"A joyful duty now awaits you," the Duke began again: "a boy of noble
family asks the bestowal of the sword, the first weapon granted. Many
of us know him, and all who do, wish him well. True, the young hero is
not very large; but I take my oath that I saw him yesterday pierce with
his spear, at fifteen paces, a moderately thick linden-wood shield. And
great was his courage, bold his daring when, dauntlessly risking his
life and liberty, he scaled the wall of the Roman camp, brought back
most important information and placed it in the Duke's hand."
"Who is it? Who is it?" asked many voices.
Adalo stepped forward, leading his brother by the hand: "Sippilo, my
brave little brother."
Then the Duke spoke:
"I ask the assembly: Shall he receive the weapons? Is the young falcon
fledged?" A pleasant smile illumined the face which could look so
wrathful and threatening.
"Hail to him! Hail to the Adeling! Hail to the boy! Give him the
weapons."
Sippilo flushed like a young girl, but the blush was very becoming.
"Will you grant him the favor of bestowing the weapons yourself, O
Duke?" pleaded Adalo. "Then, when he grasps sword or spear, he must
always remember the hero to whom he first owed them, and prove himself
worthy of the giver."
"I will," said the judge, rising and beckoning to the boy.
Sippilo ascended the first of the steps leading to the Duke's chair.
Hariowald took the little round shield lying before him and gave it to
the lad, who seized it eagerly, passing his left arm under the upper
bar of the shield and clasping the lower one with his hand. "I,
Hariowald, son of Hariomar, Count of Linzgau, chosen by all the
Alemanni Duke for this summer's Roman war, say to you, Sippilo, son of
Adalger, of age to use weapons and worthy to receive them:
"With the shield I give, protect,
Better than thine own breast,
Dearer than thine own body and life,
The noble Alemanni
Land and nation.
Shield runes, and runes of defence,
Deep burned thy brother
Its solid framework within;
They will hold and keep
The shield's shelter for thee
So long as thou thyself
Dost hold and stand
Fast by thy people."
Then he handed him the spear, saying:
"Runes of victory I, sure of triumph,
Carved for thee myself
On the sharp spear's handle.
To mortal man never
Lower it vanquished,
Nor let its shaft be shattered.
Some day, full lightly,
From thy faithful hand
When, white-bearded, thou dost win
On thy shield the battle death
'Mid blissful victory--
Then, from thy faithful hand,
Lightly will take it
On swan-wings downward to thee floating,
Shining in beauty,
Valhalla's fairest Valkyria,
And bear thee, loyal one,
Upward to Odin."
Lastly, he put on the belt from which the sword hung in its sheath,
saying:
"As the belt now girdles thee,
So, as its own doth hold thee
The Alemanni army.
As the belt is for thee
Ornament and defence,
So art thou, as one link,
Ornament and defence
To us, the Alemanni."
Then Sippilo drew the short sword from its sheath, held the hilt toward
the shining sun, and said:
"This bright sword will I wield
For my free nation,
For its rights, its renown,
And for Sippilo's kinsmen!
Should I e'er do aught else,
May the keen, shining edge,
The sharp blade, the wise blade--
For this oath it knoweth--
Deal my faithless heart a death-blow!
Sun, thou dost see it;
The Lofty One heard it,
And Zio is witness,
With the Alemanni's
High-crested army."
The boy now leaped joyously down the steps and, proud of his new
weapons, took his place beside his brother amid loud shouts of applause
from the multitude, especially his kinsmen and those who had the stag's
antlers inscribed on their shields.
"Now the next act of justice. One who is absent wishes to free his
bondman in the assembly. Suomar, son of Suobert, who is on guard in the
eastern marshes, liberates his slave Zercho. I have bought his freedom
for the sake of good service rendered to the army; his master, to whom
a messenger was sent, is willing to set him free; and Adalo, the
Adeling, by his wish, will speak and act for him. Bring the bondman."
Then Zercho, who had been waiting outside the body of freemen, was led
before the stone seat by two heralds. His eyes were sparkling with joy.
Adalo, holding in his hand a bow and arrow, stepped forward, saying:
"As the representative of Suomar, your master, I announce in the open
assembly that he has received from Hariowald, Count of the Linzgau, a
faultless stallion four years old, two cows of Roman breed, twenty
sheep, a bronze armlet seven times twisted, and a silver solidus; in
exchange for which he frees you, Zercho, the Jazyge whom he bought as a
prisoner of war from a dealer in Vindonissa. By my hand and word he
liberates you: take the last blow which you have to bear as a slave."
He gave him a light stroke on the cheek. "And see, look, all ye
freemen: as I shoot this arrow, so free and far, unrestrained and
unfettered, Suomar, who hitherto has been your master, leaves you. You
may go forth as free as this arrow flies--free and restrained by no
one!"
As he spoke he sent the arrow, winged with heron feathers, high into
the air. The missile whirred from the long bow, whose string struck
echoing against the beautifully polished wood. Zercho watched the
arrow. High, high up it flew, till it vanished in the blue sky. But he
did not see clearly; his eyes were swimming in tears; it was hard to
force back a loud sob. From long years of custom, he was about to throw
himself prostrate on the ground and, clasping the Adeling's feet, kiss
his hands in token of gratitude. But the latter quickly stopped him,
and the Duke said:
"You are free now, Zercho! Rejoice, freeman! For, though your master's
hand was gentle, bondage is pitiable and withers strength and courage.
Only the life of the free is life: the slave breathes, but he does not
live."
Adalo handed him the bow, saying: "Here is this weapon, which proves
your freedom before the whole people. Let it be the first one you carry
in the army and for the people of the Alemanni, which has now become
your nation too."
With radiant eyes and head erect the freedman now entered the ranks of
the free.