VIKING TALES [Decoration] [Illustration: _A map showing the journeys of the Vikings_] VIKING TALES _by_ JENNIE HALL _The Francis W. Parker School_ _Chicago_ [Illustration] ILLUSTRATED _by_ VICTOR R. LAMBDIN RAND McNALLY & CO _Chicago_ _New York_ _London_ _Copyright, 1902, _ By JENNIE HALL [Device] Made in U. S. A. Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. In the _Pronouncing Index_ the up tack diacritical mark over a vowel is represented by [+a], [+e], [+i] and [+o]. _The_ Table _of_ Contents PAGE _A List of the Illustrations_ 8 _What the Sagas Were_ 9 PART I. _IN NORWAY_ The Baby 15 The Tooth Thrall 19 Olaf's Farm 27 Olaf's Fight with Havard 40 Foes'-fear 47 Harald is King 53 Harald's Battle 62 Gyda's Saucy Message 71 The Sea Fight 81 King Harald's Wedding 89 King Harald Goes West-Over-Seas 95 PART II. _WEST-OVER-SEAS_ Homes in Iceland 103 Eric the Red 143 Leif and His New Land 161 Wineland the Good 174 _Descriptive Notes_ 194 _Suggestions to Teachers_ 200 _A Reading List_ 204 _A Pronouncing Index_ 207 A List of the Illustrations PAGE _A map showing the journeys of the Vikings_ Frontispiece "_I own this baby for my son. He shall be called Harald_" 17 "_He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from his belt_" 22 "_I struck my shield against the door so that it made a great clanging_" 31 "_Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly_" 45 "_He drove it into the wolf's neck_" 51 "_I vow that I will grind my father's foes under my heel_" 59 "_King Haki fell dead under 'Foes'-fear'_" 68 "_I will not be his wife unless he puts all of Norway under him for my sake_" 73 "_Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat_" 87 "_I, Harald, King of Norway, take you, Gyda, for my wife_" 91 "_In Norway they left burning houses and weeping women_" 97 "_Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven afar off_" 125 "_Those Icelanders clapped them on the shoulders_" 137 "_He looked straight ahead of him and scowled_" 145 "_More than half the men in the hall jumped to their feet_" 147 "_It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before_" 153 "_He pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his eyes_" 167 "_The chief held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the cloak to him_" 187 What _the_ Sagas Were Iceland is a little country far north in the cold sea. Men found it andwent there to live more than a thousand years ago. During the warmseason they used to fish and make fish-oil and hunt sea-birds and gatherfeathers and tend their sheep and make hay. But the winters were longand dark and cold. Men and women and children stayed in the house andcarded and spun and wove and knit. A whole family sat for hours aroundthe fire in the middle of the room. That fire gave the only light. Shadows flitted in the dark corners. Smoke curled along the high beamsin the ceiling. The children sat on the dirt floor close by the fire. The grown people were on a long narrow bench that they had pulled up tothe light and warmth. Everybody's hands were busy with wool. The workleft their minds free to think and their lips to talk. What was there totalk about? The summer's fishing, the killing of a fox, a voyage toNorway. But the people grew tired of this little gossip. Fathers lookedat their children and thought: "They are not learning much. What will make them brave and wise? Whatwill teach them to love their country and old Norway? Will not thestories of battles, of brave deeds, of mighty men, do this?" So, as the family worked in the red fire-light, the father told of thekings of Norway, of long voyages to strange lands, of good fights. Andin farmhouses all through Iceland these old tales were told over andover until everybody knew them and loved them. Some men could sing andplay the harp. This made the stories all the more interesting. Peoplecalled such men "skalds, " and they called their songs "sagas. " Every midsummer there was a great meeting. Men from all over Icelandcame to it and made laws. During the day there were rest times, when nobusiness was going on. Then some skald would take his harp and walk to alarge stone or a knoll and stand on it and begin a song of some bravedeed of an old Norse hero. At the first sound of the harp and thevoice, men came running from all directions, crying out: "The skald! The skald! A saga!" They stood about for hours and listened. They shouted applause. When theskald was tired, some other man would come up from the crowd and sing ortell a story. As the skald stepped down from his high position, somerich man would rush up to him and say: "Come and spend next winter at my house. Our ears are thirsty for song. " So the best skalds traveled much and visited many people. Their songsmade them welcome everywhere. They were always honored with good seatsat a feast. They were given many rich gifts. Even the King of Norwaywould sometimes send across the water to Iceland, saying to some famousskald: "Come and visit me. You shall not go away empty-handed. Men say that thesweetest songs are in Iceland. I wish to hear them. " These tales were not written. Few men wrote or read in those days. Skalds learned songs from hearing them sung. At last people began towrite more easily. Then they said: "These stories are very precious. We must write them down to save themfrom being forgotten. " After that many men in Iceland spent their winters in writing books. They wrote on sheepskin; vellum, we call it. Many of these old vellumbooks have been saved for hundreds of years, and are now in museums inNorway. Some leaves are lost, some are torn, all are yellow andcrumpled. But they are precious. They tell us all that we know aboutthat olden time. There are the very words that the men of Iceland wroteso long ago--stories of kings and of battles and of ship-sailing. Someof those old stories I have told in this book. _PART I_ [Illustration] _IN_ NORWAY [Decoration] [Illustration] The Baby King Halfdan lived in Norway long ago. One morning his queen said tohim: "I had a strange dream last night. I thought that I stood in the grassbefore my bower. [1] I pulled a thorn from my dress. As I held it in myfingers, it grew into a tall tree. The trunk was thick and red as blood, but the lower limbs were fair and green, and the highest ones werewhite. I thought that the branches of this great tree spread so far thatthey covered all Norway and even more. " "A strange dream, " said King Halfdan. "Dreams are the messengers of thegods. I wonder what they would tell us, " and he stroked his beard inthought. Some time after that a serving-woman came into the feast hall where KingHalfdan was. She carried a little white bundle in her arms. "My lord, " she said, "a little son is just born to you. " "Ha!" cried the king, and he jumped up from the high seat and hastenedforward until he stood before the woman. "Show him to me!" he shouted, and there was joy in his voice. The serving-woman put down her bundle on the ground and turned back thecloth. There was a little naked baby. The king looked at it carefully. "It is a goodly youngster, " he said, and smiled. "Bring Ivar andThorstein. "[2] They were captains of the king's soldiers. Soon they came. "Stand as witnesses, " Halfdan said. Then he lifted the baby in his arms, while the old serving-woman broughta silver bowl of water. The king dipped his hand into it and sprinkledthe baby, saying: "I own this baby for my son. He shall be called Harald. My naming giftto him is ten pounds of gold. " Then the woman carried the baby back to the queen's room. [Illustration: "_I own this baby for my son. He shall be calledHarald_"] "My lord owns him for his son, " she said. "And no wonder! He is perfectin every limb. " The queen looked at him and smiled and remembered her dream and thought: "That great tree! Can it be this little baby of mine?" [Decoration] FOOTNOTES: [1] See note about house on page 194. [2] See note about names on page 194. [Illustration] The Tooth Thrall When Harald was seven months old he cut his first tooth. Then his fathersaid: "All the young of my herds, lambs and calves and colts, that have beenborn since this baby was born I this day give to him. I also give to himthis thrall, Olaf. These are my tooth-gifts to my son. " The boy grew fast, for as soon as he could walk about he was out ofdoors most of the time. He ran in the woods and climbed the hills andwaded in the creek. He was much with his tooth thrall, for the king hadsaid to Olaf: "Be ever at his call. " Now this Olaf was full of stories, and Harald liked to hear them. "Come out to Aegir's Rock, Olaf, and tell me stories, " he said almostevery day. So they started off across the hills. The man wore a long, loose coat ofwhite wool, belted at the waist with a strap. He had on coarse shoesand leather leggings. Around his neck was an iron collar welded togetherso that it could not come off. On it were strange marks, called runes, that said: "Olaf, thrall of Halfdan. " But Harald's clothes were gay. A cape of gray velvet hung from hisshoulders. It was fastened over his breast with great gold buckles. Whenit waved in the wind, a scarlet lining flashed out, and the bottom of alittle scarlet jacket showed. His feet and legs were covered with graywoolen tights. Gold lacings wound around his legs from his shoes to hisknees. A band of gold held down his long, yellow hair. It was a wild country that these two were walking over. They wereclimbing steep, rough hills. Some of them seemed made all of rock, witha little earth lying in spots. Great rocks hung out from them, withtrees growing in their cracks. Some big pieces had broken off and rolleddown the hill. "Thor broke them, " Olaf said. "He rides through the sky and hurls hishammer at clouds and at mountains. That makes the thunder and thelightning and cracks the hills. His hammer never misses its aim, and italways comes back to his hand and is eager to go again. " When they reached the top of the hill they looked back. Far below was asoft, green valley. In front of it the sea came up into the land andmade a fiord. On each side of the fiord high walls of rock stood up andmade the water black with shadow. All around the valley were high hillswith dark pines on them. Far off were the mountains. In the valley wereHalfdan's houses around their square yard. "How little our houses look down there!" Harald said. "But I canalmost--yes, I can see the red dragon on the roof of the feast hall. Doyou remember when I climbed up and sat on his head, Olaf?" He laughed and kicked his heels and ran on. [Illustration: "_He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger fromhis belt_"] At last they came to Aegir's Rock and walked up on its flat top. Haraldwent to the edge and looked over. A ragged wall of rock reached down, and two hundred feet below was the black water of the fiord. Olafwatched him for a while, then he said: "No whitening of your cheek, Harald? Good! A boy that can face the fallof Aegir's Rock will not be afraid to face the war flash when he is aman. " "Ho, I am not afraid of the war flash now, " cried Harald. He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from his belt. "See!" he cried; "does this not flash like a sword? And I am not afraid. But after all, this is a baby thing! When I am eight years old I willhave a sword, a sharp tooth of war. " He swung his dagger as though it were a long sword. Then he ran and saton a rock by Olaf. "Why is this Aegir's Rock?" he asked. "You know that Asgard is up in the sky, " Olaf said. "It is a wonderfulcity where the golden houses of the gods are in the golden grove. Ahigh wall runs all around it. In the house of Odin, the All-father, there is a great feast hall larger than the whole earth. Its name isValhalla. It has five hundred doors. The rafters are spears. The roof isthatched with shields. Armor lies on the benches. In the high seat sitsOdin, a golden helmet on his head, a spear in his hand. Two wolves lieat his feet. At his right hand and his left sit all the gods andgoddesses, and around the hall sit thousands and thousands of men, allthe brave ones that have ever died. "Now it is good to be in Valhalla; for there is mead there better thanmen can brew, and it never runs out. And there are skalds that singwonderful songs that men never heard. And before the doors of Valhallais a great meadow where the warriors fight every day and get gloriousand sweet wounds and give many. And all night they feast, and theirwounds heal. But none may go to Valhalla except warriors that have diedbravely in battle. Men who die from sickness go with women and childrenand cowards to Niflheim. There Hela, who is queen, always sneers atthem, and a terrible cold takes hold of their bones, and they sit downand freeze. "Years ago Aegir was a great warrior. Aegir the Big-handed, they calledhim. In many a battle his sword had sung, and he had sent many warriorsto Valhalla. Many swords had bit into his flesh and left marks there, but never a one had struck him to death. So his hair grew white and hisarms thin. There was peace in that country then, and Aegir sorrowed, saying: "'I am old. Battles are still. Must I die in bed like a woman? Shall Inot see Valhalla?' "Now thus did Odin say long ago: "'If a man is old and is come near death and cannot die in fight, lethim find death in some brave way and he shall feast with me inValhalla. ' "So one day Aegir came to this rock. "'A deed to win Valhalla!' he cried. "Then he drew his sword and flashed it over his head and held his shieldhigh above him, and leaped out into the air and died in the water ofthe fiord. " "Ho!" cried Harald, jumping to his feet. "I think that Odin stood upbefore his high seat and welcomed that man gladly when he walked throughthe door of Valhalla. " "So the songs say, " replied Olaf, "for skalds still sing of that deedall over Norway. " [Decoration] [Illustration] Olaf's Farm At another time Harald asked: "What is your country, Olaf? Have you always been a thrall?" The thrall's eyes flashed. "When you are a man, " he said, "and go a-viking to Denmark, ask menwhether they ever heard of Olaf the Crafty. There, far off, is mycountry, across the water. My father was Gudbrand the Big. Two hundredwarriors feasted in his hall and followed him to battle. Ten sons sat atmeat with him, and I was the youngest. One day he said: "'You are all grown to be men. There is not elbow-room here for so manychiefs. The eldest of you shall have my farm when I die. The rest ofyou, off a-viking!' "He had three ships. These he gave to three of my brothers. But I stayedthat spring and built me a boat. I made her for only twenty oars becauseI thought few men would follow me; for I was young, fifteen years old. I made her in the likeness of a dragon. At the prow I carved the headwith open mouth and forked tongue thrust out. I painted the eyes red foranger. "'There, stand so!' I said, 'and glare and hiss at my foes. ' "In the stern I curved the tail up almost as high as the head. There Iput the pilot's seat and a strong tiller for the rudder. On the breastand sides I carved the dragon's scales. Then I painted it all black andon the tip of every scale I put gold. I called her 'Waverunner. ' Thereshe sat on the rollers, as fair a ship as I ever saw. "The night that it was finished I went to my father's feast. After themeats were eaten and the mead-horns came round, I stood up from my benchand raised my drinking-horn[3] high and spoke with a great voice: "'This is my vow: I will sail to Norway and I will harry the coast andfill my boat with riches. Then I will get me a farm and will winter inthat land. Now who will follow me?' "'He is but a boy, ' the men said. 'He has opened his mouth wider than hecan do. ' "But others jumped to their feet with their mead-horns in their hands. Thirty men, one after another, raised their horns and said: "'I will follow this lad, and I will not turn back so long as he and Ilive!' "On the next morning we got into my dragon and started. I sat high inthe pilot's seat. As our boat flashed down the rollers into the water Imade this song and sang it: "'The dragon runs. Where will she steer? Where swords will sing, Where spears will bite, Where I shall laugh. ' "So we harried the coast of Norway. We ate at many men's tablesuninvited. Many men we found overburdened with gold. Then I said: "'My dragon's belly is never full, ' and on board went the gold. "Oh! it is better to live on the sea and let other men raise your cropsand cook your meals. A house smells of smoke, a ship smells of frolic. From a house you see a sooty roof, from a ship you see Valhalla. "Up and down the water we went to get much wealth and much frolic. Aftera while my men said: "'What of the farm, Olaf?' "'Not yet, ' I answered. 'Viking is better for summer. When the icecomes, and our dragon cannot play, then we will get our farm and sitdown. ' "At last the winter came, and I said to my men: "'Now for the farm. I have my eye on one up the coast a way in KingHalfdan's country. ' "So we set off for it. We landed late at night and pulled our boat up onshore and walked quietly to the house. It was rather a wealthy farm, forthere were stables and a storehouse and a smithy at the sides of thehouse. There was but one door to the house. We went to it, and I struckit with my spear. [Illustration: "_I struck my shield against the door so that it made agreat clanging_"] "'Hello! Ho! Hello!' I shouted, and my men made a great din. "At last some one from inside said: "'Who calls?' "'I call, ' I answered. 'Open! or you will think it Thor who calls, ' andI struck my shield against the door so that it made a great clanging. "The door opened only a little, but I pushed it wide and leaped into theroom. It was so dark that I could see nothing but a few sparks on thehearth. I stood with my back to the wall; for I wanted no sword reachingout of the dark for me. "'Now start up the fire, ' I said. "'Come, come!' I called, when no one obeyed. 'A fire! This is coldwelcome for your guests. ' "My men laughed. "'Yes, a stingy host! He acts as though he had not expected us. ' "But now the farmer was blowing on the coals and putting on fresh wood. Soon it blazed up, and we could see about us. We were in a little feasthall, [4] with its fire down the middle of it. There were benches fortwenty men along each side. The farmer crouched by the fire, afraid tomove. On a bench in a far corner were a dozen people huddled together. "'Ho, thralls!' I called to them. 'Bring in the table. We are hungry. ' "Off they ran through a door at the back of the hall. My men came in andlay down by the fire and warmed themselves, but I set two of them asguards at the door. "'Well, friend farmer, ' laughed one, 'why such a long face? Do you notthink we shall be merry company?' "'We came only to cheer you, ' said another. 'What man wants to spend thewinter with no guests?' "'Ah!' another then cried out, sitting up. 'Here comes something thatwill be a welcome guest to my stomach. ' "The thralls were bringing in a great pot of meat. They set up a craneover the fire and hung the pot upon it, and we sat and watched it boilwhile we joked. At last the supper began. The farmer sat gloomily on thebench and would not eat, and you cannot wonder; for he saw us puttingpotfuls of his good beef and basket-loads of bread into our big mouths. When the tables were taken out and the mead-horns came round, I stood upand raised my horn and said to the farmer: "'You would not eat with us. You cannot say no to half of my ale. Idrink this to your health. ' "Then I drank half of the hornful and sent the rest across the fire tothe farmer. He took it and smiled, saying: "'Since it is to my health, I will drink it. I thought that all thisnight's work would be my death. ' "'Oh, do not fear that!' I laughed, 'for a dead man sets no tables. ' "So we drank and all grew merrier. At last I stood up and said: "'I like this little taste of your hospitality, friend farmer. I havedecided to accept more of it. ' "My men roared with laughter. "'Come, ' they cried, 'thank him for that, farmer. Did you ever have sucha lordly guest before?' "I went on: "'Now there is no fun in having guests unless they keep you company andmake you merry. So I will give out this law: that my men shall neverleave you alone. Hakon there shall be your constant companion, friendfarmer. He shall not leave you day or night, whether you are working orplaying or sleeping. Leif and Grim shall be the same kind of friends toyour two sons. ' "I named nine others and said: "'And these shall follow your thralls in the same way. Now, am I notcareful to make your time go merrily?' "So I set guards over every one in that house. Not once all that winterdid they stir out of sight of some of us. So no tales got out to theneighbors. Besides, it was a lonely place, and by good luck no one camethat way. Oh! that was fat and easy living. "Well, after we had been there for a long time, Hakon came in to thefeast one night and said: "'I heard a cuckoo to-day!' "'It is the call to go a-viking, ' I said. "All my men put their hands to their mouths and shouted. Their eyesdanced. Big Thorleif stood up and stretched himself. "'I am stiff with long sitting, ' he said. 'I itch for a fight. ' "I turned to the farmer. "'This is our last feast with you, ' I said. "'Well, ' he laughed, 'this has been the busiest winter I ever spent, andthe merriest. May good luck go with you!' "'By the beard of Odin!' I cried; 'you have taken our joke like a man. ' "My men pounded the table with their fists. "'By the hammer of Thor!' shouted Grim. 'Here is no stingy coward. He isa man fit to carry my drinking-horn, the horn of a sea-rover and asword-swinger. Here, friend, take it, ' and he thrust it into thefarmer's hand. 'May you drink heart's-ease from it for many years. Andwith it I leave you a name, Sif the Friendly. I shall hope to drink withyou sometime in Valhalla. ' "Then all my men poured around that farmer and clapped him on theshoulder and piled things upon him, saying: "'Here is a ring for Sif the Friendly. ' "'And here is a bracelet. ' "'A sword would not be ashamed to hang at your side. ' "I took five great bracelets of gold from our treasure chest and gavethem to him. "The old man's eyes opened wide at all these things, and at the sametime he laughed. "'May Odin send me such guests every winter!' he said. "Early next morning we shook hands with our host and boarded the'Waverunner' and sailed off. "'Where shall we go?' my men asked. "'Let the gods decide, ' I said, and tossed up my spear. "When it fell on the deck it pointed up-shore, so I steered in thatdirection. That is the best way to decide, for the spear will alwayspoint somewhere, and one thing is as good as another. That time itpointed us into your father's ships. They closed in battle with us andkilled my men and sunk my ship and dragged me off a prisoner. They werethree against one, or they might have tasted something more bitter atour hands. They took me before King Halfdan. "'Here, ' they said, 'is a rascal who has been harrying our coasts. Wesunk his ship and men, but him we brought to you. ' "'A robber viking?' said the king, and scowled at me. "I threw back my head and laughed. "'Yes. And with all your fingers it took you a year to catch me. ' "The king frowned more angrily. "'Saucy, too?' he said. 'Well, thieves must die. Take him out, Thorkel, and let him taste your sword. ' "Your mother, the queen, was standing by. Now she put her hand on hisarm and smiled and said: "'He is only a lad. Let him live. And would he not be a good gift forour baby?' "Your father thought a moment, then looked at your mother and smiled. "'Soft heart!' he said gently to her; then to Thorkel, 'Well, let himgo, Thorkel!' "Then he turned to me again, frowning. "'But, young sharp-tongue, now that we have caught you we will put youinto a trap that you cannot get out of. Weld an iron collar on hisneck. ' "So I lived and now am your tooth thrall. Well, it is the luck of war. But by the chair of Odin, I kept my vow!" "Yes!" cried Harald, jumping to his feet. "And had a joke into thebargain. Ah! sometime I will make a brave vow like that. " [Decoration] FOOTNOTES: [3] See note about drinking-horns on page 195. [4] See note about feast hall on page 196. [Illustration] Olaf's Fight With Havard At another time Harald said: "Tell me of a fight, Olaf. I want to hear about the music of swords. " Olaf's eyes blazed. "I will tell you of our fight with King Havard, " he said. "One dark night we had landed at a farm. We left our 'Waverunner' in thewater with three men to guard her. The rest of us went into the house. The farmer met us at the door, but he died by Thorkel's sword. Theothers we shut into their beds. [5] The door at each end of the hall wehad barred on the inside so that nobody could surprise us. We were busygoing through the cupboards and shouting at our good luck. But suddenlywe heard a shout outside: "'Thor and Havard!' "Then there was a great beating at the doors. "'He has two hundred fighters with him, ' said Grim; 'for we saw hisships last night. Thirty against two hundred! We shall all drink inValhalla to-night. ' "'Well, ' I cried, 'Odin shall have no unwilling guest in me. ' "'Nor in me, ' cried Hakon. "'Nor in me, ' shouted Thorkel. "And that shout went all around, and we drew out our swords and caughtup our shields. "'Hot work is ahead of us, ' said Hakon. 'Besides, we must leave none ofthis mead for Havard. Lend a hand, some one. ' "Then he and another pulled out a great tub that sat on the floor of thecupboard. "'I drink to Valhalla to-night, ' cried Thorkel the Thirsty, and heplunged his horn deep into the tub. "When he brought it up, his sleeve was dripping and the sweet mead wasrunning over from the horn. "'Sloven!' cried Hakon, and he struck Thorkel with his fist and knockedhim over into the cupboard. "He fell against the wooden wall at the back, and a carved panel swungopen behind him. He dropped down head first. In a minute he put his headout of the hole again. We all stood staring. "'I think it is a secret passage, ' he said. "'We will try it, ' I answered in a whisper. 'Throw dirt on the fire. Itmust be dark. ' "So we dug up dirt from the earth floor and smothered the fire. All thistime there was a terrible shouting and hammering at the doors, but theywere of heavy logs and stood. "'I with four more will guard this door, ' I said, pointing to the eastend. "Immediately four men stepped to my side. "'And I will guard the other, ' Hakon said, and four went with him. "'The rest of you, down the hole!' I said. 'Close the door after you. Ifluck is with us we will meet at the ships. Now Thor and our good swordshelp us! Quick! The doors are giving way. ' "So we ten men stood at the doors and held back the king's soldiers. Itwas dark in the room, and the people out of doors could not tell howmany were inside. Few were eager to be the first in. "'Thirty swords are waiting in there to eat up the first man, ' we heardsome one say. "We chuckled at that. "But the king stood in the very doorway and fought. Our five swords heldhim back for a long time, but at last he pushed in, and his men pouredafter him. We ran back and hid behind some tubs in a dark corner. Theking's men went groping about and calling, but they did not find us. Theroom was full of shouting and running and sword-clashing; for in thedark and the noise the men could not tell their own soldiers. More thanone fell by his friend's sword. When it was less crowded about thedoorway, I whispered: "'Follow me in double line. We will make for the ships. Keep closetogether. ' "So that double line of men, with swords swinging from both sides, ranout through the dark. Swords struck out at us, and we struck back. Menran after us shouting, but our legs were as good as theirs. But I andHakon and one other were all that reached the ship. There we saw our'Waverunner' with sail up and bow pointing to open sea. We swam out toher and climbed aboard. Then the men swung the sail to the wind, and wemoved off. Even as we went, a spear whizzed through the air, and Hakonfell dead; for the king and all his men were running to the shore. "'After them!' they were shouting. "Then we heard the king call to the men in his boats lying out in thewater: "'Row to shore and take us in. ' "Thorkel was standing by my side. At that he laughed and said: "'They do not answer. He left but a handful to guard his ships. Theytasted our swords. And we went aboard and broke the oars and threw thesails into the water. It will be slow going for Havard to-night. ' [Illustration: "_Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly_"] "Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly: "'King Havard's ships are dead: Olaf's dragon flies. King Havard stamps the shore: Olaf skims the waves. King Havard shakes his fist. Olaf turns and laughs. ' "That was the end of our meeting with King Havard. " [Decoration] FOOTNOTES: [5] See note about beds on page 196. [Illustration] Foes'-fear Every day the boy Harald heard some such story of war or of the gods, until he could see Thor riding among the storm-clouds and throwing hishammer, until he knew that a brave man has many wounds, but never a oneon his back. Many nights he dreamed that he himself walked intoValhalla, and that all the heroes stood up and shouted: "Welcome! Harald Halfdanson!" "Ah! the bite of the sword is sweeter than the kiss of your mother, " hesaid to Olaf one day. "When shall I stand in the prow of a dragon andfeast on the fight? I am hungry to see the world. Ivar the Far-goertells me of the strange countries he has seen. Ah! we vikings are greatfolk. There is no water that has not licked our boats' sides. This capeof mine came in a viking boat from France. These cloak-pins came from afar country called Greece. In my father's house are golden cups fromRome, away on the southern sea. Every land pours rich things into ourtreasure-chest. Ivar has been to a strange country where it is all sandand is very hot. The people call their country Arabia. They have neverheard of Thor or Odin. Ivar brought beautiful striped cloth from there, and wonderful, sweet-smelling waters. Oh! when shall the white horses ofthe sea lead me out to strange lands and glorious battles?" But Harald did something besides listen to stories. Every morning he wasup at sunrise and went with a thrall to feed the hunting dogs. Thorsteintaught him to swim in the rough waters of the fiord. Often he went withthe men a-hunting in the woods and learned to ride a horse and pull abow and throw a lance. Ivar taught him to play the harp and to make upsongs. He went much to the smithy, where the warriors mended theirhelmets and made their spears and swords of iron and bronze. At first heonly watched the men or worked the bellows, but soon he could handle thetongs and hold the red-hot iron, and after a long time he learned touse the hammer and to shape metal. One day he made himself a spear-head. It was two feet long and sharp on both edges. While the iron was hot hebeat into it some runes. When the men in the smithy saw the runes theyopened their eyes wide and looked at the boy, for few Norsemen couldread. "What does it say?" they asked. "It is the name of my spear-point, and it says, 'Foes'-fear, '" Haraldsaid. "But now for a handle. " It was winter and the snow was very deep. So Harald put on his skees andstarted for a wood that was back from shore. Down the mountains he went, twenty, thirty feet at a slide, leaping over chasms a hundred feetacross. In his scarlet cloak he looked like a flash of fire. The windshot past him howling. His eyes danced at the fun. "It is like flying, " he thought and laughed. "I am an eagle. Now Isoar, " as he leaped over a frozen river. He saw a slender ash growing on top of a high rock. "That is the handle for 'Foes'-fear, '" he said. The rock stood up like a ragged tower, but he did not stop because ofthe steep climb. He threw off his skees and thrust his hands and feetinto holes of the rock and drew himself up. He tore his jacket and cuthis leather leggings and scratched his face and bruised his hands, butat last he was on the top. Soon he had chopped down the tree and had cuta straight pole ten feet long and as big around as his arm. He wentdown, sliding and jumping and tearing himself on the sharp stones. Witha last leap he landed near his skees. As he did so a lean wolf jumpedand snapped at him, snarling. Harald shouted and swung his pole. Thewolf dodged, but quickly jumped again and caught the boy's arm betweenhis sharp teeth. Harald thought of the spear-point in his belt. In awink he had it out and was striking with it. He drove it into the wolf'sneck and threw him back on the snow, dead. "You are the first to feel the tooth of 'Foes'-fear, '" he said, "but Ithink you will not be the last. " [Illustration: "_He drove it into the wolf's neck_"] Then without thinking of his torn arm he put on his skees and wentleaping home. He went straight to the smithy and smoothed his pole anddrove it into the haft of the spear-point. He hammered out a gold bandand put it around the joining place. He made nails with beautiful headsand drove them into the pole in different places. "If it is heavy it will strike hard, " he said. Then he weighed the spear in his hand and found the balancing point andput another gold band there to mark it. Thorstein came in while he was working. "A good spear, " he said. Then he saw the torn sleeve and the red wound beneath. "Hello!" he cried. "Your first wound?" "Oh, it is only a wolf-scratch, " Harald answered. "By Thor!" cried Thorstein, "I see that you are ready for better wounds. You bear this like a warrior. " "I think it will not be my last, " Harald said. [Illustration] Harald is King Now when Harald was ten years old his father, King Halfdan, died. An oldbook that tells about Harald says that then "he was the biggest of allmen, the strongest, and the fairest to look upon. " That about a boy tenyears old! But boys grew fast in those days for they were out of doorsall the time, running, swimming, leaping on skees, and hunting in theforest. All that makes big, manly boys. So now King Halfdan was dead and buried, and Harald was to be king. Butfirst he must drink his father's funeral ale. "Take down the gay tapestries that hang in the feast hall, " he said tothe thralls. "Put up black and gray ones. Strew the floor with pinebranches. Brew twenty tubs of fresh ale and mead. Scour every dish untilit shines. " Then Harald sent messengers all over that country to his kinsmen andfriends. "Bid them come in three months' time to drink my father's funeral ale, "he said. "Tell them that no one shall go away empty-handed. " So in three months men came riding up at every hour. Some came in boats. But many had ridden far through mountains, swimming rivers; for therewere few roads or bridges in Norway. On account of that hard ride nowomen came to the feast. At nine o'clock in the night the feast began. The men came walking in atthe west end of the hall. [6] The great bonfires down the middle of theroom were flashing light on everything. The clean smell of thiswood-smoke and of the pine branches on the floor was pleasant to theguests. Down each side of the hall stretched long, backless benches, with room for three hundred men. In the middle of each side rose thehigh seat, a great carved chair on a platform. All along behind thebenches were the black and gray draperies. Here hung the shields of theguests; for every man, when he was given his place, turned and hung hisshield behind him and set his tall spear by it. So on each wall therewas a long row of gay shields, red and green and yellow, and all shiningwith gold or bronze trimmings. And higher up there was another row ofgleaming spear-points. Above the hall the rafters were carved and gailypainted, so that dragons seemed to be crawling across, or eagles seemedto be swooping down. The guests walked in laughing and talking with their big voices so thatthe rafters rang. They made the hall look all the brighter with theirclothes of scarlet and blue and green, with their flashing goldenbracelets and head-bands and sword-scabbards, with their flying hair ofred or yellow. Across the east end of the hall was a bench. When the men were all in, the queen, Harald's mother, and the women who lived with her, walked inthrough the east door and sat upon this bench. Then thralls came running in and set up the long tables[7] before thebenches. Other thralls ran in with large steaming kettles of meat. Theyput big pieces of this meat into platters of wood and set it before themen. They had a few dishes of silver. These they put before the guestsat the middle of the tables; for the great people sat here near the highseats. When the meat came, the talking stopped; for Norsemen ate only twice aday, and these men had had long rides and were hungry. Three or fourpersons ate from one platter and drank from the same big bowl of milk. They had no forks, so they ate from their fingers and threw the bonesunder the table among the pine branches. Sometimes they took knives fromtheir belts to cut the meat. When the guests sat back satisfied, Harald called to the thralls: "Carry out the tables. " So they did and brought in two great tubs of mead and set one at eachend of the hall. Then the queen stood up and called some of her women. They went to the mead tubs. They took the horns, when the thralls hadfilled them, and carried them to the men with some merry word. Perhapsone woman said as she handed a man his horn: "This horn has no feet to be set down upon. You must drink it at onedraught. " Perhaps another said: "Mead loves a merry face. " The women were beautiful, moving about the hall. The queen wore atrailing dress of blue velvet with long flowing sleeves. She had a shortapron of striped Arabian silk with gold fringe along the bottom. Fromher shoulders hung a long train of scarlet wool embroidered in gold. White linen covered her head. Her long yellow hair was pulled around atthe sides and over her breast and was fastened under the belt of herapron. As she walked, her train made a pleasant rustle among the pinebranches. She was tall and straight and strong. Some of her youngerwomen wore no linen on their heads and had their white arms bare, withbracelets shining on them. They, too, were tall and strong. All the time men were calling across the fire to one another asking newsor telling jokes and laughing. An old man, Harald's uncle, sat in the high seat on the north side. Thatwas the place of honor. But the high seat on the south side was empty;for that was the king's seat. Harald sat on the steps before it. The feast went merrily until long after midnight. Then the thralls tooksome of the guests to the guest house to sleep, and some to the bedsaround the sides of the feast hall. But some men lay down on the benchesand drew their cloaks over themselves. On the next night there was another feast. Still Harald sat on the stepbefore the high seat. But when the tables were gone and the horns weregoing around, he stood up and raised high a horn of ale and said loudly: "This horn of memory I drink in honor of my father, Halfdan, son ofGudrod, who sits now in Valhalla. And I vow that I will grind myfather's foes under my heel. " Then he drank the ale and sat down in the king's high seat, while allthe men stood up and raised their horns and shouted: "King Harald!" And some cried: "That was a brave vow. " [Illustration: "_I vow that I will grind my father's foes under myheel_"] And Harald's uncle called out: "A health to King Harald!" And they all drank it. Then a man stood up and said: "Hear my song of King Halfdan!" for this man was a skald. "Yes, the song!" shouted the men, and Harald nodded his head. So the skald took down his great harp from the wall behind him and wentand stood before Harald. The bottom of the harp rested on the floor, butthe top reached as high as the skald's shoulders. The brass frame shonein the light. The strings were some of gold and some of silver. The manstruck them with his hand and sang of King Halfdan, of his battles, ofhis strong arm and good sword, of his death, and of how men loved him. When he had finished, King Harald took a bracelet from his arm and gaveit to him, saying: "Take this as thanks for your good song. " The guests stayed the next day and at night there was another feast. When the mead horns were going around, King Harald stood up and spoke: "I said that no man should go away empty-handed from drinking myfather's funeral ale. " He beckoned the thralls, and they brought in a great treasure-chest andset it down by the high seat. King Harald opened it and took out richgifts--capes and sword-belts and beautiful cloth and bracelets and goldcloak-pins. These he sent about the hall and gave something to everyman. The guests wondered at the richness of his gifts. "This young king has an open hand, " they said, "and deeptreasure-chests. " After breakfast the next morning the guests went out and stood by theirhorses ready to go, but before they mounted, thralls brought a horn ofmead to each man. That was called the stirrup-horn, because after theydrank it the men put their feet to the stirrups and sprang upon theirhorses and started. King Harald and his people rode a little way withthem. All men said that that was the richest funeral feast that ever washeld. FOOTNOTES: [6] See note about feast hall on page 196. [7] See note about tables on page 196. [Illustration] Harald's Battle Now King Halfdan had many foes. When he was alive they were afraid tomake war upon him, for he was a mighty warrior. But when Harald becameking, they said: "He is but a lad. We will fight with him and take his land. " So they began to make ready. King Harald heard of this and he laughedand said: "Good! 'Foes'-fear' is thirsty, and my legs are stiff with muchsitting. " He called three men to him. To one he gave an arrow, saying: "Run and carry this arrow north. Give it into the hands of the master ofthe next farm, and say that all men are to meet here within two weeksfrom this day. They must come ready for war and mounted on horses. Sayalso that if a man does not obey this call, or if he receives this arrowand does not carry it on to his next neighbor, he shall be outlawedfrom this country, and his land shall be taken from him. " He gave arrows to the other two men and told them to run south and eastwith the same message. So all through King Harald's country men were soon busy mending helmetsand polishing swords and making shields. There was blazing of forges andclanging of anvils all through the land. On the day set, the fields about King Harald's house were full of menand horses. After breakfast a horn blew. Every man snatched his weaponsand jumped upon his horse. Men of the same neighborhood stood together, and their chief led them. They waited for the starting horn. This didnot look like our army. There were no uniforms. Some men wore helmets, some did not. Some wore coats of mail, but others wore only theirjackets and tights of bright-colored wool. But at each man's left sidehung a great shield. Over his right shoulder went his sword-belt andheld his long sword under his left hand. Above most men's heads shonethe points of their tall spears. Some men carried axes in their belts. Some carried bows and arrows. Many had ram's horns hanging from theirnecks. King Harald rode at the front of his army with his standard-bearerbeside him. Chain-armor covered the king's body. A red cloak was thrownover his shoulders. On his head was a gold helmet with a dragon standingup from it. He carried a round shield on his left arm. The king had madethat shield himself. It was of brass. The rivets were of silver, withstrangely shaped heads. On the back of Harald's horse was a red clothtrimmed with the fur of ermine. King Harald looked up at his standard and laughed aloud. "Oh, War-lover, " he cried, "you and I ride out on a gay journey. " A horn blew again and the army started. The men shouted as they went, and blew their ram's horns. "Now we shall taste something better than even King Harald's ale, "shouted one. Another rose in his stirrups and sniffed the air. "Ah! I smell a battle, " he cried. "It is sweeter than those strangewaters of Arabia. " So the army went merrily through the land. They carried no tents, theyhad no provision wagons. "The sky is a good enough tent for a soldier, " said the Norsemen. "Whycarry provisions when they lie in the farms beside you?" After two days King Harald saw another army on the hills. "Thorstein, " he shouted, "up with the white shield and go tell King Hakito choose his battle-field. We will wait but an hour. I am eager for thefrolic. " So Thorstein raised a white shield on his spear as a sign that he cameon an errand of peace. He rode near King Haki, but he could not waituntil he came close before he shouted out his message and then turnedand rode back. "Tell your boy king that we will not hang back, " Haki called afterThorstein. King Harald's men waited on the hillside and watched the other armyacross the valley. They saw King Haki point and saw twenty men ride offas he pointed. They stopped in a patch of hazel and hewed with theiraxes. "They are getting the hazels, " said Thorstein. "Audun, " said King Harald to a man near him, "stay close to my standardall day. You must see the best of the fight. I want to hear a song aboutit after it is over. " This Audun was the skald who sang at the drinking of King Halfdan'sfuneral ale. King Haki's men rode down into the valley. They drove down stakes allabout a great field. They tied the hazel twigs to the stakes in astring. But they left an open space toward King Harald's army and onetoward King Haki's. Then a man raised a white shield and galloped towardKing Harald. "We are ready!" he shouted. At the same time King Haki raised a red shield. King Harald's men puttheir shields before their mouths and shouted into them. It made a greatroaring war-cry. "Up with the war shield!" shouted King Harald. "Horns blow!" There was a blowing of horns on both sides. The two armies galloped downinto the field and ran together. The fight had begun. All that day long swords were flashing, spears flying, men shouting, menfalling from their horses, swords clashing against shields. "Victory flashes from that dragon, " Harald's men said, pointing to theking's helmet. "No one stands before it. " And, surely, before night came, King Haki fell dead under "Foes'-fear. "When he fell, a great shout went up from his warriors, and they turnedand fled. King Harald's men chased them far, but during the night cameback to camp. Many brought swords and helmets and bracelets orsilver-trimmed saddles and bridles with them. "Here is what we got from the foe, " they said. The next morning King Harald spoke to his men: "Let us go about and find our dead. " [Illustration: "_King Haki fell dead under 'Foes'-fear'_"] So they went over all the battle-field. They put every man on his shieldand carried him and laid him on a hill-top. They hung his sword over hisshoulder and laid his spear by his side. So they laid all the deadtogether there on the hill-top. Then King Harald said, looking about: "This is a good place to lie. It looks far over the country. The soundof the sea reaches it. The wind sweeps here. It is a good grave forNorsemen and Vikings. But it is a long road and a rough road to Valhallathat these men must travel. Let the nearest kinsman of each man come andtie on his hell-shoes. Tie them fast, for they will need them much onthat hard road. " So friends tied shoes on the dead men's feet. Then King Harald said: "Now let us make the mound. " Every man set to work with what tools he had and heaped earth over thedead until a great mound stood up. They piled stones on the top. On oneof these stones King Harald made runes telling how these men had died. After that was done King Harald said: "Now set up the pole, Thorstein. Let every man bring to that pole allthat he took from the foe. " So they did, and there was a great hill of things around it. Haralddivided it into piles. "This pile we will give to Thor in thanks for the victory, " he said. "This pile is mine because I am king. Here are the piles for the chiefs, and these things go to the other men of the army. " So every man went away from that battle richer than he was before, andThor looked down from Valhalla upon his full temple and was pleased. The next morning King Harald led his army back. But on the way he metother foes and had many battles and did not lose one. The kings eitherdied in battle or ran away, and Harald had their lands. "He has kept his vow, " men said, "and ground his father's foes under hisheel. " So King Harald sat in peace for a while. [Illustration] Gyda's Saucy Message Now Harald heard men talk of Gyda, the daughter of King Eric. "She is very beautiful, " they said, "but she is very proud, too. She canboth read and make runes. No other woman in the world knows so muchabout herbs as she does. She can cure any sickness. And she is proud ofall this!" Now when King Harald heard that, he thought to himself: "Fair and proud. I like them both. I will have her for my wife. " So he called his uncle, Guthorm, and said: "Take rich gifts and go to Gyda's foster-father[8] and tell him that Iwill marry Gyda. " So Guthorm and his men came to that house and they told the king'smessage to the foster-father. Gyda was standing near, weaving a richcloak. She heard the speech. She came up and said, holding her headhigh and curling her lip: "I will not waste myself on a king of so few people. Norway is a strangecountry. There is a little king here and a little king there--hundredsof them scattered about. Now in Denmark there is but one great king overthe whole land. And it is so in Sweden. Is no one brave enough to makeall of Norway his own?" She laughed a scornful laugh and walked away. The men stood with openmouths and stared after her. Could it be that she had sent that saucymessage to King Harald? They looked at her foster-father. He waschuckling in his beard and said nothing to them. They started out of thehouse in anger. When they were at the door, Gyda came up to them againand said: "Give this message to your King Harald for me: I will not be his wifeunless he puts all of Norway under him for my sake. " [Illustration: "_I will not be his wife unless he puts all of Norwayunder him for my sake_"] So Guthorm and his men rode homeward across the country. They did nottalk. They were all thinking. At last one said: "How shall we give this message to the king?" "I have been thinking of that, " Guthorm said; "his anger is no littlething. " It was late when they rode into the king's yard; for they had riddenslowly, trying to make some plan for softening the message, but they hadthought of none. "I see light through the wind's-eyes of the feast hall, " one said. "Yes, the king keeps feast, " Guthorm said. "We must give our messagebefore all his guests. " So they went in with very heavy hearts. There sat King Harald in thehigh seat. The benches on both sides were full of men. The tables hadbeen taken out, and the mead-horns were going round. "Oh, ho!" cried King Harald. "Our messengers! What news?" Then Guthorm said: "This Gyda is a bold and saucy girl, King Harald. My tongue refuses togive her message. " The king stamped his foot. "Out with it!" he cried. "What does she say?" "She says that she will not marry so little a king, " Guthorm answered. Harald jumped to his feet. His face flushed red. Guthorm stretched outhis hand. "They are not my words, O King; they are the words of a silly girl. " "Is there any more?" the king shouted. "Go on!" "She said: 'There is one king in Denmark and one king in Sweden. Isthere no man brave enough to make himself king of all Norway? Tell KingHarald that I will not marry him unless he puts all of Norway under himfor my sake. '" The guests sat speechless, staring at Guthorm. All at once the kingbroke into a roar of laughter. "By the hammer of Thor!" he cried, "that is a good message. I thank you, Gyda. Did you hear it, friends? King of all Norway! Why, we are allstupids. Why did we not think of that?" Then he raised his horn high. "Now hear my vow. I say that I will not cut my hair or comb it until Iam king of all Norway. That I will be or I will die. " Then he drank off the horn of mead, and while he drank it, all the menin the hall stood up and waved their swords and shouted and shouted. That old hall in all its two hundred years of feasts had not heard sucha noise before. "Ah, Harald!" Guthorm cried, "surely Thor in Valhalla smiled when heheard that vow. " The men sat all night talking of that wonderful vow. On the very next day King Harald sent out his war-arrows. Soon a greatarmy was gathered. They marched through the country north and south andeast and west, burning houses and fighting battles as they went. Peoplefled before them, some to their own kings, some inland to the deep woodsand hid there. But some went to King Harald and said: "We will be your men. " "Then take the oath, and I will be friends with you, " he said. The men took off their swords and laid them down and came one by one andknelt before the king. They put their heads between his knees and said: "From this day, Harald Halfdanson, I am your man. I will serve you inwar. For my land I will pay you taxes. I will be faithful to you as myking. " Then Harald said: "I am your king, and I will be faithful to you. " Many kings took that oath and thousands of common men. Of all thebattles that Harald fought, he did not lose one. Now for a long time the king's hair and beard had not been combed orcut. They stood out around his head in a great bushy mat of yellow. At afeast one day when the jokes were going round, Harald's uncle said: "Harald, I will give you a new name. After this you shall be calledHarald Shockhead. As my naming gift I give you this drinking-horn. " "It is a good name, " laughed all the men. After that all people called him Harald Shockhead. During these wars, whenever King Harald got a country for his own, thisis what he did. He said: "All the marshland and the woodland where no people live is mine. Forhis farm every man shall pay me taxes. " Over every country he put some brave, wise man and called him Earl. Hesaid to the earls: "You shall collect the taxes and pay them to me. But some you shall keepfor yourselves. You shall punish any man who steals or murders or doesany wicked thing. When your people are in trouble they shall come toyou, and you shall set the thing right. You must keep peace in the land. I will not have my people troubled with robber vikings. " The earls did all these things as best they could; for they were goodstrong men. The farmers were happy. They said: "We can work on our farms with peace now. Before King Harald came, something was always wrong. The vikings would come and steal our goldand our grain and burn our houses, or the king would call us to war. Those little kings are always fighting. It is better under King Harald. " But the chiefs, who liked to fight and go a-viking, hated King Haraldand his new ways. One of these chiefs was Solfi. He was a king's son. Harald had killed his father in battle. Solfi had been in that battle. At the end of it he fled away with two hundred men and got into ships. "We will make that Shockhead smart, " he said. So they harried the coast of King Harald's country. They filled theirships with gold. They ate other men's meals. They burned farmhousesbehind them. The people cried out to the earls for help. So the earlshad out their ships all the time trying to catch Solfi, but he was tooclever for them. In the spring he went to a certain king, Audbiorn, and said to him: "Now, there are two things that we can do. We can become this ShockheadHarald's thralls, we can kneel before him and put our heads between hisknees. Or else we can fight. My father thought it better to die inbattle than to be any man's thrall. How is it? Will you join with mycousin Arnvid and me against this young Shockhead?" "Yes, I will do it, " said the king. [Decoration] FOOTNOTES: [8] See note about foster-father on page 197. [Illustration] The Sea Fight Many men felt as Solfi did. So when King Audbiorn and King Arnvid sentout their war arrows, a great host gathered. All men came by sea. Twohundred ships lay at anchor in the fiord, looking like strange swimminganimals because of their high carved prows and bright paint. There werered and gold dragons with long necks and curved tails. Sea-horses rearedout of the water. Green and gold snakes coiled up. Sea-hawks sat withspread wings ready to fly. And among all these curved necks stood up thetall, straight masts with the long yardarms swinging across them holdingthe looped-up sails. When the starting horn blew, and their sails were let down, it was likethe spreading of hundreds of curious flags. Some were striped black andyellow or blue and gold. Some were white with a black raven or a brownbear embroidered on them, or blue with a white sea-hawk, or black witha gold sun. Some were edged with fur. As the wind filled the gaudysails, and the ships moved off, the men waved their hands to the womenon shore and sang: "To the sea! To the sea! The wind in our sail, The sea in our face, And the smell of the fight. After ship meets ship, In the quarrel of swords King Harald shall lie In the caves under sea And Norsemen shall laugh. " In the prow stood men leaning forward and sniffing the salt air withjoy. Some were talking of King Harald. "Yesterday he had a hard fight, " they said. "To-day he will be lyingstill, dressing his wounds and mending his ships. We shall take him bysurprise. " They sailed near the coast. Solfi in his "Sea-hawk" was ahead leadingthe way. Suddenly men saw his sail veer and his oars flash out. He hadquickly turned his boat and was rowing back. He came close to KingArnvid and called: "He is there, ahead. His boats are ready in line of battle. The fox hasnot been asleep. " King Arnvid blew his horn. Slowly his boats came into line with his"Sea-stag" in the middle. Again he blew his horn. Cables were thrownacross from one prow to the next, and all the ships were tied togetherso that their sides touched. Then the men set their sails again and theywent past a tongue of land into a broad fiord. There lay the long lineof King Harald's ships with their fierce heads grinning and mocking atthe newcomers. Back of those prows was what looked like a long wall withspots of green and red and blue and yellow and shining gold. It was thelocked shields of the men in the bows, and over every shield lookedfierce blue eyes. Higher up and farther back was another wall ofshields; for on the half deck in the stern of every ship stood thecaptain with his shield-guard of a dozen men. Arnvid's people had furled their sails and were taking down the masts, but the ships were still drifting on with the wind. The horn blew, andquickly every man sprang to his place in bow and stern. All were leaningforward with clenched teeth and widespread nostrils. They were clutchingtheir naked swords in their hands. Their flashing eyes looked over theirshields. Soon King Arnvid's ships crashed into Harald's line, and immediately themen in the bows began to swing their swords at one another. The soldiersof the shield-guard on the high decks began to throw darts and stonesand to shoot arrows into the ships opposite them. So in every ship showers of stones and arrows were falling, and many mendied under them or got broken arms or legs. Spears were hurled from deckto deck and many of them bit deep into men's bodies. In every bow menslashed with their swords at the foes in the opposite ship. Some jumpedupon the gunwale to get nearer or hung from the prow-head. Some evenleaped into the enemy's boat. King Harald's ship lay prow to prow with King Arnvid's. The battle hadbeen going on for an hour. King Harald was still in the stern on thedeck. There was a dent in his helmet where a great stone had struck. There was a gash in his shoulder where a spear had cut. But he was stillfighting and laughed as he worked. "Wolf meets wolf to-day, " he said. "But things are going badly in theprow, " he cried. "Ivar fallen, Thorstein wounded, a dozen men lying inthe bottom of the boat!" He leaped down from the deck and ran along the gunwale, shouting as hewent: "Harald and victory!" So he came to the bow and stood swinging his sword as fast as hebreathed. Every time it hit a man of Arnvid's men. Harald's own warriorscheered, seeing him. "Harald and victory!" they shouted, and went to work again with goodheart. Slowly King Arnvid's men fell back before Harald's biting sword. ThenHarald's men threw a great hook into that boat and pulled it alongsideand still pushed King Arnvid's people back. "Come on! Follow me!" cried Harald. Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat, and his warriors followed him. "He comes like a mad wolf, " King Arnvid's men said, and they turned andran back below the deck. Then Arnvid himself leaped down and stood with his sword raised. "Can this young Shockhead make cowards of you all?" he cried. But Harald's sword struck him, and he fell dead. Then a big, bloodyviking of King Arnvid leaped upon the edge of the ship and stood there. He held his drinking-horn and his sword high in his hands. "Ran[9] and not you, Shockhead, shall have them and me!" he cried, andleaped laughing into the water and was drowned. Many other warriors chose the same death on that terrible day. [Illustration: "_Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat_"] All along the line of boats men fought for hours. In some places thecables had been cut, and the boats had drifted apart. Ships layscattered about two by two, fighting. May boats sank, many men died, some fled away in their ships, and at the end King Harald had won thebattle. So he had King Arnvid's country and King Audbiorn's country. Many men took the oath and became his friends. All people were talkingof his wonderful battles. [Decoration] FOOTNOTES: [9] See note about Ran on page 198. [Illustration] King Harald's Wedding It had taken King Harald ten years to fight so many battles. And allthat time he had not cut his hair or combed it. Now he was feasting oneday at an earl's house. Many people were there. "How is it, friends?" Harald said. "Have I kept my vow?" His friends answered: "You have kept your vow. There is no king but you in all Norway. " "Then I think I will cut my hair, " the king laughed. So he went and bathed and put on fresh clothes. Then the earl cut hishair and beard and combed them and put a gold band about his head. Thenhe looked at him and said: "It is beautiful, smooth, and yellow. " And all people wondered at the beauty of the king's hair. "I will give you a new name, " the earl said. "You shall no longer becalled Shockhead. You shall be called Harald Hairfair. " "It is a good name, " everybody cried. Then Harald said: "But I have another thing to do now. Guthorm, you shall take the samemessage to Gyda that you gave ten years ago. " So Guthorm went and brought back this answer from Gyda: "I will marry the king of all Norway. " So when the wedding time came, Harald rode across the country to thehome of Gyda's father, Eric. Many men followed him. They were all richlydressed in velvet and gold. For three nights they feasted at Eric's house. On the next night Gydasat on the cross-bench with her women. A long veil of white linencovered her face and head and hung down to the ground. After themead-horns had been brought in, Eric stood up from his high seat andwent down and stood before King Harald. "Will you marry Gyda now?" he asked. [Illustration: "_I, Harald, King of Norway, take you Gyda, for mywife_"] Harald jumped to his feet and laughed. "Yes, " he said. "I have waited long enough. " Then he stepped down from his high seat and stood by Eric. They walkedabout the hall. Before them walked thralls carrying candles. Behind themwalked many of King Harald's great earls. Three times they walked aroundthe hall. The third time they stopped before the cross-bench. KingHarald and Eric stepped upon the platform, where the cross-bench was. Eric gave a holy hammer to Harald, and it was like the hammer of Thor. Harald put it upon Gyda's lap, saying: "With this holy hammer of Thor's, I, Harald, King of Norway, take you, Gyda, for my wife. " Then he took a bunch of keys and tied it to Gyda's girdle, saying: "This is the sign that you are mistress of my house. " After that, Eric called out loudly: "Now, are Harald, King of Norway, and Gyda, daughter of Eric, man andwife. " Then thralls brought meat and drink in golden dishes. They were about toserve it to Gyda for the bride's feast, but Harald took the dish fromthem and said: "No, I will serve my bride. " So he knelt and held the platter. When he did that his men shouted. Thenthey talked among themselves, saying: "Surely Harald never knelt before. It is always other people who kneelto him. " When the bride had tasted the food and touched the mead-horn to her lipsshe stood up and walked from the hall. All her women followed her, butthe men stayed and feasted long. On the next morning at breakfast Gyda sat by Harald's side. Soon theking rose and said: "Father-in-law, our horses stand ready in the yard. Work is waiting forme at home and on the sea. Lead out the bride. " So Eric took Gyda by the hand and led her out of the hall. Haraldfollowed close. When they passed through the door Eric said: "With this hand I lead my daughter out of my house and give her to you, Harald, son of Halfdan, to be your wife. May all the gods make youhappy!" Harald led his bride to the horse and lifted her up and set her behindhis saddle and said: "Now this Gyda is my wife. " Then they drank the stirrup-horn and rode off. "Everything comes to King Harald, " his men said; "wife and land andcrown and victory in battle. He is a lucky man. " [Decoration] [Illustration] King Harald Goes West-Over-Seas Now many men hated King Harald. Many a man said: "Why should he put himself up for king of all of us? He is no betterthan I am. Am I not a king's son as well as he? And are not many of uskings' sons? I will not kneel before him and promise to be his man. Iwill not pay him taxes. I will not have his earl sitting over me. Thegood old days have gone. This Norway has become a prison. I will go awayand find some other place. " So hundreds of men sailed away. Some went to France and got land andlived there. Big Rolf-go-afoot and all his men sailed up the greatFrench River and won a battle against the French king himself. There wasno way to stop the flashing of his battle-axes but to give him what hewanted. So the king made Rolf a duke, gave him broad lands and gave himthe king's own daughter for wife. Rolf called his country Normandy, forold Norway. He ruled it well and was a great lord, and his sons' sonsafter him were kings of England. Other Norsemen went to Ireland and England and Scotland. They drew uptheir boats on the river banks. The people ran away before them andgathered into great armies that marched back to meet the vikings inbattle. Sometimes the Norsemen lost, but oftener they won, so that theygot land and lived in those countries. Their houses sat in these strangelands like warriors' camps, and the Norsemen went among their newneighbors with hanging swords and spears in hand, ever ready for fight. There are many islands north of Scotland. They are called the Orkneysand the Shetlands. They have many good harbors for ships. They arelittle and rocky and bare of trees. Wild sea-birds scream around them. On some of them a man can stand in the middle and see the ocean allabout him. Now the vikings sailed to these islands and were pleased. [Illustration: "_In Norway they left burning houses and weepingwomen_"] "It is like being always in a boat, " they said. "This shall be ourhome. " So it went until all the lands round about were covered with vikings. Norse carved and painted houses brightened the hillsides. Viking shipssailed all the seas and made harbor in every river. Norsemen's thrallsplowed the soil and planted crops and herded cattle, and gold flowedinto their masters' treasure-chests. Norse warriors walked up and downthe land, and no man dared to say them nay. These men did not forget Norway. In the summers they sailed back thereand harried the coast. They took gold and grain and beautiful cloth backto their homes. In Norway they left burning houses and weeping women. Every summer King Harald had out his ships and men and hunted thesevikings. There are many little islands about Norway. They have crags andcaves and deep woods. Here the vikings hid when they saw King Harald'sships coming. But Harald ran his boat into every creek and fiord andhunted in every cave and through all the woods and among the crags. Hecaught many men, but most of them got away and went home laughing atHarald. Then they came back the next summer and did the same deeds overagain. At last King Harald said: "There is but one thing to do. I must sail to these western islands andwhip these robbers in their own homes. " So he went with a great number of ships. He found as brave men as he hadbrought from Norway. These vikings had brought their old courage totheir new homes. King Harald's fine ships were scarred by viking stonesand scorched by viking fire. The shields of Harald's warriors had dentsfrom viking blows. Many of those men carried viking scars all theirlives. And many of King Harald's warriors walked the long, hard road toValhalla, and feasted there with some of these very vikings that haddied in King Harald's battles. But after many hard fights on land andsea, after many men had died and many had fled away to other lands, KingHarald won, and he made the men that were yet in the islands take theoath, and he left his earls to rule over them. Then he went back toNorway. "He has done more than he vowed to do, " people said. "He has not onlywhipped the vikings, but he has got a new kingdom west-over-seas. " Then they talked of that dream that his mother had. "King Harald was that great tree, " they said. "The trunk was red withthe blood of his many battles, but higher up the limbs were fair andgreen like this good time of peace. The topmost branches were whitebecause Harald will live to be an old man. Just as that tree spread outuntil all of Norway was in its shade, and even more lands, so Harald isking of all this country and of the western islands. The many branchesof that tree are the many sons of Harald, who shall be earls and kingsin Norway, and their sons after them, for hundreds of years. " _PART II_ [Illustration] WEST-OVER-SEAS [Decoration] [Illustration] Homes in Iceland Men had been feasting in Ingolf's house. But there was no laughing andno shouting of jokes. Ingolf sat in his high seat frowning and gloomy. His head hung on his breast. He was staring into the fire. Now he raisedhis head and looked about the hall. "Comrades, " he said, "what shall we do? Herstein and Holmstein died byour swords. Their kinsmen hunger to kill us. Besides, when Harald hearsof our deed, there will not be a safe place in Norway for us. He willnever let a man fight out an honest quarrel. Where shall we go?" A man stood up from the bench. "We have friends in the Shetlands, " he said. "Let us find homes there. " Then Leif, in the high seat opposite Ingolf, stood up. "No, not the Shetlands, my foster-brother. [10] They are crowdedalready. Besides, Harald will not long keep his hands off them. Thenthey will be no better than Norway. England and Ireland and Scotland areold. My eyes ache for something new. What of that far island that Flokifound? It is empty. We could choose our land from the whole country. There is good fishing. There are green valleys. And Butter Thorolf saysthat butter drops from every weed. There are mountains and deserts wherewe may find adventure. I say, let us steer for Iceland!" When he stopped, many of the men shouted: "Yes! Iceland!" But an old man stood up. "We have all laughed at that tale of Butter Thorolf's, " he said. "ButFloki himself said that the sea about the island is full of ice thatpushes upon the land, that no ship can live in that water in the winter, that great mountains of ice cover the island. Did not all his cattle diethere of hunger and cold, and did he not come back to Norway cursingIceland?" "Oh, Sighvat, you are old and fearful, " called out Leif, and he laughed. Then he stretched himself up and threw back his head. "Are we afraid of ice? Have we not seen angry water before? I have beenhungry, but I have never died of it. Surely if there are fish in the seaand grass in the valleys, we can live there. I should like to stand on ahill and look around on a wide land and think, 'This is all ours, ' andout upon a rough sea and think, 'Far off there are our foes and theydare not come over to us. ' Besides, we shall have no Shockhead Harald tolord it over us. We can come and go and feast and fight as we please. Weshall be our own kings. And our ships will be always waiting to take usaway, when we are weary of it. And we shall see things that other menhave never seen. I am tired of the old things. Perhaps in after days menwill make songs about 'those foster-brothers, Ingolf and Leif, who madea new country in a wonderful land, and whose sons and grandsons aremighty men in Iceland!'" Ingolf leaped up from his chair. "By the strong arm of Thor!" he cried, "I like the sound of it. Now Imake my vow. " He raised his drinking-horn. "I vow that I will find this Iceland and pass the winter there, and thatif man can live upon it I will go back there and set up my home. " "And I vow that I will follow my foster-brother, " cried Leif. And many men vowed to go. So on the next day they began to make ready a boat. They looked her overcarefully and recalked every seam and freshly painted her and put intoher their strongest oars and made her a new sail. "This will be the longest voyage that she ever made, " Ingolf said. When the work was done, they put into her great stores, axes, hammers, fish-nets, cooking-kettles, kegs of ale, chests of hard bread, chests ofsmoked meat, brass kettles full of flour, skin bottles of water. Theystowed these things away in the ends of the ship. When they were readythey put in four head of cattle. "We shall need the milk and perhaps the meat, " Ingolf said. Many men wished to go, but Ingolf had said: "There is little room to spare and little food and drink. I have plannedfor half a year. But perhaps we must be sailing longer than that. Ourfood may run short. We must not have extra mouths to feed. There arethirty oars in our boat. I will take only one man for every oar, andLeif and I will steer. " So they started off. Leif stood in the prow leaning forward and lookingfar ahead, and he sang: "What does the swimming dragon smell? A stormy sea, an empty land, Hunger, darkness, giants, fire. Leif and his sword do laugh at that. " They sailed for days and saw no land. Sometimes they passed ships andalways made sure to sail close enough to hail them. "Where are you going?" Ingolf would call. "To Norway, " would come back the answer. "For trade or fight?" Leif would shout. Then would ring out a great laugh from that boat and this answer: "A shut mouth is a good friend. " So the two ships sailed on, and the men were glad to have heard agreeting and to have called one. But at last there were the Shetlands. "We will go in here and rest, " Ingolf said. When they rowed to shore a certain Shetland man stood there. He watchedthem land and looked them all over. Then he walked up to Ingolf andsaid: "You look like brave men. Welcome to Shetland. You shall come to myhouse and rest your legs from ship-going and fill your stomachs. Ihunger for news of Norway. " So they went to his house and stayed there for three days. And good itseemed to be near a fire and in a quiet bed and before a steamingplatter. When they went to the shore to start off again, the Shetlandman had his thralls carry a keg of ale and a great kettle of cooked meatand put them into the ship. "Think of me when you eat this, " he said. Then the Norsemen put to sea again and sailed for a long time. One day a terrible storm came up; the sky was black; the wind howledthrough the ship. Great waves leaped in the sea. "Down with the sail and out with the oars!" Ingolf shouted. So the men furled the sail and took down the mast and laid it along thebottom of the boat. As they worked, one man was washed overboard anddrowned. The men sat down to row, but the tumbling waves tossed the boatabout and poured over her and broke three of the oars. But still the menheld on. They were wet to the skin and were cold, and their arms andlegs ached with the hard work, and they were hungry from the longwaiting, but not one face was white with fear. "Ran, in her caves under sea, wants us for company to-night, " Ingolflaughed. So they tossed about all night, but in the morning the wind died down. Great waves still rolled, and for days the sea was rough, but theycould put up the sail. Then one day Leif, as he sat in the pilot's seat, jumped to his feet and sang: "To eyes grown tired with looking far, All at once appeared an island, A stretching-place for sea-legs, A quiet bed for backs grown stiff On rowing-bench on rolling sea. A place to build a red fire And thaw the blood that sea-winds froze. " But when they came near they saw no place to land. The island was like amountain of rock standing out of the water. The sides were steep andsmooth. They sailed around it, but found no place to climb up. "There are many other islands here, " said Leif. "We will try another. " So he steered to another. It, too, was a steep rock, but one side slopeddown to the water and was green with grass. "Oh, I have not seen anything so good as that green grass since I lookedinto my mother's face, " one man said. There was a little harbor there. The men rowed in and quickly jumped outand put the rollers under the ship and pulled her upon shore. Then theythrew themselves down on the grass and rolled and stretched their armsand shouted for joy. After that they built a fire and warmed themselvesand cooked a meal and ate like wolves. They slept there that night. In the morning before Ingolf's men started away they were standing highup on the hillside, looking about. They saw no houses on any of theislands, but they saw smoke rise from one hillside. "Some other men, like us, weary of the sea and stopping to rest, " saidIngolf. They saw the island that they had sailed around the night before. "There can surely be nothing but birds' nests on top of that, " Sighvatsaid. "Look!" cried another, pointing. Men were standing on the flat top of that island. They were letting aboat down the steep side with ropes. When it struck the water, they madea rope fast to the rock and slid down it into the ship and sailed off. "Some robber vikings from Scotland or Ireland, " laughed Leif. "It is agood hiding place for treasure. " Soon Ingolf and his men got into their ship and were off. Old Sighvatgrumbled. "Is this land not new enough and empty enough and far enough? I am tiredof sea, sea, sea, and nothing else. " "We started for Iceland, " said Ingolf, "and I will not stop before Icome there. I have a vow. Did you make none, Sighvat?" Then they were on the water again for weeks with no sight of land. "Oh! I would give my right hand to see a dragon pawing the water offthere and to fling a word to its men, " Sighvat said. "No hope of that, " replied Ingolf. "Only three dragons before ours haveever swept this water, and men are not sailing this way for pleasure orriches. " So only the desolate sea stretched around them. Sometimes it was smoothand shining under the sun. Often it was torn by winds, and a gray skyhung over it, and the men were drenched with rain. Once they ran into afog. For three days and nights they could not see sun or stars to steerby. They forgot which way was north. When after three days the foglifted, they found that they had been going in the wrong direction, andthey had to turn around and sail all that weary way over again. But atlast one afternoon they saw a white cloud resting on the water far off. As they sailed toward it, it grew into long stretches of black, hillyshore with a blue ice mountain rising from it. The sun was going downbehind that mountain, and long lines of pink and of shining green, andgreat purple shadows streaked the blue. "It is Iceland!" shouted the men. "It is like Asgard the Shining, " Ingolf said. But it was still far off. Men can see a long way there because the airis so clear. So Ingolf and his people sailed on for hours and at lastcame into a harbor. A little green valley sloped up from it. On one sidewas the bright ice mountain. Back of it were bare black and red hills. In that valley Ingolf and his men drew up their boat and camped. Atsupper that night one of the men said: "I almost think I never felt a fire before or had warm food in mymouth. " The men laughed. "It is four months since we left Norway, " Ingolf said. "Few men haveever been on the sea so long. " That night they put up the awning in the boat and slept under it. After that some men went fishing every day in the rowboat that they had. And Ingolf took others, and they sailed along the shore, seeing whatkind of a land this was. But winter began to come on. Then Ingolf said: "Remember what Floki said of the ice and the rough sea in winter. Soonwe cannot sail any longer. Let us choose a place to stay and build a hutthere and cut hay for our cattle. " So they did. Their hut was a little mean thing of stones and turf. Theykept the cattle and the hay in it. Sometimes they slept there, when itwas very cold. But most of the time they ate and slept by a greatbonfire out of doors where it was clean. Leif said: "I like the cold air of the sea better than the bad-smelling air of ahouse, even though it is warm. " Now every day Ingolf and Leif and some of the men walked about theisland. At night they all sat around the campfire and talked of whatthey had seen during the day. "This is surely a wonderful land, " Ingolf said once. "It is at the sametime like Niflheim and like Asgard. Here is a spot green and soft, asweet cradle for men. Next it is a mountain of ice where men wouldfreeze to death. And next to that is a hill of rock that seems to havecome out of some great fire. Yesterday I saw a cave on the seashore. Thedoor of it was big enough for a giant. The waves broke at the doorstep. A terrible roaring came from the cave. I think it is the home of agiant. I think that giants of fire and giants of frost made this island. I have seen great basins in the rocks filled with warm water. Theylooked like giants' bath-tubs. I have seen boiling water shoot up out ofthe ground. I have walked, and have felt and heard a great rumblingunder me as though some giant were sleeping there and turning over inhis sleep. One day I stood on a mountain and looked inland. There was awide desert of sand and black and red rock with nothing growing on it. The fierce wind blew dirt into my eyes, and the cold of it froze themarrow in my bones. When I have seen these things I have cursed thecountry, and have said: 'The gods hate Iceland. I will not stay here. 'But then I have walked through beautiful warm valleys where the windsdid not come. I saw in my mind the flowers that we found last summer. Isaw our cattle feeding on the sweet grass. I thought of the sea full ofgood fish. I saw my house built among green fields, and my wife sittingin her home, and my children playing among the flowers and making uptales about the bright ice mountains. I saw the wide, rough seas betweenme and Harald and our foes. Then I thought to myself, 'It is thesweetest home on earth. ' As for me, I am coming here to live. What doyou say, comrades?" "Have I not vowed to follow you, foster-brother?" said Leif. "And indeedI never saw a land that I liked better. I don't believe in your giants. My sword is my god, and my ship is my temple, and I like this land toset them up in. " They sat about the fire long that night making plans. "You shall go home and get our women and our things, Ingolf, " said Leif. "I will off to Ireland and have a frolic. There will be little play ofswords in this empty land, and I want to have one last game before Ihang up my battle-knife. Besides, I will come to you with a ship full ofgold and clothes and house-hangings such as we cannot get here, and theywill cost me nothing but the swing of a sword. " As they talked, Ingolf looked up at the sky. The northern lights werequivering there. They were like great flames of yellow and green andred. "See, " he said, and pointed. "We are not so far that the gods willforget us. There is the flash of the armor of the Valkyrias. [11] Abattle is on somewhere, and Odin has sent his maidens to choose theheroes for Valhalla. " Leif only laughed and lay down to sleep. So in the spring they all went back to Norway. Leif got ready the boatagain and merrily sailed for Ireland. "Here I go to get riches for our new land, " he said. Ingolf set his men to cutting down pines in the forest and some tobuilding a new ship. He had his thralls plant large crops of grain andgrind flour and make new kegs and chests of wood. He himself worked muchat the forge, making all kinds of tools--spades, axes, hammers, hunting-knives, cooking kettles. The women were busy weaving and sewingnew clothes. Ingolf sold his house and land and everything that he couldnot take with him. After about two years Leif came back. He had ten thralls that he had gotin Ireland. He took Ingolf aboard his ship and raised the covers ofgreat chests. Gold helmets, silver-trimmed drinking-horns, embroideredrobes, and swords flashed out. "Did I not say that I would come back with a full ship?" he laughed. At last all things were ready for starting. "To-day I will sacrifice to Thor and Odin, " Ingolf said. "If the omensare good we will start to-morrow. " "Well, go, foster-brother, " laughed Leif. "But I have better things todo. I will be putting the cattle into the ship and will have all ready. " So Ingolf and his men went into the forests a little way. There in acleared space stood a large building. In front of this temple the menkilled two horses for Odin. Ingolf caught some of the blood in a brassbowl. He raised it and looked up at the sky and said: "All-wise and all-father Odin, and Thor who loves the thunder, I givethese horses to you. Tell me whether it is your will that we go toIceland. " As he said that, a raven flew over his head. Ingolf watched it. "It is Odin's will that we go, " he said. "He sent his raven[12] to tellus. It is flying straight toward Iceland. " The men shouted with joy at that. Now they hung some of the meat of the horses on a tree near the temple. "For the ravens of Odin, " they said. Ingolf carried the bowl of blood into the temple. He went through thefeast hall in front to a little room at the back. Here stood woodenstatues of the gods in a semicircle. Before them was a stone altar. Ingolf took a little brush of twigs that lay on it and dipped it intothe blood and sprinkled the statues. "You shall taste of our sacrifice, " he said. "Look kindly on us fromyour happy seats in Asgard. " Then they went into the feast hall. There thralls were boiling thehorseflesh in pots over the fire. The tables were standing ready beforethe benches. Ingolf walked to the high seat. All the others took theirplaces at the benches. When the horns came round, Ingolf made this vow: "I vow that I will build my house wherever these pillars lead me. " He put his hand upon a tall post that stood beside the high seat. Therewas one at each side. They were the front posts of the chair. But theystood up high, almost to the roof. They were wonderfully carved andpainted with men and dragons. On the top of each one was a littlestatue of Thor with his hammer. At the end of the feast Ingolf had his thralls dig these pillars up. Hehad a little bronze chest filled with the earth that was under thealtar. "I will take the pillars of my high seat to Iceland, " he said, "and Iwill set up my altar there upon the soil of Norway, the soil that all myancestors have trod, the soil that Thor loves. " So they carried the pillars and the chest of earth and the statues ofthe gods, and put them into Ingolf's boat. "It is a well-packed ship, " the men said. "There is no spot to spare. " Tools, and chests of food, and tubs of drink, and chests of clothes, andfishing nets were stowed in the bows of both boats. In the bottom werelaid some long, heavy, hewn logs. "The trees in Iceland are little, " Ingolf said. "We must take the greatbeams for our homes with us. " Standing on these logs were a few cattle and sheep and horses and pigs. The rowers' benches were along the sides. In the stern of each boat wasa little cabin. Here the women and children were to sleep. But the menwould sleep on the timbers in the middle of the boat and perhaps theywould put up the awning sometimes. At last everyone was aboard. Men loosed the rope that held the boats. The ships flashed down the rollers into the water, and Ingolf and Leifwere off for Iceland. As they sailed away everyone looked back at theshore of old Norway. There were tears in the women's eyes. Helga, Leif'swife, sang: "There was I born. There was I wed. There are my father's bones. There are the hills and fields, The streams and rocks that I love. There are houses and temples, Women and warriors and feasts, Ships and songs and fights-- A crowded, joyous land. I go to an empty land. " There was the same long voyage with storm and fog. But at last thepeople saw again the white cloud and saw it growing into land andmountains. Then Ingolf took the pillars of his high seat and threw themoverboard. "Guide them to a good place, O Thor!" he cried. The waves caught them up and rolled them about. Ingolf followed themwith his ship. But soon a storm came up. The men had to take down thesails and masts, and they could do nothing with their oars. The twoships tossed about in the sea wherever the waves sent them. The pillarsdrifted away, and Ingolf could not see them. "Remember your pillars, O Thor!" he cried. Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven far off. "Ah, my foster-brother, " he thought, "shall I not have you to cheer mein this empty land? O Thor, let him not go down to the caves of Ran! Heis too good a man for that. " On the next day the storm was not so hard, and Ingolf put in at a goodharbor. A high rocky point stuck out into the sea. A broad bay withislands in the mouth was at the side. Behind the rocky point was alevel green place with ice-mountains shining far back. After a day or two Ingolf said: "I will go look for my pillars. " So he and a few men got into the rowboat and went along the shore andinto all the fiords, but they could not find the pillars. After a weekthey came back, and Ingolf said: "I will build a house here to live in while I look for the posts. Thisway is uncomfortable for the women. " So he did. Then he set out again to look for the pillars, but he had nobetter luck and came back. "I must stay at home and see to the making of hay and the drying offish, " he said. "Winter is coming on, and we must not be caught withnothing to eat. " So he stayed and worked and sent two of his thralls to look for the holyposts. They came back every week or two and always had to say that theyhad not found them. Midwinter was coming on. [Illustration: "_Then he saw that Leif's ship was being driven afaroff_"] "Ah!" said Ingolf's wife one day, "do you remember the gay feast that wehad at Yule-time? All our friends were there. The house rang with songand laughter. Our tables bent with good things to eat. Walls were hungwith gay draperies. The floor was clean with sweet-smellingpine-branches. Now look at this mean house; its dirt floor, its barestone walls, its littleness, its darkness! Look at our long faces. Noone here could make a song if he tried. Oh! I am sick for dear oldNorway. " "It is Thor's fault, " Ingolf cried. "He will not let me find his posts. " He strode out of the house and stood scowling at the gray sea. "Ah, foster-brother!" he said. "It was never so gloomy when you were bymy side. Where are you now? Shall I never hear your merry laugh again?That spot in my palm burns, and my heart aches to see you. That arch ofsod keeps rising before my eyes. Our vows keep ringing in my ears. " At last the long, gloomy winter passed and spring came. "Cheer up, good wife, " Ingolf said. "Better days are coming now. " But that same day the thralls came back from looking for the posts. "We have bad news, " they said. "As we walked along the shore looking forthe pillars we saw a man lying on the shore. We went up to him. He wasdead. It was Leif. Two well-built houses stood near. We went to them. Weknew from the carving on the door-posts that they were Leif's. We wentin. The rooms were empty. Along the shore and in the wood back of thehouse we found all of his men, dead. There was no living thing about. " Ingolf said no word, but his face was white, and his mouth was set. Hewent into the house and got his spears and his shield and said to hismen: "Follow me. " They put provisions into the boat and pushed off and sailed until theysaw Leif's houses on the shore of the harbor. There they saw Leif andthe men who were his friends, dead. Their swords and spears were gone. Ingolf walked through the houses calling on Helga and on the thralls, but no one answered. The storehouse was empty. The rich hangings weregone from the walls of the houses. There was nothing in the stables. Theboat was gone. Ingolf went out and stood on a high point of land that jutted out intothe water. Far along the coast he saw some little islands. He turned tohis men and said: "The thralls have done it. I think we shall find them on those islands. " Then he went back to Leif and stood looking at him. "What a shame for so brave a man to fall by the hands of thralls! But Ihave found that such things always happen to men who do not sacrifice tothe gods. Ah, Leif! I did not think when we made those vows offoster-brotherhood that this would ever happen. But do not fear. Iremember my promise. I had thought that a man's blood is precious inthis empty land, but my vow is more precious. " Now they laid all those men together and tied on their hell-shoes. "I need my sword for your sake, foster-brother. I cannot give you that. But you shall have my spears and my drinking-horn, " said Ingolf. "Forsurely Odin has chosen you for Valhalla, even though you did notsacrifice. You are too good a man to go to Niflheim. You would maketimes merry in Valhalla. " So Ingolf put his spears and his drinking-horn by Leif. Then the menraised a great mound over all the dead. After that they went aboardtheir boat and sailed for the islands that Ingolf had seen. It wasevening when they reached them. "I see smoke rising from that one, " Ingolf said, pointing. He steered for it. It was a steep rock like that one in the Faroes, butthey found a harbor and landed and climbed the steep hill and came outon top. They saw the ten thralls sitting about a bonfire eating. Helgaand the other women from Leif's house sat near, huddled together, whiteand frightened. One of the thralls gave a great laugh and shouted: "This is better than pulling Leif's plow. To-morrow we will sail forIreland with all his wealth. " "To-morrow you will be freezing in Niflheim, " cried Ingolf, and heleaped among them swinging his sword, and all his men followed him, andthey killed those thralls. Then Ingolf turned to Helga. She threw herself into his arms and wept. But after a while she told him this story: "When springtime came, Leif thought that he would sow wheat. He had butone ox. The others had died during the winter. So he set the thralls tohelp pull the plow. I saw their sour looks and was afraid, but Leif onlylaughed: "'What else can thralls expect?' he said. 'Never fear them, good wife. ' "Now one day soon after that the thralls came running to the housecalling out: "'The ox is dead! The ox is dead!' "Leif asked them about it. They said that a bear had come out of thewoods and killed it, and that they had scared the beast away. Theypointed out where it had gone. Then Leif called his men and said: "'A hunt! I had not hoped for such great sport here. Ah, we will have afeast off that bear!' "So they took their spears and went out into the woods. As soon as theywere gone, the thralls came running into the house and took down all theswords and shields from the wall and ran out. In some way they met mylord and his men in the woods and killed them. Then they came back andtook everything in the house and dragged us to the boat and sailedhere. " "O my brother!" said Ingolf, "where is that song about 'those twofoster-brothers, Ingolf and Leif, who made a new country in a wonderfulland, and whose sons and grandsons are mighty men in Iceland'? But comehome with me, Helga. " So they took the women and Leif's things and Leif's boat and sailedhome. The next day after they came to Ingolf's house, Helga said: "We have made your family larger, brother Ingolf. Will you not takeLeif's two houses and live in them? He does not need them now. He wouldlike you to have them. " "It would be pleasant to live there, " Ingolf said. "I thank you. " So the next day they loaded everything aboard the two ships and sailedfor Leif's house. There they stayed for a year. Ingolf still sent histhralls out to look for the pillars. He was careful always to have hay, so his cattle prospered. That spring he planted wheat, but it did notgrow well. "This is sickly stuff, " Ingolf said. "It takes too much time and work. It is better to save the land for hay. Perhaps we can sometime go backto Norway for flour. " At last one day the thralls came home and said: "We have found the pillars. " Ingolf jumped to his feet. He cried out: "You have kept me waiting three years, Thor. But as soon as my house andtemple are built, I will sacrifice to you three horses as athank-offering. " "It is a long way off, master, " the thralls said, "and we have foundmuch better places in our walks about the island. " "Thor knows best, " Ingolf answered. "I will settle where he leads me. " So that summer they loaded everything into the ships again and sailedwest along the coast until they came to the place where the pillarswere. The land there was low and green. On both sides were low hills. Alittle lake glistened back from shore. In the valley were hot springs, with steam rising from them. "It looks like smoke, " the men said. "It is very strange to see hotwater and smoke come out of the ground. " In front of this green land was a good harbor with islands in it. Farover the sea toward the north shone a great ice-mountain. "I like the place, " Ingolf said. "I will make this land mine. " So he built fires at the mouth of the river near there, and stood bythem and called out loudly: "I have put my fire at the mouth of these rivers. All the land that theydrain is mine, and no man shall claim it but me. I will call this placeReykjavik. "[13] Then Ingolf built his feast hall. He himself carved the beams and thedoor-posts. Gaily painted dragons leaned out from the doors and stood upfrom the gables. Men and animals fought on the door-posts. For the doorshe made at the forge great iron hinges. Their ends curved and spread allover the door. Near his feast hall he built a storehouse and a kitchenand a smithy and a stable and a bower for the women. "We do not need a sleeping-house for guests, " he said. "Who would be ourguests?" He roofed all his buildings with turf. It made them look like greenmounds with gay carved and painted walls under them. He built also atemple, and on that was beautiful carving. In this he set up thosestatues that had been in his old temple. He put up, too, those pillarsof his high seat that had been drifting about so long. Under them helaid the soil of Norway that he had brought in the little bronze chest. "I have kept my vow, O Thor!" he cried. Then he sacrificed three horses that he had promised to Thor. After thatwas over, he said: "Here is a good field for sport. Let us have some of the old games thatwe used to play at home. Who will wrestle with me?" So they wrestled there and ran races and swam in the water. The womensat and looked on. "Oh, this is good to see!" Helga cried. "We are as gay as we used to bein old Norway. " But it was not many weeks before Ingolf said: "I wish that I might sometime see sails in that harbor. I wish that Imight think, 'Around this point of land is another farm, and across thebay is another. I can go there when I am very lonely. ' I wish that Imight sometime be invited to a feast. I wish that I might sometimes hearthe good, clanging music of weapons at play. It is a good land, but wehave lived alone for four years. I am hungry for new faces and fortidings of Norway. " One night as he and his men sat about the long fire in the feast hall, aservant threw a great piece of wood upon the fire. It was streaked withfaded paint and it showed bits of carving. "See, " said Ingolf, pointing to it, "see what is left of a good ship'sprow! What lands have you seen, O dragon's head? What battles have youfought? What was your master's name? Where did the storm meet you?Perhaps he was coming to Iceland, comrades. Would it not have beenpleasant to see his sail and to shake his hand and to welcome him toIceland? But instead he is in Ran's caves, and only his broken prow hasdrifted here. " Now it was not many months after that when one of the men came runninginto the feast hall, shouting: "A sail! a sail in the harbor!" All those men gave a shout with no word in it, as though their heartshad leaped into their throats. They jumped up and ran to the shore andstood there with hungry eyes. When the men landed, those Icelandersclapped them on the shoulders, and tears ran down their faces. For along time they could say nothing but "Welcome! Welcome!" [Illustration: "_Those Icelanders clapped them on the shoulders_"] But after a while Ingolf led them to the feast hall and had a feastspread at once. While the thralls were at work, the men stood togetherand talked. Such a noise had never been in that hall before. "We have already built our fires and claimed our land up the shore away, " the leader said. "Men in Norway talk much of Ingolf and Leif, andwonder what has happened to them. " Then Ingolf told them of all that had come to pass in Iceland; and thenhe asked of Norway. "Ah! things are going from bad to worse, " the newcomers said. "Haraldgrows mightier every day. A man dare not swing a sword now except forthe king. We came here to get away from him. Many men are talking ofIceland. Soon the sea-road between here and Norway will be swarming withdragons. " And so it was. Ships also came from Ireland and from the Shetlands andthe Orkneys. "Harald has come west-over-seas, " the men of these ships said, "and haslaid his heavy hand upon the islands and put his earls over them. Theyare no place now for free men. " So by the time Ingolf was an old man, Iceland was no longer an emptyland. Every valley was spotted with bright feast halls and temples. Horses and cattle pastured on the hillsides. Smoke curled up fromkitchens and smithies. Gay ships sailed the waters, taking Iceland clothand wool and Iceland fish and oil and the soft feathers of Iceland birdsto Norway to sell, and bringing back wood and flour and grain. When Ingolf died, his men drew up on the shore the boat in which he hadcome to Iceland. They painted it freshly and put new gold on it, so thatit stood there a glittering dragon with head raised high, looking overthe water. Old Sighvat lifted a huge stone and carried it to the ship'sside. With all his strength he threw it into the bottom. The timberscracked. "If this ship moves from here, " he said, "then I do not know how to moora ship. It is Ingolf's grave. " Then men laid Ingolf upon his shield and carried him and placed him onthe high deck in the stern near the pilot's seat where he had sat tosteer to Iceland. They hung his sword over his shoulder. They laid hisspear by his side. In his hand they put his mead-horn. Into the shipthey set a great treasure-chest filled with beautiful clothes andbracelets and head-bands. Beside the treasure-chest they piled up manyswords and spears and shields. They put gold-trimmed saddles and bridlesupon three horses. Then they killed the horses and dragged them into theship. They killed hunting-dogs and put them by the horses; for theysaid: "All these things Ingolf will need in Valhalla. When he walks throughthe door of that feast hall, Odin must know that a rich and brave mancomes. When he fights with those heroes during the day, he must haveweapons worthy of him. He must have dogs for the hunt. When he feastswith those heroes at night he must wear rich clothes, so that thosefeasters shall know that he was a wealthy man and generous, and that hisfriends loved him. " Ingolf's son tied on his hell-shoes for the long journey. "If these shoes come untied, " he said, "I do not know how to fastenhell-shoes. " Then he went out of the ship and stood on the ground with his family. All the men of Iceland were there. "This is a glorious sight, " they said. "Surely no ship ever carried aricher load. Inside and out the boat blazes with gold and bronze, and, high over his riches, lies the great Ingolf, ready to take the tillerand guide to Valhalla, where all the heroes will rise up and shout himwelcome. " Then the thralls heaped a mound of earth over the ship. This hill stoodup against the sky and seemed to say: "Here lies a great man. " Sighvatput a stone on the top, with runes on it telling whose grave it was. All this time a skald stood by and played on his harp and sang a songabout that time when Ingolf came to Iceland. He called him the father ofIceland. People of that country still read an old story that the men ofthat long ago time wrote about Ingolf, and they love him because he wasa brave man and "the first of men to come to Iceland. " [Decoration] FOOTNOTES: [10] See note about foster-brothers on page 197. [11] See note about Valkyrias on page 198. [12] See note about Odin's ravens on page 198. [13] See note about Reykjavik on page 199. [Illustration] Eric the Red It was a spring day many years after Ingolf died. All the freemen in thewest of Iceland had come to a meeting. Here they made laws and punishedmen for having done wrong. The meeting was over now. Men were walkingabout the plain and talking. Everybody seemed much excited. Voices wereloud, arms were swinging. "It was an unjust decision, " some one cried. "Eric killed the men infair fight. The judges outlawed him because they were afraid. His foeThorgest has many rich and powerful men to back him. " "No, no!" said another. "Eric is a bloody man. I am glad he is out ofIceland. " Just then a big man with bushy red hair and beard stalked through thecrowd. He looked straight ahead and scowled. "There he goes, " people said, and turned to look after him. "His hands are as red as his beard, " some said, and frowned. But others looked at him and smiled, saying: "He walks like Thor the Fearless. " "His story would make a fine song, " one said. "As strong and as braveand as red as Thor! Always in a quarrel. A man of many places--Norway, the north of Iceland, the west of Iceland, those little islands off theshore of Iceland. Outlawed from all of them on account of his quarrels. Where will he go now, I wonder?" This Eric strode down to the shore with his men following. "He is in a black temper, " they said. "We should best not talk to him. " So they made ready the boat in silence. Eric got into the pilot's seatand they sailed off. Soon they pulled the ship up on their own shore. Eric strolled into his house and called for supper. When thedrinking-horns had been filled and emptied, Eric pulled himself up andsmiled and shouted out so that the great room was full of his bigvoice: "There is no friend like mead. It always cheers a man's heart. " [Illustration: "_He looked straight ahead of him and scowled_"] Then laughter and talking began in the hall because Eric's good temperhad come back. After a while Eric said: "Well, I must off somewhere. I have been driven about from place toplace, like a seabird in a storm. And there is always a storm about me. It is my sword's fault. She is ever itching to break her peace-bands[14]and be out and at the play. She has shut Norway to me and now Iceland. Where will you go next, old comrade?" and he pulled out his sword andlooked at it and smiled as the fire flashed on it. "There are some of us who will follow you wherever you go, Eric, " calleda man from across the fire. "Is it so?" Eric cried, leaping up. "Oh! then we shall have some merrytimes yet. Who will go with me?" More than half the men in the hall jumped to their feet and waved theirdrinking-horns and shouted: "I! I!" [Illustration: "_More than half the men in the hall jumped to theirfeet_"] Eric sat down in his chair and laughed. "O you bloody birds of battle!" he cried. "Ever hungry for new frolic!Our swords are sisters in blood, and we are brothers in adventure. Doyou know what is in my heart to do?" He jumped to his feet, and his face glowed. Then he laughed as he lookedat his men. "I see the answer flashing from your eyes, " he said, "that you will doit even if it is to go down to Niflheim and drag up Hela, the pale queenof the stiff dead. " His men pounded on the tables and shouted: "Yes! Yes! Anywhere behind Eric!" "But it is not to Niflheim, " Eric laughed. "Did you ever hear that storythat Gunnbiorn told? He was sailing for Iceland, but the fog came down, and then the wind caught him and blew him far off. While he driftedabout he saw a strange land that rose up white and shining out of a bluesea. Huge ships of ice sailed out from it and met him. I mean to sail tothat land. " A great shout went up that shook the rafters. Then the men sat andtalked over plans. While they sat, a stranger came into the hall. "I have no time to drink, " he said. "I have a message from your friendEyjolf. He says that Thorgest with all his men means to come here andcatch you to-night. Eyjolf bids you come to him, and he will hide youuntil you are ready to start; for he loves you. " "Hunted like a wolf from corner to corner of the world!" Eric criedangrily. "Will they not even let me finish one feast?" Then he laughed. "But if I take my sport like a wolf, I must be hunted like one. So weshall sleep to-night in the woods about Eyjolf's house, comrades, instead of in these good beds. Well, we have done it before. " "And it is no bad place, " cried some of the men. "I always liked the stars better than a smoky house fire, " said one. "Can no bad fortune spoil your good nature?" laughed Eric. "But now weare off. Let every man carry what he can. " So they quickly loaded themselves with clothes and gold and swords andspears and kettles of food. Eric led his wife Thorhild and his two youngsons, Thorstein and Leif. All together they got into the boat and wentto Eyjolf's farm. For a week or more they stayed in his woods, sometimesin a secret cave of his when they knew that Thorgest was about. Andsometimes Eyjolf sent and said: "Thorgest is off. Come to my house for a feast. " All this time they were making ready for the voyage, repairing the shipand filling it with stores. Word of what Eric meant to do got out, andmen laughed and said: "Is that not like Eric? What will he not do?" Some men liked the sound of it, and they came to Eric and said: "We will go with you to this strange land. " So all were ready and they pushed off with Eric's family aboard andthose friends who had joined him. They took horses and cattle with them, and all kinds of tools and food. "I do not well know where this land is, " Eric said. "Gunnbiorn said onlythat he sailed east when he came home to Iceland. So I will steerstraight west. We shall surely find something. I do not know, either, how long we must go. " So they sailed that strange ocean, never dreaming what might be ahead ofthem. They found no islands to rest on. They met heavy fogs. One day as Eric sat in the pilot's seat, he said: "I think that I see one of Gunnbiorn's ships of ice. Shall we sail up toher and see what kind of a craft she is?" "Yes, " shouted his men. So they went on toward it. "It sends out a cold breath, " said one of the men. They all wrapped their cloaks about them. "It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before, " said Eric. "The whitemast stands as high as a hill. " "It must be giants that sail in it, frost giants, " said another of themen. But as they came nearer, Eric all at once laughed loudly and called out: "By Thor, that Gunnbiorn was a foolish fellow. Why, look! It is only apiece of floating ice such as we sometimes see from Iceland. It is noship, and there is no one on it. " His men laughed and one called to another and said: "And you thought of frost giants!" Then they sailed on for days and days. They met many of these icebergs. On one of them was a white bear. "Yonder is a strange pilot, " Eric laughed. "I have seen bears come floating so to the north shore of Iceland, " anold man said. "Perhaps they come from the land that we are going tofind. " One day Eric said: "I see afar off an iceberg larger than any one yet. Perhaps that is ourwhite land. " [Illustration: "_It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before_"] But even as he said it he felt his boat swing under his hand as he heldthe tiller. He bore hard on the rudder, but he could not turn the ship. "What is this?" he cried. "A strong river is running here. It iscarrying our ship away from this land. I cannot make head against it. Out with the oars!" So with oars and sail and rudder they fought against the current, but ittook the boat along like a chip, and after a while they put up theiroars and drifted. "Luck has taken us into its own hands, " Eric laughed. "But this is asgood a way as another. " Sometimes they were near enough to see the land, then they were carriedout into the sea and thought that they should never see any land again. "Perhaps this river will carry us to a whirlpool and suck us under, " themen said. But at last Eric felt the current less strong under his hand. "To the oars again!" he called. So they fought with the current and sailed out of it and went on towardland. But when they reached the shore they found no place to go in. Steep black walls shot up from the sea. Nothing grew on them. When themen looked above the cliffs they saw a long line of white cutting thesky. "It is a land of ice, " they said. They sailed on south, all the time looking for a place to go ashore. "I am sick of this endless sea, " Thorhild complained, "but this land isworse. " After a while they began to see small bays cut into the shore withlittle flat patches of green at their sides. They landed in these placesand stretched and warmed themselves and ate. "But these spots are only big enough for graves, " the men said. "We cannot live here. " So they went on again. All the time the weather was growing colder. Eric's people kept themselves wrapped in their cloaks and put scarfsaround their heads. "And it is still summer!" Thorhild said. "What will it be in winter?" "We must find a place to build a house now before the winter comes on, "said Eric. "We must not freeze here. " So they chose a little spot with hills about it to keep off the wind. They made a house out of stones; for there were many in that place. Theylived there that winter. The sea for a long way out from shore froze sothat it looked like white land. The men went out upon it to hunt whitebear and seal. They ate the meat and wore the skins to keep them warm. The hardest thing was to get fuel for the fire. No trees grew there. Themen found a little driftwood along the shore, but it was not enough. Sothey burned the bones and the fat of the animals they killed. "It is a sickening smell, " Thorhild said. "I have not been out of thismean house for weeks. I am tired of the darkness and the smoke and thecattle. And all the time I hear great noises, as though some giant werebreaking this land into pieces. " "Ah, cheer up, good wife!" Eric laughed. "I smell better luck ahead. " Once Eric and his men climbed the cliffs and went back into the middleof the land. When they came home they had this to tell: "It is a country of ice, shining white. Nothing grows on it but a fewmosses. Far off it looks flat, but when you walk upon it, there aregreat holes and cracks. We could see nothing beyond. There seems to beonly a fringe of land around the edge of an island of ice. " The winter nights were very long. Sometimes the sun showed for an hour, sometimes for only a few minutes, sometimes it did not show at all for aweek. The men hunted by the bright shining of the moon or by thenorthern lights. As it grew warmer the ice in the sea began to crack and move and meltand float away. Eric waited only until there was a clear passage in thewater. Then he launched his boat, and they sailed southward again. Atlast they found a place that Eric liked. "Here I will build my house, " he said. So they did and lived there that summer and pastured their cattle andcut hay for the winter and fished and hunted. The next spring Eric said: "The land stretches far north. I am hungry to know what is there. " Then they all got into the boat again and sailed north. "We can leave no one here, " Eric had said. "We cannot tell what mightcome between us. Perhaps giants or dragons or strange men might come outof this inland ice and kill our people. We must stay together. " Farther north they found only the same bare, frozen country. So after awhile they sailed back to their home and lived there. One spring after they had been in that land for four years, Eric said: "My eyes are hungry for the sight of men and green fields again. Mystomach is sick of seal and whale and bear. My throat is dry for mead. This is a bare and cold and hungry land. I will visit my friends inIceland. " "And our swords are rusty with long resting, " said his men. "Perhaps wecan find play for them in Iceland. " "Now I have a plan, " Eric suddenly said. "Would it not be pleasant tosee other feast halls as we sail along the coast?" "Oh! it would be a beautiful sight, " his men said. "Well, " said Eric, "I am going to try to bring back some neighbors fromIceland. Now we must have a name for our land. How does Greenlandsound?" His men laughed and said: "It is a very white Greenland, but men will like the sound of it. It isbetter than Iceland. " So Eric and all his people sailed back and spent the winter with hisfriends. "Ah! Eric, it is good to hear your laugh again, " they said. Eric was at many feasts and saw many men, and he talked much of hisGreenland. "The sea is full of whale and seals and great fish, " he said. "The landhas bear and reindeer. There are no men there. Come back with me andchoose your land. " Many men said that they would do it. Some men went because they thoughtit would be a great frolic to go to a new country. Some went becausethey were poor in Iceland and thought: "I can be no worse off in Greenland, and perhaps I shall grow richthere. " And some went because they loved Eric and wanted to be his neighbors. So the next summer thirty-five ships full of men and women and goodsfollowed Eric for Greenland. But they met heavy storms, and some shipswere wrecked, and the men drowned. Other men grew heartsick at theterrible storm and the long voyage and no sight of land, and they turnedback to Iceland. So of those thirty-five ships only fifteen got toGreenland. "Only the bravest and the luckiest men come here, " Eric said. "We shallhave good neighbors. " Soon other houses were built along the fiords. "It is pleasant to sail along the coast now, " said Eric. "I see smokerising from houses and ships standing on the shore and friendly handswaving. " FOOTNOTES: [14] See note about peace-bands on page 199. [Illustration] Leif and His New Land Now Eric had lived in Greenland for fifteen years. His sons Thorsteinand Leif had grown up to be big, strong men. One spring Leif said to hisfather: "I have never seen Norway, our mother land. I long to go there and meetthe great men and see the places that skalds sing about. " Eric answered: "It is right that you should go. No man has really lived until he hasseen Norway. " So he helped Leif fit out a boat and sent him off. Leif sailed formonths. He passed Iceland and the Faroes and the Shetlands. He stoppedat all of these places and feasted his mind on the new things. Andeverywhere men received him gladly; for he was handsome and wise. But atlast he came near Norway. Then he stood up before the pilot's seat andsang loudly: "My eyes can see her at last, The mother of mighty men, The field of famous fights. In the sky above I see Fair Asgard's shining roofs, The flying hair of Thor, The wings of Odin's birds, The road that heroes tread. I am here in the land of the gods, The land of mighty men. " For a while he walked the land as though he were in a dream. He lookedat this and that and everything and loved them all because it wasNorway. "I will go to the king, " he said. He had never seen a king. There were no kings in Iceland or inGreenland. So he went to the city where the king had his fine house. Theking's name was Olaf. He was a great-grandson of Harald Hairfair; forHarald had been dead a hundred years. Now the king was going to hold a feast at night, and Leif put on hismost beautiful clothes to go to it. He put on long tights of blue wooland a short jacket of blue velvet. He belted his jacket with a goldgirdle. He had shoes of scarlet with golden clasps. He threw aroundhimself a cape of scarlet velvet lined with seal fur. His long swordstuck out from under his cloak. On his head he put a knitted cap ofbright colors. Then he walked to the king's feast hall and went throughthe door. It was a great hall, and it was full of richly-dressed men. The fires shone on so many golden head-bands and bracelets and so manyglittering swords and spears on the wall, and there was so much noise oftalking and laughing, that at first Leif did not know what to do. But atlast he went and sat on the very end seat of the bench near him. As the feast went on, King Olaf sat in his high seat and looked aboutthe hall and noticed this one and that one and spoke across the fire tomany. He was keen-eyed and soon saw Leif in his far seat. "Yonder is some man of mark, " he said to himself. "He is surely worthknowing. His face is not the face of a fool. He carries his head like alord of men. " He sent a thrall and asked Leif to come to him. So Leif walked down thelong hall and stood before the king. "I am glad to have you for a guest, " the king said. "What are your nameand country?" "I am Leif Ericsson, and I have come all the way from Greenland to seeyou and old Norway. " "From Greenland!" said the king. "It is not often that I see aGreenlander. Many come to Norway to trade, but they seldom come to theking's hall. I shall be glad to hear about your land. Come up and speakwith me. " So Leif went up the steps of the high seat and sat down by the king andtalked with him. When the feast was over the king said: "You shall live at my court this winter, Leif Ericsson. You are awelcome guest. " So Leif stayed there that winter. When he started back in the spring, the king gave him two thralls as a parting gift. "Let this gift show my love, Leif Ericsson, " he said. "For your sake Ishall not forget Greenland. " Leif sailed back again and had good luck until he was past Iceland. Thengreat winds came out of the north and tossed his ship about so that themen could do nothing. They were blown south for days and days. They didnot know where they were. Then they saw land, and Leif said: "Surely luck has brought us also to a new country. We will go in and seewhat kind of a place it is. " So he steered for it. As they came near, the men said: "See the great trees and the soft, green shore. Surely this is a bettercountry than Greenland or than Iceland either. " When they landed they threw themselves upon the ground. "I never lay on a bed so soft as this grass, " one said. "Taller trees do not grow in Norway, " said another. "There is no stone here as in Norway, but only good black dirt, " Leifsaid. "I never saw so fertile a land before. " The men were hungry and set about building a fire. "There is no lack of fuel here, " they said. They stayed many days in this country and walked about to see what wasthere. A German, named Tyrker, was with Leif. He was a little man with ahigh forehead and a short nose. His eyes were big and rolling. He hadlived with Eric for many years, and had taken care of Leif when he was alittle boy. So Leif loved him. Now one day they had been wandering about and all came back to camp atnight except Tyrker. When Leif looked around on his comrades, he said: "Where is Tyrker?" No one knew. Then Leif was angry. "Is a man of so little value in this empty land that you would loseone?" he said. "Why did you not keep together? Did you not see that hewas gone? Why did you not set out to look for him? Who knows whatterrible thing may have happened to him in these great forests?" Then he turned and started out to hunt for him. His men followed, silent and ashamed. They had not gone far when they saw Tyrker runningtoward them. He was laughing and talking to himself. Leif ran to him andput his arms about him with gladness at seeing him. [Illustration: "_He pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled hiseyes_"] "Why are you so late?" he asked. "Where have you been?" But Tyrker, still smiling and nodding his head, answered in German. Hepointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his eyes. Again Leif askedhis question and put his hand on Tyrker's shoulder as though he wouldshake him. Then Tyrker answered in the language of Iceland: "I have not been so very far, but I have found something wonderful. " "What is it?" cried the men. "I have found grapes growing wild, " answered Tyrker, and he laughed, andhis eyes shone. "It cannot be, " Leif said. Grapes do not grow in Greenland nor in Iceland nor even in Norway. So itseemed a wonderful thing to these Norsemen. "Can I not tell grapes when I see them?" cried Tyrker. "Did I not growup in Germany, where every hillside is covered with grapevines? Ah! itseems like my old home. " "It is wonderful, " Leif said. "I have heard travelers tell of seeinggrapes growing, but I myself never saw it. You shall take us to themearly in the morning, Tyrker. " So in the morning they went back into the woods and saw the grapes. Theyate of them. "They are like food and drink, " they cried. That day Leif said: "We spent most of the summer on the ocean. Winter will soon be coming onand the sea about Greenland will be frozen. We must start back. I meanto take some of the things of this land to show to our people at home. We will fill the rowboat with grapes and tow it behind us. The ship wewill load with logs from these great trees. That will be a welcomeshipload in Greenland, where we have neither trees nor vines. Now halfof you shall gather grapes for the next few days, and the other halfshall cut timber. " So they did, and after a week sailed off. The ship was full of lumber, and they towed the rowboat loaded with grapes. As they looked back atthe shore, Leif said: "I will call this country Wineland for the grapes that grow there. " One of the men leaped upon the gunwale and leaned out, clinging to thesail, and sang: "Wineland the good, Wineland the warm, Wineland the green, the great, the fat. Our dragon fed and crawls away With belly stuffed and lazy feet. How long her purple, trailing tail! She fed and grew to twice her size. " Then all the men waved their hands to the shore and gave a great shoutfor that good land. For all that voyage they had fair weather and sailed into Eric's harborbefore the winter came. Eric saw the ship and ran down to the shore. Hetook Leif into his arms and said: "Oh, my son, my old eyes ached to see you. I hunger to hear of all thatyou have seen and done. " "Luck has followed me all the way, " said Leif. "See what I have broughthome. " The Greenlanders looked. "Lumber! lumber!" they cried. "Oh! it is better stuff than gold. " Then they saw the grapes and tasted them. "Surely you must have plundered Asgard, " they said, smacking their lips. At the feast that night Eric said: "Leif shall sit in the place of honor. " So Leif sat in the high seat opposite Eric. All men thought him ahandsome and wise man. He told them of the storm and of Wineland. "No man would ever need a cloak there. The soil is richer than the soilof Norway. Grain grows wild, and you yourselves saw the grapes that wegot from there. The forests are without end. The sea is full of fish. " The Greenlanders listened with open mouths to all this. They turned andtalked to Leif's ship-comrades who were scattered among them. Leif noticed two strangers, an old man who sat at Eric's side and ayoung woman on the cross-bench. He turned to his brother Thorstein whosat next to him. "Who are these strangers?" he asked. "Thorbiorn and his daughter Gudrid, " Thorstein answered. "They landedhere this spring. I never saw our father more glad of anything than tosee this Thorbiorn. They were friends before we left Iceland. When theysaw each other again they could not talk enough of old times. In thespring Eric means to give him a farm up the fiord a way. It seems thatthis Thorbiorn comes of a good family that has been rich and great inIceland for years. And Thorbiorn himself was rich when our father knewhim, and was much honored by all men. But ill luck came, and he grewpoor. This hurt his pride. 'I will not stay in Iceland and be a beggar, 'he said to himself. 'I will not have men look at me and say, "He is notwhat his father was. " I will go to my friend Eric the Red inGreenland. ' "Then he got ready a great feast and invited all his friends. It wassuch a feast as had not been in Iceland for years. Thorbiorn spent on itall the wealth that he had left. For he said to himself, 'I will notleave in shame. Men shall remember my last feast. ' After that he set outand came to Greenland. "Is not Gudrid beautiful? And she is wise. I mean to marry her, if herfather will permit it. " Now Leif settled down in Greenland and became a great man there. He wasso busy and he grew so rich that he did not think of going to Winelandagain. But people could not forget his story. Many nights as men satabout the long fires they talked of that wonderful land and wished tosee it. [Decoration] [Illustration] Wineland the Good On an autumn, a year or two after Leif came home, Eric and his men sawtwo large ships come to land not far down the shore from the house. "They look like trading ships, " Eric said. "Let us go down to see them. " "I will go, too, " Gudrid said. "Perhaps they will have rich cloth andjewelry. It is long since I had my eyes on a new dress. " So they all went down and found two large trading ships lying in thewater. A great many men were on the shore making a fire. "Welcome to Greenland!" called Eric. "What are your names and yourcountry?" Then a fine, big man walked out from among the men and went up to Eric. "I am Thorfinn, " he said, "a trader. I sailed this summer from Icelandwith forty men and a shipload of goods. On the sea I met this othership from Iceland. The master is Biarni. Come and look at my goods. " So he rowed Eric and Gudrid out and they went aboard his boat. Thorfinnopened his chests and showed Eric gleaming swords and bracelets and axesand farm tools. But before Gudrid he spread beautiful cloth and goldembroidery and golden necklaces. As they looked, he told of doings inIceland and asked of Greenland. "We never see such things as these in this bare land, " Gudrid said, asshe smoothed a beautiful dress of purple velvet. "I envy the women ofIceland their fair clothes. " "There is no need of that, " Thorfinn said, "for this dress is yours andanything else from my chests that you like. Here is a necklace that Ibeg you to take. It did not have a fairer mistress in Greece where I gotit. " "You are a very generous trader, " Gudrid said. Then Thorfinn gave Eric a great sword with a gold-studded scabbard. After a while he took them to Biarni's ship. He also gave them gifts. They all talked and laughed much while they were together. "You are merry comrades, " Eric said. "I ask you both and all your men tospend the winter at my house. You can put your goods into mystorehouses. " "By my sword! a generous offer, " said Thorfinn. "As for me, I am happyto come. " Biarni and all the rest said the same thing. Thorfinn walked to thehouse with Eric and Gudrid, while the other men sailed to the ship-shedsand pulled their boats under them. Then Thorfinn saw to the unloading and storing of his goods. "Is this Gudrid your daughter?" he asked of Eric one day. "She is the widow of my son Thorstein, " Eric said. "He died the samewinter that they were married. Her father, too, died not long ago. SoGudrid lives with me. " Now all that winter until Yule-time Eric spread a good feast everynight. There was laughter through his house all the time. Often at thefeasts the men cast lots to see whether they might sit on thecross-bench with the women. Sometimes it was Thorfinn's luck to sit byGudrid. Then they talked gaily and drank together. At last Yule was coming near. Eric went about the house gloomy then. Oneday Thorfinn put his hand on Eric's shoulder and said: "Something is troubling you, Eric. We have all noticed that you are notgay as you used to be. Tell me what is the matter. " "You have carried yourselves like noble men in my house, " Eric answered. "I am proud to have you for guests. Now I am ashamed that you should notfind a house worthy of you. I am ashamed that when you leave me you willhave to say that you never spent a worse Yule than you did with Eric theRed in Greenland. For my cupboards are empty. " "Oh, that is easily mended, " Thorfinn said. "No house could feed eightymen so long and not feel it. I never knew so generous a host before. But I have flour and grain and mead in my boat. You are welcome to allof it. You have only to open the doors of your own storehouses. It is alittle gift. " So Eric used those things, and there was never a merrier Yule feast thanin his house that winter. When Yule was over, Thorfinn said to Eric: "Gudrid is a beautiful and wise woman. I wish to have her for my wife. " "You seem to be a man worthy of her, " Eric said. So that winter Gudrid and Thorfinn were married and lived at Eric'shouse. One day Thorfinn said to Eric: "I have heard much of this wonderful Wineland since I have been here. Itseems to me that it is worth while to go and see more of it. " "My son Thorstein and I tried it once, " said Eric. "It was the yearafter Leif came back. We set out with a fair ship and with glad hearts, but we tossed about all summer on the sea and got nowhere. We were wetwith storm, lean with hunger and illness, and heartsick at our badluck. " "And yet, " Thorfinn said, "another time we might have better weather. Ihave never seen so fair a land as this seems to be. " Then he went to Leif and talked long with him. Leif told him in whatdirection he had sailed to come home, and how the shores looked that hehad passed. "I think I could find my way, " Thorfinn said. "My heart moves me to trythis frolic. " He spoke to Gudrid about it. "Oh, yes!" she cried. "Let us go. It is long since I felt a boat leapingunder me. I am tired of sitting still. I want to feel the warm days andsee the soft grass and the high trees and taste the grapes of thisWineland the Good. " Then he talked with his men and with Biarni. "We are ready, " they all said. "We are only waiting for a leader. " "Then let us go!" cried Thorfinn. So in the spring they fitted up their two ships and put into themprovisions and a few cattle. Some of Eric's men also got ready a boat, so that three ships set sail from Eric's harbor carrying one hundred andsixty men to Wineland. As they started, Gudrid stood on the deck andsang: "I will feast my eyes on new things-- On mighty trees and purple grapes, On beds of flowers and soft grass. I will sun myself in a warm land. " They sailed on and past those shores that Leif had spoken of. Wheneverthey saw any interesting place they sailed in and looked about andrested there. They had gone far south, past many fair shores with woods on them, whenGudrid said one day: "This is a beautiful bay with a smooth, green field by it, and the greatmountains far back. I should like to stay there for a little while. " So they sailed in and drew their ships up on shore. They put up theawnings in them. "These shall be our houses, " Thorfinn said. They were strange-looking houses--shining dragons with gay backs lyingon the yellow sand. Near them the Norsemen lighted fires and cookedtheir supper. That night they slept in the ships. In the morning Gudridsaid: "I long to see what is back of that mountain. " So they all climbed it. When they stood on the top they could see farover the country. "There is a lake that we must see, " Thorfinn said. "I should like to sail around that bay, " said Biarni, pointing. "I am going to walk up that valley yonder, " one of the men said. And everyone saw some place where he would like to go. So for all thatsummer they camped in that spot and went about the country seeing newthings. They hunted in the woods and caught rabbits and birds andsometimes bears and deer. Every day some men rowed out to sea andfished. There was an island in the bay where thousands of birds hadtheir nests. The men gathered eggs here. "We have more to eat than we had in Greenland or Iceland, " Thorfinnsaid, "and need not work at all. It is all play. " Near the end of summer Thorfinn spoke to his comrades. "Have we not seen everything here? Let us go to a new place. We have notyet found grapes. " Thorfinn and Biarni and all their men sailed south again. But some ofEric's men went off in their boat another way. Years afterward theGreenlanders heard that they were shipwrecked and made slaves inIreland. After Thorfinn and Biarni had sailed for many days they landed on a low, green place. There were hills around it. A little lake was there. "What is growing on those hillsides?" Thorfinn said, shading his eyeswith his hand. He and some others ran up there. The people on shore heard them shout. Soon they came running back with their hands full of something. "Grapes! Grapes!" they were shouting. All those people sat down and ate the grapes and then went to thehillside and picked more. "Now we are indeed in Wineland, " they said. "It is as wonderful asLeif's stories. Surely we must stay here for a long time. " The very next day they went into the woods and began to cut out lumber. The huts that they built were little things. They had no windows, and inthe doorways the men hung their cloaks instead of doors. "We can be out in the air so much in this warm country, " said Gudrid, "that we do not need fine houses. " The huts were scattered all about, some on the side of the lake, some atthe shore of the harbor, some on the hillside. Gudrid had said: "I want to live by the lake where I can look into the green woods andhear sweet bird-noises. " So Thorfinn built his hut there. As they sat about the campfire one night, Biarni said: "It is strange that so good a land should be empty. I suppose thatthese are the first houses that were ever built in Wineland. It iswonderful to think that we are alone here in this great land. " All that winter no snow fell. The cattle pastured on the grass. "To think of the cold, frozen winters in Greenland!" Gudrid said. "Oh!this is the sun's own land. " In the beginning of that winter a little son was born to Gudrid andThorfinn. "A health to the first Winelander!" the men shouted and drank down theirwine; for they had made some from Wineland grapes. "Will he be the father of a great country, as Ingolf was?" Biarni mused. Gudrid looked at her baby and smiled. "You will be as sunny as this good land, I hope, " she said. They named him Snorri. He grew fast and soon crept along the yellowsand, and toddled among the grapevines, and climbed into the boats andlearned to talk. The men called him the "Wineland king. " "I never knew a baby before, " one of the men said. "No, " said another. "Swords are jealous. But when they are in theirscabbards, we can do other things, even play with babies. " "I wonder whether I have forgotten how to swing my sword in this quietland, " another man said. One spring morning when the men got up and went out from their huts tothe fires to cook they saw a great many canoes in the harbor. Men werein them paddling toward shore. "What is this?" cried the Norsemen to one another. "Where did they comefrom? Are they foes? Who ever saw such boats before? The men's faces arebrown. " "Let every man have his sword ready, " cried Thorfinn. "But do not drawuntil I command. Let us go to meet them. " So they went and stood on the shore. Soon the men from the canoes landedand stood looking at the Norsemen. The strangers' skin was brown. Theirfaces were broad. Their hair was black. Their bodies were short. Theywore leather clothes. One man among them seemed to be chief. He spreadout his open hands to the Norsemen. "He is showing us that he has no weapons, " Biarni said. "He comes inpeace. " Then Thorfinn showed his empty hands and asked: "What do you want?" The stranger said something, but the Norsemen could not understand. Itwas some new language. Then the chief pointed to one of the huts andwalked toward it. He and his men walked all around it and felt of thetimber and went into it and looked at all the things there--spades andcloaks and drinking-horns. As they looked they talked together. Theywent to all the other huts and looked at everything there. One of themfound a red cloak. He spread it out and showed it to the others. Theyall stood about it and looked at it and felt of it and talked fast. "They seem to like my cloak, " Biarni said. One of the strangers went down to their canoes and soon came back withan armload of furs--fox-skins, otter-skins, beaver-skins. The chief tooksome and held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the cloak to him. [Illustration: "_The chief held them out to Thorfinn and hugged thecloak to him_"] "He wants to trade, " Thorfinn said. "Will you do it, Biarni?" "Yes, " Biarni answered, and took the furs. "If they want red stuff, I have a whole roll of red cloth that I willtrade, " one of the other men said. He went and got it. When the strangers saw it they quickly held out morefurs and seemed eager to trade. So Thorfinn cut the cloth into piecesand sold every scrap. When the strangers got it they tied it about theirheads and seemed much pleased. While this trading was going on and everybody was good-natured, a bullof Thorfinn's ran out of the woods bellowing and came towards the crowd. When the strangers heard it and saw it they threw down whatever was intheir hands and ran to their canoes and paddled off as fast as theycould. The Norsemen laughed. "We have lost our customers, " Biarni said. "Did they never see a bull before?" laughed one of the men. Now after three weeks the Norsemen saw canoes in the bay again. Thistime it was black with them, there were so many. The people in them wereall making a horrible shout. "It is a war-cry, " Thorfinn said, and he raised a red shield. "They aresurely twenty to our one, but we must fight. Stand in close line andgive them a taste of your swords. " Even as he spoke a great shower of stones fell upon them. Some of theNorsemen were hit on the head and knocked down. Biarni got a broken arm. Still the storm came fast. The strangers had landed and were runningtoward the Norsemen. They threw their stones with sling-shots, and theyyelled all the time. "Oh, this is no kind of fighting for brave men!" Thorfinn cried angrily. The Norsemen's swords swung fast, and many of the strangers died underthem, but still others came on, throwing stones and swinging stone axes. The horrible yelling and the strange things that the savages didfrightened the Norsemen. "These are not men, " some one cried. Then those Norsemen who had never been afraid of anything turned andran. But when they came to the top of a rough hill Thorfinn cried: "What are we doing? Shall we die here in this empty land with no one tobury us? We are leaving our women. " Then one of the women ran out of the hut where they were hiding. "Give me a sword!" she cried. "I can drive them back. Are Norsemen notbetter than these savages?" Then those warriors stopped, ashamed, and stood up before the wild menand fought so fiercely that the strangers turned and fled down to theircanoes and paddled away. "Oh, I am glad they are gone!" Thorfinn said. "It was an ugly fight. " "Thor would not have loved that battle, " one said. "It was no battle, " another replied. "It was like fighting against anarmy of poisonous flies. " The Norsemen were all worn and bleeding and sore. They went to theirhuts and dressed their wounds, and the women helped them. At supper thatnight they talked about the fight for a long time. "I will not stay here, " Gudrid said. "Perhaps these wild men have goneaway to get more people and will come back and kill us. Oh! they areugly. " "Perhaps brown faces are looking at us now from behind the trees in thewoods back there, " said Biarni. It was the wish of all to go home. So after a few days they sailed backto Greenland with good weather all the way. The people at Eric's housewere very glad to see them. "We were afraid you had died, " they said. "And I thought once that we should never leave Wineland alive, " Thorfinnanswered. Then they told all the story. "I wonder why I had no such bad luck, " Leif said. "But you have a bettershipload than I got. " He was looking at the bundles of furs and the kegs of wine. "Yes, " said Thorfinn, "we have come back richer than when we left. But Iwill never go again for all the skins in the woods. " The next summer Thorfinn took Gudrid and Snorri and all his people andsailed back to Iceland, his home. There he lived until he died. Peoplelooked at him in wonder. "That is the man who went to Wineland and fought with wild men, " theysaid. "Snorri is his son. He is the first and last Winelander, for noone will ever go there again. It will be an empty and forgotten land. " And so it was for a long time. Some wise men wrote down the story ofthose voyages and of that land, and people read the tale and liked it, but no one remembered where the place was. It all seemed like a fairytale. Long afterwards, however, men began to read those stories withwide-open eyes and to wonder. They guessed and talked together, andstudied this and that land, and read the story over and over. At lastthey have learned that Wineland was in America, on the eastern shore ofthe United States, and they have called Snorri the first American, andhave put up statues of Leif Ericsson, the first comer to America. [15] [Decoration] FOOTNOTES: [15] See note about Eskimos on page 199. Descriptive Notes _House. _ In a rich Norseman's home were many buildings. The finest andlargest was the great feast hall. Next were the bower, where the womenworked, and the guest house, where visitors slept. Besides these werestorehouses, stables, work-shops, a kitchen, a sleeping-house forthralls. All these buildings were made of heavy, hewn logs, covered withtar to fill the cracks and to keep the wood from rotting. The ends ofthe logs, the door-posts, the peaks of gables, were carved into shapesof men and animals and were painted with bright colors. These gaybuildings were close together, often set around the four sides of asquare yard. That yard was a busy and pleasant place, with men and womenrunning across from one bright building to another. Sometimes a highfence with one gate went around all this, and only the tall, carvedpeaks of roofs showed from the outside. _Names. _ An old Norse story says: "Most men had two names in one, andthought it likeliest to lead to long life and good luck to have doublenames. " To be called after a god was very lucky. Here are some of thosedouble names with their meanings: "Thorstein" means Thor's stone;"Thorkel" means Thor's fire; "Thorbiorn" means Thor's bear; "Gudbrand"means Gunnr's sword (Gunnr was one of the Valkyrias[16]); "Gunnbiorn"means Gunnr's bear; "Gudrid" means Gunnr's rider; "Gudrod" meansGunnr's land-clearer. (Most of the land in old Norway was covered withforests. When a man got new land he had to clear off the trees. ) Inthose olden days a man did not have a surname that belonged to everyonein his family. Sometimes there were two or three men of the same name ina neighborhood. That caused trouble. People thought of two ways ofmaking it easy to tell which man was being spoken of. Each was given anickname. Suppose the name of each was Haki. One would be called Hakithe Black because he had black hair. The other would be called Haki theShip-chested because his chest was broad and strong. These nicknameswere often given only for the fun of it. Most men had them, --Eric theRed, Leif the Lucky, Harald Hairfair, Rolf Go-afoot. The other way ofknowing one Haki from the other was to tell his father's name. One wasHaki, Eric's son. The other was Haki, Halfdan's son. If you speak thesenames quickly, they sound like Haki Ericsson and Haki Halfdansson. Aftera while they were written like that, and men handed them on to theirsons and daughters. Some names that we have nowadays have come down tous in just that way--Swanson, Anderson, Peterson, Jansen. There wasanother reason for these last names: a man was proud to have people knowwho his father was. _Drinking-horns. _ The Norsemen had few cups or goblets. They usedinstead the horns of cattle, polished and trimmed with gold or silver orbronze. They were often very beautiful, and a man was almost as proudof his drinking-horn as of his sword. _Tables. _ Before a meal thralls brought trestles into the feast hall andset them before the benches. Then they laid long boards across fromtrestle to trestle. These narrow tables stretched all along both sidesof the hall. People sat at the outside edge only. So the thralls servedfrom the middle of the room. They put baskets of bread and woodenplatters of meat upon these bare boards. At the end of the meal theycarried out tables and all, and the drinking-horns went round in a cleanroom. _Beds. _ Around the sides of the feast hall were shut-beds. They werelike big boxes with doors opening into the hall. On the floor of thisbox was straw with blankets thrown over it. The people got into thesebeds and closed the doors and so shut themselves in. Olaf's men couldhave set heavy things against these doors or have put props againstthem. Then the people could not have got out; for on the other side ofthe bed was the thick outside wall of the feast hall, and there were nowindows in it. _Feast Hall. _ The feast hall was long and narrow, with a door at eachend. Down the middle of the room were flat stones in the dirt floor. Here the fires burned. In the roof above these fires were holes for thesmoke to go out, but some of it blew about the hall, and the walls andrafters were stained with it. But it was pleasant wood smoke, and theNorsemen did not dislike it. There were no large windows in a feast hallor in any other Norse building. High up under the eaves or in the roofitself were narrow slits that were called wind's-eyes. There was noglass in them, for the Norsemen did not know how to make it; but therewere, instead, covers made of thin, oiled skin. These were put into thewind's-eyes in stormy weather. There were covers, too, for thesmoke-holes. The only light came through these narrow holes, so on darkdays the people needed the fire as much for light as for warmth. _Foster-father. _ A Norse father sent his children away from home to growup. They went when they were three or four years old and stayed untilthey were grown. The father thought: "They will be better so. If theystayed at home, their mother would spoil them with much petting. " _Foster-brothers. _ When two men loved each other very much they said, "Let us become foster-brothers. " Then they went and cut three long pieces of turf and put a spear intothe ground so that it held up the strips of turf like an arch. Runeswere cut on the handle of the spear, telling the duties offoster-brothers. The two men walked under this arch, and each made alittle cut in his palm. They knelt and clasped hands, so that the bloodof the two flowed together, and they said, "Now we are of one blood. " Then each made this vow: "I will fight for my foster-brother whenever heshall need me. If he is killed before I am, I will punish the man whodid it. Whatever things I own are as much my foster-brother's as mine. Iwill love this man until I die. I call Odin and Thor and all the gods tohear my vow. May they hate me if I break it!" _Ran. _ Ran was the wife of Aegir, who was god of the sea. They lived ina cave at the bottom of the ocean. Ran had a great net, and she caughtin it all men who were shipwrecked and took them to her cave. She alsocaught all the gold and rich treasures that went down in ships. So hercave was filled with shining things. _Valkyrias. _ These were the maidens of Odin. They waited on the table inValhalla. But whenever a battle was being fought they rode through theair on their horses and watched to see what warriors were brave enoughto go to Valhalla. Sometimes during the fight a man would think that hesaw the Valkyrias. Then he was glad; for he knew that he would go toValhalla. An old Norse story says this about the Valkyrias: "With lightning aroundthem, with bloody shirts of mail, and with shining spears they ridethrough the air and the ocean. When their horses shake their manes, dewfalls on the deep valleys and hail on the high forests. " _Odin's Ravens. _ Odin had a great throne in his palace in Asgard. Whenhe sat in it he could look all over the world. But it was so far to seethat he could not tell all of the things that were happening. So he hadtwo ravens to help him. An old Norse story tells this about them: "Tworavens sit on Odin's shoulders and whisper in his ears all that theyhave heard and seen. He sends them out at dawn of day to see over thewhole world. They return at evening near meal time. This is why Odinknows so many things. " _Reykjavik. _ Reykjavik means "smoky sea. " Ingolf called it that becauseof the steaming hot-springs by the sea. The place is still calledReykjavik. A little city has grown up there, the only city in Iceland. It is the capital of the country. _Peace-bands. _ A Norseman always carried his sword, even at a feast; forhe did not know when he might need it. But when he went somewhere on anerrand of peace and had no quarrel he tied his sword into its scabbardwith white bands that he called peace-bands. If all at once somethinghappened to make him need his sword, he broke the peace-bands and drewit out. _Eskimos. _ Now, the Eskimos live in Greenland and Alaska and on the verynorthern shores of Canada. But once they lived farther south inpleasanter lands. After a while the other Indian tribes began to growstrong. Then they wanted the pleasant land of the Eskimos and theseashore that the Eskimos had. So they fought again and again with thosepeople and won and drove them farther north and farther north. At lastthe Eskimos were on the very shores of the cold sea, with the Indiansstill pushing them on. So some of them got into their boats and rowedacross the narrow water and came to Greenland and lived there. Somepeople think that these things happened before Eric found Greenland. Inthat case he found Eskimos there; and Thorfinn saw red Indians inWineland. Other people think that this happened after Eric went toGreenland. If that is true, he found an empty land, and it was Eskimosthat Thorfinn saw in Wineland. FOOTNOTES: [16] See note about Valkyrias on page 198. Suggestions _to_ Teachers Possibly this book seems made up of four or five disconnected stories. They are, however, strung upon one thread, --the westward emigration fromNorway. The story of Harald is intended to serve in two ways towards theworking out of this plot. It gives the general setting that continuesthroughout the book in costume, houses, ideals, habits. It explains thecause of the emigration from the mother country. It is really anintroductory chapter. As for the other stories, they are distinctlysteps in the progress of the plot. A chain of islands loosely connectsNorway with America, --Orkneys and Shetlands, Faroes, Iceland, Greenland. It was from link to link of this chain that the Norsemen sailed insearch of home and adventure. Discoveries were made by accident. Shipswere driven by the wind from known island to unknown. These twopoints, --the island connection that made possible the long voyage fromNorway to America, and the contribution of storm to discovery, --I havestated in the book only dramatically. I emphasize them here, hoping thatthe teacher will make sure that the children see them, and possibly thatthey state them abstractly. Let me speak as to the proper imaging of the stories. I have not ofteninterrupted incident with special description, not because I do notconsider the getting of vivid and detailed images most necessary to fullenjoyment and to proper intellectual habits, but because I trusted tothe pictures of this book and to the teacher to do what seemed to meinartistic to do in the story. Some of these descriptions andexplanations I have introduced into the book in the form of notes, hoping that the children in turning to them might form a habit ofinsisting upon full understanding of a point, and might possibly, withthe teacher's encouragement, begin the habit of reference reading. The landscape of Norway, Iceland, and Greenland is wonderful and willgreatly assist in giving reality and definiteness to the stories. Materials for this study are not difficult of access. Foreign coloredphotographs of Norwegian landscape are becoming common in our artstores. There are good illustrations in the geographical works referredto in the book list. These could be copied upon the blackboard. Thereare three books beautifully illustrated in color that it will bepossible to find only in large libraries, --"Coast of Norway, " by Walton;"Travels in the Island of Iceland, " by Mackenzie; "Voyage en Islande etau Gröenland, " by J. P. Gaimard. If the landscape is studied from thepoint of view of formation, the images will be more accurate and moreeasily gained, and the study will have a general value that willcontinue past the reading of these stories into all work in geography. Trustworthy pictures of Norse houses and costumes are difficult toobtain. In "Viking Age" and "Story of Norway, " by Boyesen (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York), are many copies of Norse antiquities in thefashion of weapons, shield-bosses, coins, jewelry, wood-carving. Theseare, of course, accurate, but of little interest to children. Theirchief value lies in helping the teacher to piece together a picture thatshe can finally give to her pupils. Metal-working and wood-carving were the most important arts of theNorse. If children study products of these arts and actually do some ofthe work, they will gain a quickened sympathy with the people and anappreciation of their power. They may, perhaps, make something to merelyillustrate Norse work; for instance, a carved ship's-head, or a coppershield, or a wrought door-nail. But, better, they may apply Norse ideasof form and decoration and Norse processes in making some modern thingthat they can actually use; for instance, a carved wood pin-tray or acopper match holder. This work should lead out into a study of thesesame industries among ourselves with visits to wood-working shops andmetal foundries. Frequent drawn or painted illustration by the children of costumes, landscapes, houses, feast halls, and ships will help to make theseimages clear. But dramatization will do more than anything else for theinterpreting of the stories and the characters. It would be an excellentthing if at last, through the dramatization and the handwork, thechildren should come into sufficient understanding and enthusiasm toturn skalds and compose songs in the Norse manner. This requires only asmall vocabulary and a rough feeling for simple rhythm, but an intensityof emotion and a great vividness of image. These Norse stories have, to my thinking, three values. The men, withthe crude courage and the strange adventures that make a man interestingto children, have at the same time the love of truth, the hardyendurance, the faithfulness to plighted word, that make them a child'sfit companions. Again, in form and in matter old Norse literature iswell worth our reading. I should deem it a great thing accomplished ifthe children who read these stories should so be tempted after a whileto read those fine old books, to enjoy the tales, to appreciatestraightforwardness and simplicity of style. The historical value of thestory of Leif Ericsson and the others seems to me to be not to learn thefact that Norsemen discovered America before Columbus did, but to gain aconception of the conditions of early navigation, of the length of thevoyage, of the dangers of the sea, and a consequent realization of thereason for the fact that America was unknown to mediæval Europe, of whythe Norsemen did not travel, of what was necessary to be done before menshould strike out across the ocean. Norse story is only one chapter inthat tale of American discovery. I give below an outline of a year'swork on the subject that was once followed by the fourth grade of theChicago Normal School. The idea in it is to give importance, sequence, reasonableness, broad connections, to the discovery of America. The head of the history department who planned this course says it is"in a sense a dramatization of the development of geographicalknowledge. " Following is a bare topical outline of the work: Evolution of the forms of boats. Viking tales. A crusade as a tale of travel and discovery. Monasteries as centers of work. Printing. Story of Marco Polo. Columbus' discovery. Story of Vasco da Gama. Story of Magellan. [Decoration] A Reading List GEOGRAPHY NORWAY: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants, " Reclus. _D. Appleton & Co. , NewYork. _ ICELAND: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants, " "Iceland, " Baring-Gould. _Smith, Elder & Co. , London, 1863. _ "Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes. " _Harper Bros. , New York. _ "An American in Iceland, " Kneeland. _Lockwood, Brooke & Co. , Boston, 1876. _ GREENLAND: "The Earth and Its Inhabitants, " Reclus. _D. Appleton & Co. , New York. _ "Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes. " _Harper Bros. , New York. _ CUSTOMS "Viking Age, " Du Chaillu. _Charles Scribner's Sons, 1889. _ "Private Life of the Old Northmen, " Keyser; translated by Barnard. _Chapman & Hall, London, 1868. _ "Saga Time, " Vicary. _Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. , London. _ "Story of Burnt Njal" (Introduction), Dasent. _Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh, 1861. _ "Vikings of the Baltic, a romance;" Dasent. _Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh. _ "Ivar the Viking, a romance;" Du Chaillu. _Charles Scribner's Sons, NewYork. _ "Viking Path, a romance;" Haldane Burgess. _Wm. Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, 1894. _ "Northern Antiquities, " Percy, edited by Blackwell. _Bohn, London, 1859. _ Also the Sagas named on page 206. MYTHOLOGY The Prose Edda, "Northern Antiquities, " Percy, edited by Blackwell. _Bohn, London, 1859. _ "Norse Mythology, " Anderson. _Scott, Foresman & Co. , Chicago, 1876. _ "Norse Stories, " Mabie. _Rand, McNally & Co. , Chicago, 1902. _ "Northern Mythology, " Thorpe. _Lumley, London, 1851. _ "Classic Myths, " Judd. _Rand, McNally & Co. , Chicago, 1902. _ INCIDENTS HARALD: Saga of Harald Hairfair, in "Saga Library, " Magnusson andMorris, Vol. I. _Bernard Quaritch, London; Charles Scribner's Sons, NewYork, 1892. _ INGOLF: "Norsemen in Iceland, " Dasent in Oxford Essays, Vol. IV. _Parker& Son, London, 1858. _ "Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroes. " _Harper Bros. , New York. _ "A Winter in Iceland and Lapland, " Dillon. _Henry Colburn, London, 1840. _ ERIC, LEIF, AND THORFINN: "The Finding of Wineland the Good, " Reeves. _Henry Froude, 1890. _ "America Not Discovered by Columbus. " Anderson. _Scott, Foresman & Co. , Chicago, 1891. _ CREDIBILITY OF STORY Winsor's "Narrative and Critical History of America, " Vol. I. _C. A. Nichols Co. , Springfield, Mass. , 1895. _ "Discovery of America, " Fiske, Vol. I. _Houghton, Mifflin & Co. , Boston, 1892. _ OTHER SAGAS EASILY ACCESSIBLE "Saga Library, " 5 vols. ; Morris and Magnusson. _Bernard Quaritch, London; Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1892. _ As follows: "The Story of Howard the Halt, " "The Story of the Banded Men, " "The Story of Hen Thorir. " Done into English out of Icelandic by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson. "The Story of the Ere-dwellers, " with "The Story of the Heath-slayings" as Appendix. Done into English out of the Icelandic by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson. "The Stories of the Kings of Norway, called the Round World" (Heimskringla). By Snorri Sturluson. Done into English by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson. With a large map of Norway. In three volumes. "Gisli the Outlaw, " Dasent. _Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh. _ "Orkneyinga Saga, " Anderson. _Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh. _ "Volsunga Saga, " Morris and Magnusson. _Walter Scott, London. _ "The Younger Edda, " Anderson. _Scott, Foresman & Co. , Chicago, 1880. _ (A full bibliography of the Sagas may be found in "Volsunga Saga. ") [Decoration] A Pronouncing Index (_This index and guide to pronunciation which are given to indicate thepronunciation of the more difficult words, are based upon the 1918edition of Webster's New International Dictionary. _) Aegir (ē´ jĭr) _Ȧ_rā´ bĭ _ȧ_ Ärn´ vĭd Ăs´ gärd A̤ud´ bĭ ôrn A̤u´ dŭn Bĭ är´ nĭ Eric (ē´ rĭk) Ericsson (ĕr´ ĭk s_ŭ_n) Eyjolf (ī´ y[+o]lf) Faroes (fā´ rōz) fiord (fyôrd) Flō´ kĭ Grĭm Gŭd´ bränd Gŭd´ rĭd Gŭd´ rōd Gŭn_n_´ bĭ ôrn Gṳ´ t_h_ôrm Gyda (gē´ d[+a]) Hä´ kĭ Hä´ k[+o]n Hälf´ dăn Hăr´ ăld Hä´ värd Hĕl´ ä Hĕl´ g[+a] Hẽr´ st_e_īn Holmstein (hōlm´ stīn) Ĭn´ gôlf Ī´ vär Leif (l[+i]f) Niflheim (n[+e]v´ 'l hām) Ō´ dĭn Ō´ läf Orkneys (ôrk´ nĭz) Rän Reykjavik (rā´ ky_ȧ_ vēk´) Rôlf Shĕt´ l_ă_nds Sif (sēf) Sighvat (sĭg´ văt) Snorri (snŏr´ r[+e]) Sôl´ fĭ Thor (thôr) T_h_ôr´ bĭ ôrn T_h_ôr´ fĭnn T_h_ôr´ gĕst T_h_ôr´ hĭld T_h_ôr´ kĕl T_h_ôr´ l_e_īf T_h_ôr´ ôlf T_h_ôr´ st_e_īn Tyrker (tẽr´ kẽr) Văl hăl´ _lȧ_ Valkyria (văl kĭr´ y_ȧ_) Vī´ kĭng A GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION ā as in āle ă as in ădd _ă_ as in fin_ă_l ȧ as in ȧsk _ȧ_ as in sof_ȧ_ ä as in ärm a̤ as in a̤ll ē as in ēve [+e] as in [+e]vent´ ĕ as in ĕnd ẽ as in hẽr ī as in īce ĭ as in ĭt ō as in ōld [+o] as in [+o]bey´ ŏ as in ŏdd ô as in lôrd ŭ as in ŭp _ŭ_ as in circ_ŭ_s ṳ as in rṳde ȳ as in flȳ Silent letters are italicized.