Swords From the North

by Henry Treece

  Then a herald began to read at a great pace in legal Greek from a long roll of paper. The vikings could make nothing of this and fidgeted about until the Bulgar guards struck at them with the butts of lances and made them stand still and silent.

  At last Harald could stand no more of this and called out, ‘Sithee, Zoe, we are tired after a long journey. Let him tell us all this in plain language; then we will be off to eat our dinner.’ The empress shuddered with annoyance but did not answer. Instead the new emperor Constantine Monomachus rose from his chair and, leaning on a gold staff, said in a strangely strong voice, ‘From your ridiculous height I know that it was Sigurdson who spoke so insultingly to his empress. Very well, if you want it in plain language you shall have it, in very plain language. In fact the language will be so plain that I doubt if you will be pleased with yourself for having called out so rudely when you have heard it.’

  Harald said back, ‘We came here to listen to sense, not to a red-beaked parrot chattering in a palm tree to amuse himself.’ Then the silence in the high room was so great that it lay on all men’s shoulders like a heavy load of lead.

  And the new emperor said calmly, ‘Sigurdson, one-time Captain of the Varangian Guard in Byzantium, you have many charges to answer. You have made private and mutinous war for reasons of personal vengeance on one of our greatest generals, Georgios Maniakes. You have absented your army and much of our fleet in so doing, which amounts to mutiny also. You have fought with the Normans who have an alliance with us, and sided with the Saracens who are our old enemies. Furthermore, you have taken Crete on your own behalf, have burned its villages, have put its officials in a state of duress, have stolen imperial moneys and sent them to your own country. Finally, you have ruled in the Holy Land as though you were an emperor yourself, controlling the building of a church whose teachings you are not fit to follow. And, as if all this were not enough, you have abducted the princess Maria Anastasia Argyra, have deprived the Caliph of Egypt of her presence, and so have endangered the pact which we had vowed to observe with him. What have you to say to all this, in the hearing of this court?’ Harald scratched his head, smiled, and then said, ‘Whatever I said you would turn to your own ends, old goat. So why should I say anything?’

  Beside him, Maria Anastasia was sobbing loudly now, so Wulf put his arm about her to comfort her. Immediately a Bulgar guard struck at him with a lance-shaft and knocked his hand down. Wulf whispered, ‘Thank you, my little monkey. Later today I will do the same for you and we shall see if you look so pleased with yourself then.’

  Constantine Monomachus saw this but made no comment. He waited a while, then said, ‘Our case is clear to all now. If we did not act firmly, we should be the foraging-place of all rough-chinned barbarians who wished to sail into Byzantium and use it like a midden. Has the court made up its mind about the verdict? ‘

  He half-turned to a long bench at which sat twenty white-bearded old men in dark robes. One of them stood up and said, ‘It has, Most Serene Majesty. First, since among civilized people women must always come first, the lady Maria Anastasia Argyra is sentenced to a hundred strokes of the lash, to be awarded in public at the Hippodrome tomorrow. After which she is to be sent in chains to Egypt so that our pact may be upheld. As for the vikings, in all justice we cannot punish common men because their commanders go mad; so we have decided to confine them to barracks for a month and then put them on duty once more under the new captain. But as for their commanders, we must make an example or our reputation for correct dealing will be called into question throughout Christendom. Harald Sigurdson, Wulf Ospakson and Haldor Snorreson, being men of the greatest responsibility in our Varangian Guard, will suffer for all the others. The form of their suffering will be this - that they shall be taken to a strong gaol where they shall wait overnight without food or drink. And, having thus been given time to make their peace with God in prayer, they shall at dawn be taken to the Hippodrome and there punished in view of the people, as is right and proper. Harald Sigurdson, being the captain and therefore the most guilty by his infamous commands, shall lose eyes, tongue, and hands; the other two shall lose only their eyes and hands. All of them will then be taken back to prison where they will spend the remainder of their lives, short though that may be. And that is our decree, Most Serene Majesty.’

  And when this had been said and the old man had sat again, the emperor turned to Zoe and said, ‘Have you anything to say in mitigation of this judgement?’

  Zoe looked above the heads of the vikings and then spoke in a loud clear voice. ‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘It is a just decree. Let them suffer.’

  38. The Tower Prison

  The Bulgars flung the three Varangers into a prison in a deserted part of the city, so that their mates should not know where to look for them. This prison was an old stone tower, open to the sky, with a door that led into the street, its many locks and bolts so rusted that no one would ever open it again. Inside the tower there was a spiral stairway that wound twelve feet up the wall and no further. The floor was dry and dusty, and littered with bones and feathers and the bodies of rats that the ants had picked clean. It was not the most pleasant place to be in.

  For a time the three northern brothers did not speak to one another. Wulf and Haldor were very occupied with their hands, looking at them, and clenching and unclenching their fists, as though they were aware of them for the first time in their lives. Harald tried to walk up the winding stairway with his eyes tightly closed and his arms folded behind his back. Halfway up he lost his balance and fell down to the ground.

  The others gazed at him for a while, then they all began to laugh. It was a stark laughter but it was some sort of sound to make, to use one’s tongue.

  Then Harald said, T wonder if a prayer to my brother the Saint would do any good? When they were dragging us here I thought I saw him at a street corner, watching it all. It is strange how a man thinks such things when he is in trouble. I knew an Irish rover once who was wrecked and swam to a little rock skerry out in the open sea, where he stayed for three days and nights. He told me that at dawn each day he distinctly saw a longship heading towards that skerry with the shields all bright in the sun and the wind in the sail. But as soon as he shouted to it, the ship went into the sea-mist and disappeared.’

  Wulf said, ‘How did he get off the skerry, then?’

  Haldor said, ‘I was just going to ask that.’

  Harald answered, ‘In the simplest way. He said a prayer and a great timber-log came floating by and he scrambled on to it and was in Galloway by the next day. But after all that, the fool went out the following week with some men from the Hebrides in a tarry curragh and got himself drowned among the little islands, in water he could almost have stood up in. That is fate.’ Haldor said, ‘These tales do not make me merry. It would be more profitable if you went under the stairway and knelt down and said a prayer to your brother. I did not know him, so he would scarcely pay much attention to me. Besides, I am not good at speaking prayers unless there is a priest to lead the praying. I can never think of the right words.’

  Harald said, ‘Well, I will go, as you say; but you must not expect too much to come from it. Where my brother Olaf is there will be many things to occupy his mind and I doubt whether he will look down very kindly on me, after what he said on Crete. I can tell you, he did not seem at all pleased with the way I had managed my life since he died at Stiklestad.’

  Wulf said, ‘He is a Saint, is he not? Very well, Saints are forgiving men. So go and pray. It may do no good - but it can do no harm. And there is nothing else we can do, unless we suddenly grow feathers on our arms and fly up out of this place.’ So Harald went and prayed. The others turned their backs while he did this so as not to make him feel ashamed, kneeling in their sight

  And when he came back to them he said, ‘I do not know whether I did right or not, but I promised that if he would help us I would build a chapel to his memory on this street corner one day, when I was able.’

/>   Haldor said, ‘It never does any harm to make such a promise. At least it will show Olaf that you are trying to be a good Christian man.’

  Harald said, ‘Yes, I was at some pains to stress that to him in my prayer. I went further and told him that when I reached the north again I would really see that Trondheim got a new church to be proud of. The way we are now, Trondheim seems like another world, like a world in a dream; but it was worth saying and what is more I mean to do it if I am spared.’

  Wulf said, ‘It is amazing how we pray when we are in trouble. It is amazing how even a brave man will pray for mercy.’

  Harald said, ‘I have often wondered what this word “brave” means. I have heard men call me brave, but I have never noticed what it was. The way I saw it, I was just a man, bigger than most men it is true, but just a man who had the good luck to knock the other men down.’

  Haldor nodded and said, ‘I have never thought much about it either. Although I have always been glad when I saw the other man lying at my feet.’

  Wulf said, ‘Before a battle, the palms of my hands always used to sweat.’

  Harald said, ‘You will not have that trouble any more after tomorrow. There is that to be said about it.’

  Wulf said, ‘No, but seriously, did your hands sweat before a battle, brother?’

  Harald said, ‘Aye, and my legs used to shake so much I had to get moving into the fray in case I fell down before things started. I was a real coward.’

  Haldor said, ‘Mine did too. It was as though they were saying, “Hurry, hurry, and let us begin. ” I once knew a baresark from Thorsmork whose legs shook so much that his mates had to carry him to the battle and set him down in the middle of it or he would never have got there. He shuddered with terror.’

  Wulf said, ‘Do you remember old Hrut Herjolfsson who fell in love with the witch, Queen Gunnhild? He could never speak before a battle. He used to put his head down and cry like a girl. But once he had taken the first blow, even if it was no more than a slap on the cheek, he roared and jumped in like a lion, and was always the last to stop. But afterwards he cried all night.’

  Harald said, ‘Nay, I don’t know what brave means. I think it is just a word that the scalds have made up. Let us talk about something else.’

  So they talked for a long time, trying not to mention hands and eyes. Though they always seemed to come round to them in the end.

  Then a brown bird swooped into the open tower, struck itself against the stone wall and fell to the ground. Haldor went and picked it up and felt its wings to find out if they were broken. They were pleased that the little bird was only stunned and passed it from one to the other gently to find out how it was made. Harald said, ‘This little bird does not own a sword or a helmet or a horse or a ship; yet he has something we all envy. He has wings. And they will get him out of here without any prayers to Saints.’

  He loosed the little brown bird, which flew straight up and away into the sky, without saying a word of thanks to them.

  Wulf said, ‘I wonder if Olaf sent that bird to tell us we shall fly out over the top as he did?’

  Haldor answered, ‘I find no feathers growing on my arms yet, brother. Although I have been feeling for them this last hour.’

  Harald said, ‘No, it was just a bird. Though I am glad we were here to pick it up when it lay stunned on the ground. Otherwise a rat might have come up out of one of those holes and have made a meal of it.’

  Wulf said, ‘I have no objection to a fox eating a partridge, if he can catch one. Or an eagle eating a hare, if he is brisk enough to swoop on one. But I cannot bear to see these little creatures tearing at one another. It does not seem correct behaviour. It is as bad as two children going at each other with axes, instead of playing decently.’

  Haldor said, ‘Talking of playing, there are plenty of old bones lying about on the floor here. If we took the ends off them we could pass the time by playing knuckle-bones. What do you say?’

  Harald said, ‘Yes, we may as well put our hands to some use. At least we shall have this last game to remember.’

  So until the daylight passed and dusk came down the three men forgot for a while what awaited them. Since they had nothing of value to gamble with, they put their dreams into pawn and won or lost them as the knuckle-bones rose and fell.

  Wulf lost his sword to Harald who in turn lost that, and his crown and throne in Norway, to Haldor.

  ‘Fools for luck,’ said Wulf, pretending to be put out. Then they all laughed wildly, to think how lucky they were in all truth.

  Byzantines passing the tower outside in the street heard this strange laughter, tapped their foreheads, shivered and hurried on, as though they were running from ghosts.

  39. Euphemia

  The vikings slept little that night. It was as though they could not bear to close their eyes; as though they wished to see everything, even the darkness.

  Then, about two hours before dawn, as they lay on their backs in the dust staring up at the circle of sky with the silver stars in it, Harald saw something come whipping over the wall at the top of the tower.

  He whispered to the others, who were wide awake, ‘Do not move yet, brothers, but I think that this is a rope-ladder, and that the Bulgars have come for us. If so, they are early, and I do not approve of losing two hours of life before they carry out the judgement.’

  Haldor whispered back, ‘Olaf could not have been listening after all, Harald. Well, that is a risk one must always take with busy Saints. But I tell you one thing, when they come down this ladder I shall not let them take me with them like a meek bullock. I shall leave at least one of them in this prison for the rats to feast on.’

  Wulf nodded and said, ‘Aye, that was in my mind too. It is high time that these rude fellows learned that they must pay something for their entertainment.’

  Harald said, ‘I do not know why we did not consider this before. I vote that we each take one, before they can set their feet steadily on the ground, and then we shall go feeling more contented. Besides there is always the chance that if we are able to do enough damage to them, the others will lose their patience and put a quick end to us. I would rather have that than go into the Hippodrome.’

  Haldor said, ‘Let us set the price really high, brothers, and see if we can deal with two each as they come down. Now that would give a bit of interest to the game.’

  So they rolled into the shadow of the wall and waited; but no one came down the rope-ladder. And after a while they heard a woman’s voice call softly, ‘Harald, Harald, hurry or it will be dawn.’

  Then they went up the swaying ladder carefully and looked out over the top of the tower, and below them in the deserted street stood Maria’s lady-in-waiting, Euphemia, wrapped in a grey cloak and looking very frightened. She had a small boy with her who was holding three cloaks and was shivering in the cold breeze of morning that blew off the sea.

  And when she saw their heads appear over the high parapet, she called up, ‘Make haste. Draw the ladder up after you and let it fall down on this side. Then you can come down safely. My brother here will unhook it and hide it somewhere. You can trust him.’

  Harald said, ‘Trust him! Why, if I had my way he would be emperor of Byzantium. I trust him that much, lady.’

  They came down the ladder like ghosts on the wind. And in the street Harald said, ‘Who sent you, Euphemia? This is the kindest thing that has happened to me in my whole life.’ The girl said, ‘Maria Anastasia sent me. She is a prisoner in her own room in the palace, but she got word to me to do this. She said that in the night your brother Olaf came to her as a dream and said, “Now then, woman, less of this moping and wetting the pillow through with tears. They never helped anyone. Be about it and send a ladder to my brother. ” It did not sound like a proper Byzantine Saint talking, she thought, but she did what he said, all the same.’

  Harald said, ‘She did right. You must never question a Saint, Euphemia. Especially northern Saints. They are brisk fellows and s
tand on no ceremony. But they get things done.’ Wulf said starkly, ‘Aye, and so must we, brother. So let us be about it, too.’

  40. Polota-svarv

  The three men ran as swift as wolves away from the squat tower. They had forgotten their hunger and weariness now and in this place there were other feelings to occupy them. As he loped along the narrow streets in the dawn light, Harald was muttering, ‘Brother Olaf, Brother Olaf, I will light a hundred candles for you in Novgorod.’

  Wulf stopped once in the middle of the street and looking to the young sun, his arms outstretched, chanted:

  ‘In the shed a sheep,

  In the byre a bull;

  But in the hand a haft!’

  Haldor glanced back and shouted over his shoulder, ‘Keep running, Icelander. There will be time for poems later.’

  And so they came to the Via Dolorosa where the narrow cobbled streets ended and the broad avenues began. They took no account of this for there were few folk about so early in the morning. A group of fishermen making their way down to the water with nets slung over their backs saw them but only shook their heads and shrugged. Varangers were always doing strange things and no man whose head sat well on his shoulders tried to stop them.

  The flat front of the palace loomed high above the runners now with the dawn sun glinting on its white stone and turning it to honey. It looked down on them blindly with its shutters closed and its striped awnings drawn.

  Harald said, ‘Take care, brothers. Come behind these laurels. The Bulgars are on duty this turn.’

  Then they reached the alley behind the palace where their own quarters were. And as they passed the barred window that lay down at the level of their feet, they heard many voices, shouting angrily. Wulf said with a grim smile, ‘Our shipmates are up early. Something must have kept them awake.’

  The guard on the door, a tall youth from Lund, almost fell down with surprise when Harald pushed past him. ‘Odin!’ he said. ‘We had given you up! We were just going to take vengeance for you.’