King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 2

by Bernhard Severin Ingemann

  CHAP. XIII.

  When they reached Kjoege it was three hours past vespers, and afterburgher bedtime. In this town, as yet, neither the great Franciscan norCarmelite monasteries were erected, which afterwards became socelebrated. Here the travellers were forced to be content with one ofthe unpretending hostelries from the time of Eric Glipping, which wereoften stigmatised as dungeons and farthing taverns.

  During the last two years the town had been frequently visited by theHanseatic merchants, since the king had extended their tradingprivileges; and when these active traders went to or from the greatfairs at Skanor or Falsterbo, or to the herring fishery, on the Swedishcoast, they often ran their vessels into Kjoege bay, to wait for afavourable wind, and dispose of their wares to the burghers of Kjoege.The bay was now full of Hanseatic merchant vessels, and the numerouslights in the ships shone fair upon the shore. Drost Aage, with histrain, had much difficulty in getting a room in what was called theale-house, near the harbour. In the large public room of the tavern,where the guests were wont to beguile the time until late at night,with drinking and dice, there was on the entrance of the Drost and hisknights, much hubbub and loud-tongued talk among the guests, which,however, was suddenly hushed on the appearance of the richly-attiredstrangers, in whom the king's knights and halberdiers were instantlyrecognised. At the upper end of the long oaken table, which was fixedto the floor, sat a heavy-built, consequential-looking personage, witha sable-bordered cap and tunic; it was Berner Kopmand, from Rostock (sonotorious for his wealth and pride) who had bid defiance to the king atSjoeberg. He lolled in his seat with an air of importance, and had laidone leg upon the table, that he might be more completely at his ease.His broad visage glowed from the effects of wine; he held a silvergoblet in his hand, and had a large wine-flask before him. By his sidesat his trusty friend and trading companion, Henrik Gullandsfar, fromWisbye, with a large purse in his hand, from which he threw some coinsinto the host's cap. Between them stood a backgammon board, on whichthe dice were swimming in ale and wine, and which Berner Kopmand kickedaside to make room for his ponderous foot. Here they sat, surrounded bya number of Hanseatic merchants, skippers and boatmen. All were armed,like themselves, with broad battle swords and sabres, and drank merrilyto their own success. When the Drost and his knights entered, the twomerchants remained sitting in their easy posture, without returning thegreeting of the strangers, and whispers and murmurs of dissatisfactionwere heard among the guests.

  In the least lit-up part of the room sat two men with the cross of theorder of the Holy Ghost on their black travelling mantles. The one drewhis hood over his brow; he instantly arose, and with his ecclesiasticalcolleague presently disappeared in the throng of guests, who wereflocking in and out. Sir Helmer had noticed the deportment of the monk;he hastily approached Aage to whisper a word in his ear, but the Drost,who had instantly recognised the two arrogant Hanseatic merchants, hadturned his whole attention upon their bearing, and was pondering withinhimself, how far it would be wise or necessary to meddle with them, orattach any significance to their former powerless menace.

  "Short and sweet, my good friends!" now began the heavy Rostocker, withlisping tongue, while he struck the heel of his boot on the table toobtain a hearing, and seemed wrath at the pause in the talk. "TheLauenberg knight was forced to dangle from our new gallows, despite thecry of his high birth and lineage; and the high-born Duke Albert ofSaxony was ready to choke with rage. It is therefore, he now protectsand eggs on these high-born highwaymen. But we will no longer sufferourselves to be plundered and pulled by the nose, unavenged, by knightsand princes. We shall one day teach all these high and mighty lords,where the gold lies buried, the blessed bright gold which rules theworld, and what the rich and combined Hanse-towns can do. We merchantsand small folk, have now also learned something of the art of war, andthe art of politics, and he who treads on our corns may beware of Lubeklaw, and the Rostock gallows--Hurra! freedom in trade! freedom in wordand deed! To hell with all tyrants and aristocrats!" So saying, BernerKopmand kicked the empty wine flask off the table, while he moved hisfoot to the floor, and rose reeling with the goblet at his lips.

  The foreign merchants and skippers, shouted and drank. HenrikGullandsfar shook his head, and pulled his drunken colleague by thesleeve, with a side glance at the Drost and the king's halberdiers.

  "I give them to death and the devil! I can buy them up body and soul,and their forefathers into the bargain," growled the proud burghermagnate of Rostock--allowing himself, however, to be led out of theapartment, by the sober and more wary Gullandsfar. The other merchantsand skippers now departed one after another, singing and whistling asthey went. Aage had instantly perceived that the conduct of the proudHanseatics was meant as defiance and insult; but he had himself, asDrost, two years before, jointly with the state-council, confirmed thegreat privileges which were granted to these traders, and the lawstrictly forbade all violent and arbitrary proceedings towards them solong as they themselves refrained from committing any act of violence.Aage remained silent, with a contemptuous smile, and warned to theincensed knights to keep quiet. But Sir Helmer's blood boiled,--he hadsat upon thorns since his eye had caught the monk. As the Hanseaticsea-men left the inn, he thought he once more caught a glance, throughthe open door, of the same figure, among the tumultuous throng whichwas hastening to the vessels. He whispered a few hurried words in theDrost's ear, and rushed out of the apartment. Aage looked gravely andthoughtfully after him. He gave a secret signal to two of the mostdiscreet knights to follow him, and requested the others to remain.They now seated themselves at the almost deserted table. The humble andofficious host hastened to serve them, and to remove the empty flasksand cans of ale. Their wrath which they had repressed with difficulty,had rendered the knights silent, and their humour was manifested onlyin taunting exclamations and jeers at the grocer-heroes, as they weredesignated. It was indeed allowed that the proud Berner Kopmand'sinveteracy against the nobles of the land was not altogether unfounded.The knights' castles in Denmark, were not in fact robber-holds, as inGermany; foreign traders here enjoyed the greatest security, and hadeven greater privileges than the burghers of the country; but theknights delighted in scoffing at the uncouth and awkward bearing of thearmed grocers; even Drost Aage with all his moderation, and in spite ofall that he had himself effected for the security of trade and theextension of commerce, could not altogether suppress the feeling ofaristocratic contempt, entertained by those in his own rank for thisclass of persons, whose growing prosperity and wealth were often unitedwith a degree of insolence and envious pride, which excited andfostered this mutual bad-feeling.

  The attention of Aage and the knights was soon directed towards twosingular strangers who still remained with them at table; the one was ayoung man of a good figure and remarkably animated countenance; he worea dark red, and rather thread-bare lay mantle, but the black cap whichcovered his tonsure, and a canon's hat which lay by his side on thetable, appeared to denote him an ecclesiastic. At one time he talkedLatin, at another Icelandic and Danish, with his next neighbour, whomhe addressed as master, and to whom he shewed marked respect. When theyoung clerk spoke Danish, he frequently pronounced the words wrong. Attimes he became enthusiastic, and recited as well from the ancientclassics as from old northern poems. His neighbour was a little,deformed man, with a hump upon his back, a thin sharp visage, and anintelligent piercing eye; his head was sunk deep between his shoulders,and hardly reached above the table, but his arms were uncommonly longand thin; he occasionally put on and took off a pair of largespectacles set in lead, and had a number of singular instruments andboxes before him on the table. He wore a bright-red mantle, borderedwith fur, over a lay-brother's blue dress, and his head was adornedwith a scarlet cap, trimmed with gold lace and tassels. In this showygarb, which rendered the deformity of his person still more striking,he resembled one of those foreign mountebanks and quacks, who at thegreat fairs were wont to exhibit feats before the mob, and vend rel
ics,amulets, and universal remedies against all ailments; this personagehowever, had an air of much greater distinction and pretension. It wasthe same little red-cloaked man, who, with Sir Niels Brock and SirJohan Papae, had paid the nightly visit to Junker Christopher, at Holbekcastle. In his dying hour Sir Palle had described him to the Drost,when in his alarm, he had made him the depositary of his secrets. Aagehowever had never before beheld this figure and did not remember SirPalle's confused description.

  The little man sat with a flask of wine before him, which he appearedto be examining with close attention. "Bad!--adulterated!" he now saidin Danish to the Icelander, also in a foreign and Icelandic accent,while he puckered up his sharp nose. "See you this sediment. MasterLaurentius? In the light of art and science, truth will one day becomemanifest in small things as well as in great--Eureka!" he continued,with a self-satisfied smile, "What would my great master Roger havesaid, if such a flask of wine had been set before him? Even withoutthese skilful, searching eyes--for which I am in some measure indebtedto his great optical discovery--although I may justly claim the honourof the practical application--even without my wondrous spectacles, hewould perhaps have discovered that which I need all this apparatus todetect. The nature of poisons is altogether unknown and occult, MasterLaurentius!" he added, mysteriously, but so loud as to be heard by all."Not only for the preservation of life and health, but much more forthe sake of science and art, an intimate knowledge of the essence ofthings is of the highest importance to us. Here in the north, however,people care but little for such matters; they gulp down everything,like the dumb beasts, without possessing the wise instincts of animals,and without seeking by wisdom and art to find a remedy for the narrowlimits of our physical nature. All learning here is expended intheological subtleties, and what are called godly things--which,however, they know nought of--poor fools! Our common-place scholarsstill chew the cud of mysticism, the useless learning of the schools,and the dry, worn-out Aristoteles. Ignorance of all that is true anduseful, renders forgers and cheats quite safe here, and theseoverbearing merchants can enrich themselves at the expence of thisignorant people, as much as they choose. There you see one of their newcoins! I have detected its composition! It contains more tin and leadthan silver; the Danish king's image and superscription are here, it istrue--the size is precisely that of the royal coinage; but four ofthose go to a silver mark, and this is of six times less value. What anenormous profit might not a single ship-load of such coins bring thosefellows!"

  Drost Aage had become attentive, and found in the stranger's lastassertion an important confirmation of a charge generally made againstthe Rostock merchants. The attention of the Drost and the knights didnot appear to displease the intelligent little man--he seemed, indeed,not to heed them--but he now continued to converse in Danish with theyoung clerk, and though he appeared to speak in a whisper, henevertheless enunciated every word in a singularly distinct, andperfectly audible tone. "Nothing is small in science and in nature," hecontinued, "the least may here lead to the greatest; in every blade ofgrass their lies a world. How long will men shut their eyes on thegreat and only true revelation of the Deity, through the miracles andholy writ of nature! Mark my young friend! the time will come whenthe colossus of ignorance, barbarism, and madness, which hath beenerected on nature's grave, and worshipped for centuries--must fall.As is the course of temporal things, so is that of the spiritualworld--Stagnation is death and rottenness. We have stood stationarywith antiquity and tradition. The powerful ferment of life hathsubsided--life hath lost its savour. What is it but senseless orientaladventures, and the childish dreams of our race, which have turnedmen's brains, and kept us at a distance from nature and the source oftrue wisdom for nearly thirteen centuries? The heathens were far aboveus. What are we in science and art compared with the Greeks andEgyptians?--and yet even they were erring. They also had their idols,their fancies and dreams of a Tartarus and Elysium, and withal, thatmadness now worshipped under the name of poetry."

  "Stop, my learned master!" interrupted the young Icelander witheagerness. "Now you attack _my_ sanctuary--let the world change itsfashion as it may--let Time devour his own children, as in ancientfable! But what hath been beautiful in every age, none can destroy--itmust re-appear, though under new forms. True, eternal poetry shallrescue and embalm all wherein was life or beauty, as well in our timesas in those gone by. Its image and memorial no cold enlightening wisdomshall ever efface.

  "Cattle die, Wise men die, Time itself dies too-- One thing I know That never dies-- Judgment on the dead."

  "Be it so!" answered the little sage with a scornful smile, "Judgmentshall not die; the art of judging is the only one that is immortal; thepoetry of all ages shall vanish as soon as the world understands itselfand its own thoughts. When the kernel is found we may cast away theshell, or give it to children to play with. It was a true saying,though, of that old heathen bard--the judgment on the dead _is_eternal--but when this generation hath passed away a succeeding onewill jeer at the achievements of their fathers, and what is nowworshipped shall be the scorn of posterity. But one likes not to hearsuch things, Master Laurentius! The kernel of truth is unpalatable; itsuits not the taste of the vulgar and uninitiated; and he who proffersit runs the risk of being stoned by the enemies of truth and the slavesof prejudice. What my great Master Roger was forced to confess is knownto all the world; if he found not himself the philosopher's stone, hehath, however, shewn us where to seek for it, and what was hidden fromhis sharp gaze is not necessarily hid from that of his disciples." Sosaying, the little man rose with a look of proud importance; hedeparted with a slight salutation to Drost Aage and the knights, inwhose looks he was well satisfied to perceive the astonishment whichhis last mysterious remark, about the philosopher's stone especially,seemed to have excited.

  The young clerk remained behind, and now addressed himself to DrostAage, whose rank and name were known to him. He introduced himself tothe Drost as an Iceland theologian, jurist, and poet, who in his ardentzeal for knowledge and enlightenment, had quitted his easy office ofpriest of St. Olaf's church and p[oe]nitentarius of the Archbishop ofNidaros,[10] to visit foreign universities with his learned countrymanand fellow-traveller Magister Thrand Fistlier, a disciple, as heasserted, of the renowned Roger Bacon, whose wonderful knowledge, andfree and bold opinions, had drawn on him so shameful a persecution fromhis ecclesiastical brethren, and who, after many years' imprisonment,had died two years since in England.

  The young Iceland clerk now purposed, under the protection of hislearned friend, to visit the Danish court, where he hoped to find thatthe king would lend a favourable ear to his own and the ancientIcelandic poems; while his travelling companion intended to display hiswondrous arts before the king, and to make known some very importantdiscoveries in natural philosophy, which might prove of incalculableuse and effect both in war and peace. The report of the young KingEric's especial regard for science, and the intrepidity with which hedared to oppose the usurpations of the court of Rome and the hierarchy,had induced the learned Master Thrand to seek freedom and protection inDenmark.

  "You will doubtless both be welcome to the king," answered Aage,looking narrowly at him, "he favours and protects all fair and usefulsciences. Your travelling companion belongs not to the herd of commonmountebanks, as far as I can judge: if he can prove what he affirmed,of the false coin brought hither into this country, his learning may bemost important to us. But since you are a theologian and scholar,Master Laurentius, I would but ask you one question," continued Aage,"Doth not your companion entertain some confused opinions on sacredsubjects? His expressions struck me as being somewhat singular,although I, as a layman, understand not such matters. I well know,however, those who are called Leccar Brethren,--who will only believein the Creator, but neither in God's Son, nor in the Holy Spirit, norin an universal christian church,--are as little tolerated in thiscountry as by any right-think
ing monarch in Christendom; you must innowise believe our king's unfortunate position in regard to theArchbishop of Lund and the papal court hath made any alteration in hisopinions in what concerns the matter of his own and his people'ssalvation."

  "From the errors of the Leccari I believe myself free." answered theyoung Icelander, with some embarrassment; "about my learned companion'stheology, I must confess I have not greatly troubled myself; seeingthat he is a worldly philosopher and not a theologian. Of the noble artof bardship he hath not either any conception; I admire him solely forhis rare knowledge of the secrets of nature."

  "If he errs in the one thing needful, and if the highest and mostsacred truths, as well as all that is beautiful and noble, are in hisestimation nothing but folly," observed Aage, "I have but littleconfidence in his knowledge of less important matters; and I would notgive much for all the rest of his learning."

  "I thus judged once myself, of the sciences and arts that teach us butearthly things," answered the Icelander, "but while I was at theforeign universities a new light dawned upon me. I am indeed far fromcalling (like my learned travelling companion) the revelation of deityin nature the only true one, by which, as you have rightly observed, hehath in his inconsiderate zeal, betrayed a highly erroneous opinion;but even the wisdom of the heathen in worldly concerns is in nowise tobe despised, and I have never seen anything that hath more strengthenedmy faith in the Almighty power and wisdom of the Triune God, than themarvellous effects of the powers of nature, with which this singularman hath made me acquainted."

  "What hath he shown you, then, of such great importance? MasterLaurentius!" asked Aage.

  "I have seen effects of his art, which I should in common with theignorant multitude, and my prejudiced colleagues, have taken to bewitchcraft and the work of the devil," answered the Icelander eagerly,"had he not explained them to me by the powers of nature, and from thegreat misjudged Roger Bacon's 'Opus Majus,' of which he carries a rareand invaluable manuscript with him. Not to speak of his great knowledgeof plants and animals, and the properties and composition of metals;what most hath captivated me is all that points to the soul's dominionover time and decay, over life and death, over the universe, and allpassive powers in nature. He affirms that by his art alone, withoutsupernatural aid, he is able to preserve youth, and prevent theinfirmities of age; he knows the course of the heavens, and theinfluence of the stars on human life; he hath a number of artfulglasses, by which he is almost able to see the invisible; but hisgreatest and most wondrous art is the preparation of aninextinguishable fire, with which he imitates the thunder and lightningof the heavens. He hath shewn me a specimen of it, which hathastonished me. With a single handful of that subtle combustible matter,he can produce such an amazing thunder-clap, that the strongest wallwould be rent by it, and such a burst of consuming flame, that he whorightly understands its powers, would be able to destroy a whole armywith it, and devastate castles and towns."

  The knights stared in amazement at the Icelander, and some crossedthemselves. "It is impossible! That no man can do! it cannot be done bynatural means!--it must be done by witchcraft and devilry!" said theone to the other.

  Drost Aage was silent, and looked sharply and gravely at the Icelander."I hold you neither for an unwise man, nor for one who would deal infalsehood and deceit, good Master Laurentius!" he at length began,"although what you tell us of your learned companion borders on theincredible--but are you not yourself deceived? You say you have butknown this man of miracles a short time. In your admiration of his artsand his rare knowledge of the secrets of nature, you have concernedyourself but little about his principles and way of thinking, which,however, I consider to be the most important points in every man'scharacter, whether he be scholar or layman. If he is not a juggler orbraggart, I fear he is something worse. He would fain have us laymenbelieve he had found the philosopher's stone. Those who talk openly ofsuch things are generally enthusiasts or impostors."

  "That which is above our understanding, Sir Drost," answered theIcelander, "we are but too apt to misjudge as folly, or the inventionof the evil-minded--but here our own self-conceit and vanity are toblame. That which the wisest men in the world have so long mused upon,cannot assuredly be an absurd imagination, and I doubt not thephilosopher's stone will and must one day be found--if it be not foundalready. Perhaps we may meet at Skanor fair, Sir Drost!" he added,rising to depart, "My learned friend and travelling companion doth notvisit princes and nobles only--the enlightenment of the ignorant vulgaris a more important object to him. I accompany him as amanuensis,partly from a present necessity, which I blush not to acknowledge, andin this lay mantle, that I may not give offence to my prejudicedcolleagues; but I learn much in this way, and, as I said--I trust toreturn more rich in knowledge from these worldly bye-paths to theservice of St. Olaf, and to my most venerable friend and protector atNidaros, who probably may soon need support in the cause against hisunruly canons."

  The conversation was now broken off with the Iceland clerk, as SirHelmer rushed almost breathless into the apartment. "It _was_ Kagge!Drost! there is no doubt of it," exclaimed Helmer, "but, by Satan!--heis already on board the Rostock vessel."

  "Who? the dead Kagge? dream ye, Helmer? Was it he ye meant before?"

  "He, and none other--the base regicide! as surely as I have eyes andears. He hath both his beard and eye-brows shaved; but I know his fox'sface and screeching voice; the dull Rostocker mentioned his namehimself in his drunkenness, out of defiance and pride. They insulted mein the ancient coarse fashion I will not name, and pushed off fromshore with the outlaw before mine eyes."

  "We must arrest them at Skanor tomorrow," answered Aage, "if thecriminal is on board the Rostock vessel, he hath now peace and respiteof life under the Hanse flag and the Lubeck law; but whenever he setsfoot on Danish ground he dies! Such pestilent ware no Hanseatic haththe privilege of unloading." They then retired to rest. The Icelandclerk had gone, and no more was seen of either him or the learnedThrand Fistlier. The account they had heard of this worker of wonderscontinued, however, till a late hour in the night, the theme of theknights' conversation at the drinking table.