Legends of the Middle Ages Part 28

"And lo! cloven in twain at a stroke Fell King Helge's gold s.h.i.+eld from its pillar of oak: At the clang of the blow, The live started above, the dead started below."

TEGNeR, _Frithiof Saga_ (Longfellow's tr.).

[Sidenote: Sigurd Ring a suitor.] Just after his departure came messengers from Sigurd Ring, the aged King of Ringric, in Norway, who, having lost his wife, sent to Helge and Halfdan to ask Ingeborg's hand in marriage. Before answering this royal suitor, Helge consulted the Vala, or prophetess, and the priests, and as they all declared that the omens were not in favor of this marriage, he gave an insolent refusal to the messengers. This impolitic conduct so offended the would-be suitor that he immediately collected an army and prepared to march against the Kings of Sogn to avenge the insult with his sword. When the rumor of his approach reached the cowardly brothers they were terrified, and fearing to encounter the foe alone, they sent Hilding to Frithiof to implore his aid.

Hilding gladly undertook the mission, although he had not much hope of its success. He found Frithiof playing chess with a friend, Bjorn, and immediately made known his errand.

"'From Bele's high heirs I come with courteous words and prayers: Disastrous tidings rouse the brave; On thee a nation's hope relies.

In Balder's fane, grief's loveliest prey, Sweet Ing'borg weeps the livelong day: Say, can her tears unheeded fall, Nor call her champion to her side?'"

TEGNeR, _Frithiof Saga_ (Longfellow's tr.).

But Frithiof was so deeply offended that even this appeal in the name of his beloved could not move him. Quietly he continued his game of chess, and, when it was ended, told Hilding that he had no answer to give. Rightly concluding that Frithiof would lend the kings no aid, Hilding returned to Helge and Halfdan, who, forced to fight without their bravest leader, preferred to make a treaty with Sigurd Ring, promising to give him not only their sister Ingeborg, but also a yearly tribute.

[Sidenote: At Balder's shrine.] While they were thus engaged at Sogn Sound, Frithiof hastened to Balder's temple, where, as Hilding had declared, he found Ingeborg a prey to grief. Now although it was considered a sacrilege for man and woman to exchange a word in the sacred building, Frithiof could not see his beloved in tears without attempting to console her; and, forgetting all else, he spoke to her and comforted her. He repeated how dearly he loved her, quieted all her apprehensions of the G.o.ds' anger by a.s.suring her that Balder, the good, must view their innocent pa.s.sion with approving eyes, said that love as pure as theirs could defile no sanctuary, and plighted his troth to her before the shrine.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE LOVERS AT BALDER'S SHRINE.--Kepler.]

"'What whisper you of Balder's ire?

The pious G.o.d--he is not wrath.

He loves himself, and doth inspire Our love--the purest he calls forth.

The G.o.d with true and steadfast heart, The sun upon his glittering form, Is not his love for Nanna part Of his own nature, pure and warm?

"'There is his image; he is near.

How mild he looks on me--how kind!

A sacrifice to him I'll bear, The offer of a loving mind.

Kneel down with me; no better gift, No fairer sure for Balder is, Than two young hearts, whose love doth lift Above the world almost like his.'"

TEGNeR, _Frithiof Saga_ (Spalding's tr.).

Rea.s.sured by this reasoning, Ingeborg no longer refused to see and converse with Frithiof; and during the kings' absence the young lovers met every day, and plighted their troth with Volund's ring, which Ingeborg solemnly promised to send back to her lover should she break her promise to live for him alone. Frithiof lingered there until the kings' return, when, for love of Ingeborg the fair, he again appeared before them, and pledged himself to free them from their thraldom to Sigurd Ring if they would only reconsider their decision and promise him their sister's hand.

"'War is abroad, And strikes his echoing s.h.i.+eld within our borders; Thy crown and land, King Helge, are in danger; Give me thy sister's hand, and I will use Henceforth my warlike force in thy defense.

Let then the wrath between us be forgotten, Unwillingly I strive 'gainst Ingborg's brother.

Secure, O king, by one fraternal act Thy golden crown and save thy sister's heart.

Here is my hand. By Thor, I ne'er again Present it here for reconciliation.'"

TEGNeR, _Frithiof Saga_ (Spalding's tr.).

[Sidenote: Frithiof in disgrace.] But although this offer was hailed with rapture by the a.s.sembled warriors, it was again scornfully rejected by Helge, who declared that he would have granted it had not Frithiof proved himself unworthy of all confidence by defiling the temple of the G.o.ds.

Frithiof tried to defend himself; but as he had to plead guilty to the accusation of having conversed with Ingeborg at Balder's shrine, he was convicted of having broken the law, and, in punishment therefor, condemned to sail off to the Orkney Islands to claim tribute from the king, Angantyr.

Before he sailed, however, he once more sought Ingeborg, and vainly tried to induce her to elope with him by promising her a home in the sunny south, where her happiness should be his law, and where she should rule over his subjects as his honored wife. Ingeborg sorrowfully refused to accompany him, saying that, since her father was no more, she was in duty bound to obey her brothers implicitly, and could not marry without their consent.

"'But Helge is my father, Stands in my father's place; on his consent Depends my hand, and Bele's daughter steals not Her earthly happiness, how near it be.'"

TEGNeR, _Frithiof Saga_ (Spalding's tr.).

After a heartrending parting scene, Frithiof embarked upon Ellida, and sorrowfully sailed out of the harbor, while Ingeborg wept at his departure.

When the vessel was barely out of sight, Helge sent for two witches named Heid and Ham, bidding them begin their incantations, and stir up such a tempest at sea that it would be impossible for even the G.o.d-given vessel Ellida to withstand its fury, and all on board would perish. The witches immediately complied; and with Helge's aid they soon stirred up a storm unparalleled in history.

"Helge on the strand Chants his wizard-spell, Potent to command Fiends of earth or h.e.l.l.

Gathering darkness shrouds the sky; Hark, the thunder's distant roll!

Lurid lightnings, as they fly, Streak with blood the sable pole.

Ocean, boiling to its base, Scatters wide its wave of foam; Screaming, as in fleetest chase, Sea-birds seek their island home."

TEGNeR, _Frithiof Saga_ (Longfellow's tr.).

[Sidenote: The tempest.] In spite of tossing waves and whistling blasts, Frithiof sang a cheery song to rea.s.sure his frightened crew; but when the peril grew so great that his exhausted men gave themselves up for lost, he bade Bjorn hold the rudder, and himself climbed up to the mast top to view the horizon. While perched up there he descried a whale, upon which the two witches were riding at ease. Speaking to his good s.h.i.+p, which was gifted with the power of understanding and obeying his words, he now ran down both witches and whale, and the sea was reddened with their blood. No sooner had they sunk than the wind fell, the waves ceased to heave and toss as before, and soon fair weather again smiled over the seas.

"Now the storm has flown, The sea is calm awhile; A gentle swell is blown Against the neighboring isle.

"Then at once the sun arose, Like a king who mounts his throne, Vivifies the world and throws His light on billow, field, and stone.

His new-born beams adorn awhile A dark green grove on rocky top, All recognize a sea-girt isle, Amongst the distant Orkney's group."

TEGNeR, _Frithiof Saga_ (Spalding's tr.).

Exhausted by their previous superhuman efforts and by the bailing of their water-logged vessel, the men were too weak to land when they at last reached the Orkney Islands, and had to be carried ash.o.r.e by Bjorn and Frithiof, who gently laid them down on the sand, bidding them rest and refresh themselves after all the hards.h.i.+ps they had endured.

"Tired indeed are all on board, All the crew of Frithiofs men, Scarce supported by a sword, Can they raise themselves again.

Bjorn takes four of them ash.o.r.e, On his mighty shoulders wide, Frithiof singly takes twice four, Places them the fire beside.

'Blush not, ye pale ones, The sea's a valiant viking; 'Tis hard indeed to fight Against the rough sea waves.

Lo! there comes the mead horn On golden feet descending, To warm our frozen limbs.

Hail to Ingeborg!'"

TEGNeR, _Frithiof Saga_ (Spalding's tr.).

The arrival of Frithiof and his men had been seen by the watchman of Angantyr's castle, who immediately informed his master of all he had seen.

The jarl exclaimed that the s.h.i.+p which had weathered such a gale could be none but Ellida, and that its captain was doubtless Frithiof, Thorsten's gallant son. At these words one of his Berserkers, Atle, caught up his weapons and strode out of the hall, vowing that he would challenge Frithiof, and thus satisfy himself concerning the veracity of the tales he had heard of the young hero's courage.

[Sidenote: Atle's challenge.] Although still greatly exhausted, Frithiof immediately accepted Atle's challenge, and, after a sharp encounter, threw his antagonist, whom he would have slain then and there had his sword been within reach. Atle saw his intention, and bade him go in search of a weapon, promising to remain motionless during his absence. Frithiof, knowing that such a warrior's promise was inviolable, immediately obeyed; but when he returned with his sword, and found his antagonist calmly awaiting death, he relented, and bade Atle rise and live.

"With patience long not gifted, Frithiof the foe would kill, And Angurvadel lifted, But Atle yet lay still.

This touched the hero's soul; He stayed the sweeping brand Before it reached its goal, And took the fall'n one's hand."

TEGNeR, _Frithiof Saga_(Spalding's tr.).

Together these doughty warriors then wended their way to Angantyr's halls, where they found a festal board awaiting them, and there they ate and drank, sang songs, and recounted stories of thrilling adventure by land and by sea.

At last, however, Frithiof made known his errand. Angantyr said that he owed no tribute to Helge, and would pay him none; but that he would give the required sum as a free gift to his old friend Thorsten's son, leaving him at liberty to dispose of it as he pleased. Then, since the season was unpropitious, and storms continually swept over the sea, the king invited Frithiof to tarry with him; and it was only when the gentle spring breezes were blowing once more that he at last allowed him to depart.

After sailing over summer seas, wafted along by favorable winds for six days, Frithiof came in sight of his home, Framnas, which had been reduced to a shapeless heap of ashes by Helge's orders. Sadly steering past the ruins, he arrived at Balders.h.a.ge, where Hilding met him and informed him that Ingeborg was now the wife of Sigurd Ring. When Frithiof heard these tidings he flew into a Berserker rage, and bade his men destroy all the vessels in the harbor, while he strode up to the temple alone in search of Helge. He found him there before the G.o.d's image, roughly flung Angantyr's heavy purse of gold in his face, and when, as he was about to leave the temple, he saw the ring he had given Ingeborg on the arm of Helge's wife, he s.n.a.t.c.hed it away from her. In trying to recover it she dropped the G.o.d's image, which she had just been anointing, into the fire, where it was rapidly consumed, and the rising flames soon set the temple roof in a blaze.

Frithiof, horror-stricken at the sacrilege which he had involuntarily occasioned, after vainly trying to extinguish the flames and save the costly sanctuary, escaped to his s.h.i.+p and waiting companions, to begin the weary life of an outcast and exile.

"The temple soon in ashes lay, Ashes the temple's bower; Wofully Frithiof goes his way, Weeps in the morning hour."

TEGNeR, _Frithiof Saga_ (Spalding's tr.).

[Sidenote: Frithiof an exile.] Helge's men started in pursuit, hoping to overtake and punish him; but when they reached the harbor they could not find a single seaworthy craft, and were forced to stand on the sh.o.r.e in helpless inactivity while Ellida's great sails slowly sank beneath the horizon. It was thus that Frithiof sadly saw his native land vanish from sight; and as it disappeared he breathed a tender farewell to the beloved country which he never expected to see again.

"'World-circle's brow, Thou mighty North!

I may not go Upon thine earth; But in no other I love to dwell; Now, hero-mother, Farewell, farewell!

"'Farewell, thou high And heavenly one, Night's sleeping eye, Midsummer sun.