menu_book Chapter 18

Chapter 18 of Havelock the Dane by Charles W. Whistler This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Jarl Sigurd of Denmark Now one would like to tell of quiet days at Grimsby, but there were not to be. Three days after Havelock's homecoming we were on the swan's path and heading for Denmark,

with the soft south wind of high summers speeding us on the way. And I will tell how that came about For else it may seem strange that Havelock Did not see to the rights of his wife first of all That was his first thought in truth

And we brothers planned many ways of getting to work for her For it was certain that Alci would be on his guard And on the next day came a man from Lincoln To seek Berthon with news That good friend had done what none of us had been able to manage

Or he had told the merchant, his friend, to bide in the hall and hear what went on, and then to let him know all else that seemed needful that we should hear. Now he had learned all from the words of Griffin and Alcy, who took no care in their speech, thinking that none in the hall knew the Welsh tongue that they used. It being the business of a merchant to know that of every place where he trades, and he travelling widely,

there was no difficulty to him, and mightily he enjoyed the sport. Then he sent off straightway to us, and now it was plain that we were in danger. Not at once, maybe, but ere long. Griffin would hear sooner or later that his quarry was in Grimsby, after all. So we went to our good old friend, Whitlough of Stallingborough, and told him all. Why, he said, I will have no Welsh outsiders harrying my friends. Light up your beacon,

if he comes, and shut your gates in his face, and I and the housecarls will take him in the rear, and he will not wait here long. I have not had a fight for these twenty years or so, and it does me good to think of one. So we thought that there was little fear of the Welshman. When I came back from this errand, however, I chose to pass the mound where my father slept, and on it, hand in hand, sat Havelock and Goldberger, for it was a quiet place,

and none came near it often. It was good to see them thus in that place, and happy they seemed together. Goldberger called me when I came near, and I sat down beside them as she bade me. Here we have been talking of what we shall do now, for it seems that to both of us are many things to hand, she said. Good it would be if we could set them aside, but we were born to them, and we cannot let them be. And most of all, here in this place, we may not forget the duty that

Grimm would remind us of. Havelock must go to Denmark, and win back his kingdom from Hodulf, first of all. We have thought that East Anglia was to be one first from Alsie, I said. So says Havelok, but I do not think so, for indeed I am but the wife, and the things of the husband come first of all. Now this is what I would say. Sail to Denmark before Hodelf knows what is coming, and there will be less trouble. I am slow at seeing things, said Havelok, but the same might

be said of your kingdom alzi is ready and hodulf is not she answered laughing anyone can see that is it not so brother so it was and i thought that she was right let us ask the brothers i said for here are many things to be thought of and first of all where to get men that was the greatest trouble to our minds but none at all to hers get them in denmark she said when we were all together in the great room of the house that evening. Let us go as merchant folk, and find Sigurd, or his son if

he is dead. If I am not much mistaken, all the land will rise for the son of Gunnar so soon as it is known that he has come again. Sigurd is yet alive, Angir said, and more than that he is waiting. Or he promised Grimm that he would be ready, and I heard the promise. I think that this plan is good, and can well be managed. Here is the ship that Griffin was to have taken today. Gold enough I have, for Grim hoarded against this time. Then he showed us the store that through long years

my father had brought together to take the place of that of Sigurds, which had been lost, and it was no small one. And so we planned at once, and in the end we three brothers were to go with Havelock and Goldberger, leaving Mord to get to Ragnar, and tell him that Goldberger was following the fortunes of her husband, and would return to see to her own if all went well. Berthun would go with him, and Angir would bide at home, for we needed one to whom messages

might come, and while none would know us now in Denmark, either Angir or Maud might be seen, and men would tell Hodulf that the men of Grimm had come home, and so perhaps spoil all. Word might go to Denmark from Griffin even yet. We had little thought of any sorry ending to our plans, for the dreams that had come so true so far cheered us, and so, with the evening tide of the next day, we sailed in the same ship that had been hired for Griffin.

But first Havelok spent a long hour on my father's mound alone, thinking of all that he owed to him who rested there, and to him came Goldberger softly presently, lest he should be lonely in that place. And there she spoke to him of her own faith, saying that already he owed much to it, for he was making his vows to the azir for success. Shall you pray yet again to the azir, my husband? she asked.

Why should I? I have vowed my vows, and there is an end. If they heed them, all is well, and if not, the norns hinder. There is one whom the norns hinder not at all, she said gently, and so told him how, that her prayers would go up every day. Fain was she that he also prayed in that wise to her god,

that naught might be a part in their minds. Then he said, I have heard this from David and Whithelm also, and it is good. Teach me to vow to your God, sweet wife, and I will do so, and you shall teach me to pray as you pray. So it came to pass that Havelok in the after days

was more than ready to help the Christian teachers when they came to him, for that was how the vow that he made ran, that he would do so if he was king and had the power. Now there is nothing to tell of our voyage For one could not wish for a better passage

If the ship was slow Indeed she was so slow That a smaller vessel that had left Tetney Haven On the next day Reached the same port that we were bound for

On the night that we came to our old home And that we learned soon after she had come Into Sigurds Haven we sailed on the morning tide And strange it seemed to me To see the well-known place unchanged as we neared it

My father's house was there, and Arngeir's, and the great hall of the Jarl towered over all, as I remembered it. Men were building a ship in the long shed where ours had been built, and where the Queen had hidden, and the fishing boats lay on the hard as on the day when Havelok had come to us. The little grove was yet behind our house, and it seemed strange when I remembered that the old stones of its altar were far beyond the seas. I wondered if Thor yet stood under his great ash tree, and then I saw one change, for that tree was gone, and in its place stood a watchtower, stone built, and broad and high, for Haven Beacon.

On the high foredeck stood Havelock, and his arm was round Goldberger as we ran in, but they were silent. The land held overmuch of coming wonder for them to put into words, as I think. Presently the boats came off to us in the old way, and here and there I seemed to know the faces of the men, but I was not sure.

It was but the remembrance of the old Danish cast of face, maybe. I could put no names to any of them. And as we were warped alongside the wharf, there rode down to see who we were Sigurd the Jarl himself, seeming unchanged, although twelve years had gone over him.

He was younger than my father, I think, and was at that age when a man changes too slowly for a boy to notice aught but that the one he left as a man he thought old is so yet. He was just the noble looking warrior that I had always wondered at and admired. We had arranged in this way.

Havelok was to be the merchant and we his partners in the venture trading with the goods in the ship as our own. That the owner who was also shipmaster had agreed to willingly enough as we promised to make good any loss that might be from our want of skill in bargaining. One may say that we bought the cargo, which was not a great one, on our own risk,

therefore hiring the vessel to wait our needs, in case we found it better to fly or to land elsewhere presently. Then Havilok was to ask the Jarls leave to trade in the land, and so find a chance to speak with him in private. After the goods might be an excuse for going far and wide through the villages,

to let men know who had come, without rousing Hodel's fears. And as we thought of all this on the voyage, Goldberger remembered that it was likely that Sigurd would know again the ring that had been the Queen's, and she said that it had better be shown him at once, that he might begin to suspect who his guest was,

for we knew that he was true to the son of Gunnar, if none else might still be so. This seemed good to us all, and, indeed, everything seemed to be well planned, though we knew that there are always some happenings that have been overlooked. We thought we had provided against these by keeping the ship as our own to wait for us, however, and it will be seen how it all worked out in the end.

Now Havelok went ashore as soon as the ship was moored, and the moment that he touched land he made a sign on his breast, and I think that it was not that of the hammer of Thor, for Goldberger watched him with bright eyes, and she seemed content as she did so. he went at once to where the Jarl sat on his horse waiting him and greetings passed

I was so used to seeing men stare at my brother that I thought little of the long look that Sigurd gave him but presently it seemed that he was mightily taken with this newcomer for he came on board the ship that he might speak more with him and us presently he said you must come and dine with me at my hall for the lady whom I saw as you came in will be weary

and the meal on shore after a long voyage is ever pleasant. Now what is your errand here? Trading, Jarl, answered Havelok. I thought you somewhat over-warlike looking for a merchant, said Sigurd. What is your merchandise?

Lincoln cloth and bar-iron and such like, and with it all one thing that is worth showing to you, Jarl, for I will sell it to none but yourself. Now we went aft slowly, and presently Havelok and the Jarl were alone by the steering oar,

by design on our part. This seems to be somewhat special, said Sigurd. What is it? Havelok took the ring from his pouch, and set it in the Jarl's hand without a word, and long Sigurd looked at it. I saw the red on his cheek deepen as he did so, but he said never a word for a long time, and next he looked at Havelok, and the eyes of these two met. This is beyond price, said the Jarl slowly. Not my whole town would buy this. It is such as

a queen might wear and be proud of. Should I show it to Hordulf the king, therefore, asked Havelok, with his eyes on those of the Jarl. Let no man see it until I know if I can buy it, answered Sigurd. Trust it to my keeping, if you will, for I would have it valued, maybe. "'It is my wife's, and you must ask her that.' Then Havelok called Goldberger from her cabin under the after-deck, and the Jarl greeted her in most courtly wise.

"'I will trust it with you, Jarl Sigurd,' she said, when he asked her if he might keep the ring for a time. "'Yet it is a great trust, as you know, and it will be well to show the ring to none but men who are true.' true. It is true, men, that I would show it, he answered, with that look that had passed between him and Havelok already, and I was sure that he knew now pretty certainly who we were. Yet he could not say more at this time, for the many men who waited for Havelok must be told summat of his

coming first. Now men were gathering on the wharf to see the new-comers, and so the Jarl spoke openly for all to hear. Come up to my hall, all of you, and take a meal ashore with me, for good is the first food on dry land after days at sea and the fare of the ship so he went across the gangway and to his horse and rode away quickly calling back to us hasten for we wait for you and i will find you lodgings in the town for the time that you bide with us now at first that seemed

somewhat hazardous for he had meant to stay in the ship lest we should have to fly for any reason suddenly, but it seemed that we had no choice but to do as he bade us, and we could not doubt him in any way. We should go armed, of course, as in a strange place, and, after all, unless Hodulf heard of us, and wanted to see us, he was not to be feared as yet. So I fell to wondering where our lodgings would be, and if the old families still dwelt in the houses that I had known, and then

who had ours. Many such thoughts will crowd into the mind of one who sees his old land again after many years, and finds naught changed, to the eye at least. Men have told me that as we came into the hall presently, they thought us the most goodly company that had ever crossed its threshold, and that is likely, for at our head were Havlok and Goldberger. Raven was a mighty warrior to look on as he came next, grave and silent, with far-seeing grey eyes that were full of watching,

as it were from his long seafaring, and yet had the seaman's ready smile in them. And Whithelm was the pattern of a well-made youth who has his strength yet to gather, and already knows how to make the best use of that he has. There were none but that thought he was the most handsome of the three sons of Grimm. And last came I, and I am big enough at least to stand at Havelock's back, and for the rest one remembers what Eglaph said of me,

But I do not think that any noticed us with those twain to look at Unless they scanned our arms Which were more after the English sort than the Danish So far as mail and helms were concerned And therefore might seem strange

The old hall was not changed at all And handsome it seemed after Alsies Though it was not so large There were more and better weapons on the walls And carved work was everywhere

So that in the swirl and heat flicker of the torches the beams and doorposts and bench ends and the pillars of the high seat seemed alive with knotted dragons that began and ended and writhed everywhere, wondrous to look on. Our English have not the long winter nights and cruel frosts and deep snow that make time for such work as this for the men of the household. There fell a silence as we came in, and then Sigurd greeted us, and we were set on the high

seat, and feasted royally. On right and left of our host sat Havelok and Goldberger, and the Jarl's wife next to Havelok, and beyond the brown, the sheriff next to our princess. This was a newcomer here since my days, but well we liked him. There is nothing to tell of what happened at this feast, for Sigurd asked no questions of us, but the most common ones of sea and wind and voyage, and never a word that would have been hard for Havelok to answer in this company, where men of

Hodelfs might well be present. Whittel noticed this, and said that no doubt it was done purposely, and he thought much of it. When we had ended with song and tale, and it was near time for rest, Sigurd bade Bjorn the sheriff take us to his house for the night, telling him that he must answer for our safety, and especially that of the fair lady who had come from so far. And then he gave us a good guard of this housecarls to take us down the street,

as if he feared some danger. Why, Jarl, said Bjorn, our guests will have a bad night if they think that in our quiet place they need twenty men to see them to bed thus. Nay, but the town is strange to the lady, answered Sigurd,

and who knows what she may fear in a foreign land. So Bjorn laughed and was content, and we bade farewell to the Jarl and went out. And then I found that it was to my father's house we were to go, for it had been given to Bjorn.

Now I was next to Goldberger as we came to the door, "'and there was a step into the house, "'which we always had to warn strangers of when it was dark. "'And so, in the old way, without thinking for a moment, "'I said to her,

"'One step into the house, sister.' "'Oh, Master Rudbard, if that is you, "'you have sharp eyes in the dark,' said Bjorn at once. "'I was just about to say that myself. "'I have some feeling in my toes,' I answered,

"'and that turned the matter, for they laughed. "'And then when we were inside, and the courtman had gone, clattering down the street homewards, Bjorn took the great door-bar from its old place, and ran it into the sockets in the door-post,

as I had done so many times, and the runes that my father had cut on it when he made the house were still plain to be seen on it, with the notches I had made with the first knife that I ever had. More I will not say,

but everywhere that my eyes fell were things that I knew, even to fishing gear, for it seemed that Bjorn was somewhat of a fisher like Grimm himself. Then they put me and my brothers into our old loft and Havilok and Goldberger had the room that had been my father's.

As for Bjorn he would be in the great room before the fire. There was only this one door to the house and therefore he would guard that. His thralls were in the sheds as ours used to be so that we and he were alone in the house. Now as soon as we three had gone into our old place of rest

Raven went at once, as in the old days To the little square window that was in the high-pitched gable And looked out over the town and sea We used to laugh at him for this For he was never happy until he had seen, as we said, if all was yet there

There are yet lights in the Jarl's Hall, he said And there are one or two moving about down in the haven I think that there is a vessel coming in Come and lie down, brother, I said We are not in Grimsby, and you cannot go and take a toll from her if there is

He laughed and came to his bed But we talked of old days and of many things more For a long while before we slept And most of all we thought that Sigurd the Jarl knew Havelok By the token of the ring

And by that likeness to Gunnar which Maud had seen And that our errand was almost told So we slept without thought of any danger But the first hour of the night in that house Was not so quiet to Goldberger

For presently she woke Havelok and she was trembling "'Husband,' she said, "'it is in my mind that we are in danger in this place, "'for I cannot sleep by reason of a dream "'that will come to me so soon as my eyes are closed.'

"'You are overtired with the voyage,' "'Havelock told her gently, "'and then he asked her what the dream was. "'It seems that I see you attacked "'by a boar and many foxes and hard-pressed,

"'and then that a bear and good hounds help you. "'Yet we have to flee to a great tree, and there is safety. Then come two lions and they obey you.

I think that is a dream that comes of waves and the foam that has followed us and the shrill wind in the rigging and the humming of the sail, sweet wife.

And the tree is the tall mast, maybe. And the lions are the surges that you saw along this shore, where is no danger. So she was content

and then all in the house slept. End of chapter 18 Read by Tony Foster Thank you.