gentle, loving women,—oh, but it is fair to live!
SIGRID.
[_With an expression of terror._] Skule, my brother! Woe to you if
you stray from the path this night.
[_A loud noise without; immediately afterwards, a knocking
at the gate._
MARGRETE.
Hark, hark! Who comes in such haste?
LADY RAGNHILD.
Who knocks at the gate?
VOICES.
[_Without._] Townsfolk from Nidaros! Open! We know that Skule
Bårdsson is within!
KING SKULE.
Ay, he is within; what would ye with him?
NOISY VOICES.
[_Without._] Come out, come out! Death to the evil man!
MARGRETE.
You townsfolk dare to threaten that?
A SINGLE VOICE.
King Håkon doomed him at Oslo.
ANOTHER.
’Tis every man’s duty to slay him.
MARGRETE.
I am the Queen; I command you to depart!
A VOICE.
’Tis Skule Bårdsson’s daughter, and not the Queen, that speaks thus.
ANOTHER.
You have no power over life and death; the King has doomed him!
LADY RAGNHILD.
Into the church, Skule! For God’s mercy’s sake, let not the
bloodthirsty caitiffs approach you!
KING SKULE.
Ay, into the church; I would not fall at the hands of such as these.
My wife, my daughter; meseems I have found peace and light; oh, I
cannot lose them again so soon!
[_Moves towards the chapel._
PETER.
[_Without, on the right._] My father, my king. Now will you soon
have the victory!
KING SKULE.
[_With a shriek._] He! He!
[_Sinks down upon the church steps._
LADY RAGNHILD.
Who is it?
A TOWNSMAN.
[_Without._] See, see! the church-robber climbs over the convent
roof!
OTHERS.
Stone him! Stone him!
PETER.
[_Appears on a roof to the right, and jumps down into the yard._]
Well met again, my father!
KING SKULE.
[_Looks at him aghast._] You—I had forgotten you——! Whence come you?
PETER.
[_Wildly._] Where is the King-child?
MARGRETE.
The King-child!
KING SKULE.
[_Starts up._] Whence come you, I ask?
PETER.
From Hladehammer; I have given Bård Bratte and the Vargbælgs to know
that the King-child lies at Elgesæter to-night.
MARGRETE.
O God!
KING SKULE.
You have done that! And now——?
PETER.
He is gathering together his men, and they are hasting up to the
convent.—Where is the King-child, woman?
MARGRETE.
[_Who has placed herself before the church door._] He sleeps in the
sacristy!
PETER.
’Twere the same if he slept on the altar! I have dragged out St.
Olaf’s shrine—I fear not to drag out the King-child as well.
LADY RAGNHILD.
[_Calls to_ SKULE.] And he it is you have loved so deeply!
MARGRETE.
Father, father! How could you forget us all for his sake?
KING SKULE.
He was pure as a lamb of God when the penitent woman gave him to
me;—’tis his faith in me has made him what he now is.
PETER.
[_Without heeding him._] The child must out! Slay it, slay it in the
Queen’s arms,—that was King Skule’s word in Oslo!
MARGRETE.
Oh shame, oh shame!
PETER.
A saint might do it unsinning, at my father’s command! My father is
King; for the great king’s-thought is his!
TOWNSMEN.
[_Knocking at the gate._] Open! Come out, you and the church-robber,
else will we burn the convent down!
KING SKULE.
[_As if seized by a strong resolution._] The great king’s-thought!
’Tis _that_ has poisoned your young loving soul! Pure and blameless
I was to give you back; ’tis faith in me that drives you thus wildly
from crime to crime, from deadly sin to deadly sin! Oh, but I can
save you yet: I can save us all! [_Calls toward the background._]
Wait, wait, ye townsmen without there: I come!
MARGRETE.
[_Seizing his hand in terror._] My father! what would you do?
LADY RAGNHILD.
[_Clinging to him with a shriek._] Skule!
SIGRID.
[_Tears them away from him, and calls with wild, radiant joy._]
Loose him, loose him, women;—now his thought puts forth wings!
KING SKULE.
[_Firmly and forcibly, to_ PETER.] You saw in me the heaven-chosen
one,—him who should do the great king’s-work in the land. Look at me
better, misguided boy! The rags of kingship I have decked myself
withal, they were borrowed and stolen—now I put them off me, one by
one.
PETER.
[_In dread._] My great, my noble father, speak not thus!
KING SKULE.
The king’s-thought is Håkon’s, not mine; to him alone has the Lord
granted the power that can act it out. You have believed in a lie;
turn from me, and save your soul.
PETER.
[_In a broken voice._] The king’s-thought is Håkon’s!
KING SKULE.
I yearned to be the greatest in the land. My God! my God! behold, I
abase myself before thee, and stand as the least of all men.
PETER.
Take me from the earth, O Lord! Punish me for all my sin; but take
me from the earth; for here am I homeless now!
[_Sinks down upon the church steps._
KING SKULE.
I had a friend who bled for me at Oslo. He said: A man can die for
another’s life-work; but if he is to go on living, he must live for
his own.—I have no life-work to live for, neither can I live for
Håkon’s,—but I can die for it.
MARGRETE.
Nay, nay, that shall you never do!
KING SKULE.
[_Takes her hand, and looks at her tenderly._] Do you love your
husband, Margrete?
MARGRETE.
Better than the whole world.
KING SKULE.
You could endure that he should doom me; but could you also endure
that he should let the doom be fulfilled?
MARGRETE.
Lord of heaven, give me strength!
KING SKULE.
Could you, Margrete?
MARGRETE.
[_Softly and shuddering._] No, no—we should have to part,—I could
never see him more!
KING SKULE.
You would darken the fairest light of his life and of yours;—be at
peace, Margrete,—it shall not be needful.
LADY RAGNHILD.
Flee from the land, Skule; I will follow you whithersoever you will.
KING SKULE.
[_Shaking his head._] With a mocking shade between us?—To-night have
I found you for the first time; there must fall no shade between me
and you, my silent, faithful wife;—therefore must we not seek to
unite our lives on this earth.
SIGRID.
My kingly brother! I see you need me not;—I see you know what path
to take.
KING SKULE.
There are men born to live, and men born to die. My desire was ever
thitherward where God’s finger pointed not the way for me; therefore
I never saw my path clear, till now. My peaceful home-life have I
wrecked; I can never win it back again. My sins against Håkon I can
atone by freeing him from a kingly duty which must have parted him
from his dearest treasure. The townsfolk stand without; I will not
wait for King Håkon! The Vargbælgs are near; so long as I live they
will not swerve from their purpose; if they find me here, I cannot
save your child, Margrete.—See, look upwards! See how it wanes and
pales, the flaming sword that has hung over my head! Yes, yes,—God
has spoken and I have understood him, and his wrath is appeased. Not
in the sanctuary of Elgesæter will I cast me down and beg for grace
of an earthly king;—I must into the mighty church roofed with the
vault of stars and ’tis the King of Kings I must implore for grace
and mercy over all my life-work.
SIGRID.
Withstand him not! Withstand not the call of God! The day dawns; it
dawns in Norway and it dawns in his restless soul! Have not we
trembling women cowered long enough in our secret rooms,
terror-stricken and hidden in the darkest corners, listening to all
the horror that was doing without, listening to the bloody pageant
that stalked over the land from end to end! Have we not lain pale
and stone-like in the churches, not daring to look forth, even as
Christ’s disciples lay in Jerusalem on the Great Good Friday when
the Lord was led by to Golgotha! Use thy wings, and woe to them who
would bind thee now!
LADY RAGNHILD.
Fare forth in peace, my husband; fare thither, where no mocking
shade shall stand between us, when we meet.
[_Hastens into the chapel._
MARGRETE.
My father, farewell, farewell,—a thousand times farewell!
[_Follows_ LADY RAGNHILD.
SIGRID.
[_Opens the church door and calls in._] To your knees, all ye women!
Assemble yourselves in prayer; send up a message in song to the
Lord, and tell him that now Skule Bårdsson comes penitent home from
his rebellious race on earth.
KING SKULE.
Sigrid, my faithful sister, greet King Håkon from me; tell him that
even in my last hour I know not whether he be king-born; but this I
know of a surety: he it is whom God has chosen.
SIGRID.
I will bear him your greeting.
KING SKULE.
And yet another greeting must you bear. There dwells a penitent
woman in the north, in Halogaland; tell her that her son has gone
before; he went with me when there was great danger for his soul.
SIGRID.
That will I.
KING SKULE.
Tell her, it was not with the heart he sinned; pure and blameless
shall she surely meet him again.
SIGRID.
That will I. [_Points towards the background._] Hark! they are
breaking the lock!
KING SKULE.
[_Points towards the chapel._] Hark! they are singing loud to God of
salvation and peace!
SIGRID.
Hark again! All the bells in Nidaros are ringing——!
KING SKULE.
[_Smiles mournfully._] They are ringing a king to his grave.
SIGRID.
Nay, nay, they ring for your true crowning! Farewell, my brother,
let the purple robe of blood flow wide over your shoulders; under it
may all sin be hidden! Go forth, go into the great church and take
the crown of life.
[_Hastens into the chapel._
[_Chanting and bell-ringing continue during what follows._
VOICES.
[_Outside the gate._] The lock has burst! Force us not to break the
peace of the church!
KING SKULE.
I come.
THE TOWNSMEN.
And the church-robber must come too!
KING SKULE.
Ay, the church-robber shall come too. [_Goes over to_ PETER.] My
son, are you ready?
PETER.
Ay, father, I am ready.
KING SKULE.
[_Looks upwards._] O God, I am a poor man, I have but my life to
give; but take that, and keep watch over Håkon’s great
king’s-thought.—See now, give me your hand.
PETER.
Here is my hand, father.
KING SKULE.
And fear not for that which is now to come.
PETER.
Nay, father, I fear not, when I go with you.
KING SKULE.
A safer way have we two never trodden together. [_He opens the gate;
the_ TOWNSMEN _stand without with upraised weapons_.] Here are we;
we come of our own free will;—but strike him not in the face.
[_They pass out, hand in hand; the gate glides to._
A VOICE.
Aim not, spare not;—strike them where ye can.
KING SKULE’S VOICE.
’Tis base to deal thus with chieftains.
[_A short noise of weapons; then a heavy fall is heard; all
is still for a moment._
A VOICE.
They are dead, both of them!
[_The_ KING’S _horn sounds_.
ANOTHER VOICE.
There comes King Håkon with all his guard!
THE CROWD.
Hail Håkon Håkonsson; now have you no longer any foemen.
GREGORIUS JONSSON.
[_Stops a little before the corpses._] So I have come too late!
[_Enters the convent yard._
DAGFINN.
It had been ill for Norway had you come sooner. [_Calls out._] In
here, King Håkon!
HÅKON.
[_Stopping._] The body lies in my way!
DAGFINN.
If Håkon Håkonsson would go forward, he must pass over Skule
Bårdsson’s body!
HÅKON.
In God’s name then!
[_Steps over the corpse and comes in._
DAGFINN.
At last you can set about your king’s-work with free hands. In there
are those you _love_; in Nidaros they are ringing in peace in the
_land_; and yonder he lies who was your direst foe.
HÅKON.
All men misjudged him, reading not his secret.
DAGFINN.
His secret?
HÅKON.
[_Seizes him by the arm, and says softly._] Skule Bårdsson was God’s
step-child on earth; that was the secret.
[_The song of the women is heard more loudly from the
chapel; all the bells are still ringing in Nidaros._
THE END.
-----
Footnote 21:
Pronounce _Sverrë_.
Footnote 22:
Pronounce Inghë.
Footnote 23:
The old name for Trondheim.
Footnote 24:
The “Birkebeiner” or Birchlegs were at this period a political
faction. They were so called because, at the time of their first
appearance, when they seem to have been little more than bandits,
they eked out their scanty attire by making themselves leggings of
birch-bark. Norway at this time swarmed with factions, such as the
“Bagler” or Croziers (Latin, baculus), so called because Bishop
Nicholas was their chief, the Ribbungs, the Slittungs, etc.,
devoted, for the most part, to one or other of the many Pretenders
to the crown.
Footnote 25:
A “thing,” or assembly, held from time to time on the “öre” or
foreshore at the mouth of the river Nid, at Trondhiem.
Footnote 26:
The word _hird_ is very difficult to render. It meant something
between “court,” “household,” and “guard.” I have never translated
it “court,” as that word seemed to convey an idea of peaceful
civilisation foreign to the country and period; but I have used
either “guard” or “household” as the context seemed to demand.
_Hirdmand_ I have generally rendered “man-at-arms.” _Lendermand_ I
have represented by “baron”; _lagmand_ and _sysselmand_ by
“thane”; and _stallare_ by “marshal”—all mere rough
approximations.
Footnote 27:
See note, p. 125.
Footnote 28:
Pronounce _Shaldarband_.
Footnote 29:
Bishop Nicholas’s speech, “Nu slår jeg bonden, herre jarl,” means
literally, “Now I strike (or slay) the peasant”; the pawn being
called in Norwegian “bonde,” peasant, as in German “Bauer.” Thus
in this speech and the next the Bishop and the Earl are girding at
Dagfinn the Peasant. [Our own word “pawn” comes from the Spanish
peon = a foot-soldier or day-labourer.]
Footnote 30:
Pronounce _Yostein_.
Footnote 31:
_Den lykkeligste mand._ The word _lykke_ means not only luck or
fortune, but happiness. To render _lykkeligste_ completely, we
should require a word in which the ideas “fortunate” and “happy”
should be blent.
Footnote 32:
See note, p. 125.
Footnote 33:
An ancient city close to the present Christiania.
Footnote 34:
Men of the Trondheim district.
Footnote 35:
_Skibreder_, districts each of which furnished a ship to the
fleet.
Footnote 36:
The metre of this song is very rugged in the original, and the
wording purposely uncouth.
Footnote 37:
See note, p. 127.
Footnote 38:
The derivation of this word is doubtful. In the form _Vargbælg_ it
means Wolf-skin, from Icelandic _Vargr_ = a wolf, and _Belgr_—the
skin of an animal taken off whole. The more common form, however,
is _Varbelg,_ which, as P. A. Munch suggests (“Det Norske Folks
Historie,” iii. 219), may possibly come from _var_ (our word
“ware”), a covering, and may be an allusion to the falsity and
cunning of the faction. What Ibsen understands by the form
_Vårbælg_ I cannot discover. _Vår_ (Icelandic _Vâr_) means the
springtide. The nick-name had been applied to a political faction
as early as 1190, and was merely revived as a designation for
Skule’s adherents.
Footnote 39:
_Knœsœtte_, see note, p. 19.
Footnote 40:
_Varger_, the first part of the word _Vargbælg_.
Footnote 41:
As to the earlier text of this scene, see Brandes’ _Ibsen and
Björnson_ (Heinemann, 1899), p. 29.
Footnote 42:
_Lur_, the long wooden horn still used among the mountains in
Norway.
Footnote 43:
The arms of Norway consist of a lion rampant, holding an axe.
Footnote 44:
_Et nyt kongs-emne._
Footnote 45:
_Elgesæter_—Elk-châlet.
Footnote 46:
_Et kongs-emne._
-----
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Transcriber’s Note
There are quite a few instances of missing punctuation. The
conventional period following the character’s name is sometimes
missing and has been added for consistency’s sake without further
comment. Those missing from setting and stage direction are also
added without comment, since there is no obvious purpose to be
served by the omission. However, the restoration of punctuation
missing from dialogue is noted below, since the punctuation is
frequently expressive.
Volume I of this series included errata for each succeeding volume.
Some, but not all of the corrections indicated there had been made
before this printing. Those that remained unchanged have been
corrected here, and noted as such.
Other errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been
corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and
line in the original. The following issues should be noted, along
with the resolutions.
63.16 If Thorol[d/f] is slain Replaced,
per Errata.
63.18 If Thorol[d/f] is slain Replaced,
per Errata.
82.29 Whither wilt thou[?] Added.
118.12 _H[a/å]kon’s marshal._ Replaced.
123.32 The old name for Trondh[ie/ei]m. Transposed.
161.27 the full strength of my youth[;/.] Replaced.
279.13 what have you done[?] Added.
329.1 [_Softly_ [to] SKULE.] Farewell, Skule Added.
Bårdsson
341.4 And the church-robber must come too[!] Added.