Chapter IX. The Sign of St. Cuthberht.
I suppose that in our flight from Glastonbury to Bridgwater wepassed through more dangers than we knew of; for Danes were hardafter us, riding even into sight from the town that evening, andnext day coming even to the eastern end of the old bridge, andbandying words with the townsfolk who guarded it. Across it theydared not come, for there is a strong earthwork on the little risefrom the river, which guards both bridge and town, and in it weremy Norsemen with the townsfolk.
So we were in safety for a time; and it seemed likely that we mightbe so for long if but a few men could be gathered, for here was astretch of country that was, as it were, a natural fastness. Threehundred years ago the defeated Welsh had turned to bay here whileKenwalch of Wessex and his men could not follow them; and now itseemed likely that here in turn would Wessex stand her ground.
It is a great square-sided patch of rolling, forest-coveredcountry, maybe twelve miles long from north to south, and half asmuch across. None can enter it from the north, because there is thesea, and a wild coast that is not safe for a landing; on the westthe great, steep, fort-crested Quantock Hills keep the border; onthe eastern side is the river Parret, and on the north the Tone,which joins it. Except at Bridgwater, at the eastern inland corner,and Taunton, at the western--one at the head of the tidal waters ofthe Parret, and the other guarding the place where the Quantocksend--there is no crossing the great and wide-stretching fens ofSedgemoor and Stanmoor and the rest that lie on either bank of therivers. Paths there are that the fenmen know, winding through mereand peat bog and swamp, but no host can win through them; andperhaps those marches are safer borders than even the sea.
If one came from the sea, one must land at Watchet, and then win apath across the Quantocks, and there is the ancient camp ofDowsborough to block the way; or else put into the Parret, andthere, at the first landing place, where they say that Joseph ofArimathaea landed, bearing the holy thorn staff in his hand, is thestrong hill fort of Combwich, old as the days of that Joseph, ormaybe older.
So with walled towns and hill forts the corners of Heregar's landwere kept; and with sea and marsh and hill the sides were strong,and we thought to find Alfred the king here before us. But he wasnot; and next day we rode on to Taunton to seek him there, for thatwas the strongest fortress in that part of the west. And again hewas not to be heard of. Then fear for his life began to creep intoour minds, and we came back to Cannington sorely downcast.
Then Heregar spoke to me very kindly of what he thought I couldbest do, and it was nothing more or less than that I should leavethis land, which seemed to have no hope of honour for me now.
"Go rather to Rolf, your countryman," he said. "There is great talkof his doings in Neustria {xii} beyond the Channel. It is yourkindness only that holds you here, King Ranald, and there waitglory and wealth for you and your men."
So he urged me for a little while, not giving me time to answer himas I would; but when I said nothing he stayed his words, and then Ispoke plainly, and it was good to see his face light up as I didso.
"It shall not be said of me that I left King Alfred, who has beenmy good friend, in time of trouble; rather will I stay here and dowhat I can to help him out of it. Why, there are ships that I haveput in frame for him in the western ports that the Danes will notreach yet, if at all. When spring comes we will man them and make alanding somewhere, and so divide the Danish host at least."
"Now I will say no more," answered the thane, putting his hand onmine. "Speak thus to the king when we find him, and it will do himgood, for I think that when he left Chippenham he was well-nighdespairing."
"It is hard to think that of Alfred," I said.
"Ay; but I saw his face as he rode away just before I sought you.Never saw I such a look on a man's face before, and I pray that Imay not see it again. It was terrible to look on him, for I thinkhe had lost all hope."
"For the time, maybe," I said; "but I cannot believe that when thefirst weight of the blow passed he was not himself again."
Presently there came a shift of wind and a quick thaw with drivingrain, and floods grew and spread rapidly in the low-lying lands.One good thing can be said of this weather, and that was thatbecause of it the Danes burned neither town nor farmstead, needingall the shelter they could find.
Three days that gale lasted, and then the wind flew round again tothe north, with return of the frost in even greater strength thanbefore; and the weather-wise fishers and shepherds said that thisbetokened long continuance thereof, and so it seemed likely to be.
But through it all we heard no tidings of the king; and in one waythat was good, for had he been taken by the Danes, they would havelet all men know thereof soon enough. But we feared that he mighthave been slain by some party who knew not who he was, and thatfear hung heavily over us all.
Next we had a messenger from Odda, who was at Exeter, asking forsure word of what had befallen; and the one hope we had yet wasgone, for he too knew nothing.
Very sad and silent was Osmund the jarl, though he and Thora weremost kindly received as honoured guests by the Lady Alswythe andthe household of the thane.
Once I asked him what his plans were, for we were both strangers,and I knew him best.
"Presently," he said, "I shall try to get back to Guthrum. While Iam here I will be held as if I were no one--as a harmless ghost whowalks the house, neither seeing nor hearing aught. If there wereWelsh to be fought, I would fight beside you all, gladly, forAlfred; but as the war is against my own folk, I can do nothing. Iwill neither fight for them nor fight against them; for King Alfredand you, my friend, gave me life, and it is yours. I think thatsome day I may be of use to Alfred in helping to bring about alasting peace."
"If we find him," I said.
"Ay, you will find him. He is hiding now for some wise reason thatwe shall know. I think it is not known how his plans are feared byour folk. I am sure that of this midwinter march the Danes will saythat it is worthy of Alfred himself."
Nevertheless we heard nothing of him, though the thane had men outeverywhere trying to gain news. All that they heard was the sametale of dismay from whoever they might meet, and I think that butfor a chance we should not have found him until he chose to comeforth from his refuge.
Heregar the thane had a strange serving man, the same who hadridden with him and me to meet the Danish forces; and this man wasa fenman from Sedgemoor, who knew all the paths through the wastes.Lean and loose-limbed he was, and somewhat wild looking, mostlysilent; but where his lord went he went also. They said that he hadsaved the thane's life more than once in the great battles aboutReading, when the Danish host first came.
This man was out daily, seeking news with the rest; and one day,just a week after we had come to Cannington, when the frost hadbound everything fast again, he came home and sought his master.
Heregar and I and Osmund sat together silently before the fire, andhe looked from one to the other of us outlanders.
"Speak out, Dudda," said Heregar, who knew his ways; "here are nonebut friends."
"Ay, friends of ours sure enough; but are they the king's?"
"Most truly so. Have you news of him?"
"I have not; but I have heard some fenmen talking."
Then Osmund rose up and went his way silently, as was his wont; andDudda grinned at us.
"He is a good Dane," he said; "now I can speak. They say there issome great lord hiding in the fens beyond the round hill where Toneand Parret join, that we call the Stane--somewhere by Long Hill,they say. Now I mind that one day when the king rode with youacross the Petherton heights, he looked out over all the fens, andcalled me and asked much of them. And when I told him what hewould, he said, 'Here is a place where a man might lie hid from allthe world if he chose.' So he laughed, and we rode on."
"I mind it," said Heregar; "but it was many years ago."
"I think he may be there, for our king weighs his words, and doesnot forget. I held his horse at your door in Chippenham the othe
rday, and he spoke to me by name, and put me in mind of littlethings for which he had laughed at me in those same old days. He isa good king."
So said Dudda, the rough housecarl; and it is in my mind that thekindly remembrance would have wiped out many a thought of wrong,had there been any. That is a kingly gift to remember all, and noking has ever been great who has not had it; for it binds every manto his prince when he knows that aught he has done is notforgotten, so it be good to recall.
So it came to pass that next day, very early, we rode away, takingHarek and Kolgrim and this man Dudda with us, well armed andmounted and full of hope, across the southward ridge that looksdown over the fens of the meeting of Tone and Parret, where theyare widest and wildest. No Danes had crossed them yet, and when Isaw what they were like I thought that they never could do so.
And as I looked at the long chains of ice-bound meres and poolsthat ran among dense thickets of alder and wide snow-coveredstretches of peat bogs, it seemed that we might search in vain forone who would hide among them. Only the strange round hill onStanmoor seemed to be a point that might be noted on all the level,though Dudda told us that there were many islets hidden in thewooded parts.
We went to the lower hills and then to the very edge of thefenland, skirting along it, and asking here and there of thecottagers if they knew of any folk in hiding in the islets. Butthough we heard of poor people in one or two places, none of themknew of any thane; and the day wore on, and hope began to grow dim,save for Dudda's certainty that what he had heard was true.
At last we came to a long spur of high ground that runs out intothe fen, about midway between Bridgwater and Taunton; and there isthe village they call Lyng, where we most hoped to hear good news.The day was drawing to sunset, and we would hasten; so Heregar wentone way and I another, each to distant cottages that we saw. Thelane down which I and my two comrades rode seemed to lead fenwards,and it was little more than a track, deep in snow and treebordered. The cottage we sought was a quarter mile away when weleft the thane, and as we drew near it we saw an old woman walkingaway from it, and from us also. She did not seem to hear us when wecalled to her; and, indeed, such was the fear of Danes that oftenfolk would fly when they saw us, and the faster because we called,not waiting to find out who we were.
Then from out of the cottage came another old woman, who hobbledinto the track and looked after the first, shaking her fist afterher, and then following her slowly, looking on the ground. Shenever glanced our way at all, and our horses made no noise to speakof in the snow.
We drew up to her, and then I saw that she had a hammer in herright hand and a broad-headed nail in her left. I wondered idlywhat she was about with these things, when she stooped and began tohammer the nail into the iron-hard ground, and I could hear hermuttering some words quickly.
I reined up to watch her, puzzled, and said to Harek:
"Here is wizardry; or else what is the old dame about?"
"It is somewhat new to me," the scald said, looking on with muchinterest; for if he could learn a new spell or charm, he waspleased as if he had found a treasure.
Then I saw that she was driving the nail into a footprint. Therewere three tracks only along the snow--two going away from thecottage and one returning. That which went and returned was made bythis old woman, as one might see from her last steps, which made afourth track from the door.
"She is hammering the nail into her own footprint," I said, notingthis.
Now she sang in a cracked voice, hammering savagely the while; andnow and then she shook her fist or hammer, or both, towards wherethe other old dame had gone out of sight round a bend of the lane.
Then she put her hand to her back and straightened herself with asort of groan, as old dames will, and slowly turned round and sawus.
Whereat she screamed, and hurled the hammer at Kolgrim, who waslaughing at her, cursing us valiantly for Danes and thieves, andnearly hitting him.
"Peace, good mother," I said; "we are not Danes. Here is earnestthereof," and I threw her a sceatta from my pouch.
She clutched it from the ice pool where it fell, and stared at us,muttering yet. Then Harek spoke to her.
"Mother, I have much skill in spells, but I know not what iswrought with hammer and nail and footprint. I would fain learn."
"Little know you of spells if you know not that," she said, havinglost all fear of us, as it seemed.
"I am only a northerner," Harek said. "Maybe 'tis a spell against asprained ankle, which seems likely. I only know one for that."
"Which know you?" she said scornfully; "you are over young tomeddle with such like."
"This," said Harek. "It works well if the sprain be bathed withspring-cold water, while one says it twice daily:
"'Baldur and WodenWent to the woodland;There Baldur's foal fell,Wrenching its foot.'
"That is how it begins."
Then the old woman's eyes sparkled.
"Ay; that is good. Learn it me, I pray you. Now I know that youhave wizardry, for you name the old gods."
"Tell me first what hammer and nail work in footprint."
"Why, yon old hag has overlooked me," she said savagely. "Now, ifone does as I have done, one nails her witchcraft to herself{xiii}."
"Whose footprint does the nail go into?" Harek asked.
"Why, hers surely. Now this is the spell," and she chanted somewhatin broad Wessex, and save that Baldur's name and Thor's hammer alsocame into it, I do not know what it all was. I waxed impatient now,for I thought that Heregar might be waiting for us.
But she and Harek exchanged spells, and then I said:
"Now, dame, know you of any thane in hiding hereabouts?"
Thereat she looked sharply at me.
"I know nothing. Here be I, lamed, in the cottage all day."
"There is a close friend of mine in hiding from the Danes somewherehere," I said, doubting, from her manner, if she spoke the truth."I would take him to a safer place."
"None safer," she answered. "What is his name?"
Then I doubted for a moment; but Harek's quick wit helped me.
"Godred," he said; for the name by which the king had calledhimself once it was likely that he would use again.
"I know of no thanes," she said, though not at once, so that I wassure she knew somewhat more than she thought safe to tell.
Then she was going, but Harek stayed her.
"Yours is a good spell against the evil eye, mother," he said, "butI can tell you a better."
"What is it?" she said eagerly.
"News for news," he answered carelessly. "Tell us if you know aughtof this thane, and I will tell you."
"I said not that there was a thane." she said at once.
"Nay, mother; but you denied it not. Come now; I think what I cantell you will save you trouble."
She thought for a little, weighing somewhat in her mind, as itseemed, and then she chose to add to her store of witchcraft.
"Yonder, then," she said, nodding to the dense alder thickets thathid the river Tone from us, across a stretch of frozen mere orflooded land. "I wot well that he who bides in Denewulf's cottageis a thane, for he wears a gold ring, and wipes his hands in themiddle of the towel, and sits all day studying and troubling in hismind in such wise that he is no good to any one--not even turning aloaf that burns on the hearth before his eyes. Ay, they call himGodred."
Then my heart leaped up with gladness, and I turned to seekHeregar; but he was coming, and so I waited. Then the dameclamoured for her reward, which Harek had as nearly forgotten ashad I.
"Mother," the scald said gravely, "when I work a spell with hammerand nail, the footprint into which the nail is driven is of her whocast the evil eye on me."
"Why, so it should be."
"Nay, but you drive it into your own," he said.
She looked, and then looked again. Then she stamped a new printalongside the nailed one, and it was true. She had paid no heed tothe matter in her fury, and when she knew that she turned pale.
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nbsp; "Man," she cried, "help me out of this. I fear that I have evennailed the evil overlooking fast to myself."
"Ay, so you have," said Harek; "but it is you who know little ofspells if you cannot tell what to do. Draw the nail out whilesaying the spell backwards, and then put it into the right placecarefully. Then you will surely draw away also any ill that she hasalready sent you, and fasten it to her."
"Then I think she will shrivel up," said the old witch, with muchcontent. "You are a great wizard, lord; and I thank you."
"Here is a true saying of a friend of mine," said Heregar, comingup in time to hear this. "But what has come to you, king? have youheard aught?"
Now when the old woman heard the thane name the king, before Icould answer she cried out and came and clung to my stirrup, takingmy hand and kissing it, and weeping over it till I was ashamed.
"What is this?" I said.
"O my lord the king!" she cried. "I thought that yon sad-faced manin Denewulf's house was our king maybe, so wondrous proud are hisways, and so strange things they hear him speak when he sleeps. Butnow I am glad, for I have seen the king and kissed his hand, and,lo, the sight of him is good. Ay, but glad will all the countrysidebe to know that you live."
Then I knew not what to say; but Heregar beckoned to me, saying:
"Come, leave her her joy; it were cruel to spoil it, and maybe shewill never know her mistake."
So we rode on, and Heregar called Dudda, asking him if he knewDenewulf's cottage; while in the track stood the witch, blessingher king as eagerly as she had cursed her gossip just now.
"I know not the path, though I have heard of the cottage," Duddasaid; "but it will be strange if I cannot find a way to the place."
He took us carefully into the fen for some way until we passedthrough a thicket and came to the edge of a mere, and there werefive men who bore fishing nets and eel spears, which had not beenused, as one might suppose, seeing that the ice was nigh a footthick after the thaw and heavy frost again.
And those two men who came first were Ethelnoth, the Somersetealdorman, and young Ethered of Mercia. It was strange to see thosenobles bearing such burdens; but we knew that we had found theking.
They saw us, and halted; but Heregar waved his hand, and they cameon, for they knew him. It would be hard to say which party was themore pleased to meet the other.
"Where is the king?" we asked.
"Come with us, and we will take you to him," Ethered said. "Butsupperless you must be tonight. We have nought in the house, andnothing can we catch."
Then I was surprised, and said:
"Is it so bad as that here? In our land, when the ice is at itsthickest we can take as much fish as we will easily."
"Save us from starvation, Ranald," said Ethered, laughing ruefully,"and we will raise a big stone heap here in your honour."
"Kolgrim will show you," I said; "let me go to the king."
"I am a great ice fisherman," said Harek; "let me go also."
Then Heregar laughed in lightness of heart.
"Ay, wizard, go also. There will be charms of some sort neededbefore Ethered sees so much as a scale."
Whereon they dismounted, and Kolgrim took his axe from his saddlebow, asking where the river was, while he wondered that such asimple matter as breaking a hole in the ice and dropping a lineamong the hungry fish, who would swarm to the air, had not beenthought of. We had not yet learned that such a winter as this comesbut seldom to the west of England, and the thanes knew nothing ofour northern ways.
Then Ethelnoth led Heregar and me across twisting and almost unseenpaths, safer now because of the frost, though one knew that in someplaces a step to right or left would plunge him through the crustof hard snow into a bottomless peat bog. The alder thickets greweverywhere round dark, ice-bound pools of peat-stained water, andwe could nowhere see more than a few yards before us; and it washard to say how far we had gone from the upland edge of the swampwhen the ground began to rise from the fen, and grew harder amongbetter timber. But for the great frost, one would have needed aboat in many places.
Then we came to a clearing, in which stood a house that was hardlymore than a cottage, and round it were huts and cattle sheds. Andthis was where the king was--the house of Denewulf the herdsman,the king's own thrall. There was a rough-wattled stockade round theplace, and quick-set fences within which to pen the cattle andswine outside that, and all around were the thickets. None couldhave known that such an island was here, for not even the houseovertopped the low trees; and though all the higher ground wascleared, there were barely two acres above the watery level--along, narrow patch of land that lay southeast and northwest, withits southerly end close to the banks of the river Tone. Men callthe place Athelney now, since the king and his nobles lay there. Ithad no name until he came, but I think that it will bear everhereafter that which it earned thus.
Two shaggy grey sheepdogs came out to meet us, changing their angrybark for welcome when they saw Ethelnoth; and a man came to thedoor to see what roused them, and he had a hunting spear in hishand. I took him for some thane, as he spoke to us in courtly wise;but he was only Denewulf the herdsman himself.
"How fares the king?" asked Ethelnoth.
"His dark hour came on him after you went," Denewulf answered; "andthen the pain passed, and he slept well, and now has just wakenedwonderfully cheerful. I have not seen him so bright since he camehere; and he is looking eagerly for your return, seeming to expectsome news."
"It may be that our coming has been foretold him beforehand," saidHeregar. "Our king has warnings given him in his dreams at times."
Then from out of the house Alfred's voice hailed us:
"Surely that is the voice of my standard bearer.
"Come in quickly, Heregar, for all men know that hope comes withyou."
We went in; and it was a poor place enough for a king's lodging,though it was warm and neat. Alfred sat over the fire in the middleof the larger room of the two which the house had, and a strew ofchips and shreds of feathers and the like was round him; for he wasarrow making--an art in which he was skilful, and he had all thecare and patience which it needs. When we came in he rose up,shaking the litter from his dress into the fire; and we bent ourknees to him and kissed his hand.
"O my king," said Heregar, "why have you thus hidden yourselffrom us? All the land is mourning for you."
Then Alfred looked sadly at him and wistfully, answering:
"First, because I must hide; lastly, because I would be hidden: butbetween these two reasons is one of which I repent--because Idespaired."
"Nay," said Denewulf, "it was not despair; it was grief andanxiousness and thought and waiting for hope. Never have you spokenof despair, my king."
"But I have felt it," he answered, "and I was wrong. Hope shouldnot leave a man while he has life, and friends like these, andcounsellors like yourself. Now have I been rebuked, and hope isgiven me afresh."
Then he smiled and turned to me.
"Why, Ranald my cousin, this is kindness indeed. I had not thoughtthat you would bide with a lost cause, nor should I have thought ofblame for you had you gone from this poor England; you are notbound to her as are her sons."
"My king," I said truly, "there are things that bind more closelyeven than birth."
I think he was pleased, for he smiled, and shook his head at me asthough to say that he could not take my saying to himself, as Imeant it. And then, before we could ask him more, he began to thinkof our needs.
"Here we have been pressed for food, friends, for the last fewdays, and I fear you must fast with us. The deer have fled from ourdaily hunting, and the wild fowl have sought open water. Unless ourfishers have luck, which seems unlikely, we must do as well as wecan on oaten bread."
Then Ethelnoth said:
"There have been no fish caught today, my king."
"Why, then, we will wait till the others return; and meanwhile Iwill hear all the news, for Ranald and Heregar will have much totell me."
So we t
old him all that we knew, and he asked many questions, untildarkness fell.
"Why are you here, lord king?" asked Heregar; "my hall is safe."
"Your hall and countryside are safe yet because I am not there,"Alfred answered, fixing his bright eyes on the thane. "The Danesare hunting for me, and were I in any known place, thither wouldthey come. Therefore I said that now I choose to bide hidden.Moreover, in this quiet and loneliness there comes to me a planthat I think will work out well; for this afternoon, as I slept, Iwas bidden to look for a sign that out of hopelessness should comehelp and victory."
Just then the dogs rose up and whined at the door, as if friendscame; and there were cheerful voices outside. The door opened, andin stumbled Ethered, bearing a heavy basket of great fish, which hecast on the floor--lean green and golden pike, and red-finnedroach, in a glittering, flapping heap.
"Here is supper!" he cried joyfully, "and more than supper, foreach of us is thus laden. Fish enough for an army could we havetaken had we not held our hands. I could not have thought itpossible."
Whereat Alfred rose up and stared, crossing himself.
"Deo gratias," he said under his breath, and then said aloud, "Lo,this is the sign of which I spoke even now--that my fishers shouldreturn laden with spoil, even for an army, although frost and snowhave prevented them from taking fish for many days, and today wasless likelihood of their doing so than ever."
"Ranald knew well how this would cheer you, King Alfred," saidEthered, thinking that I had spoken of this as a proof that all wasnot lost, in some way.
"Ranald said nought; but the sign came from above, thus," the kingsaid gravely. "In my dream the holy Saint Cuthberht stood by myside, and reproved me sharply for my downheartedness and despair,and for my doubt of help against the heathen; and when he knew thatI was sorry, he foretold to me that all would yet be well, and thatI should obtain the kingdom once more with even greater honour thanI have had--with many more wondrous promises. And then he gave methis sign, as I have told you and, behold, it has come, and myheart is full of thankfulness. Now I know that all will be wellwith England."
Then said Denewulf, who it was plain took no mean place with theking and thanes:
"Say how this miracle was wrought, I pray you, for it is surelysuch."
"Hither came King Ranald and his two friends and bade us make holesin the ice and fish through them. So we did, and this is what camethereof," said Ethered.
"Therefore King Ranald and his coming are by the hand of God," saidDenewulf. "Therein lies the miracle."
Then I was feared, for all were silent in wonder at the coming topass of the sign; and it seemed to me that I was most truly under apower stronger than that of the old gods, who never wrought thelike of this.
Then came Harek's voice outside, where he hung up fish to freezeagainst the morrow; and he sang softly some old saga of the fishingfor the Midgard snake by Asa Thor. And that grated on me, though Iever waited to hear what song the blithe scald had to fit what wason hand, after his custom. Alfred heard too, and he glanced at me,and I was fain to hang my head.
"Ranald, who brought to pass the sign, shall surely share in itsbodings of good," he said, quickly and kindly. "I think that he ishighly favoured."
Then in came my comrades, and they bent to the king, and he thankedthem; and after that was supper and much cheerfulness. Harek sang,and Alfred, and after them Denewulf. Much I marvelled at the wisdomof this strange man, but I never knew how he gained it. King Alfredwas ever wont to say that in him he had found his veriestcounsellor against despair in that dark time; and when in afterdays he took him from the fen and made him a bishop, he filled theplace well and wisely, being ever the same humble-minded man that Ihad known in Athelney {xiv}.
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