A MISSION FOR THE KING.
The King addressed Thangbrand in Latin, which the priest understood
fairly well.
"Just in time, my friends! The guide whom I sent with you returned
late last night with word of your mishap, and early this morning I
sent men in all directions, joining myself in the search, for I was
greatly angered that my safe-conduct had been broken in this wise."
"We owe you our lives, my lord," responded Thangbrand gratefully.
"These men were in the pay of a traitor, whom your spear slew before
I had a chance at him, unfortunately."
The old king smiled, not unkindly. "Strange words for a man of God,
sir priest! But I see that your blade has done good service to Jarl
Sigurd, and perhaps in these times a priest must be man of the world
as well." King Brian sighed heavily as he looked around, then said,
"Ask the Jarl if he has my letters safe."
When Thangbrand translated, Sigurd held up the letters, their seals
unbroken; and now the King's men returned, and the party went to
Kells at once. Here, as Sigurd was in haste to get back to Dublin,
the King gave him an escort of fifty men, and they set out without
delay.
Upon reaching the territory of Olaf, Sigurd dismissed the Irish and
pushed forward; but on coming within sight of the city he gave an
exclamation of dismay. Instead of the King's standard, there floated
from the castle a huge black banner!
Wondering greatly, they galloped up to the city and entered. To
their amazement, the shops were all closed, and the whole city wore
an air of mourning. Sigurd, without stopping to ask questions, left
Thangbrand and hurried to the great hall.
It was empty, save for Olaf, who sat in the high-seat, his head bowed
in his hands. Sigurd advanced and held out the letters.
"Here, my lord, is the reply of King Brian Boroimhe. Why is the
black standard on the castle, and why are all the shops shut?"
Olaf raised his head and gazed at Sigurd with heavy eyes.
"Welcome back, Jarl, in an evil hour. Queen Gyda died last night."
As Sigurd stared at the King, the latter rose slowly, descended from
the high-seat, and taking Sigurd's arm in his, exclaimed:
"Sigurd, come and talk to me. I am lonely, and the most wretched of
all men."
They walked up and down the hall, and Olaf told Sigurd how the night
before the Queen had been seized with a fatal illness. Good Bishop
Sigurd, the English prelate who had come to Ireland with Olaf, had
done his best, for he was a skillful leech, but to no avail.
"Why should this evil come upon me now?" cried the King, bitterly.
Sigurd said little, allowing the King's pent-up grief to find
utterance, then he said, softly:
"It is the will of God, Olaf, and perhaps he has done it for the
best. May it not be that he means you to give your whole life to the
spreading of his Word in heathen Norway, and has sent you a touch of
adversity to try you?"
"Mayhap," responded the King, "but it is hard. He has given me good
fortune, and I must bear the bad when it is his will; it may be true
that he wishes me to devote myself, heart and soul, to bearing his
gospel to my countrymen."
The blow was a terrible one to Olaf, and it was indeed many a month
ere he recovered a portion of his former light-hearted spirits. Two
days later the Queen was buried, and after the period of mourning
Olaf threw himself into the work of preparing the expedition with
feverish energy.
This was no light task, indeed. Olaf had a dozen warships in the
harbor, but it was impossible to take so large a force, as men had to
be left to defend Dublin. Olaf had decided to give up his Irish
land, in case of succeeding in Norway, to his brother-in-law, Olaf
Kvaran, but he could not leave him without men.
At last, after many consultations with Sigurd and his other chiefs,
the King decided to take only the five largest ships, which would
hold about seventy-five men each. Thorir Klakke had no inkling that
Olaf knew of his treachery, and he advised the King to make a sudden
descent on Norway and to take Jarl Hakon unawares at Thrandheim,
before men could be gathered. Thorir, in giving this advice, thought
that either he would be able to kill Olaf by treachery on the voyage,
or else that the men of Hakon, posted at Agdaness in Norway, would
remove Olaf before the plan could be accomplished.
The five ships were fitted up in the best of shape. The dragon heads
were taken from their prows, and in the place of these great crosses
were set up, for Olaf knew that only by the favor of God would he be
able to win his father's kingdom. They were laden with all the
wealth that Olaf had gathered in his travels through Russia,
Constantinople, and England, and at length the expedition was ready
to start.
It was a bright morning in August that the King went on board his
ships, followed by all his men. Before doing so, he called Alfred
and Sigrid to him, and asked them what they intended to do. Alfred
hesitated, for although he wished to accompany Olaf, he did not
forget that his father was in Flanders, and he did not like to
separate from his sister. Finally, Olaf said, with a smile:
"You both had best come with me. I have a plan which I think will
work out to your satisfaction; I will tell you later just what it is.
Put all your Saxons on board the 'Snake,' Alfred--the ship that old
Biorn captured in England, and sail with us. Sigurd will command the
'Crane,' and when we get to the Orkneys I will tell you what I have
in mind."
So, wondering what the King meant, the "Snake" was added to the
fleet, to Sigurd's great joy. He had feared that Alfred and his
sister would be left behind, and it was with no small satisfaction
that he helped fit out the "Snake."
When the men were all embarked, Bishop Sigurd, standing in the prow
of King Olaf's ship, offered up a solemn prayer asking the aid and
the blessing of God for their enterprise. As he concluded, a great
"Amen!" rolled over the sea from ships to shore, the anchors were
weighed, and the journey was begun amid a blare of war-horns and the
clash of arms.
The Pentland Firth was not passable, according to reports brought to
Olaf, so he bore up for the Orkneys, as had been his wish from the
first. These islands had long been settled by Norsemen, and Jarl
Sigurd Lodvarson ruled them: but the Jarl and his people were all
heathen, for no missionaries or Christian men had been allowed to
settle in the islands. It was Olaf's firm intention to spread the
Word of God wherever he went, and as the Orkneys were in his path, he
decided to visit Jarl Sigurd.
This was a dangerous proceeding, for the Jarl was powerful, and might
have settled the fate of the expedition there and then; but matters
came out luckily for Olaf. His six ships came to anchor in Asmundar
Bay, in Rognwald Island, and in the bay they found a single ship
lying at anchor.
Olaf, seeing that the ship was a fine one, and very beautifully
furnished, dispatched Sigurd Fairhair to bring her commander on board
his own ship, hoping to get news of Norway. To his surprise, it
happened that this commander was no other than Jarl Sigurd Lodvarson
himself!
Olaf greeted him with a smile. "Truly, it seems that we have an
abundance of Sigurds here! Yourself, my own Jarl Sigurd Fairhair,
good Bishop Sigurd, of England, and possibly a score of my men, all
named alike."
The Jarl, not knowing where King Olaf was bound with his fleet, was
somewhat fearful for his safety, and when Olaf urged him to be
baptized, he refused, saying the faith of his fathers was good enough
for him. Then King Olaf arose, holding in one hand a sword, in the
other a cross.
"Jarl, you hold, as Jarl of the Orkneys, part of my inheritance, for
I claim all the lands as mine which the Kings of Norway have
possessed. As it has come to pass, by the will of God, that you are
in my power, there are two courses open to you. The one, that you
accept the true faith, and allow yourself to be baptized, with all
your subjects. You may expect to hold under me the Jarldom which you
now possess, and what is of more importance, you may hope to reign
for ever in a nobler kingdom than this.
"The other course, a very wretched one, is that you die; and after
your death I will pass over the islands and bring the folk to believe
in the true God. Now choose, Jarl, which course you will take."
The Jarl hesitated; then he slowly stretched out his hand and took
the cross from that of Olaf. This action was greeted with glad
shouts from the crews, and without delay Bishop Sigurd baptized Jarl
Sigurd.
Then he swore oaths of fidelity to King Olaf, and placed in the
King's hands his son, Hundi, who was also baptized, and who
accompanied Olaf to Norway as a hostage.
Next day Olaf came on board the "Crane."
"Sigurd," he said, "are you willing to undertake another mission for
me? You seem to scrape through somehow, no matter what happens, and
as this one is of some importance I can think of no one better fitted
to undertake it."
Sigurd smiled. "If I have scraped through some tight places, Olaf, I
don't ascribe it to my own conduct! I have been fortunate in finding
friends, and for the rest, God has protected me. Now tell me what
this mission is."