only Ragnar's presence hadspoilt the plan, though Griffin had tried to save it by holding back.But I must say also that up to this time none had had aught to sayagainst Alsi as a ruler, though he was over close, and not at all heartyin his ways at home. But now, for the sake of the kingdom, he had begunto plot; and this plan having come to naught, he must make others, aswill be seen. I do not think that this planning to keep Ethelwald'skingdom from his daughter was anything fresh to Alsi, but the time foraction had come now.
He had made ready by keeping the fair princess far away, and there werenone who could speak of her goodness, or, indeed, had heard much of hersince she was a child. Therefore, as men were content enough with him,none would trouble much if the princess came not to the throne, givengood reason why she should not do so. And the very best reason would bethat which Alsi had given at the Witan--if her husband was not fit tobe king.
It is possible that Goldberga knew that her marriage would be talked ofat this Witan: but I do not think that she troubled herself much aboutit, not by any means intending to be married against her will. I haveheard that so ran the will of Ethelwald, that she was to have choice tosome extent. However that may be, with so many thoughts to trouble hershe went to rest, and her sleep was not easy until the morning was near,and then came quiet.
But presently, in the grey of the dawn, she woke, and called her oldnurse, who was in the chamber with her; and when she came she told herthat she had had a strange vision or dream, so real that she did notknow which it was. And what it portended she could not say, for it waswonderful altogether, and surely was good.
"I thought that a voice wakened me, calling me to look on somewhat; andso I rose as I was bidden, and saw before me the most mighty andcomeliest man that could be thought of. Kinglike he was, though he hadno crown and was meanly clad, without brooch or bracelet that a kingshould wear. But the wonder was that from his mouth came a bright shaftof flame, as it were of a sunbeam, that lighted all the place, and onhis shoulder shone a cross of burning light as of red-hot gold, and Iknew that it was the mark of a mighty king.
"Then I heard the voice again, and I turned, and saw that it was anangel who spoke to me, and his face was bright and kind.
"'Fear not, Goldberga,' he said, 'for this is your husband that shallbe. King's son and heir is he, as that token of the fiery cross shows.More, also, it will betoken--that he shall reign in England and inDenmark, a great king and mighty. And this you shall see, and with himshall you reign as queen and well-loved lady.'
"So the voice ceased, and the angel was gone, and when I looked up therewas naught but the growing dawn across yon window, and the voice of thethrush that sings outside."
Now the old nurse pondered over the dream for a while without speaking,for she could not see what it might mean at first.
But at last she said, "It is a good dream surely, because of the angelthat spoke; but there seems only one way in which it can come to pass. Aprince must come for you from Denmark, for there he would reign by hisown right, and here he would do so by yours. Yet I have heard that theDanish kings are most terrible heathen, worse than the Saxon kin, ofwhom we know the worst now. Maybe that is why the angel told you to haveno fear. I mind Gunnar Kirkeban, and what he wrought on the churches andChristian folk in Wales--in Gower on the Severn Sea, and on the holyDee--when I was young."
For both Goldberga and this old nurse of hers were Christian, as hadbeen Orwenna, Ethelwald's wife, her mother. It had been a great day forthem when the King of Kent had brought over his fair wife, Bertha, fromFrance, for she, too, was Christian, and had restored the ancient churchin the very castle where Goldberga was kept.
Now the princess went to sleep again, and woke refreshed; but all daylong the memory of the dream and of him whom she saw in it bided withher, until it was time for her to go to the great hall for the feast ofthe Witan.
Now it happened that on this night I must be one of the two housecarlswho should stand, torch in hand, behind the king. It was a place thatnone of the men cared for much, since they saw their comrades feastingat the end of the room, while they must bide hungry till the end, andmind that no sparks from the flaring pine fell on the guests, moreover.Eglaf would have excused me this had I wished; but I would take my turnwith the rest, and maybe did not mind losing the best of the feast somuch as the others. There were some three hundred guests at that feast,and it was a wondrous fair sight to me as I stood on the high place andsaw them gather. The long table behind which I was ran right across thedais, rich with gold and silver and glass work: and below this, all downthe hall, ran long tables again, set lengthwise, that none might havetheir backs to the king. And at the end of the hall, crosswise, were thetables for the housecarls, and the men of the house, and of the thaneswho were guests. And as the housecarls came in they hung their shieldsand weapons on the walls in order, so that they flashed bright fromabove the hangings that Berthun and his men had set up afresh and moregaily than I had seen yet in this place.
There was a fire on the great hearth in the midst of the hall; but as itwas high summer, only a little one, and over it were no cauldrons, asthere would have been in the winter. Berthun was doing his cookeryelsewhere. But between the tables were spaces where his thralls and thewomen could pass as they bore round the food and drink. And backwardsand forwards among them went Berthun until the very last, anxious andimportant, seeing that all was right, and showing one guest afteranother to their places. No light matter was that either, for to set athane in too low a place for his rank was likely to be a cause of strifeand complaint. Also he must know if there were old feuds stillremembered, lest he should set deadly enemies side by side. I did notenvy him, by any means.
When it seemed that there were few more guests to come, and only half adozen seats were vacant on the high place, Berthun passed into the roombeyond the hall, and at once a hush fell on the noisy folk, who had beentalking to one another as though they had never met before. The gleementuned their harps, and I and my comrade lit our torches from thosealready burning on the wall, and stood ready, for the king was coming.
Out of the door backed Berthun with many bows, and loud sang thegleemen, while all in the hall stood up at once; and then came Alsi,leading the princess, first; and then Ragnar, with the wife of somegreat noble; and after him that noble and another lady; but Griffin wasnot there. Bright looked Goldberga in her blue dress, with wondrousjewels on arm and neck, and maybe the brighter for the absence of theWelsh thane, as I thought.
So they sat as last night, save that the noble who had come next toRagnar was in Griffin's place; and therefore I stood behind the king andthe princess, with the light of my torch falling between the two.
Now they were set, and at once Berthun bore a great beaker of wine tothe king, and all down the hall ran his men with the pitchers of wineand mead and ale, and with them the women of the household and the wivesof the courtmen, filling every drinking horn for the welcome cup.
Then the gleemen hushed their song, and Alsi stood up with thegold-rimmed horn of the king in his hand, and high he raised it, andcried, "Waeshael!"
And all the guests rose up, cup in hand, with a wonderful flashing ofthe glorious English jewels, and cried with one voice, "Drinc hael, Cyning!"
Then all sat them down, and at once came Berthun's men with the ladenspits and the cauldrons, and first they served the high table, kneelingon the dais steps while each noble helped himself and the lady next himwith what he would. And then down the hall the feast began, and for atime befell a silence--the silence of hungry folk who have before thema good reason for not saying much for a little while.
I looked for Havelok among Berthun's men, but he was not there. Nor washe at the lower cross tables with the other people of the palace. ButWithelm was there, for Eglaf had seen him with me not an hour ago, andhad bidden him come, as a stranger from far off. There were a few otherstrangers there also, as one might suppose, for the king's hall must beopen at these times.
Now I looked on all this, and it pleased
me; and then I began to hearthe talk of those at the high table, and that was pleasant also. First Iheard that Griffin had fallen off his horse, and had put his arm out.Whereon one said that he only needed one hand to feed with, andmarvelled that so small a hurt kept him away from so pleasant a place aswas his.
"It seems that he fell on his face," answered a thane who had seen him."He is not as handsome as he was last night. That is what keeps himaway. Some passerby put his arm in straightway."
At that I almost laughed, but kept a face wooden as that of our oldstatue of Thor, for Eglaf had warned me that I was but a torch, as itwere, unless by any chance I was spoken to. But Ragnar glanced my waywith a half smile. Presently they began to talk of the stone putting,and of the mighty man who had come with Berthun, and I saw severallooking idly down the hall to see if they could spy him. One of thethanes on the high seat, at the end, was he who had held the
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