Wulnoth the Wanderer. Inman Herbert Escott

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ honor, but disgrace, do I deserve, O King," he said; "for I have proved myself a false watcher."

      "Now, that may not be," cried the King, "for none would have dared to tread the birds' road as thou hast done." But to that Hald said —

      "There is reason in the boy's words, O King. Therefore let it be as he says; but for his reward take the collar from his father's neck, and give Cerdic five hides of good land, so that he shall be noble." And all the redesmen said that the Constable's words were good words and that it was a wise saying.

      So the King commanded that Cerdic should be given five hides of good land and that the thrall collar should be taken from his neck; and then Reinbaldus the scald made a song and sang it in the great hall while the King feasted, and this was the song he sang —

      Over the storm wave, over the swan bath,

      Cerdic the Saxon came, to Lethra fleeing

      From the fierce anger of Berwulf the viking,

      Fleeing with Olfa, and the child Wulnoth;

      Thus came young Wulnoth to fair Lethra.

      Wulnoth the boy thrall, friend of Prince Guthred,

      Straying with Edgiva deep in the woodland,

      Then came the waster roaring against them,

      Fierce in his anger, he the death giver.

      Woe for Prince Guthred! woe for Edgiva!

      Swift to their succor came Wulnoth hasting,

      Armed with a knife alone, slew he the monster,

      Dead now before them lies the wood waster.

      Nithing and traitor, Osbert the Dane came,

      Wounded with coward blow, Wulnoth the watcher,

      Cast from the Raven Rock, Lethra's Edgiva,

      Into the stormy waves hurled he the fair one.

      "Thus, tell ye Lethra's King, Osbert repays him."

      Laughter to sorrow turned when the spear bit him,

      Fleeing, like frightened hare, swiftly the Dane ran,

      Wulnoth's love token bore he away with him.

      Far 'neath the Raven Rock, in the wild swan bath,

      There is Edgiva, Edgiva the Beautiful —

      Who from the death sleep backward shall bear her?

      Who by the birds' road rushes to save her?

      Who from the angry waves bravely doth bear her,

      While his own crimson blood marks out his pathway?

      Wulnoth, Cerdic's son, Wulnoth the watcher,

      He trod the birds' road, saving Edgiva,

      Skoal then to Cerdic's son,

      And skoal to Edgiva.

      Such was the song which Reinbaldus sang; and the soldiers and the people said it was a fair song and a true song, and that Wulnoth was worthy of honor. And they called the Raven's Rock "Wulnoth's Road," because of the great leap which he took thence into the swan bath to rescue Edgiva.

      Yet still Wulnoth himself felt darkened, for he reflected that he, being the Princess's watcher, ought to have been standing on guard rather than lying there taking his ease so that Osbert the Dane could come upon them; and though many strove to banish such thoughts from his mind, old Hald said —

      "Let be. The boy will be all the better for thinking on it. I will warrant me he will never now be found asleep at his post, let the watch be as long as it will."

      But now King Hardacnute was indeed grave, for here was Wyborga's prophecy fulfilled, and he looked for the foe to come.

      But no enemy came, no, not for a week, nor two, nor a full month; and then, one morning, just as the King was beginning to think that it was but a fable after all, far out on the Westarweg six long ships appeared, each with its huge sail, each with its long pennon, each with its sides bright with the long rows of shields hung over the bulwarks, each propelled by banks of long oars; and from the foremost one floated a mighty banner with a great black raven upon it, so that all might know that these were ships of the sea-kings and pirates, lords from Juteland and Denmark.

      "Now," said old Hald, as he stood on the tower and gazed seaward long and hard, "if these be the ships of Regner Lodbrok, the son of Sigurd, it will be a hard fight and a long that we shall have; for of all the sea-kings that carry fire and sword, there is none so mighty as the dragon slayer."

      "Methinks 't is the banner of the son of Sigurd," said the King, who stood beside him, and old Hald nodded.

      "By land or by sea, O King?" he asked. And the King mused —

      "By sea if it would save the land from blood," he said, "but I fear it will not. My word is, meet them on land."

      "And ere they land, every ship that Lethra possesses will be in flames," answered Hald. "If we must lose our ships, better to man them and lose them in the man's game than to sit like sheep and see them burn." And the King answered —

      "Be it so."

      So the war horns sounded, and the beacons blazed, and all men came trooping in, and the women and children gathered in the King's hall, for there alone might be found safety for them. And all the cattle were driven into the courtyard, or else turned loose in the deep forest where the foe would not be likely to find them.

      "Guthred, my friend and brother," said Wulnoth, as he stood by the side of the Prince, "so at last we are really to see the man's game played and to take part in it! Is this Regner Lodbrok so mighty, then?"

      "I have heard my father say that there lives no greater warrior, and that though he is terrible in battle he is just and loves brave men, and not cruel like some – not like his two sons, Hungwar and Hubba; for where they go there is the cry of the woman and the child, and the scream of the tortured one. Thou knowest that it was Regner Lodbrok who slew the dragon?"

      "Nay," answered Wulnoth. "I know not the story. Tell it to me, I pray."

      "This is how the scalds have it," answered the Prince. "You must know that this Regner Lodbrok, the son of Sigurd, loved a lady named Thora, who was the fairest woman who ever lived – "

      "Not fairer than our Edgiva," cried Wulnoth jealously, and the Prince smiled.

      "That I cannot say, seeing that Edgiva my sister is but a child, and this lady was a woman. But be that as it may. A warlock took the Lady Thora and carried her away, and left her guarded by a fiery dragon – a dreadful monster whom no man could overcome because it belched out flames at them. But Regner Lodbrok1 heard of this, and he swore by Thor that he would slay the monster and free the Lady Thora. So he took skins of oxen, and thereof he made clothing to cover all his body, from the feet to the neck, and thus covered he went to the cave and rushed at the dragon. The monster spat fire at him, but Regner Lodbrok held his shield before his face, and the flames scorched the skins but harmed not him, and he buried his sword in the dragon's heart and slew him, and freed the Lady Thora and carried her back with him."

      "How brave of him!" cried Wulnoth. "Surely 't was a man's deed, and if such a foe is coming, thou and I, O Prince, shall see some great deeds done to-day."

      "We may, Wulnoth, my friend," answered Guthred. "But remember what Wyborga the Wise has said. In this battle the King, my father, is to be slain, and I am to become a slave," and at that Wulnoth had no word to say, for the grief of it was too much for him.

      "Wulnoth," СКАЧАТЬ