The Icelander's Sword, or The Story of Oraefa-dal

Introduction

This little story was written for boys in 1858, and I believe it interested them. Since then, in 1861, I visited Iceland. I have been able to correct some inaccuracies into which I had fallen through lack of personal acquaintance with the country. Boys are the same ever, and what pleased boys thirty-six years ago may perhaps please boys of the new generation. CONTENTS CHAPTER i'AGE I. A NORWEGIAN FOREST I II. A BONDER'S HALL - - - - - 9 III. THE BURIAL PARTY - - - - 20 IV. THE ENEMY IN THE FIORD - - 25 V. THORARIN AFLOAT - - - - - 40 VI. ON THE DEEP - - - - - 55 VII. THE BAD SUB-DEACON - - - 6 1 VIII. COASTING 76 IX. ORÆFA-DAL AT LAST - - - 8 1 X. HRAUNVELLIR - - - - 90 XI. CROSSING THE GLACIER - - - - 96 XII. A FIRST BLOW - - - - - 104 XIII. ESCAPED - - 1 12 XIV. AN EVENING WITH FATHER SWERKER - - Il8 XV.

THE FORD - - - - - - 127 XVI. THORSTEIN THE FOX - - - - 1 33 XVII. CROSSING THE RIVER - - - CONTENTS VIII CHAPTER PAGE XVIII. CROSSING ANOTHER RIVER - - - '53 XIX. THE TIGRESS'S DEN - - - - 159 XX. PURSUIT - - - - - - 170 XXI. THE INSTALLATION- - - - - 175 XXII. CONFLICT - - - - - - 191 XXIII. AN ERUPTION _____ 200 XXIV. CONCLUSION - - - - - OB THE STORY OF ORÆFA-DAL

Chapter I

A NORWEGIAN FOREST WILD night in Norway ; the moon had just been clouded over by piles of gray mist, which rolled through the sky, sending out arms of vapour ; and, haggard and ghastly, she seemed to steal over her course, swathed in corpseclothes. Now and then y. some crags caught a straggling gleam and flashed forth, but directly after were again blotted out; while far below, a frozen fiord was shining like steel, till the shadow turned it to lead. An uncertain light flickered down the mountain-side and over I the pine-forests, which raved and bent as the wind poured through them. Occasionally, as the storm lulled, the low howl of the wolf rendered the night more dreary still to a lad who had lost his way, and was standing on a cliff which rose abruptly from an icebound tarn. The youth looked around for some light to guide his steps, but in vain ; and then, with a despairing sigh, he plunged at random into the forest.

The larches clashed overhead ; at times the wind rent them apart, and showed him the sky in a gray gash ; at others, it heaped the branches together before him like a black wave. His feet struck against the roots, or stumbled over stones, till, weary and hopeless of finding his way, he paused, and leaned against the bole of a large fir. ' This is strange !' thought he. ' I know there is a shed where I can rest the night somewhere near here ; I shall be frozen if I remain out.' After some moments he pushed on again. Occa sionally, where the trees were more straggling, he had thick drifts of snow to toil through ; the descent was no longer precipitous, and the scattered rocks diminished in number. Suddenly the lad stopped, as a faint shout from the distance came down with the wind. Before Magnus (that was the boy's name) lay a patch of snow covering a small glade in the forest.

The moon broke from among the clouds, and, as it lit up the open ground, showed him a wolf moving among the firs at the further end, and steal ing out from the snow; he saw it stand for a moment still, utter a low howl, and then trot slowly across the snow-field without noticing him. A NORWEGIAN FOREST 3 Before Magnus had moved from where he had been standing, the shout was repeated, accompanied by the howlings of several wolves, fierce, but still distant. A chill ran through the boy's limbs, and the fear of spending a night among these animals, rendered savage with hunger, gave him strength to push on. At the same time a wave of mist ran over the moon, and obscured it. He fell frequently ; at times his foot sank between rocks, the crevices of which had been filled and smoothed over with snow ; at others, he ran against some bough, which in the thick darkness he had not seen.

The howls of the wolves seemed nearer, and were answered by others on all sides. ' I can go no further,' groaned Magnus, falling ex hausted on a drift : ' if these brutes come to tear me to pieces, I can escape by climbing a fir ;' then, after a pause, he said, ' Perhaps I had better search for a convenient tree now, while I have the time.' Out from among the driving clouds again streamed a passing gush of moonlight. Magnus gave a cry of joy ; the snow heap on which he had fallen was piled against the side of the log barn of which he had been in search. He looked in, but all was so obscure that he could only grope his way along ; the door it self had fallen, and the snow was heaped over it on the threshold. After having gone round the shed, feeling with his hands, Magnus found that there was a loft about five feet from the ground, in which, pro bably, hay had been kept ; to this he managed to climb, by mounting on a broken manger.

The floor was gone in many places, but sufficient remained for him to lie upon. No sooner had he settled himself, however, than the recollection of the other wanderer in the forest forced itself upon him, and springing down, he went to the door. Just then the calls were redoubled, and this time close at hand ; a man's powerful voice was shouting for help. Magnus called in reply as loudly as he could ; and, from the yelping which approached, he felt certain that there was a troop of wolves follow ing, if not yet attacking the man. Accordingly he did his utmost to clear the snow from the door, and to lift it ; but he had not time to place it in the opening before he saw what appeared at first to be a moving shadow among the trees. As it came out on the snow he distinguished a man, with a child on his left arm, surrounded by a pack of wolves, which he succeeded in keeping at a distance with his great Norwegian sword, brandished in his right hand.

At times the wolves retreated behind him, then a few would dash ahead growling, and, as he came near the barn, they seemed to comprehend that a place of refuge was accessible, and rushed about him like a wave, pouring in at the door, driving Magnus from it, and obliging him to escape to the loft. The traveller entered the doorway with difficulty, or the wolves were striving to spring upon him from behind. ' Here, here !' shouted the boy. ' Come to me here is a loft here. Give me your hand ; I will help you up.' A NORWEGIAN FOREST 5 ' Take this child first,' said the man, as he lifted it towards the place whence he heard the voice proceed. The boy's eyes were accustomed to the darkness, and he could discern sufficiently to lift the child and place it in safety. ' Offspring of Loki !' exclaimed the man, as at the moment a couple of wolves sprang upon him.

Magnus felt about for a piece of wood, and snatching up a broken plank, leaped into the midst of the shed. Having a large knife with him, he drew it from his girdle, and drove it into the throat of one of the beasts which had fastened upon the traveller. Then, seeing that the man had succeeded in throwing off the other, Magnus laid about him vigorously with his weapon, till, as he thought, he had driven the wolves from the shed, his companion at the same time sweeping his sword right and left. ' Help me with this !' exclaimed the lad, flinging down his piece of wood, grasping the door with both hands, and swinging it into its place. ' Bring some thing to put against it,' he added hurriedly ; but hearing a violent struggle behind him, he turned and leaned his own back against it ; the darkness within was now so complete that he could see nothing, but he heard the man dashing to and fro, and the snarling breath of a wolf at his throat.

Magnus dared not leave the door, against which the wolves were leaping from without ; but he held his knife in readiness to plunge into the brute the moment he had an opportunity. The struggling became more and more violent ; now and then the man and wolf crashed against the walls of the shed, and finally fell, rolling and plunging on the floor. Magnus bent forward, and, putting forth his hand, felt the shaggy coat of the beast ; instantly he drove his knife in as far as the hilt would allow. The wolf lifted its head, uttered a fierce growl, and flew at the man's throat again. A death struggle ensued; the combatants rose and fell one over the other. In his agony of desire to render some assistance, the boy for a moment ventured to leave the door; but the pack without continued dashing at it, endeavouring to force it open, and he was compelled to throw himself against it once more.

At the same time, by a desperate effort the stranger raised himself to his feet, shook the beast furiously, but ineffectually, and then fell against the door with such violence that the whole building shivered, and a portion of the old and decayed roof fell heavily in ; a beam dropped close by Magnus, but without touching him, and he had the presence of mind to lift and fix it against the door, so as to bar it thoroughly. Through the gap in the roof a ray of moonlight struggled in, showing the gray wolf lying dead upon the fallen man, its blood mingled with his. The boy stooped and looked at the traveller, who was alive, but had his breast and shoulder horribly mangled, and his throat nearly torn away, so that his breath came with a whistle through the ragged gashes of his windpipe, making and bursting great bubbles of blood.

With a feeble motion the dying man pointed towards the child, which was sobbing A NORWEGIAN FOREST bitterly in the loft ; he tried to speak, but his words died away in a rattle and splutter ; this was his last effort ; the face grew rapidly grayer and colder as the blood gushed from a torn artery in the neck, forming a dark pool in the trampled snow ; and in a few moments the eye became fixed and glassy. Magnus climbed to the loft, and taking the child in his arms, wrapped it in the cloak which he had previously spread on the boards, and endeavoured to lull it to sleep. That was a dreadful night; the wolves tried re peatedly to get in at the door, and some of them even scrambled up the snow-drift, and looked in through the hole in the broken roof. After a time the moon set, and at length, wearied with their ineffectual attempts, the pack slunk away, and dispersed, though their con tinuous howling drove all thought of sleep from the besieged youth.

When, at length, morning dawnedi Magnus descended from his place of safety, to open the door and let in additional light. In order to effect this, he had to move the two bodies, and clear away some of the rubbish that had fallen from above. On admitting the light a ghastly sight presented itself to him. The man was apparently of middle age, his features hard and weather-beaten. His dress showed him to be an Icelander ; the trousers were of sealskin ; the cloak, which was trodden and stained, had been handsome, and was of purple, lined with white fur ; the sword, moreover, gave signs of the possessor having be longed to no humble class, as it was of foreign work manship. The blood had frozen on the ground, and hung in clots of red ice to the grizzled coat of the wolf. Magnus considered for some time before he de cided how to act ; at length he picked up the sword and dug a hole in the snow-drift large enough to serve as a temporary grave ; and into this he lifted the corpse and piled snow over it ; then, slinging the sword across his back, he returned to the child, and having gently lifted it down, carried it out in his arms, thinking it best to remove it, while still sleeping, from the scene of last night's horrors.

Magnus could now examine his burden ; he saw that it was a boy of about seven years old, and that his face was colourless and pinched with cold. ' It is a pity that I do not know the father's name,' thought he. 'Where's father?' asked the little fellow, opening his eyes. ' I cannot tell you now,' answered Magnus. ' Can you walk ?' ' Yes, put me down ; but where is my father ?' ' You cannot see him now,' replied the elder boy ; ' now, tell me, what is your name ?' 'Asmund,' replied the boy. ' And your father's ?' ' Why, father,' was the answer, as the child stared up into Magnus's face, as if astonished at the ques tion.

Chapter II

A bonder's hall. 10 does not know the pleasure of returning to a warm fireside after I long journey in the Id? Ah, reader ! you can guess better than I can describe the feelings of Magnus in the evening, as he led his companion into tbe wooden hall of Thordsa Farm. ' Well, Magnus,' exclaimed his father, Gregorius, ' you have returned safely at last ; but whom have you brought with you ?' ' An orphan,' replied the boy. ' His father was killed by wolves last night in the forest ; we must go to-morrow morning and bury him. I have covered him with snow, but there is a thaw setting in.' ' And what is to be done with the child ?' asked Gregorius. 'There is no knowing who his father may have been,' said Magnus. ' But as he is here, here he must remain.' Gregorius nodded his head, and so the matter was settled.

The hall was large and lofty, formed entirely of wood ; in the centre of the area a large fire of pine logs sent its smoke up a funnel, like that we see nowadays over a blacksmith's forge. About the walls were hung bearskins, horns, and weapons ; among them shone conspicuously Gregorius' blue shield, spangled with gold stars, and his mighty sword Hneitir. The bonder himself, his brother Rolf and daughter Ingibjorg, were at the fire, and, as but little light penetrated into the room through the small round windows, over which parchment was drawn, especially now that it was dusky without, the red flicker fell full on the figures of those seated round the hearth. Gregorius was an elderly man, his hair already turning gray, his countenance noble and open, and a calm intelligence sparkled in his honest blue eyes.

Rolf was somewhat younger, and though apparently lacking the talent of his brother, his features were homely and pleasing. Ingibjorg was little more than a girl, with a beautiful and rather pale face ; her rich brown hair was knotted back under a quaint head-dress, from beneath which, in places, it strayed in shining locks. ' Ingibjorg, where is Thorarin ?' asked Magnus. ' Hunting,' replied his sister. ' He is gone with Erling Skialgson's party.' ' He will return hungry,' said Gregorius ; ' and, at all events, Magnus and the child must want some thing. Come, Ingibjorg, get some food ready for them.' The girl slowly rose, and went in search of a servant. ' I believe that I have got this firm at last,' said Rolf, who had been fitting an axe-head to the haft. ' I shall go down and have a look over the Dragon to-morrow, brother ; you have not put to sea in her for a long while.

Ulf came to me to-day to say that some planks needed repairing ; they must be put to rights soon. The ship is likely to be wanted now the spring is setting in.' ' True,' answered Gregorius thoughtfully ; ' the king will be summoning a Thing* before long, I am sure, and there is certain to be fighting in the coming summer, so King Magnus will require his lendermen to be ready with assistance.' ' The old Dragon is seaworthy enough still,' observed Rolf; 'she is a fine ship. This winter's ice may, however, have injured her a little.' ' Not much,' replied Gregorius. ' See to the head being painted afresh, Rolf.' 'Ay, I will,' said the other; 'and I have been thinking that a great gilt spike on the Dragon's nose would improve the appearance.' Asmund had been sitting quietly, warming him self, and smiling with pleasure at the red flames, * A 'Thing' was an assembly of bonders. while Magnus sang abstractedly to himself in a low tone : ' Quake, old wolf, in your firm chain, Mitgard's serpent writhe in pain, Baldur comes in light again.' ' Tell me all about the wolf Fenrir,' said Asmund, turning suddenly round, and interrupting him ; ' I know you can tell me the story, and I am never tired of it.' ' I can,' said Magnus ; ' but, you know, it is all nonsense to a Christian child.' ' Yes, yes,' exclaimed the little boy vehemently, ' as if stones had roots and women beards !' ' Well,' began the elder, smiling, ' Loki, the evil god, had a son called Fenrir, and this son was a wolf.' 'Yes,' interrupted Asmund. ' It was quite a little thing once, but it grew and grew, and got so large — but go on fast.' ' Well, then,' continued Magnus, ' the gods were afraid of Fenrir — he was so grim and fierce, his horrid gray sides were ever panting, as if he were thirsting for their blood.

So they wrought a chain to bind him with called Læding, and they asked the wolf to suffer them to tie him in it, just to see whether he were able to break it.' ' He did,' cried Asmund gleefully. ' Go on to the women's beards.' ' You are interrupting my story,' said Magnus ; ' that will not do. The chain was put about the wolf, and he stretched himself and it snapped imme diately.' ' I know it did,' said Asmund. ' Go on.' ' Then the gods made a still stronger chain, called Dromi, and they bade Fenrir try this one about him. He looked at it, and knowing that his strength had increased since he burst Læding, allowed him self to be fastened with it ; then shaking himself, he heaved his gray sides, and rolled on the ground. The fetter burst at once, link from link.' ' Now go on to Gleipnir,' said Asmund, his eyes sparkling in the firelight with pleasure. ' So the gods sent to the home of the Black Elves to have a third chain fashioned.

These little folk formed it of six things — the sound of a cat's foot fall, the beards of women, the roots of stones, the sinews of bears, the breath of fish, and the spittle of birds.' Here the child broke into a joyous laugh, and clapped his hands. ' This chain,' continued Magnus, ' was no thicker than a piece of silk thread, yet Fenrir was loath to have it wound about him, for he dreaded treachery ; and the gods tried in vain to persuade him, till finally he consented, on condition of one of them putting his hand into his mouth, as a pledge that no deceit was meditated.' ' I think,' said the child meditatively, ' that the gods did not behave quite honourably and fairly by Fenrir. They should have told him openly what they intended. They were many, and he was one.' ' I agree with you,' said Magnus ; ' but we Chris tian boys have higher thoughts than heathen gods.

But to continue. The gods looked at one another wistfully, uncertain what to do ; but Tyr stepped forth, and thrust his hand between the wolf's huge jaws.' ' Tyr was brave,' said Asmund. ' Yes, very,' replied the other. ' Then, when Fenrir was fast chained, he tried to burst the fetter, but in vain ; and the gods all laughed aloud, all but Tyr, whose hand the wolf bit off. The gods then took the end of the chain, and drew it through the middle of a rock, which they sank deep in the earth ; and as the wolf opened his jaws to bite at them, they ran a sword through his mouth, which pierced the under jaw as far as the hilt, so that the point touched the palate.' ' And the foam — tell me about that,' said the child. ' Well, then, the foam from the brute's mouth, flowing continually, makes the great frothing river Von.' The story was scarce ended when the door was dashed open, and a young man walked in, accompanied by a couple of dogs much of the nature of wolves.

His wild dark eyes wandered about the hall ; coming up to the fire, he stood there rattling his weapons. 'Look here, Ingibjorg,' said he, drawing from off his back a couple of wolf-skins, the paws of which he had fastened over his breast, and flinging them down, ' I am going to make leggings out of these creatures' skins. Oh, I brought the old one down like this !' and poising his spear, he hurled it across the hall. ' I have hit it !' cried he, with a shout of laughter ' by Loki and the holy Olaf I have !' ' Thorarin, my son,' exclaimed Gregorius, ' be more discreet in your vows. Swear not by our blessed saint and the devil Loki together.' 'Well, by anything you like, father,' said the young man, still laughing. ' Look, I have hit it !' ' What have you hit ?' asked Ingibjorg. ' Why, I have broached it — the butt of mead.' ' Senseless boy !' exclaimed Gregorius, leaping angrily from his seat. ' Oh, father,' cried Thorarin, snatching Ingibjorg's head-dress off, ' the leak is soon mended ;' and striding across the hall, he snapped the spear-shaft which had entered the butt short off, rammed the head-dress in with the end of the spear, and then left it sticking out of the vessel. ' There, sister,' shouted he, laughing, ' that is all your woman's head-gear is fit for — to bung a broached beer-butt with.' Ingibjorg began an angry retort, but her brother cut her short. ' Ah, you silly girl, you do not know how pretty you are now, with all your hair over your shoulders.

These caps suit you badly.' ' Well, Thorarin,' said she, somewhat appeased, ' you have quite spoiled it, and you must give me something instead.' ' I will, by the Valkyri,' swore the youth. ' Any thing — a live wolf, if you like, or a bear and its cubs.' Gregorius still looked vexed ; Rolf continued stolidly mending a hatchet. Asmund gazed with wondering eyes into the young man's face. ' Well, Thorarin,' cried Ingibjorg sharply, ' what are you doing now ?' Her brother was kicking his savage wolf-dogs to and fro towards the fire. ' These are my own dogs,' said the huntsman good-humouredly. 'Now, then, Schlurker, you hound ! will you go back ?' and he kicked the brute violently on the head. 'Thorarin!' expostulated his sister, in an angry tone of voice. ' You are driving the animal into the fire.' ' Well, to be sure, little sister,' answered the youth, ' I only want to make it singe its tail, and get it angry, then we shall have a merry game to gether.' Thereupon he dealt a blow at the dog with his remaining spear.

The animal snarled, and showed its fangs ; Thorarin kicked it back on the live embers, and Schlurker, with a yell of pain, flew at him. ' Now, come on, dear friend,' shouted its master joyously, seizing it, and flinging it from him. The brute was at him again, but he caught it, and after a struggle, which elicited peals of laughter from his merry breast, he gagged it, holding his spear cross ways in its mouth. 'Are you going to be quiet at last?' asked his sister ; ' for if you are, I will have supper brought in ' ' I am only playing,' apologized Thorarin. ' Now you come and have a romp with the dog. I will take the spear from its mouth.' ' No, no,' exclaimed Ingibjorg, hurrying out of the hall. Till the supper was ready the light-hearted youth amused himself with pacifying his dog ; and he and it came to ready and amicable terms when, having snatched a piece of meat from a platter just brought in, he threw it to the dogs. ' Thorarin !' almost shrieked his sister, ' you have thrown all the joint to those creatures.

Now you must satisfy yourself on the curds.' ' It is your fault,' said the huntsman, laughing. ' Why did you not have enough roasted for father, the dogs, Uncle Rolf, and me — for us all ?' ' You are a thorough heathen,' said Ingibjorg indignantly. ' Ay, little sister, that I am, in Lent, but not at Yule.' Thorarin having flung all the meat away, there re mained for consumption only a dish of curds, and another of flour and milk, flavoured with whortle berries, which had been preserved with honey in jars. ' Brother,' said Rolf, during the meal, ' I suppose that you have heard the message neighbour Hlenni has sent. His man came here while you were out, but you must have heard it.' ' Indeed I have not,' answered Gregorius. ' What was it ?' ' He complains that some of our men who have been over his land have carried off a score of his sheep, and have set fire to a barn.' ' Have they ?' asked the bonder. ' If so, let sheep for sheep be returned.' ' I do not believe a word of it,' answered Rolf. ' I have questioned our men, and they stoutly deny it.' ' It is a lie of Hlenni !' broke in Thorarin. ' I met the rascal to-day, and had a little talk with him.' ' Have you quarrelled ?' asked Gregorius angrily. ' Thorarin, you are continually getting me into trouble with my neighbours through your violence, and let me tell you it is a far harder matter to get out of a scrape than to get into one.

Any fool can do the latter, but it takes a wise man to do the former.' ' I did not quarrel with him, but whether he has quarrelled with me is another thing. The fellow charged me with the loss of his sheep, and I offered to fight it out with him, just in a friendly way ; it would settle the business so quickly. He walked aside, so I drew my sword, and whirled it about his face. Oh, father ! to see his expression of fright, and the way he winked his eyes.' The young man leaned back in his seat laughing. Gregorius' brow clouded over. ' When you have done laughing ' he began, but Thorarin interrupted him. ' Father, do not blame me. I made some verses about him, which I sang, and my men and some of his began to titter. I promise you he looked as black as a thunderstorm.' The bonder, fully irritated, turned towards his son, and said : ' I tell you this, Thorarin, your own deeds be on your own head.

I shall take up none of your quarrels for you ; fight them out, or not, just as you like.' ' Fight!' exclaimed the young Norwegian; 'as if I would not give my best spear, or even old Schlurker, to have a sword fight with Hlenni any day in the week excepting Sunday.' ' It may be pleasure to you to get into broils,' retorted Gregorius ; ' but, my son, it is no pleasing prospect for me to look forward to barns set fire to and cattle killed.' ' Let Hlenni dare to do such a thing,' said Thorarin vehemently, ' and I will go and burn him in his house if I can catch him ; if not, burn his house and goods, whether you help me or not.' ' Now then, Thorarin,' expostulated Ingibjorg, ' you had better stop talking and boasting that you can do mischief.'

Chapter III. The Burial Party

HE following morning Magnus set out, accompanied by Rolf, Tho rarin, and three or four men, to find the body of Asmund's father and give it decent burial. The distance was considerable, and the shed where the body lay was on the lands belonging to Hlenni. Magnus wore the magnificent sword of the dead man, slung across his back ; every now and then Thorarin would admire it, and drawing it from his brother, would whirl it round his head and lop off a pine bough. Mag nus, too, had further opportunity now for observing it, and he could not but admire its beauty, the temper of the steel, and the richly enamelled hilt. THE BURIAL PARTY 21 On reaching the shed they found Hlenni, with several others, already there.