CHAPTER SIX.
EVENING IN THE HALL--THE SCALD TELLS OF GUNDALF'S WOOING--THE FEASTINTERRUPTED AND THE WAR CLOUDS THICKEN.
It is necessary now that we should turn backwards a little in our story,to that point where Erling left the hall at Ulfstede to listen to thesad tale of Swart.
Ulf and his friends, not dreaming of the troubles that were hanging overthem, continued to enjoy their evening meal and listen to the songs andstories of the Scald, or to comment upon the doings of King HaraldHaarfager, and the prospects of good or evil to Norway that were likelyto result therefrom.
At the point where we return to the hall, Ulf wore a very clouded browas he sat with compressed lips beside his principal guest. He graspedthe arm of his rude chair with his left hand, while his right held alarge and massive silver tankard. Haldor, on the other hand, was allsmiles and good humour. He appeared to have been attempting to soothethe spirit of his fiery neighbour.
"I tell thee, Ulf, that I have as little desire to see King Haraldsucceed in subduing all Norway as thou hast, but in this world wise menwill act not according to what they wish so much, as according to whatis best. Already the King has won over or conquered most of the smallkings, and it seems to me that the rest will have to follow, whetherthey like it or no. Common sense teaches submission where conquestcannot be."
"And does not patriotism teach that men may die?" said Ulf sternly.
"Aye, when by warring with that end in view anything is to be gained forone's country; but where the result would be, first, the embroiling ofone's district in prolonged bloody and hopeless warfare, and, afterthat, the depriving one's family of its head and of the King's favour,patriotism says that to die would be folly, not wisdom."
"Tush, man; folk will learn to call thee Haldor the Mild. Surely yearsare telling on thee. Was there ever anything in this world worth havinggained without a struggle?"
"Thou knowest, Ulf, that I am not wont to be far from the front whereveror whenever a struggle is thought needful, but I doubt the propriety ofit in the present case. The subject, however, is open to discussion.The question is, whether it would be better for Norway that the kings ofHorlingdal should submit to the conqueror for the sake of the generalgood, or buckle on the sword in the hope of retrieving what is lost.Peace or war--that is the question."
"I say war!" cried Ulf, striking the board so violently with hisclenched fist that the tankards and platters leaped and rang again.
At this a murmur of applause ran round the benches of the friends andhousemen.
"The young blades are ever ready to huzza over their drink at thethought of fighting; but methinks it will not strengthen thy cause much,friend Ulf, thus to frighten the women and spill the ale."
Ulf turned round with a momentary look of anger at this speech. The manwho uttered it was a splendid specimen of a veteran warrior. Hisforehead was quite bald, but from the sides and back of his head floweda mass of luxuriant silky hair which was white as the driven snow. Hisfeatures were eminently firm and masculine, and there was a heartygood-humoured expression about the mouth, and a genial twinkle in hiseyes, especially in the wrinkled corners thereof, that rendered thestout old man irresistibly attractive. His voice was particularly rich,deep, and mellow, like that of a youth, and although his bulky framestooped a little from age, there was enough of his youthful vigour leftto render him a formidable foe, as many a poor fellow had learned to hiscost even in days but recently gone by. He was an uncle of Ulf, and ona visit to the stede at that time. The frown fled from Ulf's brow as helooked in the old man's ruddy and jovial countenance.
"Thanks, Guttorm," said he, seizing his tankard, "thanks for remindingme that grey hairs are beginning to sprinkle my beard; come, let usdrink success to the right, confusion to the wrong! thou canst notrefuse that, Haldor."
"Nay," said Haldor, laughing; "nor will I refuse to fight in thy causeand by thy side, be it right or wrong, when the Thing decides for war."
"Well said, friend! but come, drink deeper. Why, I have taken thee downthree pegs already!" said Ulf, glancing into Haldor's tankard. "Ho!Hilda; fetch hither more ale, lass, and fill--fill to the brim." Thetoast was drunk with right good will by all--from Ulf down to theyoungest house-carle at the lowest end of the great hall.
"And now, Guttorm," continued Ulf, turning to the bluff old warrior,"since thou hast shown thy readiness to rebuke, let us see thywillingness to entertain. Sing us a stave or tell us a saga, kinsman,as well thou knowest how, being gifted with more than a fair share ofthe scald's craft."
The applause with which this proposal was received by the guests andhouse-carles who crowded the hall from end to end proved that they wereaware of Guttorm's gifts, and would gladly hear him. Like a sensibleman he complied at once, without affecting that air of false diffidencewhich is so common among modern songsters and story-tellers.
"I will tell you," said the old man--having previously wet his lips at asilver tankard, which was as bluff and genuine as himself--"of KingGundalf's wooing. Many years have gone by since I followed him onviking cruise, and Gundalf himself has long been feasting in Odin'shall. I was a beardless youth when I joined him. King Gundalf ofOrkedal was a goodly man, stout and brisk, and very strong. He couldleap on his horse without touching stirrup with all his war gear on; hecould fight as well with his left hand as with his right, and hisbattle-axe bit so deep that none who once felt its edge lived to tell ofits weight. He might well be called a Sea-king, for he seldom sleptunder a sooty roof timber. Withal he was very affable to his men,open-hearted, and an extremely handsome man.
"One summer he ordered us to get ready to go on viking cruise. When wewere all a-boun we set sail with five longships and about four hundredmen, and fared away to Denmark, where we forayed and fought a greatbattle with the inhabitants. King Gundalf gained the victory,plundered, wasted, and burned far and wide in the land, and madeenormous booty. He returned with this to Orkedal. Here he found hiswife at the point of death, and soon after she died. Gundalf felt hisloss so much that he had no pleasure in Raumsdal after that. Hetherefore took to his ships and went again a-plundering. We herriedfirst in Friesland, next in Saxland, and then all the way to Flanders;so sings Halfred the scald:--
"`Gundalf's axe of shining steel For the sly wolf left many a meal. The ill-shaped Saxon corpses lay Heap'd up--the witch-wife's horses' prey. She rides by night, at pools of blood, Where Friesland men in daylight stood, Her horses slake their thirst, and fly On to the field where Flemings lie.'"
[Note. Ravens were the witch-wife's horses.]
The old warrior half recited half sang these lines in a rich full voice,and then paused a few seconds, while a slight murmur arose from theearnest listeners around him.
"Thereafter," resumed Guttorm, "we sailed to England, and ravaged farand wide in the land. We sailed all the way north to Northumberland,where we plundered, and thence to Scotland, where we marauded far andwide. Then we went to the Hebrides and fought some battles, and afterthat south to Man, which we herried. We ravaged far around in Ireland,and steered thence to Bretland, which we laid waste with fire andsword--also the district of Cumberland. Then we went to Valland, [thewest coast of France] from which we fared away for the south coast ofEngland, but missed it and made the Scilly Isles. After that we went toIreland again, and came to a harbour, into which we ran--but in afriendly way, for we had as much plunder as our ships could carry.
"Now, while we were there, a summons to a Thing went through thecountry, and when the Thing was assembled, a queen called Gyda came toit. She was a sister of Olaf Quarram, who was King of Dublin. Gyda wasvery wealthy, and her husband had died that year. In the territorythere was a man called Alfin, who was a great champion and single-combatman. He had paid his addresses to Gyda, but she gave for answer thatshe would choose a husband for herself; and on that account the Thingwas assembled, that she might choose a husband. Alfin came theredressed out in his best clothes, and there were many well-dresse
d men atthe meeting. Gundalf and some of his men had gone there also, out ofcuriosity, but we had on our bad-weather clothes, and Gundalf wore acoarse over-garment. We stood apart from the rest of the crowd, Gydawent round and looked at each, to see if any appeared to her a suitableman. Now when she came to where we were standing, she passed most of usby with a glance; but when she passed me, I noticed that she turned halfround and gave me another look, which I have always held was a proof ofher good judgment. However, Gyda passed on, and when she came to KingGundalf she stopped, looked at him straight in the face, and asked whatsort of a man he was.
"He said, `I am called Gundalf, and am a stranger here!'
"Gyda replies, `Wilt thou have me if I choose thee?' He answered, `Iwill not say No to that;' then he asked her what her name was, and herfamily and descent.
"`I am called Gyda,' said she, `and am daughter of the King of Ireland,and was married in this country to an earl who ruled over this district.Since his death I have ruled over it, and many have courted me, butnone to whom I would choose to be married.'
"She was a young and handsome woman. They afterwards talked over thematter together and agreed, and so Gundalf and Gyda were betrothed.
"Alfin was very ill pleased with this. It was the custom there, as itis sometimes here, if two strove for anything, to settle the matter byholm-gang. [Note: or single combat: so called because the combatants inNorway went to a holm, or uninhabited isle, to fight.] And now Alfinchallenged Gundalf to fight about this business. The time and place ofcombat were settled, and it was fixed that each should have twelve men.I was one of the twelve on our side. When we met, Gundalf told us to doexactly as we saw him do. He had a large axe, and went in advance ofus, and when Alfin made a desperate cut at him with his sword, he hewedaway the sword out of his hand, and with the next blow hit Alfin on thecrown with the flat of his axe and felled him. We all met next moment,and each man did his best; but it was hard work, for the Irishmen foughtwell, and two of them cut down two of our men, but one of these Iknocked down, and Gundalf felled the other. Then we bound them allfast, and carried them to Gundalf's lodging. But Gundalf did not wishto take Alfin's life. He ordered him to quit the country and neveragain to appear in it, and he took all his property. In this wayGundalf got Gyda in marriage, and he lived sometimes in England andsometimes in Ireland. Thikskul the scald says in regard to this:--
"`King Gundalf woo'd Queen Gyda fair, With whom no woman could compare, And won her, too, with all her lands, By force of looks and might of hands From Ireland's green and lovely isle He carried off the Queen in style. He made proud Alfin's weapon dull, And flattened down his stupid skull-- This did the bold King Gundalf do When he went o'er the sea to woo.'"
The wholesale robbery and murder which was thus related by the old Norseviking appeared quite a natural and proper state of things in the eyesof all save two of those assembled in the hall, and the saga wasconsequently concluded amid resounding applause. It is to be presumedthat, never having seen or heard of any other course of life, and havingalways been taught that such doings were quite in accordance with thelaws of the land, the consciences of the Northmen did not trouble them.At all events, while we do not for a moment pretend to justify theirdoings, we think it right to point out that there must necessarily havebeen a wide difference between their spirits and feelings, and thespirits and feelings of modern pirates, who know that they aredeliberately setting at defiance the laws of both God and man.
It has been said there were two in the hall at Ulfstede who did notsympathise with the tale of the old warrior. The reader will scarcerequire to be told that one of these was Hilda the Sunbeam. The otherwas Christian the hermit. The old man, although an occasional visitorat the stede, never made his appearance at meal-times, much less at thenightly revels which were held there; but on that day he had arrivedwith important news, just as Guttorm began his story, and would haveunceremoniously interrupted it had not one of the young house-carles,who did not wish to lose the treat, detained him forcibly at the lowerend of the hall until it was ended. The moment he was released thehermit advanced hastily, and told Ulf that from the door of his hut onthe cliff he had observed bands of men hastening in all directions downthe dale.
"Thy news, old man, is no news," said Ulf; "the token for a Thing hasbeen sent out, and it is natural that the bonders should obey thesummons. We expect them. But come, it is not often thou favourest uswith thy company. Sit down by me, and take a horn of mead."
The hermit shook his head.
"I never taste strong liquor. Its tendency is to make wise menfoolish," he said.
"Nay, then, thou wilt not refuse to eat. Here, Hilda, fetch thy frienda platter."
"I thank thee, but, having already supped, I need no more food. I camebut to bring what I deemed news."
"Thou art churlish, old man," exclaimed Ulf angrily; "sit down anddrink, else--"
"Come, come," interrupted Haldor, laying his hand on Ulf's arm, "Let theold man be; he seems to think that he has something worth hearing totell of; let him have his say out in peace."
"Go on," said Ulf gruffly.
"Was the token sent out a baton or a split arrow?" asked the hermit.
"A baton," said Ulf.
"Then why," rejoined the other, "do men come to a peaceful Thing withall their war gear on?"
"What say ye? are they armed?" exclaimed Ulf, starting up. "This mustbe looked to. Ho! my carles all, to arms--"
At that moment there was a bustle at the lower end of the hall, andAlric was seen forcing his way towards Ulf's high seat.
"Father," he said eagerly, addressing Haldor, "short is the hour foracting, and long the hour for feasting."
Haldor cast his eyes upon his son and said--
"What now is in the way?"
"The Danes," said Alric, "are on the fiord--more than six hundred men.Skarpedin leads them. One of them pitched me into the sea, but I markedhis neck to keep myself in his memory! They have plundered and burnt atthe Springs, and Erling has gone away to attack them all by himself,with only sixty house-carles. You will have to be quick, father."
"Quick, truly," said Haldor, with a grim smile, as he drew tight thebuckle of his sword-belt.
"Aye," said Ulf, "with six hundred Danes on the fiord, and armed mendescending the vale, methinks--"
"Oh! I can explain that" cried Alric, with an arch smile; "Erling mademe change the baton for the split arrow when I was sent round with thetoken."
"That is good luck," said Haldor, while Ulf's brow cleared a little ashe busked himself for the fight; "we shall need all our force."
"Aye, and all our time too," said Guttorm Stoutheart, as he put on hisarmour with the cheerful air of a man who dons his wedding dress."Come, my merry men all. Lucky it is that my longships are at hand justnow ready loaded with stones:--
"`O! a gallant sight it is to me, The warships darting o'er the sea, A pleasant sound it is to hear The war trump ringing loud and clear.'"
Ulf and his friends and house-carles were soon ready to embark, for inthose days the Norseman kept his weapons ready to his hands, beingaccustomed to sudden assaults and frequent alarms. They streamed out ofthe hall, and while some collected stones, to be used as missiles,others ran down to the shore to launch the ships. Meanwhile Ulf,Haldor, Guttorm, and other chief men held a rapid consultation, as theystood and watched the assembling of the men of the district.
It was evident that the split arrow had done its duty. From the grassymound on which they stood could be seen, on the one hand, the darkrecesses of Horlingdal, which were lost in the mists of distance amongthe glaciers on the fells; and, on the other hand, the blue fiord withbranching inlets and numerous holms, while the skerries of the coastfilled up the background--looming faint and far off on the distant sea.In whatever direction the eye was turned armed men were seen. Fromevery distant gorge and valley on the fells they issued, singly, or intwos and threes. As they descended the dale they formed into gro
ups andlarger bands; and when they gained the more level grounds aroundHaldorstede, the heavy tread of their hastening footsteps could bedistinctly heard, while the sun--for although near midnight now it wasstill above the horizon--flashed from hundreds of javelins, spears,swords, and bills, glittered on steel headpieces and the rims ofshields, or trickled fitfully on suits of scale armour and shirts ofring mail. On the fiord, boats came shooting forth from every inlet orcreek, making their appearance from the base of precipitous cliffs ordark-mouthed caves as if the very mountains were bringing forth warriorsto aid in repelling the foe. These were more sombre than those on thefells, because the sun had set to them by reason of the towering hills,and the fiord was shrouded in deepest gloom. But all in the approachinghost--on water and land--were armed from head to foot, and all convergedtowards Ulfstede.
When they were all assembled they numbered five hundred fighting men--and a stouter or more valiant band never went forth to war. Sixlongships were sufficient to embark them. Three of these were of thelargest size--having thirty oars on each side, and carrying a hundredmen. One of them belonged to Haldor, one to Ulf, and one--besidesseveral smaller ships--to Guttorm, who chanced to be on viking cruise atthe time he had turned aside to visit his kinsman. The warlike old mancould scarce conceal his satisfaction at his unexpected good fortune inbeing so opportunely at hand when hard blows were likely to be going!Two of the other ships were cutters, similar to Erling's Swan, andcarrying sixty men each, and one was a little larger, holding abouteighty men. It belonged to Glumm the Gruff; whose gruffness, however,had abated considerably, now that there was a prospect of what wemoderns would call "letting the steam off" in a vigorous manner.
Soon the oars were dipped in the fiord, and the sails were set, for alight favourable wind was blowing. In a short time the fleet roundedthe ness, and came in sight of the ground where Erling and Skarpedinwere preparing to renew the combat.