The Last Viking

by Poul Anderson

  "Well," said Harald, "you have broad lands. You can sell some."

  "My lord, this is odal land," protested the chief. "By law, it cannot be sold out of the family, and none of my kin would want to buy it of me."

  "I know the law," said Harald impatiently. "But I know too you can borrow against your cattle or next year's crop."

  The chief swallowed his anger as he saw the armed guardsmen. "If you could but wait a year, my lord . . . The interest is so high."

  Harald cocked his brow. "No," he said. "I know your kind; let the king yield a finger, and you'll eat his whole arm. If the scot be not paid by spring, I will seize the land."

  As he rode off, one of those who had lately joined him said, "My lord, this is no way to win their friendship. I've heard them talking when you were out of earshot, that good King Magnus would not fare thus against them."

  "Magnus is a fool," said Harald bitterly. "He thinks this is a hundred years ago. I say it's not. Unless the king is strong, the kingdom will be weak—a prey for the first wild beast that comes along."

  "How much of your fret is for the realm," asked Halldor, "and how much for yourself? Be not too greedy, Harald. He who reaches too far will fall."

  "You have the soul of a yeoman," said Ulf.

  "I'm following the rest of you," said Halldor. "When have I hung back from trouble? But I will not be a party to this sort of thing much longer."

  Harald remained silent; he was used to Halldor's tongue, but he brooded over Magnus. This split rule could lead to no good, and it seemed to him that the younger man was buying the people's love with the people's strength.

  At a large garth in the Uplands, he found his nephew also guesting. Magnus greeted him without warmth, and when they found themselves alone, blurted: "Harald, I've been hearing talk of your doings. Not thus did I plan to reign."

  "You promised me my share of the royal power and income," replied Harald. "I was but taking it."

  Magnus looked up the towering height of his uncle, to the lean unsmiling face. "You go too harshly," he said. "Kings have lost their thrones, sometimes their lives, for that."

  "Because the chiefs and the commoners would not have change, even when change was needed," snapped Harald. "When I was in the South, I saw how one realm after another went under because it was weakly ruled. The empire was strong because all the power lay in one place, yet it could have been stronger had the emperors taken the reins themselves instead of letting geldings run their affairs."

  "I even wonder about the wisdom of our strife with Svein," said Magnus unhappily. "God has given us Norway, and we could keep it peacefully. Trying to grasp more may but lead us to our doom."

  "Is this Olaf's son?" mocked Harald.

  Magnus reddened. "I and my friends drove out Knut's creature and smote the Wends while you were tumbling about the world to no more good than enriching yourself. Don't call me coward unless you are ready to fight."

  Harald turned and left him, not trusting himself to speak further.

  Thereafter, when he chanced to meet Magnus again on their travels, there were often hot words between them. A relation of the Haarekssons in Haalogaland, who had never forgiven Magnus, told Harald that his nephew was plotting against him. Harald doubted that—willful and wrong-headed though he thought the young man, he believed him honest—but perhaps someday it would come true; the more likely since Einar Thambaskelfir's friends were always deriding Harald to Magnus.

  They were still outwardly friends, though, when they came together at Nidharos.

  2

  Despite its size, the Throndheimsfjord had not the grandeur of other inlets, for here a great gash across the mountains formed the broad, wealthy Throndlaw. Where the river Nidh ran into the bay, a town had grown large and become the seat of the king. Harald thought it lay too far from the rest of the world; northward the land lost itself in the wastes of Finnmark and the cold Lofoten fishing grounds, ice and forest, and marsh and bleak hills. Better to have a capital further south, say on the Oslofjord, where Denmark was close and the folk less unruly. But he looked about with interest as he rode into Nidharos.

  The wooden houses hemmed him in, galleries along the lofts, gaily painted gables, snow heavy on high-peaked roofs. He saw shops, stables, smithies, shipyards, warehouses; a few thousand people lived here. From an open square, he could see the ground rise steeply above the town, on its slope the half-finished Olaf's church and a stone hall Magnus was building. The dwellers, shaggy men and tall strong-boned women, waddled in many layers of clothing against the chill damp wind, but they all seemed well fed. Harald noticed that most of the men leaned on spear or ax and watched him go by with a silent wariness. The Thronds had broken more than one king who displeased them.

  Dismounting at the royal hall, Harald entered with his nearest followers. As was usual even in town, its outbuildings formed a square around a cobbled yard. The hall itself, used for eating and drinking, was spacious: at one end the entryroom and foreroom, the rest taken up with a single great chamber. The shutters were opened on the small high windows, feeble light came through the thin-scraped gut that covered them and through the smoke hole in the roof; but most of the light was from the jumping fires in three long trenches. The pillars and panels were richly carved with vines and snakes and figures; the walls were hung with skins, antlers, weapons, and tapestries; the floor was thickly strewn with rushes. Men sat about on the benches lining the walls, dogs slumbering at their feet. These were the stolid stubborn Norse chiefs and warriors who were Magnus's court. They rose as Harald came in, but no great friendliness lay in the seamed faces.

  He stopped. Trouble dwelt in this smoky air; he could almost smell it. The other king was not in sight, so he went up and put himself in the high seat and beckoned to a woman for mead.

  "Where is Magnus?" he asked one of the men near him.

  "Talking alone with his mother." His tone was insolent, but Harald decided not to quarrel with him. Trying to ease the tautness, he asked aloud: "Is there no skald here who can give us a verse?"

  A young man, thick bodied, with blunt freckled features, ruddy hair and beard, stood up. "I am one of the king's skalds," he said. "I'll make a stave for you." He paused a moment, then spoke:

  "Well-known king, you clove

  with keels the sea horse road,

  when duly west to Denmark

  dragons plowed the waters.

  Sithence Olaf's son

  did soon with you share lordship:

  kinsmen shared their kindness,

  kingship was divided."

  "You are an Icelander, I can hear," said Harald. He liked the way of this fellow. Not everyone would have dared thus to remind him of his bargain, or have been so courteous about it. "What is your name?"

  "Thjodholf Arnason, my lord."

  Harald took a gold coil off his arm, broke it, and gave half to the skald, a good payment. "Take this," he said, "and stand by me."

  "I follow Norway's king, my lord," answered Thjodhalf, reaching for the reward. His meaning could be double, but he was at least not scheming behind a man's back.

  "Why so many long faces?" asked Harald. "You may as well tell me, I'll know soon enough."

  Thjodholf shuffled his feet unhappily. "It's about this Jutish leader, Thorkell Geysa," he said. "You remember he was caught last summer and brought here. King Magnus ordered that he be treated honorably, but now it seems the king's mother Alfhild has given him a ship and crew and let him go."

  "So!" Harald stormed furiously to his feet. "It's not enough to let a hostage slip without ransom, but I who caught him am not even told! Where is she?"

  "She's with the king her son, and—" Thjodholf broke off in relief. "No, here comes my lord now."

  Magnus entered the room with his brows knotted together. He went to the high seat, and Harald loomed over him, barking: "What is this I hear about Thorkell the Jute?"

  "He has been freed," said Magnus. "Does it concern you?"

  "Aye, it does. I
f I am half a king, I bear half a danger. That was one of Svein's strongest chiefs."

  "The matter has been settled."

  "How? What did your mother have in mind?"

  "My mother need not enter this," said Magnus shakily. "And now, Harald, if you remember the oaths we swore last spring, that seat is mine."

  It was wide enough for two. Harald bit his teeth till the jaws ached, but rose and let him have it. "This is a cold welcome you give me," he said, "so I will not trouble you further. Good day." He walked from the hall and to the dwelling set aside for his own use.

  Once there, he thrust back his rage and told the foot boy to get Ulf. The Icelander came in staggering a bit. "Whoof! This Throndish mead is a hearty brew. What a head I'll have tomorrow!"

  "If you're not too drunk and too busy chasing women," said Harald, "find out for me why Queen Alfhild let Thorkell Geysa go. If there are plots against me, I want to know about them."

  "Oh, that," said Ulf. He belched and leaned against the door post. "I already know that. I was getting rich off one of Magnus's guards, he has no luck with the dice, when your boy came, and we were gossiping. There's naught juicy to tell. Alfhild was merely being forehanded."

  "In God's name, what was she after?"

  "Oh ... a place of refuge, in case something should happen to Magnus, her son. Naught else. Was that all you wished? Then I'll be off again."

  Harald stood alone in the room for a while. So they trusted him no more than that?

  It was an acrid knowledge. Perhaps, he told himself, he had given them some cause to dislike him, but surely not so much. He meant to hold by his bargain, if not from love of Magnus then because civil war would be the chiefs' chance to regain their old power, undoing Harald Fairhair's work in all but name. If now and then he flared up when he had to take second place, Magnus need not be so concerned over it. But too many men were working mischief. Magnus they knew; Harald was the unknown, the fearful tomorrow, and they would do all they could to stir up trouble for him.

  Well ... If hate was what they wanted, they should have it till it choked them. But he felt very much alone. He wished Ellisif were here, but many wintry miles lay between, and even together they did not understand each other.

  He decided to visit Olaf's shrine in St. Clement's church. It was at least something to do, and perhaps the old king would give him a sign. He donned his outer clothes, took an ax, and went by himself down the dusk-filled street. Men stared after his big lonely form till it was lost in the twilight.

  At the church, a stone building small beside those he had seen abroad, he left his weapon and hat in the entrance. Inside, the place was dark and cold, with a few candles throwing a dull flame before the altar. There lay the coffin, wrapped in costly furs, a cloth-of-gold canopy above it. The threads shimmered against the gloom.

  Harald knelt before it. This was a miracle, they said. The martyr's body was uncorrupted, looking as if he slept. Magnus, his son, had the only key to the shrine, and each twelvemonth, alone, supposedly clipped the hair and nails that were still growing. Harald wondered if he might view the body, but doubted that Magnus would agree. Impious thoughts ran like devils through his head; there were ways to embalm a corpse so it lasted for a while, but here in the North the art was crude and rotting was bound to start sometime.

  He muttered an Ave in penance. It turned his mind to Maria, the earthly Maria he had left in Miklagardh. In the dimness, he came near feeling her lips brush his again. ... No, she was behind him, he would not see her in this life and heaven was a bloodless place at best. Hellfire would at least be warm. He shivered and got up to go. There had been no sign.

  3

  In the entryroom of his hall, Einar Thambaskelfir took off his muddy boots and changed into shoes. Outside, early rain scourged the earth, snow melted and ditches overflowed. He felt his bones creak in the damp; yes, he was getting old.

  Bergljot, his wife, gave him a cup of warm ale as he trod into the main room. He drained it with some rebirth of his olden heartiness; he was still Einar Thambaskelfir, Einar the Bowman. She filled it again. She was the only one there just now. Eindridhi, their son, lived nearby with his family, and of course they had plenty of housefolk; but somebody seemed to be huddled elsewhere.

  A long booming rattled the door. "The first thunder already," said Einar. "This will be a stormy year."

  Bergljot nodded. She was a tall woman, handsome rather than beautiful, her face as stern as his under the thick gray hair. "In more than one way," she answered. "What do they say in Nidharos about the war?" Einar had just returned from a meeting of chiefs.

  "The kings are going to raise a great levy—half the fighting men in Norway. That means nigh every ship, you know. It will be hard on fishermen." Einar set the cup down, a massive thing of chased silver, studded with rubies. "I want to get rid of this."

  "Why? I thought you had it from Magnus."

  "But he got it from Harald." Einar spat. "I'd say nothing if we were going to Denmark on Magnus's behalf, but it galls me to fight for that upstart. These kings are a pest in the land, and no sooner do we get a good one than the old sort raises itself anew."

  Bergljot could not resist a little mockery: "Olaf Tryggvason was a harsh king, but you stood by him when the Long Snake was boarded."

  "Yes . . . yes . . ." Einar moved slowly toward the high seat. For a moment the strength and the mask of him dropped, and she saw he was aging. "I was young then, we were all young. I remember how I stood shooting and shooting, till the bow snapped in my grip. 'What was that sound?' cried Olaf. That was Norway breaking from your hand, King,' I answered. And then the ship was taken, and Olaf leaped into the sea. It was in the one thousandth year after Christ, and some thought doomsday would come then. To me it was like the end of the world when the waters closed over his head." He sat down, resting his chin on gnarled fingers. Rain was noisy against the roof.

  Bergljot joined him. She had heard the story often, in those same words, and replied now much as she had always done. "Well, what's dead is dead. My father Haakon Jarl held Norway before, and Olaf Tryggvason hunted him to his death; yet we two have lived happily together, Einar."

  "We share the same blood," answered her husband. "The chiefs of the realm, risen from the folk and speaking for them. It was better in the old days, I think, when power came from below and no man had too much might. Now the kings have set themselves above us all, above the law. Harald Sigurdharson would be the law." He clenched his fist. "May I never see the day when my life hangs on one man's will."

  "The time is another," sighed Bergljot. "Now we are Christians, and Thor is a demon, though he had many a hard fight to win this land for men from the giants. Now there is a king, and a Pope, and I know not what else, gnawing away at our freedom." She shook her head. "I don't understand it. What better and cleaner thing can a woman do than to bear a child? Yet they say that is unclean, and she must remain out of church till—"

  "Stay away from holy matters," warned Einar. He glanced up at the rafters, half frightened, as if he would see St. Olaf scowling down at him. "Things could be worse. While Magnus lives, the old law is shielded. And this Harald is so reckless that he may well be killed in battle. If that should happen, I'll give many candles, and even some land to the new Olaf's church."

  "How much?" asked Bergljot sharply.

  "Well, let it happen first!"

  "But if it goes the other way? Suppose Magnus falls. What can we look for then?"

  "Trouble," said Einar grimly. "Unrest and killing, till Harald is slain and the red cock crows on his rooftop. From me he shall never have any gift but the edge of an ax."

  Chapter II:

  How King Magnus Went to his Weird

  1

  In spring Elizabeth traveled up to Nidharos with Maria, who was growing swiftly; but she scarce had time to greet Harald and show him how the child was already walking, before he was off again. The host had been raised, and the Norse kings were sailing to conquer Denmark.

/>   Each day the fleet slipped past an immensity of cliffs towering over restless gray waters; at night they would find anchorage, and the men sleep aboard, or there would be a strand wide enough to beach the ships and make camp. Harald was in charge of somewhat less than half the vessels, the southern levies and his own guardsmen, but being smaller his force was more quickly readied. A few days after the voyage had begun, he was up early, had the order called to raise anchors and masts, and got under weigh well ahead of Magnus. When he reached the stopping point agreed for that evening, he rowed his craft inside the little bay to the beach. This was the better spot, for men could go ashore to stretch their legs, and Harald thought it only right his followers should have the chance this time.

  A low sun burned swollen and dull red across the sea when Magnus's ships hove into view. They came sailing past the steeps and into the bay, one long hull after another; in the lead, the great Wisent lifted her horned golden head and shields rattled along her bulwarks. Harald stood up in his own dragon, wondering what Magnus would say to his taking the royal place. The Wisent glided to a stop; faintly he heard men cry out. Then her sail was lowered, the oars went out, a horn blew, and he saw the crews of the king's vessels snatching after their weapons.

  "What the devil?" asked Ulf.

  Harald showed his teeth mirthlessly. "Unship the hawsers and get our keels out of here! It seems the good Magnus is angered."

  "He'd fight his own folk over so little a thing?" said Halldor. "You kings are an eldritch breed."

  One by one, Harald's craft were shoved into the water and rowed out toward the sea, where they dropped anchor, while Magnus's came in to the shore. The horizon gulped the sun, and twilight rose like mist from the land. Harald had his gig drawn up, jumped in with a couple of men, and told them to bring it over to Magnus.