HILDA OF THE HUNDRED YEARS.
"Hast thou ever taken a keel into the Middle Sea, O Sigurd, son of
Thorold?" asked Ulric of his gigantic friend.
They twain stood together upon the after deck and _The Sword_ was
sailing but slowly, for the wind was contrary.
"More than once, O jarl," responded Sigurd. "I have seen the Greek
islands; I went up the Adriatic Sea with Alfkel the Sea King. We had
five keels, and we took great spoil, but only three of our ships ever
again touched the shore of the Northland."
"What befell the two that returned not?" asked the jarl. "Was it a
fortune of the sea?"
"Not so," said Sigurd. "In that sea the triremes of Cæsar are too many.
But thou hast need to consider thy present course. Thou wilt do well to
coast along the land easterly after thy last sight of Britain. Between
these islands and Spain is a great sea full of storms. Try it not with
a straight passage, but go from point to point, going on shore when
thou wilt."
"I think it is good counsel," said the jarl. "I have heard of that sea.
As to the Adriatic, I would enter it in due season, but first I would
see Rome itself, if I might."
"Not if thou go to its port in a keel thou hast won from Cæsar," said
Sigurd. "That were but to offer them thy head. Thou wilt do better
among the islands and toward the great land that is called Africa.
There dwell the black men, and in the inland there are giants wonderful
to see; and also there are powerful magicians."
"I care not much for them," said Ulric, "although I am curious about
giants. Tell me all thou wilt of thy voyages."
Willingly did Sigurd tell, and he had seen many wonderful things in the
southlands.
"I shall gladly see them again," he said; and even the next day did
this talk go on, for a gale blew and _The Sword_ went before it with
but one small sail lifted.
Sigurd's men were now as if they had been with Ulric from the first,
and by them a matter had been told which was now more fully given by
the tall viking.
"Svein concealed it from me," he said, "but an old Dane warned me in
private. The Roman officer of that garrison was but waiting for the
arrival of more legionaries, for Svein's men might not be depended on
in such an undertaking. It would have included thee and thine. All who
did not belong to Svein or who were minded to leave him were to have
been given up as war prisoners to the Romans."
"That they might lose their heads!" exclaimed Ulric. "I am glad he is
slain! It was a dark purpose."
"Thou hast not read it rightly, nevertheless," said Sigurd. "Hast
thou not heard of the great games and shows of Cæsar and of his chief
officers?"
"Many a thing have I heard," replied Ulric, "but not from any man who
had ever witnessed the things he told of. Hast thou seen?"
"No, Jarl Ulric," said Sigurd, "but I have listened to brave men who
have looked in upon such things. As to one affair, we learned little
by little that the proconsul of Britain desired good swordsmen to
contend with his trained slaves and with his wild beasts. It was also
for his profit to send Saxons as presents to Cæsar to be slain in the
great shows of Rome. For this purpose all we were to be entrapped and
caged as soon as their hunting party should become strong enough to
take us alive. We were to be set upon unawares. Therefore did we sleep
by watches, fully armed, for the thing was to be done in the night. So
was the idea of Svein, the treacherous, concerning all thy crew."
"He will entrap no more Saxons henceforth," said the jarl. "As for me,
I would gladly fight a lion or a tiger. It would be great sport. I
will try if I may meet these wonderful beasts before I return to the
Northland.
"Thou wilt meet thy lion with full armor," responded Sigurd, "but it
is not so in these games of the Romans. There is no fair fighting.
They arm thee as they see fit. Often thou art not matched with one man
or with one beast, but with odds, that they may see thee overcome or
torn. This is their delight concerning prisoners and malefactors which
cost them little. They spare their dens of animals and their purchased
gladiators that they may more cheaply see much blood. But there is
worse than this among them, for they use the scourge upon us, and a man
would rather die ten times than be made to feel the stroke of a whip,
as if he were a slave."
"If I were indeed lashed," growled Ulric, "it were well for that man,
even were he Cæsar, not to come near me in after time if there were a
blade within my reach. There might come a sure cast of a spear, and I
throw far."
"This scourging," said Sigurd, "is to break the proud spirit of such
as thou art. I think thine or mine would not be so destroyed, but
rather a red fire kindled in ashes that would smolder for a time. But
they know us well, these Romans. A captive Saxon is chained as an
untameable wild beast until they push him out of his cage into the
arena."
"So slay we all Romans!" exclaimed the jarl. "We will count them but
wolves. But I will see many other cities if I may not go to Rome. The
wind changeth and I think a storm is upon us."
Soon fiercely howled around them an angry north wind, tossing the
sea in great surges, but the trireme proved herself stanch and well
behaved. She held on her way swiftly. Often saw they the land, but
after one night more Sigurd called Ulric to a bulwark, at the dawn, and
he pointed first westerly.
"Seest thou," he said, "yonder high white cliffs? We are in the narrow
sea between Britain and Gaul. We have been driven about too much and
we have expended days. Now we may drive southward and we may not meet
other keels often. The Britons of Gaul are like those of the islands.
They are not sea-goers, and they are all under the rule of Cæsar."
"We have no need to strike them," said the jarl. "They are not our
errand. We will but sail on as we have planned. Thou hast taught me
many things. I thank thee."
The day went by and _The Sword_ drew near the land at times, but it
was better to keep well away from an unknown coast. All the crew were
pleased to discover how swiftly they might travel and how readily they
might turn so large a vessel.
"She will do well in battle," they said.
As to the three banks of oars, the jarl angered some by his urgency
in compelling all to practice their use, that they might become well
skilled.
"He is a hard master of a ship," said some. "Do we not know what to do
with oars?" The older men were better satisfied, and they also studied
the handling of a trireme.
The next day _The Sword_ was not far out from the westerly shore of
Gaul and a thing came to Ulric the Jarl as he stood upon the after
deck steering and watching the land. He was thinking deeply, also,
concerning the gods, and he was remembering those persons whom he had
left behind him in the Northland which was now so far away.
"What is this?" arose a sudden inquiry in his mind. "I am not alone! I
think that one sitteth by me. I have felt the touch of her hand upon my
hair, stroking it. There hath been no voice, but the hand is the hand
of a woman and I know it well of old. I will wait and see if she will
speak to me. I have hungered for speech with some whom I may not see. I
think that of the unseen ones there must be a great multitude and that
their land must be wide, but no man knoweth what it may be like. In it
is the city of Asgard. There is Valhalla, and there dwell the heroes
from innumerable battles. I shall not ever be fully contented until I
hear the valkyrias call my name. But first I would have speech with one
of these strange gods of the southlands. The Grecians have many, and so
have the Romans. I have willed, also, to look upon the face of the god
of the Jews, for he is said to be a strong one and very beautiful. O
thou that touchest, I pray thee touch me again."
The wind went softly by him and there came a low whisper in his ear so
that he heard it thus, as if it had been a voice:
"Son of Odin, I have passed. Have passed."
More heard he not, nor did he see any, but at that hour there was a
great silence in the house of Brander in the Northland.
In her chair sat Hilda, as she was wont, but she was very white, and
her eyes were shut. Around her stood the household, save that Oswald,
the harper, sat with his head bowed upon his harp. Not many men were
there, and the women and the maidens did but look at one another and
at Hilda, for they knew not whether she were living or dead, and they
feared to put hands upon her.
Then opened she her eyes and her lips parted.
"I have seen him," she said, "but the ship is not _The Sword_. I have
been as if I were asleep, but it was no dream. Where my heart is there
was I, and I will go to him again. Now, when I sleep again, put ye my
veil over my face. Let me not fall from my chair, but place me upon my
bier and make ready to carry me to the cleft of the rocks. If it may
be, I will speak once more before I go."
So went she to sleep and they covered her face, but now the women
wailed loudly and all the men of the household were sent for to come to
the hall.
"Hilda of the hundred winters hath seen the last outing of the ice,"
the women said, "and now the grass and the leaves have come. She goeth
down to her own and she will see the gods."
A litter was made and they bore her to her room, for she had given the
older women instructions and they knew what to do in such a case. The
household men came, but they did not stay in the house, for Oswald
spoke to them and they went out with him to the place of tombs.
The low hill on which were the standing stones had a face of broken
rock seaward. In the middle of this face leaned a tall, flat stone, a
slab of limestone, which had been worked to smoothness on its outer
side. Upon this surface were many runes graven, in lines and columns,
and some of them were like small pictures, and more were like letters
of words that were to be read. The stone was exceedingly heavy, and
strong men worked with wooden levers to lay it aside without injuring
it. When that was done there could be seen a chasm, as if the rock had
been cloven to make an entrance for any who would go in. At this the
men looked, but as yet they kept their feet away from it.
All over the Northland there are such tombs as was this of the house
of Brander the Brave, the sea king, and in them are the bones of the
mighty. But in some, as in this, are not buried the heroes after whose
names the tombs are called, for they fell upon far-away battlefields or
in fights at sea, but at their tombs were made sacrifices to the gods,
nevertheless, and the songs to the dead are to be sung there by their
kindred. If any man have a hero son, to this place must he come to
speak to his father and to the Asas, or he will be accounted nidering
and unfit to be a jarl and a leader of men.
Low had sunk the sun when a procession walked slowly away from the
house of Brander. The men of best rank and name were proud to be
permitted to bear the bier of Hilda, as if she had been a princess;
for she was of the race of Odin and she had talked with the gods for
a hundred years. Therefore, also, every man wore his full armor; but
of the women there were some who carried goblets and pitchers which
had been Hilda's, of pottery and of bronze and of silver and of beaten
gold. Others there were who carried her best garments, rending them as
they came.
"She is not to be burned," said Oswald. "She is to be laid in the inner
crypt, with her feet toward the east. Her coffin is of wood, and it was
in her room, but I have brought it. Let her be placed therein."
It was a long box made of planks of the fir tree, and it was large
enough. In it did they lay the body of Hilda, taking it from the bier.
Then the strong men bore it into the cleft of the rocks, but not many
were permitted to follow and see. Three fathoms deep was the cleft, and
then it widened, making a small room, and this could be seen well, for
some of the men bore torches. There were other coffins, and there were
bones and skulls uncovered at the sides and in the corners. There were
stones also, set up in the form of coffins, and in them were bones and
many good weapons, as if to each man had been given shield, ax, sword,
spear, helmet, and mail, and vessels of pottery and of metal, with good
garments. But the arms and armor were for the greater part marred,
bent, broken, and the garments were rent.
"Speak not," said Oswald, "but put down the coffin of Hilda here. The
runes on the rock beside it were graven by herself for the memory of
Brander the Brave, for she loved him well."
In the coffin were some things placed. Upon it was laid a plank of fir.
On this, then, and on the earth at the head were arranged all other
matters brought by the women. Every man walked out then except Oswald,
and he stood still and spoke to Hilda, but she answered him not. Again
he spoke, calling her by name, and those without, in the cleft and
beyond it, heard him, and they listened well, but they heard no other
voice than his.
"Hilda!" he said again. "Hilda of the hundred winters, daughter of
Odin, what sayest thou to Oswald, thy friend?"
They heard no answer, but Oswald came forth and bade them place the
stone.
"Set it well," he said, "for it will not be moved again. The house of
Brander is ended. There will be no other who will have the right to be
buried behind the stone."
None answered him, but the women whispered sadly to one another: "What
of Ulric the Jarl?"
The men followed Oswald to the house, for a feast had been prepared in
honor of the daughter of Odin, and the tables were set. Other harpers
had come, with chiefs and men of rank, but no other harp might sound
until after that of Oswald.
The central fire had gone out, but he had bidden them leave the ash
heap. It was high and gray, and he sat down by it, bringing his harp
nearer. All who were there had heard him often, but never before, they
said, had they heard him touch his harp as he did now. The music was
wonderful, and with it arose his voice in marvelous power, for he sang
of heroes, and of gods, and of the unseen lands where the gods live.
Also, before he ceased, he sang of Ulric the Jarl and of the ship _The
Sword_, as if even now he could see her going into battle and hear the
warhorn of the son of Brander.
So was the passing of Hilda of the hundred years.