第 87 节
作者:空白协议书      更新:2021-02-21 16:29      字数:9322
  They groped and stared
  Round about with steps unsteady;
  From his window Olaf gazed;
  And; amazed;
  〃Who are these strange people?〃 said he。
  〃Eyvind Kallda and his men!〃
  Answered then
  From the yard a sturdy farmer;
  While the men…at…arms apace
  Filled the place;
  Busily buckling on their armor。
  From the gates they sallied forth;
  South and north;
  Scoured the island coast around them;
  Seizing all the warlock band;
  Foot and hand
  On the Skerry's rocks they bound them。
  And at eve the king again
  Called his train;
  And; with all the candles burning;
  Silent sat and heard once more
  The sullen roar
  Of the ocean tides returning。
  Shrieks and cries of wild despair
  Filled the air;
  Growing fainter as they listened;
  Then the bursting surge alone
  Sounded on;
  Thus the sorcerers were christened!
  〃Sing; O Scald; your song sublime;
  Your ocean…rhyme;〃
  Cried King Olaf: 〃it will cheer me!〃
  Said the Scald; with pallid cheeks;
  〃The Skerry of Shrieks
  Sings too loud for you to hear me!〃
  VI
  THE WRAITH OF ODIN
  The guests were loud; the ale was strong;
  King Olaf feasted late and long;
  The hoary Scalds together sang;
  O'erhead the smoky rafters rang。
  Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang。
  The door swung wide; with creak and din;
  A blast of cold night…air came in;
  And on the threshold shivering stood
  A one…eyed guest; with cloak and hood。
  Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang。
  The King exclaimed; 〃O graybeard pale!
  Come warm thee with this cup of ale。〃
  The foaming draught the old man quaffed;
  The noisy guests looked on and laughed。
  Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang。
  Then spake the King: 〃Be not afraid;
  Sit here by me。〃  The guest obeyed;
  And; seated at the table; told
  Tales of the sea; and Sagas old。
  Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang。
  And ever; when the tale was o'er;
  The King demanded yet one more;
  Till Sigurd the Bishop smiling said;
  〃'T is late; O King; and time for bed。〃
  Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang。
  The King retired; the stranger guest
  Followed and entered with the rest;
  The lights were out; the pages gone;
  But still the garrulous guest spake on。
  Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang。
  As one who from a volume reads;
  He spake of heroes and their deeds;
  Of lands and cities he had seen;
  And stormy gulfs that tossed between。
  Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang。
  Then from his lips in music rolled
  The Havamal of Odin old;
  With sounds mysterious as the roar
  Of billows on a distant shore。
  Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang。
  〃Do we not learn from runes and rhymes
  Made by the gods in elder times;
  And do not still the great Scalds teach
  That silence better is than speech?〃
  Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang。
  Smiling at this; the King replied;
  〃Thy lore is by thy tongue belied;
  For never was I so enthralled
  Either by Saga…man or Scald;〃
  Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang。
  The Bishop said; 〃Late hours we keep!
  Night wanes; O King! 't is tune or sleep!〃
  Then slept the King; and when he woke
  The guest was gone; the morning broke。
  Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang。
  They found the doors securely barred;
  They found the watch…dog in the yard;
  There was no footprint in the grass;
  And none had seen the stranger pass。
  Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang。
  King Olaf crossed himself and said:
  〃I know that Odin the Great is dead;
  Sure is the triumph of our Faith;
  The one…eyed stranger was his wraith。〃
  Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang。
  VII
  IRON…BEARD
  Olaf the King; one summer morn;
  Blew a blast on his bugle…horn;
  Sending his signal through the land of Drontheim。
  And to the Hus…Ting held at Mere
  Gathered the farmers far and near;
  With their war weapons ready to confront him。
  Ploughing under the morning star;
  Old Iron…Beard in Yriar
  Heard the summons; chuckling with a low laugh。
  He wiped the sweat…drops from his brow;
  Unharnessed his horses from the plough;
  And clattering came on horseback to King Olaf。
  He was the churliest of the churls;
  Little he cared for king or earls;
  Bitter as home…brewed ale were his foaming passions。
  Hodden…gray was the garb he wore;
  And by the Hammer of Thor he swore;
  He hated the narrow town; and all its fashions。
  But he loved the freedom of his farm;
  His ale at night; by the fireside warm;
  Gudrun his daughter; with her flaxen tresses。
  He loved his horses and his herds;
  The smell of the earth; and the song of birds;
  His well…filled barns; his brook with its water…cresses。
  Huge and cumbersome was his frame;
  His beard; from which he took his name;
  Frosty and fierce; like that of Hymer the Giant。
  So at the Hus…Ting he appeared;
  The farmer of Yriar; Iron…Beard;
  On horseback; in an attitude defiant。
  And to King Olaf he cried aloud;
  Out of the middle of the crowd;
  That tossed about him like a stormy ocean:
  〃Such sacrifices shalt thou bring;
  To Odin and to Thor; O King;
  As other kings have done in their devotion!〃
  King Olaf answered: 〃I command
  This land to be a Christian land;
  Here is my Bishop who the folk baptizes!
  〃But if you ask me to restore
  Your sacrifices; stained with gore;
  Then will I offer human sacrifices!
  〃Not slaves and peasants shall they be;
  But men of note and high degree;
  Such men as Orm of Lyra and Kar of Gryting!〃
  Then to their Temple strode he in;
  And loud behind him heard the din
  Of his men…at…arms and the peasants fiercely fighting。
  There in the Temple; carved in wood;
  The image of great Odin stood;
  And other gods; with Thor supreme among them。
  King Olaf smote them with the blade
  Of his huge war…axe; gold inlaid;
  And downward shattered to the pavement flung them。
  At the same moment rose without;
  From the contending crowd; a shout;
  A mingled sound of triumph and of wailing。
  And there upon the trampled plain
  The farmer iron…Beard lay slain;
  Midway between the assailed and the assailing。
  King Olaf from the doorway spoke。
  〃Choose ye between two things; my folk;
  To be baptized or given up to slaughter!〃
  And seeing their leader stark and dead;
  The people with a murmur said;
  〃O King; baptize us with thy holy water〃;
  So all the Drontheim land became
  A Christian land in name and fame;
  In the old gods no more believing and trusting。
  And as a blood…atonement; soon
  King Olaf wed the fair Gudrun;
  And thus in peace ended the Drontheim Hus…Ting!
  VIII
  GUDRUN
  On King Olaf's bridal night
  Shines the moon with tender light;
  And across the chamber streams
  Its tide of dreams。
  At the fatal midnight hour;
  When all evil things have power;
  In the glimmer of the moon
  Stands Gudrun。
  Close against her heaving breast
  Something in her hand is pressed
  Like an icicle; its sheen
  Is cold and keen。
  On the cairn are fixed her eyes
  Where her murdered father lies;
  And a voice remote and drear
  She seems to hear。
  What a bridal night is this!
  Cold will be the dagger's kiss;
  Laden with the chill of death
  Is its breath。
  Like the drifting snow she sweeps
  To the couch where Olaf sleeps;
  Suddenly he wakes and stirs;
  His eyes meet hers。
  〃What is that;〃 King Olaf said;
  〃Gleams so bright above thy head?
  Wherefore standest thou so white
  In pale moonlight?〃
  〃'T is the bodkin that I wear
  When at night I bind my hair;
  It woke me falling on the floor;
  'T is nothing more。〃
  〃Forests have ears; and fields have eyes;
  Often treachery lurking lies
  Underneath the fairest hair!
  Gudrun beware!〃
  Ere the earliest peep of morn
  Blew King Olaf's bugle…horn;
  And forever sundered ride
  Bridegroom and bride!
  IX
  THANGBRAND THE PRIEST
  Short of stature; large of limb;
  Burly face and russet beard;
  All the women stared at him;
  When in Iceland he appeared。
  〃Look!〃 they said;
  With nodding head;
  〃There goes Thangbrand; Olaf's Priest。〃
  All the prayers he knew by rote;
  He could preach like Chrysostome;
  From the Fathers he could quote;
  He had even been at Rome;
  A learned clerk;
  A man of mark;
  Was this Thangbrand; Olaf's Priest;
  He was quarrelsome and loud;
  And impatient of control;
  Boisterous in the market crowd;
  Boisterous at the wassail…bowl;
  Everywhere
  Would drink and swear;
  Swaggering Thangbrand; Olaf's Priest
  In his house this malcontent
  Could the King no longer bear;
  So to Ice