The Long Ships

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CONCERNING THE WRATH OF BROTHER WILLIBALD AND HOW ORM TRIED HIS HAND AT WOOING

THINGS soon turned out as Ylva had foretold, for a few days later the Bishop began to hint that the two wounded men should allow themselves to be baptized; but he had no success with either of them in this matter. Orm lost his patience almost at once, and told him sharply that he wished to hear no more about it, as he had in any case but a short time left to live; and Toke said that he, for his part, would very soon be fit and well and so had no need of any spiritual assistance. The Bishop then set Brother Matthias to strive to win them over by patient methods and gradual education, and he made several endeavors to teach them the Creed, ignoring their entreaties to be left in peace. Then Toke had a good spear, slim-bladed and keen-edged, brought to him, and the next time Brother Matthias came to instruct them he found Toke sitting up in bed, supported on one elbow, weighing the spear thoughtfully in his free hand.

“It would be an ill thing to break the peace in King Harald’s palace,” said Toke, “but I do not think anyone can condemn an invalid for doing so in self-defense. It would also be a pity to soil the floor of so fine a chamber as this with the blood of a fat man, and your veins look full; I have persuaded myself, however, that if I can nail you cleanly to a wall with this spear, the blood-gush will be contained within reasonable limits. To do this will not be a simple task for a bedridden man to perform, but I shall try my best to execute it competently; and this I swear I shall do the moment you open your mouth to plague us with your prattle. For, as we have told you, we do not wish to hear any more of it.”

Brother Matthias turned white and raised his hands before him in fearful supplication. At first he seemed to be about to speak; then, however, his limbs began to quake and he beat a smart retreat from the chamber, slamming the door behind him. After this they were not disturbed by him any more. But Brother Willibald, who never showed any sign of fear, came at his usual time to dress their wounds, and rebuked them severely for the fright they had given Brother Matthias.

“You are a man of mettle,” said Toke, “though there is but little of you; and I confess that I prefer you to other men of your kidney, though you are rude and peevish. Perhaps it is because you do not try to badger us into this Christianity, but content yourself with ministering to our wounds.”

Brother Willibald replied that he had been longer than his fellow priests in this land of darkness and had managed to free himself from such vain fancies and ambitions.

“When I first came here,” he said, “I was as fanatical as any other member of the blessed Benedict’s order in my zeal to baptize every heathen soul. But now I am wiser and know what is feasible and what is merely vanity. It is right that the children of this land should be baptized, together with such women as have not wallowed too deeply in sin, if indeed any such are to be found; but the grown men of this country are veritable apostles of Satan and must, in the name of divine justice, burn in hell-fire, however assiduously one may baptize them; for no redemption can suffice to wipe away such vileness as their souls are stained with. Of this I am sure, for I know them well; therefore I do not waste my time trying to convert such men as you.”

His voice became frenzied, and he glared wrathfully from one to the other, brandishing his arms and crying: “Blood-wolves, murderers and malefactors, adulterate vermin, Gadarene swine, weeds of Satan and minions of Beelzebub, generation of vipers and basilisks, shall you be cleansed by holy baptism and stand as white as snow in the regiments of the blessed angels? Nay, I tell you, it shall not be so. I have lived long in this house and have witnessed too much; I know your ways. No bishop or holy father shall ever persuade me that such as you can be saved. How should men of the north be allowed to enter the gates of heaven? You would scrabble at the blessed virgins with your lewd fingers, you would raise your war-whoops against the seraphim and archangels, you would bawl for ale before the throne of God Himself! No, no, I know what I speak of. Hell alone will serve for such as you, whether you be baptized or no. Praised be Almighty God, the One, the Eternal, amen!”

He fumbled angrily among his medicines and bandages and bustled across the room to apply salves to Toke’s wound.

“Why do you exert yourself to make us well again,” said Orm, “if your hatred for us is so great?”

“I do it because I am a Christian and have learned to repay evil with good,” he replied, “which is more than you will ever learn to do. Do I not still bear the scar upon my brow where King Harald struck me with the holy crucifix? Yet do I not still daily minister to his contaminated flesh with all the skill that lies at my command? Besides which, it may ultimately be for the best that such fierce fighting-men as you should be kept alive in this land, for you are like to send many of your fellows to hell before you go there yourselves, as you have already done at this Christmas feast. Let wolf rend wolf, that the Lamb of God may dwell in peace.”

When he at length left them, Toke said that it looked as though the blow on the head which the little fellow had received when the King had cracked him with the cross had knocked the wits out of him, for most of what he had shouted at them had no sense in it; with which observation Orm agreed. But both of them admitted that he was marvelously cunning in medicine, and very diligent in the care he showed toward them.

Toke was now beginning to be himself again, and before long he was able to limp round the room and even outside it, while Orm lay alone in his bed, finding time heavy on his hands except when Ylva was there to talk to him. When she was at his side, the thought of his impending death troubled him less, for she was always full of merriment and bright talk, so that he found pleasure in listening to her; but he became sullen again as soon as she said that he was looking better and would soon be up and about. In regard to that matter, he said, he thought he knew best what was most likely to happen. Soon, however, he found himself able to sit up in bed without too much pain; and the next time Ylva combed him, she found a louse in his hair that was large and fresh and full of blood. This made him think deeply, and he said that he did not know what conclusion to come to.

“You must not let the matter of the necklace weigh on your mind,” said Ylva. “You gave it to me when you thought you were going to die, and the memory of it troubles you now that you see that you are going to live. But I shall gladly give it back to you, though it far surpasses in beauty anything that has ever before been seen in this land. For I do not wish it to be said that I lured your gold from you when you were sick with wounds; which I have already heard muttered more than once.”

“Truly, it would be good to keep such a jewel in one’s family,” said Orm. “But the best solution for me would be to have both you and the jewel; nor will I accept it back on any other condition. But before I ask your father what his feelings are in regard to this, I should like to know whether you yourself are so inclined. For the first time we spoke together you told me that if you had been forced to marry Sigtrygg, you would have driven a knife into him in his bridal bed, and I should like to be sure that you feel differently toward me.”

Ylva laughed merrily and said that he should not be too confident about this. “For I am of a stranger temper than you know,” she said, “and difficult to satisfy. And the daughters of kings are more troublesome than other women when they marry and leave home. Have you heard what befell Agne, the King of the Swedes, long ago, when he took to wife a king’s daughter from a land east of the sea, who was not willing to be his bedfellow? The first night after the marriage, he lay with her in a tent beneath a tree, and when he was sound asleep she fastened a rope to his neckring, which was a good, strong ring, and hanged him from the tree, though he was a great king and she had but one slave-girl to help her. So ponder the matter carefully before you seek my hand.”

She leaned forward and stroked his forehead and pinched his ears and looked into his eyes, smiling, so that Orm felt better than he had done for many days.

But then she suddenly became solemn and thoughtful and said it was vain to talk of such things before her father had expressed his opinion on the matter; and she thought it would be no easy thing to win his consent unless Orm was better favored than most men as regards property and cattle and gold.

“He complains incessantly that so many of his daughters are unwed,” she said, “but he will never admit that any man is sufficiently rich and noble to be worthy of us. It is not such a fine thing as people imagine to be a king’s daughter, for many bold youths wink furtively at us and finger the hem of our skirts when no one is watching, but few of them have the courage to carry their suit to our father; and such as do, come crestfallen from the interview. It is a sore pity that he is so intent on getting us worthy husbands, though it is true that a poor man would be no fit mate for me. But you, Orm, who can bestow such a necklace upon me and have the blood of the Broad Embrace in your veins, must doubtless be one of the richest princes in Skania?”

Orm replied that he hoped to be able to prevail upon King Harald into consenting to his suit, for he knew that the King regarded him highly, both because of the bell he had brought him and for the way in which he had vanquished Sigtrygg.

“But I do not know,” he continued, “how much wealth awaits me in Skania, for it is now seven years since I left my home, and I cannot tell how it stands with my family. It may be that fewer of them are alive than when I saw them last, and that my inheritance is therefore greater. But in any case I have much gold from the south besides the necklace I have already given you, so that even if I own no more than what I have with me, nobody can call me a poor man. And I can obtain more in the way in which I won this.”

Ylva nodded doubtfully and said that this did not sound too promising, her father being a very exacting man. Toke, who had come in while the discussion was afoot, agreed with her and said that this was an occasion when it was necessary to think carefully before deciding what to do.

“It so happens,” he added, “that I am able to tell you the best way to win a wealthy woman of noble blood when her father is unwilling but she herself is agreeable. My mother’s father was called Nose-Tönne. He used to trade with the Smalanders, and possessed a small house, twelve cows, and a great store of wisdom. One day he was on a business trip to Värend, and there saw a girl called Gyda, who was the daughter of a wealthy lord. He determined to win her, partly for the honor it would bring him and partly because he coveted her fine body and thick red hair. But her father, who was named Glum, was a proud man, and he said that Tönne was not good enough to be his son-in-law, though the girl herself thought otherwise. Gyda and Tönne, therefore, wasted no time in inveighing against the old man’s folly, but hastily formed a plan and arranged to meet in the forest while she was nutting there with her maids. The result of this encounter was that she came to be with child, and Tönne had to fight two duels with her brother, the marks of which they both bore till the day they died. In due course she gave birth to twins; whereupon the old man decided that it was no use kicking against the pricks any longer. So they married and lived together in great bliss and contentment, and had seven more children, so that all the people of the district praised my grandfather’s wisdom and good luck, and his reputation waxed enormously and became very great, especially when old Glum died and left them a big inheritance. And if my grandfather had not hit upon such a wise method of obtaining the woman of his choice, I should not be sitting here to give you this good advice; for my mother was one of the twins who were begotten under the nut bushes.”

“If a marriage can only be brought about by producing twins,” said Ylva, “your advice is easier given than followed. And there is a difference between having a farmer from Värend as your father and being daughter to the King of the Danes. I doubt whether such an experiment would turn out as well for us as it did for your grandparents.”

Orm thought there was a good deal to be said both for and against Toke’s plan, though it was but cold comfort for a man who was sick and unlusty; however, he said, he would make no decision until he was well enough to walk and could sound King Harald’s feelings in the matter.

This took some time; but at length he grew better and his wound healed, and his strength began to return to him. The winter was by now almost past. King Harald also had recovered from the effects of Christmas and was in capital spirits, busily supervising the preparation of his warships; for he was making ready to sail to Skanör to collect his herring tax, as well as to dispatch the ships he had promised Styrbjörn at the feast. Orm went to him and explained what was in his mind. King Harald listened to his request amiably, showing no displeasure, but straightway inquired how wealthy Orm was, that he could regard himself as eligible for such a match. Orm furnished him with details of his parentage and ancestry, and enumerated his father’s possessions, not omitting to mention all that he himself was bringing home from his travels abroad.

“In addition to all this,” he concluded, “there is much land in Göinge which my mother was due to inherit, though I do not know whether it has yet come into her possession. Nor can I say which of my kinsmen are still alive, or how it is with them. For much may have occurred in Skania during these seven years that I have been away.”

“The jewel you gave my daughter was a princely gift,” said King Harald, “and you have done me several good services, which I have not forgotten. But to marry a daughter of the King of the Danes is the most ambitious match that a man could hope for, and no man has sought the hand of any of my daughters without offering more than all that you possess. Besides which, you have a brother who stands between you and your father’s wealth. Now, if he be alive and have sons, how then shall you support my daughter? I am beginning to grow somewhat advanced in years, though a man might not mark it, and I am anxious to see my daughters well married while I am yet alive to make a good match for them. For I do not think that Sven will bother his head about them when I am gone.”

Orm was compelled to admit that he had little to offer in return for the hand of such a woman. “But I may well find when I reach home,” he said, “that the whole inheritance is mine. My father was already beginning to show his years when I sailed away, and my brother Odd spent all his summers in Ireland and showed little inclination to stay at home. And I have heard that the Vikings in Ireland have fared poorly during the past few years, since King Brian became powerful there.”

King Harald nodded, and said that King Brian had caused the death of many Danes in Ireland and of many seafarers who had ventured into his coastal waters; though, in one sense, this had been something of a blessing, since these men included a good many who had been mischief-makers in their own land.

“But this Brian, this King of Munster,” he said, “has had his head turned by the surfeit of his successes, so that he is now demanding tribute not only from my good friend King Olof of Cork, but also from my own kinsman, Sigtrygg Silk-Beard of Dublin. Such self-importance sits ill upon the head of an Irish king, and in good time I shall send a fleet to his island to trip his arrogance. It might be a good thing to bring him here and keep him tethered to the door of my hall, not merely to provide sport for my men when they are drinking, but also to teach him a lesson in Christian humility and to provide a warning for other kings. For I have always been of the opinion that the King of the Danes ought to be regarded with veneration by all other monarchs.”

“It is my belief, lord,” said Orm, “that you are the mightiest of kings. Even among the Andalusians and the blue men1 there are warriors who know your name and speak of the great deeds that you have done.”

“You have chosen your words well,” said King Harald, “though previously you showed insufficient humility in begging for the hand of one of my fairest daughters when you were not even certain how you were placed as regards your inheritance and possessions. I shall not condemn you too severely for this, however, since you are young and unreflective. But I shall not immediately accede to your request, nor shall I refuse it. This is my decision. Come to me again in the autumn, when I have returned from my expedition and you are better informed concerning your wealth and expectations; and if I then find them sufficient, you shall have the girl, because of the friendship I bear you. And if not, there will always be a place for you in my bodyguard. Until then you must contain yourself in patience.”

When Orm told Ylva how his interview with King Harald had resulted, she flew into a great fury. Tears swelled into her eyes, and she shrieked that she would pluck the old man’s beard from his chin to punish him for his closefistedness and obstinacy, and then lose no time in doing as Toke had advised her. But when she had recovered her composure, she thought it wiser, after all, to abandon this plan.

“I am not afraid of his wrath,” she said, “not even when he bellows like a bull and flings his ale-cup at me; for I am too quick for him, so that he has never yet managed to hit me, and his fits soon pass. But it is so with him that if anyone gainsays him once his mind is set on a thing, he remembers his grievance darkly and will never cease to seek revenge for it. Therefore I think it best that we should not oppose him in this matter, lest he turn his wrath against us both and give me away to the first rich man who catches his eye, merely to spite me and show which of us is the stronger. But know this, Orm, that I desire no husband but you, and am ready to wait till the autumn for you, though the interval will be long and tedious. If then he still opposes our match, I will wait no longer, but will follow you whithersoever you lead me.”

“When I hear you speak like that,” said Orm, “I almost begin to feel myself a man again.”

1. Negroes.