Viking Tales by Jennie Hall (books to read now txt) 📕
- Author: Jennie Hall
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"'You would not eat with us. You cannot say no to half of my ale. I drink this to your health.'
"Then I drank half of the hornful and sent the rest across the fire to the farmer. He took it and smiled, saying:
"'Since it is to my health, I will drink it. I thought that all this night's work would be my death.'
"'Oh, do not fear that!' I laughed, 'for a dead man sets no tables.'
"So we drank and all grew merrier. At last I stood up and said:
"'I like this little taste of your hospitality, friend farmer. I have decided to accept more of it.'
"My men roared with laughter.
"'Come,' they cried, 'thank him for that, farmer. Did you ever have such a lordly guest before?'
"I went on:
"'Now there is no fun in having guests unless they keep you company and make you merry. So I will give out this law: that my men shall never leave you alone. Hakon there shall be your constant companion, friend farmer. He shall not leave you day or night, whether you are working or playing or sleeping. Leif and Grim shall be the same kind of friends to your two sons.'
"I named nine others and said:
"'And these shall follow your thralls in the same way. Now, am I not careful to make your time go merrily?'
"So I set guards over every one in that house. Not once all that winter did they stir out of sight of some of us. So no tales got out to the neighbors. Besides, it was a lonely place, and by good luck no one came that way. Oh! that was fat and easy living.
"Well, after we had been there for a long time, Hakon came in to the feast one night and said:
"'I heard a cuckoo to-day!'
"'It is the call to go a-viking,' I said.
"All my men put their hands to their mouths and shouted. Their eyes danced. Big Thorleif stood up and stretched himself.
"'I am stiff with long sitting,' he said. 'I itch for a fight.'
"I turned to the farmer.
"'This is our last feast with you,' I said.
"'Well,' he laughed, 'this has been the busiest winter I ever spent, and the merriest. May good luck go with you!'
"'By the beard of Odin!' I cried; 'you have taken our joke like a man.'
"My men pounded the table with their fists.
"'By the hammer of Thor!' shouted Grim. 'Here is no stingy coward. He is a man fit to carry my drinking-horn, the horn of a sea-rover and a sword-swinger. Here, friend, take it,' and he thrust it into the farmer's hand. 'May you drink heart's-ease from it for many years. And with it I leave you a name, Sif the Friendly. I shall hope to drink with you sometime in Valhalla.'
"Then all my men poured around that farmer and clapped him on the shoulder and piled things upon him, saying:
"'Here is a ring for Sif the Friendly.'
"'And here is a bracelet.'
"'A sword would not be ashamed to hang at your side.'
"I took five great bracelets of gold from our treasure chest and gave them to him.
"The old man's eyes opened wide at all these things, and at the same time he laughed.
"'May Odin send me such guests every winter!' he said.
"Early next morning we shook hands with our host and boarded the 'Waverunner' and sailed off.
"'Where shall we go?' my men asked.
"'Let the gods decide,' I said, and tossed up my spear.
"When it fell on the deck it pointed up-shore, so I steered in that direction. That is the best way to decide, for the spear will always point somewhere, and one thing is as good as another. That time it pointed us into your father's ships. They closed in battle with us and killed my men and sunk my ship and dragged me off a prisoner. They were three against one, or they might have tasted something more bitter at our hands. They took me before King Halfdan.
"'Here,' they said, 'is a rascal who has been harrying our coasts. We sunk his ship and men, but him we brought to you.'
"'A robber viking?' said the king, and scowled at me.
"I threw back my head and laughed.
"'Yes. And with all your fingers it took you a year to catch me.'
"The king frowned more angrily.
"'Saucy, too?' he said. 'Well, thieves must die. Take him out, Thorkel, and let him taste your sword.'
"Your mother, the queen, was standing by. Now she put her hand on his arm and smiled and said:
"'He is only a lad. Let him live. And would he not be a good gift for our baby?'
"Your father thought a moment, then looked at your mother and smiled.
"'Soft heart!' he said gently to her; then to Thorkel, 'Well, let him go, Thorkel!'
"Then he turned to me again, frowning.
"'But, young sharp-tongue, now that we have caught you we will put you into a trap that you cannot get out of. Weld an iron collar on his neck.'
"So I lived and now am your tooth thrall. Well, it is the luck of war. But by the chair of Odin, I kept my vow!"
"Yes!" cried Harald, jumping to his feet. "And had a joke into the bargain. Ah! sometime I will make a brave vow like that."
[3] See note about drinking-horns on page 195.
[4] See note about feast hall on page 196.
At another time Harald said:
"Tell me of a fight, Olaf. I want to hear about the music of swords."
Olaf's eyes blazed.
"I will tell you of our fight with King Havard," he said.
"One dark night we had landed at a farm. We left our 'Waverunner' in the water with three men to guard her. The rest of us went into the house. The farmer met us at the door, but he died by Thorkel's sword. The others we shut into their beds.[5] The door at each end of the hall we had barred on the inside so that nobody could surprise us. We were busy going through the cupboards and shouting at our good luck. But suddenly we heard a shout outside:
"'Thor and Havard!'
"Then there was a great beating at the doors.
"'He has two hundred fighters with him,' said Grim; 'for we saw his ships last night. Thirty against two hundred! We shall all drink in Valhalla to-night.'
"'Well,' I cried, 'Odin shall have no unwilling guest in me.'
"'Nor in me,' cried Hakon.
"'Nor in me,' shouted Thorkel.
"And that shout went all around, and we drew out our swords and caught up our shields.
"'Hot work is ahead of us,' said Hakon. 'Besides, we must leave none of this mead for Havard. Lend a hand, some one.'
"Then he and another pulled out a great tub that sat on the floor of the cupboard.
"'I drink to Valhalla to-night,' cried Thorkel the Thirsty, and he plunged his horn deep into the tub.
"When he brought it up, his sleeve was dripping and the sweet mead was running over from the horn.
"'Sloven!' cried Hakon, and he struck Thorkel with his fist and knocked him over into the cupboard.
"He fell against the wooden wall at the back, and a carved panel swung open behind him. He dropped down head first. In a minute he put his head out of the hole again. We all stood staring.
"'I think it is a secret passage,' he said.
"'We will try it,' I answered in a whisper. 'Throw dirt on the fire. It must be dark.'
"So we dug up dirt from the earth floor and smothered the fire. All this time there was a terrible shouting and hammering at the doors, but they were of heavy logs and stood.
"'I with four more will guard this door,' I said, pointing to the east end.
"Immediately four men stepped to my side.
"'And I will guard the other,' Hakon said, and four went with him.
"'The rest of you, down the hole!' I said. 'Close the door after you. If luck is with us we will meet at the ships. Now Thor and our good swords help us! Quick! The doors are giving way.'
"So we ten men stood at the doors and held back the king's soldiers. It was dark in the room, and the people out of doors could not tell how many were inside. Few were eager to be the first in.
"'Thirty swords are waiting in there to eat up the first man,' we heard some one say.
"We chuckled at that.
"But the king stood in the very doorway and fought. Our five swords held him back for a long time, but at last he pushed in, and his men poured after him. We ran back and hid behind some tubs in a dark corner. The king's men went groping about and calling, but they did not find us. The room was full of shouting and running and sword-clashing; for in the dark and the noise the men could not tell their own soldiers. More than one fell by his friend's sword. When it was less crowded about the doorway, I whispered:
"'Follow me in double line. We will make for the ships. Keep close together.'
"So that double line of men, with swords swinging from both sides, ran out through the dark. Swords struck out at us, and we struck back. Men ran after us shouting, but our legs were as good as theirs. But I and Hakon and one other were all that reached the ship. There we saw our 'Waverunner' with sail up and bow pointing to open sea. We swam out to her and climbed aboard. Then the men swung the sail to the wind, and we moved off. Even as we went, a spear whizzed through the air, and Hakon fell dead; for the king and all his men were running to the shore.
"'After them!' they were shouting.
"Then we heard the king call to the men in his boats lying out in the water:
"'Row to shore and take us in.'
"Thorkel was standing by my side. At that he laughed and said:
"'They do not answer. He left but a handful to guard his ships. They tasted our swords. And we went aboard and broke the oars and threw the sails into the water. It will be slow going for Havard to-night.'
"Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly:
Olaf's dragon flies.
King Havard stamps the shore:
Olaf skims the waves.
King Havard shakes his fist.
Olaf turns and laughs.'
"That was the end of our meeting with King Havard."
[5] See note about beds on page 196.
Every day the boy Harald heard some such story of war or of the gods, until he could see Thor riding among the storm-clouds and throwing his hammer, until he knew that a brave man has many wounds, but never a one on his back. Many nights he dreamed that he himself walked into Valhalla, and that all the heroes stood up and shouted:
"Welcome! Harald Halfdanson!"
"Ah! the bite of the sword is sweeter than the kiss of your mother," he said to Olaf one day. "When shall I stand in
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