by Nevil Shute
(The smoke grows thin and dies down, disclosing the wood fire and the stone hearth, and the black night beyond. Thorgunna is exhausted with mental strain, she passes a hand wearily across her eyes.)
LEIF(Hoarsely) What did you see?
THORGUNNA(Piteously) I don’t understand. It must have all meant something. There was a waterfall, but so enormous that it never could have been; it was as if all the sea was pouring down into one place. Then there was a sort of whirling thing, in a house. It might have been a temple. Then I saw you talking to an uncouth man about some ears of wheat, and then it was all wheat as far as one could see, more wheat than all the people in the world could eat. And then there was a dragon. There was an island with stone houses like tall cliffs, taller than any house could ever be, all white and shining in the sun. You were mixed up in all of them in some way, Leif, because I saw you in your ship. And I saw Mother.
LEIFWere you with me in the ship?
THORGUNNA(Sadly) No. I wasn’t with you.
LEIF(Gently) Don’t think about it any more now. Lie down here for a bit, and try and get some sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s time to go on board.
THORGUNNAI must think about it. I’ve done this several times before and it has always made sense in the end, even if one didn’t understand it just at first.
LEIFYou’ll have a quiet time to think it over in the ship. Lie down now and rest.
THORGUNNA(Slowly) Leif, I’m not coming with you in the ship.
LEIFNot coming with me?
THORGUNNANo. I do not understand what I have seen but I know this about it; that there is no evil in it, that in some way it concerns your destiny, that it is terribly important, and that it is true. You must go on alone without me, and do what you have to do.
LEIFBut you can come with me.
THORGUNNA(Getting to her feet) If I come with you, you and all your people will be killed in battle with my father. If it were ourselves only, we might take the chance, for life without each other isn’t going to be much fun. But there’s more in it than that.
(She is standing now, and speaking regally. She is no longer a shy girl, but a responsible woman and the daughter of a king.)
— I do not understand what I have learned about your fate, but I know this about it. It is more important than you, or I, or anybody in this place. I will not tamper with such matters, Leif, or bring about your death before you have fulfilled your destiny. You must go on alone. I shall stay here.
LEIFWhat will your father do when he finds out about the baby?
THORGUNNAHe will be very angry, but he will not dare to hurt me or your son. I shall not tell him till some months have passed.
LEIFThorgunna, all this is based on fancies, wreaths of the wood smoke, no more than that. Come down to earth. We can get away soon after midnight and be well clear of the island before dawn. We’ll sail out to the north; your father will not think of that. Let’s go on board now.
THORGUNNANo. I am not coming with you.
LEIFIs that your firm decision?
THORGUNNAYes.
LEIFThen I say this to you. (He takes a gold ring from his finger and gives it to her.) Take my ring, and when your child is born show them this ring and say that I, Leif Ericsson, am father of your child, and I acknowledge it.
THORGUNNAI will do that, Leif. This child that I shall bear for you will be a son. When he is old enough to travel I will send him to you in Greenland.
LEIFI will treat him as my very son. (He turns to one of his packs and produces a belt of walrus tusks and shows it to her.) My father sent this belt as one of the presents that I was to give to King Olaf. Walrus tusks have a strong charm; a belt like this makes the wearer valiant and manly. I think it is a better present for my son. Give it to him, and let him wear it when he comes to me in Greenland, so that I may know it is my own son and no other.
THORGUNNA(Taking the belt) I will do that, Leif. Some day when I can get away from here, I will come to you in Greenland myself.
LEIFMy dear, I shall be waiting for you.
(They kiss.)
— You are shivering.
THORGUNNAIt has turned cold.
LEIF(Taking off his cloak and putting it around her shoulders.) Take this coat of mine. It is good Greenland frieze, woven at home; we have cold winters there.
THORGUNNA(Gratefully) You are a good man, Leif. Before the end, I shall come to you in Greenland.
[FADE TO:
The Classroom
CALLENDERShe did have a son, and she sent the boy to Leif in Greenland as soon as he was old enough to travel; he was called Thorgils, and Leif acknowledged him as his son and brought him up. Thorgunna did not get away for a long time. Many years later, when she was growing old, she started out to go to Leif in Greenland. Travelling was hard and difficult for people in those days. Thorgunna died in Iceland, while she was waiting for a ship to take her on to Greenland to her lover. She never saw Leif again. (He turns to the map and indicates.) Leif sailed away from the Hebrides, here, and round the north of Scotland, and over to the coast of Norway, here. And so he came to the court of King Olaf.
[CUT TO:
The Next Room
(In the next classroom the Headmaster is looking very glum.)
HEADMASTERAll this is quite unsuitable for boys.
[FADE TO:
King Olaf’s Hall
(The scene is a vast wooden hall, with a high, pitched roof, rather like a college hall. It should be a busy place, full of people going about domestic tasks. There may be a long sleeping bench at one end; near this would be an enormous fireplace with a huge log fire. The body of the hall may be occupied by a couple of tables running the full length, with benches. At the end remote from the dais these tables may be used for various domestic tasks; thus there may be a man sharpening a scythe, another repairing harness, a third making some article of wooden furniture, etc. Later on, the two Scotch slaves will be seen eating at this end of the hall amongst all this litter, indicating their debased social position.)
(King Olaf may be a middle-aged, intelligent man, seated in a richly carved wooden chair before the fire. Behind him there stand one or two of his counsellors, amongst them a monk. Leif stands before the King, and behind him is Tyrker with one or two other men from the ship. They have brought with them a number of sacks of furs and odd parcels.)
KING OLAFYou are the son of Eric the Red?
LEIFYes, King.
KING OLAFI know all about your father. He was outlawed from this country for manslaughter, and again from North Iceland, and a third time from South Iceland. Then he sailed away and settled somewhere far over to the west. Is that right?
LEIFIt is quite right, King. He sent me to you, to tell you about the affairs of our country.
KING OLAFI shall be glad to hear them. Does your father still fight as much as ever?
LEIFNo — he’s getting a bit old for that. He went back once to Iceland and had a fight with Thorgest and got beaten up. After that he gave up fighting.
KING OLAFI dare say. It’s not so much fun fighting when you can’t win any longer. What has he to say to me?
LEIFKing, we are living on our farms in a vast country. There are two hundred of us there, but we all live together in one corner; no man knows how big the country is. We know this; in length it is at least six days’ sailing from north to south with a fair wind. It is probably nearly as wide.
KING OLAF(Impressed) I had no idea it was as big as that.
LEIFIt is an enormous country, King. We run it properly, too. Technically, sir, we are an outlaw settlement, and we have no rights. But we have lived now for fifteen years upon our farms in this new country; we have lived peaceably, with few quarrels and no murder. We are as clean and decent a crowd as any others in your domains.
KING OLAFI expect that’s true enough. I don’t suppose that anybody cares to start an argument with your father. (He looks at Leif thoughtfully) Or with you, either.
LEIFMy father rules the country well,
without violence; men are happy under him.
KING OLAF(Laughing) All right; I’ll take your word for it. What did he send you to say to me?
LEIFKing, he sent me to ask if you would accept our country as a formal colony. We cannot carry on upon our own. We have used up the few manufactured things we brought with us from Iceland, sir; we need your support. We need iron goods, ploughshares, nails, axe heads, and things like that, and we need timber, for our country grows no trees. We can give you in exchange furs of every sort, and walrus hides, and sea ivory, and sometimes we find ambergris. I have samples of these things here with me. May I show them to you?
KING OLAFHave them unwrapped.
(Leif motions to Tyrker, who begins to undo the parcels with the men from the ship.)
— You have stated your case clearly and well, Ericsson. Are you an educated person? Can you read and write?
LEIFNo. We can none of us do that in Greenland.
(King Olaf gets up and crosses over to the goods which are being unpacked.)
KING OLAFWhy do you call your country Greenland? Is it so green and fertile?
LEIFWell, as a matter of fact, it’s not. Most of it is covered in snow all the year round, and although it’s not particularly mountainous the middle of it is certainly very high. We can just rub along by hunting and farming in the corner where we are; it would be easier if we had more people. My father says that Iceland was called by a bad name, because nobody wants to go to a place where it’s all ice and snow. He said that we should call our country Greenland, so that people would want to come and settle there.
KING OLAF(Laughing) Well, that makes sense. You are more intelligent than most of my subjects.
LEIFI am honoured, sir.
KING OLAF(Examining the goods) These things are quite good quality. We can take all that you can send us of these — and we can sell these for you in France, and get good prices. It’s all quite useful stuff, if you can make delivery in big enough quantities to make it worth while. What exactly do you want me to do?
LEIFWe want you to send out a ship each year loaded with iron goods and timber in exchange for a cargo of these things.
KING OLAF(Thoughtfully) I see. (He muses for a moment, and then looks at Leif.) And I suppose you want me to cancel your outlawry, and to confirm you as the rulers of your Greenland?
LEIFYes, King.
KING OLAFI will think it over and discuss it with my council. What are your plans? Can you get back this year?
LEIFNo. I shall have to stay in this country now until the wind blows east in the spring.
KING OLAFYou may stay in my court as my guest. You are an intelligent fellow; I shall want to have more talk with you during the winter.
LEIFYou are gracious to an outlaw, sir.
KING OLAFI’ll do something about that, anyway.
[FADE TO:
A Room in a Shipwright’s House
(Little need be shown of this room except a table, with a bench or two. Leif is sitting deep in study with a master shipwright; there are parchment drawings on the table, and a model of a knorr, or merchant ship; there may be one or two samples of woollen sail fabric, and cordage.)
LEIF(Handling the model) Our difficulty will be with the keel; we shall never have timber of that length. Can we joint it?
SHIPWRIGHTI have a drawing here; you can joint it only in this way. If you join keel members any other way than this, your ship will break in a rough sea.
(They bend together over the design. A Man comes in at the door behind them; his clothing is lightly powdered with snow.)
MANIs Leif Ericsson here?
LEIFI am Ericsson.
MANKing Olaf wants you. He is in the Great Hall.
[DISSOLVE TO:
King Olaf’s Hall
(The King is sitting by the fire; there is a vacant chair beside him. There are no other people near at hand, though the hall is busy as before. Leif comes in wearing a cloak, which is lightly powdered with snow. He stands before the King.)
KING OLAFSit down, Ericsson.
(Leif throws off his cloak and sits down on the vacant chair.)
KING OLAFI have thought over your matter for some weeks now, and I have discussed it with my council. Before I tell you what we have decided, I want you to answer a few more questions.
LEIFEverything I know is at your service, King.
KING OLAFFirst, do you know of any other countries, westward again from you, beyond the land you live in now?
LEIF(Slowly) I do not know of any. Yet . . .
KING OLAFYet what?
LEIFI did once meet a woman who believed in such a place. She called it Hy Breasail.
KING OLAF(Smiling) I know that one. Hy Breasail, the Happy Land, the land where it is summer all the time and nobody grows old?
LEIFSir, that is what she said.
KING OLAFDo you believe in such a place?
LEIF(Slowly) No. I do not think that we shall ever find a land like that. But just as our land lies to the west of Iceland, so there may quite well be another land, westwards again from us.
KING OLAFI think so, too. Frankly, Leif Ericsson, I do not like what I have heard of this Greenland that you come from. It was a bold venture to go there, and your father has done well. I do not think that you will ever work it up into an important colony; the country is too much against you. If I help you now and send the ship each year that you have asked me for, it is because I look upon you as an outpost of my Empire, as a spearhead. (Earnestly) There must be new lands, westwards of you again. The world does not come to an end at a sharp edge, as these crackpot philosophers try to tell me. There are other lands beyond the sea, westwards of you. They may be better ones than any that we know.
LEIFIf so, they would lie somewhat to the south of us. Our land is too darned cold. That’s all there is against it.
KING OLAFSouth, or southwest of you. I am going to support your colony, and I will send the ship each year. But if I do so, you must mind my word. As opportunity occurs you are to venture further to the west and south. I do not think that you will find Hy Breasail in your travelling, till that last travel that we all must take. But you may find good countries, nonetheless.
LEIFI will remember all that you have said, and I will tell my father your commands. He’s getting a bit old, but it will be no burden to me to adventure further into the unknown.
KING OLAFNo — you are still young. Now, if I give you my support, there are certain changes that I shall require. First, do you know this sign?
(He shows a wooden cross, not a crucifix. It is quite plain, but very well made.)
LEIFI met a woman once who showed me one of those. It is a talisman.
KING OLAFYou seem to have met some interesting women for so young a man. It is not a talisman. It is the sign of a new religion, the faith in the Lord Jesus who gave His life for you and for all men. It is the sign of a new way of life.
LEIFSo I have heard.
KING OLAFWe call the men of this religion Christians, from the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I became Christian two years ago, with all my people; this priest that you have seen about the place is a Christian priest, sent to me from Rome. I will not have a pagan colony in my domains. You must take this priest to Greenland with you in your ship to teach the new religion in your country, and you must stop worshipping the old gods, Thor and Odin. And you must give up sacrifices.
LEIFCan’t we even sacrifice a cock for a fair wind? It’s going to make navigation very difficult if we can’t do that.
KING OLAFThere are to be no more sacrifices at all. You’ll find you get along just as well without them.
LEIFMaybe. I was never a religious man, King, and these things don’t mean a great deal to me, personally. (He sits for a moment deep in thought.) I think there will be some difficulty in altering the religion of our people. You see, my father was a fighting man. Now in his old age he has got quite religious, but he likes a religion with a bit of blood and fighting in it. I do not think this Jesu
s-cult would satisfy him at all.
KING OLAFNevertheless, that is my will. (He eyes Leif shrewdly.) I would not send a ship each year out to a pagan colony.
LEIF(Smiling) I am sure that argument will have great weight with my father. I will put it to him in that light.
KING OLAFGood. You are to take the priest back with you, and everybody in the country is to listen to his teaching and become Christian, and obey him in religious matters. I know that a man of your wit and ability can pull this off if he gives his mind to it.
LEIFI’ll do what I can. It’s not going to be easy; you must warn the priest that he may get a rough passage for the first few months. Our people are conservative. You must give us full support in everything we do.
KING OLAFYou shall have it.
LEIFMay I take a written parchment back with me saying that we are to be Christians, stamped with your royal seal, sir? Our people won’t be able to read it, but they’ll like to see the seal, particularly if it’s a big, red one.
KING OLAFI will have it prepared for you; the priest can read it to them. You must build the priest a church, that he may teach the people in it. I will give him all the furnishings to take with him.
LEIFSir, that shall be done.
KING OLAFNow for another thing. I do not think you know enough about the country that you live in, how large it is, or what it can produce in places that you have not visited. I sent one of my galleys to raid Scotland this year to pick up some sheep; they brought a few slaves back with them. (He glances up at the membrane-covered window.) Take a look out of the door and tell me if the snow has stopped.
(Leif goes to the door of the hall, and returns.)
LEIFIt has stopped snowing, and the clouds are breaking over to the west.
KING OLAF(Getting up) Come with me.
(They put on cloaks and go out of the hall into the snow-covered streets. King Olaf takes Leif to a sort of farmyard with a midden in the middle. At one corner of this there is a small hut. A farm-hand comes forward with a key and unlocks the door of this hut for them; they go in.)
The Hut
(Inside, this little hut is furnished with a fire in an open hearth, some piles of straw for bedding, and not much else. In it are the two Scotch Slaves. The man, Haki, is standing and bows awkwardly as they come in. The Girl stays crouched upon the straw in the background, not in fear, but in shyness. That is Haekia.)
