Chapter I. The Seeking of Sword Helmbiter.
Men call me "King Alfred's Viking," and I think that I may be proudof that name; for surely to be trusted by such a king is honourenough for any man, whether freeman or thrall, noble or churl.Maybe I had rather be called by that name than by that which wasmine when I came to England, though it was a good title enough thatmen gave me, if it meant less than it seemed. For being the son ofVemund, king of Southmereland in Norway, I was hailed as king whenfirst I took command of a ship of my own. Sea king, therefore, wasI, Ranald Vemundsson, but my kingdom was but over ship and men, thecircle of wide sea round me was nought that I could rule over, if Imight seem to conquer the waves by the kingship of good seaman'scraft.
One may ask how I came to lose my father's kingdom, which shouldhave been mine, and at last to be content with a simple Englishearldom; or how it was that a viking could be useful to Alfred, thewise king. So I will tell the first at once, and the rest may belearned from what comes after.
If one speaks to me of Norway, straightway into my mind comes theremembrance of the glare of a burning hall, of the shouts of savagewarriors, and of the cries of the womenfolk, among whom I, aten-year-old boy, was when Harald Fairhair sent the great JarlRognvald and his men to make an end of Vemund, my father. ForHarald had sworn a great oath to subdue all the lesser kings in theland and rule there alone, like Gorm in Denmark and Eirik inSweden. So my father's turn came, and as he feasted with his ninetystout courtmen, the jarl landed under cover of the dark and fell onhim, surrounding the house and firing it. Then was fierce fightingas my father and his men sallied again and again from the doors andwere driven back, until the high roof fell in and there was asudden silence, and an end.
Then in the silence came my mother's voice from where she stood onthe balcony of the living house across the garth {i}. I mindthat she neither wept nor shrieked as did the women round her, andher voice was clear and strong over the roaring of the flames. Imind, too, the flash of helms and armour as every man turned tolook on her who spoke.
"Coward and nidring art thou, Rognvald, who dared not meet Vemund,my husband, in open field, but must slay him thus. Ill may allthings go with thee, till thou knowest what a burning hall is likefor thyself. I rede thee to the open hillside ever, rather thancome beneath a roof; for as thou hast wrought this night, so shallothers do to thee."
Then rose a growl of wrath from Rognvald's men, but the great Jarlbade them cease, and harm none in all the place. So he went down tohis ships with no more words and men said that he was ill at easeand little content, for he had lost as many men as he had slain, sostoutly fought my father and our courtmen, and had earned a curse,moreover, which would make his nights uneasy for long enough.
Then as he went my mother bade me look well at him, that in days tocome I might know on whom to avenge my father's death. After thatshe went to her own lands in the south, for she was a jarl'sdaughter, and very rich.
Not long thereafter Harald Fairhair won all the land, and thenbegan the trouble of ruling it; and men began to leave Norwaybecause of the new laws, which seemed hard on them, though theywere good enough.
Now two of Jarl Rognvald's sons had been good friends of my fatherbefore these troubles began, and one, Sigurd, had been lord overthe Orkney Islands, and had died there. The other, Jarl Einar, fellout with Rognvald, his father, and we heard that he would take tothe viking path, and go to the Orkneys, to win back the jarldomthat Sigurd's death had left as a prey to masterless men andpirates of all sorts. So my mother took me to him, and asked himfor the sake of old friendship to give me a place in his ship; forI was fourteen now, and well able to handle weapons, being strongand tall for my age, as were many of the sons of the old kinglystocks.
So Einar took me, having had no part in his father's doings towardsus, and hating them moreover. He promised to do all that he mighttowards making a good warrior and seaman of me; and he was everthereafter as a foster father to me, for my own had died in thehall with Vemund. It was his wish to make amends thus, if he could,for the loss his folk had caused me.
Of the next five years I need speak little, for in them I learnedthe viking's craft well. We won the Orkneys from those who heldthem, and my first fight was in Einar's ship, against two of theviking's vessels. After that we dwelt in Sigurd's great house inKirkwall, and made many raids on the Sutherland and Caithnessshores. I saw some hard fighting there, for the Scots are no babesat weapon play.
Then when I was nineteen, and a good leader, as they said, thewords that my mother spoke to Jarl Rognvald came true, and he diedeven as he had slain my father.
For Halfdan and Gudrod, Harald Fairhair's sons, deeming that theJarl stood in their way to power in Norway, burned him in his hallby night, and so my feud was at an end. But the king would innowise forgive his sons for the slaying of his friend, and outlawedthem. Whereon Halfdan came and fell on us in the Orkneys; and thatwas unlucky for him, for we beat him, and Jarl Einar avenged on himhis father's death.
Now through this it came to pass that I saw Norway for the lasttime, for I went thither in Einar's best ship to learn if Haraldmeant to make the Orkneys pay for the death of his son--which waslikely, for a son is a son even though he be an outlaw.
So I came to my mother's place first of all, and full of joy andpleasant thoughts was I as we sailed into the well-remembered fiordto seek the little town at its head. And when we came there, noughtbut bitterest sorrow and wrath was ours; for the town was a blackheap of ruin, and the few men who were left showed me where thekindly hands of the hill folk had laid my mother, the queen, in alittle mound, after the Danish vikings, who had fallen suddenly onthe place with fire and sword, had gone. They had grown thus boldbecause the great jarl was dead, and the king's sons had left theland without defence.
There I swore vengeance for this on every viking of Danish racethat I might fall in with; for I was wild with grief and rage, asone might suppose. I set up a stone over the grave of my mother,graving runes thereon that should tell who she was and also whoraised it; for I was skilled in the runic lore, having learned muchfrom one of Einar's older men who had known my father.
Thereafter we cruised among the islands northwards until we learnedthat Harald was indeed upon us, and then I saw my last of Norway aswe headed south again, and the last hilltop sank beneath the sea'srim astern of us. I did not know that so it would be at thattime--it is well that one sees not far into things to come--buteven now all my home seemed to be with Einar; and that also was notto last long, as things went. How that came about I must tell, forthe end was that I came to Alfred the king.
When we came back to Kirkwall, I told the jarl all that I had doneand learned; and grieved for me he was when he heard of my mother'sdeath. Many things he said to me at that time which made him dearerto me. Then after a while he spoke of Harald, who, as it seemed,might come at any time.
"We cannot fight Norway," he said, "so we must even flit hence tothe mainland and wait until Harald is tired of seeking us. It is inmy mind that he seeks not so much for revenge as for payment ofscatt from our islands. Now he has a reason for taking it by force.He will seek to fine us, and then make plans by which I shall holdthe jarldom from him for yearly dues."
So he straightway called the Thing {ii} of all the Orkney folk,who loved him well, and put the matter before them; and they set towork and did his bidding, driving the cattle inland and scatteringthem, and making the town look as poor as they might.
Then in three days' time we sailed away laughing; for none butpoor-looking traders were left, and no man would think that neverhad the Orkneys been so rich as in Einar's time. And he bade themmake peace with the king when he came, and told them that so allwould be well, for Harald would lay no heavy weregild on so poor aplace for his son's slaying.
Southward we went to Caithness, and so westward along theSutherland coast; for we had taken no scatt there for this year,and Einar would use this cruise to do so, seeing that we must putto sea. We were not the first who had laid these
shores under rulefrom the Orkneys, for Jarl Sigurd had conquered them, meeting hisdeath at last in a Sutherland firth, after victory, in a strangeway.
He fought with a Scottish chief named Melbrigda of the Tusks, andslew him, and bore back his head to the ships at his saddle bow.Then the great teeth of the chief swung against the jarl's leg andwounded it, and of that he died, and so was laid in a great moundat the head of the firth where his ships lay. After that, theOrkneys were a nest of evil vikings till we came.
So it had happened that, from the time when it was made over him,Jarl Sigurd's mound had been untended, for we ourselves had neverbeen so far south as this firth before. Indeed, it had been so laidwaste by Sigurd's men after his death that there was nought to gothere for. But at this time we had reason for getting into somequiet, unsought place where we should not be likely to be heard of,for the king had over-many ships and men for us to meet. So after aweek's cruising we put into that firth, and anchored in the shelterof its hills.
There is no man of all our following who will forget that day,because of what happened almost as soon as the anchor held. It wasvery hot that morning, and what breeze had been out in the open seawas kept from us now by the hills, so that for some miles we hadrowed the ships up the winding reaches of the firth; and then, aswe laid in the oars and the anchorage was reached, there crept frominland a dim haze over the sun, dimming the light, and making allthings look strange among the mountains. Then the sounds of theships seemed to echo loudly over the still water and when all thebustle of anchoring was over, the stillness seemed yet greater, forthe men went to their meals, and for a while spoke little.
Einar and I sat on his after deck under the awning, and spoke inlow voices, as if afraid to raise our tones.
"There is a thunderstorm about," I said.
"Ay--listen," the jarl answered.
Then I heard among the hills, far up the firth beyond us, a strangesound that seemed to draw nearer, like and yet unlike thunder,roaring and jarring ever closer to us, till it was all around usand beneath us everywhere, and our very hearts seemed to stopbeating in wonder.
Then of a sudden the ship was smitten from under the keel with aheavy, soundless blow, and the waters of the firth ebbed and flowedfiercely about us; and then the sound passed on and down the firthswiftly and strangely as it had come, and left us rocking on thetroubled waters that plashed and broke along the rocks of theshore, while the still, thick air seemed full of the screams of theterrified eagles and sea birds that had left them.
"Odin defend us!" the jarl said; "what is this?"
I shook my head, looking at him, and wondering if my face was whiteand scared as his and that of every man whom I could see.
Now we waited breathless for more to come, but all was quiet again.The birds went back to their eyries, and the troubled water wasstill. Then presently our fears passed enough to let us speak withone another; and then there were voices enough, for every manwished to hear his own again, that courage might return.
Then a man from the Orkneys who had been with Jarl Sigurd came aftto us, and stood at the break of the deck to speak with Einar.
"Jarl," he said, almost under his breath, "it is in my mind thatSigurd, your brother, is wroth because his mound has been untendedsince we made it."
Then Einar said:
"Was it so ill made that it needs tending?"
"It was well made, jarl; but rain and frost and sun on a new-mademound may have wrought harm to it. Or maybe he thinks that enoughhonour has not been paid him. He was a great warrior, jarl, andperhaps would have more sacrifice, and a remembrance cup drunk byhis own brother at his grave."
Now this man's name was Thord, the same who taught me runes--a goodseaman and leader of men, and one who was held to be wise in morematters than most folk. So his word was to be listened to.
"You know more of these matters than I, Thord," Einar answered. "Isit possible that Sigurd could work this?"
"Who knows what a dead chief of might cannot work?" Thord said. "Ithink it certain that Sigurd is angry for some reason; and littleluck shall we have if we do not appease his spirit."
Then the jarl looked troubled, as well he might, for to go near themound that held an angry ghost was no light matter. It lay far upthe firth, Thord said, and the ships could not go so far. But Einarwas very brave, and when he had thought for a little while he said:
"Well, then, I will take boat and go to Sigurd's mound and see ifhe ails aught. Will any man come with me, however?"
I liked not the errand, as may be supposed, but I could not leavemy foster father to go alone.
"I will be with you," I said. "Will not Thord come also?"
"Ay," the grim Orkney man answered.
Now all our crew were listening to us, and I looked down the longgangways by chance, and when I did so no man would meet my eye.They feared lest they should be made to go to this haunted place,as it seemed--all but one man, who sat on the mast step swinginghis feet. This was Kolgrim the Tall, the captain of the fore deck,a young man and of few words, but a terrible swordsman, and knowingmuch of sea craft. And when this man saw that I looked at him, henodded a little and smiled, for he had been a friend of mine sinceI had first come to Einar.
"Two men to row the boat will be enough, jarl," I said. "Kolgrimyonder will come with us."
"Well," the jarl answered, "maybe four of us are enough. We shallnot fright Sigurd with more, and maybe would find it hard to getthem to come."
So he called Kolgrim, and he said that he would go with us, andwent to get the boat alongside without more words.
Then the jarl and I and Thord armed ourselves--for a warrior shouldbe met by warriors. The men were very silent, whispering amongthemselves, until the jarl was ready and spoke to them.
"Have no fear for us," he said. "Doubtless my brother needssomewhat, and calls me. I am going to find out what it is andreturn."
So we pushed off, Thord and Kolgrim rowing. It was strange to lookback, as we went, on the ships, for not a soul stirred on boardthem, as it seemed, so intently were we watched; and the water waslike a sheet of steel under them, so that they were doubled.
Presently they were hidden as we rounded a turn in the firth, andwe were alone among the hills, and the lonesomeness was very great.There was no dwelling anywhere along the shores, nor in the deepglens that came down to them, each with its noisy burn fallingalong it. Once I saw deer feeding far up at the head of a valleythat opened out, but they and the eagles were the only livingthings we could see beside the loons that swam and dived silentlyas we neared them.
The silence and the heat weighed on us, and we went for a mile ormore without a word. Then we turned into the last reach of thewater, and saw Sigurd's mound beside its edge at the very head ofthe firth, where the hills came round in a circle that was brokenonly by the narrow waters and the valley that went beyond themamong the mountains. It was a fitting resting place for one whowould sleep in loneliness; but I thought that I had rather liewhere I could look out on the sea I loved, and see the long shipspass and the white waves break beneath me.
Now all seemed very peaceful here in the hot haze that brooded overthe still mountains, and there seemed to be nought to fear. We drewswiftly up to the mound, with the plash of oars only to break thesilence, and there was nought amiss that we could see. They hadmade it on a little flat tongue of land that jutted from themountain's foot into the deep water, so that on two sides the moundwas close to its edge. So we pulled on softly round the tongue ofland, being maybe about fifty paces from the mound across thewater. And when we saw the other side of Sigurd's resting place,the oars stayed suddenly, and the jarl, who held the tiller, swungthe boat away from the shore, and I think I knew then what fearwas.
The mound was open. There was a wide, brown scar, as offreshly-moved earth, across its base, reaching from the level tosix or eight feet of its height, as though half the grass-grownside had been shorn away by a sword cut; and in the midst of thatscar was a doorway, open to the grave's heart,
low and stone built.Some of the earth that had fallen lay before it on the water'sedge, but the rest was doubtless in the water, for there was but anarrow path between bank and mound.
At that sight we stared, thinking we should surely see the grimform of Sigurd loom gigantic and troll-like {iii} across thedoorway; and the jarl half rose from his seat beside me, and criedout with a great voice:
"Sigurd--my brother!"
I think he knew not what or why he cried thus, for he sank backinto his place and swayed against me, while his cry rang loud amongthe hills, and the eagles answered it.
And I grasped my sword hilt, as one does in some sudden terror,staring at the open mound; while old Thord muttered spells againstI know not what, and Kolgrim looked at me, pale and motionless.
Then came the sharp, mocking cry of a diver, that rang strangely;and at once, without order. Thord dug his oar blade into the waterand swung the boat round, and when once Kolgrim's back was towardsthat he feared, he held water strongly and then the boat was about,and we were flying from the place towards the ships, before we knewwhat was being done, panic stricken.
But Einar said never a word, and the two rowers slackened theirpace only when the bend of the firth hid the mound from our sight.
Then said I, finding that Einar spoke not:
"What are we flying from? there was nought to harm us."
For I began to be ashamed. Thereat Kolgrim stopped rowing, andThord must needs do likewise, though he said:
"It is ill for us to stay here. The dead jarl is very wroth."
"I saw nought to fray us; the cry we heard was but that of a loon."
But Thord shook his head. The silence of the place had made allthings seem strange, with the dull light that was over us, and thegreat heat among the towering hills.
"The mound was freshly opened," he said. "I saw earth crumblingeven yet from the broken side. The blow we felt was that whichSigurd struck when he broke free."
Then at last Einar spoke, and his voice was strange:
"I have left my brother unhonoured, and he is angry. What must bedone?"
Now I cannot tell what hardiness took hold of me, but it seemedthat I must needs go back and see more of this. I was drawn to doso, as a thing they fear will make some men long to face it andknow its worst, not as if they dared so much as when they must.
"I think we should have waited to ask Sigurd that," I said; andEinar looked strangely at me.
"Would you have us return?" he asked.
"Why not?" said I. "If the great jarl has called us as it seems,needs must that we know what he wills."
Then said Thord:
"I helped to lay him in that place, and I mind how he looked atthat time. Somewhat we left undone, doubtless. I dare not go back."
Einar looked at the hills, leaning his chin on his hand, and saidslowly, when Thord had done:
"That is the first time Thord has said 'I dare not.' Now I wouldthat I had stayed to fight Harald and fall under his sword before.I too must say the same. I have left my brother unhonoured, and Idare not go back."
Pale and drawn the jarl's face was, and I knew he meant what hesaid. Nevertheless it seemed to me that some one must know whatSigurd willed.
"Jarl Einar," I said, "this is a strange business, and one cannottell what it means. Now Sigurd was my father's close friend, and Ihave had nought to do with him. I will go back, therefore, andlearn what I can of him. I think he will not harm me, for he has noreason to do so. Moreover if he does, none will learn what heneeds."
"I have heard," said Thord, "that a good warrior may ask what hewill of a dead hero, so that he shows no fear and is a friend. Ifhis courage fails, however, then he will be surely destroyed."
Then I said:
"I have no cause to fear Sigurd, save that he is a ghost. I do notknow if I fear him as such; that is to be seen."
Now Einar laid his hand on mine and spoke gravely:
"I think it is a hero's part to do what you say. If you go back andreturn in safety, the scalds will sing of you for many a long day.Go, therefore, boldly; this is not a matter from which you shouldbe held back, as it has come into your mind."
Then said Thord:
"It will be well to ask Sigurd for a token whereby we may know thathe sends messages by you."
And Einar said on that:
"In Sigurd's hand is his sword Helmbiter. I think he will give thatto the man who dares speak to him, for he will know that it goesinto brave hands. Ask him for it bravely."
"Put me ashore, therefore, before my courage goes," I said; andthey pulled the boat to the bank where I could step on a rock andso to shore. And when I was there, Kolgrim rose up and followed mewithout a word.
"Bide here for two hours, jarl, and maybe I will return in thattime," I said. "Farewell."
So I turned away as they answered me, thinking that Kolgrim heldthe boat's painter. But he came after me, and I spoke to him:
"Why, Kolgrim, will you come also?"
"You shall not go alone, Ranald the king's son; I will come withyou as far as I dare."
"That is well," I answered, and with that wasted no more words, butclimbed the hillside a little, and then went steadily towards wherethe mound was, with Kolgrim close at my shoulder, and the jarl andThord looking fixedly after us till we were out of sight.
King Alfred's Viking Page 2