Eric Brighteyes Page 12

  "It is shame to thee so to speak of her whom but now thou heldest inthine arms. By the grief and the music of the talk of her who would havemurdered me thou wast melted into kisses, Eric!--for I saw it with theseeyes. Knowest thou what I am minded to say to thee? It is this: 'Gohence and see me no more;' for I have little wish to cleave to sucha feather-man, to one so blown about by the first breath of woman'stempting."

  "Yet, methinks, Gudruda, I have withstood some such winds. I tell theethat, hadst thou been in my place, thyself hadst yielded to Swanhild andkissed her in farewell, for she was more than woman in that hour."

  "Nay, Eric, I am no weak man to be led astray thus. Yet she is more thanwoman--troll is she also, that I know; but less than man art thou, Eric,thus to fall before her who hates me. Time may come when she shall woothee after a stronger sort, and what wilt thou say to her then, thou whoart so ready with thy kisses?"

  "I will withstand her, Gudruda, for I love thee only, and this is wellknown to thee."

  "Truly I know thou lovest me, Eric; but tell me of what worth is thislove of man that eyes of beauty and tongue of craft may so readilybewray? I doubt me of thee, Eric!"

  "Nay, doubt me not, Gudruda. I love thee alone, but I grew soft as waxbeneath her pleading. My heart consented not, yet I did consent. I haveno more to say."

  Now Gudruda looked on him long and steadfastly. "Thy plight is sorry,Eric," she said, "and this once I forgive thee. Look to it that thougivest me no more cause to doubt thee, for then I shall remember howthou didst bid farewell to Swanhild."

  "I will give none," he answered, and would have embraced her; but thisshe would not suffer then, nor for many days after, for she was angrywith him. But with Swanhild she was still more angry, though she saidnothing of it. That Swanhild had tried to murder her, Gudruda couldforgive, for there she had failed; but not that she had won Eric to kissher, for in this she had succeeded well.

  XII

  HOW ERIC WAS OUTLAWED AND SAILED A-VIKING

  Now the marriage-feast went on, and Swanhild, draped in white and girtabout with gold, sat by Atli's side upon the high seat. He was fain ofher and drew her to him, but she looked at him with cold calm eyes inwhich hate lurked. The feast was done, and all the company rode to thesea strand, where the Earl's ship lay at anchor. They came there, andSwanhild kissed Asmund, and talked a while with Groa, her mother,and bade farewell to all men. But she bade no farewell to Eric and toGudruda.

  "Why sayest thou no word to these two?" asked Atli, her husband.

  "For this reason, Earl," she answered, "because ere long we three shallmeet again; but I shall see Asmund, my father, and Groa, my mother, nomore."

  "That is an ill saying, wife," said Atli. "Methinks thou dost foretelltheir doom."

  "Mayhap! And now I will add to my redes, for I foretell _thy_ doom also:it is not yet, but it draws on."

  Then Atli bethought him of many wise saws, but spoke no more, for itseemed to him this was a strange bride that he had wed.

  They hauled the anchor home, shook out the great sail, and passed awayinto the evening night. But while land could still be seen, Swanhildstood near the helm, gazing with her blue eyes upon the lessening coast.Then she passed to the hold, and shut herself in alone, and there shestayed, saying that she was sick, till at length, after a fair voyage oftwenty days, they made the Orkney Islands.

  But all this pleased Atli wondrous ill, yet he dared not cross her mood.

  Now, in Iceland the time drew on when men must ride to the Althing, andnotice was given to Eric Brighteyes of many suits that were laid againsthim, in that he had brought Mord, Ospakar's son, to his death, dealinghim a brain or a body or a marrow wound, and others of that company.But no suits were laid against Skallagrim, for he was already outlaw.Therefore he must go in hiding, for men were out to slay him, and thishe did unwillingly, at Eric's bidding. Asmund took up Eric's case, forhe was the most famous of all lawmen in that day, and when thirteen fullweeks of summer were done, they two rode to the Thing, and with them agreat company of men of their quarter.

  Now, men go up to the Loegberg, and there came Ospakar, though he wasnot yet healed of his wound, and all his company, and laid their suitsagainst Eric by the mouth of Gizur the Lawman, Ospakar's son. Thepleadings were long and cunning on either side; but the end of it wasthat Ospakar brought it about, by the help of his friends--and ofthese had many--that Eric must go into outlawry for three years. But noweregild was to be paid to Ospakar and his men for those who had beenkilled, and no atonement for the great wound that Skallagrim Lambstailgave him, or for the death of Mord, his son, inasmuch as Eric fought forhis own hand to save his life.

  The party of Ospakar were ill pleased at this finding, and Eric was notover glad, for it was little to his mind that he should sail a-warringacross the seas, while Gudruda sat at home in Iceland. Still, there wasno help for the matter.

  Now Ospakar spoke with his company, and the end of it was that he calledon them to take their weapons and avenge themselves by their ownmight. Asmund and Eric, seeing this, mustered their army of freemen andthralls. There were one hundred and five of them, all stout men; butOspakar Blacktooth's band numbered a hundred and thirty-three, and theystood with their backs to the Raven's Rift.

  "Now I would that Skallagrim was here to guard my back," said Eric, "forbefore this fight is done few will left standing to tell its tale."

  "It is a sad thing," said Asmund, "that so many men must die becausesome men are now dead."

  "A very sad thing," said Eric, and took this counsel. He stalked alonetowards the ranks of Ospakar and called in a loud voice, saying:

  "It would be grievous that so many warriors should fall in such amatter. Now hearken, you company of Ospakar Blacktooth! If there be anytwo among you who will dare to match their might against my single swordin holmgang, here I, Eric Brighteyes, stand and wait them. It is betterthat one man, or perchance three men, should fall, than that anon somany should roll in the dust. What say ye?"

  Now all those who watched called out that this was a good offer and amanly one, though it might turn out ill for Eric; but Ospakar answered:

  "Were I but well of my wound I alone would cut that golden comb ofthine, thou braggart; as it is, be sure that two shall be found."

  "Who is the braggart?" answered Eric. "He who twice has learned theweight of this arm and yet boasts his strength, or I who stand cravingthat two should come against me? Get thee hence, Ospakar; get thee homeand bid Thorunna, thy leman, whom thou didst beguile from that Ounoundwho now is named Skallagrim Lambstail the Baresark, nurse thee wholeof the wound her husband gave thee. Be sure we shall yet stand face toface, and that combs shall be cut then, combs black or golden. Nursethee! nurse thee! cease thy prating--get thee home, and bid Thorunnanurse thee; but first name thou the two who shall stand against me inholmgang in Oxara's stream."

  Folk laughed aloud while Eric mocked, but Ospakar gnashed his teeth withrage. Still, he named the two mightiest men in his company, bidding themtake up their swords against Brighteyes. This, indeed, they were lothto do; still, because of the shame that they must get if they hungback, and for fear of the wrath of Ospakar, they made ready to obey hisbidding.

  Then all men passed down to the bank of Oxara, and, on the other side,people came from their booths and sat upon the slope of All Man's Raft,for it was a new thing that one man should fight two in holmgang.

  Now Eric crossed to the island where holmgangs are fought to this day,and after him came the two chosen, flourishing their swords bravely, andtaking counsel how one should rush at his face, while the other passedbehind his back and spitted him, as woodfolk spit a lamb. Eric drewWhitefire and leaned on it, waiting for the word, and all the women heldhim to be wondrous fair as, clad in his byrnie and his golden helm,he leaned thus on Whitefire. Presently the word was given, and Eric,standing not to defend himself as they deemed he surely would, whirledWhitefire round his helm and rushed headlong on his foes, shield aloft.

  The great carles saw the
light that played on Whitefire's edge and theother light that burned in Eric's eyes, and terror got hold of them. Nowhe was almost come, and Whitefire sprang aloft like a tongue of flame.Then they stayed no more, but, running one this way and one that, castthemselves into the flood and swam for the river-edge. Now from eitherbank rose up a roar of laughter, that grew and grew, till it echoedagainst the lava rifts and scared the ravens from their nests.

  Eric, too, stopped his charge and laughed aloud; then walked back towhere Asmund stood, unarmed, to second him in the holmgang.

  "I can get little honour from such champions as these," he said.

  "Nay," answered Asmund, "thou hast got the greatest honour, and they,and Ospakar, such shame as may not be wiped out."

  Now when Blacktooth saw what had come to pass, he well-nigh choked,and fell from his horse in fury. Still, he could find no stomach forfighting, but, mustering his company, rode straightway from the Thinghome again to Swinefell. But he caused those two whom he had put upto do battle with Eric to be set upon with staves and driven fromhis following, and the end of it was that they might stay no more inIceland, but took ship and sailed south, and now they are out of thestory.

  On the next day, Asmund, and with him Eric and all their men, rode backto Middalhof. Gudruda greeted Eric well, and for the first time sinceSwanhild went away she kissed him. Moreover, she wept bitterly when shelearned that he must go into outlawry, while she must bide at home.

  "How shall the days pass by, Eric?" she said, "when thou art far, and Iknow not where thou art, nor how it goes with thee, nor if thou livestor art already dead?"

  "In sooth I cannot say, sweet," he answered; "but of this I am surethat, wheresoever I am, yet more weary shall be my hours."

  "Three years," she went on--"three long, cold years, and no sight ofthee, and perchance no tidings from thee, till mayhap I learn that thouart in that land whence tidings cannot come. Oh, it would be better todie than to part thus."

  "Well I wot that it is better to die than to live, and better never tohave been born than to live and die," answered Eric sadly. "Here, itwould seem, is nothing but hate and strife, weariness and bitter envyto fret away our strength, and at last, if we come so far, sorrowful ageand death, and thereafter we know not what. Little of good do we find toour hands, and much of evil; nor know I for what ill-doing these burdensare laid upon us. Yet must we needs breathe such an air as is blownabout us, Gudruda, clasping at this happiness which is given, though wemay not hold it. At the worst, the game will soon be played, and otherswill stand where we have stood, and strive as we have striven, and failas we have failed, and so on, till man has worked out his doom, and theGods cease from their wrath, or Ragnarroek come upon them, and they tooare lost in the jaws of grey wolf Fenrir."

  "Men may win one good thing, and that is fame, Eric."

  "Nay, Gudruda, what is it to win fame? Is it not to raise up foes, as itwere, from the very soil, who, made with secret hate, seek to stab usin the back? Is it not to lose peace, and toil on from height to heightonly to be hurled down at last? Happy, then, is the man whom fame fliesfrom, for hers is a deadly gift."

  "Yet there is one thing left that thou hast not numbered, Eric, andit is love--for love is to our life what the sun is to the world, and,though it seems to set in death, yet it may rise again. We are happy,then, in our love, for there are many who live their lives and do notfind it."

  So these two, Eric Brighteyes and Gudruda the Fair, talked sadly, fortheir hearts were heavy, and on them lay the shadow of sorrows that wereto come.

  "Say, sweet," said Eric at length, "wilt thou that I go not intobanishment? Then I must fall into outlawry, and my life will be in thehands of him who may take it; yet I think that my foes will find it hardto come by while my strength remains, and at the worst I do but turn tomeet the fate that dogs me."

  "Nay, that I will not suffer, Brighteyes. Now we will go to my father,and he shall give thee his dragon of war--she is a good vessel--and thoushalt man her with the briskest men of our quarter: for there are manywho will be glad to fare abroad with thee, Eric. Soon she shall be boundand thou shalt sail at once, Eric: for the sooner thou art gone thesooner the three years will be sped, and thou shalt come back to me.But, oh! that I might go with thee."

  Now Gudruda and Eric went to Asmund and spoke of this matter.

  "I desired," he answered, "that thou, Eric, shouldst bide here inIceland till after harvest, for it is then that I would take Unna,Thorod's daughter, to wife, and it was meet that thou shouldst sit atthe wedding-feast and give her to me."

  "Nay, father, let Eric go," said Gudruda, "for well begun is, surely,half done. He must remain three years in outlawry: add thou no day tothem, for, if he stays here for long, I know this: that I shall find noheart to let him go, and, if go he must, then I shall go with him."

  "That may never be," said Asmund; "thou art too young and fair to saila-viking down the sea-path. Hearken, Eric: I give thee the good ship,and now we will go about to find stout men to man her."

  "That is a good gift," said Eric; and afterwards they rode to theseashore and overhauled the vessel as she lay in her shed. She was agreat dragon of war, long and slender, and standing high at stem andprow. She was fashioned of oak, all bolted together with iron, and ather prow was a gilded dragon most wonderfully carved.

  Eric looked on her and his eyes brightened.

  "Here rests a wave-horse that shall bear a viking well," he said.

  "Ay," answered Asmund, "of all the things I own this ship is the verybest. She is so swift that none may catch her, and she can almost goabout in her own length. That gale must be heavy that shall fill her,with thee to steer; yet I give her to thee freely, Eric, and thou shaltdo great deeds with this my gift, and, if things go well, she shall comeback to this shore at last, and thou in her."

  "Now I will name this war-gift with a new name," said Eric. "'Gudruda,'I name her: for, as Gudruda here is the fairest of all women, so is thisthe fairest of all war-dragons."

  "So be it," said Asmund.

  Then they rode back to Middalhof, and now Eric Brighteyes let it beknown that he needed men to sail the seas with him. Nor did he ask invain, for, when it was told that Eric went a-viking, so great was hisfame grown, that many a stout yeoman and many a great-limbed carlereached down sword and shield and came up to Middalhof to put theirhands in his. For mate, he took a certain man named Hall of Lithdale,and this because Bjoern asked it, for Hall was a friend to Bjoern, and hehad, moreover, great skill in all manner of seamanship, and had oftensailed the Northern Seas--ay, and round England to the coast of France.

  But when Gudruda saw this man, she did not like him, because of hissharp face, uncanny eyes, and smooth tongue, and she prayed Eric to havenothing to do with him.

  "It is too late now to talk of that," said Eric. "Hall is a well-skilledman, and, for the rest, fear not: I will watch him."

  "Then evil will come of it," said Gudruda.

  Skallagrim also liked Hall little, nor did Hall love Skallagrim and hisgreat axe.

  At length all were gathered; they were fifty in number and it is saidthat no such band of men ever took ship from Iceland.

  Now the great dragon was bound and her faring goods were aboard of her,for Eric must sail on the morrow, if the wind should be fair. All daylong he stalked to and fro among his men; he would trust nothing toothers, and there was no sword or shield in his company but he himselfhad proved it. All day long he stalked, and at his back went SkallagrimLambstail, axe on shoulder, for he would never leave Eric if he had hiswill, and they were a mighty pair.

  At length all was ready and men sat down to the faring-feast in the hallat Middalhof, and that was a great feast. Eric's folk were gathered onthe side-benches, and by the high seat at Asmund's side sat Brighteyes,and near to him where Bjoern, Asmund's son, Gudruda, Unna, Asmund'sbetrothed, and Saevuna, Eric's mother. For this had been settled betweenAsmund and Eric, that his mother Saevuna, who was some somewhat sunk inage, should flit from Coldback
and come with Unna to dwell at Middalhof.But Eric set a trusty grieve to dwell at Coldback and mind the farm.

  When the faring-toasts had been drunk, Eric spoke to Asmund and said: "Ifear one thing, lord, and it is that when I am gone Ospakar will troublethee. Now, I pray you all to beware of Blacktooth, for, though the houndis whipped, he can still bite, and it seems that he has not yet putGudruda from his mind."

  Now Bjoern had sat silently, thinking much and drinking more, for heloved Eric less than ever on this day when he saw how all men did himhonour and mourned his going, and his father not the least of them.

  "Methinks it is thou, Eric," he said, "whom Ospakar hates, and thee onwhom he would work his vengeance, and that for no light cause."

  "When bad fortune sits in thy neighbour's house, she knocks upon thydoor, Bjoern. Gudruda, thy sister, is my betrothed, and thou art a partyto this feud," said Eric. "Therefore it becomes thee better to hold herhonour and thy own against this Northlander, than to gird at me for thatin which I have no blame."

  Bjoern grew wroth at these words. "Prate not to me," he said. "Thou artan upstart who wouldst teach their duty to thy betters--ay, puffed upwith light-won fame, like a feather on the breeze. But I say this: thebreeze shall fail, and thou shalt fall upon the goose's back once more.And I say this also, that, had I my will, Gudruda should wed Ospakar:for he is a mighty chief, and not a long-legged carle, outlawed forman-slaying."

  Now Eric sprang from his seat and laid hand upon the hilt of Whitefire,while men murmured in the hall, for they held this an ill speech ofBjoern's.