King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 3
Page 12
CHAP. XII.
After the tournament, the king bestowed in the knights' hall, with theusual ceremonies, the honour of knighthood on some squires, who haddistinguished themselves in Marsk Stig's feud, and the Norwegian war.Palfreys, splendid aims, and other honourable gifts, were alsodistributed to the princely wedding guests, and some of the Swedishnobles who had accompanied Princess Ingeborg from Stockholm. The kingwas particularly desirous on this occasion to give Marsk ThorkildKnudsen a proof of his special regard, and presented him with theknightly sword of state, which he had this day worn himself. "Wear thisat your country's high festivals, noble Sir Marsk," he said, "butshould I ever--which the Almighty forbid!--forget the compact and thefriendship with the noble Swedish nation and its king, of which thisday hath given me and Denmark the fairest pledge! then turn it againstme, as you turned your own good sword against the heathen Kareles."Thorkild[7] acknowledged this mark of royal favour, in an animated andenthusiastic speech; he congratulated Denmark, as well as Sweden, on anew and happy era, when the swords of their princes and knights shouldonly be drawn on each other in the honourable rivalry of the tilt andtournay, but when required, flash like the northern lights and flamingcomets, against the common foes of the north.
At last, the king produced a document, to which, by a green silkenstring, was attached the great royal seal in wax impression, with thethree crowned leopards in the shield, on one side, and the king's imageon the throne and in royal robes, on the other. Without turning to thatside of the throne which was Junker Christopher's station, and towardswhich Eric, during the whole ceremony, had not once glanced, he said ina loud voice, and apparently with effort, "Junker Christopher Ericsonof Denmark! step forth and receive a commemorative gift from my hand,on this the happiest day of my life! I have, out of sincere brotherlylove and good-will, and with the assent of my council, three weekssince, signed and sealed this document, which is now for the first timemade public, and which nominates thee, Duke of Estland, with all feudalrights and privileges. May the Lord grant his blessing on it!" After hehad pronounced these words in a clear and audible voice, it seemed asthough an oppressive weight had been removed from his spirits, and helooked calmly and cheerfully to the side from whence he expected to seehis brother step forward; but the junker's place was vacant, none ofthose present had seen him since the tournament. The junker's master ofthe household, therefore, stepped forth on the part of his lord, andreceived the royal investiture, while he bent his knee before the king;he then rose, bowed low, and departed to seek the prince.
Prince Christopher did not appear at the marriage feast. Some reportedthey had seen him ride like a madman, at full gallop, through thechase, immediately after the tournament.
The prince had not returned as yet on the commencement of the eveningfestivities. The castle resounded with music and mirth. The doors ofthe knights' hall and the great antechamber were thrown open to admitpersons of all ranks to the dance and masque. The amusements here, asat the merry carnival, consisted in whimsical mummings, and scenicrepresentations, in which the spectators beheld, without displeasure,the most grotesque mixture of sacred, and profane, subjects. Even anumber of disguised ecclesiastics took part in this diversion, andenacted what was called "a mystery," or a biblical farce; in which aGerman harlequin constantly cracked his jests, while the fight betweenDavid and Goliath was represented, to the great delight of thepopulace, who thought to discern, in King David, an allusion to theking, and in the gigantic Goliath recognized a resemblance, now to DukeLongshanks, now to the Junker; but as soon as the Drost noticed theunlucky interpretation of the farce, he ordered these masks away. WhenEric stepped forth among the dancers in the antechamber, the youngmaidens sang the ballad, with which he was usually greeted, and whichhad now become a kind of a national song. With a feeling of enthusiasmfor their youthful sovereign, and allusion to one of the most romanticadventures which had occurred in his childhood--they sang gaily:
"O'er Ribe's bridge the dance is led, The castle it is won! In broidered shoe the knights they tread, For young Eric this feat is done!"[8]
The king listened with pleasure to the lay, and talked with Aage of hisbeloved Drost Peter Hessel, of whom this song always reminded him; andwhen Count Gerhard heard the ballad of Ribehuus, he tramped gaily intothe ranks of the dancers, in joyous remembrance of that event, at whichhe had himself been present.
The king's mother and Queen Helvig now entered the antechamber, withthe young and lovely bride, and the joy of the people was uttered yetmore loudly. The ballad-singers instantly began the ballad of QueenDagmar's bridal; all the maidens joined in it, and the dancers moved tothe tune. The king stepped forward, with his bride, at the head of thetroop of dancers. At last the maidens sang:
"'Great joy there was o'er Denmark's land, When Dagmar stepped upon the strand; Both burgher and peasant then lived in peace, From tax and ploughpenny-yoke had ease, From Bohmerland[9] the lady crossed the seas!"
But as they were going to sing the last verse, the ballad-singers tookup the lay and sang:
"'Again there's joy o'er Denmark's land,' Fair Ingeborg comes unto our strand! Like Waldemar Seier, King Eric hath found A Dagmar to bring us on Danish ground; From Sweden's land so far renowned!"
This verse was repeated amid loud and joyous acclamations.
"Thanks, good people! thanks!" said the king, with pleased emotion; "ifit please the Lord, and our blessed Lady, Valdemar's and Dagmar's daysshall return."
The young queen feelingly greeted the many loyal persons who surroundedher.
Amid the general rejoicing and festive stir, there was no one besideDrost Aage who saw anything suspicious in the continuance of the mask;but among the great number of maskers, he had especially noticed two,who frequently made their way nearly up to the king, and disappearedagain. They were dressed up according to the ideas which the lowerclasses entertained of mermen; their painted faces were hidden by greensilken hair, and they wore coats of glittering silver scales. Theirrestless deportment appeared suspicious to Aage, who paid closeattention to every movement of these masks--but his suspicion soonvanished; a pretty little fishermaiden came to meet the second mask andthe pair soon danced so lovingly together, that Aage conjectured alittle love affair was in progress. "Why cannot I thus dance here with_her_?" he sighed, and his thoughts travelled to the maiden's tower atWordinborg. He looked with interest on the fair fisher-maiden, who withher long hair, and her joyous sparkling eyes, bore a faint resemblanceto the Lady Margaretha's capricious sister Ulrica. "Alas, no! poormaidens!" sighed the Drost, stepping out into the hall balcony--"theyare now in the gloomy tower over yonder; _they_ hear and see nought ofthese rejoicings--and yet they are innocent--it is injustice; cryinginjustice--in this matter he is stern and unyielding. To-night,however, he is mild, and joyous, and happy--who knows----." It seemedas if Aage was suddenly inspired by a bold hope; he returned into theantechamber, and approached the king, who took greater pleasure inbeing a spectator of the merriment of the lower orders in theantechamber than in looking on the more graceful and skilful dancing inthe knights' hall. But the Drost presently once more beheld one of thefrightful mermen figures near the king; his suspicions of this maskwere again awakened, and he observed the glittering handle of a daggerbetween the silver scales on the merman's breast, on which his handoften rested when he approached Eric. Aage placed himself between theking and the intrusive mask, and asked, "Who art thou?"
"Rosmer[10]," said a strange, unknown voice--"ho, ho, ho!"--and themerman now sang in a hoarse tone:
"Home came Rosmer from the sea, To curse he did begin: My right hand's scent it warneth me A christian man's within."
He then once more seized the hand of the fisher-maiden, and joined inthe dance. The Drost looked after him with suspicion; he thought of
theoutlaws, and of the dishonoured Knight Kagge. The idea of thisdangerous and audacious miscreant became so vivid in his imagination,that he seemed to recognise him in the merman, and almost in everymask. He made a signal to some halberdiers to keep an eye on the mask,and followed the king into the knights' hall. Here he also gave CountHenrik a hint of what he dreaded, and a numerous troop of halberdierswas soon stationed near the king; but neither he nor any of his guestsobserved that this was done with any special design. The Drost'sscrutinising looks and the precautions which had been taken, did not,however, seem to have escaped all the guests. Shortly afterwards thewell-known ballad of the "Merman and Agnete" was heard in theantechamber, and a dance was performed to it, in which the merman maskand the fisher-maiden were the principal performers. The merman onlychimed in with the burden of the song, and repeated, in a wild, hoarsevoice,
"Ho! ho! ho! To the depths of the sea then lead her did he."
At last this masker and his partner departed: they danced out of thedoor, and down the great staircase into the court-yard of the castle,amid a crowd of disguised personages, who belonged to their party, andrepresented all kinds of sea-monsters. No one knew what had become ofthem: another dance began, and none concerned themselves any longerabout these unsocial maskers; but the report afterwards spread amongthe people, that the masker was a real merman, who had carried off amaiden. Some even would have it that they had seen the glitteringmerman swim off with the maiden in his arms, in the clear moonlight.