The Last Viking

by Poul Anderson

  Then it was gone, and the hosting went apace in the kingdoms of earth.

  Chapter X:

  How Ulf Uspaksson Fared Alone

  1

  The May Queen had gone garlanded through the land, in a wagon heaped with flowers, while the folk danced and sang about her, ere Eystein Gorcock returned. He steered into Throndheimsfjord, where he knew the king would be now, cursing his men that their near-broken backs could not pull the oars faster; as his ship came toward the dock, he made a leap from her, landed on the wharf, and sped afoot to the royal hall.

  A guardsman tried to have him enter in seemly fashion. Eystein sent the fellow sprawling and burst inside. Harald was at meat, with Ulf who had come guesting. The sheriff's eyes went to the women's end of the hall, and Maria stood there, and she took a step forward while joy flashed between them..

  "Well!" boomed Harald. "So you're home already. Come eat, and then we'll talk of what you've found out. . . . Yes, yes, your betrothed is in good health."

  Eystein's face burned and he seated himself decently. "Everything looks hopeful, my lord," he mumbled.

  Harald's face remained wooden; he picked up his bone again and cracked it open and sucked the marrow noisily. Then he spoke of weather and crops and a dog which had lately encountered a hedgehog, as if naught of greater moment were at hand. Not till the meal was past and the hand-washing bowls had gone around did he rise and beckon Ulf and Eystein to follow.

  They went into the foreroom, closed the door, and found chairs. The king sprawled his legs halfway across the floor as he loosened his belt. "Now, then," he said. "Tell us how matters have gone."

  Eystein cleared his throat. "Well, I came to Orkney," he began.

  "Strange," murmured Ulf. "I thought you bound for Wendland."

  Eystein grinned and felt his muscles ease. "The Thorfinnssons promised to get the levies ready when you send word," he told them. "They will also raise as many warriors as they can from the Norsemen in Scotland and Ireland. Thereafter I went south along the coast, to learn what was happening. That was not little.

  "Tosti came across the sea and ravaged the Isle of Wight and the coast as far as Sandwich, till his brother King Harold raised a force against him. Then he took some of the Kentish boatmen along, willingly or otherwise, and went up to the Humber. I hear he had sixty ships. There he harried about Lindsey, till the earls Edwin and Morkar drove him out. Now he has gone to the Scottish king, Malcolm Duncansson, who has received him well and is helping him with provisions; but the story is that he brought only twelve ships thither."

  "Hm," said Ulf. "Those English can fight."

  "His man Osric is carrying back word that we are interested in his offer," said Harald. "There will be many crossings of the North Sea this year. But what of my namesake?"

  "He lies out with his whole ship levy, around the Isle of Wight," said Eystein. "He seems more to fear the Normans than us."

  "That suits me well," said Harald. "Spies I've sent to France tell me that William is gathering men from a dozen lands, any he can get, and is promising them vast English holdings—for he has not the means to pay them otherwise." He stroked his chin, thoughtfully. "The term of a levy in England is forty days; Harold can extend that somewhat if he must, but he cannot stretch their provisions . . . and the men will worry about their harvest and begin deserting after a while. William also has an army to feed, which will grow restless if he keeps them waiting too long. But as for us, our folk can stay well fed at home till we are ready to sail."

  "There is one other thing," said Eystein uneasily. "I heard talk of it even in Scotland. Pope Alexander has blessed William's cause and proclaimed him rightful king of England."

  Harald snorted.

  "It were not well to wage an unholy war," said the sheriff.

  "Who steers Rome?" asked Harald. "Not the Pope, but Hildebrand; that much even I know. Take heart, Eystein. ..." He clapped his man on the shoulder. "You'd not want Maria to marry beneath her?"

  "No." The sheriff twisted his mustache.

  Harald's fist smote his palm. "We've a host fit to storm hell itself," he said.

  Ulf sighed. He looked tired and shrunken. "I wonder why you asked the court's advice," he said. "I knew from the beginning you'd not hang back."

  "The venture looks more hopeful each day," replied Harald. "You're not the man you were, Ulf."

  "Belike not. I draw near the end of my days. It seems better to sit and think what has been done, and try to make peace with the Powers, than play at being still a youth."

  "Nonsense! You'll outlive us all, old wolf. You'll bore your grandchildren with tales of what you wrought in England."

  "I would I might see my grandchildren," said Ulf. "It would be good to have babies around the house again. Well . . ." He rose. "Best I start back. It's a lengthy ride home; I can scarce reach my steading before dark."

  "I thought you'd help me with the household troops," said Harald in a flash of anger. "It's your task as marshal."

  "Let Styrkaar do it. He knows them better than I. Too many strange young faces . . . Where is the queen? I'd fain say good-bye to her."

  "Which one?" asked Harald coldly.

  Ulf's tone frosted over. "There is only one queen in this land."

  Harald turned his back. The marshal sighed again and shuffled out.

  Elizabeth was directing her servants as they scrubbed her dwelling when Ulf found her. She stood in the courtyard before the little house, facing the open door. The light breeze played with her hair and ruffled the simple white gown she had on.

  "Oh. ..." She saw him and smiled. Calm dwelt on the finely cut features and peace on the brow; she stood straight, even at forty-two years of age as slim as a young girl. "Are you leaving already, Ulf?"

  "Yes." The marshal fumbled with his sword belt. A carle brought out his horse, and his few men busked themselves. He blinked in the bright, spilling sunlight. "You seem busy, my lady."

  "Ever there's work to do. I was unused to it at first, and shocked at the thought a queen should have to steer her own household, but now I like it. Time passes quickly."

  "So it does." Ulf stood for a moment, squat and dark and gnarled, his face wrinkled by a smile. It died, and he asked in a low voice: "Are you in such haste to end your days that you must find means to shorten them?"

  "Why . . . no." Elizabeth flushed. "No, I have been ... I am happy. Of course I am."

  "I wish I knew that to be the truth," said Ulf.

  She regarded him wide-eyed. "You've been odd of late. Is aught wrong?"

  "Not for me—but for you. You see," said Ulf earnestly, "your, well, your house has ever been a good friend to us of Norway, and I would gladly serve you if I might. If you lack something ..."

  She dropped her own voice. "No need to walk around your thought, Ulf. I know what you mean. And I swear to you, there has been unhappiness in my life as there must be in all, but now I know the way I wish to fare and how to. . . . No, there is little I need."

  "Those are good tidings," said Ulf. He took her hand; it felt small and warm in his. "Then farewell, my lady, and God keep you."

  She watched him, puzzled, as he rode from the hall.

  2

  Twice on the way home, Ulf reined in and almost fell from the saddle. His man Thorbrand held him till the fit was past. Stars were out when they reached the marshal's hall.

  There he paused, looking up to the light Northern night. Stars glimmered pale in dark blue; his eyes followed the great sprawl of Carl's Wain toward the North Star. It seemed to wink at him, as one old friend at another. The woods rustled, a nightingale sang, a rill tumbled over rocks. He breathed the smell of forest mold and young leaves.

  "This is a fair world, Thorbrand," he said. "Let not the priests tell you otherwise."

  "Yes. . . ." The warrior's tongue stumbled.

  Ulf leaned heavily on him as they went into the hall. Fires were guttering low, but Jorunn sat waiting for him. "You're late," she said. "I had begun to think
you would stay in Nidharos."

  He lowered himself to the bench beside her and rested elbows on knees. "It was a troublous road homeward," he replied.

  Thorbrand bade good night and went to join the other unwed men in their lodge. Ulf and Jorunn were alone.

  Her eyes were anxious. "You sound tired," she said.

  "Yes, I am, somewhat." Ulf looked into the waning red coals.

  "Jorunn . . ." he began after a while.

  She raised her brows; he could just see the movement in the dimness which was her face.

  "I fear I've not been much of a husband to you," he said.

  "No woman ever had a better," she answered stoutly.

  He chuckled. "That I grant you. But this sickness, it has made me less than a man in the past year."

  Blood beat in her; he could not see that, but he knew it. "Think you that I wed only for . . ."

  "No. Though there are worse reasons." Ulf shook his head. "I cannot understand this world anymore. The folk in it, I mean. It seems they turn their faces from everything which lies good and clean, ready to their hands, and scourge their souls instead."

  "Hush," she said quickly. "You should not say such things, the more so if you're sick."

  "Perhaps not. Few would listen." Ulf's head lowered. "Well, shall we to bed?"

  He slept very lightly, dreams and memories streaming past his eyes, until he knew not if he woke or drowsed. Once he saw his father's farm on Iceland. Once he saw a green meadow in which horses ran and leaped.

  At midmorning he rose and dressed himself carefully. Jorunn set a bowl of porridge out for him, but he had little appetite. His head felt weightless and hollow, as if it were about to burst its moorings and go skyward on the wind.

  His son Jon came in, laughing. Ulf had ever been pleased that the children had their mother's handsomeness rather than his own looks. "Good morning, father," said the youth.

  "What was so funny?" asked Ulf.

  "The lambs hopping about." Jon wriggled with sheer gladness of being alive. "What said the king?"

  "Oh . . . he's bound he'll go conquer England." Ulf looked up with a cold green stare. "You are not to go along, Jon."

  "What? But . . ."

  "I say you are to stay at home this year. You're too young."

  "I am not!" shouted the boy. "I am sixteen winters old. Hjalmar Leifsson is going, and he . . ."

  "Be still!" After months in which he could scarce be heard, Ulf's roar shocked Jon into stiffness. "I say you are not to go, and I want your oath on it."

  "St. Olaf left home younger than I." The words were sullen.

  "That was on a luckier venture than this. Now swear before me you will stay behind this year."

  Jon tried to hold back tears. "You'd not have me win any fame of my own," he said.

  "That's enough." The marshal stood up, and there was that about him which would not be disobeyed. He got the oath.

  Thereon he went around the table and put a hand on Jon's shoulder. "It's only that I wish you well," he said gently. "I'd not have you cast your life away on a foredoomed war."

  The lad wrenched free and stormed out of the hall.

  "Think you the king is fey?" asked Jorunn. "I hear there'll be no such force out this year such as he can raise."

  "It may be," said Ulf. He looked down at the table, touched its scarred surface. "If anyone has might to stuff his will down the Norns' teeth, that man is Harald Hardrede. Yet I think of a Norse realm chafing under his grimness, and I think of a sea between him and any retreat, and I think of brave men warding their own hearths, and it seems ill to me. . . . Do you remember how this scratch was made, Jorunn? Little Brigida was sitting on my lap one Yule eve, and playing with my dagger, and . . . Where are the children?"

  "They are about. Shall I call them?"

  "No. Let them play. I think I'll walk around for a while." Ulf kissed his wife on the forehead.

  Taking a spear, he went from the garth. When he climbed the stile to get into a meadow, breath left him and darkness swam before his eyes. He sat till his heart eased; he could feel it shiver in his breast like a wounded bird. When it lost a few beats, a cold jag of fear would go through him, and that was worst of all.

  Presently he felt strong enough to go down into the meadow. He walked slowly, leaning on his spear shaft. The grass whispered with wind, early flowers danced in it, and a swallow darted lightning blue through sunbeams. He looked over to a patch of woods, and marveled at how many different shades of green it held.

  Now if only some foeman would come after me, he thought. But the meadow sloped off empty toward the distant heights.

  In the middle of it was a grass-grown mound. Folk believed it was the home of some old Viking, and Ulf had wanted to dig and see if any treasures had been buried there. Now he felt somehow glad that he had not.

  He climbed the mound, stopping often to rest, and sat down with his back against a stone. Its warmth was good on his ribs. The steading was behind him, he faced the unseen mountains.

  "As well that she never ..." His voice seemed too loud in the stillness, where only the wind spoke, and he stopped.

  Well, he thought, here I am. Come and take me.

  The sun reached its height and began to fall again. He felt a small hunger and wished he had brought something to eat. A crock of ale, at least, would be welcome. He reckoned up the beer he had poured down his gullet in a lifetime —surely it would float a ship —and chuckled. The Norns had not treated him so badly.

  The sun slipped toward night. He started out of a doze, feeling chilled. It would not be fair if he had to go back. But they would come looking for him soon. Best go on his own feet.

  A raven flapped overhead. In this sign conquer.

  Ulf gripped his spear, planted the butt in the earth, and began hauling himself up.

  Thunder and darkness smote him.

  Jorunn found him sprawled on his face atop the mound. He had flung the spear a long way.

  3

  Harald was drinking among his men the next evening when Jon Ulfsson trod into the hall. "What brings you here?" asked the king.

  "My father is dead, lord," said the youth. "I thought you should be told."

  The ale horn splintered in Harald's grasp. He looked at his bleeding hand for a while, and silence dropped into the room.

  "What did he die of?" he asked at length. "If any man has harmed him, the feud is my own."

  "It was his illness. He lay dead in a meadow." Jon gulped, striving for calm. "We brought him home."

  Harald turned to his footboy. "Go you and rouse the bishop," he said. "Ulf Uspaksson shall be buried in the Lady Church. I myself will bring him down."

  He went from the hall with giant strides, stopping only to fasten on sword and helmet. His men swarmed after. The courtyard was a shout of torches as their mounts were led forth.

  Harald swung to the saddle. When the groom had put spurs on his boots, he dug them in deep. The stallion reared, neighing, and the king gave him his head.

  Nidharos town roared with a hundred horses at gallop. When he was clear of buildings and on the outward road, Harald spurred his barb again. The land lay still and shadowy, starlight glistened off dew and the dust of his riding whirled white behind him. He gave himself to the steady pulse of muscles and to his own thoughts.

  Now we are the old ones, he told himself. It is our turn to stand as a wall between man and eternity, and one by one we are pulled away into we know not what. Oh Ulf my sworn brother, where do you wander tonight? Bare is brotherless back.

  A hundred men followed him from Nidharos, but when he reached the steading he rode alone.

  His horse shuddered to a halt, almost falling. He tethered the beast —let those who came after see to its needs —and walked to the door. Light gleamed past shutters. He tried the door and it was not barred, so he entered.

  Ulf lay with closed eyes, his chin bound up and a sheet over his clothes. A crucifix was in the shrunken hands, and his face had the terribl
e calm of death. Candles burned at head and feet, while his wife and children and housefolk kept watch on their knees.

  King Harald trod quietly to the bier. Jorunn's eyes flickered his way as he stood over her husband, but she did not break off her praying.

  Well, now, old wolf, he thought, I wish they had let me close your eyes. But sleep well. He drew his sword and laid the naked blade on the body. Then he knelt with the others.

  . . . Holy St. Olaf, I know this man has sinned, I know he was lustful and greedy and well-nigh godless. Yet he fought bravely and there was no treachery in him. Olaf, warrior saint, forgive him his trespasses and take him home. For whatever love you bear this Norway and her sons, for whatever I myself may have done which was pleasing to you, Olaf, pray for Ulf Uspaksson.

  And thus they watched through the night.

  In morning, a weary Jorunn offered food and drink to the whole troop. "If I can do aught for you and yours," said the king, "you have but to ask me."

  "There is something, lord. ..." Jon came to stand before him in wretchedness.

  "Yes?"

  "The day before he died ... he took an oath of me, lord. I would ask leave to absolve myself of it."

  "Hush!" said Jorunn angrily.

  "No, let him speak," said Harald. "Sick men often demand kittle things."

  "He . . . wished me not to follow you to England this year."

  Harald towered without moving, but they saw his eyes blink as in pain. "Why did he ask that?" he murmured tonelessly.

  "He . . . Forgive me, lord, he said it was a rash and unlucky venture. But I would fain go."

  Harald struck his hands silently together. "It is well thought of you," he said after a while. "But abide by your father's wish. Rightly or wrongly, it was the last thing he ever wanted from me."

  Jon ran from the room.

  The guardsmen took Ulf's body down to Nidharos. The bishop raised some objection, protesting that the marshal had been a heathenish sort and had not received the last rites; it was a bad deed to bury him in Olaf's shrine. But the king scowled so fiercely that he gave way; this was not valiant old Grimkell, but one of the newer handpicked priests.