Swords From the North

by Henry Treece

  Harald said, ‘My dear brother Olaf was a great Christian, sir, and it would ill become me to betray his faith. Besides, if I were to be your son, how could I plunder Mosul and send the treasure I have promised to the emperor in Byzantium?’

  The emir nodded his head. ‘If you argue always as sternly as this,’ he said, ‘you should make a very useful king one day, when Allah calls upon you to sit on a throne.’

  After that Harald and the emir became great friends. The Varangers, who were weary from their long march across the desert, welcomed the chance to live in houses for a while. So they stayed for over a year in Mosul and no doubt would have stayed longer but for a plague that swept the city during the following summer. Then they decided that it was better to be out in the open, where the winds could carry away disease from them, than shut in among alleys and courtyards where death could find them only too easily.

  When they were about to leave the old emir sent for Harald and said, ‘You have behaved well during your time here. We Turks shall not forget the Varangers from this time on. It is the opinion of my greatest adviser that you are in every way the equal of the Turks.’

  Harald bowed and answered, ‘I have learned much, being with you, sir. And I would tell the emperor himself that there are as many good knights among the Turks as there are anywhere in the world that I have seen so far.’

  The emir waited a while, then he said, ‘If I may advise, from where I stand, on the topmost rung of the ladder towards Paradise, I would ask you to avoid this emperor of yours.’ Harald smiled and asked, ‘You are a wise man, sir. You must have a good reason for saying that. What is it?’

  Then the old man said, ‘I spoke with the Turcopole captain who once had dealings with you. He tells me that, from a Greek spy his men captured out in the desert, he finds that your General Maniakes is back in Byzantium and has charged you with high treason before the emperor.’

  Harald said, ‘That is no more than I expected. But I have dealt with Maniakes before and I shall deal with him again.’ The emir looked away and said, ‘This time it will be different. Michael Catalactus has publicly pronounced the death sentence upon you, Harald.’

  Harald nodded and smiled. ‘That was to be expected,’ he said.

  The emir gazed at him with interest. ‘You take it well,’ he said. ‘A Muslim would take it no better. But, my dear young man, you do not ask what manner of death is arranged for you.’

  Harald said, ‘Death is death, sir. I am only sorry that I sent that wagon-load of plunder to Catalactus now. I am afraid I have treated you badly and him too well.’

  But the emir waved his hand as though dismissing this, and said, ‘The form of your execution is this: that in the Hippodrome before all the people, they will first draw out your eyes, then chop off both your hands and, at the last, when they have had time to enjoy your punishment, they will tie you to four wild horses and let them drag you into pieces.’

  Harald said, ‘They call themselves the most civilized people in the world, sir. Well, I am sorry that I took anything from your treasury; but, if it helps to make amends, I will forego the half which I had planned to take for the Varangers. Will you pardon me for what I have done already?’

  He fell to his knees before the old man and bowed his head. The emir could not speak for a time but at last he laid his hands on the Varangers head and said, ‘With all my heart, my son. Now, will you not think again about staying here with me in Mosul? I would see that your life was as happy as I could make it. The folk here love and respect you. Great fame could come to you if you stayed.’

  Harald rose and gently placed his hand upon the emir’s arm. ‘Father,’ he said, ‘you are the kindest man I have known since my dear brother Olaf died. If I could stay, I would; but I feel that I must seek my fame elsewhere than here. Besides, my folk are restless now and want to be away. But I shall always remember you with love.’

  The Turk felt inside a cupboard for his Koran so that Harald should not see the tears in his eyes. He said, ‘Then, if you must leave Mosul, Harald, go to Egypt; but do not go back to Byzantium, I implore you. I will give you letters to the caliph there, who is my friend.’

  Harald went to the window and gazed down into the square. He said at last, ‘After what you have told me, Father, if I did not return to settle accounts with Maniakes, I should never be able to call myself a man again.’

  19. The Gathering Host

  So Harald and the remaining Varangers went back towards Antioch. He had money from the emir with which he could redeem his ships in the harbour there, and many gifts besides, including what was said to be a fragment of the True Cross, set in silver and adorned with emeralds; three prayer rugs edged with designs which were, when read out, passages from the Koran; an ikon framed in silver-gilt, thought to have been left behind at Antioch after the battle of Yaimuk, when the Emperor Heraclius was so terribly mauled; and plentiful food supplies.

  All this was carried in wagons loaned by the emir, who also sent a strong bodyguard to ride with the Varangers until they came clear of the desert.

  It was a sad leave-taking but one which Harald had to make. The old man came to the gates of the city with him and in view of all the people took him in his arms and said, ‘When you have done what has to be done for honour’s sake, come back, my son. This will always be your home.’

  Harald bowed his knee before the Muslim but did not reply.

  The journey towards Aleppo was more pleasant than it had been coming the other way, for the weather was cooler, the food supplies were good, and there was not the same need to travel in heavy war gear. Though Harald lamented often that he had lost so many good men, one way and another, in that expedition.

  But even this sadness lifted a little when, one bright morning, the wagon-train came upon the Turcopoles, sitting in perfect order, waiting for the Varangers. The captain said to Harald, ‘Sir, we have seen the error of our ways. Lead us back to Byzantium and we will take the oath again.’

  Harald took the man’s hand and said, smiling grimly, ‘Yes, I will take you back, for it is likely that I might find a good use for you.’

  Then, only three days from Aleppo, the train caught up with a company of two hundred French and Italian foragers, many of them knights, who had come into Saracen land to make their fortunes but had found nothing but hardship and death in the dusty places they had visited. These men looked on Harald almost as their saviour and swore to obey him in all things if he would take them into his army.

  He told them sternly, ‘I hope that you know what you are promising, for where we are going there are likely to be more kicks than halfpence. And many men who walk now on two legs will need a crutch for the rest of their lives, unless I am mistaken.’

  But they cried out that without his leadership they were no more than lost dogs in a foreign land. So at last he said, ‘Very well, my dogs from France and Italy, you are no longer lost - but you have taken upon yourselves a master who will use the whip if his whistle is not answered at the first blowing.’

  At Antioch the ships were waiting, though now with so many in his army Harald had fears that his vessels would be overloaded. But not one man who had vowed to serve him would stay behind. Wulf said, ‘Let them come, brother. It will not be the first time we have sailed with the water up to our knees.’

  And Haldor said, ‘Where we are going, the more swords at our back the better; for I do not like this death they have arranged for you in the Hippodrome. And it is high time that these Greeks learned what it is to threaten the Varangers.’

  So the whole army sailed, cramped in their ships but happy to be on the move once more. During a spell of bad weather they put into port at Famagusta, and later rested up in Rhodes, since some of the ships needed caulking after their long stay at Antioch. The Turcopole captain wanted Harald to set a course to Athens so that they could see what sort of place that was, but he shook his head and said, ‘From here we shall go north among the islands, as straight as the ships will steer.
I have business affairs in Byzantium which will not wait while you go sight-seeing. ‘

  This time the Aegean was a peaceful sea to sail in. Word went before the fleet that Harald was coming and so all the corsairs saw to it that they were somewhere else when he passed.

  One of the Frenchmen said, ‘The rumours one hears of this sea! We were told that the place swarmed with cut-throats. ‘

  Eystein said starkly, ‘You must not believe all you hear. ‘

  Their food and drink supplies were running very low when they came within sight of the city. The Varangers cheered when they saw the great walls again and all the high buildings with Hagia Sophia standing proudly among them. Wulf said, ‘They may be laughing on the other side of their faces if this Maniakes is waiting for us at the harbour. ‘

  But all was quiet there and the army of Hardrada marched through the streets to the imperial palace without seeing a single Greek soldier. But when they came to the Forum of Constantine they saw rank upon rank of men waiting and leaning on their axes.

  Gyric of Lichfield said grimly, ‘I thought it was too good to last. There must be over three hundred men there and though they are not enough to stop us, they are enough to spoil the looks of a few of us before we get through to the far side. ‘

  Eystein said to him, ‘You need not worry, Englishman. Your looks have already been spoiled. ‘

  Gyric said, ‘You speak in envy, sheep-islander. There are great queens who would say that I was a very proper man to look at. ‘

  Eystein rubbed his nose and answered, ‘Aye, no doubt, the sort of queens they have in Serkland, with bones through their noses. ‘

  Just then the leader of the axe-men who waited for them called out, ‘Is it Harald the Stern? Is it the King of Norway?’

  And Haldor shouted back, ‘You have guessed right. Who else stands seven feet tall?’

  Then the axe-men came running towards them, their weapons over their shoulders and laughing. Their leader called out, ‘We are the new company of Varangers, come down the great river while you were away. Thank God we have a leader from among our own folk at last.’

  Harald gazed hard at the man and said, ‘You are Thorgrim Skalaglam.’

  The young man stopped and said in amazement, ‘Why, how can you know me? You have never seen me before.’

  Then Harald said, ‘No, but I stood beside your father at the affair of Stiklestad and he took many blows that were meant for me. These things a man never forgets. You have his face, down to the wart beside your mouth. I am please to have you, Thorgrim Skalaglam, if you are half the war-man your father was.’

  Thorgrim took the leader’s hand and said, ‘There have been no complaints - at least, not in my hearing.’

  So they all went to the palace then and Wulf whispered to Haldor, ‘If Maniakes still stays when he has seen what we bring, then he is the bravest general in the world.’

  Haldor whispered back, ‘Now, when Harald is emperor here, in about ten minutes, what shall we set our hands to first? I think that we should pull down this stinking Hippodrome of theirs, for I am sick to the heart of what goes on there.’

  Harald heard this and said, ‘Are you two tired of life, to tempt the gods so with your forecasts? Be silent and keep your eyes open. There is many a bright morning that ends with a thunderstorm.’

  20. The New General

  But there was no thunderstorm that day. The palace courtyards were deserted and the Varangers went where they chose. Harald took fifty of the most experienced men with him and made his way to the imperial anteroom. There the Chamberlains, shaking on their wands, bowed before him and opened all doors without question.

  The emperor, Michael Catalactus, looking much older and greyer, waited for him, dressed in all his finest and heaviest robes and wearing his great crown. Harald noticed that the man’s hands were trembling and that he could hardly speak at first when the Varangers came laughing into the room.

  Harald said, ‘In Saracen-land there was some rumour that I had been condemned to death, Michael.’

  The emperor struggled to find words, then he said, ‘My dear general, my dearest general,’ For a time he could say no more. So Harald said, ‘Do you mean to say that I am to be a general and not a corpse?’

  The emperor laughed thinly and nodded his head. ‘Kneel before me in the sight of your men, and I will formally award you the generalship of all the Byzantine armies.’

  Harald said stoutly, ‘Nay, Michael. Speak the words straight, to my face, with me standing, and my men will understand just as well.’

  And this was what the emperor was forced to do. When he came to placing the general’s gold chain about Hardrada’s neck, he found it difficult, for the Norseman would not bend his head an inch. But at last it was done and then Harald said, ‘There are two chairs here and I am tired of standing. Let us sit down, Michael.’

  He sat down first, not waiting for the trembling emperor.

  And then he said, ‘There was a man called Maniakes. I think he was the general here, years ago. Where is he now?’

  It took Michael long enough to reply. He said in a hoarse voice, ‘That Maniakes should never have offended you as he did. But, you understand, I was powerless to intervene, general.’ Harald nodded and said, ‘It is a hard life being an emperor. Where is Maniakes now, I asked?’

  Michael Catalactus said viciously, ‘When that Coward heard you were coming back to talk to him, he went with his army overland to avoid you, in the direction of Sicily.’

  Harald said slowly, ‘Then when we have rested and have enjoyed the festivities that you no doubt have arranged for us, we too will go to Sicily and find out how this Maniakes is getting on.’

  The emperor nodded his head. His dark eyes flashed. ‘Yes, yes, general,’ he said viciously, ‘find him and bring him back in chains for judgement. Or, if you choose, put him to death on the spot where you find him. You have my authority to do this for now you are the Supreme Commander of the World.’

  Harald snorted and said, ‘To tell you the truth, Michael, I feel just as I always have felt - like a young fellow called Sigurdson.’

  When the Northmen had gone Michael Catalactus sent for a nobleman who had made a great name for himself as a runner in the foot-races held at the Hippodrome, and said to him urgently, ‘Off with you now to the house beyond the Adrianople Gate where our true general is hiding, and tell him to go to Sicily without delay with a band of picked men. He will get out of the city in secret, disguised as a merchant if needs be, and will find loyal men in Sicily who will obey him. Tell him to enlist the Saracens on that island, for he will need all the troops he can lay hands on. And when Harald Hardrada arrives there, as he means to do for his revenge, tell our general to use any means in his power to put an end to this Northman. For, I swear by all the Saints, if this is not done soon then there will be a Norwegian sitting on the throne in Byzantium at last. Go now and report faithfully all I have said.’

  And while this young man was racing across the city by back streets to deliver his message, Harald and his chosen company established themselves in the small but rich palace placed at the general’s disposal, just off the Forum of Theodosius and almost under the Aqueduct of Valens.

  And that evening while they were sitting about and amusing themselves with story-telling and singing, a court Chamberlain came to Harald and said, ‘Lord, there is a lady to see you.’ Harald said, ‘Then bring her in. Do not keep her waiting outside. We will make a place at the table for her.’

  The Chamberlain smiled shrewdly and said, ‘Lord, this lady commands that you see her in private.’

  Harald raised his eyebrows and said, ‘Commands, does she? Ah, well, whoever she is, we will let her command for the last time.’

  So he withdrew to a small room with no windows or peepholes, and there the lady came to him in a heavy purple robe, which she flung back to show that she was the Empress Zoe. Harald led her to a chair but did not kneel before her. She stated at him hard for a moment, then smil
ed bitterly and said, ‘So you are still the proud White Bear of Norway, Harald?’ He said, ‘My name is Sigurdson and I am as I always was, lady. What do you want?’

  She said, ‘Since you first came here you have risen high in the world, Harald. By my wishes you became a Varanger, then a captain of Varangers, and now a general of Byzantium.’

  He answered, ‘I hope that I shall give satisfaction, lady.’His tone was sour because he always hated to be reminded of any debts. She touched him on the arm and said, ‘My lord, you will give even greater satisfaction if you will see sense at last and will accept the imperial crown of the Holy City.’

  He pretended to think of this for a while, then said slowly, ‘There is already an emperor, lady. What would he do, poison himself or go into a monastery?’

  She tapped her foot with impatience on the tiled floor, then said sharply, ‘Whatever you wish, my lord. But if I might advise you, it is always safest to deprive any claimant to the throne of his sight, for then his powers are strictly limited. This is one of our ancient customs and it has never been known to fail. Do not frown, my lord, it can be done almost painlessly.’ Harald gazed at her, deep in thought, his great hand upon his chin and his cold grey eyes set full on her. She lowered her head and said, ‘For a wild Northman, you are one of the gentlest men I have met. But make no mistake, Harald, this is a harsh world we live in and if a man is to gain the highest position in the world, he must be prepared to act with craft and strength.’

  Harald made his lips smile, and this was worse than his frowning before. Then he said, ‘Gracious lady, when such a proposal is made to him, a man has the right to consider a while before leaping out into the darkness.’

  She answered smiling, ‘It would not be you who leapt into the darkness, my love, but Michael Catalactus.’

  Harald could bear many things being said to him, but when this empress addressed him so tenderly he felt almost disgusted. He said as politely as he could, ‘Allow me until tomorrow. I will give you my answer then.’