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VIKING TALES 
 
THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 Elizabeth C- Baity 
 Estate 
 
00007122909 
 
►W iolwfai. 
 
 Hq\I 
 
 lllutstrcite-cl 6y 
 
 VICTOR-R- 
 LAMBDIN 
 
 RAND ; M?NALLY&OQ 
 
 Chicago • Ne volorA: • London 
 
Copyright, 1Q02, 
 By Jennie Hall 
 
t** Table ^Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A List of the Illustrations 8 
 
 What the Sagas Were 9 
 
 Part I. 
 
 IN NORWAY 
 
 The Baby 15 
 
 The Tooth-thrall 19 
 
 Olaf's Farm 27 
 
 Olaf's Fight with Havard 40 
 
 Foes'-fear 47 
 
 Harald is King 53 
 
 Harald's Battle 62 
 
 Gyda's Saucy Message 71 
 
 The Sea Fight 81 
 
 King Harald's Wedding 89 
 
 King Harald Goes West-Over-Seas 95 
 
 Part II. 
 WEST-OVER-SEAS 
 
 Homes in Iceland 103 
 
 Eric the Red 143 
 
 Leif and His New Land 161 
 
 Wineland the Good 174 
 
 Descriptive Notes 194 
 
List of the Illustrations; 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A map showing the journeys of the Vikings . Frontispiece 
 "I own this baby for my son. He shall be called 
 
 liar aid'' 17 
 
 "He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger 
 
 from his belt " 22 
 
 "I struck my shield against the door so that it made 
 
 a great clanging " 31 
 
 "Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly" , 45 
 
 "He drove it into the wolfs neck" , 51 
 
 "I vow that I will grind my father's foes under my 
 
 heel" 59 
 
 "King Haki fell dead under ' Foes' fear ' " .... 68 
 "I will not be his wife unless he puts all of Norway 
 
 under him for my sake " 73 
 
 "Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat" .... S7 
 "I, Harald, King of Norway, take you, Gyda,for my 
 
 wife" 91 
 
 "I>i Norway they left burning houses and weeping 
 
 women " . . 97 
 
 "Then he saw that Lcif's ship was being driven afar 
 
 off" "• • 125 
 
 "Those Icelanders clapped them on the shoulders " . 137 
 "He looked straight ahead of him and scowled" . . 145 
 "More than half the men in the hall jumped to tiieir 
 
 feet" 147 
 
 "It is a bigger boat than I ever saw before" . . . 153 
 "He pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled his 
 
 eyes" 167 
 
 "The chief held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the 
 
 cloak to him " 187 
 
What t»e Sagas Were 
 
 ICELAND is a little country far north 
 in the cold sea. Men found it and 
 went there to live more than a thousand 
 years ago. During the warm season they 
 used to fish and make fish-oil and hunt 
 sea-birds and gather feathers and tend 
 their sheep and make hay. But the win- 
 ters were long and dark and cold. Men 
 and women and children stayed in the 
 house and carded and spun and wove 
 and knit. A whole family sat for hours 
 around the fire in the middle of the room. 
 That fire gave the only light. Shadows 
 flitted in the dark corners. Smoke curled 
 along the high beams in the ceiling. 
 The children sat on the dirt floor close 
 by the fire. The grown people were on a 
 long narrow bench that they had pulled 
 up to the light and warmth. Everybody's 
 hands were busy with wool. The work 
 left their minds free to think and their 
 lips to talk. What was there to talk 
 about ? The summer's fishing, the kill- 
 ing of a fox, a voyage to Norway. But 
 
io Viking Tales 
 
 the people grew tired of this little gos- 
 sip. Fathers looked at their children 
 and thought: 
 
 "They are not learning much. What 
 will make them brave and wise? What will 
 teach them to love their country and old 
 Norway ? Will not the stories of battles, 
 of brave deeds, of mighty men, do this?" 
 
 So, as the family worked in the red 
 fire-light, the father told of the kings of 
 Norway, of long vo3 7 ages to strange lands, 
 of good fights. And in farmhouses all 
 through Iceland these old tales were told 
 over and over until everybody knew them 
 and loved them. Some men could sing 
 and play the harp. This made the stories 
 all the more interesting. People called 
 such men "skalds," and they called their 
 songs "sagas." 
 
 Every midsummer there was a great 
 meeting. Men from all over Iceland 
 came to it and made laws. During the 
 day there were rest times, when no bus- 
 iness was going on. Then some skald 
 would take his harp and walk to a large 
 stone or a knoll and stand on it and begin 
 a song of some brave deed of an old 
 
In Norway u 
 
 Norse hero. At the first sound of the 
 harp and the voice, men came running 
 from all directions, crying out : 
 
 "The skald! The skald! A saga!" 
 
 They stood about for hours and lis- 
 tened. They shouted applause. When 
 the skald was tired, some other man 
 would come up from the crowd and sing 
 or tell a story. As the skald stepped 
 down from his high position, some rich 
 man would rush up to him and say: 
 
 "Come and spend next winter at my 
 house. Our ears are thirsty for song." 
 
 So the best skalds traveled much and 
 visited many people. Their songs made 
 them welcome everywhere. They were 
 always honored with good seats at a feast. 
 They were given many rich gifts. Even 
 the King of Norway would sometimes 
 send across the water to Iceland, saying 
 to some famous skald: 
 
 ' ' Come and visit me. You shall not go 
 away empty-handed. Men say that the 
 sweetest songs are in Iceland. I wish to 
 hear them." 
 
 These tales were not written. Few 
 men wrote or read in those days. Skalds 
 
12 Viking Tales 
 
 b 
 
 learned songs from hearing them sung. 
 At last people began to write more easily. 
 Then they said: 
 
 "These stories are very precious. We 
 must write them down to save them 
 from being forgotten." 
 
 After that many men in Iceland spent 
 their winters in writing books. They 
 wrote on sheepskin; vellum, we call it. 
 Many of these old vellum books have 
 been saved for hundreds of years, and 
 are now in museums in Norway. Some 
 leaves are lost, some are torn, all are 
 yellow and crumpled. But they are pre- 
 cious. They tell us all that we know 
 about that olden time. There are the 
 very words that the men of Iceland wrote 
 so long ago — stories of kings and of bat- 
 tles and of ship-sailing. Some of those 
 old stories I have told in this book. 
 
/AC NORWAY 
 
KING HALFDAN lived in Norway 
 long ago. One morning his queen 
 said to him : 
 
 ' ' I had a strange dream last night. 
 I thought that I stood in the grass before 
 my bower.* I pulled a thorn from my 
 dress. As I held it in my fingers, it grew 
 into a tall tree. The trunk was thick 
 and red as blood, but the lower limbs 
 were fair and green, and the highest ones 
 were white. I thought that the branches 
 of this great tree spread so far that they 
 covered all Norway and even more." 
 
 "A strange dream," said King Half- 
 dan. ' ' Dreams are the messengers of the 
 gods. I wonder what they would tell 
 us," and he stroked his beard in thought. 
 
 Some time after that a serving-woman 
 came into the feast hall where King 
 Halfdan was. She carried a little white 
 bundle in her arms. 
 
 * See note about house on page 194. 
 15 
 
1 6 V iking Talcs 
 
 "My lord," she said, "a little son is 
 just born to } 7 ou." 
 
 "Ha!" cried the king, and he jumped 
 up from the high seat and hastened for- 
 ward until he stood before the woman. 
 
 "Show him to me!" he shouted, and 
 there was joy in his voice. 
 
 The serving-woman put down her bun- 
 dle on the ground and turned back the 
 cloth. There was a little naked baby. 
 The king looked at it carefully. 
 
 " It is a goodly youngster," he said, and 
 smiled. ' ' Bring Ivar and Thorstein." * 
 
 They were captains of the king's sol- 
 diers. Soon they came. 
 
 "Stand as witnesses," Halfdan said. 
 
 Then he lifted the baby in his arms, 
 while the old serving-woman brought a 
 silver bowl of water. The king dipped 
 his hand into it and sprinkled the bab}^, 
 saying: 
 
 "I own this baby for my son. He 
 shall be called Harald. My naming gift 
 to him is ten pounds of gold." 
 
 Then the woman carried the baby 
 back to the queen's room. 
 
 * See note about names on page 194. 
 
1 8 Viking Tales 
 
 "My lord owns him for his son," she 
 said. "And no wonder! He is perfect 
 in every limb." 
 
 The queen looked at him and smiled 
 and remembered her dream and thought: 
 
 ' ' That great tree ! Can it be this little 
 baby of mine?" 
 
THe Tooth, Thra,U 
 
 WHEN Harald was seven months old 
 he cut his first tooth. Then his 
 father said : 
 
 "All the young of my herds, lambs 
 and calves and colts, that have been born 
 since this baby was born I this day give 
 to him. I also give to him this thrall, 
 Olaf. These are my tooth-gifts to my 
 son." 
 
 The boy grew fast, for as soon as he 
 could walk about he was out of doors 
 most of the time. He ran in the woods 
 and climbed the hills and waded in the 
 creek. He was much with his tooth 
 thrall, for the king had said to Olaf: 
 
 " Be ever at his call." 
 
 Now this Olaf was full of stories, and 
 Harald liked to hear them. 
 
 "Come out to Aegir's Rock, Olaf, and 
 tell me stories," he said almost every day. 
 
 So they started off across the hills. 
 The man wore a long, loose coat of white 
 
 19 
 
20 Viking Tales 
 
 wool, belted at the waist with a strap. 
 He had on coarse shoes and leather leg- 
 gings. Around his neck was an iron 
 collar welded together so that it could 
 not come off. On it were strange marks, 
 called runes, that said : 
 
 "Olaf, thrall of Halfdan." 
 
 But Harald's clothes were gay. A cape 
 of gra}^ velvet hung from his shoulders. 
 It was fastened over his breast with great 
 gold buckles. When it waved in the 
 wind, a scarlet lining flashed out, and the 
 bottom of a little scarlet jacket showed. 
 His feet and legs were covered with 
 gray woolen tights. Gold lacings wound 
 around his legs from his shoes to his 
 knees. A band of gold held down his 
 long, }^ellow hair. 
 
 It was a wild country that these 
 two were walking over. They were 
 climbing steep, rough hills. Some of 
 them seemed made all of rock, with a 
 little earth lying in spots. Great rocks 
 hung out from them, with trees grow- 
 ing in their cracks. Some big pieces 
 had broken off and rolled down the 
 hill. 
 
In A T orway 21 
 
 " Thor broke them," Olaf said. "He 
 rides through the sky and hurls his 
 hammer at clouds and at mountains. 
 That makes the thunder and the light- 
 ning and cracks the hills. His hammer 
 never misses its aim, and it always 
 comes back to his hand and is eager 
 to go again." 
 
 When they reached the top of the hill 
 they looked back. Far below was a soft, 
 green valley. In front of it the sea came 
 up into the land and made a fiord. On 
 each side of the fiord high walls of rock 
 stood up and made the water black with 
 shadow. All around the valley were high 
 hills with dark pines on them. Far off 
 were the mountains. In the valley were 
 Half dan's houses around their square 
 yard. 
 
 "How little our houses look down 
 there!" Harald said. "But I can almost 
 — yes, I can see the red dragon on the 
 roof of the feast hall. Do you remember 
 when I climbed up and sat on his head, 
 Olaf?" 
 
 He laughed and kicked his heels and 
 ran on. 
 

 
 
 
 " //^ threw back his cape and dreiv a little dagger from his belt 
 
In Norway 23 
 
 At last they came to Aegir's Rock and 
 walked up on its flat top. Harald went 
 to the edge and looked over. A ragged 
 wall of rock reached down, and two hun- 
 dred feet below was the black water of 
 the fiord. Olaf watched him for a while, 
 then he said : 
 
 "No whitening of your cheek, Harald ? 
 Good! A boy that can face the fall of 
 Aegir's Rock will not be afraid to face 
 the war flash when he is a man." 
 
 " Ho, I am not afraid of the war flash 
 now," cried Harald. 
 
 He threw back his cape and drew a 
 little dagger from his belt. 
 
 "See!" he cried; "does this not flash 
 like a sword ? And I am not afraid. But 
 after all, this is a baby thing ! When I 
 am eight years old I will have a sword, a 
 sharp tooth of war." 
 
 He swung his dagger as though it 
 were a long sword. Then he ran and sat 
 on a rock by Olaf. 
 
 "Why is this Aegir's Rock?" he asked. 
 
 "You know that Asgard is up in the 
 sk} T ," Olaf said. "It is a wonderful city 
 where the golden houses of the gods are 
 
2 4 Viking Tales 
 
 in the golden grove. A high wall runs 
 all around it. In the house of 'Odin, 
 the All-father, there is a great feast hall 
 larger than the whole earth. Its name is 
 Valhalla. It has five hundred doors. 
 The rafters are spears. The roof is 
 thatched with shields. Armor lies on the 
 benches. In the high seat sits Odin, a 
 golden helmet on his head, a spear in his 
 hand. Two wolves lie at his feet. At 
 his right hand and his left sit all the gods 
 and goddesses, and around the hall sit 
 thousands and thousands of men, all the 
 brave ones that have ever died. 
 
 " Now it is good to be in Valhalla ; for 
 there is mead there better than men can 
 brew, and it never runs out. And there 
 are skalds that sing wonderful songs that 
 men never heard. And before the doors 
 of Valhalla is a great meadow where the 
 warriors fight every day and get glorious 
 and sweet wounds and give man}^. And 
 all night they feast, and their wounds 
 heal. But none may go to Valhalla ex- 
 cept VT. rr iors that have died bravely in 
 battle. Men who die from sickness go 
 with women and children and cowards 
 
In Norway 25 
 
 to Niflheim. There Hela, who is queen, 
 always sneers at them, and a terrible cold 
 takes hold of their bones, and they sit 
 down and freeze. 
 
 ' ' Years ago Aegir was a great warrior. 
 Aegir the Big-handed, they called him. 
 In many a battle his sword had sung, 
 and he had sent many warriors to Val- 
 halla. Many swords had bit into his 
 flesh and left marks there, but never a 
 one had struck him to death. So his hair 
 grew white and his arms thin. There 
 was peace in that country then, and Aegir 
 sorrowed, saying: 
 
 " ' I am old. Battles are still. Must I 
 die in bed like a woman ? Shall I not see 
 Valhalla?' 
 
 "Now thus did Odin say long ago : 
 
 "'If a man is old and is come near 
 death and cannot die in fight, let him 
 find death in some brave way and he 
 shall feast with me in Valhalla.' 
 
 ' ' So one day Aegir came to this 
 rock. 
 
 " 'A deed to win Valhalla !' he cried. 
 
 "Then he drew his sword and flashed 
 it over his head and held his shield high 
 
26 Viking Tales 
 
 above him, and leaped out into the air 
 and died in the water of the fiord." 
 
 "Ho!" cried Harald, jumping to his 
 feet. ' ' I think that Odin stood up before 
 his high seat and welcomed that man 
 gladly when he walked through the door 
 of Valhalla." 
 
 "So the songs say," replied Olaf, "for 
 skalds still sing of that deed all over 
 Norway." 
 
AT another time Harald asked: 
 ' ' What is }^our country, Olaf ? Have 
 you always been a thrall?" 
 
 The thrall's eyes flashed. 
 
 "When you are a man," he said, 
 "and go a- viking to Denmark, ask men 
 whether they ever heard of Olaf the 
 Crafty. There, far off, is my country, 
 across the water. My father was Gud- 
 brand the Big. Two hundred warriors 
 feasted in his hall and followed him to 
 battle. Ten sons sat at meat with him, 
 and I was the youngest. One day he said : 
 
 ' ' ' You are all grown to be men. 
 There is not elbow-room here for so 
 many chiefs. The eldest of you shall 
 have my farm when I die. The rest of 
 you, off a-viking!' 
 
 "He had three ships. These he gave 
 to three of my brothers. But 1 stayed 
 that spring and built me a boat. I made 
 her for only twenty oars because I 
 
28 Viking Tales 
 
 thought few men would follow me ; for I 
 was young, fifteen years old. I made her 
 in the likeness of a dragon. At the prow 
 I carved the head with open mouth and 
 forked tongue thrust out. I painted the 
 eyes red for anger. 
 
 ' ' ' There, stand so ! ' I said, ' and glare 
 and hiss at my foes.' 
 
 "In the stern I curved the tail up 
 almost as high as the head. There I put 
 the pilot's seat and a strong tiller for the 
 rudder. On the breast and sides I carved 
 the dragon's scales. Then I painted it 
 all black and on the tip of every scale I 
 put gold. I called her ' Waverunner.' 
 There she sat on the rollers, as fair a ship 
 as I ever saw. 
 
 "The night that it was finished I went 
 to my father's feast. After the meats 
 were eaten and the mead -horns came 
 round, I stood up from my bench and 
 raised my drinking-horn'"' high and spoke 
 with a great voice: 
 
 " 'This is my vow: I will sail to Nor- 
 way and I will harry the coast and fill 
 my boat with riches. Then I will get 
 
 * See note about drinking-horns on page 195. 
 
In Nor zv ay 29 
 
 me a farm and will winter in that land. 
 Now who will follow me ? ' 
 
 " ' He is but a boy,' the men said. ' He 
 has opened his mouth wider than he can 
 do.' 
 
 "But others jumped to their feet with 
 their mead-horns in their hands. Thirty 
 men, one after another, raised their horns 
 and said: 
 
 " 'I will follow this lad, and I will not 
 turn back so long as he and I live ! ' 
 
 "On the next morning we got into my 
 dragon and started. I sat high in the 
 pilot's seat. As our boat flashed down 
 the rollers into the water I made this 
 song and sang it: 
 
 " ' The dragon runs. 
 Where will she steer ? 
 Where swords will sing, 
 Where spears will bite, 
 Where I shall laugh.' 
 
 "So we harried the coast of Norway. 
 We ate at many men's tables uninvited. 
 Many men we found overburdened with 
 gold. Then I said: 
 
 " ' M}^ dragon's belly is never full,' and 
 on board went the gold. 
 
jo Viking Tales 
 
 ' ' Oh ! it is better to live on the sea and 
 let other men raise your crops and cook 
 your meals. A house smells of smoke, a 
 ship smells of frol'ic. From a house you 
 see a sooty roof, from a ship you see 
 Valhalla. 
 
 ' ' Up and down the water we went to 
 get much wealth and much frolic. After 
 a while m}^ men said : 
 
 " 'What of the farm, Olaf ?' 
 
 "'Not yet,' I answered. 'Viking is 
 better for summer. When the ice comes, 
 and our dragon cannot play, then we will 
 get our farm and sit down.' 
 
 ' ' At last the winter came, and I said 
 to my men: 
 
 " ' Now for the farm. I have my eye 
 on one up the coast a way in King Half- 
 dan's country.' 
 
 "So we set off for it. We landed late 
 at night and pulled our boat up on shore 
 and walked quietly to the house. It was 
 rather a wealthy farm, for there were 
 stables and a storehouse and a smithy at 
 the sides of the house. There was but 
 one door to the house. We went to it, 
 and I struck it with my spear. 
 
'/ struck my shield against the door so that it made a great clanging' 
 
32 Viking Tales 
 
 "'Hello! Ho! Hello !' I shouted, and 
 my men made a great din. 
 
 ' ' At last some one from inside said : 
 
 " 'Who calls?' 
 
 " 'I call,' I answered. 'Open! or you 
 will think it Thor who calls,' and I struck 
 my shield against the door so that it 
 made a great clanging. 
 
 "The door opened only a little, but I 
 pushed it wide and leaped into the room. 
 It was so dark that I could see nothing 
 but a few sparks on the hearth. I stood 
 with my back to the wall ; for I wanted no 
 sword reaching out of the dark for me. 
 
 " ' Now start up the fire,' I said. 
 
 " 'Come, come !' I called, when no one 
 obeyed. ' A fire ! This is cold welcome 
 for your guests.' 
 
 "My men laughed. 
 
 "'Yes, a stingy host! He acts as 
 though he had not expected us.' 
 
 "But now the farmer was blowing on 
 the coals and putting on fresh wood. 
 Soon it blazed up, and we could see about 
 us. We were in a little feast hall," with 
 its fire down the middle of it. There 
 
 * See note about feast hall on page 196. 
 
In Norway jj 
 
 were benches for twenty men along each 
 side. The farmer crouched by the fire, 
 afraid to move. On a bench in a far 
 corner were a dozen people huddled 
 together. 
 
 " 'Ho, thralls! ' I called to them. 'Bring 
 in the table. We are hungry.' 
 
 "Off the}^ ran through a door at the 
 back of the hall. M}^ men came in and 
 lay down by the fire and warmed them- 
 selves, but I set two of them as guards at 
 the door. 
 
 "'Well, friend farmer,' laughed one, 
 ' why such a long face ? Do you not think 
 we shall be merry company?' 
 
 " 'We came only to cheer you,' said 
 another. ' What man wants to spend the 
 winter with no guests ? ' 
 
 " 'Ah !' another then cried out, sitting 
 up. ' Here comes something that will be 
 a welcome guest to my stomach.' 
 
 ' ' The thralls were bringing in a great 
 pot of meat. They set up a crane over 
 the fire and hung the pot upon it, and we 
 sat and watched it boil while we joked. 
 At last the supper began. The farmer 
 sat gloomily on the bench and would not 
 
JV Viking Tales 
 
 eat, and you cannot wonder ; for he saw 
 us putting potfuls of his good beef and 
 basket-loads of bread into our big mouths. 
 When the tables were taken out and the 
 mead-horns came round, I stood up and 
 raised my horn and said to the farmer : 
 
 " 'You would not eat with us. You 
 cannot say no to half of my ale. I drink 
 this to your health. ' 
 
 "Then I drank half of the hornful 
 and sent the rest across the fire to the 
 farmer. He took it and smiled, say ing : 
 
 ' ' ' Since it is to my health, I will drink 
 it. I thought that all this night's work 
 would be my death.' 
 
 "'Oh, do not fear that!' I laughed, 
 ' for a dead man sets no tables. ' 
 
 "So we drank and all grew merrier. 
 At last I stood up and said : 
 
 " ' I like this little taste of }^our hospi- 
 tality, friend farmer. I have decided to 
 accept more of it.' 
 
 ' ' My men roared with laughter. 
 
 " 'Come,' they cried, 'thank him for 
 that, farmer. Did 3^ou ever have such a 
 lordly guest before?' 
 
 ' ' I went on : 
 
In Norway 35 
 
 ' ' ' Now there is no fun in having guests 
 unless they keep 3^011 company and make 
 you merry. So I will give out this law: 
 that my men shall never leave you alone. 
 Hakon there shall be your constant com- 
 panion, friend farmer. He shall not 
 leave you da}^ or night, whether you are 
 working or playing or sleeping. Leif 
 and Grim shall be the same kind of 
 friends to your two sons.' 
 
 ' ' I named nine others and said : 
 
 " 'And these shall follow your thralls 
 in the same way. Now, am I not careful 
 to make your time go merrily?' 
 
 " So I set guards over every one in that 
 house. Not once all that winter did they 
 stir out of sight of some of us. So no 
 tales got out to the neighbors. Besides, 
 it was a lonely place, and by good luck 
 no one came that way, Oh! that was fat 
 and easy living. 
 
 "Well, after we had been there for a 
 long time, Hakon came in to the feast 
 one night and said: 
 
 "'I heard a cuckoo to-day!' 
 
 " 'It is the call to go a-viking,' 
 I said. 
 
j6 Viking Tales 
 
 "All my men put their hands' to their 
 mouths and shouted. Their e}^es danced. 
 Big Thorleif stood up and stretched him- 
 self. 
 
 " ' I am stiff with long sitting,' he said. 
 ' I itch for a fight. ' 
 
 ' ' I turned to the farmer. 
 
 "'This is our last feast with you,' I 
 said. 
 
 " 'Well,' he laughed, 'this has been 
 the busiest winter I ever spent, and the 
 merriest. May good luck go with you !' 
 
 " 'Ety the beard of Odin!' I cried, 'you 
 have taken our joke like a man.' 
 
 ' ' My men pounded the table with their 
 fists. 
 
 ' ' ' By the hammer of Thor ! ' shouted 
 Grim. ' Here is no stingy coward. He is 
 a man fit to carry my drinking-horn, the 
 horn of a sea-rover and a sword-swinger. 
 Here, friend, take it,' and he thrust it 
 into the farmer's hand. ' May you drink 
 heart's-ease from it for many years. 
 And with it I leave you a name, Sif the 
 Friendl} 7 . I shall hope to drink with 3 r ou 
 sometime in Valhalla.' 
 
 ' ' Then all my men poured around that 
 
In Norway jy 
 
 farmer and clapped him on the shoulder 
 and piled things upon him, saying: 
 
 " ' Here is a ring for Sif the Friendly.' 
 
 11 'And here is a bracelet.' 
 
 " 'A sword would not be ashamed to 
 hang at your side.' 
 
 "I took five great bracelets of gold 
 from our treasure chest and gave them 
 to him. 
 
 "The old man's eyes opened wide at 
 all these things, and at the same time he 
 laughed. 
 
 "'May Odin send me such guests 
 every winter! ' he said. 
 
 " Early next morning we shook hands 
 with our host and boarded the 'Wave- 
 runner' and sailed off. 
 
 " ' Where shall we go?' my men asked. 
 
 "'Let the gods decide,' I said, and 
 tossed up my spear. 
 
 "When it fell on the deck it pointed 
 up-shore, so I steered in that direction. 
 That is the best way to decide, for the 
 spear will always point somewhere, and 
 one thing is as good as another. That 
 time it pointed us into your father's ships. 
 They closed in battle with us and killed 
 
jS Viking Tales 
 
 my men and sunk my ship and dragged 
 me off a prisoner. They were three 
 against one, or they might have tasted 
 something more bitter at our hands. 
 They took me before King Halfdan. 
 
 ' ' ' Here, ' they said, ' is a rascal who has 
 been hanging our coasts. We sunk his 
 ship and men, but him we brought to you. ' 
 
 " 'A robber viking?' said the king, and 
 scowled at me. 
 
 ' ' I threw back my head and laughed. 
 
 " 'Yes. And with all your fingers it 
 took you a year to catch me.' 
 
 ' ' The king frowned more angril}". 
 
 " 'Saucy, too?' he said. 'Well, thieves 
 must die. Take him out, Thorkel, and 
 let him taste your sword.' 
 
 "Your mother, the queen, was stand- 
 ing by. Now she put her hand on his 
 arm and smiled and said : 
 
 " ' He is only a lad. Let him live. And 
 would he not be a good gift for our baby? ' 
 
 "Your father thought a moment, then 
 looked at your mother and smiled. 
 
 "'Soft heart!' he said gently to her; 
 then to Thorkel, 'Well, let him go, 
 Thorkel ! ' 
 

 In Norway jg 
 
 ' ' Then he turned to me again, frown- 
 ing. 
 
 ' ' ' But, j^oung sharp-tongue, now that 
 we have caught }^ou we will put you into 
 a trap that you cannot get out of. Weld 
 an iron collar on his neck.' 
 
 "So I lived and now am }^our tooth 
 thrall. Well, it is the luck of war. But 
 by the chair of Odin, I kept my vow ! " 
 
 " Yes!" cried Harald, jumping to his 
 feet. "And had a joke into the bargain. 
 Ah ! sometime I will make a brave vow 
 like that." 
 
Olaf's Fi§Ht With Havard 
 
 AT another time Harald said: 
 . "Tell me of a fight, Olaf. I want 
 to hear about the music of swords." 
 
 Olaf's e} T es blazed. 
 
 ' ' I will tell you of our fight with King 
 Havard," he said. 
 
 "One dark night we had landed at a 
 farm. We left our 'Waverunner' in the 
 water with three men to guard her. The 
 rest of us went into the house. The 
 farmer met us at the door, but he died 
 by Thorkel's sword. The others we shut 
 into their beds. * The door at each end of 
 the hall we had barred on the inside so 
 that nobody could surprise us. We were 
 busy going through the cupboards and 
 shouting at our good luck. But sud- 
 denly we heard a shout outside: 
 
 " 'Thor and Havard!' 
 
 "Then there was a great beating at 
 the doors. 
 
 * See note about beds on page 
 
 40 
 
/// Norway 41 
 
 "'He lias two hundred fighters with 
 him, ' said Grim ; ' for we saw his ships last 
 night. Thirty against two hundred! We 
 shall all drink in Valhalla to-night.' 
 
 " 'Well,' I cried, 'Odin shall have no 
 unwilling guest in me.' 
 
 " ' Nor in me,' cried Hakon. 
 
 " ' Nor in me,' shouted Thorkel. 
 
 "And that shout went all around, and 
 we drew out our swords and caught up 
 our shields. 
 
 "'Hot work is ahead of us,' said 
 Hakon. ' Besides, we must leave none 
 of this mead for Havard. Lend a hand, 
 some one.' 
 
 "Then he and another pulled out a 
 great tub that sat on the floor of the cup- 
 board. 
 
 " 'I drink to Valhalla to-night,' cried 
 Thorkel the Thirsty, and he plunged his 
 horn deep into the tub. 
 
 "When he brought it up, his sleeve 
 was dripping and the sweet mead was 
 running over from the horn. 
 
 " 'Sloven!' cried Hakon, and he struck 
 Thorkel with his fist and knocked him 
 over into the cupboard. 
 
42 Viking Tales 
 
 ' ' He fell against the wooden wall at 
 the back, and a carved panel swung open 
 behind him. He dropped down head 
 first. In a minute he put his head out 
 of the hole again. We all stood staring. 
 
 " 'I think it is a secret passage,' he 
 said. 
 
 "'We will try it,' I answered in a 
 whisper. 'Throw dirt on the fire. It 
 must be dark.' 
 
 "So we dug up dirt from the earth 
 floor and smothered the fire. All this 
 time there was a terrible shouting and 
 hammering at the doors, but they were 
 of heavy logs and stood. 
 
 " 'I with four more will guard this 
 door,' I said, pointing to the east end. 
 
 "Immediately four men stepped to 
 my side. 
 
 ' ' ' And I will guard the other, ' Hakon 
 said, and four went with him. 
 
 " 'The rest of you, down the hole!' I 
 said. ' Close the door after you. If luck 
 is with us we will meet at the ships. 
 Now Thor and our good swords help us ! 
 Quick ! The doors are giving way.' 
 
 "So we ten men stood at the doors 
 
In Nor iv ay 43 
 
 and held back the king's soldiers. It was 
 dark in the room, and the people out of 
 doors could not tell how many were in- 
 side. Few were eager to be the first in. 
 
 ' ' ' Thirty swords are waiting in there 
 to eat up the first man,' we heard some 
 one say. 
 
 " We chuckled at that. 
 
 ' ' But the king stood in the very door- 
 way and fought. Our five swords held 
 him back for a long time, but at last he 
 pushed in, and his men poured after him. 
 We ran back and hid behind some tubs 
 in a dark corner. The king's men went 
 groping about and calling, but they did 
 not find us. The room was full of shout- 
 ing and running and sword-clashing ; for 
 in the dark and the noise the men could 
 not tell their own soldiers. More than 
 one fell by his friend's sword. When it 
 was less crowded about the doorway, I 
 whispered : 
 
 "'Follow me in double line. We 
 will make for the ships. Keep close 
 together.' 
 
 "So that double line of men, with 
 swords swinging from both sides, ran out 
 
44 Viking Tales 
 
 through the dark. Swords struck out at 
 us, and we struck back. Men ran after 
 us shouting, but our legs were as good as 
 theirs. But I and Hakon and one other 
 were all that reached the ship. There 
 we saw our 'Waverunner' with sail up 
 and bow pointing to open sea. We 
 swam out to her and climbed aboard. 
 Then the men swung the sail to the 
 wind, and we moved off. Even as 
 we went, a spear whizzed through the 
 air, and Hakon fell dead ; for the king 
 and all his men were running to the 
 shore. 
 
 ' ' ' After them ! ' they were shouting. 
 
 "Then we heard the king call to the 
 men in his boats lying out in the 
 water : 
 
 ' ' ' Row to shore and take us in. ' 
 
 "Thorkel was standing by my side. 
 At that he laughed and said : 
 
 " ' They do not answer. He left but a 
 handful to guard his ships. They tasted 
 our swords. And we went aboard and 
 broke the oars and threw the sails into 
 the water. It will be slow going for 
 Havard to-night.' 
 
'Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly " 
 
46 Viking Tales 
 
 ' ' Then he turned to the shore and 
 sang out loudly: 
 
 " ' King Havard's ships arc dead : 
 
 Olaf ' s dragon flies. 
 
 King Havard stamps the shore : 
 
 Olaf skims the waves. 
 
 King Havard shakes his fist : 
 
 Olaf turns and laughs.' 
 
 "That was the end of our meeting 
 with King Havard." 
 
*^^ t~~~2 $ i^™^XZ~'~2 } f~~~ m " " " a i g -^J fp^^s te- — "^^" 
 
 EVERY day the boy Harald heard 
 some such story of war or of the 
 gods, until he could see Thor riding 
 among the storm-clouds and throwing his 
 hammer, until he knew that a brave man 
 has many wounds, but never a one on his 
 back. Many nights he dreamed that he 
 himself walked into Valhalla, and that 
 all the heroes stood up and shouted : 
 ' ' Welcome ! Harald Halfdanson ! " 
 ' ' Ah ! the bite of the sword is sweeter 
 than the kiss of your mother," he said to 
 Olaf one day. "When shall I stand in 
 the prow of a dragon and feast on the 
 fight? I am hungry to see the world. 
 Ivar the Far-goer tells me of the strange 
 countries he has seen. Ah ! we vikings 
 are great folk. There is no water that has 
 not licked our boats' sides. This cape of 
 mine came in a viking boat from France. 
 These cloak-pins came from a far country 
 called Greece. In my father's house are 
 
 47 
 
48 Viking Tales 
 
 golden cups from Rome, away on the 
 southern sea. Every land pours rich 
 things into our treasure-chest. Ivar has 
 been to a strange country where it is all 
 sand and is very hot. The people call their 
 country Arabia. They have never heard 
 of Thor or Odin. Ivar brought beautiful 
 striped cloth from there, and wonderful, 
 sweet-smelling waters. Oh ! when shall 
 the white horses of the sea lead me out 
 to strange lands and glorious battles?" 
 
 But Harald did something besides 
 listen to stories. Every morning he was 
 up at sunrise and went with a thrall to 
 feed the hunting dogs. Thorstein taught 
 him to swim in the rough waters of 
 the fiord. Often he went with the men 
 a-hunting in the woods and learned to ride 
 a horse and pull a bow and throw a lance. 
 Ivar taught him to play the harp and to 
 make up songs. He went much to the 
 smithy, where the warriors mended their 
 helmets and made their spears and swords 
 of iron and bronze. At first he only 
 watched the men or worked the bellows, 
 but soon he could handle the tongs and 
 hold the red-hot iron, and after a long 
 
In Norway 49 
 
 time he learned to use the hammer and 
 to shape metal. One day he made him- 
 self a spear-head. It was two feet long 
 and sharp on both edges. While the 
 iron was hot he beat into it some runes. 
 When the men in the smithy saw the 
 runes they opened their eyes wide and 
 looked at the boy, for few Norsemen 
 could read. 
 
 ' ' What does it say ? " they asked. 
 
 " It is the name of my spear-point, and 
 it says, ' Foes' -fear,'" Harald said. "But 
 now for a handle." 
 
 It was winter and the snow was very 
 deep. So Harald put on his skees and 
 started for a wood that was back from 
 shore. Down the mountains he went, 
 twenty, thirty feet at a slide, leaping over 
 chasms a hundred feet across. In his 
 scarlet cloak he looked like a flash of fire. 
 The wind shot past him howling. His 
 eyes danced at the fun. 
 
 "It is like flying," he thought and 
 laughed. " I am an eagle. Now I soar," 
 as he leaped over a frozen river. 
 
 He saw a slender ash growing on top 
 of a high rock. 
 
So Viking Tales 
 
 "That is the handle for 'Foes'-fear," 
 he said. 
 
 The rock stood up like a ragged tower, 
 but he did not stop because of the steep 
 climb. He threw off his skees and thrust 
 his hands and feet into holes of the rock 
 and drew himself up. He tore his jacket 
 and cut his leather leggings and scratched 
 his face and bruised his hands, but at last 
 he was on the top. Soon he had chopped 
 down the tree and had cut a straight pole 
 ten feet long and as big around as his 
 arm. He went down, sliding and jumping 
 and tearing himself on the sharp stones. 
 With a last leap he landed near his skees. 
 As he did so a lean wolf jumped and 
 snapped at him, snarling. Harald shouted 
 and swung his pole. The wolf dodged, 
 but quickly jumped again and caught the 
 boy's arm between his sharp teeth. Har- 
 ald thought of the spear-point in his belt. 
 In a wink he had it out and was striking 
 with it. He drove it into the wolf's neck 
 and threw him back on the snow, dead. 
 
 "You are the first to feel the tooth of 
 'Foes'-fear,'" he said, "but I think } t ou 
 will not be the last." 
 
"lie drove it into the wolf s neck " 
 
§2 Viking Tales 
 
 Then without thinking of his torn arm 
 he put on his skees and went leaping 
 home. He went straight to the smithy 
 and smoothed his pole and drove it into 
 the haft of the spear-point. He ham- 
 mered out a gold band and put it around 
 the joining place. He made nails with 
 beautiful heads and drove them into the 
 pole in different places. 
 
 "If it is heavy it will strike hard," he 
 said. 
 
 Then he weighed the spear in his hand 
 and found the balancing point and put 
 another gold band there to mark it. 
 
 Thorstein came in while he was work- 
 ing. 
 
 "A good spear," he said. 
 
 Then he saw the torn sleeve and the 
 red wound beneath. 
 
 "Hello!" he cried. "Your first wound?' 
 
 "Oh, it is only a wolf-scratch," Harald 
 answered. 
 
 "By Thor ! " cried Thorstein, "I see 
 that 3 7 ou are ready for better wounds 
 You bear this like a warrior." 
 
 "1 think it will not be my last," Har 
 aid said. 
 
 - 
 
Harald is Kirt£> 
 
 NOW when Harald was ten years old 
 his father, King Halfdan, died. An 
 old book that tells about Harald says that 
 then ' ' he was the biggest of all men, the 
 strongest, and the fairest to look upon." 
 That about a boy ten years old ! But boys 
 grew fast in those days ; for they were out 
 of doors all the time, running, swimming, 
 leaping on skees, and hunting in the for- 
 est. All that makes big, manly boys. 
 
 So now King Halfdan was dead and 
 buried, and Harald was to be king. But 
 first he must drink his father's funeral ale. 
 
 "Take down the gay tapestries that 
 hang in the feast hall," he said to the 
 thralls. "Put up black and gray ones. 
 Strew the floor with pine branches. Brew 
 twenty tubs of fresh ale and mead. Scour 
 every dish until it shines." 
 
 Then Harald sent messengers all over 
 that country to his kinsmen and friends. 
 
 "Bid them come in three months' time 
 
 53 
 
54 Viking Tales 
 
 to drink my father's funeral ale," he said. 
 "Tell them that no one shall go away 
 empty-handed. " 
 
 So in three months men came riding up 
 at every hour. Some came in boats. But 
 many had ridden far through mountains, 
 swimming rivers ; for there were few roads 
 or bridges in Norway. On account of that 
 hard ride no women came to the feast. 
 
 At nine o'clock in the night the feast 
 began. The men came walking in at the 
 west end of the hall.* The great bonfires 
 down the middle of the room were flash- 
 ing light on everything. The clean smell 
 of this wood-smoke and of the pine 
 branches on the floor was pleasant to 
 the guests. Down each side of the hall 
 stretched long, backless benches, with 
 room for three hundred men. In the 
 middle of each side rose the high seat, 
 a great carved chair on a platform. 
 All along behind the benches were the 
 black and gray draperies. Here hung 
 the shields of the guests ; for every man, 
 when he was given his place, turned and 
 hung his shield behind him and set his 
 
 See note about feast hall on page 196. 
 
In Norway 55 
 
 tall spear b}^ it. So on each wall there 
 was a long row of gay shields, red and 
 green and yellow, and all shining with 
 gold or bronze trimmings. And higher 
 up there was another row of gleaming 
 spear-points. Above the hall the rafters 
 were carved and gaily painted, so that 
 dragons seemed to be crawling across, or 
 eagles seemed to be swooping down. 
 
 The guests walked in laughing and 
 talking with their big voices so that the 
 rafters rang. They made the hall look all 
 the brighter with their clothes of scarlet 
 and blue and green, with their flashing 
 golden bracelets and head-bands and 
 sword-scabbards, with their flying hair of 
 red or yellow. 
 
 Across the east end of the hall was a 
 bench. When the men were all in, the 
 queen, Harald's mother, and the women 
 who lived with her, walked in through the 
 east door and sat upon this bench. 
 
 Then thralls came running in and set 
 up the long tables* before the benches. 
 Other thralls ran in with large steaming 
 kettles of meat. They put big pieces of 
 
 *See note about tables on page 196. 
 
56 Viking Tales 
 
 this meat into platters of wood and set it 
 before the men. They had a few dishes 
 of silver. These they put before the 
 guests at the middle of the tables; for the 
 great people sat here near the high seats. 
 
 When the meat came, the talking 
 stopped; for Norsemen ate only twice a 
 day, and these men had had long rides 
 and were hungry. Three or four per- 
 sons ate from one platter and drank from 
 the same big bowl of milk. They had no 
 forks, so they ate from their fingers and 
 threw the bones under the table among 
 the pine branches. Sometimes they took 
 knives from their belts to cut the meat. 
 
 When the guests sat back satisfied, 
 Harald called to the thralls : 
 
 "Carry out the tables." 
 
 So they did and brought in two great 
 tubs of mead and set one at each end of the 
 hall. Then the queen stood up and called 
 some of her women. They went to the 
 mead tubs. They took the horns, when 
 the thralls had filled them, and carried 
 them to the men with some merry word. 
 Perhaps one woman said as she handed a 
 man his horn : 
 
In Norway 57 
 
 ' ' This horn has no feet to be set down 
 upon. You must drink it at one draught." 
 
 Perhaps another said : 
 
 "Mead loves a merry face." 
 
 The women were beautiful, moving 
 about the hall. The queen wore a trail- 
 ing dress of blue velvet with long flowing 
 sleeves. She had a short apron of striped 
 Arabian silk with gold fringe along the 
 bottom. From her shoulders hung a long 
 train of scarlet wool embroidered in gold. 
 White linen covered her head. Her long 
 yellow hair was pulled around at the sides 
 and over her breast and was fastened 
 under the belt of her apron. As she 
 walked, her train made a pleasant rustle 
 among the pine branches. She was tall 
 and straight and strong. Some of her 
 younger women wore no linen on their 
 heads and had their white arms bare, 
 with bracelets shining on them. They, 
 too, were tall and strong. 
 
 All the time men were calling across 
 the fire to one another asking news or 
 telling jokes and laughing. 
 
 An old man, Harald's uncle, sat in the 
 high seat on the north side. That was 
 
58 Viking Tales 
 
 the place of honor. But the high seat on 
 the south side was empt}^; for that was 
 the king's seat. Harald sat on the steps 
 before it. 
 
 The feast went merrily until long 
 after midnight. Then the thralls took 
 some of the guests to the guest house to 
 sleep, and some to the beds around the 
 sides of the feast hall. But some men 
 lay down on the benches and drew their 
 cloaks over themselves. 
 
 On the next night there was another 
 feast. Still Harald sat on the step before 
 the high seat. But when the tables were 
 gone and the horns were going around, 
 he stood up and raised high a horn of ale 
 and said loudly: 
 
 ' ' This horn of memory I drink in honor 
 of my father, Half dan, son of Gudrod, who 
 sits now in Valhalla. And I vow that I will 
 grind my father's foes under my heel." 
 
 Then he drank the ale and sat down in 
 the king's high seat, while all the men stood 
 up and raised their horns and shouted: 
 
 "King Harald! " 
 
 And some cried: 
 
 "That was a brave vow." 
 
"/ vow that J will grind my father' s foes under my heel 
 
6o Viking Tales 
 
 And Harald's uncle called out: 
 
 "A health to King Harald! " 
 
 And they all drank it. 
 
 Then a man stood up and said: 
 
 "Hear my song of King Halfdan! " for 
 this man was a skald. 
 
 "Yes, the song!" shouted the men, 
 and Harald nodded his head. 
 
 So the skald took down his great harp 
 from the wail behind him and went and 
 stood before Harald. The bottom of the 
 harp rested on the floor, but the top 
 reached as high as the skald's shoulders. 
 The brass frame shone in the light. The 
 strings were some of gold and some of 
 silver. The man struck them with his 
 hand and sang of King Halfdan, of his 
 battles, of his strong arm and good 
 sword, of his death, and of how men 
 loved him. 
 
 When he had finished, King Harald 
 took a bracelet from his arm and gave it 
 to him, saying: 
 
 "Take this as thanks for your good 
 song." 
 
 The guests stayed the next day and 
 at night there was another feast. When 
 
In Nor zv ay 61 
 
 the mead horns were going around, King 
 Harald stood up and spoke: 
 
 ' ' I said that no man should go away 
 empty-handed from drinking my father's 
 funeral ale." 
 
 He beckoned the thralls, and they 
 brought in a great treasure -chest and set 
 it down by the high seat. King Harald 
 opened it and took out rich gifts — capes 
 and sword-belts and beautiful cloth and 
 bracelets and gold cloak-pins. These he 
 sent about the hall and gave something 
 to every man. The guests wondered at 
 the richness of his gifts. 
 
 "This young king has an open hand," 
 they said, "and deep treasure-chests." 
 
 After breakfast the next morning the 
 guests went out and stood by their horses 
 ready to go, but before they mounted, 
 thralls brought a horn of mead to each 
 man. That was called the stirrup-horn, 
 because after they drank it the men put 
 their feet to the stirrups and sprang upon 
 their horses and started. King Harald 
 and his people rode a little way with them. 
 
 All men said that that was the richest 
 funeral feast that ever was held. 
 
Harald's DattLe 
 
 NOW King Halfdan had many foes. 
 When he was alive they were afraid 
 to make war upon him, for he was a 
 mighty warrior. But when Harald be- 
 came king, they said: 
 
 " He is but a lad. We will fight with 
 him and take his land." 
 
 So the} 7 began to make ready. King 
 Harald heard of this and he laughed and 
 said: 
 
 " Good ! 'Foes'-fear' is thirsty, and my 
 legs are stiff with much sitting." 
 
 He called three men to him. To one 
 he gave an arrow, saying: 
 
 ' ' Run and carry this arrow north. 
 Give it into the hands of the master of 
 the next farm, and say that all men are 
 to meet here within two weeks from this 
 day. They must come ready for war 
 and mounted on horses. Say also that 
 if a man does not obey this call, or if he 
 receives this arrow and does not carry 
 
 62 
 
In Norway 63 
 
 it on to his next neighbor, he shall be 
 outlawed from this country, and his land 
 shall be taken from him." 
 
 He gave arrows to the other two men 
 and told them to run south and east with 
 the same message. 
 
 So all through King Harald's country 
 men were soon busy mending helmets 
 and polishing swords and making shields. 
 There was blazing of forges and clanging 
 of anvils all through the land. 
 
 On the day set, the fields about King 
 Harald's house were full of men and 
 horses. After breakfast a horn blew. 
 Every man snatched his weapons and 
 jumped upon his horse. Men of the same 
 neighborhood stood together, and their 
 chief led them. They waited for the start- 
 ing horn. This did not look like our army. 
 There were no uniforms. Some men wore 
 helmets, some did not. Some wore coats 
 of mail, but others wore only their jackets 
 and tights of bright-colored wool. But at 
 each man's left side hung a great shield. 
 Over his right shoulder went his sword- 
 belt and held his long sword under his 
 left hand. Above most men's heads shone 
 
64 Viking Tales 
 
 the points of their tall spears. Some men 
 carried axes in their belts. Some carried 
 bows and arrows. Many had ram's horns 
 hanging from their necks. 
 
 King Harald rode at the front of his 
 army with his standard-bearer beside him. 
 Chain-armor covered the king's bod) 7 . A 
 red cloak was thrown over his shoulders. 
 On his head was a gold helmet with a 
 dragon standing up from it. He carried 
 a round shield on his left arm. The king 
 had made that shield himself. It was 
 of brass. The rivets were of silver, with 
 strangely shaped heads. On the back of 
 Harald's horse was a red cloth trimmed 
 with the fur of ermine. 
 
 King Harald looked up at his standard 
 and laughed aloud. 
 
 "Oh, War-lover," he cried, "} r ou and 
 I ride out on a gay journey." 
 
 A horn blew again and the arm) 7 
 started. The men shouted as they went, 
 and blew their ram's horns. 
 
 " Now we shall taste something better 
 than even King Harald's ale," shouted one. 
 
 Another rose in his stirrups and sniffed 
 the air. 
 
In Norway 65 
 
 "Ah ! I smell a battle," he cried. "It 
 is sweeter than those strange waters of 
 Arabia." 
 
 So the army went merrily through the 
 land. They carried no tents, they had 
 no provision wagons. 
 
 "The sky is a good enough tent for 
 a soldier," said the Norsemen. "Why 
 carry provisions when they lie in the 
 farms beside 3^ou?" 
 
 After two days King Harald saw 
 another arm}^ on the hills. 
 
 "Thorstein," he shouted, "up with the 
 white shield and go tell King Haki to 
 choose his battle-field. We will wait but 
 an hour. I am eager for the frolic." 
 
 So Thorstein raised a white shield on 
 his spear as a sign that he came on an 
 errand of peace. He rode near King 
 Haki, but he could not wait until he came 
 close before he shouted out his message 
 and then turned and rode back. 
 
 1 ' Tell your boy king that we will not 
 hang back," Haki called after Thorstein. 
 
 King Harald's men waited on the hill- 
 side and watched the other army across 
 the valley. They saw King Haki point 
 
66 Viking Tales 
 
 and saw twenty men ride off as he 
 pointed. They stopped in a patch of 
 hazel and hewed with their axes. 
 
 "They are getting the hazels," said 
 Thorstein. 
 
 "Audun," said King Harald to a man 
 near him, "stay close to my standard all 
 day. You must see the best of the fight. 
 I want to hear a song about it after it is 
 over." 
 
 This Audun was the skald who sang 
 at the drinking of King Half dan's funeral 
 ale. 
 
 King Haki's men rode down into the 
 valley. They drove down stakes all about 
 a great field. They tied the hazel twigs 
 to the stakes in a string. But they left 
 an open space toward King Harald's 
 arm}^ and one toward King Haki's. Then 
 a man raised a white shield and galloped 
 toward King Harald. 
 
 "We are ready!" he shouted. 
 
 At the same time King Haki raised a 
 red shield. King Harald's men put their 
 shields before their mouths and shouted 
 into them. It made a great roaring war- 
 cry. 
 
In Norway 67 
 
 "Up with the war shield!" shouted 
 King Harald. ' ' Horns blow ! " 
 
 There was a blowing of horns on both 
 sides. The two armies galloped down 
 into the field and ran together. The fight 
 had begun. 
 
 All that day long swords were flashing, 
 spears flying, men shouting, men falling 
 from their horses, swords clashing against 
 shields. 
 
 "Victory flashes from that dragon," 
 Harald's men said, pointing to the king's 
 helmet. " No one stands before it." 
 
 And, surely, before night came, King 
 Haki fell dead under ' ' Foes' -fear. " When 
 he fell, a great shout went up from his 
 warriors, and they turned and fled. King 
 Harald's men chased them far, but dur- 
 ing the night came back to camp. Many 
 brought swords and helmets and brace- 
 lets or silver-trimmed saddles and bridles 
 with them. 
 
 "Here is what we got from the foe," 
 they said. 
 
 The next morning King Harald spoke 
 to his men : 
 
 "Let us go about and find our dead." 
 
In Norway 6g 
 
 So they went over all the battle-field. 
 They put every man on his shield and 
 carried him and laid him on a hill-top. 
 They hung his sword over his shoulder 
 and laid his spear by his side. So they 
 laid all the dead together there on the 
 hill-top. Then King Harald said, looking 
 about : 
 
 "This is a good place to lie. It looks 
 far over the county. The sound of the 
 sea reaches it. The wind sweeps here. 
 It is a good grave for Norsemen and 
 Vikings. But it is a long road and a 
 rough road to Valhalla that these men 
 must travel. Let the nearest kinsman of 
 each man come and tie on his hell-shoes. 
 Tie them fast, for they will need them 
 much on that hard road." 
 
 So friends tied shoes on the dead men's 
 feet. Then King Harald said : 
 
 " Now let us make the mound." 
 
 Every man set to work with what tools 
 he had and heaped earth over the dead 
 until a great mound stood up. They 
 piled stones on the top. On one of these 
 stones King Harald made runes telling 
 how these men had died. 
 
fo I 7 iking Tales 
 
 After that was done King Harald said: 
 
 ' ' Now set up the pole, Thorstein. Let 
 every man bring to that pole all that he 
 took from the foe." 
 
 So they did, and there was a great hill 
 of things around it. Harald divided it 
 into piles. 
 
 "This pile we will give to Thor in 
 thanks for the victor} 7 ," he said. "This 
 pile is mine because I am king. Here 
 are the piles for the chiefs, and these 
 things go to the other men of the army." 
 
 So every man went away from that 
 battle richer than he was before, and 
 Thor looked down from Valhalla upon 
 his full temple and was pleased. 
 
 The next morning King Harald led 
 his army back. But on the way he met 
 other foes and had many battles and did 
 not lose one. The kings either died in 
 battle or ran away, and Harald had their 
 lands. 
 
 "He has kept his vow," men said, 
 "and ground his father's foes under his 
 heel." 
 
 So King Harald sat in peace for a while. 
 
Gyda's Saucy Message 
 
 NOW Harald heard men talk of Gyda, 
 the daughter of King Eric. 
 
 "She is very beautiful," they said, 
 "but she is very proud, too. She can 
 both read and make runes. No other 
 woman in the world knows so much 
 about herbs as she does. She can cure 
 any sickness. And she is proud of all 
 this!" 
 
 Now when King Harald heard that, he 
 thought to himself : 
 
 "Fair and proud. I like them both. 
 I will have her for my wife." 
 
 So he called his uncle, Guthorm, and 
 said : 
 
 "Take rich gifts and go to Gyda's 
 foster-father* and tell him that I will 
 marry Gyda." 
 
 So Guthorm and his men came to that 
 house and they told the king's message 
 to the foster-father. Gyda was standing 
 near, weaving a rich cloak. She heard 
 
 ♦See note about foster-father on page 197. 
 71 
 
7 '2 Viking Tales 
 
 the speech. She came up and said, hold- 
 ing her head high and curling her lip : 
 
 ' ' I will not waste myself on a king 
 of so few people. Norway is a strange 
 country. There is a little king here and 
 a little king there — -hundreds of them 
 scattered about. Now in Denmark there 
 is but one great king over the whole 
 land. And it is so in Sweden. Is no 
 one brave enough to make all of Norway 
 his own ? ' ' 
 
 She laughed a scornful laugh and 
 walked away The men stood with open 
 mouths and stared after her. Could it be 
 that she had sent that saucy message to 
 King Harald ? They looked at her foster- 
 father. He was chuckling in his beard 
 and said nothing to them. They started 
 out of the house in anger. When they 
 were at the door, Gyda came up to them 
 again and said : 
 
 "Give this message to ypur King 
 Harald for me: I will not be his wife 
 unless he puts all of Norway under him 
 for m}^ sake." 
 
 So Guthorm and his men rode home- 
 ward across the country. They did not 
 

 "/ will not be his zvife unless he puts all of Norway under him for 
 my sake" 
 
7/ Viking Tales 
 
 talk. They were all thinking. At last 
 one said : 
 
 ' ' How shall we give this message to 
 the king? " 
 
 "I have been thinking of that," 
 Guthorm said; "his anger is no little 
 thing." 
 
 It Avas late when they rode into the 
 king's yard; for they had ridden slowly, 
 trying to make some plan for softening 
 the message, but they had thought of 
 none. 
 
 "I see light through the wind's-eyes 
 of the feast hall," one said. 
 
 "Yes, the king keeps feast," Guthorm 
 said. "We must give our message 
 before all his guests." 
 
 So they went in with very heavy 
 hearts. There sat King Harald in the 
 high seat. The benches on both sides 
 were full of men. The tables had been 
 taken out, and the mead-horns were 
 going round. 
 
 "Oh, ho!" cried King Harald. "Our 
 messengers! What news?" 
 
 Then Guthorm said: 
 
 "This Gyda is a bold and saucy girl, 
 
In Norway 75 
 
 King Harald. My tongue refuses to give 
 her message." 
 
 The king stamped his foot. 
 
 "Out with it ! " he cried. " What does 
 she say?" 
 
 "She says that she will not marry 
 so little a king," Guthorm answered. 
 
 Harald jumped to his feet. His face 
 flushed red. Guthorm stretched out his 
 hand. 
 
 "They are not my words, O King ; they 
 are the words of a silly girl." 
 
 ' ' Is there any more ?" the king shouted. 
 "Goon!" 
 
 "She said: 'There is one king in Den- 
 mark and one king in Sweden. Is there 
 no man brave enough to make himself 
 king of all Norway ? Tell King Harald 
 that I will not marry him unless he 
 puts all of Norway under him for my 
 sake.'" 
 
 The guests sat speechless, staring at 
 Guthorm. All at once the king broke 
 into a roar of laughter. 
 
 "By the hammer of Thor ! " he cried, 
 "that is a good message. I thank you, 
 Gyda. Did you hear it. friends ? King 
 
y 6 Viking Tales 
 
 of all Norway ! Why, we are all stupids. 
 Why did we not think of that?" 
 
 Then he raised his horn high. 
 
 " Now hear my vow. I say that I will 
 not cut my hair or comb it until I am 
 king of all Norway. That I will be or I 
 will die." 
 
 Then he drank off the horn of mead, 
 and while he drank it, all the men in the 
 hall stood up and waved their swords and 
 shouted and shouted. That old hall in 
 all its two hundred years of feasts had 
 not heard such a noise before. 
 
 "Ah, Harald !" Guthorm cried, "surely 
 Thor in Valhalla smiled when he heard 
 that vow." 
 
 The men sat all night talking of that 
 wonderful vow. 
 
 On the very next day King Harald sent 
 out his war-arrows. Soon a great army 
 was gathered. They marched through 
 the country north and south and east and 
 west, burning houses and fighting battles 
 as they went. People fled before them, 
 some to their own kings, some inland to 
 the deep woods and hid there. But some 
 went to King Harald and said: 
 
In Norway 77 
 
 "We will be your men." 
 
 "Then take the oath, and I will be 
 friends with 3 r ou," he said. 
 
 The men took off their swords and 
 laid them down and came one by one 
 and knelt before the king. They put 
 their heads between his knees and said: 
 
 "From this day, Harald Halfdanson, 
 I am } T our man. I will serve you in war. 
 For my land I will pay you taxes. I will 
 be faithful to 3 7 ou as my king." 
 
 Then Harald said : 
 
 ' ' I am }^our king, and I will be faithful 
 to you." 
 
 Many kings took that oath and thou- 
 sands of common men. Of all the battles 
 that Harald fought, he did not lose one. 
 
 Now for a long time the king's hair 
 and beard had not been combed or cut. 
 They stood out around his head in a great 
 bushy mat of 3 r ellow. At a feast one day 
 when the jokes were going round, Har- 
 ald's uncle said: 
 
 "Harald, I will give 3^011 a new name. 
 After this 3 r ou shall be called Harald 
 Shockhead. As my naming gift I give 
 you this drinking-horn." 
 
y8 Viking Tales 
 
 "It is a good name," laughed all the 
 men. 
 
 After that all people called him Harald 
 Shockhead. 
 
 During these wars, whenever King 
 Harald got a country for his own, this is 
 what he did. He said: 
 
 "All the marshland and the woodland 
 where no people live is mine. For his 
 farm every man shall pay me taxes." 
 
 Over every county he put some brave, 
 wise man and called him Earl. He said 
 to the earls: 
 
 ' ' You shall collect the taxes and pay 
 them to me. But some you shall keep 
 for 3 7 ourselves. You shall punish any 
 man who steals or murders or does any 
 wicked thing. When your people are in 
 trouble they shall come to you, and you 
 shall set the thing right. You must 
 keep peace in the land. I will not 
 have my people troubled with robber 
 vikings." 
 
 The earls did all these things as best 
 they could; for they were good strong 
 men. The farmers were happy. They 
 said: 
 
In Norway yg 
 
 "We can work on our farms with peace 
 now. Before King Harald came, some- 
 thing was always wrong. The vikings 
 would come and steal our gold and our 
 grain and burn our houses, or the king 
 would call us to war. Those little kings 
 are always fighting. It is better under 
 King Harald." 
 
 But the chiefs, who liked to fight and 
 go a-viking, hated King Harald and his 
 new ways. One of these chiefs was Solfi. 
 He was a king's son. Harald had killed 
 his father in battle. Solfi had been in 
 that battle. At the end of it he fled away 
 with two hundred men and got into ships. 
 
 ' ' We will make that Shockhead smart, " 
 he said. 
 
 So they harried the coast of King 
 Harald's country. They filled their ships 
 with gold. They ate other men's meals. 
 They burned farmhouses behind them. 
 The people cried out to the earls for help. 
 So the earls had out their ships all the 
 time trying to catch Solfi, but he was too 
 clever for them. 
 
 In the spring he went to a certain 
 king, Audbiorn, and said to him: 
 
So I 7 k i ng Ta les 
 
 "Now, there are two things that we 
 can do. We can become this Shockhead 
 Harald's thralls, we can kneel before him 
 and put our heads between his knees. Or 
 else we can fight. My father thought it 
 better to die in battle than to be any 
 man's thrall. How is it ? Will you join 
 with my cousin Arnvid and me against 
 this young Shockhead ?" 
 
 " Yes, I will do it," said the king. 
 
The Sea Fi£ht 
 
 MANY men felt as Solfi did. So 
 when King Audbiorn and King 
 Arnvid sent out their war arrows, a great 
 host gathered. All men came by sea. 
 Two hundred ships lay at anchor in the 
 fiord, looking like strange swimming 
 animals because of their high carved 
 prows and bright paint. There were red 
 and gold dragons with long necks and 
 curved tails. Sea-horses reared out of 
 the water. Green and gold snakes coiled 
 up. Sea-hawks sat with spread wings 
 ready to fly. And among all these 
 curved necks stood up the tall, straight 
 masts with the long yardarms swinging 
 across them holding the looped-up sails. 
 When the starting horn blew, and 
 their sails were let down, it was like the 
 spreading of hundreds of curious flags. 
 Some were striped black and yellow or 
 blue and gold. Some were white with a 
 black raven or a brown bear embroidered 
 on them, or blue with a white sea-hawk, 
 
 C Si 
 
82 Viking Tales 
 
 or black with a gold sun. Some were 
 edged with fur. As the wind filled the 
 gaudy sails, and the ships moved off, the 
 men waved their hands to the women on 
 shore and sang : 
 
 "To the sea! To the sea! 
 
 The wind in our sail, 
 
 The sea in our face, 
 
 And the smell of the fight. 
 
 After ship meets ship, 
 
 In the quarrel of swords 
 
 King Harald shall lie 
 
 In the caves under sea 
 
 And Norsemen shall laugh." 
 In the prow stood men leaning forward 
 and sniffing the salt air with joy. Some 
 were talking of King Harald. 
 
 "Yesterday he had a hard fight," they 
 said. "To-day he will be lying still, 
 dressing his wounds and mending his 
 ships. We shall take him b}^ surprise." 
 They sailed near the coast. Solfl in 
 his "Sea-haAvk" was ahead leading the 
 way. Suddenly men saw his sail veer 
 and his oars flash out. He had quickly 
 turned his boat and was rowing back. 
 He came close to King Arnvid and 
 called : 
 
In Norway 8j 
 
 "He is there, ahead. His boats are 
 ready in line of battle. The fox has not 
 been asleep." 
 
 King Arnvid blew his horn. Slowly 
 his boats came into line with his "Sea- 
 stag" in the middle. Again he blew his 
 horn. Cables were thrown across from 
 one prow to the next, and all the ships 
 were tied together so that their sides 
 touched. Then the men set their sails 
 again and they went past a tongue of 
 land into a broad fiord. There lay the 
 long line of King Harald's ships with 
 their fierce heads grinning and mocking 
 at the new-comers. Back of those prows 
 was what looked like a long wall with 
 spots of green and red and blue and 
 yellow and shining gold. It was the 
 locked shields of the men in the bows, 
 and over every shield looked fierce blue 
 eyes. Higher up and farther back was 
 another wall of shields ; for on the half 
 deck in the stern of every ship stood the 
 captain with his shield-guard of a dozen 
 men. 
 
 Arnvid's people had furled their sails 
 and were taking down the masts, but the 
 
<£/ I* iking Tales 
 
 ships were still drifting on with the wind. 
 The horn blew, and quickly every man 
 sprang to his place in bow and stern. 
 All were leaning forward with clenched 
 teeth and widespread nostrils. They 
 were clutching their naked swords in 
 their hands. Their flashing eyes looked 
 over their shields. 
 
 Soon King Arnvid's ships crashed into 
 Harald's line, and immediately the men 
 in the bows began to swing their swords 
 at one another. The soldiers of the 
 shield-guard on the high decks began to 
 throw darts and stones and to shoot 
 arrows into the ships opposite them. 
 
 So in ever}- ship showers of stones and 
 arrows were falling, and many men died 
 under them or got broken arms or legs. 
 Spears were hurled from deck to deck 
 and many of them bit deep into men's 
 bodies. In every bow men slashed with 
 their swords at the foes in the opposite 
 ship. Some jumped upon the gunwale to 
 get nearer or hung from the prow-head. 
 Some even leaped into the enemy's boat. 
 
 King Harald's ship lay prow to prow 
 with King Arnvid's. The battle had been 
 
In Norway 85 
 
 going on for an hour. King Harald was 
 still in the stern on the deck. There was 
 a dent in his helmet where a great stone 
 had struck. There was a gash in his 
 shoulder where a spear had cut. But 
 he was still fighting and laughed as he 
 worked. 
 
 "Wolf meets wolf to-day," he said. 
 "But things are going badly in the 
 prow," he cried. " Ivar fallen, Thorstein 
 wounded, a dozen men lying in the 
 bottom of the boat!" 
 
 He leaped down from the deck and ran 
 along the gunwale, shouting as he went : 
 
 " Harald and victory ! " 
 
 So he came to the bow and stood 
 swinging his sword as fast as he breathed. 
 Every time it hit a man of Arnvid's men. 
 Harald's own warriors cheered, seeing 
 him. 
 
 "Harald and victory!" they shouted, 
 and went to work again with good heart. 
 
 Slowly King Arnvid's men fell back 
 before Harald's biting sword. Then Har- 
 ald's men threw a great hook into that 
 boat and pulled it alongside and still 
 pushed King Arnvid's people back. 
 
86 Viking Tales 
 
 & 
 
 "Come on ! Follow me !" cried Harald. 
 
 Then he leaped into King Arnvid's 
 boat, and his warriors followed him. 
 
 "He comes like a mad wolf," King 
 Arnvid's men said, and they turned and 
 ran back below the deck. 
 
 Then Arnvid himself leaped down and 
 stood with his sword raised. 
 
 ' ' Can this young Shockhead make cow- 
 ards of you all?" he cried. 
 
 But Harald' s sword struck him, and 
 he fell dead. Then a big, bloody viking 
 of King Arnvid leaped upon the edge of 
 the ship and stood there. He held his 
 drinking-horn and his sword high in his 
 hands. 
 
 "Ran* and not you, Shockhead, shall 
 have them and me ! " he cried, and leaped 
 laughing into the water and was drowned. 
 
 Many other warriors chose the same 
 death on that terrible day. 
 
 All along the line of boats men fought 
 for hours. In some places the cables had 
 been cut, and the boats had drifted apart. 
 Ships lay scattered about two by two, 
 fighting. Many boats sank, many men 
 
 * See note about Ran on page 198. 
 
'■'■Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat' 
 
S8 
 
 Viking Tales 
 
 died, some fled away in their ships, and 
 at the end King Harald had won the 
 battle. So he had King Arnvid's country 
 and King Audbiorn's country. Many 
 men took the oath and became his 
 friends. All people were talking of his 
 wonderful battles. 
 
Kin£ Harald's Wedding 
 
 IT had taken King Harald ten years to 
 fight so many battles. And all that 
 time he had not cut his hair or combed it. 
 Now he was feasting one day at an earl's 
 house. Many people were there. 
 
 "How is it, friends?" Harald said. 
 "Have I kept my vow?" 
 
 His friends answered : 
 
 "You have kept your vow. There is 
 no king but you in all Norwa} 7 ." 
 
 "Then I think I will cut my hair," the 
 king laughed. 
 
 So he went and bathed and put. on 
 fresh clothes. Then the earl cut his hair 
 and beard and combed them and put a 
 gold band about his head. Then he 
 looked at him and said : 
 
 "It is beautiful, smooth, and yellow." 
 
 And all people wondered at the beauty 
 of the king's hair. 
 
 "1 will give } T ou a new name," the 
 earl said. "You shall no longer be called 
 
 89 
 
go Viking Tales 
 
 Shockhead. You shall be called Harald 
 Hair fair." 
 
 " It is a good name/' everybody cried. 
 
 Then Harald said : 
 
 "But I have another thing to do now. 
 Guthorm, you shall take the same mes- 
 sage to Gyda that }^ou gave ten years 
 ago." 
 
 So Guthorm went and brought back 
 this answer from Gyda : 
 
 ' ' I will many the king of all Norway." 
 
 So when the wedding time came, Har- 
 ald rode across the country to the home 
 of Gyda's father, Eric. Many men fol- 
 lowed him. They were all richly dressed 
 in velvet and gold. 
 
 For three nights they feasted at Eric's 
 house. On the next night Gyda sat on 
 the cross-bench with her women. A 
 long veil of white linen covered her face 
 and head and hung down to the ground. 
 After the mead-horns had been brought 
 in, Eric stood up from his high seat 
 and went down and stood before King 
 Harald. 
 
 "Will you marry Gy^da now?" he 
 asked. 
 
"/, liar aid, King of Norway, take you, Gyda, for ?ny wife' 
 
g2 Viking Tales 
 
 Harald jumped to his feet and laughed. 
 
 " Yes," he said. " I have waited long 
 enough." 
 
 Then he stepped down from his high 
 seat and stood by Eric. The) 7 walked 
 about the hall. Before them walked 
 thralls carrying candles. Behind them 
 walked man} 7 of King Harald's great 
 earls. Three times they walked around 
 the hall. The third time the} 7 stopped 
 before the cross-bench. King Harald 
 and Eric stepped upon the platform, where 
 the cross-bench was. 
 
 Eric gave a hoi) 7 hammer to Harald, 
 and it was like the hammer of Thor. 
 Harald put it upon Gyda's lap, saying : 
 
 "With this holy hammer of Thor's, I, 
 Harald, King of Norway, take you, Gyda, 
 for my wife." 
 
 Then he took a bunch of keys and 
 tied it to Gyda's girdle, saying : 
 
 ' ' This is the sign that you are mistress 
 of my house." 
 
 After that, Eric called out loudly : 
 
 "Now are Harald, King of Norway, 
 and Gyda, daughter of Eric, man and 
 wife." 
 
In Norway gj 
 
 Then thralls brought meat and drink 
 in golden dishes. They were about to 
 serve it to Gyda for the bride's feast, but 
 Harald took the dish from them and said : 
 
 "No, I will serve m}^ bride." 
 
 So he knelt and held the platter. 
 When he did that his men shouted. Then 
 they talked among themselves, saying : 
 
 "Surely Harald never knelt before. 
 It is always other people who kneel to 
 him." 
 
 When the bride had tasted the food 
 and touched the mead-horn to her lips 
 she stood up and walked from the hall. 
 All her women followed her, but the men 
 stayed and feasted long. 
 
 On the next morning at breakfast 
 Gyda sat by Harald' s side. Soon the 
 king rose and said : 
 
 ' ' Father-in-law, our horses stand ready 
 in the yard. Work is waiting for me at 
 home and on the sea. Lead out the 
 bride." 
 
 So Eric took Gyda by the hand and 
 led her out of the hall. Harald followed 
 close. When they passed through the 
 door Eric said : 
 
gjf Viking Tales 
 
 ' ' With this hand I lead my daughter 
 out of my house and give her to you, 
 Harald, son of Halfdan, to be your wife. 
 May all the gods make you happy ! " 
 
 Harald led his bride to the horse and 
 lifted her up and set her behind his saddle 
 and said : 
 
 " Now this Gyda is my wife." 
 
 Then they drank the stirrup-horn and 
 rode off. 
 
 "Everything comes to. King Harald," 
 his men said ; "wife and land and crown 
 and victory in battle. He is a lucky 
 man." 
 
Kin4 Harald Goes West-Over-Seas 
 
 NOW many men hated King Harald. 
 Many a man said : 
 
 "Why should he put himself up for 
 king of all of us? He is no better than I 
 am. Am I not a king's son as well as he? 
 iVnd are not many of us kings' sons? I 
 will not kneel before him and promise to 
 be his man. I will not pay him taxes. I 
 will not have his earl sitting over me. 
 The good old da} r s have gone. This 
 Norway has become a prison. I will go 
 away and find some other place." 
 
 So hundreds of men sailed away. 
 Some went to France and got land and 
 lived there. Big Rolf-go-afoot and all 
 his men sailed up the great French River 
 and won a battle against the French king 
 himself. There was no way to stop the 
 flashing of his battle-axes but to give 
 him what he wanted. So the king made 
 Rolf a duke, gave him broad lands and 
 gave him the king's own daughter for 
 
 95 
 
g6 / r i k i ng Ta les 
 
 wife. Rolf called his country Normandy, 
 for old Norway. He ruled it well and 
 was a great lord, and his sons' sons after 
 him were kings of England. 
 
 Other Norsemen went to Ireland and 
 England and Scotland. They drew up 
 their boats on the river banks. The 
 people ran away before them and 
 gathered into great armies that marched 
 back to meet the vikings in battle. 
 Sometimes the Norsemen lost, but oftener 
 they won, so that the} 7 got land and lived 
 in those countries. Their houses sat in 
 these strange lands like warriors' camps, 
 and the Norsemen went among their 
 new neighbors with hanging swords and 
 spears in hand, ever read} 7 for fight. 
 
 There are many islands north of Scot- 
 land. They are called the Orkneys and 
 the Shetlands. They have many good 
 harbors for ships. They are little and 
 rocky and bare of trees. Wild sea-birds 
 scream around them. On some of them 
 a man can stand in the middle and see 
 the ocean all about him. Now the vik- 
 ings sailed to these islands and were 
 pleased. 
 
"//» A'orzoay they left burning houses and weeping wo?nen " 
 
g8 Viking Tales 
 
 "It is like being always in a boat," 
 they said. "This shall be our home." 
 
 So it went until all the lands round 
 about were covered with vikings. Norse 
 carved and painted houses brightened the 
 hillsides. Viking ships sailed all the seas 
 and made harbor in every river. Norse- 
 men's thralls plowed the soil and planted 
 crops and herded cattle, and gold flowed 
 into their masters' treasure-chests. Norse 
 warriors walked up and down the land, 
 and no man dared to say them nay. 
 
 These men did not forget Norway. In 
 the summers they sailed back there and 
 harried the coast. They took gold and 
 grain and beautiful cloth back to their 
 homes. In Norway they left burning 
 houses and weeping women. 
 
 Every summer King Harald had out 
 his ships and men and hunted these 
 vikings. There are many little islands 
 about Norway. They have crags and 
 caves and deep woods. Here the vik- 
 ings hid when they saw King Harald's 
 ships coming. But Harald ran his boat 
 into every creek and fiord and hunted in 
 every cave and through all the woods and 
 
In Norway gg 
 
 among the crags. He caught many men, 
 but most of them got awa}^ and went 
 home laughing at Harald. Then they 
 came back the next summer and did the 
 same deeds over again. At last King 
 Harald said: 
 
 ' ' There is but one thing to do. I must 
 sail to these western islands and whip 
 these robbers in their own homes." 
 
 So he went with a great number of 
 ships. He found as brave men as he had 
 brought from Norway. These vikings 
 had brought their old courage to their 
 new homes. King Harald's fine ships 
 were scarred by viking stones and 
 scorched by viking fire. The shields of 
 Harald's warriors had dents from viking 
 blows. Many of those men carried vik- 
 ing scars all their lives. And man}^ of 
 King Harald's warriors Avalked the long, 
 hard road to Valhalla, and feasted there 
 with some of these very vikings that 
 had died in King Harald's battles. But 
 after many hard fights on land and sea, 
 after many men had died and many had 
 fled away to other lands, King Harald 
 won, and he made the men that were yet 
 
ioo Vi k i ng Ta le s 
 
 in the islands take the oath, and he left 
 his earls to rule over them. Then he 
 went baek to Norway. 
 
 "He has done more than he vowed 
 to do," people said. "He has not only 
 whipped the vikings, but he has got a 
 new kingdom west-over-seas." 
 
 Then they talked of that dream that 
 his mother had. 
 
 "King Harald was that great tree," 
 they said. ' ' The trunk was red with the 
 blood of his many battles, but higher 
 up the limbs were fair and green like 
 this good time of peace. The topmost 
 branches were white because Harald will 
 live to be an old man. Just as that tree 
 spread out until all of Norway was in its 
 shade, and even more lands, so Harald 
 is king of all this country and of the 
 western islands. The man) 7 branches of 
 that tree are the man) 7 sons of Harald, 
 who shall be earls and kings in Norway, 
 and their sons after them, for hundreds 
 of vears." 
 
/WRT ZT 
 
 WEST-OVERSEAS 
 
Homes in Icela-ixci 
 
 MEN had been feasting in Ingolf's 
 house. But there was no laughing 
 and no shouting of jokes. Ingolf sat in 
 his high seat frowning and gloomy. His 
 head hung on his breast. He was staring 
 into the fire. Now he raised his head 
 and looked about the hall. 
 
 "Comrades," he said, "what shall we 
 do ? Herstein and Holmstein died by our 
 swords. Their kinsmen hunger to kill us. 
 Besides, when Harald hears of our deed, 
 there will not be a safe place in Norway 
 for us. He will never let a man fight out 
 an honest quarrel. Where shall we go?" 
 
 A man stood up from the bench. 
 
 "We have friends in the Shetlands," 
 he said. "Let us find homes there." 
 
 Then Leif, in the high seat opposite 
 Ingolf, stood up. 
 
 "No, not the Shetlands, my foster- 
 brother." They are crowded already. 
 
 * See note about foster-brothers on page 197. 
 103 
 
ioj. Viking Tales 
 
 Besides, Harald will not long keep his 
 hands off them. Then they will be no 
 better than Norway. England and Ire- 
 land and Scotland are old. My eyes ache 
 for something new. What of that far 
 island that Floki found? It is empt}^. 
 We could choose our land from the whole 
 country. There is good fishing. There 
 are green valleys. And Butter Thorolf 
 says that butter drops from every weed. 
 There are mountains and deserts where 
 we may find adventure. I say, let us 
 steer for Iceland ! " 
 
 When he stopped, many of the men 
 shouted : 
 
 "Yes ! Iceland !" 
 
 But an old man stood up. 
 
 ' We have all laughed at that tale of 
 Butter Thorolf s," he said. "But Floki 
 himself said that the sea about the island 
 is full of ice that pushes upon the land, 
 that no ship can live in that water in 
 the winter, that great mountains of ice 
 cover the island. Did not all his cattle 
 die there of hungrer and cold, and did 
 he not come back to Norway cursing Ice- 
 land?" 
 
West-Over-Seas 103 
 
 "Oh, Sigh vat, you are old and fear- 
 ful," called out Leif, and he laughed. 
 
 Then he stretched himself up and 
 threw back his head. 
 
 ' ' Are we afraid of ice ? Have we not 
 seen angry water before? I have been 
 hungry, but I have never died of it. 
 Surely if there are fish in the sea and 
 grass in the valleys, we can live there. 
 I should like to stand on a hill and look 
 around on a wide land and think, 'This 
 is all ours,' and out upon a rough sea and 
 think, ' Far off there are our foes and 
 they dare not come over to us.' Besides, 
 we shall have no Shockhead Harald to 
 lord it over us. We can come and go and 
 feast and fight as we please. We shall 
 be our own kings. And our ships will be 
 always waiting to take us away, when we 
 are weary of it. And we shall see things 
 that other men have never seen. I am 
 tired of the old things. Perhaps in after 
 da} T s men will make songs about 'those 
 foster-brothers, Ingolf and Leif, who 
 made a new country in a wonderful land, 
 and whose sons and grandsons are mighty 
 men in Iceland !' " 
 
106 Viking Tales 
 
 Ingolf leaped up from his chair. 
 
 "By the strong arm of Thor ! " he 
 cried, "I like the sound of it. Now I 
 make my vow." 
 
 He raised his drinking-horn. 
 
 "I vow that I will find this Iceland and 
 pass the winter there, and that if man 
 can live upon it I will go back there and 
 set up my home." 
 
 "And I vow that I will follow my 
 foster-brother," cried Leif. 
 
 And many men vowed to go. 
 
 So on the next day they began to make 
 read y a boat. They looked her over 
 carefully and recalked every seam and 
 freshly painted her and put into her their 
 strongest oars and made her a new sail. 
 
 ' ' This will be the longest voyage that 
 she ever made," Ingolf said. 
 
 When the work was done, the} 7 put 
 into her great stores, axes, hammers, fish- 
 nets, cooking-kettles, kegs of ale, chests 
 of hard bread, chests of smoked meat, 
 brass kettles full of flour, skin bottles of 
 water. The} 7 stowed these things away 
 in the ends of the ship. When they were 
 ready they put in four head of cattle. 
 
West- Over-Seas loy 
 
 ' ' We shall need the milk and perhaps 
 the meat," Ingolf said. 
 
 Many men wished to go, but Ingolf 
 had said : 
 
 ' ' There is little room to spare and little 
 food and drink. I have planned for half 
 a y^ear. But perhaps we must be sailing 
 longer than that. Our food may run 
 short. We must not have extra mouths 
 to feed. There are thirty oars in our 
 boat. I will take 011I3 7 one man for every 
 oar, and Leif and I will steer." 
 
 So the}^ started off. Leif stood in the 
 prow leaning forward and looking far 
 ahead, and he sang : 
 
 "What does the swimming dragon smell? 
 
 A stormy sea, an empty land, 
 
 Hunger, darkness, giants, fire. 
 
 Leif and his sword do laugh at that." 
 
 They sailed for days and saw no land. 
 Sometimes they passed ships and always 
 made sure to sail close enough to hail 
 them. 
 
 ' ' Where are you going ? " Ingolf would 
 call. 
 
 "To Norway," would come back the 
 answer. 
 
108 Viking Tales 
 
 ' ' For trade or fight ? " Leif would shout. 
 
 Then would ring out a great laugh 
 from that boat and this answer : 
 
 "A shut mouth is a good friend." 
 
 So the two ships sailed on, and the men 
 were glad to have heard a greeting and 
 to have called one. 
 
 But at last there were the Shetlands. 
 
 "We will go in here and rest," Ingolf 
 said. 
 
 When the} 7 rowed to shore a certain 
 Shetland man stood there. He watched 
 them land and looked them all over. 
 Then he walked up to Ingolf and said : 
 
 " You look like brave men. Welcome 
 to Shetland. You shall come to my 
 house and rest } 7 our legs from ship-going 
 and fill your stomachs. I hunger for 
 news of Norway." 
 
 So they went to his house and stayed 
 there for three days. And good it seemed 
 to be near a fire and in a quiet bed and 
 before a steaming platter. When they 
 went to the shore to start off again, the 
 Shetland man had his thralls cany a keg 
 of ale and a great kettle of cooked meat 
 and put them into the ship. 
 
West-Over-Seas iog 
 
 "Think of me when you eat this," he 
 said. 
 
 Then the Norsemen put to sea again 
 and sailed for a long time. 
 
 One day a terrible storm came up ; the 
 sky was black; the wind howled through 
 the ship. Great waves leaped in the sea. 
 
 "Down with the sail and out with the 
 oars!" Ingolf shouted. 
 
 So the men furled the sail and took 
 down the mast and laid it along the bot- 
 tom of the boat. As they worked, one 
 man was washed overboard and drowned. 
 The men sat down to row, but the tum- 
 bling waves tossed the boat about and 
 poured over her and broke three of the 
 oars. But still the men held on. They 
 were wet to the skin and were cold, and 
 their arms and legs ached with the hard 
 work, and they were hungry from the 
 long waiting, but not one face was white 
 with fear. 
 
 "Ran, in her caves under sea, wants 
 us for compan}^ to-night," Ingolf laughed. 
 
 So they tossed about all night, but in 
 the morning the wind died down. Great 
 waves still rolled, and for days the sea 
 
no Viking Tales 
 
 was rough, but they could put up the sail. 
 Then one day Leif, as he sat in the pilot's 
 seat, jumped to his feet and sang : 
 
 " To eyes grown tired with looking far, 
 
 All at once appeared an island, 
 
 A stretching-place for sea-legs, 
 
 A quiet bed for backs grown stiff 
 
 On rowing-bench on rolling sea. 
 
 A place to build a red fire 
 
 And thaw the blood that sea-winds froze." 
 
 But when the) 7 came near they saw no 
 place to land. The island was like a 
 mountain of rock standing out of the 
 water. The sides were steep and smooth. 
 They sailed around it, but found no place 
 to climb up. 
 
 "There are man} 7 other islands here," 
 said Leif. "We will try another." 
 
 So he steered to another. It, too, was 
 a steep rock, but one side sloped down to 
 the water and was green with grass. 
 
 "Oh, I have not seen anything so good 
 as that green grass since I looked into 
 my mother's face," one man said. 
 
 There was a little harbor there. The 
 men rowed in and quickly jumped out and 
 put the rollers under the ship and pulled 
 
West-Over-Seas in 
 
 her upon shore. Then the} 7 threw them- 
 selves down on the grass and rolled and 
 stretched their arms and shouted for joy. 
 After that they built a fire and warmed 
 themselves and cooked a meal and ate like 
 wolves. They slept there that night. 
 
 In the morning before Ingolf's men 
 started away they were standing high 
 up on the hillside, looking about. They 
 saw no houses on any of the islands, but 
 the) 7 saw smoke rise from one hillside. 
 
 "Some other men, like us, weary of 
 the sea and stopping to rest," said Ingolf. 
 
 They saw the island that they had 
 sailed around the night before. 
 
 "There can surely be nothing but 
 birds' nests on top of that," Sighvat said. 
 
 "Look!" cried another, pointing. 
 
 Men were standing on the flat top of 
 that island. They were letting a boat 
 down the steep side with ropes. When 
 it struck the water, the) 7 made a rope fast 
 to the rock and slid down it into the ship 
 and sailed off. 
 
 "Some robber vikings from Scotland 
 or Ireland," laughed Leif. " It is a good 
 hiding place for treasure." 
 
ii2 Viking Tales 
 
 Soon Ingolf and his men got into their 
 ship and were off. Old Sighvat grumbled. 
 
 "Is this land not new enough and 
 empty enough and far enough? I am 
 tired of sea, sea, sea, and nothing else." 
 
 "We started for Iceland," said Ingolf, 
 ' ' and I will not stop before I come there. 
 I have a vow. Did you make none, 
 Sighvat?" 
 
 Then they were on the water again 
 for weeks with no sight of land. 
 
 ' ' Oh ! I would give my right hand to see 
 a dragon pawing the water off there and 
 to fling a word to its men," Sighvat said. 
 
 "No hope of that," replied Ingolf. 
 "Only three dragons before ours have 
 ever swept this water, and men are not 
 sailing this way for pleasure or riches." 
 
 So only the desolate sea stretched 
 around them. Sometimes it was smooth 
 and shining under the sun. Often it was 
 torn by winds, and a gray sky hung over 
 it, and the men were drenched with rain. 
 Once they ran into a fog. For three days 
 and nights they could not see sun or stars 
 to steer by. They forgot which way was 
 north. When after three days the fog 
 
West- Over-Seas uj 
 
 lifted, they found that they had been 
 going in the wrong direction, and they 
 had to turn around and sail all that weary 
 way over again. But at last one after- 
 noon they saw a white cloud resting on 
 the water far off. As they sailed toward 
 it, it grew into long stretches of black, 
 hilly shore with a blue ice mountain ris- 
 ing from it. The sun was going down 
 behind that mountain, and long lines of 
 pink and of shining green, and great 
 purple shadows streaked the blue. 
 
 "It is Iceland !" shouted the men. 
 
 "It is like Asgard the Shining," Ingolf 
 said. 
 
 But it was still far off. Men can see 
 a long way there because the air is so 
 clear. So Ingolf and his people sailed on 
 for hours and at last came into a harbor. 
 A little green valley sloped up from it. 
 On one side was the bright ice mountain. 
 Back of it were bare black and red hills. 
 In that valley Ingolf and his men drew 
 up their boat and camped. At supper 
 that night one of the men said : 
 
 "I almost think 1 never felt a fire 
 before or had warm food in my mouth." 
 
ii/f Viking Tales 
 
 The men laughed. 
 
 "It is four months since we left Nor- 
 way," Ingolf said. "Few men have ever 
 been on the sea so long." 
 
 That night they put up the awning in 
 the boat and slept under it. 
 
 After that some men went fishing 
 every day in the rowboat that they had. 
 And Ingolf took others, and they sailed 
 along the shore, seeing what kind of a 
 land this was. But winter began to come 
 on. Then Ingolf said : 
 
 ' ' Remember what Floki said of the ice 
 and the rough sea in winter. Soon we 
 cannot sail any longer. Let us choose a 
 place to stay and build a hut there and 
 cut hay for our cattle.' 
 
 So they did. Their hut was a little 
 mean thing of stones and turf. They 
 kept the cattle and the hay in it. Some- 
 times they slept there, when it was very 
 cold. But most of the time they ate 
 and slept by a great bonfire out of doors 
 where it was clean. Leif said : 
 
 "I like the cold air of the sea better 
 than the bad-smelling air of a house, 
 even though it is warm." 
 
West- Over -Seas 115 
 
 Now ever}^ day Ingolf and Leif and 
 some of the men walked about the island. 
 At night they all sat around the camp- 
 fire and talked of what they had seen 
 during the da}^. 
 
 "This is surely a wonderful land," 
 Ingolf said once. " It is at the same time 
 like Niflheim and like Asgard. Here is a 
 spot green and soft, a sweet cradle for 
 men. Next it is a mountain of ice where 
 men would freeze to death. And next to 
 that is a hill of rock that seems to have 
 come out of some great fire. Yesterday I 
 saw a cave on the seashore. The door 
 of it was big enough for a giant. The 
 waves broke at the doorstep. A terrible 
 roaring came from the cave. I think it 
 is the home of a giant. I think that 
 giants of fire and giants of frost made 
 this island. I have seen great basins in 
 the rocks filled with warm water. They 
 looked like giants' bath-tubs. I have 
 seen boiling water shoot up out of the 
 ground. I have walked, and have felt 
 and heard a great rumbling under me as 
 though some giant were sleeping there 
 and turning over in his sleep. One day 
 
i/6 Viking Tales 
 
 I stood on a mountain and looked inland. 
 There was a wide desert of sand and 
 black and red rock with nothing growing 
 on it. The fierce wind blew dirt into my 
 eyes, and the cold of it froze the marrow 
 in my bones. When I have seen these 
 things I have cursed the country, and have 
 said: 'The gods hate Iceland. I will not 
 stay here.' But . then I have walked 
 through beautiful warm valleys where 
 the winds did not come. I saw in my 
 mind the flowers that we found last sum- 
 mer. I saw our cattle feeding on the 
 sweet grass. I thought of the sea full of 
 good fish. I saw my house built among 
 green fields, and my wife sitting in her 
 home, and my children playing among 
 the flowers and making up tales about 
 the bright ice mountains. I saw the 
 wide, rough seas between me and Harald 
 and our foes. Then I thought to myself, 
 'It is the sweetest home on earth.' As 
 for me, I am coming here to live. What 
 do you sa} T , comrades?" 
 
 "Have I not vowed to follow you, 
 foster-brother?" said Leif. "And indeed 
 I never saw a land that I liked better. 
 
West-Over-Seas ny 
 
 I don't believe in your giants. My sword 
 is my god, and my ship is my temple, and 
 I like this land to set them up in." 
 
 They sat about the fire long that night 
 making plans. 
 
 ' ' You shall go home and get our 
 women and our things, Ingolf," said Leil. 
 ' ' I will off to Ireland and have a frolic. 
 There will be little play of swords in this 
 empty land, and I want to have one last 
 game before I hang up my battle-knife. 
 Besides, I will come to you with a ship full 
 of gold and clothes and house-hangings 
 such as we cannot get here, and they will 
 cost me nothing but the swing of a sword." 
 
 As they talked, Ingolf looked up at the 
 sky. The northern lights were quiver- 
 ing there. They were like great flames 
 of } 7 ellow and green and red. 
 
 "See," he said, and pointed. " We are 
 not so far that the gods will forget us. 
 There is the flash of the armor of the 
 Valkyrias. * A battle is on somewhere, 
 and Odin has sent his maidens to choose 
 the heroes for Valhalla." 
 
 Leif only laughed and lay down to sleep. 
 
 * Sec note about Valkyrias on page 198. 
 
118 Viking Tales 
 
 So in the spring they all went back to 
 Norway. Leif got ready the boat again 
 and merrily sailed for Ireland. 
 
 4 ' Here I go to get riches for our new 
 land," he said. 
 
 Ingolf sethis men to cutting down pines 
 in the forest and some to building a new 
 ship. He had his thralls plant large crops of 
 grain and grind flour and make new kegs 
 and chests of wood. He himself worked 
 much at the forge, making all kinds of 
 tools — spades, axes, hammers, hunting- 
 knives, cooking kettles. The women were 
 busy weaving and sewing new clothes. 
 Ingolf sold his house and land and every- 
 thing that he could not take with him. 
 
 After about two years Leif came back. 
 He had ten thralls that he had got in Ire- 
 land. He took Ingolf aboard his ship and 
 raised the covers of great chests. Gold 
 helmets, silver-trimmed drinking-horns, 
 embroidered robes, and swords flashed 
 out. 
 
 ' ' Did I not say that I would come 
 back with a full ship?" he laughed. 
 
 At last all things were ready for sta.rt- 
 
West-Over-Seas iig 
 
 ' ' To-da}^ I will sacrifice to Thor and 
 Odin," Ingolf said. "If the omens are 
 good we will start to-morrow." 
 
 "Well, go, foster-brother," laughed 
 Leif. "But I have better things to do. 
 I will be putting the cattle into the ship 
 and will have all ready." 
 
 So Ingolf and his men went into the 
 forests a little way. There in a cleared 
 space stood a large building. In front of 
 this temple the men killed two horses for 
 Odin. Ingolf caught some of the blood 
 in a brass bowl. He raised it and looked 
 up at the sky and said : 
 
 "All-wise and all-father Odin, and 
 Thor who loves the thunder, I give these 
 horses to you. Tell me whether it is 
 your will that we go to Iceland." 
 
 As he said that, a raven flew over his 
 head. Ingolf watched it. 
 
 " It is Odin's will that we go," he said. 
 "He sent his raven" to tell us. It is flying 
 straight toward Iceland." 
 
 The men shouted with joy at that. 
 
 Now they hung some of the meat of 
 the horses on a tree near the temple. 
 
 "For the ravens of Odin," they said. 
 
 * See note about Odin's ravens on page 198. 
 
120 Viking Tales 
 
 & 
 
 Ingolf carried the bowl of blood into 
 the temple. He went through the feast 
 hall in front to a little room at the back. 
 Here stood wooden statues of the gods in 
 a semicircle. Before them w T as a stone 
 altar. Ingolf took a little brush of twigs 
 that la) 7 on it and dipped it into the blood 
 and sprinkled the statues. 
 
 "You shall taste of our sacrifice," he 
 said. ' ' Look kindly on us from your 
 happy seats in Asgard." 
 
 Then they went into the feast hall. 
 There thralls were boiling the horseflesh 
 in pots over the fire. The tables were 
 standing read} 7 before the benches. In- 
 golf walked to the high seat. All the 
 others took their places at the benches. 
 When the horns came round, Ingolf made 
 this vow : 
 
 ' ' I vow that I will build my house 
 wherever these pillars lead me." 
 
 He put his hand upon a tall post that 
 stood beside the high seat. There was 
 one at each side. They were the front 
 posts of the chair. But the) 7 stood up 
 high, almost to the roof. They were won- 
 derfully carved and painted with men 
 
West- Over -Seas 121 
 
 and dragons. On the top of each one 
 was a little statue of Thor with his 
 hammer. 
 
 At the end of the feast Ingolf had his 
 thralls dig these pillars up. He had a 
 little bronze chest filled with the earth 
 that was under the altar. 
 
 ' ' I will take the pillars of my high seat 
 to Iceland," he said, "and I will set up 
 my altar there upon the soil of Norway, 
 the soil that all my ancestors have trod, 
 the soil that Thor loves." 
 
 So they carried the pillars and the 
 chest of earth and the statues of the gods, 
 and put them into Ingolf's boat. 
 
 "It is a well-packed ship," the men 
 said. " There is no spot to spare." 
 
 Tools, and chests of food, and tubs of 
 drink, and chests of clothes, and fishing 
 nets were stowed in the bows of both 
 boats. In the bottom were laid some 
 long, heavy, hewn logs. 
 
 ' ' The trees in Iceland are little, " Ingolf 
 said. ' ' We must take the great beams for 
 our homes with us." 
 
 Standing on these logs were a few 
 cattle and sheep and horses and pigs. 
 
122 Viking Tales 
 
 The rowers' benches were along the sides. 
 In the stern of each boat was a little 
 cabin. Here the women and children 
 were to sleep. But the men would sleep 
 on the timbers in the middle of the boat 
 and perhaps they would put up the awn- 
 ing sometimes. 
 
 At last everyone was aboard. Men 
 loosed the rope that held the boats. The 
 ships flashed down the rollers into the 
 water, and Ingolf and Leif were off for 
 Iceland. As they sailed away everyone 
 looked back at the shore of old Norway. 
 There were tears in the women's eyes. 
 Helga, Leif's wife, sang : 
 
 "There was I born. There was I wed. 
 There are my father's bones. 
 There are the hills and fields, 
 The streams and rocks that I love. 
 There are houses and temples, 
 Women and warriors and feasts, 
 Ships and songs and fights — 
 A crowded, joyous land. 
 I go to an empty land." 
 
 There was the same long voyage with 
 storm and fog. But at last the people 
 saw again the white cloud and saw it 
 growing into land and mountains. Then 
 
West-Over-Seas 123 
 
 Ingolf took the pillars of his high seat 
 and threw them overboard. 
 
 1 ' Guide them to a good place, O Thor ! " 
 he cried. 
 
 The waves caught them up and rolled 
 them about. Ingolf followed them with 
 his ship. But soon a storm came up. The 
 men had to take down the sails and 
 masts, and they could do nothing with 
 their oars. The two ships tossed about 
 in the sea wherever the waves sent them. 
 The pillars drifted away, and Ingolf could 
 not see them. 
 
 " Remember your pillars, O Thor ! " he 
 cried. 
 
 Then he saw that Leif s ship was being 
 driven far off. 
 
 "Ah, my foster-brother," he thought, 
 ' ' shall I not have 3^011 to cheer me in this 
 empty land ? O Thor, let him not go 
 down to the caves of Ran ! He is too 
 good a man for that." 
 
 On the next day the storm was not so 
 hard, and Ingolf put in at a good harbor. 
 A high rocky point stuck out into the sea. 
 A broad bay with islands in the mouth 
 was at the side. Behind the rocky point 
 
i2j. Viking Tales 
 
 was a level green place with ice-moun- 
 tains shining far back. 
 
 After a day or two Ingolf said : 
 
 " I will go look for my pillars." 
 
 So he and a few men got into the row- 
 boat and went along the shore and into 
 all the fiords, but they could not find the 
 pillars. After a week they came back, 
 and Ingolf said : 
 
 ' ' I will build a house here to live in 
 while I look for the posts. This way is 
 uncomfortable for the women. " 
 
 So he did. Then he set out again to 
 look for the pillars, but he had no better 
 luck and came back. 
 
 ' ' I must stay at home and see to the 
 making of hay and the dr}dng of fish," 
 he said. " Winter is coming on, and we 
 must not be caught with nothing to eat." 
 
 So he sta3 T ed and worked and sent 
 two of his thralls to look for the holy 
 posts. They came back every week or 
 two and always had to say that they 
 had not found them. Midwinter was 
 coming on. 
 
 "Ah!" said Ingolf s wife one day, "do 
 you remember the gay feast that we had 
 
'Then he saw that Lei/'s ship was being driven afar off" 
 
126 Viking Tales 
 
 6 
 
 at Yule-time ? All our friends were there. 
 The house rang with song and laughter. 
 Our tables bent with good things to eat. 
 Walls were hung with gay draperies. 
 The floor was clean with sweet-smelling 
 pine-branches. Now look at this mean 
 house ; its dirt floor, its bare stone walls, 
 its littleness, its darkness ! Look at our 
 long faces. No one here could make a 
 song if he tried. Oh! I am sick for dear 
 old Norway." 
 
 "It is Thor's fault," Ingolf cried. "He 
 will not let me find his posts." 
 
 He strode out of the house and stood 
 scowling at the gray sea. 
 
 f< Ah, foster-brother! " he said. ' ' It was 
 never so gloomy when you were by my 
 side. Where are you now ? Shall I never 
 hear your merry laugh again ? That spot 
 in my palm burns, and my heart aches to 
 see you. That arch of sod keeps rising 
 before my eyes. Our vows keep ringing 
 in my ears." 
 
 At last the long, gloomy winter passed 
 and spring came. 
 
 "Cheer up, good wife," Ingolf said. 
 "Better days are coming now." 
 
TVest- Over -Seas 12/ 
 
 But that same day the thralls came 
 back from looking for the posts. 
 
 ' ' We have bad news, " they said. ' ' As 
 we walked along the shore looking for 
 the pillars we saw a man lying on the 
 shore. We went up to him. He was dead. 
 It was Leif. Two well-built houses stood 
 near. We went to them. We knew from 
 the carving on the door-posts that they 
 were Leif s. We went in. The rooms 
 were empty. Along the shore and in the 
 wood back of the house we found all 
 of his men, dead. There was no living 
 thing about." 
 
 Ingolf said no word, but his face was 
 white, and his mouth was set. He went 
 into the house and got his spears and his 
 shield and said to his men : 
 
 "Follow me." 
 
 They put provisions into the boat and 
 pushed off and sailed until they saw 
 Leif s houses on the shore of the harbor. 
 There they saw Leif and the men who 
 were his friends, dead. Their swords 
 and spears were gone. Ingolf walked 
 through the houses calling on Helga 
 and on the thralls, but no one answered. 
 
128 Viking Tales 
 
 The store house was empty. The rich 
 hangings were gone from the walls of 
 the houses. There was nothing in the 
 stables. The boat was gone. 
 
 Ingolf went out and stood on a high 
 point of land that jutted out into the 
 water. Far along the coast he saw some 
 little islands. He turned to his men and 
 said : 
 
 ' ' The thralls have done it. I think we 
 shall find them on those islands." 
 
 Then he went back to Leif and stood 
 looking at him. 
 
 "What a shame for so brave a man to 
 fall by the hands of thralls ! But I have 
 found that such things always happen to 
 men who do not sacrifice to the gods. Ah, 
 Leif ! I did not think when we made those 
 vows of foster-brotherhood that this would 
 ever happen. But do not fear. I remem- 
 ber my promise. I had thought that a 
 man's blood is precious in this empty 
 land, but my vow is more precious." 
 
 Now they laid all those men together 
 and tied on their hell-shoes. 
 
 ' ' I need my sword for your sake, foster- 
 brother. I cannot give you that. But }^ou 
 
West-Over -Seas I2Q 
 
 shall have my spears and my drinking- 
 horn," said Ingolf . ' ' For surely Odin has 
 chosen you for Valhalla, even though you 
 did not sacrifice. You are too good a man 
 to go to Ninheim. You would make 
 times merry in Valhalla." 
 
 So Ingolf put his spears and his drink- 
 ing-horn by Leif. Then the men raised 
 a great mound over all the dead. After 
 that they went aboard their boat and 
 sailed for the islands that Ingolf had 
 seen. It was evening when they reached 
 them. 
 
 "I see smoke rising from that one," 
 Ingolf said, pointing. 
 
 He steered for it. It was a steep rock 
 like that one in the Faroes, but they 
 found a harbor and landed and climbed 
 the steep hill and came out on top. They 
 saw the ten thralls sitting about a bonfire 
 eating. Helga and the other women from 
 Leif s house sat near, huddled together, 
 white and frightened. One of the thralls 
 gave a great laugh and shouted: 
 
 "This is better than pulling Leif's 
 plow. To-morrow we will sail for Ire- 
 land with all his wealth." 
 
ijo 1 7 k i ng Ta le s 
 
 "To-morrow you will be freezing in 
 Niflheim," cried Ingolf, and lie leaped 
 among them swinging his sword, and all 
 his men followed him, and they killed 
 those thralls. 
 
 Then Ingolf turned to Helga. She 
 threw herself into his arms and wept. 
 But after a while she told him this 
 story : 
 
 ' ' When springtime came, Leif thought 
 that he would sow wheat. He had but 
 one ox. The others had died during the 
 winter. So he set the thralls to help pull 
 the plow. I saw their sour looks and 
 was afraid, but Leif only laughed : 
 
 ' ' •' What else can thralls expect ? ' he 
 said. ' Never fear them, good wife.' 
 
 "Now one day soon after that the 
 thralls came running to the house calling 
 out : 
 
 " 'The ox is dead ! The ox is dead !' 
 
 " Leif asked them about it. They said 
 that a bear had come out of the woods 
 and killed it, and that they had scared 
 the beast away. They pointed out where 
 it had gone. Then Leif called his men 
 and said : 
 
West-Over-Seas iji 
 
 ' ' 'A hunt ! I had not hoped for such 
 great sport here. Ah, we will have a 
 feast off that bear ! ' 
 
 ' ' So they took their spears and went 
 out into the woods. As soon as they were 
 gone, the thralls came running into the 
 house and took down all the swords and 
 shields from the wall and ran out. In 
 some way they met my lord and his men 
 in the woods and killed them. Then they 
 came back and took everything in the 
 house and dragged us to the boat and 
 sailed here." 
 
 " O my brother ! " said Ingolf, "where 
 is that song about 'those two foster- 
 brothers, Ingolf and Leif, who made a 
 new country in a wonderful land, and 
 whose sons and grandsons are mighty 
 men in Iceland ' ? But come home with 
 me, Helga." 
 
 So they took the women and Leif's 
 things and Leif's boat and sailed home. 
 The next day after they came to Ingolf s 
 house, Helga said : 
 
 "We have made your family larger, 
 brother Ingolf. Will you not take Leif's 
 two houses and live in them? He does 
 
ij2 Viking Tales 
 
 not need them now. He would like you 
 to have them." 
 
 "It would be pleasant to live there," 
 Ingolf said. "I thank you." 
 
 So the next day they loaded every- 
 thing aboard the two ships and sailed 
 for Leif s house. There they stayed for 
 a year. Ingolf still sent his thralls out 
 to look for the pillars. He was careful 
 always to have hay, so his cattle pros- 
 pered. That spring he planted wheat, but 
 it did not grow well. 
 
 "This is sickly stuff, " Ingolf said. "It 
 takes too much time and work. It is 
 better to save the land for hay. Perhaps 
 we can sometime go back to Norway for 
 flour." 
 
 At last one day the thralls came home 
 and said : 
 
 " We have found the pillars." 
 
 Ingolf jumped to his feet. He cried 
 out : 
 
 "You have kept me waiting three 
 years, Thor. But as soon as my house 
 and temple are built, I will sacrifice to 
 you three horses as a thank-offering." 
 
 "It is a long way off, master," the 
 
West-Over-Seas 133 
 
 thralls said, "and we have found much 
 better places in our walks about the 
 island." 
 
 "Thor knows best," Ingolf answered. 
 "I will settle where he leads me." 
 
 So that summer they loaded every- 
 thing into the ships again and sailed west 
 along the coast until they came to the 
 place where the pillars were. The land 
 there was low and green. On both sides 
 were low hills. A little lake glistened 
 back from shore. In the valley were hot 
 springs, with steam rising from them. 
 
 "It looks like smoke," the men said. 
 "It is very strange to see hot water and 
 smoke come out of the ground." 
 
 In front of this green land was a good 
 harbor with islands in it. Far over the 
 sea toward the north shone a great ice- 
 mountain. 
 
 "I like the place," Ingolf said. "I will 
 make this land mine." 
 
 So he built fires at the mouth of the 
 river near there, and stood by them and 
 called out loudly : 
 
 ' ' I have put my fire at the mouth of 
 these rivers. All the land that they drain 
 
ijjj. Viking Tales 
 
 is mine, and no man shall claim it but me. 
 I will call this place Reykjavik."* 
 
 Then Ingolf built his feast hall. He 
 himself carved the beams and the door- 
 posts. Gaity painted dragons leaned out 
 from the doors and stood up from the 
 gables. Men and animals fought on the 
 door-posts. For the doors he made at 
 the forge great iron hinges. Their ends 
 curved and spread all over the door. Near 
 his feast hall he built a storehouse and a 
 kitchen and a smithy and a stable and 
 a bower for the women. 
 
 "We do not need a sleeping-house for 
 guests," he said. "Who would be our 
 guests?" 
 
 He roofed all his buildings with turf. It 
 made them look like green mounds with 
 gay carved and painted walls under them. 
 He built also a temple, and on that was 
 beautiful carving. In this he set up those 
 statues that had been in his old temple. 
 He put up, too, those pillars of his high 
 seat that had been drifting about so long. 
 Under them he laid the soil of Norway that 
 he had brought in the little bronze chest. 
 
 * See note about Reykjavik on page 199. 
 
West-Over-Seas 135 
 
 "I have kept my vow,. O Thor ! " he 
 cried. 
 
 Then he sacrificed three horses that 
 he had promised to Thor. After that was 
 over, he said : 
 
 ' ' Here is a good field for snort. Let 
 us have some of the old games that we 
 used to play at home. Who will wrestle 
 with me?" 
 
 So they wrestled there and ran races 
 and swam in the water. The women sat 
 and looked on. 
 
 "Oh, this is good to see ! " Helga cried. 
 "We are as gay as we used to be in old 
 Norway." 
 
 But it was not many weeks before 
 Ingolf said : 
 
 ' ' I wish that I might sometime see 
 sails in that harbor. I wish that I might 
 think, ' Around this point of land is 
 another farm, and across the bay is 
 another. I can go there when I am very 
 lonely.' I wish that I might sometime 
 be invited to a feast. I wish that I might 
 sometimes hear the good, clanging music 
 of weapons at play. It is a good land, 
 but we have lived alone for four years. 
 
rj6 Viking Tales 
 
 I am hungry for new faces and for tid- 
 ings of Norway." 
 
 One night as he and his men sat about 
 the long fire in the feast hall, a servant 
 threw a great piece of wood upon the fire. 
 It was streaked with faded paint and it 
 showed bits of carving. 
 
 "See," said Ingolf, pointing to it, 
 "see what is left of a good ship's prow ! 
 What lands have you seen, O dragon's 
 head ? What battles have you fought ? 
 What was your master's name ? Where 
 did the storm meet } t ou ? Perhaps he was 
 coming to Iceland, comrades. Would it 
 not have been pleasant to see his sail and 
 to shake his hand and to welcome him 
 to Iceland ? But instead he is in Ran's 
 caves, and onty his broken prow has 
 drifted here." 
 
 Now it was not many months after 
 that when one of the men came running 
 into the feast hall, shouting : 
 
 ' ' A sail ! a sail in the harbor ! v 
 
 All those men gave a shout with no 
 word in it, as though their hearts had 
 leaped into their throats. »They jumped 
 up and ran to the shore and stood there 
 
^•>^A'm- 
 
 '■ Those Icelanders clapped them on the shoulders' 
 
ijS Viking Tales 
 
 with hungry eyes. When the men landed, 
 those Icelanders clapped them on the 
 shoulders, and tears ran down their faces. 
 For a long time they could say nothing but 
 ' ' Welcome ! Welcome ! " 
 
 But after a while Ingolf led them to 
 the feast hall and had a feast spread at 
 once. While the thralls were at work, 
 the men stood together and talked. Such 
 a noise had never been in that hall 
 before. 
 
 "We have already built our fires and 
 claimed our land up the shore a way," 
 the leader said. "Men in Norway talk 
 much of Ingolf and Leif, and wonder 
 what has happened to them." 
 
 Then Ingolf told them of all that had 
 come to pass in Iceland, and then he 
 asked of Norway. 
 
 ' ' Ah ! things are going from bad to 
 worse," the newcomers said. " Harald 
 grows mightier every da}^. A man dare 
 not swing a sword now except for the 
 king. We came here to get away from 
 him. Many men are talking of Iceland. 
 Soon the sea-road between here and Nor- 
 way will be swarming with dragons." 
 
West-Over-Seas ijg 
 
 And so it was. Ships also came from 
 Ireland and from the Shetlands and the 
 Orkne3 r s. 
 
 " Harald has come west-over-seas," the 
 men of these ships said, "and has laid 
 his heavy hand upon the islands and put 
 his earls over them. They are no place 
 now for free men." 
 
 So by the time Ingolf was an old man, 
 Iceland was no longer an empty land. 
 Every valley was spotted with bright 
 feast halls and temples. Horses and 
 cattle pastured on the hillsides. Smoke 
 curled up from kitchens and smithies. 
 Gay ships sailed the waters, taking Ice- 
 land cloth and wool and Iceland fish and 
 oil and the soft feathers of Iceland birds 
 to Norway to sell, and bringing back 
 wood and flour and grain. 
 
 When Ingolf died, his men drew up 
 on the shore the boat in which he had 
 come to Iceland. They painted it freshly 
 and put new gold on it, so that it stood 
 there a glittering dragon with head raised 
 high, looking over the water. Old Sigh- 
 vat lifted a huge stone and carried it to 
 the ship's side. With all his strength he 
 
140 Vi k i n g Ta les 
 
 threw it into the bottom. The timbers 
 cracked. 
 
 "If this ship moves from here," he 
 said, "then I do not know how to moor 
 a ship. It is Ingolfs grave." 
 
 Then men laid Ingolf upon his shield 
 and carried him and placed him on the 
 high deck in the stern near the pilot's 
 seat where he had sat to steer to Iceland. 
 They hung his sword over his shoulder. 
 They laid his spear by his side. In his 
 hand they put his mead-horn. Into the 
 ship they set a great treasure-chest filled 
 with beautiful clothes and bracelets and 
 head-bands. Beside the treasure-chest 
 they piled up many swords and spears 
 and shields. They put gold -trimmed 
 saddles and bridles upon three horses. 
 Then they killed the horses and dragged 
 them into the ship. They killed hunt- 
 ing-dogs and put them by the horses; 
 for they said : 
 
 "All these things Ingolf will need in 
 Valhalla. When he walks through the 
 door of that feast hall, Odin must know 
 that a rich and brave man comes. When 
 he fights with those heroes during the 
 
West- Over -Seas 141 
 
 da3^, he must have weapons worthy of 
 him. He must have dogs for the hunt. 
 When he feasts with those heroes at 
 night he must wear rich clothes, so that 
 those feasters shall know that he was a 
 wealthy man and generous, and that his 
 friends loved him." 
 
 Ingolf's son tied on his hell-shoes for 
 the long journey. 
 
 "If these shoes come untied," he said, 
 "I do not know how to fasten hell-shoes." 
 
 Then he went out of the ship and stood 
 on the ground with his famity. All the 
 men of Iceland were there. 
 
 "This is a glorious sight," they said. 
 "Surely no ship ever carried a richer 
 load. Inside and out the boat blazes 
 with gold and bronze, and, high over his 
 riches, lies the great Ingolf, ready to take 
 the tiller and guide to Valhalla, where 
 all the heroes will rise up and shout him 
 welcome." 
 
 Then the thralls heaped a mound of 
 earth over the ship. This hill stood up 
 against the sky and seemed to say: 
 "Here lies a great man." Sighvat put a 
 stone on the top, with runes on it telling 
 
1 42 Viking Tales 
 
 whose grave it was. All this time a 
 skald stood by and played on his harp 
 and sang a song about that time when 
 Ingolf came to Iceland. He called him 
 the father of Iceland. People of that 
 countiw still read an old story that the 
 men of that long ago time wrote about 
 Ingolf, and they love him because he 
 was a brave man and "the first of men 
 to come to Iceland." 
 
Eric the Red 
 
 IT was a spring day many years after 
 Ingolf died. All the freemen in the 
 west of Iceland had come to a meeting. 
 Here they made laws and punished men 
 for having done wrong. The meeting 
 was over now. Men were walking about 
 the plain and talking. Everybody seemed 
 much excited. Voices were loud, arms 
 were swinging. 
 
 " It was an unjust decision," some one 
 cried. " Eric killed the men in fair fight. 
 The judges outlawed him because they 
 were afraid. His foe Thorgest has many 
 rich and powerful men to back him." 
 
 "No, no!" said another. "Eric is a 
 bloody man. I am glad he is out of Ice- 
 land." 
 
 Just then a big man with bushy red 
 hair and beard stalked through the crowd. 
 He looked straight ahead and scowled. 
 
 "There he goes," people said, and 
 turned to look after him. 
 
 143 
 
i-f-f Viking Talcs 
 
 "His hands are as red as his beard," 
 some said, and frowned. 
 
 But others looked at him and smiled, 
 saying : 
 
 " He walks like Thor the Fearless." 
 
 "His story would make a fine song," 
 one said. "As strong and as brave and 
 as red as Thor ! Always in a quarrel. A 
 man of many places — Norway, the north 
 of Iceland, the west of Iceland, those 
 little islands off the shore of Iceland. 
 Outlawed from all of them on account of 
 his quarrels. Where will he go now, I 
 wonder?" 
 
 This Eric strode down to the shore 
 with his men following. 
 
 "He is in a black temper," they said. 
 "We should best not talk to him." 
 
 So the} 7 made read}- the boat in silence. 
 Eric got into the pilot's seat and they 
 sailed off. Soon they pulled the ship up 
 on their own shore. Eric strolled into 
 his house and called for supper. When 
 the drinking-horns had been filled and 
 emptied, Eric pulled himself up and 
 smiled and shouted out so that the great 
 room was full of his bi^ voice : 
 
"//<? looked straight ahead of him and scowled" 
 
 10 
 
1 46 Viking Tales 
 
 "There is no friend like mead. It 
 always cheers a man's heart." 
 
 Then laughter and talking began in 
 the hall because Eric's good temper had 
 come back. After a while Eric said : 
 
 " Well, I must off somewhere. I have 
 been driven about from place to place, 
 like a seabird in a storm. And there is 
 always a storm about me. It is my 
 sword's fault. She is ever itching to 
 break her peace-bands'"' and be out and 
 at the play. She has shut Norway to me 
 and now Iceland. Where will } t ou go 
 next, old comrade?" and he pulled out 
 his sword and looked at it and smiled as 
 the fire flashed on it. 
 
 ' ' There are some of us who will follow 
 you wherever you go, Eric," called a man 
 from across the fire. 
 
 "Is it so?" Eric cried, leaping up. 
 "Oh! then we shall have some merry 
 times yet. Who will go with me ?" 
 
 More than half the men in the hall 
 jumped to their feet and waved their 
 drinking-horns and shouted : 
 
 "I! I!" 
 
 * See note about peace-band* on page 199. 
 
"More than half the men in the hall jumped to their jeet" 
 
1 4-8 Viking Tales 
 
 Eric sat down in his chair and laughed. 
 
 "O 3 r ou bloody birds of battle!" he 
 cried. ' ' Ever hungry for new frolic ! Our 
 swords are sisters in blood, and we are 
 brothers in adventure. Do } t ou know 
 what is in my heart to do?" 
 
 He jumped to his feet, and his face 
 glowed. Then he laughed as he looked 
 at his men. 
 
 "I see the answer flashing from your 
 eyes," he said, "that you will do it even 
 if it is to go down to Niflheim and 
 drag up Hela, the pale queen of the stiff 
 dead." 
 
 His men pounded on the tables and 
 shouted : 
 
 "Yes! Yes! Anywhere behind Eric!" 
 
 "But it is not to Niflheim," Eric 
 laughed. "Did you ever hear that story 
 that Gunnbiorn told? He was sailing for 
 Iceland, but the fog came down, and then 
 the wind caught him and blew him far 
 off. While he drifted about he saw a 
 strange land that rose up white and shin- 
 ing out of a blue sea. Huge ships of ice 
 sailed out from it and met him. I mean 
 to sail to that land." 
 
West- Over-Seas i^g 
 
 A great shout went up that shook the 
 rafters. Then the men sat and talked 
 over plans. While they sat, a stranger 
 came into the hall. 
 
 ' ' I have no time to drink, " he said. ' ' I 
 have a message from your friend Eyjolf. 
 He says that Thorgest with all his men 
 means to come here and catch you to- 
 night. Eyjolf bids you come to him, and 
 he will hide you until you are ready to 
 start ; for he loves you." 
 
 "Hunted like a wolf from corner to 
 corner of the world !" Eric cried angrily. 
 "Will they not even let me finish one 
 feast?" 
 
 Then he laughed. 
 
 "But if I take my sport like a wolf, 
 I must be hunted like one. So we 
 shall sleep to-night in the woods about 
 Eyjolf's house, comrades, instead of in 
 these good beds. Well, we have done it 
 before." 
 
 "And it is no bad place," cried some of 
 the men. 
 
 ' ' I always liked the stars better than a 
 smoky house fire," said one. 
 
 "Can no bad fortune spoil your good 
 
i^o Viking Tales 
 
 nature?" laughed Eric. "But now we 
 are off. Let every man carry what he 
 can." 
 
 So they quickly loaded themselves 
 with clothes and gold and swords and 
 spears and kettles of food. Eric led his 
 wife Thorhild and his two young sons, 
 Thorstein and Leif. All together they 
 got into the boat and went to Eyjolf's 
 farm. For a week or more they stayed 
 in his woods, sometimes in a secret cave 
 of his when they knew that Thorgest 
 was about. And sometimes Eyjolf sent 
 and said : 
 
 "Thorgest is off. Come to my house 
 for a feast." 
 
 All this time they were making ready 
 for the voyage, repairing the ship and 
 filling it with stores. Word of what Eric 
 meant to do got out, and men laughed 
 and said : 
 
 "Is that not like Eric? What will he 
 not do?" 
 
 Some men liked the sound of it, and 
 they came to Eric and said : 
 
 "We will go with you to this strange 
 land." 
 
We st-Over-Seas 151 
 
 So all were ready and they pushed 
 off with Eric's family aboard and those 
 friends who had joined him. They took 
 horses and cattle with them, and all kinds 
 of tools and food. 
 
 " I do not well know where this land 
 is," Eric said. " Gunnbiorn said only that 
 he sailed east when he came home to Ice- 
 land. So I will steer straight west. We 
 shall surely find something. I do not 
 know, either, how long we must go." 
 
 So the}^ sailed that strange ocean, never 
 dreaming what might be ahead of them. 
 They found no islands to rest on. They 
 met heavy fogs. 
 
 One day as Eric sat in the pilot's seat, 
 he said : 
 
 " I think that I see one of Gunnbiorn's 
 ships of ice. Shall we sail up to her and 
 see what kind of a craft she is?" 
 
 "Yes," shouted his men. 
 
 So they went on toward it. 
 
 " It sends out a cold breath," said one 
 of the men. 
 
 They all wrapped their cloaks about 
 them. 
 
 "It is a bigger boat than I ever saw 
 
152 Viking Tales 
 
 before," said Eric. "The white mast 
 stands as high as a hill." 
 
 "It must be giants that sail in it, frost 
 giants," said another of the men. 
 
 But as they came nearer, Eric all at 
 once laughed loudly and called out : 
 
 ' ' By Thor, that Gunnbiorn was a fool- 
 ish fellow. Why, look ! It is only a piece 
 of floating ice such as we sometimes see 
 from Iceland. It is no ship, and there is 
 no one on it." 
 
 His men laughed and one called to 
 another and said : 
 
 "And you thought of frost giants ! " 
 
 Then they sailed on for days and days. 
 The) 7 met many of these icebergs. On 
 one of them was a white bear. 
 
 "Yonder is a strange pilot," Eric 
 laughed. 
 
 ' ' I have seen bears come floating so to 
 the north shore of Iceland," an old man 
 said. ' ' Perhaps the} 7 come from the land 
 that we are going to find." 
 
 One day Eric said : 
 
 "I see afar off an iceberg larger than 
 an) 7 one yet. Perhaps that is our white 
 land." 
 
'// is a bigger boat than I ever sazv be/ore' 
 
154 Viking Talcs 
 
 But even as he said it he felt his boat 
 swing under his hand as he held the 
 tiller. He bore hard on the rudder, but 
 he could not turn the ship. 
 
 "What is this?" he cried. "A strong 
 river is running here. It is carrying our 
 ship away from this land. I cannot make 
 head against it. Out with the oars !" 
 
 So with oars and sail and rudder they 
 fought against the current, but it took 
 the boat along like a chip, and after a 
 while they put up their oars and drifted. 
 
 ' ' Luck has taken us into its own 
 hands," Eric laughed. "But this is as 
 good a way as another." 
 
 Sometimes they were near enough to 
 see the land, then they were carried out 
 into the sea and thought that they should 
 never see an} 7 land again. 
 
 ' ' Perhaps this river will canw us to a 
 whirlpool and suck us under," the men 
 said. 
 
 But at last Eric felt the current less 
 strong under his hand. 
 
 "To the oars again ! " he called. 
 
 So they fought with the current and 
 sailed out of it and went on toward land. 
 
West-Over-Seas 155 
 
 But when they reached the shore they 
 found no place to go in. Steep black 
 walls shot up from the sea. Nothing 
 grew on them. When the men looked 
 above the cliffs they saw a long line of 
 white cutting the sky. 
 
 "It is a land of ice," they said. 
 
 They sailed on south, all the time look- 
 ing for a place to go ashore. 
 
 "I am sick of this endless sea," Thor- 
 hild complained, ' ' but this land is worse. " 
 
 After a while they began to see small 
 bays cut into the shore with little flat 
 patches of green at their sides. They 
 landed in these places and stretched and 
 warmed themselves and ate. 
 
 ' ' But these spots are only big enough 
 for graves," the men said. " We can not 
 live here." 
 
 So they went on again. All the time 
 the weather was growing colder. Eric's 
 people kept themselves wrapped in their 
 cloaks and put scarfs around their 
 heads. 
 
 "And it is still summer!" Thorhild 
 said. "What will it be in winter?" 
 
 ' ' We must find a place to build a house 
 
1 56 Viking Tales 
 
 now before the winter comes on," said 
 Eric. "We must not freeze here." 
 
 So they chose a little spot with hills 
 about it to keep off the wind. They made 
 a house out of stones ; for there were 
 many in that place. They lived there that 
 winter. The sea for a long way out from 
 shore froze so that it looked like white 
 land. The men went out upon it to hunt 
 white bear and seal. They ate the meat 
 and wore the skins to keep them warm. 
 The hardest thing was to get fuel for the 
 fire. No trees grew there. The men 
 found a little driftwood along the shore, 
 but it was not enough. So they burned 
 the bones and the fat of the animals they 
 killed. 
 
 "It is a sickening smell," Thorhild 
 said. " I have not been out of this mean 
 house for weeks. I am tired of the dark- 
 ness and the smoke and the cattle. And 
 all the time I hear great noises, as though 
 some giant were breaking this land into 
 pieces." 
 
 "Ah, cheer up, good wife!" Eric 
 laughed. "I smell better luck ahead." 
 
 Once Eric and his men climbed the 
 
West- Over-Seas i $j 
 
 cliffs and went back into the middle of 
 the land. When they came home they 
 had this to tell : 
 
 "It is a country of ice, shining white. 
 Nothing grows on it but a few mosses. 
 Far off it looks flat, but when 3^011 walk 
 upon it, there are great holes and cracks. 
 We could see nothing be} 7 ond. There 
 seems to be only a fringe of land around 
 the edge of an island of ice." 
 
 The winter nights were very long. 
 Sometimes the sun showed for an hour, 
 sometimes for only a few minutes, some- 
 times it did not show at all for a week. 
 The men hunted by the bright shining of 
 the moon or by the northern lights. 
 
 As it grew warmer the ice in the sea 
 began to crack and move and melt and 
 float away. Eric waited only until there 
 was a clear passage in the water. Then 
 he launched his boat, and they sailed 
 southward again. At last they found a 
 place that Eric liked. 
 
 " Here I Avill build my house," he said. 
 
 So they did and lived there that sum- 
 mer and pastured their cattle and cut hay 
 for the winter and fished and hunted. 
 
158 Viking Tales 
 
 The next spring Eric said : 
 
 ' ' The land stretches far north. I am 
 hungry to know what is there." 
 
 Then they all got into the boat again 
 and sailed north. 
 
 " We can leave no one here," Eric had 
 said. "We cannot tell what might come 
 between us. Perhaps giants or dragons 
 or strange men might come out of this 
 inland ice and kill our people. We must 
 stay together." 
 
 Farther north they found only the 
 same bare, frozen country. So after a 
 while they sailed back to their home and 
 lived there. 
 
 One spring after they had been in that 
 land for four years, Eric said : 
 
 " My eyes are hungry for the sight of 
 men and green fields again. My stomach 
 is sick of seal and whale and bear. My 
 throat is dry for mead. This is a bare 
 and cold and hungry land. I will visit 
 my friends in Iceland." 
 
 "And our swords are rusty with long 
 resting," said his men. " Perhaps Ave can 
 find play for them in Iceland." 
 
 "Now I have a plan," Eric suddenly 
 
West- Over-Seas i$g 
 
 said. "Would it not be pleasant to see 
 other feast halls as we sail along the 
 coast?" 
 
 "Oh! it would be a beautiful sight," 
 his men said. 
 
 "Well," said Eric, " I am going to try 
 to bring back some neighbors from Ice- 
 land. Now we must have a name for our 
 land. How does Greenland sound?" 
 
 His men laughed and said : 
 
 " It is a very white Greenland, but men 
 will like the sound of it. It is better than 
 Iceland." 
 
 So Eric and all his people sailed back 
 and spent the winter with his friends. 
 
 ' ' Ah ! Eric, it is good to hear your 
 laugh again," they said. 
 
 Eric was at many feasts and saw many 
 men, and he talked much of his Green- 
 land. 
 
 ' ' The sea is full of whale and seals and 
 great fish," he said. "The land has bear 
 and reindeer. There are no men there. 
 Come back with me and choose your 
 land." 
 
 Many men said that they would do it. 
 Some men went because they thought it 
 
i do Viking Tales 
 
 would be a great frolic to go to a new 
 country. Some went because they were 
 poor in Iceland and thought : 
 
 "I can be no worse off in Greenland, 
 and perhaps I shall grow rich there." 
 
 And some went because they loved 
 Eric and wanted to be his neighbors. 
 
 So the next summer thirty-five ships 
 full of men and women and goods fol- 
 lowed Eric for Greenland. But they met 
 heavy storms, and some ships were 
 wrecked, and the men drowned. Other 
 men grew heartsick at the terrible storm 
 and the long voyage and no sight of land, 
 and they turned back to Iceland. So of 
 those thirty-five ships only fifteen got to 
 Greenland. 
 
 "Only the bravest and the luckiest 
 men come here," Eric said. "We shall 
 have good neighbors." 
 
 Soon other houses were built along 
 the fiords. 
 
 "It is pleasant to sail along the coast 
 now," said Eric. "I see smoke rising 
 from houses and ships standing on the 
 shore and friendly hands waving." 
 
Leif and His New Land 
 
 NOW Eric had lived in Greenland for 
 fifteen years. His sons Thorstein 
 and Leif had grown up to be big, strong 
 men. One spring Leif said to his father : 
 
 "I have never seen Norway, our 
 mother land. I long to go there and 
 meet the great men and see the places 
 that skalds sing about." 
 
 Eric answered : 
 
 "It is right that you should go. No 
 man has really lived until he has seen 
 Norway." 
 
 So he helped Leif fit out a boat and 
 sent him off. Leif sailed for months. 
 He passed Iceland and the Faroes and 
 the Shetlands. He stopped at all of these 
 places and feasted his mind on the new 
 things. And everywhere men received 
 him gladly; for he was handsome and 
 wise. But at last he came near Norway. 
 Then he stood up before the pilot's seat 
 and sang loudly: 
 
 11 161 
 
162 Viking Tales 
 
 " My eyes can see her at last, 
 
 The mother of mighty men, 
 
 The field of famous fights. 
 
 In the sky above I see 
 
 Fair Asgard's shining roofs, 
 
 The flying hair of Thor, 
 
 The wings of Odin's birds, 
 
 The road that heroes tread. 
 
 I am here in the land of the gods, 
 
 The land of mighty men." 
 
 For a while he walked the land as 
 though he were in a dream. He looked 
 at this and that and everything and loved 
 them all because it was Norway. 
 
 "I will go to the king," he said. 
 
 He had never seen a king. There 
 were no kings in Iceland or in Greenland. 
 So he went to the city where the king 
 had his fine house. The king's name 
 \vas Olaf. He was a great-grandson of 
 Harald Hairfair ; for Harald had been 
 dead a hundred years. 
 
 Now the king w r as going to hold a 
 feast at night, and Leif put on his most 
 beautiful clothes to go to it. He put on 
 long tights of blue wool and a short jacket 
 of blue velvet. He belted his jacket with 
 a gold girdle. He had shoes of scarlet 
 
West- Over -Seas i6j 
 
 with golden clasps. He threw around 
 himself a cape of scarlet velvet lined 
 with seal fur. His long sword stuck out 
 from under his cloak. On his head he 
 put a knitted cap of bright colors. Then 
 he walked to the king's feast hall and 
 went through the door. It was a great 
 hall, and it was full of richly-dressed 
 men. The fires shone on so many golden 
 head-bands and bracelets and so many 
 glittering swords and spears on the wall, 
 and there was so much noise of talking 
 and laughing, that at first Leif did not 
 know what to do. But at last he went 
 and sat on the very end seat of the bench 
 near him. 
 
 As the feast went on, King Olaf sat in 
 his high seat and looked about the hall 
 and noticed this one and that one and 
 spoke across the fire to many. He was 
 keen-eyed and soon saw Leif in his far 
 seat. 
 
 "Yonder is some man of mark," he said 
 to himself. "He is surely worth know- 
 ing. His face is not the face of a fool. He 
 carries his head like a lord of men." 
 
 He sent a thrall and asked Leif to 
 
164 Viking Tales 
 
 come to him. So Leif walked down the 
 long hall and stood before the king. 
 
 "I am glad to have you for a guest," 
 the king said. "What are your name 
 and country?" 
 
 ' ' I am Leif Ericsson, and I have come 
 all the way from Greenland to see you 
 and old Norway." 
 
 ' ' From Greenland ! " said the king. ' 'It 
 is not often that I see a Greenlander. 
 Many come to Norway to trade, but they 
 seldom come to the king's hall. I shall 
 be glad to hear about your land. Come 
 up and speak with me." 
 
 So Leif went up the steps of the high 
 seat and sat down by the king and talked 
 with him. When the feast was over the 
 king said : 
 
 ' ' You shall live at vclj court this winter, 
 Leif Ericsson. You are a welcome guest. " 
 
 So Leif stayed there that winter. 
 When he started back in the spring, the 
 king gave him two thralls as a parting 
 gift. 
 
 "Let this gift show my love, Leif 
 Ericsson," he said. "For your sake I 
 shall not forget Greenland." 
 
West- Over -Seas 165 
 
 Leif sailed back again and had good 
 luck until lie was past Iceland. Then 
 great winds came out of the north and 
 tossed his ship about so that the men 
 could do nothing. They were blown 
 south for da} T s and days. They did not 
 know where they were. Then they saw 
 land, and Leif said : 
 
 ' ' Surely luck has brought us also to a 
 new country. We will go in and see 
 what kind of a place it is." 
 
 So he steered for it. As they came 
 near, the men said : 
 
 "See the great trees and the soft, green 
 shore. Surely this is a better country 
 than Greenland or than Iceland either." 
 
 When they landed they threw them- 
 selves upon the ground. 
 
 "I never lay on a bed so soft as this 
 grass," one said. 
 
 ' ' Taller trees do not grow in Norway," 
 said another. 
 
 "There is no stone here as in Nor- 
 way, but only good black dirt," Leif said. 
 "1 never saw so fertile a land before." 
 
 The men were hungry and set about 
 building a fire. 
 
1 66 Viking Tales 
 
 "There is no lack of fuel here," the} 
 said. 
 
 They stayed many days in this coun- 
 try and walked about to see what was 
 there. A German, named Tyrker, was 
 with Leif. He was a little man with a 
 high forehead and a short nose. His 
 eyes were big and rolling. He had lived 
 with Eric for many years, and had taken 
 care of Leif when he was a little boy. So 
 Leif loved him. 
 
 Now one &&y they had been wander- 
 ing about and all came back to camp at 
 night except Tyrker. When Leif looked 
 around on his comrades, he said : 
 
 "Where is Tyrker?" 
 
 No one knew. Then Leif was angry. 
 
 "Is a man of so little value in this 
 empty land that you would lose one?" he 
 said. "Why did you not keep together? 
 Did you not see that he was gone? Why 
 did you not set out to look for him? 
 Who knows what terrible thing may 
 have happened to him in these great 
 forests?" 
 
 Then he turned and started out to 
 hunt for him. His men followed, silent 
 
"//e pointed to the woods and laughed and rolled Ins eyes" 
 
1 68 Viking Tales 
 
 6> 
 
 and ashamed. They had not gone far 
 when they saw T} r rker running toward 
 them. He was laughing and talking to 
 himself. Leif ran to him and put his 
 arms about him with gladness at seeing 
 him. 
 
 "Why are } r ou so late?" he asked. 
 "Where have you been?" 
 
 But T} r rker, still smiling and nod- 
 ding his head, answered in German. He 
 pointed to the woods and laughed and 
 rolled his eyes. Again Leif asked his 
 question and put his hand on Tyrker's 
 shoulder as though he would shake him. 
 Then Tyrker answered in the language 
 of Iceland : 
 
 ' ' I have not been so very far, but I 
 have found something wonderful." 
 
 " What is it?" cried the men. 
 
 "I have found grapes growing wild," 
 answered T}n~ker, and he laughed, and his 
 eyes shone. 
 
 " It cannot be," Leif said. 
 
 Grapes do not grow in Greenland nor 
 in Iceland nor even in Norway. So it 
 seemed a wonderful thing to these Norse- 
 men. 
 
West- Over-Seas r6g 
 
 ' ' Can I not tell grapes when I see 
 them?" cried Tyrker. "Did I not grow 
 up in Germany, where every hillside is 
 covered with grapevines ? Ah ! it seems 
 like my old home." 
 
 "It is wonderful," Leif said. " I have 
 heard travelers tell of seeing grapes grow- 
 ing, but I myself never saw it. You shall 
 take us to them early in the morning, 
 Tyrker." 
 
 So in the morning they went back into 
 the woods and saw the grapes. They ate 
 of them. 
 
 "They are like food and drink," they 
 cried. 
 
 That day Leif said : 
 
 " We spent most of the summer on the 
 ocean. Winter will soon be coming on 
 and the sea about Greenland will be 
 frozen. We must start back. I mean to 
 take some of the things of this land to 
 show to our people at home. We will 
 fill the rowboat with grapes and tow it 
 behind us. The ship we will load with 
 logs from these great trees. That will be 
 a welcome shipload in Greenland, where 
 we have neither trees nor vines. Now 
 
i/o Vi k i ng Ta le s 
 
 half of you shall gather grapes for the 
 next few days, and the other half shall 
 cut timber." 
 
 So they did, and after a week sailed off. 
 The ship was full of lumber, and they 
 towed the rowboat loaded with grapes. 
 As they looked back a-t the shore, Leif 
 said : 
 
 ' ' I will call this country Wineland for 
 the grapes that grow there." 
 
 One of the men leaped upon the gun- 
 wale and leaned out, clinging to the sail, 
 and sang : 
 
 "Wineland the good, Wineland the warm, 
 Wineland the green, the great, the fat. 
 Our dragon fed and crawls away 
 With belly stuffed and lazy feet. 
 How long her purple, trailing tail ! 
 She fed and grew to twice her size." 
 
 Then all the men waved their hands 
 to the shore and gave a great shou f for 
 that good land. 
 
 For all that voyage they had fair 
 weather and sailed into Eric's harbor 
 before the winter came. Eric saw the 
 ship and ran down to the shore. He took 
 Leif into his arms and said : 
 
West-Over-Seas iyi 
 
 ' ' Oh, my son, my old eyes ached to see 
 you. I hunger to hear of all that you 
 have seen and done." 
 
 "Luck has followed me all the way," 
 said Leif. "See what I have brought 
 home." 
 
 The Greenlanders looked. 
 
 "Lumber! lumber! " they cried. "Oh! 
 it is better stuff than gold." 
 
 Then they saw the grapes and tasted 
 them. 
 
 4 ' Surely you must have plundered As- 
 gard," they said, smacking their lips. 
 
 At the feast that night Eric said : 
 
 "Leif shall sit in the place of honor." 
 
 So Leif sat in the high seat opposite 
 Eric. All men thought him a handsome 
 and wise man. He told them of the storm 
 and of Wineland. 
 
 "No man would ever need a cloak there. 
 The soil is richer than the soil of Norway. 
 Grain grows wild, and you j^ourselves saw 
 the grapes that we got from there. The 
 forests are without end. The sea is full 
 offish." 
 
 The Greenlanders listened with open 
 mouths to all this. They turned and 
 
1 7 2 I r i k i ng Ta les 
 
 talked to Leif's ship-comrades who were 
 scattered among them. 
 
 Leif noticed two strangers, an old 
 man who sat at Eric's side and a young 
 woman on the cross-bench. He turned 
 to his brother Thorstein who sat next 
 to him. 
 
 "Who are these strangers?" he asked. 
 
 "Thorbiorn and his daughter Gudrid," 
 Thorstein answered. ' ' They landed here 
 this spring. I never saw our father more 
 glad of anything than to see this Thor- 
 biorn. They were friends before we 
 left Iceland. When they saw each other 
 again they could not talk enough of old 
 times. In the spring Eric means to give 
 him a farm up the fiord a way. It seems 
 that this Thorbiorn comes of a good 
 family that has been rich and great in 
 Iceland for years. And Thorbiorn him- 
 self Avas rich when our father knew him, 
 and was much honored by all men. But 
 ill luck came, and he grew poor. This 
 hurt his pride. 'I will not stay in Ice- 
 land and be a beggar,' he said to himself. 
 ' I will not have men look at me and say, 
 " He is not what his father was." ' I will 
 
West-Over-Seas iyj 
 
 go to my friend Eric the Red in Green- 
 land.' 
 
 ' ' Then he got ready a great feast and 
 invited all his friends. It was such a 
 feast as had not been in Iceland for years. 
 Thorbiorn spent on it all the wealth that 
 he had left. For he said to himself, ' I will 
 not leave in shame. Men shall remem- 
 ber my last feast. 1 After that he set out 
 and came to Greenland. 
 
 "Is not Gudrid beautiful? And she is 
 wise. I mean to marry her, if her father 
 will permit it." 
 
 Now Leif settled down in Greenland 
 and became a great man there. He was 
 so busy and he grew so rich that he did 
 not think of going to Wineland again. 
 But people could not forget his story. 
 Many nights as men sat about the long 
 fires they talked of that wonderful land 
 and wished to see it. 
 
Win et and the Good 
 
 ON an autumn, a year or two after 
 Leif came home, Eric and his men 
 saw two large ships come to land not far 
 down the shore from the house. 
 
 "They look like trading ships," Eric 
 said. "Let us go down to see them." 
 
 ' ' I will go, too, ' ' Gudrid said. ' ' Perhaps 
 they will have rich cloth and jewelry. It 
 is long since I had my eyes on a new 
 dress." 
 
 So they all went down and found two 
 large trading ships lying in the water. 
 A great many men were on the shore 
 making a fire. 
 
 "Welcome to Greenland ! " called Eric. 
 "What are your names and your coun- 
 try?" 
 
 Then a fine, big man walked out from 
 among the men and went up to Eric. 
 
 "I am Thorfinn," he said, "a trader. 
 I sailed this summer from Iceland with 
 forty men and a shipload of goods. On 
 
 174 
 
l] r est-Over-Seas 175 
 
 the sea I met this other ship from Ice- 
 land. The master is Biarni. Come and 
 look at my goods." 
 
 So he rowed Eric and Gudrid out and 
 they went aboard his boat. Thorfinn 
 opened his chests and showed Eric gleam- 
 ing swords and bracelets and axes and 
 farm tools. But before Gudrid he spread 
 beautiful cloth and gold embroidery and 
 golden necklaces. As they looked, he 
 told of doings in Iceland and asked of 
 Greenland. 
 
 ' ' We never see such things as these 
 in this bare land," Gudrid said, as she 
 smoothed a beautiful dress of purple vel- 
 vet. " I envy the women of Iceland their 
 fair clothes." 
 
 "There is no need of that," Thorfinn 
 said, "for this dress is yours and any- 
 thing else from my chests that you like. 
 Here is a necklace that I beg you to take. 
 It did not have a fairer mistress in Greece 
 where I got it." 
 
 "You are a very generous trader," 
 Gudrid said. 
 
 Then Thorfinn gave Eric a great sword 
 with a gold-studded scabbard. After a 
 
i y 6 Viking Tales 
 
 while he took them to Biarni's ship. He 
 also gave them gifts. They all talked 
 and laughed much while they were to- 
 gether. 
 
 " You are merry comrades," Eric said. 
 1 ' I ask you both and all your men to spend 
 the winter at my house. You can put 
 your goods into my store-houses." 
 
 "By my sword! a generous offer," 
 said Thorrinn. ' ' As for me, I am happy 
 to come." 
 
 Biarni and all the rest said the same 
 thing. Thorrinn walked to the house 
 with Eric and Gudrid, while the other 
 men sailed to the ship-sheds and pulled 
 their boats under them. 
 
 Then Thorrinn saw to the unloading 
 and storing of his goods. 
 
 "Is this Gudrid your daughter?" he 
 asked of Eric one day. 
 
 "She is the widow of my son Thor- 
 stein," Eric said. "He died the same 
 winter that they were married. Her 
 father, too, died not long ago. So Gudrid 
 lives with me." 
 
 Now all that winter until Yuletime 
 Eric spread a good feast every night. 
 
U r est- Over -Seas iyj 
 
 There was laughter through his house all 
 the time. Often at the feasts the men 
 cast lots to see whether they might sit 
 on the cross-bench with the women. 
 Sometimes it was Thorfinn s luck to sit 
 by Gudrid. Then they talked gaity and 
 drank together. 
 
 At last Yule was coming near. Eric 
 went about the house gloomy then. One 
 day Thorfinn put his hand on Eric's 
 shoulder and said : 
 
 "Something is troubling you, Eric. 
 We have all noticed that you are not gay 
 as you used to be. Tell me what is the 
 matter.'" 
 
 ' ' You have carried yourselves like 
 noble men in my house," Eric answered. 
 "I am proud to have you for guests. 
 Now I am ashamed that you should not 
 find a house worthy of you. I am 
 ashamed that when you leave me you 
 will have to say that you never spent a 
 worse Yule than you did with Eric the 
 Red in Greenland. For my cupboards 
 are empty." 
 
 "Oh, that is easily mended," Thorfinn 
 said. " No house could feed eighty men 
 
i y 8 Viking Talcs 
 
 so long and not feel it. I never knew so 
 generous a host before. But I have flour 
 and grain and mead in my boat. You 
 are welcome to all of it. You have only 
 to open the doors of your own store- 
 houses. It is a little gift." 
 
 So Eric used those things, and there 
 was never a merrier Yule feast than in 
 his house that winter. 
 
 When Yule was over, Thorfmn said to 
 Eric : 
 
 ' ' Gudrid is a beautiful and wise woman. 
 I wish to have her for my wife." 
 
 1 ' You seem to be a man worthy of her," 
 Eric said. 
 
 So that winter Gudrid and Thorfmn 
 were married and lived at Eric's house. 
 
 One day Thorfmn said to Eric : 
 
 "I have heard much of this wonder- 
 ful Wineland since I have been here. It 
 seems to me that it is worth while to go 
 and see more of it." 
 
 "My son Thorstein and I tried it 
 once," said Eric. "It was the year after 
 Leif came back. We set out with a fair 
 ship and with glad hearts, but we tossed 
 about all summer on the sea and got 
 
West- Over -Seas iyg 
 
 nowhere. We were wet with storm, lean 
 with hunger and illness, and heartsick at 
 our bad luck." 
 
 "And yet," Thorfinn said, "another 
 time. we might have better weather. I 
 have never seen so fair a land as this 
 seems to be." 
 
 Then he went to Leif and talked long 
 with him. Leif told him in what direc- 
 tion he had sailed to come home, and how 
 the shores looked that he had passed. 
 
 "I think I could find my way," Thor- 
 finn said. "My heart moves me to try 
 this frolic." 
 
 He spoke to Gudrid about it. 
 
 "Oh, yes!" she cried. "Let us go. 
 It is long since I felt a boat leaping under 
 me. I am tired of sitting still. I want 
 to feel the warm days and see the soft 
 grass and the high trees and taste the 
 grapes of this Wineland the Good." 
 
 Then he talked with his men and with 
 Biarni. 
 
 "We are ready," they all said. "We 
 are only waiting for a leader." 
 
 "Then let us go !" cried Thorfinn. 
 
 So in the spring they fitted up their 
 
180 Viking Tales 
 
 two ships and put into them provisions 
 and a few cattle. Some of Eric's men 
 also got ready a boat, so that three ships 
 set sail from Eric's harbor carrying one 
 hundred and sixty men to Wineland. As 
 they started, Gudrid stood on the deck 
 and sang : 
 
 " I will feast my eyes on new things — 
 On mighty trees and purple grapes, 
 On beds of flowers and soft grass. 
 I will sun myself in a warm land." 
 
 They sailed on and past those shores 
 that Leif had spoken of. Whenever they 
 saw an) 7 interesting place the} 7 sailed in 
 and looked about and rested there. 
 
 They had gone far south, past many 
 fair shores with woods on them, when 
 Gudrid said one day : 
 
 ' ' This is a beautiful bay with a smooth, 
 green field by it, and the great mountains 
 far back. I should like to stay there for 
 a little while." 
 
 So they sailed in and drew their ships 
 up on shore. They put up the awnings 
 in them. 
 
 "These shall be our houses," Thorfmn 
 said. 
 
West- Over -Seas 181 
 
 The3^ were strange-looking houses — 
 shining dragons with gay backs lying on 
 the yellow sand. Near them the Norse- 
 men lighted fires and cooked their supper. 
 That night they slept in the ships. In 
 the morning Gudrid said : 
 
 "I long to see what is back of that 
 mountain." 
 
 So they all climbed it. When they 
 stood on the top they could see far over 
 the county. 
 
 "There is a lake that we must see," 
 Thorfinn said. 
 
 " I should like to sail around that bay," 
 said Biarni, pointing. 
 
 ' ' I am going to walk up that valley 
 yonder," one of the men said. 
 
 And everyone saw some place where 
 he would like to go. So for all that sum- 
 mer they camped in that spot and went 
 about the country seeing new things. 
 They hunted in the woods and caught 
 rabbits and birds and sometimes bears 
 and deer. Every day some men rowed out 
 to sea and fished. There was an island 
 in the bay where thousands of birds had 
 their nests. The men gathered eggs here. 
 
182 Viking Tales 
 
 " We have more to eat than we had in 
 Greenland or Iceland," Thorfinn said, 
 "and need not work at all. It is all play." 
 
 Near the end of summer Thorfinn 
 spoke to his comrades. 
 
 ' ' Have we not seen everything here ? 
 Let us go to a new place. We have not 
 3 T et found grapes." 
 
 Thorfinn and Biarni and all their men 
 sailed south again. But some of Eric's 
 men went off in their boat another way. 
 Years afterward the Greenlanders heard 
 that they were shipwrecked and made 
 slaves in Ireland. 
 
 After Thorfinn and Biarni had sailed 
 for many days they landed on a low, 
 green place. There were hills around it. 
 A little lake was there. 
 
 " What is growing on those hillsides?" 
 Thorfinn said, shading his eyes with his 
 hand. 
 
 He and some others ran up there. The 
 people on shore heard them shout. Soon 
 they came running back with their hands 
 full of something. 
 
 "Grapes! Grapes!" they were shout- 
 
West-Over-Seas i8j 
 
 All those people sat down and ate the 
 grapes and then went to the hillside and 
 picked more. 
 
 "Now we are indeed in Wineland," 
 they said. "It is as wonderful as Leifs 
 stories. Surely we must stay here for a 
 long time." 
 
 The very next da}^ they went into the 
 woods and began to cut out lumber. The 
 huts that they built were little things. 
 They had no windows, and in the door- 
 ways the men hung their cloaks instead 
 of doors. 
 
 " We can be out in the air so much in 
 this warm country," said Gudrid, "that 
 we do not need fine houses." 
 
 The huts were scattered all about, 
 some on the side of the lake, some at 
 the shore of the harbor, some on the hill- 
 side. Gudrid had said : 
 
 "I want to live by the lake where I 
 can look into the green woods and hear 
 sweet bird-noises." 
 
 So Thorfinn built his hut there. 
 
 As they sat about the campfire one 
 night, Biarni said : 
 
 "It is strange that so good a land 
 
1 8^ Viking Tales 
 
 should be empt}\ I suppose that these 
 are the first houses that were ever built 
 in Wineland. It is wonderful to think 
 that we are alone here in this great 
 land." 
 
 All that winter no snow fell. The 
 cattle pastured on the grass. 
 
 "To think of the cold, frozen winters 
 in Greenland!" Gudrid said. "Oh! this 
 is the sun's own land." 
 
 In the beginning of that winter a little 
 son was born to Gudrid and Thorfmn. 
 
 "A health to the first Winelander!" 
 the men shouted and drank down their 
 wine ; for they had made some from 
 Wineland grapes. 
 
 "Will he be the father of a great 
 country, as Ingolf was?" Biarni mused. 
 
 Gudrid looked at her baby and smiled. 
 
 "You will be as sunny as this good 
 land, I hope," she said. 
 
 They named him Snorri. He grew 
 fast and soon crept along the 3 r ellow sand, 
 and toddled among the grapevines, and 
 climbed into the boats and learned to 
 talk. The men called him the "Wine- 
 land king." 
 
West- Over -Seas 185 
 
 "I never knew a baby before," one of 
 the men said. 
 
 " No," said another. "Swords are jeal- 
 ous. But when they are in their scab- 
 bards, we can do other things, even play 
 with babies." 
 
 ' ' I wonder whether I have forgotten 
 how to swing my sword in this quiet 
 land," another man said 
 
 One spring morning when the men 
 got up and went out from their huts to 
 the fires to cook they saw a great many 
 canoes in the harbor. Men were in them 
 paddling toward shore. 
 
 "What is this?" cried the Norsemen 
 to one another. "Where did they come 
 from? Are they foes? Who ever saw such 
 boats before? The men's faces are brown." 
 
 ' ' Let every man have his sword ready, " 
 cried Thorfmn. " But do not draw until 
 I command. Let us go to meet them." 
 
 So they went and stood on the shore. 
 Soon the men from the canoes landed 
 and stood looking at the Norsemen. The 
 strangers' skin was brown. Their faces 
 were broad. Their hair was black. Their 
 bodies were short. They wore leather 
 
1 86 Viking Tales 
 
 s 
 
 clothes. One man among them seemed 
 to be chief. He spread out his open hands 
 to the Norsemen. 
 
 "He is showing us that he has no 
 weapons," Biarni said. "He comes in 
 peace." 
 
 Then Thorfinn showed his empty 
 hands and asked : 
 
 ' ' What do } t ou want ? " 
 
 The stranger said something, but the 
 Norsemen could not understand. It was 
 some new language. Then the chief 
 pointed to one of the huts and walked 
 toward it. He and his men walked all 
 around it and felt of the timber and 
 went into it and looked at all the things 
 there — spades and cloaks and drinking- 
 horns. As they looked they talked to- 
 gether. They went to all the other huts 
 and looked at eveiything there. One of 
 them found a red cloak. He spread it 
 out and showed it to the others. They 
 all stood about it and looked at it and 
 felt of it and talked fast. 
 
 "They seem to like my cloak," Biarni 
 said. 
 
 One of the strangers went dowm to 
 
"The chief held them out to Thorfinn and hugged the cloak to him " 
 
1 88 1 7 k i ng Ta le s 
 
 their canoes and soon came back with an 
 armload of furs — fox-skins, otter-skins, 
 beaver-skins. The chief took some and 
 held them out to Thorfinn and hugged 
 the cloak to him. 
 
 "He wants to trade," Thorfinn said. 
 "Will you do it, Biarni?" 
 
 "Yes," Biarni answered, and took the 
 furs. 
 
 "If they want red stuff, I have a whole 
 roll of red cloth that I will trade," one of 
 the other men said. 
 
 He went and got it. When the stran- 
 gers saw it they quickly held out more furs 
 and seemed eager to trade. So Thorfinn 
 cut the cloth into pieces and sold every 
 scrap. When the strangers got it they 
 tied it about their heads and seemed 
 much pleased. 
 
 While this trading was going on and 
 everybody was good-natured, a bull of 
 Thorfinn' s ran out of the woods bellow- 
 ing and came towards the crowd. When 
 the strangers heard it and saw it they 
 threw down whatever was in their hands 
 and ran to their canoes and paddled off 
 as fast as they could. 
 
West-Over-Seas i8g 
 
 The Norsemen laughed. 
 
 "We have lost our customers," Biarni 
 said. 
 
 "Did they never see a bull before?" 
 laughed one of the men. 
 
 Now after three weeks the Norsemen 
 saw canoes in the bay again. This time 
 it was black with them, there were so 
 man}^. The people in them were all mak- 
 ing a horrible shout. 
 
 " It is a war-cry," Thorfinn said, and he 
 raised a red shield. " The}^ are surely 
 twenty to our one, but we must fight. 
 Stand in close line and give them a taste 
 of your swords." 
 
 Even as he spoke a great shower of 
 stones fell upon them. Some of the 
 Norsemen were hit on the head and 
 knocked down. Biarni got a broken 
 arm. Still the storm came fast. The 
 strangers had landed and were running 
 toward the Norsemen. They threw their 
 stones with sling-shots, and they yelled 
 all the time. 
 
 "Oh, this is no kind of fighting for 
 brave men ! " Thorfinn cried angrily. 
 
 The Norsemen's swords swung fast, 
 
i go Viki n g Ta le s 
 
 and many of the strangers died under 
 them, but still others came on, throwing 
 stones and swinging stone axes. The hor- 
 rible yelling and the strange things that 
 the savages did frightened the Norsemen. 
 
 "These are not men," some one cried. 
 
 Then those Norsemen who had never 
 been afraid of anything turned and ran. 
 But when they came to the top of a rough 
 hill Thorfinn cried : 
 
 "What are we doing? Shall we die 
 here in this empty land with no one to 
 bury us? We are leaving our women." 
 
 Then one of the women ran out of the 
 hut where they were hiding. 
 
 ' ' Give me a sword ! " she cried. ' ' I can 
 drive them back. Are Norsemen not 
 better than these savages?" 
 
 Then those warriors stopped, ashamed, 
 and stood up before the wild men and 
 fought so fiercely that the strangers 
 turned and fled down to their canoes and 
 paddled away. 
 
 " Oh, I am glad they are gone !" Thor- 
 finn said. " It was an ugly fight." 
 
 "Thor would not have loved that 
 battle," one said. 
 
West- Over-Seas igi 
 
 "It was no battle," another replied. 
 ' ' It was like fighting against an army of 
 poisonous flies." 
 
 The Norsemen were all worn and 
 bleeding and sore. They went to their 
 huts and dressed their wounds, and the 
 women helped them. At supper that 
 night they talked about the fight for a 
 long time. 
 
 "I will not stay here," Gudrid said. 
 ' ' Perhaps these wild men have gone away 
 to get more people and will come back 
 and kill us. Oh ! they are ugly." 
 
 ' ' Perhaps brown faces are looking at us 
 now from behind the trees in the woods 
 back there," said Biarni. 
 
 It was the wish of all to go home. So 
 after a few days they sailed back to 
 Greenland with good weather all the way. 
 The people at Eric's house were very glad 
 to see them. 
 
 "We were afraid you had died," they 
 said. 
 
 "And I thought once that we should 
 never leave Wineland alive," Thorfinn 
 answered. 
 
 Then they told all the story. 
 
i Q2 Viking Tales 
 
 "I wonder why I had no such bad 
 luck," Leif said. "But you have a better 
 shipload than I got." 
 
 He was looking at the bundles of furs 
 and the kegs of wine. 
 
 "Yes," said Thorfinn, "we have come 
 back richer than when we left. But I will 
 never go again for all the skins in the 
 woods." 
 
 The next summer Thorfinn took Gud- 
 rid and Snorri and all his people and 
 sailed back to Iceland, his home. There 
 he lived until he died. People looked at 
 him in wonder. 
 
 ' ' That is the man who went to Wine= 
 land and fought with wild men," they 
 said. " Snorri is his son. He is the first 
 and last Winelander, for no one will ever 
 go there again. It will be an empty and 
 forgotten land." 
 
 And so it was for a long time. Some 
 wise men wrote down the story of those 
 voyages and of that land, and people read 
 the tale and liked it, but no one remem- 
 bered where the place was. It all seemed 
 like a fairy tale. Long afterwards, how- 
 ever, men begaii to read those stories with 
 
West- Over -Seas igj 
 
 wide-open eyes and to wonder. They 
 guessed and talked together, and studied 
 this and that land, and read the story 
 over and over. At last they have learned 
 that Wineland was in America, on the 
 eastern shore of the United States, and 
 they have called Snorri the first Amer- 
 ican, and have put up statues of Leif 
 Ericsson, the first comer to America.* 
 
 See note about Eskimos on page 199. 
 
Descriptive Notes 
 
 House. In a rich Norseman's home were many 
 buildings. The finest and largest was the great 
 feast hall. Next were the bower, where the women 
 worked, and the guest house, where visitors slept. 
 Besides these were storehouses, stables, work-shops, 
 a kitchen, a sleeping-house for thralls. All these 
 buildings were made of heavy, hewn logs, covered 
 with tar to fill the cracks and to keep the wood from 
 rotting. The ends of the logs, the door-posts, the 
 peaks of gables, were carved into shapes of men and 
 animals and were painted with bright colors. These 
 gay buildings were close together, often set around 
 the four sides of a square yard. That yard was a 
 busy and pleasant place, with men and women run- 
 ning across from one bright building to another. 
 Sometimes a high fence with one gate went around 
 all this, and only the tall, carved peaks of roofs 
 showed from the outside. 
 
 Names. An old Norse story says : " Most men 
 had two names in one, and thought it likeliest to lead 
 to long life and good luck to have double names." 
 To be called after a god was very lucky. Here are 
 some of those double names with their meanings : 
 "Thorstein" means Thor's stone; "Thorkel" means 
 Thor's fire ; " Thorbiorn " means Thor's bear ; " Gud- 
 brand" means Gunnr's sword (Gunnr was one of 
 the Valkyrias*) ; "Gunnbiorn" means Gunnr's bear ; 
 
 ♦ See note about Valkyrias on page 15 
 194 
 
Descriptive Notes ig$ 
 
 "Gudrid" means Gunnr's rider; "Gudrod" means 
 Gunnr's land-clearer. (Most of the land in old 
 Norway was covered with forests. When a man got 
 new land he had to clear off the trees.) In those 
 olden days a man did not have a surname that 
 belonged to everyone in his family. Sometimes 
 there were two or three men of the same name in a 
 neighborhood. That caused trouble. People thought 
 of two ways of making it easy to tell which man was 
 being spoken of. Each was given a nickname. Sup- 
 pose the name of each was Haki. One would be 
 called Haki the Black because he had black hair. 
 The other would be called Haki the Ship-chested 
 because his chest was broad and strong. These nick- 
 names were often given only for the fun of it. Most 
 men had them, — Eric the Red, Leif the Lucky, 
 Harald Hairfair, Rolf Go-afoot. The other way of 
 knowing one Haki from the other was to tell his 
 father's name. One was Haki, Eric's son. The 
 other was Haki, Halfdan's son. If you speak these 
 names quickly, they sound like Haki Ericsson and 
 Haki Halfdansson. After a while they were written 
 like that, and men handed them on to their sons and 
 daughters. Some names that we have nowadays 
 have come down to us in just that way — Swanson, 
 Anderson, Peterson, Jansen. There was another 
 reason for these last names : a man was proud to 
 have people know who his father was. 
 
 Drinking-horns. The Norsemen had few cups 
 or goblets. They used instead the horns of cattle, 
 polished and trimmed with gold or silver or bronze. 
 They were often very beautiful, and a man was 
 
iq6 Viking Tales 
 
 almost as proud of his drinking-horn as of his 
 sword. 
 
 Tables. Before a meal thralls brought trestles 
 into the feast hall and set them before the benches. 
 Then they laid long boards across from trestle to 
 trestle. These narrow tables stretched all along both 
 sides of the hall. People sat at the outside edge 
 only. So the thralls served from the middle of the 
 room. They put baskets of bread and wooden plat- 
 ters of meat upon these bare boards. At the end of 
 the meal they carried out tables and all, and the 
 drinking-horns went round in a clean room. 
 
 Beds. Around the sides of the feast hall were 
 shut-beds. They were like big boxes with doors 
 opening into the hall. On the floor of this box was 
 straw with blankets thrown over it. The people got 
 into these beds and closed the doors and so shut 
 themselves in. Olaf's men could have set heavy 
 things against these doors or have put props against 
 them. Then the people could not have got out; for on 
 the other side of the bed was the thick outside wall 
 of the feast hall, and there were no windows in it. 
 
 Feast Hall. The feast hall was long and narrow, 
 with a door at each end. Down the middle of the 
 room were flat stones in the dirt floor. Here the 
 fires burned. In the roof above these fires were 
 holes for the smoke to go out, but some of it blew 
 about the hall, and the walls and rafters were stained 
 with it. But it was pleasant wood smoke, and the 
 Norsemen did not dislike it. There were no large 
 windows in a feast hall or in any other Norse building. 
 High up under the eaves or in the roof itself were 
 
Descriptive Notes igy 
 
 narrow slits that were called wind's-eyes. There was 
 no glass in them, for the Norsemen did not know 
 how to make it; but there were, instead, covers made 
 of thin, oiled skin. These were put into the wind's- 
 eyes in stormy weather. There were covers, too, for 
 the smoke-holes. The only light came through these 
 narrow holes, so on dark da)^s the people needed the 
 fire as much for light as for warmth. 
 
 Foster-father. A Norse father sent his children 
 away from home to grow up. They went when they 
 were three or four years old and stayed until they 
 were grown. The father thought : " They will be 
 better so. If they stayed at home, their mother 
 would spoil them with much petting." 
 
 Foster-brothers. When two men loved each 
 other very much they said, "Let us become foster- 
 brothers." 
 
 Then they went and cut three long pieces of turf 
 and put a spear into the ground so that it held up 
 the strips of turf like an arch. Runes were cut on 
 the handle of the spear, telling the duties of foster- 
 brothers. The two men walked under this arch, and 
 each made a little cut in his palm. They knelt and 
 clasped hands, so that the blood of the two flowed 
 together, and they said, " Now we are of one blood." 
 
 Then each made this vow : " I will fight for my 
 foster-brother whenever he shall need me. If he is 
 killed before I am, I will punish the man who did it. 
 Whatever things I own are as much my foster- 
 brother's as mine. I will love this man until I die. 
 I call Odin and Thor and all the gods to hear my 
 vow. May they hate me if I break it ! " 
 
iq8 Viking Tales 
 
 Ran. Ran was the wife of Aegir, who was god 
 of the sea. They lived in a cave at the bottom of 
 the ocean. Ran had a great net, and she caught in 
 it all men who were shipwrecked and took them to 
 her cave. She also caught all the gold and rich 
 treasures that went down in ships. So her cave was 
 filled with shining things. 
 
 Valkyrias. These were the maidens of Odin. 
 They waited on the table in Valhalla. But when- 
 ever a battle was being fought they rode through 
 the air on their horses and watched to see what 
 warriors were brave enough to go to Valhalla. Some- 
 times during the fight a man would think that he 
 saw the Valkyrias. Then he was glad ; for he knew 
 that he would go to Valhalla. 
 
 An old Norse story says this about the Valkyrias: 
 "With lightning around them, with bloody shirts of 
 mail, and with shining spears they ride through the 
 air and the ocean. When their horses shake their 
 manes, dew falls on the deep valleys and hail on the 
 high forests." 
 
 Odin's Ravens. Odin had a great throne in his 
 palace in Asgard. When he sat in it he could look 
 all over the world. But it was so far to see that he 
 could not tell all of the things that were happening. 
 So he had two ravens to help him. An old Norse 
 story tells this about them: "Two ravens sit on 
 Odin's shoulders and whisper in his ears all that they 
 have heard and seen. He sends them out at dawn 
 of day to see over the whole world. They return at 
 evening near meal time. This is why Odin knows 
 so many things." 
 
Descriptive Notes igg 
 
 Reykjavik. Reykjavik means "smoky sea." Ingolf 
 called it that because of the steaming hot-springs by 
 the sea. The place is still called Reykjavik. A little 
 city has grown up there, the only city in Iceland. It 
 is the capital of the country. 
 
 Peace-bands. A Norseman always carried his 
 sword, even at a feast ; for he did not know when he 
 might need it. But when he went somewhere on an 
 errand of peace and had no quarrel he tied his sword 
 into its scabbard with white bands that he called 
 peace-bands. If all at once something happened to 
 make him need his sword, he broke the peace-bands 
 and drew it out. 
 
 Eskimos. Now, the Eskimos live in Greenland 
 and Alaska and on the very northern shores of 
 Canada. But once they lived farther south in pleas- 
 anter lands. After a while the other Indian tribes 
 began to grow strong. Then they wanted the pleas- 
 ant land of the Eskimos and the seashore that the 
 Eskimos had. So they fought again and again with 
 those people and won and drove them farther north 
 and farther north. At last the Eskimos were on 
 the very shores of the cold sea, with the Indians still 
 pushing them on. So some of them got into their 
 boats and rowed across the narrow water and came 
 to Greenland and lived there. Some people think 
 that these things happened before Eric found Green- 
 land. In that case he found Eskimos there ; and 
 Thorfmn saw red Indians in Wineland. Other people 
 think that this happened after Eric went to Green- 
 land. If that is true, he found an empty land, and 
 it was Eskimos that Thorfinn saw in Wineland. 
 
NOV 1 6 1991 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 ENDOWED BY THE 
 DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC 
 
 SOCIETIES 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 3\\ 
 HALL