RELATES TO SUCH ELEMENTARY MATTERS AS THE A B C, AND TOUCHES ON
LOVE-MAKING IN THE OLDEN TIME.
After the occurrence of the events just narrated, King Harald's
attention was diverted from the people of Horlingdal and the
neighbouring districts by the doings of certain small kings, against
whom it became necessary that he should launch his whole force. These
were King Hunthiof, who ruled over the district of More, and his son
Solve Klofe; also King Nokve, who ruled over Romsdal, and was the
brother of Solve's mother. These men were great warriors. Hearing that
King Harald was sailing north, they resolved to give him battle.
For this purpose they raised a large force, and went out among the
skerries to intercept him.
We do not intend here to go into the details of the fight that followed,
or its consequences. It is sufficient for the proper development of our
tale to say that they met at an island in North More named Solskiel,
where a pitched battle was fought, and gained by Harald. The two kings
were slain, but Solve Klofe escaped, and afterwards proved a great thorn
in Harald's side, plundering in North More, killing many of the King's
men, pillaging some places, burning others, and generally making great
ravage wherever he went; so that, what with keeping him and similar
turbulent characters in check, and establishing law and order in the
districts of the two kings whom he had slain, King Harald had his hands
fully occupied during the remainder of that summer, and was glad to go
north to spend the winter peacefully in Drontheim.
The families and neighbours, therefore, of those with whom our tale has
chiefly to do had rest during that winter. How some of them availed
themselves of this period of repose may be gathered from a few incidents
which we shall now relate.
In the first place, Erling the Bold spent a large proportion of his time
in learning the alphabet! Now this may sound very strange in the ears
of many people in modern times, but their surprise will be somewhat
abated when we tell them that the art of writing was utterly unknown
(though probably not unheard of) in Norway at the end of the ninth
century, and long after that; so that Erling, although a gentleman of
the period, and a Sea-king to boot, had not up to the time we write of,
learned his A B C!
It is just possible that antiquaries, recalling to mind the fact that
the art of writing was not introduced among the Norse colonists of
Iceland until the eleventh century, may be somewhat surprised to learn
that our hero acquired the art at all! But the fact is, that there
always have been, in all countries, men who were what is popularly
termed "born before their time"--men who were in advance,
intellectually, of their age--men who, overleaping the barriers of
prejudice, managed to see deeper into things in general than their
fellows, and to become more or less famous.
Now our hero, Erling the Bold, was one of those who could see beyond his
time, and who became almost prophetically wise; that is to say, he was
fond of tracing causes onwards to their probable effects, to the
amusement of the humorous, the amazement of the stupid, and the
horrification of the few who, even in those days of turmoil, trembled at
the idea of "change"! Everything, therefore, that came under his
observation claimed and obtained his earnest attention, and was treated
with a species of inductive philosophy that would have charmed the heart
of Lord Bacon, had he lived in those times. Of course this new wonder
of committing thoughts to parchment, which the hermit had revealed to
him, was deeply interesting to Erling, who began to study it forthwith.
And we beg leave to tell antiquaries that we have nothing to do with the
fact that no record is left of his studies--no scrap of his writing to
be found. We are not responsible for the stupidity or want of sympathy
in his generation! Doubtless, in all ages there have been many such
instances of glorious opportunities neglected by the world--neglected,
too, with such contempt, that not even a record of their having occurred
has been made. Perchance some such opportunities are before ourselves
just now, in regard to our neglect of which the next generation may
possibly have to hold up its hands and turn up its eyes in amazement!
But be this as it may, the fact remains that although no record is
handed down of any knowledge of letters at this period in Norway, Erling
the Bold _did_ nevertheless become acquainted with them to some extent.
Erling began his alphabet after he had passed the mature age of twenty
years, and his teacher was the fair Hilda. It will be remembered that
in one of their meetings the hermit had informed Erling of his having
already taught the meaning of the strange characters which covered his
parchments to the Norse maiden, and that she had proved herself an apt
scholar. Erling said nothing at the time, except that he had a strong
desire to become better acquainted with the writing in question, but he
settled it then and there in his heart that Hilda, and not the hermit,
should be his teacher. Accordingly, when the fishings and fightings of
the summer were over, the young warrior laid by his sword, lines, and
trident, and, seating himself at Hilda's feet, went diligently to work.
The schoolroom was the hermit's hut on the cliff which overlooked the
fiord. It was selected of necessity, because the old man guarded his
parchments with tender solicitude, and would by no means allow them to
go out of his dwelling, except when carried forth by his own hand. On
the first occasion of the meeting of the young couple for study,
Christian sat down beside them, and was about to expound matters, when
Erling interposed with a laugh.
"No, no, Christian, thou must permit Hilda to teach me, because she is
an old friend of mine, who all her life has ever been more willing to
learn than to teach. Therefore am I curious to know how she will change
her character."
"Be it so, my son," said the hermit, with a smile, folding his hands on
his knee, and preparing to listen, and, if need be, to correct.
"Be assured, Erling," said Hilda, "that I know very little."
"Enough for me, no doubt," returned the youth.
"For a day or two, perhaps," said the too-literal Hilda; "but after that
Christian will have--"
"After that," interrupted Erling, "it will be time enough to consider
that subject."
Hilda laughed, and asked if he were ready to begin. To which Erling
replied that he was, and, sitting down opposite to his teacher, bent
over the parchment, which for greater convenience she had spread out
upon her knee.
"Well," began Hilda, with a slight feeling of that pardonable
self-importance which is natural to those who instruct others older than
themselves, "that is the first letter."
"Which?" asked Erling, gazing up in her face.
"That one there, with the long tail to it. Dost thou see it?"
"Yes," replied the youth.
"How canst thou say so, Erling," remonstrated Hilda, "when thou art
looking all the time straight in my face!"
"But I _do_ see it," returned he, a little confused; "I am looking at it
_now_."
"Well," said she, "that is--"
"Thou art looking at it upside down, my son," said the hermit, who had
been observing them with an amused expression of countenance.
"Oh, so he is; I never thought of that," cried Hilda, laughing; "thou
must sit beside me, Erling, so that we may see it in the same way."
"This one, now, with the curve _that_ way," she went on, "dost thou see
it?"
"See it!" thought Erling, "of course I see it: the prettiest little hand
in all the dale!" But he only said--
"How can I see it, Hilda, when the point of thy finger covers it?"
"Oh! well," drawing the finger down a little, "thou seest it now?"
"Yes."
"Well, that is--why! where is Christian?" she exclaimed, looking up
suddenly in great surprise, and pointing to the stool on which the
hermit certainly had been sitting a few minutes before, but which was
now vacant.
"He must have gone out while we were busy with the--the parchment," said
Erling, also much surprised.
"He went like a mouse, then," said Hilda, "for I heard him not."
"Nor I," added her companion.
"Very strange," said she.
Now there was nothing particularly strange in the matter. The fact was
that the old man had just exercised a little of Erling's philosophy in
the way of projecting a cause to its result. As we have elsewhere
hinted, the hermit was not one of those ascetics who, in ignorance of
the truth, banished themselves out of the world. His banishment had not
been self-imposed. He had fled before the fierce persecutors. They
managed to slay the old man's wife, however, before they made him take
to flight and seek that refuge and freedom of conscience among the Pagan
Northmen which were denied him in Christian Europe. In the first ten
minutes after the A B C class began he perceived how things stood with
the young people, and, wisely judging that the causes which were
operating in their hearts would proceed to their issue more pleasantly
in his absence, he quietly got up and went out to cut firewood.
After this the hermit invariably found it necessary to go out and cut
firewood when Erling and Hilda arrived at the school, which they did
regularly three times a week.
This, of course, was considered a very natural and proper state of
things by the two young people, for they were both considerate by
nature, and would have been sorry indeed to have interrupted the old man
in his regular work.
But Erling soon began to feel that it was absolutely essential for one
of them to be in advance of the other in regard to knowledge, if the
work of teaching was to go on; for, while both remained equally
ignorant, the fiction could not be kept up with even the semblance of
propriety. To obviate this difficulty he paid solitary nocturnal visits
to the hut, on which occasions he applied himself so zealously to the
study of the strange characters that he not only became as expert as his
teacher, but left her far behind, and triumphantly rebutted the charge
of stupidity which she had made against him.
At the same time our hero entered a new and captivating region of mental
and spiritual activity when the hermit laid before him the portions of
Holy Scripture which he had copied out before leaving southern lands,
and expounded to him the grand, the glorious truths that God had
revealed to man through Jesus Christ our Lord. And profoundly deep, and
startling even to himself, were the workings of the young Norseman's
active mind while he sat there, night after night, in the lone hut on
the cliff, poring over the sacred rolls, or holding earnest converse
with the old man about things past, present, and future.