Pine Needles

by Hildegard G. Frey

  CHAPTER IV.

  "'The morning after the sacrificial feast at the Deep Moor, Landolf withthe Billing and the free men travelled on to the May diet, which was tobe held at the seven stone-houses, and before noon came to the place.There were an enormous crowd of free men assembled, priests, nobles, andcommons. The place lies in the middle of a vast, level heath, on thesoft declivity of a rising ground, which on the other side falls awaysharply down to a boggy dell. I have already described the stone-houses.There are seven of them, a number which must have been held sacred amongthe Saxons. At least in our country the so-called "Huhnen" graves, inwhich our forefathers lie buried, are always found either alone, orconstantly by sevens together in a wide circle. The spot on which thestone-houses stand must have been sacred to Woden, for in the chronicleit is called "Wuotanswohrt," and _wohrt_ in Saxon always means asecluded, enclosed, sacred place, especially devoted to theadministration of justice; for courts of justice were held under theopen sky and always by day, as though to denote that justice is ofheavenly origin, courts the light of sunshine and shuns the darkness.The word _wohrt_ is connected with _wehren_' (which means, to keep off,Maggie), 'because everything unholy must be kept off from it, on whichaccount also such places were hedged in. Of the transactions at this Maydiet, it is only told that a great sacrifice was offered, this timeconsisting of fourteen men, two of whom were slaughtered upon each ofthe stone-houses in the manner already described; that then cases of lawwere decided according to the ancient usage; then the state of thingsbetween the Saxons and the Franks was considered; and at thisopportunity Landolf, who as guest of the Billing had been present at allthe discussions, begged to be permitted to speak, and asked for leave topreach Christianity in the country. Scarcely had he preferred hisrequest, when threatening and distrustful looks were directed upon himfrom almost all present, and many a hand grasped to the war-axe; for atthe word _Christianity_, men's thoughts at once flew to the Franks,those hitherto enemies of the Saxons, by whom after three and thirtyyears of fighting they had at last been subdued. The Billing immediatelyobserved the excitement, and before any of it could get open expressionhe himself was upon his feet. He related that Landolf was no Frank, butan Eastphalian, and so of their own people and race; that when a boy hehad been taken prisoner by the Franks in the war and carried to theFranks' country, where he had been converted to Christianity, and hadbeen a pupil of the good Liudgar, who himself was a Saxon and known byreport to all Saxons. That afterwards he had lived with this Liudgar inthe country of their brethren the Westphalians, and half a year beforethis time had come to him quite alone and become his guest; and as hisguest he would protect the man, since he had done nothing contrary tothe customs and usages of the Saxon people. In his own home he hadpermitted him to preach Christianity; and now here, in the assembly ofthe people, according to ancient law and usage, Landolf desired to askwhether he might be allowed to proclaim openly in the country the Gospelof the God of the Christians. This must now be regularly debated in theassembly of the people; and he gave permission to Landolf that free andunmolested he might say out his wishes and tell exactly what theChristian belief was. Then every one might give his opinion.

  "'Now Landolf rose up. His tall figure, his noble presence, and thefearless, frank, spirited glance of his eye round the circle, made adeep impression; and in noiseless silence the assembly listened to hisspeech, the first preaching that ever was held in our country. Thisshort, simple discourse has so grown into my heart and I like it somuch, that I shall give it here.' Flora, are you listening?"

  "Of course."

  "I didn't know but you were too busy counting your stitches. I want youto hear this speech of Landolf's. It is very fine.

  "'"In the name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the onlytrue God. Amen. Men and brethren, hear my words. One hundred years ago"(A.D. 960, according to the chronicle), "came two pious Christianpriests to you, to make known to your fathers the Gospel of Christ, thetrue God; they were the dark and the fair Ewald. They were your ownrelations, they came from England; they were your friends, they had leftEngland and come over the sea for the love of you; they were yourguests, they had been sheltered in your houses. They wanted to let youknow that God has become your Brother, that He might deliver you fromyour sins. You would not let them preach in your land--you were free notto do that; but you murdered them; here on these stones you slew them inhonour of Woden; your brothers, your friends, your guests, you murdered,who had done you no evil. Since that time the true God, the God of theChristians, has been angry with you. You number as many as the Franksdo; you are just as brave as they. Yet Charlemagne, the Frank, hasconquered and subdued you. How is that? God fought with Charlemagne; Heloved him--he is a Christian. God fought against you, for you havekilled his priests; you are murderers. You can kill me too. Do it; I amnot afraid of death; I am the servant of God; if you kill me, God willtake me up to heaven. God's anger will not depart from you, unless youbecome Christians. Why will you not become Christians? Your gods aregood for nothing; they cannot help you; they have not been able to standbefore the Christian's God. Where is your _Irmensul_? Charlemagne hasbroken it to pieces." (Irmensul was an idol image that stood atHildesheim). "Where is your _Wodensaak_? Charlemagne has cut it down."(This Woden's oak stood at Verden on the Aller.) "Where is your_Helawohrt_? Charlemagne has destroyed it." (The sacred place of thegoddess Hela was on the Aller, in what is now the suburb Heelen atCelle.) "Where are your brave leaders, Wittekind and Albion? They havebecome Charlemagne's friends and vassals; they are Christians. Do youthink it was Charlemagne that subdued them? No, a greater One, the Godof the Christians has subdued them. Charlemagne indeed often overthrewthem; but the Christian's God has conquered them. Do you know how thatcame about? I have heard in Muenster, and I will tell you.

  "'"After the last battle they lost--you know about that, your young menbled there too--before peace was concluded, the brave Wittekind said tohis brother in arms, Albion, 'Come, let us go! we will pay a visit toCharlemagne in his fortress, and take a look at his power; for he is thegreatest in the land.' So the bold heroes set forth; hiding their strongframes under the dress of beggars; for they wished to remain unknown,and to see and prove for themselves. Fear was not in their brave hearts.They travelled and travelled for days and days; and wherever they came,Christians gave them food. Then they questioned with one another--'Is_this_ what Christians are?' They were many nights on their journeyings,and wherever they came the Christians took them in, although they werebeggars. Then they asked one another, 'Is this what Christians are?'Many a time they lost their way, in cities, villages, and fields; theChristians set them right, and they said to each other in astonishment,'Is _this_ what the Christians are?' At last they came to Ingelheim."(The chronicle names Ingelheim, and not Aix-la-Chapelle.) "They wentthrough the city, admiring the handsome houses and magnificent streets,till they came to a large house, the largest of all they had hithertoseen. 'This must be Charlemagne's dwelling,' said they; 'for certainlyhe is the greatest man among his people!' They went in--they heardsinging, that sounded as if it came down from heaven. They went furtherin; there stood up in the chancel a man in a white dress (it was apriest in white church robes) who was speaking: 'Hear, you who believethe glad message; the great God in heaven loves you. He loves you somuch that He sent His dear Son Jesus Christ to you. Jesus Christ camedown from heaven; God's Son became your brother, so little and poor thatHe lay in a manger in the stall for cattle. When He was grown up, Hepreached everywhere and said, Sinners, turn, and I will save you. Hemade the lame to go and the blind to see, and healed the sick, andraised up the dead that lay in their graves. He shed His blood forsinners; sinners put Him to death. He was still kind to them in Hisdeath, and prayed for His murderers, Father, forgive them! for they knownot what they do. They buried Him. But can God stay in the grave? Lo!after three days the earth quaked and the rocks rent; Jesus rose up outof the grave, Jesus went up to heaven, and sits now again upon thethrone of His Father, God. He reig
ns; He commands: Repent, and I willsave you, you shall come into my heaven and reign with me.

  "'"So preached the priest. There stood the two heroes in astonishment,but they were to be yet more astonished. Lo! a tall man steps forwardthrough the church up to the altar, where the priest was standing; and acrown was upon his head. It was the King Charlemagne. The two heroesknew him, and yet they did not know him. Was this the mighty hero, whoseflashing sword in battle struck and slew? Was this the man whose eyesblazed with the fire of battle? He wears no sword here; his eyes sparklepeacefully; as he stands before the altar, he humbly takes his crown offand sets it on the ground; then he bows his knee upon the steps of thealtar and prays to Jesus Christ, the God of the Christians, and all thepeople fall upon their knees, and the heavenly music of them who aresinging praises swells out again--'Glory to God in the highest, and onearth peace, good-will to men.' Then Charlemagne rises and sits down ina chair, and the man in white clothing preaches of Jesus, who came tosave sinners, and Charlemagne bows his high head so often as the nameof Jesus is named. Then the priest blesses the congregation--the serviceis over.

  "'"It was not Charlemagne's house in which they were; it was God'shouse, in which Charlemagne had been praying. God is greater thanCharlemagne, and so must God's house be the biggest in the city. Thebrothers in arms went forth of the church. Before the church door therewas a great crowd of beggars, in garments like their own. Gentle andkind, Charlemagne goes to the poor people, giving each one a piece ofmoney and saying, 'God bless it to you, my children; pray for me too.''Is that King Charlemagne?' the heroes asked each other by theirastonished looks. Then the king steps up to them, looks at themgraciously, and says--'You have never been here before, my friends; comeinto my house, and I will give you your portion.' He goes on and theyfollow him. They come into his house, which was smaller than God'shouse. They go into his apartment; there he dismisses the attendants,goes up to Wittekind and Albion, offers them his hand like a brother andsays: 'Welcome to my citadel, you brave Saxon heroes! God has heard myprayer; my foes are becoming my friends. Put off your rags. I will dressyou as princes should be dressed!' And he had princely robes put uponthem, and said further--'Now you are my guests; and soon, I hope, theguests of the Lord my God also.' The two heroes had not expected this,that Charlemagne should know them in their disguise; much less that hewould treat them so nobly and brotherly. Fourteen days later, the priestin white garments baptized them in the name of God the Father, the Son,and the Holy Ghost; and they swore allegiance to the Saviour, JesusChrist.

  "'"You men, this is the way that your heroes have led the way for you.Saxons, will you forsake your dukes? The curse of sin has been clearedaway from them. Now I have come to you; I too am a priest of JesusChrist; I would gladly teach you and clear the curse of sin away fromyou, that you may be saved and come to heaven. Say, shall I preach amongyou? or will you kill me too, as you killed the two Ewalds? Here I am;but in the midst of you I am also in God's hand."

  "'Landolf ceased. The whole assembly had heard him in silence; even theheathen priests had listened. Then the Billing lifted up his voice andspoke: "Landolf, my guest and friend, thou hast spoken well, and thouhast been a good man in my house; I will hear thee further. Brothers,let us decide that Landolf shall be free to go about in our country andpreach. It is no dishonour to bow the knee before that God who isCharlemagne's God and the God of the Christians; it is no shame to prayto that God who has conquered our brave heroes. Decide!"

  "'Then stepped forth an old man with white hair, who was the oldest manin the assembly, and spoke: "Cast the lot!"

  "'The young men made ready seven little sticks, square-cornered, of oakwood, marked on the upper side with sacred signs. One of the heathenpriests, the chronicle calls him Walo, shook them in his hands and thenthrew them up in the air. During this time, Landolf was upon his knees,crying, "Lord, Lord, give the victory, that this noble people may cometo know Thee!" Then the sticks fall to earth, and behold! six of themlie with the signs up, and only one with the signs down. This isannounced, and then the whole assembly cries out--"The Christian's Godhas won!" and the Billing shakes Landolf by the hand and says, "Now goin and out through the whole land; nobody will hinder you from preachingthe name of your God. But do not pass my house by; come back with me; Iwill become a Christian." And now the assembly broke up; everybody wenthome to his house, Landolf accompanying the Billing. When they wereagain passing the stone of sacrifice at the Deep Moor, Landolfsaid--"Billing, that is your altar-stone; is it not?" "It belongs to meand my house." "There my first church shall stand," said Landolf, gladand strong in faith. "May I build it?" "Build it my brother," answeredthe Billing; "and when it is ready I will be the first to be baptized init. But the stone of sacrifice we will throw into the moor, that theremembrance of it may be lost."

  "'Now did Landolf go to work joyfully; by day he wrought, and at nighthe preached, and taught in the Billing's house, and in all the countryround. No longer than three months after, the little wooden church wasdone--the first in this whole region; and the same day that Landolfconsecrated it, Harm the Billing with five sons and three daughters, andthe greater part of the friends of his family and of his farm servants,received holy baptism, the water for which was fetched out of theneighbouring Oerze. Now, of course, that church is no longer standing;it was burnt down afterwards by the heathen Wends, and in its place thelarge stone church in Hermannsburg was built. But to this day the fieldwhere that first church stood belongs to the Hermannsburg parsonage, andis still called _the cold church_.

  "'This was the foundation of the Christian Church in our valley of theOerze; and as Landolf had come from Minden, the whole Oerze valley wasattached to the see of Minden, while the rest of the Lueneburg countrycame to belong to the see of Verden.

  "'Now the faithful Landolf laboured on indefatigably. He sent one of hisnew converts to Minden and Muenster, to get more helpers from thence forhis work. Twelve came, who were put under Landolf; and now for the firsttime the work could be taken hold of vigorously. Landolf must have livedand laboured until 830 or 840, and so blessed was his agency that thewhole country of the Horzsahzen was converted to Christianity. It isbrought forward as a proof of this, that at the great May diets held atthe stone-houses the following laws were unanimously enacted: no morehorse's flesh to be eaten; no more human sacrifices to be brought; nomore dead to be burned; and all Woden's oaks to be hewn down. And intruth these laws do show the dominance of Christianity, for preciselythese things named were the peculiar marks of heathenism. Of theinterior condition of Christianity, little is told; only it is remarkedthat the entire change in the country was so great and manifest, thatthe bishops Willerich of Bremen and Helingud of Verden sent priests toconvince themselves with their own eyes whether what they had heard withtheir ears was true; and these messengers had found not a single heathenleft in the whole region. As a good general, Landolf moreover understoodhow everywhere to seize the right points where with the most effectheathenism might be grappled with and overthrown. He always wentstraight to the heart of the old religion. We have already seen how hisfirst church was built by the Billing's sacrifice stone. Westward fromHermannsburg is what is called the Winkelberg, upon which was theburying-place of the heathen priests, for the most part cultivated landnow, but the twice seven so-called Huehnen graves are still to be seenthere. At the foot of this hill he established what was called the_Pfarrwohrt_, where the spiritual courts should be holden; and close bythis place he laid the foundation-stone of the Quaenenburg, a housesurrounded with a moat, in which the young girls of the country might betaught and educated (Quaene or Kwaene meant a young girl). Both places,Pfarrwohrt and Quaenenburg, are arable fields now, still belonging to theparsonage.

  "'An hour above Hermannsburg the two rivers Oerze and Wieze flow intoeach other. At that place, in an oak wood, the idol Thor was worshipped.There Landolf was equally prompt to build a chapel, that the idolworship might be banished. As he had consecrated the church inHermannsburg to Peter and Pau
l, so he consecrated this chapel toLawrence. Around this chapel the village Mueden sprang up, so calledbecause the two rivers there flow into one another, or Muenden. Then hewent further up the Oerze and erected a cloister and a chapel at a placewhich was sacred to the goddess Freija. At that time a cloister wascalled a munster. The village of Munster grew up around this cloister.In the same way he went further up the Weize, where there was a woodsacred to Hertha. In its neighbourhood he built a chapel which wasconsecrated to Bartholomew. Around this chapel Wiezendorf arose. Aboutan hour and a half distant from Hermannsburg, there was a very large,magnificent wood of oaks and beeches; such a forest was then called awohld. In this forest the heathen priests, the so-called Druids, werespecially at home; there, too, they kept the white horses which wereused in soothsaying. The wood extended for hours in length and breadth.He could not give that the go-by; and that he might dash right into themidst of it, he built at the spot where it was narrowest a chapel on theone side to Mary _in valle_, and on the other side a chapel to Mary _inmonte_. The first means Mary in the valley, the second, Mary on thehill. The villages Wohlde and Bergen have thence arisen. So he grappledwith heathenism just there where its strongest points were, and always,by God's grace, got the victory; for the Lord indeed says: "My glorywill I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." And asonce the Philistine's idol Dagon fell speechless upon the ground beforethe ark of the covenant of God, so in our Oerze valley everywhere fellthe altars of the idols before the sign of the Cross.

  "'Besides all this, Landolf and his companions were skilled husbandmen,who themselves shunned no manual labour nor painstaking, and who knewright well how to eat their bread in the sweat of their brow. So theyintroduced agriculture universally, of which our forefathers at thattime knew little or nothing; and thus they were not only the spiritualbut also the material benefactors of the whole district. How much asingle man can do, who is wholly given to the Lord, and who is moved byburning love to the Lord and to his fellows! God give all preachers andteachers, and especially all messengers to the heathen, such a mind,such a brave heart, such a single eye, such will to work! that some goodmay be done.

  "'About the next hundred years I have found nothing said in thechronicle. Probably things went on in such a quiet way that there wasnothing particular to say concerning them. But then comes the relationof a noteworthy occurrence.'"

  Meredith shut up his book.

  "Well, aren't you going on?" said Maggie.

  "Presently. I want a run down to the shore and see how the water looks."

  "Why, it always looks just the same way," said Esther.

  "Does it? I am afraid something must be the matter with your eyes."

  "Oh, of course sometimes it blows, and sometimes it is smooth; but whatis that?"

  "Just according to your eyes."

  "Aren't all eyes alike?"

  "Not exactly. Some see."

  "What do you see in the water?"

  "There is one peculiarity of eyes," said Meredith. "You cannot seethrough another person's. Come, Maggie, let us stretch ourselves a bit."

  Taking hold of hands, the two ran and scrambled down the steep, rockypitch of the hill, to the edge of the river. The wind was not blowingto-day; soft and still the water lay, with a mild gleam under theOctober sun, sending up not even a ripple to the shore. There was awarm, spicy smell in the woods; there was a golden glow here and therefrom a hickory; the hills were variegated and rich-hued in the distanceand near by. Meredith sat down on a stone by the water and looked out onthe view. But he was graver than Maggie liked.

  "Ditto," she said after a while, "you are thinking of something."

  "Of a good many things, Maggie. How good the world is! and men are not!"

  "What then, Ditto?"

  "One ought to do something to make them better."

  "What can you do?"

  "What could Landolf the Saxon? I do not know, Maggie; but one ought tobe as ready as Landolf was to do anything. And I think I am."

  "Then God will show you what to do, Ditto."

  Meredith bent down and kissed the earnest little face, "You are the onlyfriend I have got, Maggie, that thinks and feels as I do."

  "O Ditto! Uncle Eden?"

  "Well, I suppose Mr. Murray would do me the honour to let me call him myfriend," said Meredith.

  "And papa?"

  "Mr. Candlish is very good to me; but you see, I do not know him sowell, Maggie."

  "Well, he thinks just as you do. And papa goes and preaches in thestreets when he is in New York; in those dreadful places where thepeople live that never go to church."

  "_That's_ like Landolf," said Meredith. "I almost envy men like that oldmonk."

  "Why?"

  "All his strength laid out for something worth while--all his life. Andthink how much he did! And I fret to be doing nothing, and yet I don'tknow what to do."

  "You can ask Uncle Eden when he comes."

  "I hope he'll come! Now don't think any more about it, Maggie. This isthe prettiest place I ever saw in my life. I want to get out on thatwater."

  "Now?"

  "Not now. Some time."

  "Oh, we'll all go," said Maggie joyfully. "We might go in the boatsomewhere and take our book and our dinner, and have a grand time,Ditto!"

  Meredith laughed and said it was all "grand times;" and then he got upand strolled along by the water, picking up flat stones and making ducksand drakes on the smooth, river surface. This was a new pastime toMaggie, and so pleasant to both that they forgot the book and the girlsleft on the height, and delighted their eye with the dimpling water andricochetting stones time after time, and could not have enough. At lastflat stones began to grow scarce, and Maggie and Meredith remounted tothe rest of the party.

  "Well!" said Flora, "you've come in good time. We are going home."

  "Home!" echoed Maggie.

  "To be sure. Don't you think we want dinner some time?" said Esther;"and we are tired sitting here. And it is growing late besides. Justlook where the sun is."

  There was nothing to be said to the sun; and the books and work beingstowed again in the cart, Meredith took his place as porter, and thelittle company returned to the house.