leapt to his feet. He
+saw a white arm upraised; he saw the gleaming dagger poised over his
+master's breast. Quick as an arrow's flight the blade flashed to its
+mark. But quicker still was Einar. In that instant he had caught the
+white arm in his two strong hands, staying the fatal blow, so that the
+dagger's point but struck against the ruby cross and did no harm.
+
+The scuffling of feet, the clatter of the dagger upon the floor, and
+the woman's cry of alarmed surprise awoke the king. Starting from his
+seat he caught his assailant and held her in the light of the moon. He
+gazed into her pale and terror stricken face. It was the face of Gudrun.
+
+Then Olaf besought Einar to tell him all that had happened, and Einar
+picked up the dagger and gave it to his master, telling him how Gudrun
+had attempted to slay him.
+
+With the earliest peep of dawn Gudrun went forth upon her lonely way,
+and never again did she come under the same roof with King Olaf.
+
+At this time there lived in Sweden a certain queen named Sigrid. She
+was the widow of King Erik the Victorious and the mother of King Olaf
+the Swede. She was very rich and possessed many great manors in Sweden
+and large landed estates among the islands of the Baltic. Many of the
+kings of Scandinavia sought to wed with her, wishing to share her
+wealth and add her dominions to their own. But Sigrid, who, by reason
+of her great pride and the value that she set upon her own charms, was
+named Sigrid the Haughty, would have none of them, although often
+enough she welcomed them as wooers and listened to their fine speeches
+and their flatteries.
+
+One king there was who wooed her with such ardour that she resolved to
+rid herself of him at all costs. His name was Harald Groenske (the
+father of Saint Olaf), and, as he was of the kin of King Harald
+Fairhair, he considered himself in all respects her equal. Three
+several times did he journey into Sweden to pay court to her. On the
+third time he found that there was another wooer at her manor house,
+one King Vissavald of Gardarike. Both kings were well received, and
+lodged in a great hall with all their attendant company. The hall was a
+very old building, as was all its furniture, but there was no lack of
+good fare. So hospitable, indeed, was Queen Sigrid, that, ere the night
+was half spent, the two suitors and all their men were drunk, and the
+guards slept heavily.
+
+In the middle of the night Queen Sigrid surrounded the hall with dry
+faggots and set a lighted torch to them. The hall was quickly burned to
+the ground, and all who were within it lost their lives.
+
+"I will teach these little kings what risks they run in wooing me!"
+said the queen, as from her chamber window she watched the rising
+flames.
+
+Now Queen Sigrid grew weary of waiting for the coming of a king whom
+she could consider in all ways worthy of her. Her eyes were lustreless,
+and her hair was besprinkled with gray, and yet the right man did not
+offer himself. But in good time she heard of King Olaf the Glorious,
+and of his great wealth and his prowess, and of how in his person he
+was so tall and handsome, that men could only compare him with Balder
+the Beautiful. And now she deemed that she had at last discovered one
+whose magnificence would match with her own. So she caused messengers
+to fare across the frontier into Norway to sing her praises, so that
+King Olaf might learn how fair she was, and how well suited to reign by
+his side. And it seemed that her messages had the effect that she
+wished.
+
+On a certain summer day Queen Sigrid sat at her chamber window,
+overlooking a wide and beautiful river that lay between her own kingdom
+and Norway. From afar she saw a company of horsemen. They came nearer
+and nearer, and at last they halted at the gates. Their leader entered
+and the queen went down to meet him, guessing that he had come upon
+some errand of great importance.
+
+When he had greeted her, he told her that he had come all the way from
+Thrandheim, in Norway, with a message from King Olaf Triggvison, who,
+hearing of her great charms, now offered her his hand in marriage. And
+as a token of his good faith the king had sent her a gift. The gift was
+a large ring of gold--the same that Olaf had taken from the door of the
+temple at Lade.
+
+Full joyous was Queen Sigrid at this good news, and she took the heavy
+ring and slipped it upon her arm, bidding the messengers take her
+hospitality for three days and then return to their master, with the
+word that she favoured his proposal, and agreed to meet him at her
+manor of Konghelle in three weeks' time.
+
+Now the queen admired that ring, deeming it a most noble gift. It was
+most beautifully wrought and interwoven with scrolls and circles so
+delicate that all wondered how the hand of man could achieve such
+perfection. Everyone praised it exceedingly, and among others to whom
+Sigrid showed the ring were her own goldsmiths, two brothers. These
+handled it with more care than others had done, and weighed it in their
+hands as if they would estimate its value. The queen saw that the
+smiths spoke in whispers one with the other; so she called them to her
+and asked if they thought that any man in Sweden could make such a ring.
+
+At this the smiths smiled.
+
+"Wherefore do you mock at the ring?" demanded Sigrid. "Tell me what you
+have found?"
+
+The smiths shrugged their shoulders.
+
+"If indeed the truth must be spoken," said the elder of the two, "then
+we have found this, O queen, that there is false metal in the ring."
+
+"Prove what you say!" cried the queen. And she let them break the ring
+asunder--and lo! it was shown to be made of copper and not of gold.
+
+Then into Sigrid's eyes there flashed an angry light.
+
+"If King Olaf of Norway can be so false in his gifts, he will be
+faithless also in his love!" she cried. And she snatched the pieces of
+the ring and flung them furiously away from her.
+
+Now when the three weeks of his appointment had gone by Olaf Triggvison
+journeyed east to the trysting place at Konghelle, near the boundary
+line between Norway and Sweden, and there Queen Sigrid met him. Amazed
+was Sigrid to see the splendour of the man who offered her marriage.
+Never before had her eyes rested upon one so tall and handsome and so
+gloriously attired. Arrived now at his full manhood Olaf looked nobler
+and more majestic than ever in his life before. His cloak of fine
+crimson silk clung to his giant frame and showed the muscular moulding
+of his limbs. His step was light and elastic, and, in spite of his
+great strength, his movements were gentle and easy as those of a woman.
+His hands were very large and powerful, yet the touch of them was soft
+and delicate; and his voice, which could be loud and full as a trumpet
+blast, could also be lowered to the musical sweetness of a purling
+brook. His forehead, where his helmet had shielded it from the heat of
+the sun and from the briny freshness of the sea air, was white and
+smooth as polished marble; but the lower part of his face was of a
+clear, rich golden brown. He wore no beard, but the hair was left
+unshaven on his upper lip and it streamed down on either side of his
+chin as fine as silk. When he smiled, his white and even teeth gleamed
+like a row of pearls between the coral redness of his lips. Queen
+Sigrid, as she beheld him for the first time, had no thought of the
+ring that he had given her, nor of its falseness.
+
+King Olaf, on his part, was more than a little disappointed with the
+looks of the queen whose praises had been so often whispered in his
+ears. He had heard that she was young, yet he now saw that her hair was
+sprinkled with gray, that her eyes had lost the fire and fervour of
+youth, and that her brow was wrinkled with age. Younger and more comely
+was his own mother Astrid than this much exalted queen. But, having
+given his word that he meant to woo her and wed her, he had too much
+honour to draw back.
+
+They sat together and talked over the matter of their wedding, and of
+how they would unite their domains and rule together over all the
+Swedes and Norsemen. And at last he took her hand and swore by the holy
+rood that he would be true to her.
+
+Now Sigrid the Haughty was still a heathen, and she liked not to hear
+King Olaf swear by Christian tokens. So she turned upon him with a
+quick glance of suspicion and contempt in her eyes.
+
+"Such vows do not please me, King Olaf," she said. "It is told that
+great Odin once swore on the ring. Will you swear by this ring to be
+true?" And she rose and took up the ring he had sent as a gift, which
+ere this time her two smiths had repaired.
+
+"O speak not of Odin to me!" cried the king. "He is dead as the stones
+in the street. By no other symbol than the cross will I swear. Sorry am
+I to hear that you, Queen Sigrid, are still a believer in the old dead
+gods. Since this is so, however, there is little use in my being in
+this place, for I have made up my mind that the woman who weds me shall
+be a true Christian and not a worshipper of senseless idols hewn out of
+trees and rocks. Abandon these things, take christening, and believe in
+the one true God who made all things and knows all things, and then I
+will wed with you; but not else, O queen."
+
+Queen Sigrid, astonished that any man dared to speak to her in this
+wise, looked back at King Olaf in anger.
+
+"Never shall I depart from the troth that I have always held," she
+cried. "And although you had twice the wealth that you have and were
+yet more glorious than you are, yet never should I obey such a bidding.
+No, no, King Olaf. I keep true to my faith and to my vows; and can fare
+very well without you and your new religion. So go back to your bald
+headed priests and to your singing of mass. I will have none of them!"
+
+Then the king rose in wrath and his face was darkened with gloom. For a
+moment he forgot his manliness, and in his anger he struck her across
+her cheek with his glove.
+
+"Why, then, should I care to wed with thee?" he cried; "thou withered
+old heathen jade!"
+
+With these taunting words on his lips he turned and strode from the
+chamber. But while the wooden stairway was still creaking under his
+tread, Queen Sigrid called after him in bitterest anger:
+
+"Go, then, O proud and stubborn king. Go where you will. But remember
+this, that the insult you have offered me and the blow you have struck
+me shall be your death!"
+
+So Olaf departed, ere yet he had broken bread, and he went north into
+Viken, while Queen Sigrid the Haughty went east into Sweden.
+
+King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark had by this time regained full
+possession of his kingdom, and was contemplating an invasion of England
+which should be more complete and decisive than the attempt which he
+had made in company with the viking whom he had known as Ole the
+Esthonian. Sweyn had now, of course, discovered that this man Ole and
+King Olaf of Norway were one and the same person, and he began to be
+very jealous of the glory that was gathering about Olaf's name. A new
+cause for jealousy had now arisen.
+
+Sweyn, it will be remembered, had married the Princess Gunnhild,
+daughter of Burislaf, King of the Wends. But in these days even now
+told of it befell that Queen Gunnhild was stricken with an illness and
+died. King Sweyn, ever ambitious of winning great dominion, had a mind
+to take unto himself a new wife in the person of Queen Sigrid of
+Sweden. He was on the point of setting out to woo her when he heard by
+chance that King Olaf Triggvison was already bent upon a similar
+journey. Envy and jealousy and bitter hatred welled up in Sweyn's
+breast against his rival, and he swore by Thor's hammer that sooner or
+later he would lower King Olaf to the dust.
+
+But in good time King Sweyn heard of the quarrel that had befallen
+between Queen Sigrid and her young Norwegian suitor. So he at once
+fared north into Sweden to essay his own fortune with the haughty
+queen. He gained a ready favour with Sigrid by speaking all manner of
+false and malicious scandal against the man whom she had so lately
+rejected. Sigrid probably saw that by marrying the King of Denmark she
+might the more easily accomplish her vengeance upon Olaf Triggvison.
+She therefore accepted Forkbeard's proposals, and they were wedded in
+accordance with the rites and customs of their pagan faith.
+
+Earl Erik, the son of the late Earl Hakon, was at this time the guest
+and friend of Sigrid's son, Olaf the Swede King; and these three--King
+Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark, King Olaf of Sweden, and Earl Erik of
+Lade--had each a private cause of enmity against Olaf Triggvison. It
+was they who, two years afterwards, united their forces in the great
+sea fight in which Olaf the Glorious lost his life.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII: THE "LONG SERPENT".
+
+
+King Olaf had now ruled over Norway for three years. In that brief time
+he had done more for the country than any king who had gone before him.
+He had succeeded in establishing Christianity--not very thoroughly, it
+is true, for during the rest of his reign, and for long enough
+afterwards, there was plenty of heathenism in Norway; but he did all
+that he could to make men Christians, as far as he knew how himself,
+and, by his own example of a pure and upright life, he did much to
+deepen the feeling that, even in a social sense, the Christian
+religion' offered advantages which had never before been enjoyed in the
+land. It was noticed almost immediately that there was less bloodshed
+among the people than formerly, and that the peasants lived in greater
+security. The doctrine of peace upon earth was set forth as one of the
+first principles of Olaf's mission, and he was never tired of showing
+that, while Odin and Thor took pleasure in bloodshed and rejoiced in
+war, Christ the White was a lover of peace, and accorded no merit to
+the manslayer.
+
+Olaf made it a law throughout his realm that all men should keep the
+Sabbath holy, that they should always fast on Fridays, and that they
+should teach their children the Ten Commandments. He could not hope
+that grownup people, who had all their lives been accustomed to worship
+graven images, would all at once become fervent and devout Christians;
+but he clearly saw the importance of bringing up all the children to a
+full knowledge of the Christian faith, and accordingly he bade his
+priests give constant care to the education of the young.
+
+What King Olaf achieved in Norway he achieved also in the outlying
+parts of his dominions. He sent priests into the lands of the Laps and
+Fins. It has been told how he sent his priest Thrangbrand to Iceland.
+He also sent missions to the Orkney Islands, to the Shetlands, and the
+Faroes, and even to so distant a country as Greenland. All these lands
+were converted to Christianity during Olaf's brief reign.
+
+But it was not in religious matters alone that Olaf Triggvison
+exercised his wisdom and his rule. He encouraged fisheries and
+husbandry and handicrafts, and men who had given up their lives to
+warfare and vikingry now occupied themselves with useful arts and
+industries. Himself a rare sailor, he loved all seamen and shipmen and
+shipbuilders, and so that these might have work to do he encouraged
+commerce with the lands over sea--with England and Scotland and
+Ireland, with Russia, Wendland, Friesland, Flanders, and France.
+
+When he had been in England he had learned something of the good laws
+established in that country by King Alfred the Great. He strove to
+introduce many of these laws into his own kingdom. Like Alfred the
+Great, King Olaf recognized the value of a strong navy, and, so soon as
+he had assured himself of the goodwill of his subjects, he levied taxes
+upon them, and set about the work of building ships.
+
+The great dragonship which he had taken as a prize of war from Rand the
+Wizard was the largest and finest vessel in the Norwegian seas at this
+time. The king determined to have a much larger and finer ship built,
+one which should surpass in splendour and equipment every vessel that
+had been launched in Norway or any other land throughout the ages. On
+the banks of the river Nid, at the place where he had built the town of
+Nidaros, a great forest of pine trees had been cleared, and there was
+timber in plenty ready at hand. There had been two most fruitful
+seasons, with good crops, and the country was rich. Olaf himself
+possessed more wealth than any monarch in all Scandinavia, and also he
+was fortunate in having about him a number of men who were highly
+skilled in the work of designing and building ships. So he had a
+shipyard prepared under the cliffs of Lade, and he appointed a man
+named Thorberg Shafting to be his master builder.
+
+Rand's dragonship, which was named the Serpent, was taken as a model of
+the new ship that was to be made, but all her measurements were exactly
+doubled, for the new craft was to be twice as long in the keel, twice
+as broad in the beam, and twice as great in the scantling. Olaf himself
+helped at the work, and laboured as hard as any other two men. Whenever
+any difficulty arose he was there to set it right, and all knew that
+every part of the work must be well done, that every piece of timber
+must be free from rot, and every nail and rivet made of the best metal
+or the king would discover the fault and have it undone.
+
+Many men were in the shipyard, some to hew timbers with their heavy
+axes, some to fashion iron bolts and bars, and others to spin the
+shining flax into the ropes that were to form the rigging. Burly
+blacksmiths stood at the roaring forge, wielding huge hammers; sawyers
+worked in the pits, making the stout beams and ribs and cutting great
+trunks into thin planks. Black cauldrons of boiling tar smoked and
+bubbled over the fires. The clattering of hammers, the rasping of saws,
+the whirring of wheels, and the clamour of men's voices sounded from
+earliest morning until the setting of the sun; and the work went on
+apace all day and every day, saving on Sunday, when no man was allowed
+to touch a nail or lift a hammer.
+
+On a certain morning in the midsummer, King Olaf was down in the
+shipyard. He wore his coarsest and oldest clothes; his thick, strong
+arms were bared above the elbows, and his hardened hands were smutched
+with tar and nail rust. His head was shielded from the hot sun by a
+little cloth cap that was torn in the crown, and his long hair and his
+broad back and shoulders were besprinkled with sawdust. Save for his
+greater tallness and strength he looked not very different from any of
+the workmen about him; and indeed Kolbiorn Stallare, who stood near him
+in courtly apparel, might well have been mistaken for the king and the
+king for the servant.
+
+Olaf had paused in his work, and was talking with Kolbiorn concerning
+some matter of state. As he stood thus, leaning with one elbow on the
+long handle of his great sledgehammer, he saw young Einar Eindridson
+coming towards him, followed by a woman. The woman seemed to be of
+middle age, and she looked weary with travel. As she came nearer, her
+eyes rested upon Kolbiorn as though she wished to speak with him.
+
+"Go to her," said the king. And Kolbiorn left Olaf's side and went to
+meet her.
+
+"Long have I searched for you, King Olaf," said she, drawing back the
+cloak from her head, and letting the sun shine full upon her face. "But
+I have found you at last, and now I crave your help for the mercy of
+God!"
+
+"You make a mistake, lady," said Kolbiorn; "I am not King Olaf, but
+only his servant. Yonder is the king at work among his shipwrights. But
+if you would speak with him I will take you to him, for I see that you
+are in distress."
+
+So he took her to where Olaf was, and when she stood near him she
+looked at him in disbelief, taking him to be but a workman. But when
+the king laid down his hammer and stood up at his full height and
+uncovered his head, she saw that he was no ordinary man. Her eyes went
+to his bare arm, where there still remained the mark branded there in
+the days of his bondage in Esthonia.
+
+"By that token do I know you, O king," said she. "But you are taller
+and stronger than when last we met."
+
+"In what land and in whose company was that meeting?" asked King Olaf.
+"Methinks I have indeed seen you before, but in what circumstances and
+at what time I do not call to mind."
+
+"We met long years ago," said she. "First in Wendland, when you were a
+guest at the court of King Burislaf; and again when we sat side by side
+at the inheritance feast of King Sweyn of Denmark. My name is Thyra.
+Harald Bluetooth, king of Denmark, was my father, and I am the sister
+of King Sweyn of the Forked beard, who now reigns over all Denmark, and
+who has lately wedded with Queen Sigrid of Sweden."
+
+"Right well do I now remember you," returned Olaf. "And well do I mind
+that, at that same feast in Denmark, you scorned me because I had been
+a slave."
+
+There was a frown upon his brow and a look of mistrust in his eyes; for
+he guessed that the coming of this woman was some guileful trick of her
+brother Sweyn, whom he knew to be an enemy of his own.
+
+"At the time you speak of," said she, "you were but a heathen viking of
+Jomsburg, a lover of warfare, a man who lived by plunder and bloodshed,
+who worshipped the pagan gods, and knew not the sweetness of a peaceful
+life. But now you are a king--a great and glorious king. And, what is
+more, you are a Christian, worshipping the true God, and doing good
+deeds for the good Christ's sake."
+
+The look of mistrust now vanished from Olaf's eyes, and gave place to a
+look of softness and pity.
+
+"It is because you are a Christian that I have come to you now," she
+went on. "For days and weeks I have travelled on foot across the
+mountains; and now that I have found you I crave your pity and your
+help, for I am in sore distress, and know of none other than you, O
+king, to whom I can go for shelter. At the same time that you were
+yourself in Wendland, and at the time when Earl Sigvaldi of Jomsburg
+was wedded with the Princess Astrid, and my brother Sweyn with her
+sister Gunnhild, it was arranged that I too should be wedded. And the
+husband whom Sigvaldi and Sweyn chose for me was their father-in-law,
+King Burislaf. Now, Burislaf was an elderly man, while I was but a
+little girl, and I was sorely against this matter. So I craved that
+they would not press me to the marriage, and they yielded so far that I
+was left alone for a while.
+
+"Early in this present summer King Burislaf renewed his pleadings that
+I should wed with him, and he sent Earl Sigvaldi into Denmark to carry
+me away. So well did the Earl prevail with my brother that Sweyn
+delivered me into his hands, and also covenanted that the domains in
+Wendland which Queen Gunnhild had had should be my dowry.
+
+"Now, already I had become a Christian, and it was little to my
+satisfaction that I should become the wife of a pagan king and live for
+ever after among heathen folk, so on a certain dark and stormy night I
+fled away. A poor fisherman brought me over into Norway, where I knew
+that the people were all of the Christian faith, and so, after much
+trouble and privation, I have found my way hither."
+
+Thus Thyra spoke with King Olaf. And when she had told him all her
+trouble he gave her good counsel and a kindly welcome, and said that
+she should always have a peaceful dwelling in his realm.
+
+Now, Olaf Triggvison knew full well that in giving succour to Thyra he
+was doing that which would give great offence to King Sweyn of Denmark;
+and that Sweyn, when he heard that his sister was here in Norway, would
+speedily come over and carry her back to Wendland. Nevertheless, Olaf
+thought well of her ways and saw that she was very fair, and it came
+into his mind that this would be a good wedding for him. So when Thyra
+had been in Nidaros some few weeks he spoke with her again, and asked
+her if she would wed him.
+
+Little loth was Thyra to obey his behests, for she deemed herself most
+fortunate in that there was a chance of her marrying so noble a king.
+So she yielded to him, and their wedding was held in harvest time, and
+celebrated according to the Christian rites. From that time onward they
+reigned together as king and queen of Norway.
+
+All through that summer King Olaf busied himself in his shipyard, and
+in the early autumn the great ship's hull was well nigh finished. At
+this time Thorberg, the master shipwright, went home to his farmstead
+in Orkadale to gather in his harvest, and he tarried there for many
+days. When he came back the bulwarks were all completed.
+
+On the same day of his return the king went down with him to the yard
+to see how the vessel looked, and they both agreed that never before
+had they seen its equal in size and in beauty of form. All had been
+done as Thorberg had designed, and great praise did he win from his
+master. But Thorberg said, nevertheless, that there were many things
+that he would have improved.
+
+But early the next morning the king and Thorberg went again to the
+ship. All the smiths had come thither, but they stood there doing no
+work.
+
+"Why are ye standing idle?" demanded Olaf in surprise.
+
+"Because the ship is spoiled, O king," said one of the men, "and there
+is no longer any good in her! Some evil minded man has been at work in
+the night, undoing all that we have done!"
+
+The king walked round to the ship's side, and lo! every plank along her
+bulwarks was hewn and notched and deeply gashed as with an axe.
+
+"Envious mischief maker!" cried the king in a sorrowful voice. Then as
+he realized the full extent of the wreckage he swore an oath, and
+declared that the man who had thus spoiled the ship should die, and
+that he who should discover the evildoer would be well rewarded.
+
+Then Thorberg went to his side, and said he: "Be not so wrathful, O
+king. I can tell you who it is that has done this mischief. It was I
+who did it."
+
+"You!" cried the king. "You in whom I have trusted so long? You, who
+have taken so much pride in the building of this ship? Unhappy man!
+Know this, that you shall repair this mischief and make it good, or
+else you shall lose your life!"
+
+Thorberg laughed lightly and said: "Little the worse will the ship be
+when I have done, lord."
+
+And then he went to the ship and planed out all the notches and cuts,
+and made the bulwarks so smooth and fair that all who saw what he did
+declared that the ship was made far handsomer than she had been before.
+So well pleased was King Olaf that he bade Thorberg do the same on the
+other side, and gave him great praise and reward.
+
+Late in the autumn the hull was finished and painted, ready for
+launching. Bishop Sigurd sprinkled the vessel's bows with holy water,
+and as she slipped over the rollers into the sea King Olaf named her
+the Long Serpent.
+
+There was yet much to be done before she would be ready for sea; but
+such work as the stepping of her two masts, fitting her standing
+rigging, caulking her deck planks, fashioning her cabins, and adorning
+her prow and stern could best be done when she was afloat.
+
+The Long Serpent would not be considered a very large vessel in these
+modern days, but she was the largest ship known to have been built
+before the time of King Canute, and she was, so far as it is possible
+to calculate, exactly double the size of the ship in which Columbus
+crossed the Atlantic. Her length was not less than two hundred feet.
+Her breadth between the gunwales was about forty feet. It is not
+probable that she was very deep in the water; but of this there is no
+record. She was fitted with thirty-four "rooms" amidships, each room
+being divided into two half rooms. These half rooms accommodated eight
+men whose duty it was to attend to one of the long oars. Thus, there
+were thirty-four pairs of oars and five hundred and seventy-four
+rowers. Between the half rooms, and also along the bulwarks, there were
+wide gangways, running fore and aft. There was a large forecastle in
+which the warriors slept and took their meals, and abaft the main mast
+there was another cabin called the "fore-room", in which King Olaf had
+his high seat, or throne. Here he held his councils. Here, too, he had
+his armour chests. Thirty men lived in the fore-room.
+
+King Olaf's own private cabin was under the "lypting", or poop. It was
+very splendidly furnished, with beautifully carved wood and tapestries
+of woven silk. Only his chosen companions and his personal servants
+were allowed to enter this apartment. Above it there was a large deck
+which in the time of battle was occupied by the king and his most
+valiant warriors.
+
+The prow of the Long Serpent, which rose high above all other parts of
+the hull, took the form of a dragon's head and shoulders. This
+ferocious looking monster, with wide open jaws and staring eyes, was
+covered with beaten gold. At the vessel's stern stood the dragon's
+twisted tail, and this also was plated with gold. Close beside it was
+the handle of the steering board, which was usually held, when at sea,
+by King Olaf himself or his chief captain.
+
+It was not until the middle of the next springtime that the ship was
+ready for sea. Then Olaf had his fair weather sails hoisted. They were
+as white as newly fallen snow, with a large blood red cross in the
+middle. Banners of silk streamed from the masthead and from the
+yardarms, and a most beautiful standard fluttered from a tall staff on
+the lypting. The midships tent, which shielded the rowers from the
+glare of the strong light, was striped with red and blue. The weather
+vanes and the dragon glittered in the sun, and the men on the decks
+were arrayed in their best, with their polished brass helmets and gaily
+coloured cloaks. King Olaf himself was most splendidly attired. He had
+on a newly wrought coat of chain mail, which was partly covered by a
+mantle of fine crimson silk. His helmet was made of burnished copper,
+inlaid with gold ornaments and surmounted by a gold dragon. Near to
+him, as he stood at the tiller, his shield was hung up. It was the same
+shield that he had bought from Thangbrand, bearing the image of the
+crucifix.
+
+Great crowds of people assembled on the banks of the Nid. They all
+thought it a most wonderful sight, and they cheered lustily as, in
+answer to a loud blast from the king's bugle horn, the rowers began to
+pull. As the great vessel glided out of the river with her eight and
+sixty oars moving in regular strokes she looked like a thing of life.
+Never in all time or in all lands had such a magnificent ship been seen.
+
+Olaf steered her out into the blue waters of Thrandheim Fiord, and then
+as the wind caught her sails the oars were shipped and she sped onward
+with such even speed that all were astonished. Not far had she gone
+when she came in sight of Olaf's other dragonship--the Short Serpent,
+as she was now called--which had been sent out an hour in advance. In
+spite of the long start that she had had, the smaller vessel was
+quickly overhauled and passed, as though she had not been moving. Olaf
+had wanted to have a race; but now he saw that this was useless; for
+the Long Serpent had proved herself to be not only the most beautiful
+ship to look upon, but also the quickest sailer of all vessels afloat.
+
+Out into the sea he took her. There was a strong breeze blowing and the
+sea was rough. She rode easy upon the waves, both before and against
+the wind, and Olaf was well pleased. So, when the trial cruise was
+over, he returned to Nidaros, satisfied that if ever he should be drawn
+into a war with any foreign power he had a battleship which no enemy
+could equal.
+
+Now King Olaf lived in happiness and contentment with Queen Thyra, and
+there was great love between them. But there was one thing which gave
+the queen much trouble, and over which she was for ever fretting. It
+was that, by reason of her flight from Wendland, she had forfeited all
+the possessions that had been reserved as her dowry. She felt that,
+here in Norway, she had no private wealth of her own such as beseemed a
+queen, whereas there were her great estates in Wendland and Denmark,
+from which large revenues were due. Again and again she spoke to the
+king on this matter, praying him with fair words to go and get her her
+own. King Burislaf, she declared, was so dear a friend of King Olaf
+that so soon as they met he would surely give over to him all that he
+craved. But Olaf always shook his head and asked her if she did not
+think that there was wealth enough for them both in Norway. But Thyra
+was not satisfied with this constant delay. Whenever her husband spoke
+with her she always contrived to bring in some peevish mention of her
+estates. She wept and prayed and pleaded so often that Olaf's patience
+was well nigh exhausted. It seemed that if only for the sake of
+domestic peace an expedition to Wendland must soon be brought about.
+Nevertheless, all the friends of the king, when they heard of this
+talk, advised him against such a journey, for they knew full well that
+it must end in a war with the queen's brother, Sweyn Forkbeard. On a
+certain day in that same spring, when it was nearing Eastertide, King
+Olaf was passing down the street, when by the marketplace a man met
+him, and offered to sell him some very fine spring vegetables. Olaf
+noticed that he had some large angelica heads. This was a herb very
+much valued in those days and eaten as we now eat celery. The king took
+a great stalk of the angelica in his hand and went home with it to
+Queen Thyra. He found the queen in her hall weeping for her lost
+estates.
+
+"See here the big angelica I give thee," said he.
+
+The queen rose and thrust the vegetables contemptuously aside, and,
+with the tears streaming down her cheek, cried: "A pretty gift indeed!
+Greater gifts did my father, Harald Bluetooth, give me when, as a
+child, I got my first tooth! He did not fear to come over here to
+Norway and conquer this land; whereas you, with all your boasted glory
+and your great ships, are so much afraid of my brother Sweyn that you
+dare not venture into Denmark to get me what belongs to me, and of
+which I have been shamefully robbed!"
+
+Then up sprang King Olaf and retorted with an angry oath: "Afraid?" he
+cried. "Never have I gone in fear of your brother Sweyn, and I am not
+afraid of him now. Nay, if we ever meet, he shall surely give way
+before me! Now--even now--I will set sail for Wendland, and you shall
+have your wretched estates!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX: SIGVALDI'S TREACHERY.
+
+
+So, when Eastertide with all its religious ceremonies had passed by,
+King Olaf summoned a great gathering of his people, whereat he set
+forth that he intended to make an expedition into the Baltic, and that
+he required a levy from every district, both of men and of ships. He
+then sent messengers north and south along the land, bidding them
+muster his forces. The ships were to assemble in Thrandheim Fiord in
+the first week in summer.
+
+Olaf paid great attention to the manning of the Long Serpent, and his
+seamen and warriors were so well chosen that it was said that the crew
+surpassed other men as far in strength and bravery as the Long Serpent
+surpassed other ships. Every man was picked by King Olaf himself, who
+determined that none should be older than sixty years, and none younger
+than twenty. He made only one exception to this rule. It was in the
+case of Einar Eindridson, surnamed Thambarskelver. Einar was but
+eighteen years old; but, young though he was, he was considered the
+most skilful archer in all Norway. With his bow, called Thamb, he could
+fire a blunt arrow through a raw ox hide, and not even King Olaf could
+aim more true or hit the mark at a greater distance. In after years
+Einar became a very famous warrior and lawman, and his name is often
+mentioned in the history of Norway. Wolf the Red was King Olaf's banner
+bearer, and his station was in the prow of the Serpent, together with
+Kolbiorn Stallare, Thorstein Oxfoot, Vikar of Tiundaland, and others.
+Among the forecastle men were Bersi the Strong, Thrand Squinteye,
+Thorfinn the Dashing, Ketil the Tall, and Ogmund Sandy. Thirty of the
+best men were in the fore-room, in front of the poop. Young Einar
+Eindridson was stationed in the main hold among the rowers. The
+complete ship's company numbered seven hundred men.
+
+The Short Serpent was commanded by Thorkel Nefja, a kinsman of Olaf's;
+and Thorkel the Wheedler (brother of Queen Astrid) commanded the Crane.
+Both these ships were very well manned. Eleven other large ships left
+Thrandheim with Olaf, also some smaller vessels of war, and six that
+were loaded with stores. He set sail with this fleet in the early days
+of the summer, and Queen Thyra went with him. Southward he sailed, and
+as he came in turn to fiord after fiord many vikings and wealthy
+warriors joined him with their ships. When at length he stood out
+across the Skager Rack, he had a fleet of sixty longships and sixty
+smaller transports, and with these in his wake he sailed south along
+Denmark through the Eyr sound, and so to Wendland.
+
+This expedition was not made with any warlike intent. Olaf did not
+expect that war would follow. But he knew that King Sweyn Forkbeard was
+his bitterest enemy, and that there was danger in passing so near to
+Denmark, and he thought it well to have a large number of battleships
+in his train in case of need.
+
+He arrived off the Wendish coast without being in any way molested, and
+he anchored his fleet in the great bay of Stetten haven. Thence he sent
+messengers to King Burislaf appointing a day of meeting. Burislaf
+invited him to go inland and be his guest at his castle, and Olaf went,
+leaving Queen Thyra behind on board the Serpent, for she would by no
+means consent to come into the presence of the man whom she had jilted.
+
+King Burislaf received him well, and gave him splendid hospitality.
+Olaf spoke of his queen's estates and of the revenues that were due to
+her. Burislaf was a just man in his own heathen way, and he answered
+that, since he had not got the wife that had been promised him, he did
+not think it right that he should enjoy her dowry. So he yielded to
+Olaf's claims, and at once delivered to him the full value of Queen
+Thyra's estates. Olaf abode in Wendland for many days, and at length
+returned to the coast, carrying with him a great store of gold and
+jewels, which, when he went on board his ship, he gave to his queen.
+
+Thyra was now well satisfied, and never again did she attempt to taunt
+King Olaf concerning her estates. On the contrary, she gave him all
+praise for having done so much for her sake, and all her contempt of
+his seeming cowardice was turned to admiration of his courage.
+
+Now, at this same time King Sweyn Forkbeard was in Denmark, living with
+his new wife, Queen Sigrid the Haughty. Even as Thyra had taunted Olaf
+Triggvison concerning her possessions in Wendland, so had Sigrid
+taunted Sweyn Forkbeard concerning her hatred of King Olaf of Norway.
+She could never forget how Olaf had smitten her in the face with his
+glove, and from the earliest days of her marriage with King Sweyn she
+had constantly and earnestly urged him to wage war against Olaf
+Triggvison. Sweyn, knowing the risks of such a war, turned a deaf ear
+to his proud wife's entreaties. But when at last Sigrid heard that Olaf
+had given protection to Sweyn's sister, and made Thyra his queen, she
+renewed her urging with increased earnestness, and so well did she
+succeed that Sweyn was roused to great anger against King Olaf, and he
+resolved to get ready his forces and abide by Queen Sigrid's counsel.
+
+He was in this belligerent mood when the rumour reached him that Olaf
+Triggvison was at sea with his fleet, and was minded to make the voyage
+to Wendland. With this rumour also came news of the splendid dragonship
+that the Norse king had built.
+
+Now, Sweyn Forkbeard was a very cautious man in the affairs of war, and
+he well knew that he was himself no match for so powerful a warrior as
+Olaf the Glorious. But he remembered that he was not alone in his
+desire to humble the monarch of the Norselands. His own son in law,
+Olaf the Swede King, had sworn by Thor's hammer to avenge the insult to
+his mother Queen Sigrid the Haughty, and the help of the Swede King in
+this war would be of great account. In addition to the King of Sweden
+there was Earl Erik of Lade, who was eager to take vengeance upon Olaf
+Triggvison for the slaying of his father Earl Hakon. Since the coming
+of King Olaf into Norway, Earl Erik had become famous as a viking; he
+had engaged in many battles both on land and on the sea. It has already
+been told how he fought in the sea fight against the vikings of
+Jomsburg. He was now one of the strongest war men in all Scandinavia,
+and his fleet of battleships was equal to that of either Sweyn of
+Denmark or Olaf of Sweden.
+
+So when Forkbeard heard that Olaf Triggvison had entered the Baltic he
+sent men east into Sweden, bidding them give word to the Swede King and
+to Earl Erik that now was their time if they would join in battle
+against their common foe.
+
+Sweyn Forkbeard was at this time very friendly with Earl Sigvaldi, the
+chief of the Jomsvikings, and he enlisted his help. It happened that
+Sigvaldi's wife, the Princess Astrid, was then staying at the court of
+her father King Burislaf, in Wendland. It was, therefore, a very
+natural thing that the earl should go thither also. Sweyn urged him to
+make the journey, to spy upon King Olaf's fleet, and to lay such a trap
+that Sweyn and his allies should not fail in their object. Earl
+Sigvaldi undertook this mission, and fared eastward to Wendland with
+eleven longships. Meeting King Olaf he made pretence to renew his old
+friendship with the man whom he had formerly known as Ole the
+Esthonian. He flattered him, praised his great wisdom, and, more than
+all, spoke highly of his fleet and the surpassing splendour of the Long
+Serpent. Their discourse was most friendly at all times, nor did Olaf
+for a moment suspect the treachery that underlay the earl's soft
+speeches and his seeming goodwill. Deep into the king's open heart
+Sigvaldi wormed his way, until they were as brothers one with the
+other. When Olaf hinted that he would be going back to Norway, that the
+weather was fair for sailing, and that his men were homesick and weary
+of lying at anchor, Sigvaldi made some plausible excuse and still held
+him back; and the time went on, the summer days grew shorter, and yet
+Olaf made no move.
+
+But on a certain day there came a small fishing boat into the bay, and
+dropped anchor near to the earl's longship. In the darkness of the next
+night one of her men had speech with Sigvaldi, and gave him the tidings
+for which he had so long waited. These tidings were that the host of
+the Swede King had now come from the east, that Earl Erik also had
+arrayed his forces, and that these lords had joined with Sweyn
+Forkbeard, and all were sailing downward to the coast of Wendland. They
+had appointed to waylay King Olaf Triggvison in a certain channel
+running between the mainland and the island of Svold, and Sweyn had now
+sent this messenger bidding the earl to so bring it about that they
+might fall upon King Olaf in that place. On the next morning Sigvaldi
+put out one of his boats, rowed alongside of the Long Serpent, and
+stepped upon her deck. He found King Olaf sitting at his ease against
+the rail, carving runes upon the lid of a wooden box that he had made
+for the holding of the queen's jewels. Sigvaldi did not disturb him,
+but took a few turns across the deck and looked up into the sunlit sky.
+The king blew away the chips of wood that he had been cutting from the
+box lid and looked up.
+
+"A fairer and finer day for sailing I have never yet seen," said he.
+"Why should we not heave anchor this very morning? The wind bodes well
+for a free run westward, and in truth, Sigvaldi, I am getting wearied
+of this idleness and the sight of these sandy shores."
+
+"Let it be so by all means if you so wish it," answered the earl in a
+light tone of unconcern. "I, too, should be not ill pleased to be once
+more upon the open sea, although I shall be sorry to make an end to our
+close intercourse, for the sooner we sail the sooner must we part."
+
+"The parting need not be for long," said the king. "I am hoping that
+you will soon see your way to coming north to Thrandheim, there to
+spend many happy summer months with us. And we may take a cruise in the
+Long Serpent across to the Orkneys, or north even to Iceland."
+
+A mocking smile played about the earl's lips.
+
+"You are ever ready with your bright plans for the future, King Olaf,"
+he said, as he raised his great hand to stroke his bushy black beard.
+"But the next summer is a long while off, and it may be--who can
+say?--it may be that we shall not then be both alive."
+
+King Olaf gave a playful laugh.
+
+"Your thoughts are passing gloomy this morning," said he. "Why should
+you speak of death? You are still but in the prime of manhood, and are
+blessed with the best of health. As to a death in battle, you, who are
+still a believer in Odin and Valhalla, can have no fear of warlike
+enemies."
+
+"It was not of myself that I was thinking," returned Sigvaldi.
+
+"Then why should it be for me that you fear?" asked Olaf. "I am of a
+long lived race, and, since I am now a man of peace and no lover of
+bloodshed, I am not likely to be mixed up in any wars--at least, not
+wars of my own making. And there is but one man I know of who has any
+wish to wage battle with me."
+
+"Who is that?" questioned Sigvaldi.
+
+"King Sweyn of Denmark," answered Olaf. "And it seems that he is at
+this very time abroad with his hosts in search of me."
+
+A look of alarm came upon the earl's dark face. He marvelled how Olaf
+had come to hear this news, and he feared also that his own schemes
+might end in failure.
+
+"These are strange tidings you tell, King Olaf," he said. "One would
+think that, like Odin, you employed the birds of the air to bear you
+news."
+
+"The bird that told me these matters was but a poor fisherman," said
+Olaf. "Yesternight I met him on the shore, and, seeing that he was a
+Dane, I had speech with him, and he said that King Sweyn, with two or
+three longships, had been seen bearing southward to Wendland."
+
+Earl Sigvaldi breathed a deep breath of relief. There was still great
+hope of his scheme succeeding. He glanced round the bay at Olaf's great
+fleet, and thought of the reward that Sweyn had offered as the price of
+his treachery.
+
+"Little would it avail King Sweyn to enter unaided into a battle with
+so well equipped and so brave a warrior as you, King Olaf," he said.
+"But, for my own part, I do not believe this tale. I have known the
+Dane King in past times, and he is far too wary to attempt so bold an
+attack. Howbeit, if you misdoubt that war will beset your path, then
+will I be of your company with my ships. The time has been when the
+following of the vikings of Jomsburg has been deemed of good avail to
+mighty kings."
+
+Then when the earl had gone off to his own ships, Olaf turned to go
+below to his cabin.
+
+At the head of the cabin stairs he was met by young Einar Eindridson.
+
+"So please you, O king," said the lad in a halting voice, "it chanced
+yesternight that I had a dream--"
+
+"Well," smiled the king, "and what of that? The people of heathen lands
+deem it a grave misfortune if a man cannot dream; therefore you may be
+accounted fortunate."
+
+"Dreams may sometimes avert misfortune," said the lad, "and this that I
+dreamt yesternight may be of service to you, my master. While I slept,
+it seemed to me that I saw you standing at the brink of a deep well of
+water. At your side stood the Earl Sigvaldi. Suddenly he put his hand
+upon your back and pushed you forward, so that you fell into the water
+and sank deep, deep down, and then all was dark. I am no great reader
+of dreams, O king; but this one has sorely troubled me, for I fear that
+Earl Sigvaldi is a treacherous friend, and that he is now minded to do
+you an injury."
+
+"Leave the reading of such sleeping fancies to wizards and witches,
+Einar," said King Olaf. "It is not for Christian folk to inquire into
+the future. We are in God's hands, and He alone can determine what path
+we shall tread. As to my good friend Sigvaldi, I will hear no word
+against him."
+
+Now when Olaf went into the cabin, he found there Sigvaldi's wife, the
+princess Astrid, who had been for some days in companionship with Queen
+Thyra. Astrid warned him, as openly as she dared, that her husband was
+working against him. But Olaf turned aside her warnings with a jest. A
+strange infatuation bound him to his false friend, and nothing would
+shake his confidence. He resolved to abide by the earl's advice in all
+things.
+
+It was yet early morning when King Olaf again went on deck. The wind
+blew light from the southeast, and all was favourable for departure.
+Loud over the bay sounded the bugle horns. Mariners cried aloud in
+their joy as they hoisted the yards. The sails fluttered out in the
+breeze, and the anchors were weighed. Gaily the ships sped out of the
+wide bay, and forth through the western channel past the vikings'
+stronghold of Jomsburg. Seventy-one keels in all there were, and the
+smaller vessels led the way, right out into the open sea, nor waited to
+know which course the king should take, for all knew that they were
+homeward bound for Norway, and that although there were many ways, yet
+they all led north beyond Denmark, and so onward into the breezy Skager
+Rack.
+
+Little did Olaf see the need of keeping his fleet together. He feared
+no foe, and was well aware that every craft had a trusty crew who were
+fully able to look after their own safety. His own knowledge of these
+seas told him also that, however much his ships might be scattered in
+crossing the Baltic, they must all gather together again, as he had
+commanded, before entering the Eyr Sound.
+
+Now the treacherous earl, whose craft and cunning had been busily at
+work throughout that morning, saw, in this scattering of the ships, the
+fulfilment of his dearest hopes. King Sweyn had enjoined him beyond all
+things to so manage that Olaf Triggvison should be separated from the
+main body of his fleet, so that he might thus fall into the trap that
+was laid for him, and be speedily overcome by the superior force that
+now awaited him behind the island of Svold. Sweyn Fork Beard's plans
+were well laid; and if Earl Sigvaldi could but contrive to lead Olaf
+between the island and the mainland, instead of taking the northward
+course across the open sea, success for the allies was certain.
+
+The earl was careful to keep his own vessel within the close
+neighbourhood of the Long Serpent. In the wake of these two sailed the
+earl's ten other viking ships and a similar number of King Olaf's
+largest dragons, including the Short Serpent and the Crane.
+
+The remaining portion of the king's fleet had already passed in
+advance, bending their course due north. Sigvaldi had tried, by
+delaying Olaf's departure out of the haven, to still further reduce the
+number of the king's immediate followers. But he knew the extent of
+Sweyn Fork Beard's forces, and he was content that Olaf should retain
+such chances as were afforded by the support of eleven of his best
+battleships.
+
+Now Olaf was about to steer outward into the sea when Sigvaldi hailed
+him.
+
+"Follow me!" cried the earl. "Let me be your pilot, for I know all the
+deepest channels between the isles, and I will lead you through them by
+such ways that you will come out far in advance of your other ships!"
+
+So King Olaf, over confident and never dreaming of treachery, followed
+westward into the Sound, and went sailing onward to his doom.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX: CAUGHT IN THE SNARE.
+
+
+King Sweyn of Denmark and his allies lay with their war hosts in a
+large sheltered vik, or bay, on the western side of the isle of Svold.
+This position was well chosen, as the bay formed a part of the channel
+through which--if Earl Sigvaldi fulfilled his treacherous mission--King
+Olaf Triggvison was certain to pass into the clutches of his foes.
+There were seventy war galleys in all, and each vessel was well manned
+and fully prepared for battle. The larger number belonged to King
+Sweyn; but the longships of Earl Erik were in all respects superior to
+those of either Denmark or Sweden.
+
+Earl Erik himself, too, was the most valiant warrior. Excepting only
+Olaf Triggvison there was not a braver or more daring chief in all the
+lands of Scandinavia. Trained from his earliest youth to a life of
+storm and battle, Erik had never known the meaning of fear, and it
+might almost be said that he had never known defeat. His own bravery
+and skill had inspired every one of his viking followers with the same
+qualities. As his men were, so were his ships--they were chosen with
+the main view to their fitness for encountering the battle and the
+breeze. His own dragonship, which had stood the brunt of many a fierce
+fight, was named the Iron Ram. It was very large, and the hull timbers
+at both bow and stern were plated with thick staves of iron from the
+gunwales down to the waterline.
+
+For many days had these ships lain at anchor in the bay, and as each
+day passed the three chiefs grew more and more impatient for the coming
+of their royal victim. Many times and again had they sat together in
+King Sweyn's land tent, discussing their prospects and planning their
+method of attack. Their purpose was not alone to wreak vengeance upon
+King Olaf for the supposed wrongs that each of the three had suffered
+at his hands. The idea of vengeance, indeed, stood only second to the
+great hope of conquest and of personal gain, and they had made this
+secret bargain among themselves, namely, that in the event of Olaf
+Triggvison being slain, they should each have his own third share of
+Norway. To Earl Erik were to be given all the shires along the western
+coast from Finmark to Lindesness, with the exception of seven shires
+allotted to Olaf the Swede King. All the shires from Lindesness,
+including the rich district of Agder, to the Swedish boundary, were to
+be taken by Sweyn Fork Beard; excepting only the realm of Ranarike (to
+this day a part of Sweden), which was to be given to the Swedish king.
+
+It was further agreed among the three chieftains, concerning the
+expected battle, that he who first planted foot upon the Long Serpent
+should have her for his own, with all the wealth that was found on
+board of her; and each should take possession of the ships which he
+himself captured and cleared of men.
+
+Touching this same arrangement Olaf Sigridson was not well content, for
+he knew that both Erik and Sweyn were better men than himself, and that
+in contending for the prize he would have but a sorry chance if either
+of his companions should enter the battle before him.
+
+"It seems to me," said Sweyn, on a certain morning when they were
+talking this matter over, "that the fairest way of all would be that we
+should cast lots or throw the dice; and let it be that he who throws
+the highest shall be first to attack King Olaf's own ship."
+
+So they brought out the dice box and each cast his lot in turn. Earl
+Erik threw a two and a five. Then the Swedish king took up the dice and
+he threw two sixes.
+
+"No need is there for a third to throw!" he cried. "Mine is the first
+chance, and, by the hammer of Thor, the Long Serpent shall be mine
+also!"
+
+But King Sweyn had still to take his throw.
+
+"There are yet two sixes on the dice," said he, "and it is easy for the
+gods to let them turn up again."
+
+He made his cast, and there were again two sixes. But one die had
+broken asunder, showing a three as well as the two sixes. Thus Sweyn
+was the victor, and it was agreed that his ships should take the centre
+of battle and lead the attack upon the Long Serpent.
+
+When this matter was decided the three chiefs went up upon the heights
+of the island, as they had done every morning since their coming to
+Svold, and stood there with a great company of men. They looked
+eastward along the line of the Wendic coast, and as they watched they
+saw a great number of ships upon the sea, bearing outward from Stetten
+haven. The weather was very bright and clear, and the sunlight, shining
+upon the gaily coloured sails and upon the gilded prows, made a very
+fine sight.
+
+Earl Erik noticed with some concern that the fleet was making due
+north. But Sweyn said: "Wait, and you will see what our good Sigvaldi
+will do when he comes into sight!" So they waited and watched.
+
+In about an hour's time they saw many larger and finer vessels
+appearing. But they were yet too far off to be clearly recognized.
+Sweyn was very silent for a time, and he kept his eyes fixed upon the
+ships, noting their every movement. At last he cried aloud:
+
+"Now I can see that Sigvaldi is doing as we bade him. No longer do the
+ships stand outward into the main. They are bearing westward for Svold!
+Let us now go down to our ships and not be too slow in attack."
+
+So they all went down to the lower land and Sweyn sent boats out to bid
+the shipmen weigh anchor and prepare for battle as quietly as might be.
+
+Now the channel through which Sigvaldi was to lead the Norsemen was
+full wide, and deep, but it had many turns and twists, and before the
+ships could enter the bay, where their enemies awaited them in ambush,
+they had need to pass round an outstretching cape. On the ridge of this
+cape, and hidden by trees, King Sweyn and his companions took their
+stand, knowing that although they might wait to see the whole of King
+Olaf's fleet pass by, they would still have ample time to board their
+ships and be in readiness to meet their victim ere he entered the bay.
+
+It was not very long before they saw a large and splendid dragon
+sailing proudly into the channel. It was the ship of Eindrid of Gimsar.
+
+"A great ship, and marvellous fair!" cried King Sweyn. "Surely it is
+the Long Serpent herself!"
+
+Earl Erik shook his head and answered: "Nay; though this ship is large
+and fine it is not the Long Serpent."
+
+Shortly afterwards they saw another dragon, larger than the first; but
+the dragon's head had been taken down from the prow.
+
+King Sweyn said: "Now is Olaf Triggvison afraid, for he dares not sail
+with the head on his ship!"
+
+"This is not the king's ship," returned Earl Erik with confident
+denial; "for by the green and red striping of her sails I know that her
+captain is Erling Skialgson. Let him pass on! If, as I believe, he is
+himself on board, we shall be better served if he and his band are not
+found among those with whom we are to fight this day."
+
+One by one, in irregular order, the great ships of the Norse chieftains
+sailed by, and with each that passed, King Sweyn or Olaf of Sweden
+cried aloud: "Now surely this one is the Long Serpent!" But Earl Erik
+the Norseman recognized every one, and told her captain's name.
+
+Presently Earl Sigvaldi's viking ships went by, holding close inshore;
+and at length the earl's own dragon, with a red banner at her prow, by
+which token King Sweyn understood that all was going as had been
+intended. Following close behind came the Crane.
+
+"Now let us hasten on board!" cried King Sweyn, "for here comes the
+Serpent at last!"
+
+But Earl Erik did not move.
+
+"Many other great and splendid ships has Olaf Triggvison besides the
+Long Serpent," said he, "yet only nine have sailed past. Let us still
+wait."
+
+Then one of Sweyn's Danish warriors who stood near gave a hoarse
+mocking laugh and said:
+
+"We had heard that Earl Erik was a brave and adventurous man. But now
+it is clear that he has but the heart of a chicken, for he is too
+cowardly to fight against Olaf Triggvison and dares not avenge his own
+father's death. Great shame is this, to be told of through all lands,
+that we, with all our great host, stand here, while Norway's king sails
+out to sea past our very eyes."
+
+Erik became very angry at hearing these taunting words.
+
+"Go, then, to your ships," said he; "but for all your doubts of my
+courage you shall see before the sun goes down into the sea tonight
+that both Danes and Swedes will be less at their ease than I and my
+men!"
+
+As they moved to go, yet another of King Olaf's ships hove in sight.
+
+"Here now sails the Long Serpent!" cried the son of Queen Sigrid.
+"Little wonder is it that Olaf Triggvison is so widely renowned when he
+has such a splendid ship as this!"
+
+All turned to watch the great vessel as she floated by. Her gilded
+dragon glistened in the sunlight; her striped red and blue sail swelled
+in the breeze; crowds of stalwart men were on her decks. No larger or
+more magnificent battleship had ever before been seen on these waters.
+
+King Sweyn Fork Beard cried aloud in his exultation:
+
+"Loftily shall the Serpent carry me tonight when I steer her north into
+Denmark!"
+
+Then Earl Erik added with a sneer:
+
+"Even if Olaf the Glorious had no larger ship than the Short Serpent,
+which we now see, methinks Sweyn with all his army of Danes could never
+win it from him without aid."
+
+King Sweyn was about to give an angry retort when Earl Erik pointed
+towards the headland from behind which all these ships had in their
+turn appeared. And now did Sweyn at once understand how greatly he had
+been mistaken in what he had expected of King Olaf's famous dragonship,
+and how much his fancy had fallen short of the reality. He stood in
+dumb amazement as the towering prow of the Long Serpent glided into
+view, shooting long beams of golden light across the sea. First came
+the glistening dragon head, and then a long stretch of gaily painted
+hull; next, the tall mast with its swelling white sail, and, in the
+midst of the snowy expanse, the blood red cross. The dense row of
+polished shields along the bulwarks flashed in the sunlight. Sweyn
+marvelled at the ship's great length, for the stern did not appear in
+sight until long after he had seen the prow. His companion chieftains
+murmured their astonished admiration; while fear and terror crept into
+the breasts of many of the Swedes and Danes, who felt that for some of
+them at least the great ship carried death.
+
+"This glorious vessel is worthy and fitting for such a mighty king as
+Olaf the Glorious," declared Earl Erik, "for it may in truth be said of
+him that he is distinguished above all other kings as the Long Serpent
+is above all other ships."
+
+All unconscious of the guiles of Sigvaldi, King Olaf steered his ship
+in the earl's wake. At the first he took the lead of his ten other
+dragons, Sigvaldi sailing in advance. But as they neared the island a
+thing happened which caused him to fall back to the rear. Young Einar
+Eindridson, ever full of sport and play, had perched himself astride of
+the yardarm, and there, with his longbow and arrows shot at the
+seagulls as they flew by. Presently he espied a large bird flying over
+from the westward. Its wings and body were perfectly black. Slowly it
+came nearer and nearer, as though it would cross the Serpent's bows.
+Einar worked his way along to the end of the yard, and, steadying
+himself, fixed an arrow to the string. As the bird came within easy bow
+shot the lad took aim.  But as he drew the string he saw the great
+dusky bird open its stout beak. He heard a hoarse croak, and knew it to
+be the croak of a raven. Now the croaking of a raven was held in those
+times to be a sound of very ill omen; it was also considered that the
+man who killed one of these birds was certainly doomed to meet with
+speedy misfortune. Einar slackened his bow, and the arrow slipped from
+his fingers. In trying to catch it, he dropped his famous bow, Thamb,
+and it fell into the sea. Now Einar treasured that bow beyond all his
+worldly possessions. Without an instant's hesitation he stood up upon
+the yard and leapt into the sea.
+
+King Olaf, standing at the tiller, had seen all this, and he quickly
+put over the helm and, bringing the Serpent round head to wind, lay to
+while a boat was launched. Einar and his bow were rescued. But
+meanwhile the Long Serpent was overtaken by all her companion ships;
+and so it was that she was the last to enter the straits.
+
+Earl Sigvaldi still held on in advance. But it was noticed that when he
+came abreast of the cape whereon the three chiefs had stood, he lowered
+his sails and steered his ships nearer inshore. The Norsemen suspecting
+nothing, followed his example, and very soon King Olaf's fleet gathered
+closer together. But when Thorkel the Wheedler came up with the Crane
+he shouted aloud to Sigvaldi, asking him why he did not sail. The earl
+replied that he intended to lie to until King Olaf should rejoin him.
+So Thorkel struck sail also. But the ships had still some way on them
+and the current was with them. They drifted on until they came to a
+curve in the channel which opened out into the bay where the host of
+King Sweyn and his allies waited in ambush.
+
+Now by this time the Short Serpent had come alongside of Sigvaldi, and
+her captain, espying some of the enemy's fleet, questioned the earl
+concerning them.
+
+"Strangers they all are to me," answered Sigvaldi with an evil look in
+his eyes. "But whoever they be, it seems that they are not altogether
+friendly to us. I see their red war shields from where I stand, and it
+looks very much as though a battle awaited us."
+
+Then Thorkel Nefja had his oars brought out, and he steered the Short
+Serpent round against the stream and went back with all speed to meet
+the king.
+
+"What do I see?" cried King Olaf. "Why have the ships struck sail? And
+what is the meaning of your coming back?"
+
+"It is because a great host of war galleys are lying in the farther
+bay," answered Thorkel. "It is the host of King Sweyn of Denmark, for I
+saw the banner on one of the longships, and it was like unto the
+banners that Sweyn Fork Beard carried at the time when we were with him
+in England. Turn back, I implore you, O king! Turn back by the way we
+have come! For our fleet numbers but eleven keels, while our foes have
+fully two score of dragons!"
+
+The king stood on the lypting of the Long Serpent as he heard these
+tidings. He turned to his mariners.
+
+"Down with the sails! Out with the oars!" he cried with a loud voice
+that could be clearly heard across the waters; and the men quickly
+obeyed.
+
+Still holding the tiller, Olaf kept his ship's prow ahead as before.
+
+"Never yet have I fled from a battle," he called out to Thorkel Nefja.
+"And although Sweyn Fork Beard had thrice two score of warships, I
+would rather fight him than turn tail like a coward hound. God rules
+over the lives of all Christian men, and why should we fear to
+encounter King Sweyn and all his heathens? Let our cry be 'Onward,
+Christ men; onward, Cross men!'"
+
+Now when the Long Serpent, sweeping quickly along with all oars at
+work, came nigh to her companions, Olaf saw that Earl Sigvaldi and his
+vikings had passed on beyond the cape, while his own captains had
+turned their prows about and were rowing back against the current.
+
+"Why do ye take to flight?" roared Olaf in an angry voice of thunder.
+"Never will I fly from any earthly enemy. He is no worthy king who
+shuns his foes because of fear. Reverse your ships and follow the Long
+Serpent, be it to glory or to death!"
+
+And now, taking the lead, he arrayed his ships in order, with the Short
+Serpent and the Crane together in his immediate wake, and his eight
+other longships following close behind. Proudly, and with all his
+banners flying, he sailed into the bay. Before him, at about a mile's
+distance, he saw the seventy warships of his foes. Their vast number
+and their compact battle array might well have struck fear into the
+heart of one who had but eleven galleys at his back. But not for an
+instant did Olaf Triggvison shrink from the unequal encounter. He
+brought his vessels to a halt, but it was not from hesitation. It was
+only that, taken wholly unawares, he had need to prepare for the coming
+battle. Taking down his great war horn from the mast, he blew a
+resounding blast. His warriors understood the call, and they hastily
+donned their armour, brought their arrows and spears on deck and stood
+at their stations with a readiness which showed how well their royal
+master had trained them.
+
+Olaf himself went below into his cabin. He knelt for a time before the
+crucifix in silent prayer, and then, with his stout heart well prepared
+for all that might happen to him, put on his finest armour and returned
+to the deck.
+
+As he stood beside his fluttering banner--a snow white banner with its
+blood red cross--he could easily be distinguished from all who were
+near him. His tall majestic figure was crowned with a crested helmet of
+pure gold. Over his well wrought coat of mail he wore a short tunic of
+scarlet silk. His shield, with its jewelled image of the crucified
+Christ shone in the sunlight and could be distinctly seen by his
+awaiting foes.
+
+Some of his companions warned him of the danger of thus exposing
+himself and making himself a mark for his enemies. But he answered
+proudly that he wished all men, both friends and foes, to see that he
+shunned no danger.
+
+"The more I am seen," he said, "and the less fear I show in the battle,
+the more shall I inspire my brave friends with confidence and my foes
+with fear and terror."
+
+As he spoke, he saw that King Sweyn with his ships was rowing slowly
+out into the mid bay to meet him, leaving two detachments in his rear.
+There was no sign of haste on board of any one of the ships, for all
+men knew that there was a long day's fight before them, and that it was
+well to make all their preparations with slow caution.
+
+For some time after he had come on deck King Olaf was more intent upon
+observing his enemies than in arraying his own small armament. He had
+seen from the first that it would be his place to assume the defensive,
+and he had given the order for his ships to be drawn up in line,
+broadside to broadside.
+
+This order was being carried out as he now stood watching the advance
+of his enemy's battle.
+
+"Who is the captain of the host now drawing up against us?" he asked of
+Bersi the Strong, one of his chieftains who stood near him. "By the
+standard on his prow methinks I should know him well."
+
+"King Sweyn of the Forkedbeard it is, with his forces from Denmark,"
+was Bersi's answer.
+
+"That is even as I thought," returned Olaf. "But we are not afraid of
+those cowards, for no more courage is there in Danes than in wood
+goats. Never yet were Danes victorious over Norsemen, and they will not
+vanquish us today. But what chief flies the standards to the right?"
+
+"Those, lord, are the standards of Olaf the Swede King."
+
+"The son of Queen Sigrid the Haughty stands in need of a little
+practice in warfare," said Olaf. "But for the harm that he can do us,
+he might well have stayed at home. And his heathen Sweden, I think,
+would find it more agreeable to sit at the fireside and lick their
+sacrificial bowls than to board the Long Serpent under the rain of our
+weapons. We need not fear the horse eating Swedes. But who owns those
+fine ships to the left of the Danes? A gallant man he must be, for his
+men are far better arrayed than the rest and much bolder of aspect in
+all ways."
+
+"Earl Erik Hakonson is the owner of them," answered Bersi.
+
+"He is the noblest champion who will fight against us today," said
+Olaf, "and from him and the high born men that I see upon his decks we
+may expect a hard battle. Earl Erik has just cause for attacking us,
+and we must not forget that he and his crews are Norsemen like
+ourselves. Now let us make ready!"
+
+Then the king turned to his own ships. The eleven dragons had been
+ranged side by side as he had ordered, with the Long Serpent in the
+middle and the Crane and the Short Serpent at either side of her. To
+right and to left of each of these four ships were placed. This was a
+very small force, compared with the overwhelming numbers of the enemy,
+and as Olaf glanced along his line he sorely missed the fifty of his
+fleet that had gone out to seaward. Nevertheless he did not allow his
+men to see that he was in any way anxious.
+
+The seamen were now lashing the ships together stem by stem. Olaf saw
+that they were tying the beak of the Long Serpent on a level with the
+other prows, so that her poop stood out far behind. He called out
+loudly to Ketil the Tall:
+
+"Bring forward the large ship. Let her prow and not her stern stand
+out. I will not lie behind my men when the battle begins!"
+
+Then Wolf the Red, his standard bearer, whose station was forward in
+the bow, mumbled a complaint:
+
+"If the Serpent shall lie as far forward as she is longer than your
+other ships, then there will be windy weather today in her bows."
+
+The King answered: "I had the Serpent built longer than other ships, so
+that she might be put forward more boldly in battle, and be well known
+in fighting as in sailing. But when I chose her crew, I did not know
+that I was appointing a stem defender who was both red and adread."
+
+This playful taunt ruffled Red Wolf, who replied insolently: "There
+need be nothing said, lord, if you will guard the poop as well as I
+shall guard the forecastle."
+
+The king had a bow in his hand. He laid an arrow on the string and
+turned it on Wolf, who cried:
+
+"Shoot another way, king, and not at me but at your foes, for what I
+win in the fight I win for Norway, and maybe you will find that you
+have not over many men before the evening comes."
+
+The king lowered the arrow and did not shoot. When the men had finished
+lashing the ships together he again took his war horn and blew a loud
+blast upon it that echoed and re-echoed along the rocky shores of the
+island. As he turned to put the horn aside he saw that Queen Thyra,
+alarmed by the growing tumult, had come up on deck.
+
+She looked out upon the bay, and seeing the enormous hostile fleet that
+was closing in upon Olaf's diminished force she burst into tears.
+
+Olaf went to her side and laid his hand on her shoulder.
+
+"You must not weep," he said gently. "Come, dry your tears; for now you
+have gotten what was due to you in Wendland; and today I mean to demand
+of your brother Sweyn the tooth gift which you have so often asked me
+for."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI: THE BATTLE IN SVOLD SOUND.
+
+
+King Olaf stood on the poop deck of the Long Serpent, a conspicuous
+figure among his fighting men, with his gold wrought helm towering high
+above the others' heads. From this position he could survey the
+movements of his foes, command the actions of his own shipmen, and
+direct the defence. From this place also he could fire his arrows and
+fling his spears over the heads of his Norsemen. His quivers were
+filled with picked arrows, and he had near him many racks of javelins.
+The larger number of his chosen chiefs--as Kolbiorn Stallare, Thorfinn
+the Dashing, Ketil the Tall, and Thorstein Oxfoot--had their stations
+forward on the forecastle deck or in the "close quarters" nearer the
+prow. These stood ready with their spears and swords to resist
+boarders, and they were protected by the shield men, who were ranged
+before them at the bulwarks with their shields locked together. At
+various points of vantage groups of archers had been placed, the best
+marksmen being stationed before the mast, where no rigging or cordage
+would mar their aim. At this part stood Einar Eindridson throughout the
+whole battle. Loud and shrill sounded the war horns from both sides.
+Nearer and nearer King Sweyn of Denmark drew onward to the attack. The
+wind had fallen, the sea was calm; the sun hung hot and glaring in a
+cloudless sky, flashing on burnished helmet and gilded dragon head.
+King Olaf's prows were pointed towards the north, so that the enemy as
+they came down upon him had the strong midday sunlight in their eyes.
+King Sweyn Fork Beard opened his attack with a shower of arrows
+directed at the stem defenders of the Long Serpent. King Olaf's archers
+at once replied in like manner. This exchange of arrows was continued
+without ceasing while Sweyn's ships came onward at their fullest speed.
+Then, as the Danes drew yet closer under the Norsemen's prows, arrows
+gave place to javelins and spears, which were hurled with unerring aim
+from side to side.
+
+Sweyn's men turned their stems towards both bows of the Long Serpent,
+as she stood much further forward than any others of Olaf's ships. Many
+who could not approach this coveted position turned their attention to
+the Short Serpent and the Crane. And now the battle raged fiercely. Yet
+the Norsemen stood firm as a wall of rock, while the Danes, assailed by
+a heavy rain of spears and arrows from the Serpent's decks, began to
+lose heart ere ever a man of them was able to make his way through the
+close bulwark of shields. Olaf's prows were so lofty that they could
+not be scaled, while the defenders, from their higher stand, had full
+command over their foes. Thrand Squint Eye and Ogmund Sandy were the
+first of the Norsemen to fall. These two leapt down upon the deck of
+King Sweyn's dragon, where, after a tough hand to hand fight, in which
+they vanquished nine of the Dane King's foremost warriors, they were
+slain. Kolbiorn Stallare was very angry at these two having broken the
+ranks, and he gave the order that none of the Norsemen were to attempt
+to board the enemy's ships without express command.
+
+Sweyn's ship lay under the larboard bow of the Serpent, and Wolf the
+Red had thrown out grappling hooks, holding her there. She was a
+longship, of twenty banks of oars, and her crew were the pick of all
+the warmen of Denmark. Sharp and fierce was the fight at this side, and
+great was the carnage. While Kolbiorn and others of Olaf's stem
+defenders kept up an incessant battle with their javelins and swords,
+King Olaf and his archers shot their arrows high in air so that they
+fell in thick rain upon the Danish decks. Yet the Danes, and the Swedes
+from the rear, were not slow to retaliate. Although they found it
+impossible to board the Serpent, they nevertheless could assail her
+crowded decks with arrows and well aimed spears, and the Norsemen fell
+in great numbers. In the meantime Sweyn's other ships--not one of which
+was larger than the smallest of King Olaf's eleven dragons--made a
+vigorous onset upon Olaf's left and right wings. The Norsemen fought
+with brave determination, and as one after another of the Dane ships
+was cleared of men it was drawn off to the rear, and its place was
+occupied by yet another ship, whose warriors, fresh and eager, renewed
+the onset. All along Olaf's line there was not one clear space, not a
+yard's breadth of bulwark unoccupied by fighting men. The air was
+filled with flying arrows and flashing spears and waving swords. The
+clang of the weapons upon the metal shields, the dull thud of blows,
+the wild shouts of the warriors and cries of the wounded, mingled
+together in a loud vibrating murmur. To Earl Sigvaldi, who lay with his
+ships apart at the far end of the bay, it sounded like the humming of
+bees about a hive. Not only at the prows, but also behind at the sterns
+of Olaf's compact host, did the Danes attempt to board. The Norsemen,
+indeed, were completely surrounded by their foemen. King Olaf fought
+from the poop deck of the Serpent with no less vigour than did Kolbiorn
+and his stem defenders at the prow. He assailed each ship as it
+approached with showers of well directed arrows. Then, as the stem of
+one of the Danish longships crashed into his vessel's stern, he dropped
+his longbow and caught up his spears, one in either hand, and hurled
+them into the midst of his clamouring foes. Time after time he called
+to his followers, and led them with a fierce rush down upon the enemy's
+decks, sweeping all before him. Seven of King Sweyn's vessels did he
+thus clear; and at last no more came, and for a time he had rest. But a
+great cry from the Serpent's forecastle warned him that his stem men
+were having a hard struggle. So he gathered his men together and led
+them forward. Many were armed with battleaxes, others with spears, and
+all with swords. Calling to his shield bearers to make way for him, he
+pressed through the gap and leapt down upon the deck of Sweyn
+Forkbeard's dragon.
+
+"Onward, Christ men, Cross men!" he cried as full three score of his
+bravest warriors followed close at his back. And he cut his way through
+the crowd of Danes, who, led by Sweyn himself, had been making a final
+rally and preparing to board the Serpent. King Sweyn was wounded in the
+right arm by a blow from Kolbiorn's sword. Kolbiorn was about to repeat
+the blow when several of the Danes, retreating aft, crowded between him
+and their king. Sweyn drew back, and crying aloud to his men to follow
+him, turned tail and led them over the bulwarks on to the deck of a
+ship that was alongside of him. This ship, which had not yet been
+secured by the Norsemen's grappling irons, he now withdrew to the
+farther shores of the bay. As he thus retreated from the battle he
+sounded his horns, calling off those of his ships that were not yet
+altogether vanquished. Tired, wounded, and despairing, he owned himself
+no match for Olaf the Glorious. He had made the attack with five and
+forty fully manned warships, and yet all this great force had been as
+nothing against the superior skill and courage of the defenders. Thus
+it befell, as Olaf Triggvison had guessed, that the Danes did not gain
+a victory over the Norsemen. While the Danes were in full retreat the
+Swedes hastened forward to renew the attack. The Swedish king,
+believing that Olaf Triggvison must certainly have suffered terrible
+loss at the hands of the Danes, had the fullest hope that he would take
+very little time in turning the defeat of King Sweyn into a victory for
+himself. He had already, from a distance, kept up an intermittent fire
+of arrows into the midst of the Norse ships, and it may be that he had
+thus helped to reduce King Olaf's strength. He now rowed proudly upon
+the left wing of the Norse fleet. Here he divided his own forces,
+sending one division to an attack upon Olaf's prows, and himself rowing
+round to the rear. Many of the disabled Dane ships barred his way, but
+he at last brought his own longship under the poop of the Long Serpent.
+This interval had given the Norsemen a brief respite in which to clear
+their disordered decks and refresh themselves with welcome draughts of
+cooling water which their chief ordered to be served round.
+
+Vain were the Swede king's hopes. When he advanced upon the Serpent
+Olaf Triggvison was ready to meet him, refreshed by his brief rest,
+unwounded still, and with his warlike spirit burning eager within him.
+
+"Let us not lose courage at the sight of these heathen devourers of
+horse flesh!" he cried as he rallied his men. "Onward, my brave
+Christians! It is for Christ's faith that we fight today. Christ's
+cross against Thor's hammer! Christian against pagan!"
+
+Then, when the anchors and grappling hooks were fastened upon the Swede
+king's ship, Olaf hastened to the rail and assailed her men first with
+javelin and long spear, and then with sword. So high was the Serpent's
+poop above the other's stem that the Norsemen had to bring their
+weapons to bear right down below the level of their sandalled feet, and
+whenever the Swedish soldiers, emboldened by seeing an occasional gap
+in King Olaf's ranks, tried to climb on board, they were hewn down or
+thrown back into the sea.
+
+At last Olaf of Sweden came forward with a strong body of swordsmen and
+axemen, intent upon being the first of the three hostile princes to
+plant his foot on the deck of the Long Serpent. Olaf Triggvison saw him
+approaching, and again calling his Norsemen to follow him, he leapt
+over the rail and landed on the enemy's deck. The son of Queen Sigrid
+stood still on his forecastle. His face suddenly blanched, but he
+gripped his sword, ready to encounter Norway's king. Here the two Olafs
+met and crossed swords, and a desperate duel ensued. Scarcely had they
+made half a dozen passes when Olaf Triggvison, with a quick movement of
+his wrist, struck his opponent's sword from his grasp and it fell on
+the deck.
+
+"Too bold is Queen Sigrid's son," cried Olaf, "if he thinks to board
+the Long Serpent. Now have I got you in my power and might put an end
+to you and your worship of heathen idols. But never shall it be said
+that Olaf Triggvison struck down a foe who was unarmed. Pick up your
+blade, proud King of the Swedes, and let us see who is the better man,
+you or I."
+
+So when Swedish Olaf stood again on guard, the two crossed swords once
+more.
+
+"Now will I avenge the insult you offered my mother!" cried Olaf
+Sigridson, "and you who struck her on the cheek with your glove shall
+be struck dead with a weapon of well tempered steel instead of foxskin."
+
+"Guard well your head," returned Triggvison, "lest I knock off your
+helmet. The man who taught you the use of the sword might have been
+better employed, for in truth he has taught you very little."
+
+"He has taught me enough to enable me to slay such a man as you!" cried
+the Swede, gathering his strength for a mighty blow.
+
+"That remains to be proved," retorted Olaf Triggvison. "Wait! you have
+got the wrong foot foremost!"
+
+But without heeding, the Swede king brought down his sword with a great
+sweep, aiming at Olaf Triggvison's head. As with a lightning flash Olaf
+raised his sword to meet the blow. His opponent's blade was broken in
+two halves, while at the same moment he fell severely wounded upon the
+deck.
+
+"Swedish sword blades are good," said Olaf Triggvison, "but the swords
+of the Norsemen are better."
+
+He thought that he had made an end of the King of Sweden. But some of
+the Swedish soldiers who had been watching the duel rushed forward,
+and, raising their fallen king, carried him off on board another of his
+ships, while Olaf Triggvison went aft along the crowded decks, and men
+fell beneath his blows, as the ripe grain falls before the mower's
+scythe. It happened to the Swedes, as to the Danes, that
+notwithstanding their superior numbers they found that they were ill
+matched in skill and prowess with the Norsemen. Their picked champions
+were speedily killed or wounded, their best ships were disabled, and
+although they had indeed reduced Olaf Triggvison's forces by about
+half, yet they had not succeeded in boarding any one of his ships, much
+less in carrying any of them off as prizes. As King Sweyn had
+retreated, so did King Olaf of Sweden. His ships were called off from
+the combat and withdrawn out of range of the Norsemen's arrows. He had
+won no fame by his daring attack, but only ignominious defeat, and he
+was fain to escape alive, albeit very badly wounded.
+
+Thus Olaf Triggvison had made both the Danes and the Swedes take to
+flight, and it had all befallen as he had said.
+
+And now it must be told how Earl Erik Hakonson fared in that fight.
+True to the agreement which he and the two allied kings had come to
+over their dice throwing on the morning of that same fateful day, he
+had stood apart from the battle while Sweyn had vainly striven to make
+a prize of the Long Serpent; and during the midday and until the
+retreat of King Sweyn he had engaged no more in the conflict than to
+direct his arrows from afar into the thick of Olaf Triggvison's host.
+Now, Earl Erik was wise in warfare, and a man of keen judgment. He had
+fought with his father in the great battle against Sigvaldi and the
+vikings of Jomsburg, and from what he had seen on that day of Olaf
+Triggvison's prowess, and from what he had since heard of Olaf's
+warfare in England and other lands, he had made a very true estimate of
+the man who now fought in defence of the Long Serpent. He had also seen
+Sweyn Forkbeard in the thick of battle, and Olaf of Sweden no less. He
+was, therefore, well able to judge that neither the king of the Danes
+nor the king of the Swedes was capable of overcoming so brave and
+mighty a warrior as the king of the Norsemen, or of wresting the Long
+Serpent from the man who had built her and who knew so well how to
+defend his own. Pride in his own countryman may have had some share in
+the forming of this opinion. But Earl Erik had fought against the men
+of every land in Scandinavia. He had a firm belief that the men of
+Norway were braver and bolder, stronger in body, more skilful in the
+use of their weapons, and had greater powers of endurance than any of
+their neighbours. And it may be that in this he was right. He at least
+saw cause for thinking that the only men who could succeed in
+vanquishing King Olaf's Norsemen were the Norsemen of Earl Erik
+Hakonson. Earl Erik's vikings and berserks, eagerly watching the fray,
+had seen how the Danish ships had one after another been driven off,
+disabled and defeated. They had watched every movement of the tall and
+splendid form of the Norse king as he fought in his shining armour and
+his bright red tunic on the Serpent's lypting. For a time they had not
+been certain whether Olaf Triggvison was at the stem or on the poop of
+his great dragonship, for it was seen that at each of these important
+points there was a tall chief whose prowess and whose attire alike
+distinguished him from all other men; and these two champions so
+resembled one the other that it was not easy to tell which was Kolbiorn
+Stallare and which King Olaf. But Earl Erik had not a moment's doubt.
+He would have known Olaf Triggvison had a score of such men as Kolbiorn
+been at his side. Earl Erik was the eldest son of the evil Earl Hakon
+who had fled from Thrandheim at the time of Olaf's coming into Norway,
+and been slain while taking refuge at the farmstead of Rimul, and Erik
+had naturally hoped that on his father's death he would succeed to the
+throne. Olaf Triggvison had shattered all his plans of future glory;
+and during the five years that had already passed of King Olaf's reign
+he thirsted for such an opportunity as now presented itself, not only
+of avenging his father's death but also, it might be, of placing
+himself upon the throne of Norway. His only uneasiness at the present
+moment arose from his fear lest King Olaf should be overcome in the
+battle ere he had himself encountered him face to face and hand to hand.
+
+While the King of Sweden and his forces were engaged with their attack
+upon Olaf's centre of battle, Earl Erik adopted a plan which, although
+seemingly more hopeless, was in the end more successful than any that
+had yet been attempted by either the Danes or the Swedes. He saw that
+while the Long Serpent continued to be supported on either side by five
+strong and well manned dragonships she was practically unassailable.
+Her poop and her prow were the only points of her hull that were
+exposed, and these towered so high above the bulwarks of all other
+vessels that to attempt to board her was both useless and dangerous.
+Herein lay the secret of Olaf's successful defence, the proof of his
+forethought and wisdom in building the Serpent so much larger and
+higher than all other vessels in his fleet. Earl Erik, indeed, had
+observed that every ship that had approached her, either fore or aft,
+had been in its turn completely cleared of men or forced to withdraw
+out of the conflict.
+
+Urging his rowers to their fullest speed, Erik bore down with his ships
+upon the extreme of King Olaf's right wing. The heavy, iron bound bow
+of the Ram crashed into the broadside of Olaf's outermost longship,
+whose timber creaked and groaned under the impact. Vikings and berserks
+leapt down upon her decks, and now Norseman met Norseman in a terrible,
+deadly combat. The king's men were well nigh exhausted with the long
+day's fighting under the hot sun; their bronzed faces streamed with
+perspiration, their limbs moved wearily. But, however, tired and
+thirsty they were, they could give themselves no respite. Every man
+that fell or was disabled by wounds left a gap in the ranks that could
+not be filled. The earl's men were fresh and vigorous; they had waited
+for hours for their chief's orders to enter the fray, and now that
+those orders had been given to them they fought with hot fury, yelling
+their battle cries and cutting down their foemen with ponderous axe and
+keen edged sword.
+
+So fierce was the onslaught that many of Olaf's men, for the first time
+that day, fell back in fear and clambered over the bulwarks of the next
+ship. Very soon the decks of the first longship were completely cleared
+of defenders. Then Earl Erik backed out with the Iron Ram, while the
+seamen on his other ships cut away the lashings that had bound Olaf's
+outermost vessel to her neighbour, and drew the conquered craft away
+into the rear, leaving the next ship exposed.
+
+Again Earl Erik advanced with the Ram and crashed as before into the
+exposed broadside of the outermost ship. As before, the vikings leapt
+on board and renewed the onset. Five of the viking ships lay with their
+high prows overshadowing the broadside bulwarks, and their men swarmed
+and clamoured upon the decks from stem to stern, clearing all before
+them. Again the lashings were cut and the conquered longship was
+withdrawn.
+
+Two of King Olaf's dragons had now been captured by Earl Erik. It was
+not very long ere yet two others followed; and then the Short Serpent
+was exposed, even as her four companions had been. At this juncture
+Earl Erik paused, for he saw that Thorkel Nefja's decks were densely
+crowded with men who had retreated from vessel to vessel before the
+onslaught of the vikings. With the caution which long years of viking
+work had taught him, the earl decided that the Short Serpent might best
+be assailed by means of arrows, fired from a safe distance, until her
+numbers had been sufficiently diminished to warrant his attacking her
+at closer quarters. So he arrayed six of his ships near hand and set
+his archers to work, and for a long while this method of assault was
+continued.
+
+There was no lack of arrows on the Short Serpent, or indeed, on any
+other of King Olaf's battleships. But it was noticed by the earl's
+vikings that the larger number of the shafts that were shot at them by
+the defenders were of Danish or Swedish make, and by this it was judged
+that the king's men were using the arrows that had been fired upon them
+by their enemies.
+
+Leaving his six ships where he had stationed them, Earl Erik now rowed
+the Iron Ram round to the left wing of Olaf Triggvison's array. Four of
+his best longships followed him. He passed astern of the king's fleet.
+As he rowed by under the poop of the Long Serpent he saw the majestic
+figure of the King of Norway, looking brilliant in gold and scarlet as
+he stood in flood of the afternoon sunlight, sword in hand and shield
+at breast. The eyes of the two bravest of Norse warriors met. Waving
+his sword in mock salute, Earl Erik cried aloud:
+
+"Short will be Olaf's shrift when Erik boards the Long Serpent!"
+
+King Olaf saw that near to where Erik stood, on the Iron Ram's forward
+deck, the image of the god Thor was raised, and he cried aloud in
+answer:
+
+"Never shall Erik board the Serpent while Thor dwells in his stem!"
+
+"A wise soothsayer is the king," said Earl Erik to one of his warriors
+as he passed onward astern of the Crane. "And I have been thinking,
+ever since this battle began that the great luck of Olaf may be due to
+that sign of the cross that we see on all his banners and shields.
+Often have I felt a wish to turn Christian, for it seems to me that all
+Christian men have something noble and honest about them--a greatness
+which we heathens can never achieve. Now do I swear upon the hilt of my
+sword"--he raised his sword hilt to his lips--"that if I win this
+battle and take the Long Serpent for my prize I will straightway allow
+myself to be christened. And, to begin with, I will have that image of
+Thor thrown overboard into the sea. It is ill made and cumbrous, and a
+figure of the cross will take less room in our stem and bring us more
+luck withal."
+
+So speaking, Earl Erik stepped forward and, gripping the idol in his
+strong arms, flung it over the bulwark. Then he lashed two spars
+together, a long plank crossed with a shorter one, and raised this
+rough made crucifix high in the stem of the Iron Ram. By this time his
+vessel had passed beyond the extreme of King Olaf's left wing. He bade
+his rowers stop their rowing on the starboard side. They did so, and
+the ship turned about. Then at fullest speed he bore down upon the
+king's outermost dragon, crashed into her side and renewed his
+onslaught.
+
+Erik dealt with the left wing as he had done with the right, and one
+after another of the four ships was cleared and unlashed. And now the
+Long Serpent lay with only two companions, the Short Serpent at her
+starboard and the Crane at her larboard side.
+
+Already the Short Serpent was greatly crippled. Her commander, Thorkel
+Nefja, had fallen, and the larger number of her men had retreated on
+board of Olaf's ship, driven thither by the vikings of the six vessels
+that were now ranged close against her. Earl Erik now made a vigorous
+attack upon the Crane. He boarded her with a vast crowd of his vikings.
+On the mid deck he encountered her captain, Thorkel the Wheedler, and
+the two engaged in a sharp hand to hand fight. Regardless of his own
+life, Thorkel fought with savage fury. He knew how much depended upon
+his preventing Erik from boarding the king's ship. But he had already
+received a severe wound from a javelin across the fingers of his right
+hand, and he was full weary from the heat and long fighting. His
+assailant speedily overcame him, and he fell, calling upon God to save
+the king. As Thorkel had fought, so fought his men--desperately,
+furiously, but yet weakly, and at last both the Crane and the Short
+Serpent were cleared; their lashings were unfastened, they were
+withdrawn to the rear, and King Olaf's great dragonship stood alone
+among her foes.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII: THE DEFENCE OF THE "LONG SERPENT"
+
+
+The sun was sinking lower and lower to the sea; light clouds were
+gathering in the western sky. But there would yet be three hours of
+daylight, and Earl Erik deemed that this would be ample time in which
+to win the Long Serpent. His own decks were thickly strewn with dead;
+his men were weary and athirst, and he saw need for a respite from
+fighting, if only for a very brief while. Also he saw on coming nearer
+to King Olaf's ship that it would be no easy matter to win on board of
+her; for the Iron Ram was but a third of her length, and her highest
+bulwarks reached only to a level with the oar holes in the Serpent's
+wales.
+
+Erik blew his horns for a short truce. His ships were drawn off, and
+for a time the battle ceased. In this interval the combatants on both
+sides rested themselves and took food and drink. King Olaf had his
+decks cleared of the dead, sent the wounded below into the shelter of
+the holds, and arrayed his men anew. He was himself unwounded still,
+but his silken tunic was tattered, so that the links of his coat of
+mail showed through. His helmet was battered by the many spears and
+swords that had struck upon it, and his shield bristled with broken
+arrows.
+
+When he had freshened himself and got together a new supply of arrows
+and spears, he mounted to the poop deck, and there, standing in the
+sunlight, looked around the bay. The water was strewn with wreckage, an
+arrow floated on every wave. Small boats had been put out to pick up
+the men who had fallen, or been thrust overboard from the ships. All
+was silent now, save for the suppressed cries of the wounded and the
+hoarse voices of the chiefs who were giving rapid orders to their men
+for the renewal of the fight.
+
+Earl Erik's ships, among which there were also some of the Swedes and
+Danes, stood off from the Serpent at a distance of an easy arrow's
+flight. They surrounded the Serpent like a pack of eager wolves held at
+bay; and the most eager of all men there present was Earl Erik.
+
+When he had prepared his men he said to a chief who stood near
+him--Thorkel the High, it was, brother of Earl Sigvaldi:
+
+"Many fierce battles have I fought; but never before have I found men
+equally brave and so skilled in warfare as the men fighting for King
+Olaf today; nor have I ever seen a ship so hard to win as the Long
+Serpent. Now, as you are one of the wisest of men, Thorkel, give me the
+best advice you know as to how that great ship may be won."
+
+"I cannot give you sure advice," Thorkel answered: "but I can say what
+seems to me the best; and I would say that you would do well, when we
+presently come alongside, to take heavy timbers or such like weighty
+things, and let them fall across the gunwale of the Serpent, so that
+the ship will lean over. You will then find it easier to board her, for
+she will be brought down by the weight to a level with our own
+bulwarks."
+
+"The advice is good," said Erik, "and I will follow it."
+
+As he spoke, there came the loud blast of King Olaf's war horns,
+calling to his foes to come on.
+
+The Iron Ram, and other ships, to the number of fifteen, then closed in
+about the Serpent, and, as they advanced, the archers on their decks
+opened battle by shooting their arrows high in air, so that they fell
+into the midst of Olaf's men in an unremitting shower. Olaf's warriors,
+one and all, raised their shields above their heads and held them there
+while the rain of shafts pattered upon them with a loud drumming noise
+that could be heard far across the bay. Many of the men were killed and
+many more wounded by this terrible hail, and when at length the
+shooting ceased, every shield was found to be closely bristled with
+arrows.
+
+Earl Erik bore down upon the Serpent with the Iron Ram, whose heavy
+stem struck her amidships with tremendous force, so that the men on her
+decks were thrown off their feet. The good ship creaked in all her
+beams, but no great damage was done. Erik shipped his oars and drew his
+vessel close alongside, and at once his men began to heave great planks
+and logs of wood over the Serpent's gunwale. In this work they were
+speedily stopped, for Olaf's spearmen and archers on the deck of the
+foreroom assailed them with their weapons in such wise that they dared
+not continue. Not to be outdone, Erik had all his long oars brought on
+deck, and with these he made a bridge from the top of his foreroom
+across to the Serpent's gunwale. In this work he lost many of his men,
+who were shot down by Einar Eindridson and others of the king's best
+marksmen. But a gangway was made, nevertheless, and the chief
+difficulty was surmounted.
+
+Not yet did Earl Erik attempt to board King Olaf's dragon. He sent many
+of his best men on board, armed with axe and sword. Most of them
+crossed the gangway to certain death; but many of the king's men also
+fell, both from wounds and from sheer exhaustion. It was amidships that
+the toughest fighting went on, and it was here that the larger number
+of the defenders met their death. But at the foreroom and the stem of
+the Serpent the fray was also of the fiercest. Company after company of
+the vikings clambered on board, for so fully were the king's men
+occupied in guarding their own lives that they could give little heed
+to their foes, who seemed to come from every point, not only from the
+Iron Ram, but also from other ships that were now drawn close in
+against the Serpent's hull. For every viking or Dane or Swede who fell,
+there were ten ready to take his place. The clang of weapons was now at
+its highest. Spears and arrows flew in the midst, not aimed at random,
+but each at its own particular mark, and each carrying death on its
+keen point.
+
+King Olaf, surrounded by a burg of shields, flung his spears and shot
+his arrows with untiring vigour; but often he paused to watch how the
+battle fared or to give some new order to his men. He saw that his stem
+defenders were quickly becoming fewer and fewer, and that those who yet
+remained wielded their weapons with slow and heavy strokes. In a
+momentary lull of the conflict he left his own post and went forward.
+
+"Why do you raise your weapons so slowly?" he cried. "I see they do not
+bite!"
+
+Bersi the Strong replied: "Our swords are both dull and broken, lord."
+
+The king then went into the foreroom, unlocked the high seat chest and
+took therefrom many bright and sharp swords which he carried out in his
+arms and put down among his men. As he bent over the weapons and picked
+out a very fine one to give to Bersi the Strong, Kolbiorn saw that
+blood flowed out of the sleeve of his coat of mail. Others saw the
+blood; but no one knew where the king was wounded. Then Olaf strode
+back to the lypting deck and once more surveyed the battle from on
+high. He saw that his stem defenders, to whom he had served new
+weapons, had now become so furious that they leapt upon the gunwales in
+order to reach their foes with their swords and kill them. But many of
+Earl Erik's ships did not lie so close to the Serpent as to afford any
+hand to hand fighting. The vikings were still cautious of Olaf's
+champions. Still, many of the king's men thought of nothing but going
+constantly forward, and in their eagerness and daring they seemed to
+forget that they were not on dry land. They went straight overboard,
+and several sank down with their weapons between the ships. Olaf was
+very angry at their want of care, for he now deemed every man of more
+value than ten had been at the beginning of the battle. Nevertheless,
+it was easy to see that the greater loss was on the side of Earl Erik.
+Olaf's archers and spearmen dealt such destruction that the victory for
+Norway seemed to become more possible with every moment.
+
+Now Earl Erik had found very soon that his gangway of oars was by no
+means satisfactory, because while his men were crossing they became so
+fully exposed to King Olaf's marksmen that of every three who started
+only one succeeded in gaining a foothold on the Serpent's deck. Many
+hundreds of men--vikings, Swedes, and Danes--lost their lives on this
+bridge. So when Erik saw that King Olaf was gaining the upper hand of
+him he got his berserks to take down the oars and to fling them over
+the Serpent's nearer gunwale, together with all logs of wood, spars,
+ballast stones, and other weighty things that could be found. And as
+the weight increased so did the Serpent lean over, until at last her
+bulwarks were almost on a level with those of the Iron Ram.
+
+While the vikings were at this work a constant rain of arrows and
+javelins was showered upon them by King Olaf himself and his marksmen
+on the poop, and as Erik saw his best men falling he half repented
+having taken them from the fight. But when the great obstacle that had
+baffled him so long was overcome, he rallied his vikings, and placing
+himself at their head, led them on board the Serpent. And now ensued
+one of the sharpest combats that had been seen that day.
+
+Olaf's voice sounded loud above the tumult, calling to his chiefs in
+the bow to leave their station and resist the boarders in the waist.
+Wolf the Red, Ogmund Sandy, and Thrand Squinteye had already fallen,
+and Ketil the Tall and Vikar of Tiundaland had been sent below
+seriously wounded. But there still remained Kolbiorn Stallare,
+Thorstein Oxfoot, Bersi the Strong, and Thorfinn the Dashing; and these
+champions gathered a score of men about them, and hastening aft to the
+midships deck, turned against Earl Erik and made a very hard resistance.
+
+Bersi the Strong encountered the earl hand to hand, their swords
+clashed, a few blows were exchanged and dexterously guarded; then Bersi
+fell. Thorfinn the Dashing took his place, and while the earl and he
+were fighting their hardest, Thorstein Oxfoot and Kolbiorn engaged with
+four of the earl's vikings. Kolbiorn felled two of them and turned to a
+third. Then Thorstein Oxfoot's sword was struck from his hand.
+Thorstein doubled his fist and struck his opponent on the cheek. The
+viking stumbled, and Thorstein snatched up the half of a broken oar and
+wielding it above his head rushed among the vikings, belabouring them
+right and left. When King Olaf saw this he called aloud to Thorstein in
+a loud voice of command:
+
+"Take your weapons, man, and defend yourself with them fairly. Weapons,
+and not fists or timber, are meant for men to fight with in battle!"
+
+Thorstein then recovered his sword and fought valiantly.
+
+There was still a most fierce fight going on between the earl's men and
+Olaf's champions. Kolbiorn vanquished the third viking he had engaged
+with, while Earl Erik was pressed back and back by Thorfinn the
+Dashing. Then Thorfinn caught sight of King Olaf, and at a sign from
+the king he lowered his blade and drew back a pace. Before Earl Erik
+could understand, a javelin whizzed past his left ear and buried its
+point in the bulwark behind him. He turned to see who had flung the
+javelin and saw King Olaf standing by the poop rail poising a second
+spear. The king flung his weapon, taking good aim; but this spear
+missed its mark as the first had done. King Olaf bit his lip in
+vexation, but as the earl turned quickly to beat a retreat on board the
+Ram, Olaf flung a third javelin after him. It struck the crest of
+Erik's helmet, but did no harm.
+
+"Never before did I thus miss a man!" cried the king as he watched his
+enemy's retreat. "Great is Earl Erik's luck today. It must be God's
+will that he now shall rule in Norway; and that is not strange, for I
+see that he has changed the stem dweller on the Iron Ram. I said today
+that he would not gain victory over us if he had the image of Thor in
+his stem."
+
+Now young Einar Eindridson had by this time taken up his position in
+front of the poop deck, where he found he could command a better sweep
+of the Iron Ram's deck, and so pick off Earl Erik's champions. Einar
+saw the vexation in King Olaf's face, and when he got a good chance he
+levelled his aim against Earl Erik. He drew his bow. The arrow flew
+from the string and went straight to its mark. But in the same instant
+the earl suddenly moved round his head, so that the arrow, meant for
+his bared temple, only grazed his ear.
+
+"Shoot me that tall, beardless youth!" cried the earl, pointing at
+Einar. "Full fifty of our best men has he slain with his arrows this
+day!"
+
+Finn Eyvindson, to whom Erik spoke, aimed an arrow at Einar just as the
+lad was bending his bow for a second shot at the earl. The arrow hit
+Einar's famous bow in the middle and broke it with a loud snap.
+
+"What was it that broke?" asked King Olaf.
+
+Einar answered sadly as he dropped the pieces of his bow:
+
+"Norway from thy hands, my king!"
+
+"So great was not the breach, I hope," King Olaf said. "Take my bow and
+shoot with it instead."
+
+Einar seized the king's bow and straightway drew it right over the
+arrowhead, bending it almost double.
+
+"Too weak, too weak is the king's bow," said he, casting it aside.
+Then, for the first time that day, he took his shield and sword and
+rushed into the fray. No man in all King Olaf's host had slain more men
+in that battle than Einar with his arrows; and now the lad made himself
+no less distinguished with his sword.
+
+Earl Erik presently saw that the sun was sinking nearer and nearer to
+the line of the sea. The number of his men had become woefully small,
+and yet, as he believed, Olaf Triggvison was still unwounded,
+undaunted, and as full of confident hope as he had ever shown himself
+to be. So the earl decided to make one more effort after the victory
+and to risk his all in a final hand to hand encounter with the King of
+the Norsemen. Gathering all his available men together he prepared to
+make a rush upon the Long Serpent's deck.
+
+King Olaf, seeing the earl's design, called his men aft, and ranged
+them in a compact body in front of the poop deck, ready to meet their
+foes.
+
+At the same time Kolbiorn Stallare went up to Olaf's side, and the two,
+so much alike in size and dress, stood shoulder to shoulder, with their
+shields before them and their swords in their hands. A row of shield
+bearers stood in front of them. Then, with wild yells, the vikings, led
+by Earl Erik, rushed upon the mid deck.
+
+As it had been throughout the whole day's battle, so was it now. King
+Olaf's men were greatly outnumbered; it was a conflict of skill and
+endurance against overwhelming odds. This final contest, while it
+lasted, was fierce and terrible. In a short time, however, many of King
+Olaf's champions fell. Brave and strong though they were, they could
+not withstand the furious onslaught of the ambitious and valiant Earl
+Erik. For a moment Olaf Triggvison was tempted to rush down and join
+the poor remnant of his men. He pressed forward to the stairs; but
+Kolbiorn Stallare drew him back.
+
+"Wait, lord!" he cried; and then he whispered in Olaf's ear, and they
+both strode slowly aft to the rail. Here King Olaf turned and spoke to
+one of the shield bearers.
+
+"How many of our men now remain?" he asked.
+
+The man counted.
+
+"Twelve are still left," he answered.
+
+In a little while the king repeated his question.
+
+"There are now but six," was the answer.
+
+And then there came the sound of hurried feet upon the stairs, and
+Einar Eindridson rushed upon the upper deck, followed by three of his
+shipmates, and pursued by Earl Erik and a great crowd of clamouring
+vikings.
+
+"Death to King Olaf!" cried the earl, in a voice which, in the silence
+that suddenly fell upon the ships, could be heard far across the bay.
+In that moment King Olaf and Kolbiorn leapt upon the rail, paused there
+amid the red light of the setting sun, and then, raising their shields
+above their heads, threw themselves over into the sea.
+
+A cry that was half a groan escaped Earl Erik's lips. Flinging his
+sword aside, he went to the rail where King Olaf had stood. He looked
+down into the sea. Shadows were creeping over it. For a moment he saw
+the two swimmers. So much alike were they, each with his flowing gold
+hair, his crested helm, and his tattered red silk tunic, that it was
+impossible to tell which was the king. Presently one disappeared. The
+other was assailed by arrows and spears, but instantly he turned over
+and held his shield above him.
+
+"It is the king! It is Olaf the King!" was the cry and boats were put
+out to rescue him. But Einar Eindridson kept his eyes upon the waves
+until at last, in the midst of a bright beam of sunlight far away he
+saw the shield of King Olaf appear, with its glistening image of the
+holy cross. And when the word went round that the rescued man was
+Kolbiorn Stallare and not the king, the lad pointed outward upon the
+sea and all looked in amaze upon the shining crucifix as it rose and
+fell with the motion of the waves.
+
+The tale is told that the king, as he swam beneath the cover of his
+shield, stripped off his armour and, making his way to the land, went
+away on a pilgrimage to Rome. But the young grew old, and the world
+went on, and never again did King Olaf the Glorious come back to his
+realm in Norway.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Olaf the Glorious, by Robert Leighton
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