by Walter Scott
CHAPTER XIX.
I pass like night from land to land, I have strange power of speech; So soon as e'er his face I see, I know the man that must hear me, To him my tale I teach.
COLERIDGE'S _Rime of the Ancient Mariner_.
The daughters of Magnus Troil shared the same bed, in a chamber whichhad been that of their parents before the death of their mother. Magnus,who suffered grievously under that dispensation of Providence, hadbecome disgusted with the apartment. The nuptial chamber was abandonedto the pledges of his bereaved affection, of whom the eldest was at thatperiod only four years old, or thereabouts; and, having been theirnursery in infancy, continued, though now tricked and adorned accordingto the best fashion of the islands, and the taste of the lovely sistersthemselves, to be their sleeping-room, or, in the old Norse dialect,their bower.
It had been for many years the scene of the most intimate confidence, ifthat could be called confidence, where, in truth, there was nothing tobe confided; where neither sister had a secret; and where every thoughtthat had birth in the bosom of the one, was, without either hesitationor doubt, confided to the other as spontaneously as it had arisen. But,since Cleveland abode in the mansion of Burgh-Westra, each of the lovelysisters had entertained thoughts which are not lightly or easilycommunicated, unless she who listens to them has previously assuredherself that the confidence will be kindly received. Minna had noticedwhat other and less interested observers had been unable to perceive,that Cleveland, namely, held a lower rank in Brenda's opinion than inher own; and Brenda, on her side, thought that Minna had hastily andunjustly joined in the prejudices which had been excited againstMordaunt Mertoun in the mind of their father. Each was sensible that shewas no longer the same to her sister; and this conviction was a painfuladdition to other painful apprehensions which they supposed they had tostruggle with. Their manner towards each other was, in outwardappearances, and in all the little cares by which affection can beexpressed, even more assiduously kind than before, as if both, consciousthat their internal reserve was a breach of their sisterly union, stroveto atone for it by double assiduity in those external marks ofaffection, which, at other times, when there was nothing to hide, mightbe omitted without inferring any consequences.
On the night referred to in particular, the sisters felt more especiallythe decay of the confidence which used to exist betwixt them. Theproposed voyage to Kirkwall, and that at the time of the fair, whenpersons of every degree in these islands repair thither, either forbusiness or amusement, was likely to be an important incident in livesusually so simple and uniform as theirs; and, a few months ago, Minnaand Brenda would have been awake half the night, anticipating, in theirtalk with each other, all that was likely to happen on so momentous anoccasion. But now the subject was just mentioned, and suffered to drop,as if the topic was likely to produce a difference betwixt them, or tocall forth a more open display of their several opinions than either waswilling to make to the other.
Yet such was their natural openness and gentleness of disposition, thateach sister imputed to herself the fault that there was aught likeestrangement existing between them; and when, having finished theirdevotions, and betaken themselves to their common couch, they foldedeach other in their arms, and exchanged a sisterly kiss, and a sisterlygood-night, they seemed mutually to ask pardon, and to exchangeforgiveness, although neither said a word of offence, either offered orreceived; and both were soon plunged in that light and yet profoundrepose, which is only enjoyed when sleep sinks down on the eyes of youthand innocence.
On the night to which the story relates, both sisters were visited bydreams, which, though varied by the moods and habits of the sleepers,bore yet a strange general resemblance to each other.
Minna dreamed that she was in one of the most lonely recesses of thebeach, called Swartaster, where the incessant operation of the waves,indenting a calcarious rock, has formed a deep _halier_, which, in thelanguage of the island, means a subterranean cavern, into which the tideebbs and flows. Many of these run to an extraordinary and unascertaineddepth under ground, and are the secure retreat of cormorants and seals,which it is neither easy nor safe to pursue to their extreme recesses.Amongst these, this halier of Swartaster was accounted peculiarlyinaccessible, and shunned both by fowlers and by seamen, on account ofsharp angles and turnings in the cave itself, as well as the sunkenrocks which rendered it very dangerous for skiffs or boats to advancefar into it, especially if there was the usual swell of an island tide.From the dark-browed mouth of this cavern, it seemed to Minna, in herdream, that she beheld a mermaid issue, not in the classical dress of aNereid, as in Claud Halcro's mask of the preceding evening, but withcomb and glass in hand, according to popular belief, and lashing thewaves with that long scaly train, which, in the traditions of thecountry, forms so frightful a contrast with the fair face, long tresses,and displayed bosom, of a human and earthly female, of surpassingbeauty. She seemed to beckon to Minna, while her wild notes rang sadlyin her ear, and denounced, in prophetic sounds, calamity and woe.
The vision of Brenda was of a different description, yet equallymelancholy. She sat, as she thought, in her favourite bower, surroundedby her father and a party of his most beloved friends, amongst whomMordaunt Mertoun was not forgotten. She was required to sing; and shestrove to entertain them with a lively ditty, in which she was accountedeminently successful, and which she sung with such simple, yet naturalhumour, as seldom failed to produce shouts of laughter and applause,while all who could, or who could not sing, were irresistibly compelledto lend their voices to the chorus. But, on this occasion, it seemed asif her own voice refused all its usual duty, and as if, while she feltherself unable to express the words of the well-known air, it assumed,in her own despite, the deep tones and wild and melancholy notes ofNorna of Fitful-head, for the purpose of chanting some wild Runic rhyme,resembling those sung by the heathen priests of old, when the victim(too often human) was bound to the fatal altar of Odin or of Thor.
At length the two sisters at once started from sleep, and, uttering alow scream of fear, clasped themselves in each other's arms. For theirfancy had not altogether played them false; the sounds, which hadsuggested their dreams, were real, and sung within their apartment. Theyknew the voice well, indeed, and yet, knowing to whom it belonged, theirsurprise and fear were scarce the less, when they saw the well-knownNorna of Fitful-head, seated by the chimney of the apartment, which,during the summer season, contained an iron lamp well trimmed, and, inwinter, a fire of wood or of turf.
She was wrapped in her long and ample garment of wadmaal, and moved herbody slowly to and fro over the pale flame of the lamp, as she sunglines to the following purport, in a slow, sad, and almost an unearthlyaccent:
"For leagues along the watery way, Through gulf and stream my course has been; The billows know my Runic lay, And smooth their crests to silent green.
"The billows know my Runic lay,-- The gulf grows smooth, the stream is still; But human hearts, more wild than they, Know but the rule of wayward will.
"One hour is mine, in all the year, To tell my woes,--and one alone; When gleams this magic lamp, 'tis here,-- When dies the mystic light, 'tis gone.
"Daughters of northern Magnus, hail! The lamp is lit, the flame is clear,-- To you I come to tell my tale, Awake, arise, my tale to hear!"
Norna was well known to the daughters of Troil, but it was not withoutemotion, although varied by their respective dispositions, that theybeheld her so unexpectedly, and at such an hour. Their opinions withrespect to the supernatural attributes to which she pretended, wereextremely different.
Minna, with an unusual intensity of imagination, although superior intalent to her sister, was more apt to listen to, and delight in, everytale of wonder, and was at all times more willing to admit impressionswhich gave her fancy scope and exercise, without minutely examiningtheir reality. Brenda, on the other hand, had, in her gaiety, a slightpropensity to satire, and was often te
mpted to laugh at the verycircumstances upon which Minna founded her imaginative dreams; and, likeall who love the ludicrous, she did not readily suffer herself to beimposed upon, or overawed, by pompous pretensions of any kind whatever.But, as her nerves were weaker and more irritable than those of hersister, she often paid involuntary homage, by her fears, to ideas whichher reason disowned; and hence, Claud Halcro used to say, in referenceto many of the traditionary superstitions around Burgh-Westra, thatMinna believed them without trembling, and that Brenda trembled withoutbelieving them. In our own more enlightened days, there are few whoseundoubting mind and native courage have not felt Minna's high wroughttone of enthusiasm; and perhaps still fewer, who have not, at one timeor other, felt, like Brenda, their nerves confess the influence ofterrors which their reason disowned and despised.
Under the power of such different feelings, Minna, when the first momentof surprise was over, prepared to spring from her bed, and go to greetNorna, who, she doubted not, had come on some errand fraught with fate;while Brenda, who only beheld in her a woman partially deranged in herunderstanding, and who yet, from the extravagance of her claims,regarded her as an undefined object of awe, or rather terror, detainedher sister by an eager and terrified grasp, while she whispered in herear an anxious entreaty that she would call for assistance. But the soulof Minna was too highly wrought up by the crisis at which her fateseemed to have arrived, to permit her to follow the dictates of hersister's fears; and, extricating herself from Brenda's hold, she hastilythrew on a loose nightgown, and, stepping boldly across the apartment,while her heart throbbed rather with high excitement than with fear, shethus addressed her singular visitor:
"Norna, if your mission regards us, as your words seem to express, thereis one of us, at least, who will receive its import with reverence, butwithout fear."
"Norna, dear Norna," said the tremulous voice of Brenda,--who, feelingno safety in the bed after Minna quitted it, had followed her, asfugitives crowd into the rear of an advancing army, because they darenot remain behind, and who now stood half concealed by her sister, andholding fast by the skirts of her gown,--"Norna, dear Norna," said she,"whatever you are to say, let it be to-morrow. I will call Euphane Fea,the housekeeper, and she will find you a bed for the night."
"No bed for me!" said their nocturnal visitor; "no closing of the eyesfor me! They have watched as shelf and stack appeared and disappearedbetwixt Burgh-Westra and Orkney--they have seen the Man of Hoy sinkinto the sea, and the Peak of Hengcliff arise from it, and yet they havenot tasted of slumber; nor must they slumber now till my task is ended.Sit down, then, Minna, and thou, silly trembler, sit down, while I trimmy lamp--Don your clothes, for the tale is long, and ere 'tis done, yewill shiver with worse than cold."
"For Heaven's sake, then, put it off till daylight, dear Norna!" saidBrenda; "the dawn cannot be far distant; and if you are to tell us ofany thing frightful, let it be by daylight, and not by the dim glimmerof that blue lamp!"
"Patience, fool!" said their uninvited guest. "Not by daylight shouldNorna tell a tale that might blot the sun out of heaven, and blight thehopes of the hundred boats that will leave this shore ere noon, tocommence their deep-sea fishing,--ay, and of the hundred families thatwill await their return. The demon, whom the sounds will not fail toawaken, must shake his dark wings over a shipless and a boatless sea, ashe rushes from his mountain to drink the accents of horror he loves sowell to listen to."
"Have pity on Brenda's fears, good Norna," said the elder sister, "andat least postpone this frightful communication to another place andhour."
"Maiden, no!" replied Norna, sternly; "it must be told while that lampyet burns. Mine is no daylight tale--by that lamp it must be told, whichis framed out of the gibbet-irons of the cruel Lord of Wodensvoe, whomurdered his brother; and has for its nourishment--but be thatnameless--enough that its food never came either from the fish or fromthe fruit!--See, it waxes dim and dimmer, nor must my tale last longerthan its flame endureth. Sit ye down there, while I sit here oppositeto you, and place the lamp betwixt us; for within the sphere of itslight the demon dares not venture."
The sisters obeyed, Minna casting a slow awestruck, yet determined lookall around, as if to see the Being, who, according to the doubtful wordsof Norna, hovered in their neighbourhood; while Brenda's fears weremingled with some share both of anger and of impatience. Norna paid noattention to either, but began her story in the following words:--
"Ye know, my daughters, that your blood is allied to mine, but in whatdegree ye know not; for there was early hostility betwixt your grandsireand him who had the misfortune to call me daughter.--Let me term him byhis Christian name of Erland, for that which marks our relation I darenot bestow. Your grandsire Olave, was the brother of Erland. But whenthe wide Udal possessions of their father Rolfe Troil, the most rich andwell estated of any who descended from the old Norse stock, were dividedbetwixt the brothers, the Fowd gave to Erland his father's lands inOrkney, and reserved for Olave those of Hialtland. Discord arose betweenthe brethren; for Erland held that he was wronged; and when theLawting,[47] with the Raddmen and Lawright-men, confirmed thedivision, he went in wrath to Orkney, cursing Hialtland and itsinhabitants--cursing his brother and his blood.
"But the love of the rock and of the mountain still wrought on Erland'smind, and he fixed his dwelling not on the soft hills of Ophir, or thegreen plains of Gramesey, but in the wild and mountainous Isle of Hoy,whose summit rises to the sky like the cliffs of Foulah and ofFeroe.[48] He knew,--that unhappy Erland,--whatever of legendary loreScald and Bard had left behind them; and to teach me that knowledge,which was to cost us both so dear, was the chief occupation of his oldage. I learned to visit each lonely barrow--each lofty cairn--to tellits appropriate tale, and to soothe with rhymes in his praise the spiritof the stern warrior who dwelt within. I knew where the sacrifices weremade of yore to Thor and to Odin, on what stones the blood of thevictims flowed--where stood the dark-browed priest--where the crestedchiefs, who consulted the will of the idol--where the more distant crowdof inferior worshippers, who looked on in awe or in terror. The placesmost shunned by the timid peasants had no terrors for me; I dared walkin the fairy circle, and sleep by the magic spring.
"But, for my misfortune, I was chiefly fond to linger about the DwarfieStone, as it is called, a relic of antiquity, which strangers look onwith curiosity, and the natives with awe. It is a huge fragment of rock,which lies in a broken and rude valley, full of stones and precipices,in the recesses of the Ward-hill of Hoy. The inside of the rock has twocouches, hewn by no earthly hand, and having a small passage betweenthem. The doorway is now open to the weather; but beside it lies alarge stone, which, adapted to grooves still visible in the entrance,once had served to open and to close this extraordinary dwelling, whichTrolld, a dwarf famous in the northern Sagas, is said to have framed forhis own favourite residence. The lonely shepherd avoids the place; forat sunrise, high noon, or sunset, the misshapen form of the necromanticowner may sometimes still be seen sitting by the Dwarfie Stone.[49] Ifeared not the apparition, for, Minna, my heart was as bold, and my handwas as innocent, as yours. In my childish courage, I was even but toopresumptuous, and the thirst after things unattainable led me, like ourprimitive mother, to desire increase of knowledge, even by prohibitedmeans. I longed to possess the power of the Voluspae and divining womenof our ancient race; to wield, like them, command over the elements; andto summon the ghosts of deceased heroes from their caverns, that theymight recite their daring deeds, and impart to me their hiddentreasures. Often when watching by the Dwarfie Stone, with mine eyesfixed on the Ward-hill, which rises above that gloomy valley, I havedistinguished, among the dark rocks, that wonderful carbuncle,[50](_p_)which gleams ruddy as a furnace to them who view it from beneath, buthas ever become invisible to him whose daring foot has scaled theprecipices from which it darts its splendour. My vain and youthful bosomburned to investigate these and an hundred other mysteries, which theSagas that I perused, or learned from Erland, r
ather indicated thanexplained; and in my daring mood, I called on the Lord of the DwarfieStone to aid me in attaining knowledge inaccessible to mere mortals."
"And the evil spirit heard your summons?" said Minna, her blood curdlingas she listened.
"Hush," said Norna, lowering her voice, "vex him not with reproach--heis with us--he hears us even now."
Brenda started from her seat.--"I will to Euphane Fea's chamber," shesaid, "and leave you, Minna and Norna, to finish your stories ofhobgoblins and of dwarfs at your own leisure; I care not for them at anytime, but I will not endure them at midnight, and by this palelamplight."
She was accordingly in the act of leaving the room, when her sisterdetained her.
"Is this the courage," she said, "of her, that disbelieves whatever thehistory of our fathers tells us of supernatural prodigy? What Norna hasto tell concerns the fate, perhaps, of our father and his house;--if Ican listen to it, trusting that God and my innocence will protect mefrom all that is malignant, you, Brenda, who believe not in suchinfluence, have surely no cause to tremble. Credit me, that for theguiltless there is no fear."
"There may be no danger," said Brenda, unable to suppress her naturalturn for humour, "but, as the old jest book says, there is much fear.However, Minna, I will stay with you;--the rather," she added, in awhisper, "that I am loath to leave you alone with this frightful woman,and that I have a dark staircase and long passage betwixt and EuphaneFea, else I would have her here ere I were five minutes older."
"Call no one hither, maiden, upon peril of thy life," said Norna, "andinterrupt not my tale again; for it cannot and must not be told afterthat charmed light has ceased to burn."
"And I thank heaven," said Brenda to herself, "that the oil burns low inthe cruize! I am sorely tempted to lend it a puff, but then Norna wouldbe alone with us in the dark, and that would be worse."
So saying, she submitted to her fate, and sat down, determined to listenwith all the equanimity which she could command to the remaining part ofNorna's tale, which went on as follows:--
"It happened on a hot summer day, and just about the hour of noon,"continued Norna, "as I sat by the Dwarfie Stone, with my eyes fixed onthe Ward-hill, whence the mysterious and ever-burning carbuncle shed itsrays more brightly than usual, and repined in my heart at the restrictedbounds of human knowledge, that at length I could not help exclaiming,in the words of an ancient Saga,
'Dwellers of the mountain, rise, Trolld the powerful, Haims the wise! Ye who taught weak woman's tongue Words that sway the wise and strong,-- Ye who taught weak woman's hand How to wield the magic wand, And wake the gales on Foulah's steep, Or lull wild Sumburgh's waves to sleep!-- Still are ye yet?--Not yours the power Ye knew in Odin's mightier hour. What are ye now but empty names, Powerful Trolld, sagacious Haims, That, lightly spoken, lightly heard, Float on the air like thistle's beard?'
"I had scarce uttered these words," proceeded Norna, "ere the sky, whichhad been till then unusually clear, grew so suddenly dark around me,that it seemed more like midnight than noon. A single flash oflightning showed me at once the desolate landscape of heath, morass,mountain, and precipice, which lay around; a single clap of thunderwakened all the echoes of the Ward-hill, which continued so long torepeat the sound, that it seemed some rock, rent by the thunderbolt fromthe summit, was rolling over cliff and precipice into the valley.Immediately after, fell a burst of rain so violent, that I was fain toshun its pelting, by creeping into the interior of the mysterious stone.
"I seated myself on the larger stone couch, which is cut at the fartherend of the cavity, and, with my eyes fixed on the smaller bed, weariedmyself with conjectures respecting the origin and purpose of my singularplace of refuge. Had it been really the work of that powerful Trolld, towhom the poetry of the Scalds referred it? Or was it the tomb of someScandinavian chief, interred with his arms and his wealth, perhaps alsowith his immolated wife, that what he loved best in life might not indeath be divided from him? Or was it the abode of penance, chosen bysome devoted anchorite of later days? Or the idle work of some wanderingmechanic, whom chance, and whim, and leisure, had thrust upon such anundertaking? I tell you the thoughts that then floated through my brain,that ye may know that what ensued was not the vision of a prejudiced orprepossessed imagination, but an apparition, as certain as it was awful.
"Sleep had gradually crept on me, amidst my lucubrations, when I wasstartled from my slumbers by a second clap of thunder; and, when Iawoke, I saw, through the dim light which the upper aperture admitted,the unshapely and indistinct form of Trolld the dwarf, seated oppositeto me on the lesser couch, which his square and misshapen bulk seemedabsolutely to fill up. I was startled, but not affrighted; for the bloodof the ancient race of Lochlin was warm in my veins. He spoke; and hiswords were of Norse, so old, that few, save my father, or I myself,could have comprehended their import,--such language as was spoken inthese islands ere Olave planted the cross on the ruins of heathenism.His meaning was dark also and obscure, like that which the Pagan priestswere wont to deliver, in the name of their idols, to the tribes thatassembled at the _Helgafels_.[51] This was the import,--
'A thousand winters dark have flown, Since o'er the threshold of my Stone A votaress pass'd, my power to own. Visitor bold Of the mansion of Trolld, Maiden haughty of heart, Who hast hither presumed,-- Ungifted, undoom'd, Thou shalt not depart; The power thou dost covet O'er tempest and wave, Shall be thine, thou proud maiden, By beach and by cave,-- By stack[52] and by skerry,[53] by noup[54] and by voe,[55] By air[56] and by wick,[57] and by helyer[58] and gio,[59] And by every wild shore which the northern winds know, And the northern tides lave. But though this shall be given thee, thou desperately brave, I doom thee that never the gift thou shalt have, Till thou reave thy life's giver Of the gift which he gave.'
"I answered him in nearly the same strain; for the spirit of the ancientScalds of our race was upon me, and, far from fearing the phantom, withwhom I sat cooped within so narrow a space, I felt the impulse of thathigh courage which thrust the ancient Champions and Druidesses uponcontests with the invisible world, when they thought that the earth nolonger contained enemies worthy to be subdued by them. Therefore did Ianswer him thus:--
'Dark are thy words, and severe, Thou dweller in the stone; But trembling and fear To her are unknown, Who hath sought thee here, In thy dwelling lone. Come what comes soever, The worst I can endure; Life is but a short fever, And Death is the cure.'
"The Demon scowled at me, as if at once incensed and overawed; and thencoiling himself up in a thick and sulphureous vapour, he disappearedfrom his place. I did not, till that moment, feel the influence offright, but then it seized me. I rushed into the open air, where thetempest had passed away, and all was pure and serene. After a moment'sbreathless pause, I hasted home, musing by the way on the words of thephantom, which I could not, as often happens, recall so distinctly tomemory at the time, as I have been able to do since.
"It may seem strange that such an apparition should, in time, haveglided from my mind, like a vision of the night--but so it was. Ibrought myself to believe it the work of fancy--I thought I had livedtoo much in solitude, and had given way too much to the feelingsinspired by my favourite studies. I abandoned them for a time, and Imixed with the youth of my age. I was upon a visit at Kirkwall when Ilearned to know your father, whom business had brought thither. Heeasily found access to the relation with whom I lived, who was anxiousto compose, if possible, the feud which divided our families. Yourfather, maidens, has been rather hardened than changed by years--he hadthe same manly form, the same old Norse frankness of manner and ofheart, the same upright courage and honesty of disposition, with more ofthe gentle ingenuousness of youth, an eager desire to please, awillingness to be pleased, and a vivacity of spiri
ts which survives notour early years. But though he was thus worthy of love, and thoughErland wrote to me, authorizing his attachment, there was another--astranger, Minna, a fatal stranger--full of arts unknown to us, andgraces which to the plain manners of your father were unknown. Yes, hewalked, indeed, among us like a being of another and of a superiorrace.--Ye look on me as if it were strange that I should have hadattractions for such a lover; but I present nothing that can remind youthat Norna of the Fitful-head was once admired and loved as UllaTroil--the change betwixt the animated body and the corpse afterdisease, is scarce more awful and absolute than I have sustained, whileI yet linger on earth. Look on me, maidens--look on me by thisglimmering light--Can ye believe that these haggard and weather-wastedfeatures--these eyes, which have been almost converted to stone, bylooking upon sights of terror--these locks, that, mingled with grey, nowstream out, the shattered pennons of a sinking vessel--that these, andshe to whom they belong, could once be the objects of fondaffection?--But the waning lamp sinks fast, and let it sink while I tellmy infamy.--We loved in secret, we met in secret, till I gave the lastproof of fatal and of guilty passion!--And now beam out, thou magicglimmer--shine out a little space, thou flame so powerful even in thyfeebleness--bid him who hovers near us, keep his dark pinions aloof fromthe circle thou dost illuminate--live but a little till the worst betold, and then sink when thou wilt into darkness, as black as my guiltand sorrow!"
While she spoke thus, she drew together the remaining nutriment of thelamp, and trimmed its decaying flame; then again, with a hollow voice,and in broken sentences, pursued her narrative.
"I must waste little time in words. My love was discovered, but not myguilt. Erland came to Pomona in anger, and transported me to oursolitary dwelling in Hoy. He commanded me to see my lover no more, andto receive Magnus, in whom he was willing to forgive the offences of hisfather, as my future husband. Alas, I no longer deserved hisattachment--my only wish was to escape from my father's dwelling, toconceal my shame in my lover's arms. Let me do him justice--he wasfaithful--too, too faithful--his perfidy would have bereft me of mysenses; but the fatal consequences of his fidelity have done me atenfold injury."
She paused, and then resumed, with the wild tone of insanity, "It hasmade me the powerful and the despairing Sovereign of the Seas andWinds!"
She paused a second time after this wild exclamation, and resumed hernarrative in a more composed manner.
"My lover came in secret to Hoy, to concert measures for my flight, andI agreed to meet him, that we might fix the time when his vessel shouldcome into the Sound. I left the house at midnight."
Here she appeared to gasp with agony, and went on with her tale bybroken and interrupted sentences. "I left the house at midnight--I hadto pass my father's door, and I perceived it was open--I thought hewatched us; and, that the sound of my steps might not break hisslumbers, I closed the fatal door--a light and trivial action--but, Godin Heaven! what were the consequences!--At morn, the room was full ofsuffocating vapour--my father was dead--dead through my act--deadthrough my disobedience--dead through my infamy! All that follows ismist and darkness--a choking, suffocating, stifling mist envelopes allthat I said and did, all that was said and done, until I became assuredthat my doom was accomplished, and walked forth the calm and terriblebeing you now behold me--the Queen of the Elements--the sharer in thepower of those beings to whom man and his passions give such sport asthe tortures of the dog-fish afford the fisherman, when he pierces hiseyes with thorns, and turns him once more into his native element, totraverse the waves in blindness and agony.[60] No, maidens, she whom yousee before you is impassive to the follies of which your minds are thesport. I am she that have made the offering--I am she that bereaved thegiver of the gift of life which he gave me--the dark saying has beeninterpreted by my deed, and I am taken from humanity, to be somethingpre-eminently powerful, pre-eminently wretched!"
As she spoke thus, the light, which had been long quivering, leaped highfor an instant, and seemed about to expire, when Norna, interruptingherself, said hastily, "No more now--he comes--he comes--Enough that yeknow me, and the right I have to advise and command you.--Approach now,proud Spirit! if thou wilt."
So saying, she extinguished the lamp, and passed out of the apartmentwith her usual loftiness of step, as Minna could observe from itsmeasured cadence.
FOOTNOTES:
[47] The Lawting was the Comitia, or Supreme Court, of the country,being retained both in Orkney and Zetland, and presenting, in itsconstitution, the rude origin of a parliament.
[48] And from which hill of Hoy, at midsummer, the sun may be seen, itis said, at midnight. So says the geographer Bleau, although, accordingto Dr. Wallace, it cannot be the true body of the sun which is visible,but only its image refracted through some watery cloud upon the horizon.
[49] Note VIII.--The Dwarfie Stone.
[50] Note IX.--Carbuncle on the Ward-hill.
[51] Or consecrated mountain, used by the Scandinavian priests for thepurposes of their idol-worship.
[52] _Stack._ A precipitous rock, rising out of the sea.
[53] _Skerry._ A flat insulated rock, not subject to the overflowing ofthe sea.
[54] _Noup._ A round-headed eminence.
[55] _Voe._ A creek, or inlet of the sea.
[56] _Air._ An open sea-beach.
[57] _Wick._ An open bay.
[58] _Helyer._ A cavern into which the tide flows.
[59] _Gio._ A deep ravine which admits the sea.
[60] This cruelty is practised by some fishers, out of a vindictivehatred to these ravenous fishes.
