_Of Wulnoth's Strange Wrestling in the Place of Desolation_
For a day and a night did Wulnoth remain in that place, giving way to
his sorrow, for a strange weakness had taken possession of him, and it
seemed as though there was naught left to live for in this world. And
in the long night hours did evil voices whisper in his ear, as though
the wicked warlocks counselled him, and the storm sisters sped by on
the wind, and they also seemed to mock at him.
"Of what use is it to think of searching for thy friend?" the voices
said. "Of what use to remember Edgiva the Beautiful, who is a king's
daughter? Of what use to remember the words of Wyborga, who has mocked
thee? Thou art nameless and landless and thrall born, and hast only
thy strength and no wisdom. Go to the hills and join the nameless ones
and the masterless men, and be their leader, and spread fire and carry
sword, and make thyself a name that shall be feared, and put all these
dreams from thee. There are fair maidens to capture and strongholds to
take, and thus thou shalt be strong. But if thou dost wander after the
friend whom thou mayst never find, or seek the great one who may never
be met with, then thou shalt be known as the Wanderer only, and no
scald shall sing a song to thee."
And Wulnoth, seated there in the darkness of the forest, said to
himself that this thing was best, and that he would go and join the
nameless ones and the masterless men, and become a robber-lord to be
feared.
But when the day dawned and the night shadows fled, then the birds
began to sing in the woodlands and the earth smiled again, and better
voices came to Wulnoth and spoke in the land-breeze and sang in the
bird-song and whispered in the leaves-talk; and all these voices said--
"Why tarry here, O Wulnoth, when all the work is before thee--when the
hours pass and are not used? Look up, and rise up, and go forth and
begin."
"Yet I know not where to begin," said Wulnoth, and the voices seemed to
answer--
"One step at a time, and the longest journey is completed. Rise up and
search, for the seeker shall be the finder, if in seeking he weary not."
"Now," thought Wulnoth, "this is surely right, for I do but waste time
sitting idle, and even if I seek the masterless men, I shall not find
them by staying here."
So Wulnoth rose, and he plucked a stout branch from a tree for a
weapon, in case any sought to harm him; and he strode through the
forest and came to the road, and then he knew that it was the road he
had often walked by the side of Edgiva the Beautiful--the road back to
Lethra.
"I will go and see the King's hall," he said. "Perchance some dwell
there even now who may tell me of Guthred."
But alas, when he reached the place where Lethra had flourished, all
was silence and ashes and desolation. Here stood the blackened walls,
and there lay beam and iron, while down at the fiord, the weed-covered
wrecks of the long ships could still be seen.
No living thing was there, for the work of the sea-kings had been
thorough, and the vengeance of Hungwar and Hubba had been complete, and
Lethra was the place of desolation now.
Then a deep anger filled the heart of Wulnoth as he stood surveying the
ruins, and he cried aloud--
"I will find these pirates and make them pay for this, and I will find
Guthred the Prince and set him back on his throne, and I will find
Edgiva the Beautiful, though I have to wander the world o'er to do it."
And then a deep mocking laugh sounded, and he turned to behold who thus
jeered at his words, for tears were gone and weakness had fled, and his
heart burned for the man's game.
And there, seated amidst the dust and black ashes of the place of
desolation, he saw a man--a great and mighty man--who sat and eyed
him; and Wulnoth's heart was full of wonder, for this man was so like
himself that it was as though he looked upon his own form in the clear
forest pool or the well's cool depths.
"Why dost thou laugh at me? and who art thou who art so like myself
that thou mightest be my brother? and by what name art thou called?" he
cried. And the other laughed again.
"I am called Wulnoth, stranger," he answered. "Wulnoth, Cerdic's son,
thou talker of big words and doer of little deeds." And at that Wulnoth
answered in hot rage--
"Now in that thou liest, whoever thou art, for I am Wulnoth, Cerdic's
son."
"Thou Cerdic's son! Thou art a nithing to weep at sorrow's touch, to
faint at difficulty, and to listen to night voices. Thou Cerdic's son!"
"Now," thought Wulnoth, "who am I? Has Wyborga cast some strange spell
upon me, or did the night wanderers bewitch me in yonder forest? And if
I be not Wulnoth, then who am I?"
"Well, wanderer," this strange man said at length, "dost thou own that
thou hast spoken falsely? Dost thou still call thyself Cerdic's son?"
"That do I," replied Wulnoth. "Whoever thou art, thou art not Wulnoth."
"Whoever thou art, thou liest," came the reply. "I am Wulnoth, and
I mean to gather a band of masterless men, and in this place of
desolation to build Lethra again and here to reign as king."
"That thou shalt not," answered Wulnoth quickly. And the other laughed
and asked him why he should not.
"Because I am Wulnoth," replied he, "and because I go to seek Guthred
the Prince, and to bring him here to reign in his father's halls once
more."
"That thou shalt not," answered the other. "It seems to me, nameless
one who callest thyself Wulnoth, that there is not room for us twain
in the world, and that one of us must conquer the other. Therefore
cast aside thy club and come holmgang with me. Yea, here in the place
of desolation, with no arms but our strength, will we fight until one
shall overcome the other."
"I am well content," replied Wulnoth, and he cast aside the club. "Let
it be as thou sayest, thou who callest thyself Wulnoth and who speakest
a lie."
"Deeds, not words, thou man with a woman's tongue," growled the other;
and then they faced each other, and gripped, and swayed, and strained,
while the black ashes and the gray dust of the ruins of Lethra rose in
clouds about them.
Now Wulnoth was strong, and he thought within himself that after his
wrestling with Osth the giant, and his conquering of the bear, this
would be but an easy matter, but to his surprise he found that the
stranger was strong as he, and knew every one of his tricks, and could
match him in every way, so that Wulnoth, strive as he might, could gain
no victory.
All the day they fought, until the evening shadows crept from the
cloudland, and then they paused, and flung themselves panting on the
ground, and the stranger laughed and said--
"Well wrestled, Wanderer. Thou hast tried, but thou canst not succeed,
and when the day dawns we will fight again, and I shall conquer thee,
and then I will either slay thee or make thee my thrall, and thou shalt
know that I am Wulnoth, Cerdic's son."
"Though you conquer and slay me," answered Wulnoth, "that will I not
know. You may be warlock or mountain troll who has stolen my shape and
who uses magic against me, but Wulnoth, the son of Cerdic, you are not."
"Tarry till the morning and I will prove it," said the other. But
Wulnoth answered--
"Nay, why should we tarry; by night as by day can we fight. Come, prove
it now."
"I am hungry and weary, and desire to quaff from the wine horn," the
other replied. "Let us do that first and fight afterwards."
"Not so," answered Wulnoth. "We will make an end of this matter, and
that at once."
"Now, evil seize thee," growled the other. "For this I will surely slay
thee. Yet fight, if it is in thy mind to do so."
So they gripped again, and wrestled, and strove, yet still Wulnoth
could gain no victory; and as the night deepened, it seemed that the
other grew the stronger, so that he cast Wulnoth to the earth and
laughed and said--
"I conquer! I conquer, Wanderer, and bitter shall be the drink in
which you pledge me. Now cry for mercy."
"I cry for no mercy," answered Wulnoth, speaking short and hoarse.
"Come, let us make an end of this."
So there on the ground they wrestled, the stranger on top and Wulnoth
beneath seeking to cast him off, and so they struggled until the sun
rose; and then stronger and stronger Wulnoth seemed to grow, and weaker
and weaker the stranger became, until he fell, and said--
"I can fight no more. Thou hast beaten me. Yet thou wouldst not have
done this save for that shadow."
He pointed, as he spoke, to the earth, and Wulnoth looked and wondered;
for two of the timbers of the ruined king's hall still stood, and they
caught the beams of the rising sun, and upon the ground their shadows
fell just where the two had struggled, and the shadows formed--a cross,
the sign of the weak one whom Wulnoth had called nithing!
Then cried Wulnoth and said--
"O stranger, who didst take my name and whom I have conquered, can you
tell me this riddle, for I am weary of mysteries. Whence comes it that
yonder shadow made me strong and you weak?"
"'T is the sign of the mightiest and the strongest," answered the other,
and at that Wulnoth laughed aloud in mockery--
"'T is the sign of one who was a nithing," he said; "and yet, if it
made me strong, why did it not make thee strong also?"
"Thou wouldst not understand even if I told thee, Wanderer," was the
reply. And Wulnoth spoke again--
"Now confess that thou didst lie when thou didst take my name." But the
other replied--
"I lied not, for of a surety I am Wulnoth, Cerdic's son!"
"Now this passes all!" cried Wulnoth. "Then who may I be, if thou art
Wulnoth?"
"The Wanderer, and thou shalt wander until thy task is done. Yet
remember that again thou hast rejected the Strong, and called Him the
weak. Hither was I sent to meet thee and to conquer thee, and thou hast
conquered me. Well for thee that thou hast conquered Wulnoth, Cerdic's
son, for unless thou hadst done this, thou wouldst never have conquered
others; and it was for this purpose that Wyborga the Wise sent thee to
tarry with Osth the giant to learn strength."
"Thou wilt bewilder me with words," cried Wulnoth impatiently. "I tell
thee that I am Wulnoth. Moreover, it was Wulnoth whom Osth did teach,
and since thou ownest that he taught me, thou ownest that I am Wulnoth,
and thou provest thyself false."
"I may not explain this to thee," was the answer. "Some day thou shalt
understand it."
"Some day!" was Wulnoth's angry reply. "Why are all the good things
promised thus? The future must be stored with them, and the now has
never a one."
"The future has all golden store, Wulnoth, since so thou wilt have it.
And now farewell."
"Not so fast," cried Wulnoth. "I have conquered thee, and thou art my
man now."
"And truly so, and truly I shall serve thee even though thou mayst not
know it. Yet beware of one thing--thou must watch me, for I may yet
turn and smite thee. I tell thee, Wulnoth, that I am thy best friend
and thy worst foe--weak am I and yet I am thy strength. Seek not to
keep me now."
"Oh, go thy way! Thou art like all the rest, filled with riddles and
dark sayings. Yet before thou dost go tell me one thing, and plainly,
if it be in thee to speak to the point."
"Ask thy question," said the other. And Wulnoth went on--
"Whither must I turn to seek for Guthred son of Hardacnute, who was
King of Lethra in his day--canst thou tell me that?"
"By Hungwar and by Hubba was he carried off," answered the other. "From
them must you seek him. Seek the Danes, Wanderer, yet in seeking hold
thy counsel, for Hungwar hath a long memory, and his face still beareth
a scar of a wound made by a broken sword once in this very spot. And,
moreover, the names of Cerdic, thrall of Berwulf, and of Wulnoth, the
son of Cerdic, might be remembered. So keep thy counsel, and call
thyself the Wanderer if thou come to the Danish sea-kings." And with
that this strange man turned and hastened away, leaving Wulnoth seated
there wondering, yet sore spent with his fight.
"Now, this is passing strange," Wulnoth reflected. "Yet the advice is
good, for where shall I glean tidings of the Prince save from the Danes
who carried him off?"
Then he paused a moment and cried out--
"Now, by my word! Who so mighty and strong as Regner Lodbrok? There is
Wyborga's rede! I will seek Regner Lodbrok the Dane, and to him will I
give service."
Then he rose, and lo, his eye fell upon the shadow again, and he
frowned and shook his head.
"There is some dark rede in all this," he mused, "and I must try and
come by its meaning. 'T is but a shadow, yet as it fell upon me I grew
strong and conquered yonder strange being."
He stood pressing his feet idly into the dust and pondering, and
presently his foot struck something buried in the ashes, and he stooped
and put down his hand. And then he uttered a cry of joy, for he drew
out a mighty sword with good handle, fashioned so that the fingers
could grip it well, and with long, well-tempered blade, pointed and
double-edged, which the dry ashes, piled high over it, had preserved
bright and free from rust.
"By Thor, a right good weapon!" he laughed, as he swung it round,
making it sing its song in the air. "A right good weapon, and how it
makes the heart rejoice to feel the fingers clasp such a friend! Now
I have a long road to tread, and none can say what may befall in the
journey or at its close, yet the way is clear thus far--I must seek
Regner Lodbrok the Danish sea-king, and from him shall I glean tidings
of Guthred the Prince." And with that Wulnoth, who called himself the
Wanderer, turned from the place of desolation, carrying the great sword
in his hand.
Now, this is how Wulnoth wrestled with one who called himself by his
name, and this is how he started to seek for Regner Lodbrok, the
mightiest of all the sea-kings of Denmark.