CHAPTER FIVE.
FREYDISSA SHOWS HER TEMPER AND A WHALE CHECKS IT--POETICAL AND OTHERTOUCHES.
The expedition which now set out for Vinland was on a much larger scalethan any of the expeditions which had preceded it. Biarne and Leif hadacted the part of discoverers only--not colonisers--and althoughprevious parties had passed several winters in Vinland, they had notintended to take up a permanent abode there--as was plain from the factthat they brought neither women nor flocks nor herds with them.Karlsefin, on the contrary, went forth fully equipped for colonisation.
His ship, as we have said, was a large one, with a decked poop andforecastle, fitted to brave the most tempestuous weather--at least aswell fitted to do so as were the ships of Columbus--and capable ofaccommodating more than a hundred people. He took sixty men with himand five women, besides his own wife and Thorward's. Thorward himself,and Biarne, accompanied the expedition, and also Olaf--to hisinexpressible joy, but Leif preferred to remain at home, and promised totake good care of Thorward's ship, which was left behind. Astrid wasone of the five women who went with this expedition; the other four wereGunhild, Thora, Sigrid, and Bertha. Gunhild and Sigrid were wives totwo of Biarne's men. Thora was handmaiden to Gudrid; Bertha handmaid toFreydissa. Of all the women Bertha was the sweetest and most beautiful,and she was also very modest and good-tempered, which was a fortunatecircumstance, because her mistress Freydissa had temper enough, asBiarne used to remark, for a dozen women. Biarne was fond of teasingFreydissa; but she liked Biarne, and sometimes took his pleasantrieswell--sometimes ill.
It was intended that, when the colony was fairly established, the shipshould be sent back to Greenland to fetch more of the men's wives andchildren.
A number of cattle, horses, and sheep were also carried on this occasionto Vinland. These were stowed in the waist or middle of the vessel,between the benches where the rowers sat when at work. The rowers didnot labour much at sea, as the vessel was at most times able to advanceunder sail. During calms, however, and when going into creeks, or onlanding--also in doubling capes when the wind was not suitable--the oarswere of the greatest value. Karlsefin and the principal people sleptunder the high poop. A number of the men slept under the forecastle,and the rest lay in the waist near the cattle--sheltered from theweather by tents or awnings which were called tilts.
It may perhaps surprise some readers to learn that men could venture insuch vessels to cross the northern seas from Norway to Iceland, andthence to Greenland; but it is not so surprising when we consider thesmall size of the vessels in which Columbus afterwards crossed theAtlantic in safety, and when we reflect that those Norsemen had beenlong accustomed, in such vessels, to traverse the ocean around thecoasts of Europe in all directions--round the shores of Britain, up theBaltic, away to the Faroe Islands, and up the Mediterranean even as faras the Black Sea. In short, the Norsemen of old were magnificentseamen, and there can be no question that much of the ultimate successof Britain on the sea is due, not only to our insular position, but alsoto the insufficiently appreciated fact that the blood of the hardy andadventurous vikings of Norway still flows in our veins.
It was a splendid spring morning when Karlsefin hoisted hiswhite-and-blue sail, and dropped down Ericsfiord with a favouringbreeze, while Leif and his people stood on the stone jetty at Brattalid,and waved hats and shawls to their departing friends.
For Olaf, Thora, and Bertha it was a first voyage, and as the vesselgradually left the land behind, the latter stood at the stern gazingwistfully towards the shore, while tears flowed from her pretty blueeyes and chased each other over her fair round face--for Bertha left anold father behind her in Greenland.
"Don't cry, Bertha," said Olaf, putting his fat little hand softly intothat of the young girl.
"Oh! I shall perhaps _never_ see him again," cried Bertha, with anotherburst of tears.
"Yes, you will," said Olaf, cheerily. "You know that when we getcomfortably settled in Vinland we shall send the ship back for yourfather, and mine too, and for everybody in Ericsfiord and Heriulfness.Why, we're going to forsake Greenland altogether and never go back to itany more. Oh! I am _so_ glad."
"I wish, I _wish_ I had never come," said Bertha, with a renewed flow oftears, for Olaf's consolations were thrown away on her.
It chanced that Freydissa came at that moment upon the poop, whereKarlsefin stood at the helm, and Gudrid with some others were stillgazing at the distant shore.
Freydissa was one of those women who appear to have been born women bymistake--who are always chafing at their unfortunate fate, andendeavouring to emulate--even to overwhelm--men; in which latter effortthey are too frequently successful. She was a tall elegant woman ofabout thirty years of age, with a decidedly handsome face, thoughsomewhat sharp of feature. She possessed a powerful will, a shrillvoice and a vigorous frame, and was afflicted with a short, violenttemper. She was decidedly a masculine woman. We know not which is themore disagreeable of the two--a masculine woman or an effeminate man.
But perhaps the most prominent feature in her character was hervolubility when enraged,--the copiousness of her vocabulary and thetremendous force with which she shot forth her ideas and abuse in shortabrupt sentences.
Now, if there was one thing more than another that roused the ire ofFreydissa, it was the exhibition of feminine weakness in the shape oftears. She appeared to think that the credit of her sex in reference tofirmness and self-command was compromised by such weakness. She herselfnever wept by any chance, and she was always enraged when she saw anyother woman relieve her feelings in that way. When, therefore, she cameon deck and found her own handmaid with her pretty little face swelled,or, as she expressed it, "begrutten," and heard her express a wish thatshe had never left home, she lost command of herself--a loss that shealways found it easy to come by--and, seizing Bertha by the shoulder,ordered her down into the cabin instantly.
Bertha sobbingly obeyed, and Freydissa followed. "Don't be hard on her,poor soul," murmured Thorward.
Foolish fellow! How difficult it is for man--ancient or modern--tolearn when to hold his tongue! That suggestion would have fixedFreydissa's determination if it had not been fixed before, and poorBertha would certainly have received "a hearing," or a "blowing-up," ora "setting down," such as she had not enjoyed since the date ofFreydissa's marriage, had it not been for the fortunate circumstancethat a whale took it into its great thick head to come up, just then,and spout magnificently quite close to the vessel.
The sight was received with a shout by the men, a shriller shout by thewomen, and a screech of surprise and delight by little Olaf, who wouldcertainly have gone over the side in his eagerness, had not Biarnecaught him by the skirts of his tunic.
This incident happily diverted the course of Freydissa's thoughts.Curiosity overcame indignation, and Bertha was reprieved for the timebeing. Both mistress and maid hastened to the side of the ship; theanger of the one evaporated and the tears of the other dried up whenthey saw the whale rise not more than a hundred yards from the ship. Itcontinued to do this for a considerable time, sometimes appearing on oneside, sometimes on the other; now at the stern, anon at the bow. Inshort it seemed as if the whale had taken the ship for a companion, andwere anxious to make its acquaintance. At last it went down andremained under water so long that the voyagers began to think it hadleft them, when Olaf suddenly gave a shriek of delight andsurprise:--"Oh! Oh! OH!" he exclaimed, looking and pointing straightdown into the water, "here is the whale--right under the ship!"
And sure enough there it was, swimming slowly under the vessel, not twofathoms below the keel--its immense bulk being impressively visible,owing to the position of the observers, and its round eyes staring as ifin astonishment at the strange creature above. [The author has seen awhale in precisely similar circumstances in a Norwegian fiord.] Itexpressed this astonishment, or whatever feeling it might be, by comingup suddenly to the surface, thrusting its big blunt head, like the bowof a boat, out of the sea, an
d spouting forth a column of water andspray with a deep snort or snore--to the great admiration of the wholeship's crew, for, although most of the men were familiar enough withwhales, alive and dead, they had never, in all probability, seen one insuch circumstances before.
Four or five times did the whale dive under the vessel in this fashion,and then it sheered off with a contemptuous flourish of its tail, as ifdisgusted with the stolid unsociable character of the ship, which seenfrom a submarine point of view must have looked uncommonly like a whale,and quite as big!
This episode, occurring so early in the voyage, and trifling though itwas, tended to create in the minds of all--especially of the women andthe younger people--a feeling of interest in the ocean, and anexpectation of coming adventure, which, though not well defined, wasslightly exciting and agreeable. Bertha, in particular, was verygrateful to that whale, for it had not only diverted her thoughts alittle from home-leaving and given her something new to think and talkabout, but it had saved her from Freydissa and a severe scold.
The first night at sea was fine, with bright moonlight, and a soft windon the quarter that carried them pleasantly over the rippling sea, andeverything was so tranquil and captivating that no one felt inclined togo to rest. Karlsefin sat beside the helm, guiding the ship and tellingsagas to the group of friends who stood, sat, or reclined on the deckand against the bulwarks of the high poop. He repeated long pieces ofpoetry, descriptive of the battles and adventures of their vikingforefathers, and also gave them occasional pieces of his own composing,in reference to surrounding circumstances and the enterprise in whichthey were then embarked,--for Karlsefin was himself a skald or poet,although he pretended not to great attainments in that way.
From where they sat the party on the poop could see that the men on thehigh forecastle were similarly engaged, for they had gathered togetherin a group, and their heads were laid together as if listening intentlyto one of their number who sat in the centre of the circle. Below, inthe waist of the ship, some humorous character appeared to be holdinghis mates enchained, for long periods of comparative silence--in whichcould be heard the monotonous tones of a single voice mingled withoccasional soft lowing from the cattle--were suddenly broken by burstsof uproarious laughter, which, however, quickly subsided again, leavingprominent the occasional lowing and the prolonged monotone. Everythingin and around the ship, that night, breathed of harmony and peace--though there was little knowledge among them of Him who is the Prince ofPeace. We say "little" knowledge, because Christianity had only justbegun to dawn among the Norsemen at that time, and there were some onboard of that discovery-ship who were tinged with the first rays of thatsweet light which, in the person of the Son of God, was sent to lightenthe world and to shine more and more unto the perfect day.
"Now," said Karlsefin, at the conclusion of one of his stories, "that isthe saga of Halfdan the Black--at least it is part of his saga; but,friends, it seems to me that we must begin a saga of our own, for it isevident that if we are successful in this venture we shall havesomething to relate when we return to Greenland, and we must all learnto tell our saga in the same words, for that is the only way in which_truth_ can be handed down to future generations, seeing that when menare careless in learning the truth they are apt to distort it so thathonest men are led into telling lies unwittingly. They say that thenations of the south have invented a process whereby with asharp-pointed tool they fashion marks on skins to represent words, sothat once put down in this way a saga never changes. Would that weNorsemen understood that process!" said Karlsefin meditatively.
"It seems to me," said Biarne, who reclined on the deck, leaning againstthe weather-bulwarks and running his fingers playfully through Olaf'sfair curls, "It seems to me that it were better to bestow the craft ofthe skald on the record of our voyage, for then the measure and therhyme would chain men to the words, and so to the truth--that is,supposing they get truth to start with! Come, Karlsefin, begin ourvoyage for us."
All present seemed to agree to that proposal, and urged Karlsefin tobegin at once.
The skipper--for such indeed was his position in the ship--though amodest man, was by no means bashful, therefore, after looking round uponthe moonlit sea for a few minutes, he began as follows:--
"When western waves were all unknown, And western fields were all unsown, When Iceland was the outmost bound That roving viking-keels had found-- Gunbiorn then--Ulf Kraka's son-- Still farther west was forced to run By furious gales, and there saw land Stretching abroad on either hand. Eric of Iceland, called the Red, Heard of the news and straightway said-- `This western land I'll go and see; Three summers hence look out for me.' He went; he landed; stayed awhile, And wintered first on `Eric's Isle;' Then searched the coast both far and wide, Then back to Iceland o'er the tide. `A wondrous land is this,' said he, And called it Greenland of the sea. Twenty and five great ships sailed west To claim this gem on Ocean's breast. With man and woman, horn and hoof, And bigging for the homestead roof. Some turned back--in heart but mice-- Some sank amid the Northern ice. Half reached the land, in much distress, At Ericsfiord and Heriulfness. Next, Biarne--Heriulf's doughty son-- Sought to trace out the aged one. [His father.] From Norway sailed, but missed his mark; Passed snow-topped Greenland in the dark; And came then to a new-found land-- But did not touch the tempting strand; For winter winds oppressed him sore And kept him from his father's shore. Then Leif, the son of Eric, rose And straightway off to Biarne goes, Buys up his ship, takes all his men, Fares forth to seek that land again. Leif found the land; discovered more, And spent a winter on the shore; Cut trees and grain to load the ship, And pay them for the lengthened trip. Named `Hella-land' and `Markland' too, And saw an island sweet with dew! And grapes in great abundance found, So named it Vinland all around. But after that forsook the shore, And north again for Greenland bore. And now--we cross the moonlit seas To search this land of grapes and trees Biarne, Thorward, Karlsefin-- Go forth this better land to win, With men and cattle not a few, And household gear and weapons too; And, best of all, with women dear, To comfort, counsel, check, and cheer. Thus far we've made a prosp'rous way, God speed us onward every day!"
They all agreed that this was a true account of the discovery of Vinlandand of their own expedition as far as it had gone, though Gudrid said itwas short, and Freydissa was of opinion that there was very little init.
"But hold!" exclaimed Biarne, suddenly raising himself on his elbows;"Karlsefin, you are but a sorry skald after all."
"How so?" asked the skipper.
"Why, because you have made no mention of the chief part of our voyage."
"And pray what may that be?"
"Stay, I too am a skald; I will tell you."
Biarne, whose poetical powers were not of the highest type, herestretched forth his hand and said:--
"When Biarne, Thorward, Karlsefin, This famous voyage did begin, They stood upon the deck one night, And there beheld a moving sight. It made the very men grow pale, Their shudder almost rent the sail! For lo! they saw a mighty whale! It drew a shriek from Olaf brave, Then plunged beneath the briny wave, And, while the women loudly shouted, Up came its blundering nose and spouted. Then underneath our keel it went, And glared with savage fury pent, And round about the ship it swum, Striking each man and woman dumb. Stay--one there was who found a tongue And still retained her strength of lung. Freydissa, beauteous matron bold, Resolved to give that whale a scold! But little cared that monster fish To gratify Freydissa's wish; He shook his tail, that naughty whale, And flourished it like any flail, And, ho! for Vinland he made sail!"
"Now, friends, was not that a great omission on the part of Karlsefin?"
"If the whale had brought his flail down on your pate it would haveserved you right, Biarne," said Freydissa, flushing, yet smiling inspite of herself.
"I think it is capital," cried Olaf, clapping his hands--"quite as goodas the other poem."
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p; Some agreed with Olaf, and some thought that it was not quite in keepingwith Karlsefin's composition, but, after much debate, it was finallyruled that it should be added thereto as part and parcel of the greatVinland poem. Hence it appears in this chronicle, and forms aninteresting instance of the way in which men, for the sake of humorouseffect, mingle little pieces of fiction with veritable history.
By the time this important matter was settled it was getting so latethat even the most enthusiastic admirer among them of moonlight on acalm sea became irresistibly desirous of going to sleep. They thereforebroke up for the night; the women retired to their cabin, and none wereleft on deck except the steersman and the watch. Long before this thesaga-tellers on the forecastle had retired; the monotone and the softlowing of the cattle had ceased; man and beast had sought and foundrepose, and nothing was heard save the ripple of the water on the ship'ssides as she glided slowly but steadily over the sleeping sea.
The Norsemen in the West Page 5
