Havelok the Dane Part 36

Now Sigurd said that this was too great a risk, and even Withelm agreed with him.

But Havelok answered, "The men are my own men, but they are not sure that I am the right king. It is plain that I am like my father, and therefore it is safe for me to go."

"That," said the chief, "is what we told them, and what they wish to see."

"Then," said Havelok, "I will come. Bid your men sit down, and bid the hors.e.m.e.n dismount, and I will ride to them with five others. Then can be no fear on either side."

"That will do well," said Sigurd; and the chief went back, and at once the host sat down.

Then Havelok rode to them, and with him went we three and Sigurd and Biorn.

There was a murmur of wonder as he came, and it grew louder as he unhelmed and stayed before them.

And then one shouted, "Skoal to Havelok Gunnarsson!" and at once the shout was taken up along the line. And that shout grew until the chiefs joined in it, for it was the voice of the host, which cannot be gainsaid; and without more delay, one by one the leaders pressed forward and knelt on one knee to their king, and did homage to him. Only the Nors.e.m.e.n held back; and presently, when we were talking to the Danish chiefs in all friendly wise, they drew apart with their men, and formed up into a close-ranked body that looked dangerous.

"Surely they do not mean to fight!" said Withelm.

Then one of them shouted that he must speak to the king, and that seemed as if they owned him at least, so Havelok went to them.

"You have heard my terms," he said, "and I think that they are all that you could ask. What is amiss?"

"Your terms are good enough," the speaker said, "and we know that our time is come. But we must have surety that the people will not fall on us, for we are flying, as it were. And we want the body of our king. We would not have him buried any wise, as if he was a thrall."

"He shall be given to you, and as for the rest none shall harm you. Moreover, for that saying about your king I will add this: that if there are any of you who hold lands to which there is no Danish heir, he shall take service with me if he will, and so keep them."

So there was no man in all the host who was not content; and that was the second king-making of Havelok, as it were, for now there was no man against him. The hosts were disbanded then and there, and we went that day to Hodulf's town, and took possession of all that had been in his hands. Then was rejoicing over all the land, for a king of the old line was on the throne once more, and his way was full of promise.

CHAPTER XXII. KING ALSI'S WELCOME.

Now there was one thing that was in the minds of all of us, and that was the winning of Goldberga's kingdom for her; but that was a matter which was not to be thought of yet for a long while. Two years were we in Denmark, and well loved was Havelok by all, whether one speaks of the other kings who owned him as Gunnar's heir at once, or the people over whom he and Goldberga reigned. But we sent messages to Arngeir and to Ragnar to say that all was well, and we heard from them in time how Alsi feared what was to come, and had rather make friends with the Anglians than offend them. So he had not given out anything that was against the princess, but had told all how she had wedded the heir of Denmark, and that she had given up her land to himself, and followed her husband across the sea. It was not hard for him to feign gladness in her well-doing; and Berthun counselled Ragnar to let things be thus, and yet prepare for her return.

In my own heart was the wish to go back to England always, for there was my home; and I found that it was the same with my brothers, for there is that in the English land which makes all who touch it love it. And there was the mound that held my father, and there were the folk among whom we had been brought up in the town that we had made; and I longed to see once more the green marshes and the grey wolds of Lindsey, and the brown waves of the wide Humber rolling sh.o.r.ewards, line after line. I tired of the heaths and forests and peat mosses of this land of my birth. And if that was so to me, it was a yet deeper longing in the hearts of the brothers who hardly remembered this place; and after a while we spoke of it more often.

I do not know if we said much to others, but at last the younger chiefs began to wonder when the promised time when they should cross the "swan's path" for Goldberga should come. Maybe they tired of the long peace, as a Dane will. But when that talk began, Withelm knew that things were ripe, and he told Havelok. That was in the third spring of Havelok's kingship, when it grew near to the time when men fit out their ships.

"This is what I have looked for," he said; "and now we will delay no longer, for here am I king indeed, and there is none who will rise against me. Wonderful it is that men have hailed me thus. And now I will tell you, brother, that I long for England. If I might take my friends with me, I do not think that I should care if I never came here again. It is not my home; and here my Goldberga is not altogether happy, well as the folk love her."

Thereafter he called a great Thing12 of all the freemen in the land, and set the matter plainly before them, asking if they minded the words he spoke when they crowned the queen, and if they were still ready to follow him to the winning of her crown beyond the sea.

There was no doubt what the answer would be; and it was said at once that the sooner the ships were got ready the better.

"Then," said Havelok, "who shall mind this land while I am away? It may be long ere I come back."

Now there was a cry that I should be king while Havelok was away, forsooth! and a poor hand I should have made at the business. But I said that it was foolishness, and that, moreover, I would go with Havelok. And when they said that this was modesty on my part, I answered that I had seen several kings, and that there was but one who was worth thinking of, and that was my brother; therefore, I would go on serving him where I could see him.

"This is what Grim, my father, said to me long ago," I said -- "I was to mind the old saying, 'Bare is back without brother behind it;' and, therefore, I must see Havelok safe through this."

"Why, brother," says Havelok, laughing, "if that saying must be remembered -- and I at least know it is true -- it would make for leaving you behind me here to see all fair when my back was turned."

Then he saw that I was grieved, for I thought for the moment that he would bid me to stay, and so I should have to do so; but he took my part.

"I cannot be without my brothers," he said. "If I had any word in the matter -- which mainly concerns the folk to be ruled, as it seems to me (for I do not know of any man who would not uphold me) -- I should say that Sigurd the jarl was the right man, for all know that he is a good ruler, nor will it be any new thing to submit to him."

That pleased all, and the end of it was that Sigurd was chosen to hold the land for Havelok.

Then Sigurd sat on the steps of the high place at Havelok's feet, and the king said, "I have no need to tell any man here who this is, and why I think him worthy of the highest honour, for all know him and his worth as well as I. Mainly by him was the thought of my return kept in the minds of men, so that when the time came all were ready to hail me, as you have done. Therefore, as by him I am king, so I make him king also for me. He shall rule all the land while I am away, and to him shall all men account as to me. And because it is right that his kingship should be certain, I give him all his jarldom as a kingdom from henceforth, only subject to me and my heirs as overlord. King therefore he is, and none can say that you are ruled by naught but a jarl."

Then Havelok girt on the new king's sword, and set his own crowned helm on his head for a moment; and all the Thing hailed him gladly, for he was the right man without doubt.

Then Sigurd did homage for his new honour; and after that he rose up, and grew red and uneasy, as if there was somewhat that he wished to say, and was half afraid to do so.

Thereat some friend in the hall said, "You take your kingship worse than did Radbard himself, as it seems. What is amiss?"

"Why, I wanted to go on the Viking path with Havelok, and now it seems that I cannot."

Then one shouted, "I never heard of a land going wrong while its king was away risking his life to get property for his men. There is no man here who is going to rise against either you or Havelok. And it is only to send a message to our great overlord to say what we are about, and he will see that the land is in peace. Nor do I think that any king would harry Havelok's land, for he is well loved by all his peers."

Wherefore it seemed that Sigurd must go also, and we had to set Biorn as head man while Sigurd was away; but that would only be for a month or two. So all things were ordered well, and in a month we set sail with twenty ships, and in them a matter of fifteen hundred men.

At first we thought that we would make for Grimsby; but then it seemed best to land elsewhere, and more to the south, for we would have messages sent at once to Ragnar to call East Anglia to Havelok's banner, and Alsi would have less chance of cutting us off from him. So we sailed to Saltfleet haven, which lies some twenty-five miles southward from Grimsby. Raven piloted us in safely, and there were none to hinder our landing. The town was empty, indeed, when the ships came into the haven, for all had fled in haste, except a few thralls, for fear of the Vikings.

Yet when we sent these thralls to say that Goldberga had come for her own, the people came back and made us welcome, for her story was in every mouth; and after that we fared well in Saltfleet, and men began to gather to us.

We sent to Arngeir and to Ragnar at once, and next day the Grimsby folk were with us, but long before any word could come to Norwich, Alsi had set about gathering a host against us.

But we had not come to fight him for Lindsey, and our errand was to bid him give up her own rights to Goldberga. One must be ready with the strong hand if one expects to find justice from such a man; and Havelok had thought it possible that if we came here first we should bring him to reason at once, whereas if we went to Norfolk there would be fighting with all the host of the Lindsey kingdom before long; while if he did fight here we might save Goldberga's land from that trouble, and maybe have fewer to deal with.

So a message was to be sent to Alsi at once, bidding him know that Goldberga had come to ask for her rights, and that he might give them to her in all honour. Arngeir was to take this, for it did not seem right that a Dane should do so, and he was one who would be listened to. I was to go with him, with my courtmen as guard; and we rode to Lincoln on the fourth day after our coming to Saltfleet. Good it was to ride over the old land again, and I thought that it had never looked more fair with the ripening harvest, for when last I had seen it there was none. The track of the famine was yet on all the villages, for fewer folk were in them than in the days before the pestilence and the dearth, but these had enough and to spare.

And when these poor folk heard from us that Curan and his princess had come again for what was hers, they took rusty weapons and flint-tipped arrows and stone hammers from the hiding places in the thatch of their hovels, and went across the marshlands to where the little hill of Saltfleet stands above its haven, that they might help the one whom they had loved as a fisher lad to become a mighty king.

So we came to Lincoln, and already there was a gathering of thanes and their men in the town, and they knew on what errand we had come well enough. But they were courteous, and we were given quarters in the town at once, that we might see Alsi with the first light in the morning.

I will not say that we had a quiet night there, for we did not trust Alsi; but we had no need to fear. In the morning Eglaf came to bid us to the palace to speak with the king.

"This is about what I expected, when I heard of the mistake that our king had made," he said, "and so far you are in luck. It is not everyone who is a fisher one day and captain of the courtmen next, as one might say. I like the look of your men, and I am going to take some of the credit of that to myself, for a man has to learn before he can command."

"I will not deny your share in the matter," I answered, laughing, "for had it not been for my time with you I had been at sea altogether. Now, shall we have to fight you?"

He shrugged his broad shoulders.

"Who knows what is in the mind of our king? I do not, and you know enough of him by this time to be certain that one cannot guess. He may be all smiles and rejoicing that his dear niece has come back safely, or just the other way. He has been very careful how he has dealt with the Norfolk thanes of late, and what that means I do not know."

Then he asked what had become of Griffin, and I told him. I do not think that he was surprised, for some word of the matter had reached here by the news that chapmen bring from all parts.

Now there was no more time for talk, for we came to the hall; and we went in, Arngeir leading, and the rest of us following two by two. The hall was pretty full of thanes and their men, and it was just as I had last seen it. Alsi sat alone on his high seat, and there was no man with him on the dais. I thought that he looked thinner and anxious.

Arngeir went up the hall at once, and stood before the king, and greeted him in the English way, which seemed strange to me after the two years of Danish customs; and then Alsi bade him tell his errand.