Study Notes for Viking Tales (Selected Chapters)
by Jennie Hall
Study Notes by Anne White
Table of Contents
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter One: The Baby
Chapter Two: The Tooth Thrall
Chapter Three: Olaf's Farm
Chapter Four: Olaf's Fight With Havard
Chapter Five: "Foes'-fear"
Chapter Six: Harald is King
Chapter Seven: Harald's Battle
Chapter Eight: Gyda's Saucy Message
Chapter Nine: The Sea Fight
Chapter Ten: King Harald's Wedding
Chapter Eleven: King Harald Goes West-Over-Seas
Examination Questions
"These Norse stories have, to my thinking, three values… the love of truth, the hardy endurance, the faithfulness to plighted word, that make them a child's fit companions." (Jennie Hall, "Notes to Teachers")
from "Nobody Knows"
by Walter de la Mare
Nobody knows what the Wind is,
Under the height of the sky,
Where the hosts of the stars keep far away house
And its wave sweeps by--
Just a great wave of the air,
Tossing the leaves in its sea,
And foaming under the eaves of the roof
That covers me.
And so we live under deep water,
All of us, beasts and men,
And our bodies are buried down under the sand,
When we go again;
And leave, like the fishes, our shells,
And float on the Wind and away,
To where, o'er the marvellous tides of the air,
Burns day.
"From a house you see a sooty roof, from a ship you see Valhalla." (Olaf the Tooth Thrall)
Introduction and Study Notes
Fathers looked at their children and thought:
"They are not learning much. What will make them brave and wise? What will teach them to love their country and old Norway? Will not the stories of battles, of brave deeds, of mighty men, do this?" (from Chapter One)
Who is Harald, and how do we know about him?
These stories are about Harold Fairhair (also known as Harold Halfdanson), the first king of Norway, who lived from about 850 A.D. until 930 A.D. What we know about him was passed down through the oral traditions (Sagas) of Iceland and Norway, and a written version from around 1230.
Why are we not reading the whole book?
Only Part One of the book (the Harald stories) is assigned to AmblesideOnline Year One (or Form IA) students. Part Two covers the stories of Eric the Red and Leif Ericson, which are read in Year Two though from different sources. This version includes only the eleven chapters contained in Part One.
Has this book been adapted or changed?
Yes, in two ways. First, it has been very lightly edited to update punctuation and a few words, or to clarify where the original wording seemed to cause confusion. Second, Jennie Hall's explanatory notes about Norse life have been incorporated into the first two chapters and also into later vocabulary notes.
Would you hire Olaf as a babysitter? (The issue of Viking values)
We may begin the book by feeling a bit sorry for Olaf the Tooth Thrall, but as we hear his stories of theft, destruction of property, and even murder, we (especially as adults) wonder what sort of values this reading is passing on to children.
But when the tables were gone and the horns were going around, [Harald] stood up and raised high a horn of ale and said loudly: "This horn of memory I drink in honor of my father, Halfdan, son of Gudrod, who sits now in Valhalla. And I vow that I will grind my father's foes under my heel."
As Charlotte Mason advises, try to keep the lessons and the narrations focused on the story, rather than "pointing a moral." Like Duke Richard in The Little Duke, though, listeners to these tales will have to sort out the good values they contain from darker themes of power and revenge (not to mention heavy consumption of alcohol). Children, even young ones, may notice ideas in the story that did not seem to worry the author: questions of liberty, enslavement, and the value of a person (why didn't Gyda want to marry Harald until he was a more powerful king?). Christian children may also have questions about the Norse religious beliefs.
Here are some teaching suggestions from the author.
"[Visual] materials for this study are not difficult of access…colored photographs of Norwegian landscape are becoming common in our art stores. There are good illustrations in the geographical works referred to in the book list. These could be copied upon the blackboard. There are three books beautifully illustrated in color that it will be possible to find only in large libraries,-- "Coast of Norway," by Walton; "Travels in the Island of Iceland," by Mackenzie; "Voyage en Islande et au Gröenland," by J. P. Gaimard. If the landscape is studied from the point of view of formation, the images will be more accurate and more easily gained, and the study will have a general value that will continue past the reading of these stories into all work in geography.
"Trustworthy pictures of Norse houses and costumes are difficult to obtain. In "Viking Age" and "Story of Norway," by Boyesen (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York), are many copies of Norse antiquities in the fashion of weapons, shield-bosses, coins, jewelry, wood-carving. These are, of course, accurate, but of little interest to children. Their chief value lies in helping the teacher to piece together a picture that she can finally give to her pupils. [Editor's note: Newer pictorial books such as Usborne's Who Were the Vikings or Viking Raiders can be put to good use here, even if, as Hall says, it is more for the benefit of the teacher than the student.]
"Metal-working and wood-carving were the most important arts of the Norse. If children study products of these arts and actually do some of the work, they will gain a quickened sympathy with the people and an appreciation of their power. They may, perhaps, make something to merely illustrate Norse work; for instance, a carved ship's-head, or a copper shield, or a wrought door-nail. But, better, they may apply Norse ideas of form and decoration and Norse processes in making some modern thing that they can actually use; for instance, a carved wood pin-tray or a copper match holder…
"Frequent drawn or painted illustration by the children of costumes, landscapes, houses, feast halls, and ships will help to make these images clear. But dramatization will do more than anything else for the interpreting of the stories and the characters. It would be an excellent thing if at last, through the dramatization and the handwork, the children should come into sufficient understanding and enthusiasm to turn skalds and compose songs in the Norse manner. This requires only a small vocabulary and a rough feeling for simple rhythm, but an intensity of emotion and a great vividness of image.
"These Norse stories have, to my thinking, three values. The men, with the crude courage and the strange adventures that make a man interesting to children, have at the same time the love of truth, the hardy endurance, the faithfulness to plighted word, that make them a child's fit companions."
In summary:
1. Look for a few good photographs that show the landscape of Norway and Iceland. Paintings might also be useful.
2. Also look for pictures (or museum exhibits) of things like houses and costumes. Don't expect young children to get too excited over illustrations of weapons or coins; but do at least look through some of these books or websites yourself, if only to familiarize yourself with the territory, and maybe to bookmark a few of the best pictures.
3. Be cautious, for various reasons, about taking on big craft projects like building a model ship or decorating a papier-mâché helmet. As Hall points out, students could incorporate Norse designs or symbols into wood-carving or metal projects; or, more appropriately for this age, they could just do simple versions of carving or metal work, since those are "real" activities that are described in the stories. (The book also describes knitting, weaving, embroidering flags . . . not to mention hair care . . .)
4. Have the students create their own illustrations of the stories (perhaps concentrating more on the homes, ships, costumes, etc., rather than on the more violent events).
5. Hall suggests the use of drama, but also (perhaps more interestingly) proposes that children create their own Norse-style songs, perhaps about the stories, but also about things they have done and seen themselves.
6. Rather than over-emphasizing either the Norse religious beliefs, or the violence of some of the stories, look for ways to encourage the three Norse values that Hall points out: "the love of truth, the hardy endurance, the faithfulness to plighted word." "Hardy endurance" might be the most age-appropriate idea of the three; Hall mentions that Harald grew strong and healthy because he spent so much time playing out of doors.
Using the Examination Questions
The questions at the end have been created for this study, and are intended to be used with Charlotte Mason's end-of-term examination methods. Feel free to adapt them in whatever ways work best for your student(s).
Prologue: Heroes and Houses, Sagas and Skalds
Introduction
When people put on plays, they first have to "set the stage." This shows where the story takes place, and something about the people who will be in it. This chapter "sets the stage" for the stories that make up the rest of the book.
There is one thing here that can be a bit confusing. The Icelandic storytellers and skalds we hear about in this chapter told the stories of their own heroes, such as King Harald Fairhair--but those people lived in the country of Norway. The "Norse" people are those whose families first came from Norway, even if they were living in Iceland or somewhere else.
Much of the setting, though, such as the way their houses were built, and even the tradition of storytellers, will be the same no matter which of the countries we are talking about.
Vocabulary
carded: preparing wool for spinning by cleaning and untangling it
flitted: moved swiftly and lightly
knoll: small hill or mound
applause: praise for the performance
vellum: also called parchment
bower: the women's part of the house; or, in a wealthy person's home, a lady's bedroom.
thralls: slaves, also called bondservants
People, Places, Events
Iceland: Can you find Iceland on a map? Look for Norway, too, as it is the home of our hero Harald. Are Iceland and Norway far away from your own country?
Reading
Part One
Iceland is a little country far north in the cold sea. Men found it and went there to live more than a thousand years ago. During the warm season they used to fish and make fish-oil and hunt seabirds and gather feathers and tend their sheep and make hay. But the winters were long and dark and cold. Men and women and children stayed in the house and carded and spun and wove and knit. A whole family sat for hours around the fire in the middle of the room. That fire gave the only light. Shadows flitted in the dark corners. Smoke curled along the high beams in the ceiling. The children sat on the dirt floor close by the fire. The grown people were on a long narrow bench that they had pulled up to the light and warmth. Everybody's hands were busy with wool. The work left their minds free to think and their lips to talk. What was there to talk about? The summer's fishing, the killing of a fox, a voyage to Norway. But the people grew tired of this little gossip. Fathers looked at their children and thought:
"They are not learning much. What will make them brave and wise? What will teach them to love their country and old Norway? Will not the stories of battles, of brave deeds, of mighty men, do this?"
So, as the family worked in the red firelight, the father told of the kings of Norway, of long voyages to strange lands, of good fights. And in farmhouses all through Iceland these old tales were told over and over until everybody knew them and loved them.
Some men could sing and play the harp. This made the stories all the more interesting. People called such men "skalds," and they called their songs "sagas."
Part Two
Every midsummer there was a great meeting. Men from all over Iceland came to it and made laws. During the day there were rest times, when no business was going on. Then some skald would take his harp and walk to a large stone or a knoll and stand on it and begin a song of some brave deed of an old Norse hero. At the first sound of the harp and the voice, men came running from all directions, crying out:
"The skald! The skald! A saga!"
They stood about for hours and listened. They shouted [their] applause. When the skald was tired, some other man would come up from the crowd and sing or tell a story. As the skald stepped down from his high position, some rich man would rush up to him and say:
"Come and spend next winter at my house. Our ears are thirsty for song."
So the best skalds traveled much and visited many people. Their songs made them welcome everywhere. They were always honored with good seats at a feast. They were given many rich gifts. Even the King of Norway would sometimes send across the water to Iceland, saying to some famous skald:
"Come and visit me. You shall not go away empty-handed. Men say that the sweetest songs are in Iceland. I wish to hear them."
These tales were not written. Few men wrote or read in those days. Skalds learned songs from hearing them sung. At last people began to write more easily. Then they said:
"These stories are very precious. We must write them down to save them from being forgotten."
After that many men in Iceland spent their winters in writing books. They wrote on sheepskin; vellum, we call it. Many of these old vellum books have been saved for hundreds of years, and are now in museums in Norway. Some leaves are lost, some are torn, all are yellow and crumpled. But they are precious. They tell us all that we know about that olden time. There are the very words that the men of Iceland wrote so long ago--stories of kings and of battles and of ship-sailing. Some of those old stories I have told in this book.
Part Three: About Norse Houses
In a rich Norseman's home were many buildings. The finest and largest was the great feast hall. Next were the bower, where the women worked, and the guest house, where visitors slept. Besides these were storehouses, stables, workshops, a kitchen, [and] a sleeping-house for thralls.
All these buildings were made of heavy, hewn logs, covered with tar to fill the cracks and to keep the wood from rotting. The ends of the logs, the door-posts, the peaks of gables, were carved into shapes of men and animals and were painted with bright colors.
These buildings were close together, often set around the four sides of a square yard. That yard was a busy and pleasant place, with men and women running across from one building to another. Sometimes a high fence with one gate went around all this, and only the tall, carved peaks of roofs showed from the outside.
Narration and Discussion
Think about the place where you live. What is the same as a Norse house? What is different?
". . . these old tales were told over and over until everybody knew them and loved them." Do you have any storytellers in your family? What are your favourite stories?
Chapter One: The Baby
Introduction
In this chapter, we meet Harald as a newborn, and also learn something more about Norse houses and naming traditions.
In Other News
If you are following the AO Bible reading schedule, you will be reading this week about Joseph's dreams (Genesis 37:1-11). It might be interesting to compare that to the dream Harald's mother had.
Vocabulary
limbs: branches
witnesses: those who watch to see that a paper is properly signed or a ceremony is carried out (like a wedding)
sprinkled the baby: This ritual of sprinkling/naming is called ausa vatni. The original book includes a drawing of King Halfdan holding the baby while a servant holds a bowl of water before him.
own: acknowledge, recognize
People, Places, Events
King Halfdan: also called Halfdan the Black; the father of Harald. He is not the king over all Norway (as we will hear later), but only the eastern part of the country.
Reading
Part One
King Halfdan lived in Norway long ago. One morning his queen said to him:
"I had a strange dream last night. I thought that I stood in the grass before my bower. I pulled a thorn from my dress. As I held it in my fingers, it grew into a tall tree. The trunk was thick and red as blood, but the lower limbs were fair and green, and the highest ones were white. I thought that the branches of this great tree spread so far that they covered all Norway and even more."
"A strange dream," said King Halfdan. "Dreams are the messengers of the gods. I wonder what they would tell us," and he stroked his beard in thought.
Some time after that a serving-woman came into the feast hall where King Halfdan was. She carried a little white bundle in her arms.
"My lord," she said, "a little son is just born to you."
"Ha!" cried the king, and he jumped up from the high seat and hastened forward until he stood before the woman.
"Show him to me!" he shouted, and there was joy in his voice.
The serving-woman put down her bundle on the ground and turned back the cloth. There was a little naked baby. The king looked at it carefully.
"It is a goodly youngster," he said, and smiled. "Bring Ivar and Thorstein."
They were captains of the king's soldiers. Soon they came.
"Stand as witnesses," Halfdan said.
Then he lifted the baby in his arms, while the old serving-woman brought a silver bowl of water. The king dipped his hand into it and sprinkled the baby, saying:
"I own this baby for my son. He shall be called Harald. My naming gift to him is ten pounds of gold."
Then the woman carried the baby back to the queen's room. [omission] The queen looked at him and smiled and remembered her dream and thought:
"That great tree! Can it be this little baby of mine?"
Part Two: About Feast Halls
The feast hall was long and narrow, with a door at each end. Down the middle of the room were flat stones in the dirt floor. Here the fires burned. In the roof above these fires were holes for the smoke to go out, but some of it blew about the hall, and the walls and rafters were stained with it. But it was pleasant wood smoke, and the Norsemen did not dislike it. There were no large windows in a feast hall or in any other Norse building. High up under the eaves or in the roof itself were narrow slits that were called wind's-eyes. There was no glass in them, for the Norsemen did not know how to make it; but there were, instead, covers made of thin, oiled skin. These were put into the wind's-eyes in stormy weather. There were covers, too, for the smoke-holes. The only light came through these narrow holes, so on dark days the people needed the fire as much for light as for warmth.
Part Three: About Names
In those olden days a man did not have a surname that belonged to everyone in his family. Sometimes there were two or three men of the same name in a neighborhood. That caused trouble. People thought of two ways of making it easy to tell which man was being spoken of. Each was given a nickname. Suppose the name of each was Haki. One would be called Haki the Black because he had black hair. The other would be called Haki the Ship-chested because his chest was broad and strong. These nicknames were often given only for the fun of it. Most men had them,--Eric the Red, Leif the Lucky, Harald Fairhair, Rolf Go-afoot. The other way of knowing one Haki from the other was to tell his father's name. One was Haki, Eric's son. The other was Haki, Halfdan's son. If you speak these names quickly, they sound like Haki Ericsson and Haki Halfdansson. After a while they were written like that, and men handed them on to their sons and daughters. Some names that we have nowadays have come down to us in just that way--Swanson, Anderson, Peterson, Jansen. [omission]
Narration and Discussion
Why did the king "sprinkle" the baby? Does it sound like anything people do with new babies nowadays?
Do you have a nickname? Do you like it?
Something to do: The Norse houses had windows made of "thin, oiled skin." Year One students may have read Little House in the Big Woods. In her later book On the Banks of Plum Creek, which is AO Free Reading in Year Three, Laura Ingalls Wilder remembers living in a dugout house that had a "greased-paper window." Perhaps the closest thing you might have to this would be baking parchment, or waxed paper. What if you were to tape a piece of one of those to a cardboard frame, or just hold it in your hand, and try to look through it? Do you think it would work well as a window? Is it waterproof? There is an interesting YouTube video about this, called "Making greased paper windows."
Chapter Two: The Tooth Thrall
Introduction
Harald, now an active and curious boy, asks his "thrall" Olaf for the story behind a favourite large rock.
[Warning for sensitive children: Olaf tells Harald a story about a warrior who jumped to his death so that he could go to Valhalla.]
In Other News
If you are reading Trial and Triumph, this week's scheduled reading is "Patrick: Missionary to the Irish." Like Joseph in the Bible, and Olaf the thrall, Patrick was enslaved in another country. You might want to look for similarities or differences in their stories.
Vocabulary
he cut his first tooth: his first tooth appeared
tooth thrall: A slave who was "given" to a boy in celebration of his first tooth, to watch over him and teach him.
welded: joined together by melting metal
runes: an ancient kind of writing. In a note at the beginning of The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien explains that "Runes were old letters originally used for cutting or scratching on wood, stone, or metal, and so were thin and angular."
fiord: a narrow inlet of the sea between cliffs
dagger: knife
mead: an alcoholic drink made with honey
People, Places, Events
Olaf: a thrall of King Halfdan's, originally from Denmark. We will find out more about Olaf through the stories he tells in the following chapters.
Thor: In Norse mythology, Thor was one of the major gods, and the son of Odin. He was the god of war, lightning, and thunder, and is shown holding a hammer.
Asgard: the home of the Norse gods
Valhalla: the place where brave Viking warriors go when they die
Aegir: Aegir is the Norse god of the sea, but Olaf's story is about a Viking warrior who had the same name.
Reading
Part One
When Harald was seven months old he cut his first tooth. Then his father said:
"All the young of my herds, lambs and calves and colts, that have been born since this baby was born, I this day give to him. I also give to him this thrall, Olaf. These are my tooth-gifts to my son."
The boy grew fast, for as soon as he could walk about he was out of doors most of the time. He ran in the woods and climbed the hills and waded in the creek. He was much with his tooth thrall, for the king had said to Olaf:
"Be ever at his call."
Now this Olaf was full of stories, and Harald liked to hear them.
"Come out to Aegir's Rock, Olaf, and tell me stories," he said almost every day.
So they started off across the hills. The man wore a long, loose coat of white wool, belted at the waist with a strap. He had on coarse shoes and leather leggings. Around his neck was an iron collar welded together so that it could not come off. On it were strange marks, called runes, that said:
"Olaf, thrall of Halfdan."
Harald's clothes were [brighter]. A cape of gray velvet hung from his shoulders. It was fastened over his breast with great gold buckles. When it waved in the wind, a scarlet lining flashed out, and the bottom of a little scarlet jacket showed. His feet and legs were covered with gray woolen tights. Gold lacings wound around his legs from his shoes to his knees. A band of gold held down his long, yellow hair.
It was a wild country that these two were walking over. They were climbing steep, rough hills. Some of them seemed made all of rock, with a little earth lying in spots. Great rocks hung out from them, with trees growing in their cracks. Some big pieces had broken off and rolled down the hill.
"Thor broke them," Olaf said. "He rides through the sky and hurls his hammer at clouds and at mountains. That makes the thunder and the lightning and cracks the hills. His hammer never misses its aim, and it always comes back to his hand and is eager to go again."
Part Two
When they reached the top of the hill they looked back. Far below was a soft, green valley. In front of it the sea came up into the land and made a fiord. On each side of the fiord high walls of rock stood up and made the water black with shadow. All around the valley were high hills with dark pines on them. Far off were the mountains. In the valley were Halfdan's houses around their square yard.
"How little our houses look down there!" Harald said. "But I can almost--yes, I can see the red dragon on the roof of the feast hall. Do you remember when I climbed up and sat on his head, Olaf?"
He laughed and kicked his heels and ran on.
At last they came to Aegir's Rock and walked up on its flat top. Harald went to the edge and looked over. A ragged wall of rock reached down, and two hundred feet below was the black water of the fiord. Olaf watched him for a while, then he said:
"No whitening of your cheek, Harald? Good! A boy that can face the fall of Aegir's Rock will not be afraid to face the war flash when he is a man."
"Ho, I am not afraid of the war flash now," cried Harald.
He threw back his cape and drew a little dagger from his belt.
"See!" he cried; "does this not flash like a sword? And I am not afraid. But after all, this is a baby thing! When I am eight years old I will have a sword, a sharp tooth of war."
He swung his dagger as though it were a long sword. Then he ran and sat on a rock by Olaf.
"Why is this Aegir's Rock?" he asked.
"You know that Asgard is up in the sky," Olaf said. "It is a wonderful city where the golden houses of the gods are in the golden grove. A high wall runs all around it. In the house of Odin, the All-father, there is a great feast hall larger than the whole earth. Its name is Valhalla. It has five hundred doors. The rafters are spears. The roof is thatched with shields. Armor lies on the benches. In the high seat sits Odin, a golden helmet on his head, a spear in his hand. Two wolves lie at his feet. At his right hand and his left sit all the gods and goddesses, and around the hall sit thousands and thousands of men, all the brave ones that have ever died.
"Now it is good to be in Valhalla; for there is mead there better than men can brew, and it never runs out. And there are skalds that sing wonderful songs that men never heard. And before the doors of Valhalla is a great meadow where the warriors fight every day and get glorious and sweet wounds and give many. And all night they feast, and their wounds heal. But none may go to Valhalla except warriors that have died bravely in battle. Men who die from sickness go with women and children and cowards to Niflheim. There Hela, who is queen, always sneers at them, and a terrible cold takes hold of their bones, and they sit down and freeze.
"Years ago Aegir was a great warrior. Aegir the Big-handed, they called him. In many a battle his sword had sung, and he had sent many warriors to Valhalla. Many swords had bit into his flesh and left marks there, but never a one had struck him to death. So his hair grew white and his arms thin. There was peace in that country then, and Aegir sorrowed, saying:
"'I am old. Battles are still. Must I die in bed like a woman? Shall I not see Valhalla?'
"Now thus did Odin say long ago:
"'If a man is old and is come near death and cannot die in fight, let him find death in some brave way and he shall feast with me in Valhalla.'
"So one day Aegir came to this rock.
"'A deed to win Valhalla!' he cried.
"Then he drew his sword and flashed it over his head and held his shield high above him, and leaped out into the air and died in the water of the fiord."
"Ho!" cried Harald, jumping to his feet. "I think that Odin stood up before his high seat and welcomed that man gladly when he walked through the door of Valhalla."
"So the songs say," replied Olaf, "for skalds still sing of that deed all over Norway."
Narration and Discussion
There should be much to discuss after a story like this! One big question is: what does it mean to be brave? Are there other ways to show courage without having to fight?
Are there places (like Aegir's rock) near your home that make you curious to know their stories? How could you find out about them?
Something to do: "How little our houses look down there!" Harald said. Have you ever been high up and looked down on big things that seemed quite small? Could you tell about or draw what you saw?
Something not to do: Please be very cautious about dramatizing this story. For obvious reasons.
Chapter Three: Olaf's Farm
Introduction
Olaf tells about the adventures of his earlier life.
Vocabulary
a-viking: to take a boat to some unprotected village or farm, and raid or plunder it: that is, to steal food or treasure, and sometimes to fight or cause damage as well.
I made her for only twenty oars: A ship that required only twenty oars would not have been very big.
foes: enemies
tiller: a lever for steering a boat (attached to the rudder)
drinking-horn: an animal horn, polished and used as a drinking cup
harry: carry out attacks; harass
smithy: workshop where metal is shaped
a great din: a loud noise
stingy: selfish, not generous
Bring in the table: Jennie Hall writes, "Before a meal thralls brought trestles into the feast hall and set them before the benches. Then they laid long boards across from trestle to trestle. These narrow tables stretched all along both sides of the hall. People sat at the outside edge only. So the thralls served from the middle of the room. They put baskets of bread and wooden platters of meat upon these bare boards. At the end of the meal they carried out tables and all, and the drinking-horns went round in a clean room."
crane over the fire: a way to hang the cooking pot
I drink this to your health: A friendly or respectful thing people say when they are drinking together; making a toast
I heard a cuckoo today: a cuckoo's call is a sign of spring
saucy: rude, smart-mouthed
Better With Pictures
But I stayed that spring and built me a boat: Photographs of Viking ships can be found online by searching for terms such as "Viking dragon boat" or "dragon ship."
People, Places, Events
Denmark: Can you find this on the map, along with Iceland and Norway? How might Olaf have sailed from Denmark to Norway?
Reading
Part One
At another time Harald asked:
"What is your country, Olaf? Have you always been a thrall?"
The thrall's eyes flashed.
"When you are a man," he said, "and go a-viking to Denmark, ask men whether they ever heard of Olaf the Crafty. There, far off, is my country, across the water. My father was Gudbrand the Big. Two hundred warriors feasted in his hall and followed him to battle. Ten sons sat at meat with him, and I was the youngest. One day he said:
"'You are all grown to be men. There is not elbow-room here for so many chiefs. The eldest of you shall have my farm when I die. The rest of you, off a-viking!'
"He had three ships. These he gave to three of my brothers. But I stayed that spring and built me a boat. I made her for only twenty oars because I thought few men would follow me; for I was young, fifteen years old. I made her in the likeness of a dragon. At the prow I carved the head with open mouth and forked tongue thrust out. I painted the eyes red for anger.
"'There, stand so!' I said, 'and glare and hiss at my foes.'
"In the stern I curved the tail up almost as high as the head. There I put the pilot's seat and a strong tiller for the rudder. On the breast and sides I carved the dragon's scales. Then I painted it all black and on the tip of every scale I put gold. I called her 'Waverunner.' There she sat on the rollers, as fair a ship as I ever saw.
"The night that it was finished I went to my father's feast. After the meats were eaten and the mead-horns came round, I stood up from my bench and raised my drinking-horn high and spoke with a great voice:
"'This is my vow: I will sail to Norway and I will harry the coast and fill my boat with riches. Then I will get me a farm and will winter in that land. Now who will follow me?'
"'He is but a boy,' the men said. 'He has opened his mouth wider than he can do.'
"But others jumped to their feet with their mead-horns in their hands. Thirty men, one after another, raised their horns and said: "'I will follow this lad, and I will not turn back so long as he and I live!'
Part Two
"On the next morning we got into my dragon and started. I sat high in the pilot's seat. As our boat flashed down the rollers into the water I made this song and sang it:
"'The dragon runs.
Where will she steer?
Where swords will sing,
Where spears will bite,
Where I shall laugh.'
"So we harried the coast of Norway. We ate at many men's tables uninvited. Many men we found overburdened with gold. Then I said:
"'My dragon's belly is never full,' and on board went the gold.
"Oh! it is better to live on the sea and let other men raise your crops and cook your meals. A house smells of smoke, a ship smells of frolic. From a house you see a sooty roof, from a ship you see Valhalla.
"Up and down the water we went to get much wealth and much frolic. After a while my men said: "'What of the farm, Olaf?'
"'Not yet,' I answered. 'Viking is better for summer. When the ice comes, and our dragon cannot play, then we will get our farm and sit down.'
"At last the winter came, and I said to my men: "'Now for the farm. I have my eye on one up the coast a way in King Halfdan's country.'
"So we set off for it. We landed late at night and pulled our boat up on shore and walked quietly to the house. It was rather a wealthy farm, for there were stables and a storehouse and a smithy at the sides of the house. There was but one door to the house. We went to it, and I struck it with my spear.
"'Hello! Ho! Hello!' I shouted, and my men made a great din.
"At last some one from inside said: "'Who calls?'
"'I call,' I answered. 'Open! or you will think it Thor who calls,' and I struck my shield against the door so that it made a great clanging.
"The door opened only a little, but I pushed it wide and leaped into the room. It was so dark that I could see nothing but a few sparks on the hearth. I stood with my back to the wall; for I wanted no sword reaching out of the dark for me.
"'Now start up the fire,' I said.
"'Come, come!' I called, when no one obeyed. 'A fire! This is cold welcome for your guests.'
"My men laughed. "'Yes, a stingy host! He acts as though he had not expected us.'
"But now the farmer was blowing on the coals and putting on fresh wood. Soon it blazed up, and we could see about us. We were in a little feast hall, with its fire down the middle of it. There were benches for twenty men along each side. The farmer crouched by the fire, afraid to move. On a bench in a far corner were a dozen people huddled together.
Part Three
"'Ho, thralls!' I called to them. 'Bring in the table. We are hungry.'
"Off they ran through a door at the back of the hall. My men came in and lay down by the fire and warmed themselves, but I set two of them as guards at the door.
"'Well, friend farmer,' laughed one, 'why such a long face? Do you not think we shall be merry company?'
"'We came only to cheer you,' said another. 'What man wants to spend the winter with no guests?'
"'Ah!' another then cried out, sitting up. 'Here comes something that will be a welcome guest to my stomach.'
"The thralls were bringing in a great pot of meat. They set up a crane over the fire and hung the pot upon it, and we sat and watched it boil while we joked. At last the supper began. The farmer sat gloomily on the bench and would not eat, and you cannot wonder; for he saw us putting potfuls of his good beef and basket-loads of bread into our big mouths. When the tables were taken out and the mead-horns came round, I stood up and raised my horn and said to the farmer:
"'You would not eat with us. You cannot say no to half of my ale. I drink this to your health.'
"Then I drank half of the hornful and sent the rest across the fire to the farmer. He took it and smiled, saying: "'Since it is to my health, I will drink it. I thought that all this night's work would be my death.'
"'Oh, do not fear that!' I laughed, 'for a dead man sets no tables.'
"So we drank and all grew merrier. At last I stood up and said:
"'I like this little taste of your hospitality, friend farmer. I have decided to accept more of it.'
"My men roared with laughter.
"'Come,' they cried, 'thank him for that, farmer. Did you ever have such a lordly guest before?'
"I went on:
"'Now there is no fun in having guests unless they keep you company and make you merry. So I will give out this law: that my men shall never leave you alone. Hakon there shall be your constant companion, friend farmer. He shall not leave you day or night, whether you are working or playing or sleeping. Leif and Grim shall be the same kind of friends to your two sons.'
"I named nine others and said: "'And these shall follow your thralls in the same way. Now, am I not careful to make your time go merrily?'
"So I set guards over every one in that house. Not once all that winter did they stir out of sight of some of us. So no tales got out to the neighbors. Besides, it was a lonely place, and by good luck no one came that way. Oh! that was fat and easy living.
Part Four
"Well, after we had been there for a long time, Hakon came in to the feast one night and said: "'I heard a cuckoo today!'
"'It is the call to go a-viking,' I said.
"All my men put their hands to their mouths and shouted. Their eyes danced. Big Thorleif stood up and stretched himself.
"'I am stiff with long sitting,' he said. 'I itch for a fight.'
"I turned to the farmer.
"'This is our last feast with you,' I said.
"'Well,' he laughed, 'this has been the busiest winter I ever spent, and the merriest. May good luck go with you!'
"'By the beard of Odin!' I cried; 'you have taken our joke like a man.'
"My men pounded the table with their fists.
"'By the hammer of Thor!' shouted Grim. 'Here is no stingy coward. He is a man fit to carry my drinking-horn, the horn of a sea-rover and a sword-swinger. Here, friend, take it,' and he thrust it into the farmer's hand. 'May you drink heart's-ease from it for many years. And with it I leave you a name, "Sif the Friendly." I shall hope to drink with you sometime in Valhalla.'
"Then all my men poured around that farmer and clapped him on the shoulder and piled things upon him, saying:
"'Here is a ring for Sif the Friendly.'
"'And here is a bracelet.'
"'A sword would not be ashamed to hang at your side.'
"I took five great bracelets of gold from our treasure chest and gave them to him.
"The old man's eyes opened wide at all these things, and at the same time he laughed.
"'May Odin send me such guests every winter!' he said.
"Early next morning we shook hands with our host and boarded the 'Waverunner' and sailed off.
"'Where shall we go?' my men asked.
"'Let the gods decide,' I said, and tossed up my spear.
"When it fell on the deck it pointed up-shore, so I steered in that direction. That is the best way to decide, for the spear will always point somewhere, and one thing is as good as another. That time it pointed us into your father's ships. They closed in battle with us and killed my men and sunk my ship and dragged me off a prisoner. They were three against one, or they might have tasted something more bitter at our hands. They took me before King Halfdan.
"'Here,' they said, 'is a rascal who has been harrying our coasts. We sunk his ship and men, but him we brought to you.'
"'A robber viking?' said the king, and scowled at me.
"I threw back my head and laughed.
"'Yes. And with all your fingers it took you a year to catch me.'
"The king frowned more angrily.
"'Saucy, too?' he said. 'Well, thieves must die. Take him out, Thorkel, and let him taste your sword.'
"Your mother, the queen, was standing by. Now she put her hand on his arm and smiled and said:
"'He is only a lad. Let him live. And would he not be a good gift for our baby?'
"Your father thought a moment, then looked at your mother and smiled.
"'Soft heart!' he said gently to her; then to Thorkel, 'Well, let him go, Thorkel!'
"Then he turned to me again, frowning. 'But, young sharp-tongue, now that we have caught you we will put you into a trap that you cannot get out of. Weld an iron collar on his neck.'
"So I lived and now am your tooth thrall. Well, it is the luck of war. But by the chair of Odin, I kept my vow!"
"Yes!" cried Harald, jumping to his feet. "And had a joke into the bargain. Ah! sometime I will make a brave vow like that."
Narration and Discussion
Why did young Olaf become a robber-viking?
Harald says to Olaf, "Sometime I will make a brave vow like that." Do you think he will? Can you think of any other stories where someone made a vow? (Students who enjoy longer books might like Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, in which three adopted sisters vow "to try and put our name into history books, because it's our very own . . .")
Creative narration: You are Sif the farmer, and a friend (not a robber) comes to visit. Tell (or act out) what happened over the winter.
Chapter Four: Olaf's Fight With Havard
Introduction
Olaf tells Harald another story from his going-a-viking days.
In Other News
Most of Olaf's adventures were about looking for treasure--and he seemed to be very good at it (at least until he got caught by the king). If you are following the AO Bible reading schedule, you will be reading about another view of treasure (Luke 12:13-34).
Vocabulary
shut into their beds: The author says, "Around the sides of the feast hall were "shut-beds." They were like big boxes with doors opening into the hall. On the floor of this box was straw with blankets thrown over it. The people got into these beds and closed the doors and so shut themselves in. Olaf's men could have set heavy things against these doors or have put props against them. Then the people could not have got out; for on the other side of the bed was the thick outside wall of the feast hall, and there were no windows in it."
We shall all drink in Valhalla tonight: We're going to die.
Sloven!: Slob!
People, Places, Events
King Havard: seems to have been the king of another of the Norse kingdoms, possibly on one of the islands
Reading
At another time Harald said: "Tell me of a fight, Olaf. I want to hear about the music of swords."
Olaf's eyes blazed.
"I will tell you of our fight with King Havard," he said.
"One dark night we had landed at a farm. We left our 'Waverunner' in the water with three men to guard her. The rest of us went into the house. The farmer met us at the door, but he died by Thorkel's sword. The others we shut into their beds. The door at each end of the hall we had barred on the inside so that nobody could surprise us. We were busy going through the cupboards and shouting at our good luck. But suddenly we heard a shout outside:
"'Thor and Havard!'
"Then there was a great beating at the doors.
"'He has two hundred fighters with him,' said Grim; 'for we saw his ships last night. Thirty against two hundred! We shall all drink in Valhalla tonight.'
"'Well,' I cried, 'Odin shall have no unwilling guest in me.'
"'Nor in me,' cried Hakon.
"'Nor in me,' shouted Thorkel.
"And that shout went all around, and we drew out our swords and caught up our shields.
"'Hot work is ahead of us,' said Hakon. 'Besides, we must leave none of this mead for Havard. Lend a hand, some one.'
"Then he and another pulled out a great tub that sat on the floor of the cupboard.
"'I drink to Valhalla to-night,' cried Thorkel the Thirsty, and he plunged his horn deep into the tub.
"When he brought it up, his sleeve was dripping and the sweet mead was running over from the horn.
"'Sloven!' cried Hakon, and he struck Thorkel with his fist and knocked him over into the cupboard.
"He fell against the wooden wall at the back, and a carved panel swung open behind him. He dropped down head first. In a minute he put his head out of the hole again. We all stood staring.
"'I think it is a secret passage,' he said.
"'We will try it,' I answered in a whisper. 'Throw dirt on the fire. It must be dark.'
"So we dug up dirt from the earth floor and smothered the fire. All this time there was a terrible shouting and hammering at the doors, but they were of heavy logs and stood.
"'I with four more will guard this door,' I said, pointing to the east end.
"Immediately four men stepped to my side.
"'And I will guard the other,' Hakon said, and four went with him.
"'The rest of you, down the hole!' I said. 'Close the door after you. If luck is with us we will meet at the ships. Now Thor and our good swords help us! Quick! The doors are giving way.'
"So we ten men stood at the doors and held back the king's soldiers. It was dark in the room, and the people out of doors could not tell how many were inside. Few were eager to be the first in.
"'Thirty swords are waiting in there to eat up the first man,' we heard some one say.
"We chuckled at that.
"But the king stood in the very doorway and fought. Our five swords held him back for a long time, but at last he pushed in, and his men poured after him. We ran back and hid behind some tubs in a dark corner. The king's men went groping about and calling, but they did not find us. The room was full of shouting and running and sword-clashing; for in the dark and the noise the men could not tell their own soldiers. More than one fell by his friend's sword. When it was less crowded about the doorway, I whispered:
"'Follow me in double line. We will make for the ships. Keep close together.'
"So that double line of men, with swords swinging from both sides, ran out through the dark. Swords struck out at us, and we struck back. Men ran after us shouting, but our legs were as good as theirs. But I and Hakon and one other were all that reached the ship. There we saw our 'Waverunner' with sail up and bow pointing to open sea. We swam out to her and climbed aboard. Then the men swung the sail to the wind, and we moved off. Even as we went, a spear whizzed through the air, and Hakon fell dead; for the king and all his men were running to the shore.
"'After them!' they were shouting.
"Then we heard the king call to the men in his boats lying out in the water: "'Row to shore and take us in.'
"Thorkel was standing by my side. At that he laughed and said:
"'They do not answer. He left but a handful to guard his ships. They tasted our swords. And we went aboard and broke the oars and threw the sails into the water. It will be slow going for Havard tonight.'
"Then he turned to the shore and sang out loudly:
"'King Havard's ships are dead:
Olaf's dragon flies.
King Havard stamps the shore:
Olaf skims the waves.
King Havard shakes his fist.
Olaf turns and laughs.'
"That was the end of our meeting with King Havard."
Narration and Discussion
Who do you think is the hero of Olaf's story? (Is there one?)
Did anything about this story make you laugh?
For further thought: Why do you think Harald enjoys stories like this?
Creative narration: Thorkel made up a song to tell about the fight with King Havard. Could you make up a song or poem, using the same pattern, to tell about something you have seen? Here is an example.
The lazy dog naps in the kitchen doorway.
The cat stands near and hisses.
The dog lifts up his head.
The cat makes a great leap over the dog.
The dog shakes his head.
The cat turns and laughs.
Chapter Five: "Foes'-fear"
Introduction
Harald is growing and learning to do many new things. In this story, he goes out to find a spear handle, but ends up fighting a wolf.
Vocabulary
lance: spear
bellows: a tool used for blowing air into a fire
chasms [ka-zms]: gaps in the earth; ravines
haft: this usually means handle; but since Harald is driving the handle itself into the haft of the spear point, it means the bottom of it.
People, Places, Events
Ivar the Far-goer: Ingvar the Far-Travelled, who even claimed to have killed a dragon while on his travels.
Reading
Part One
Every day the boy Harald heard some such story of war or of the gods, until he could see Thor riding among the storm-clouds and throwing his hammer, until he knew that a brave man has many wounds, but never a one on his back. Many nights he dreamed that he himself walked into Valhalla, and that all the heroes stood up and shouted:
"Welcome! Harald Halfdanson!"
"Ah! the bite of the sword is sweeter than the kiss of your mother," he said to Olaf one day. "When shall I stand in the prow of a dragon and feast on the fight? I am hungry to see the world. Ivar the Far-goer tells me of the strange countries he has seen. Ah! we Vikings are great folk. There is no water that has not licked our boats' sides. This cape of mine came in a Viking boat from France. These cloak-pins came from a far country called Greece. In my father's house are golden cups from Rome, away on the southern sea. Every land pours rich things into our treasure-chest. Ivar has been to a strange country where it is all sand and is very hot. The people call their country Arabia. They have never heard of Thor or Odin. Ivar brought beautiful striped cloth from there, and wonderful, sweet-smelling waters. Oh! when shall the white horses of the sea lead me out to strange lands and glorious battles?"
Part Two
But Harald did something besides listen to stories. Every morning he was up at sunrise and went with a thrall to feed the hunting dogs. Thorstein taught him to swim in the rough waters of the fiord. Often he went with the men a-hunting in the woods, and learned to ride a horse, and pull a bow, and throw a lance. Ivar taught him to play the harp and to make up songs. He went much to the smithy, where the warriors mended their helmets and made their spears and swords of iron and bronze. At first he only watched the men or worked the bellows, but soon he could handle the tongs and hold the red-hot iron, and after a long time he learned to use the hammer and to shape metal.
One day he made himself a spear-head. It was two feet long and sharp on both edges. While the iron was hot he beat into it some runes. When the men in the smithy saw the runes they opened their eyes wide and looked at the boy, for few Norsemen could read.
"What does it say?" they asked.
"It is the name of my spear-point, and it says, 'Foes'-fear,'" Harald said. "But now for a handle."
Part Three
It was winter and the snow was very deep. So Harald put on his skis and started for a wood that was back from shore. Down the mountains he went, twenty, thirty feet at a slide, leaping over chasms a hundred feet across. In his scarlet cloak he looked like a flash of fire. The wind shot past him howling. His eyes danced at the fun.
"It is like flying," he thought and laughed. "I am an eagle. Now I soar," as he leaped over a frozen river.
He saw a slender ash [tree] growing on top of a high rock.
"That is the handle for 'Foes'-fear,'" he said.
The rock stood up like a ragged tower, but he did not stop because of the steep climb. He threw off his skis and thrust his hands and feet into holes of the rock and drew himself up. He tore his jacket and cut his leather leggings and scratched his face and bruised his hands, but at last he was on the top. Soon he had chopped down the tree and had cut a straight pole ten feet long and as big around as his arm. He went down, sliding and jumping and tearing himself on the sharp stones. With a last leap he landed near his skis. As he did so a lean wolf jumped and snapped at him, snarling. Harald shouted and swung his pole. The wolf dodged, but quickly jumped again and caught the boy's arm between his sharp teeth. Harald thought of the spear-point in his belt. In a wink he had it out and was striking with it. He drove it into the wolf's neck and threw him back on the snow, dead.
"You are the first to feel the tooth of 'Foes'-fear,'" he said, "but I think you will not be the last."
Then without thinking of his torn arm he put on his skis and went leaping home. He went straight to the smithy and smoothed his pole and drove it into the haft of the spear-point. He hammered out a gold band and put it around the joining place. He made nails with beautiful heads and drove them into the pole in different places.
"If it is heavy it will strike hard," he said.
Then he weighed the spear in his hand and found the balancing point and put another gold band there to mark it.
Thorstein came in while he was working.
"A good spear," he said.
Then he saw the torn sleeve and the red wound beneath.
"Hello!" he cried. "Your first wound?"
"Oh, it is only a wolf-scratch," Harald answered.
"By Thor!" cried Thorstein, "I see that you are ready for better wounds. You bear this like a warrior."
"I think it will not be my last," Harald said.
Narration and Discussion
How does Harald show that he is learning to be brave?
"He knew that a brave man has many wounds, but never a one on his back." What could this mean?
Creative narration: What are some things that Harald has learned to do? What things have you learned to do or make? What things are you still working on? What would else you like to learn or do or make?
"Up and be doing, whether at work or play." (Charlotte Mason, Ourselves Book I, p. 20)
Chapter Six: Harald is King
Introduction
Harald suddenly becomes king in his father's place, and he makes a vow.
Vocabulary
kinsmen: relatives
People, Places, Events
Gudrod: also called Gudrød the Hunter or Gudrød the Magnificent; a Norse king from the early 9th century A.D., and Harald's grandfather.
Reading
Part One
Now when Harald was ten years old, his father, King Halfdan, died. An old book that tells about Harald says that then "he was the biggest of all men, the strongest, and the fairest to look upon." That about a boy ten years old! But boys grew fast in those days for they were out of doors all the time, running, swimming, leaping on skis, and hunting in the forest [omission].
So now King Halfdan was dead and buried, and Harald was to be king. But first he must "drink his father's funeral ale."
"Take down the [colourful] tapestries that hang in the feast hall," he said to the thralls. "Put up black and gray ones. Strew the floor with pine branches. Brew twenty tubs of fresh ale and mead. Scour every dish until it shines."
Then Harald sent messengers all over that country to his kinsmen and friends.
"Bid them come in three months' time to drink my father's funeral ale," he said. "Tell them that no one shall go away empty-handed."
Part Two
So in three months men came riding up at every hour. Some came in boats. But many had ridden far through mountains, swimming rivers; for there were few roads or bridges in Norway. On account of that hard ride, no women came to the feast.
At nine o'clock in the night the feast began. The men came walking in at the west end of the hall. The great bonfires down the middle of the room were flashing light on everything. The clean smell of this wood-smoke and of the pine branches on the floor was pleasant to the guests. Down each side of the hall stretched long, backless benches, with room for three hundred men. In the middle of each side rose the high seat, a great carved chair on a platform. All along behind the benches were the black and gray draperies. Here hung the shields of the guests; for every man, when he was given his place, turned and hung his shield behind him and set his tall spear by it. So on each wall there was a long row of [omission] shields, red and green and yellow, and all shining with gold or bronze trimmings. And higher up there was another row of gleaming spear-points. Above the hall the rafters were carved and gaily painted, so that dragons seemed to be crawling across, or eagles seemed to be swooping down.
The guests walked in laughing and talking with their big voices so that the rafters rang. They made the hall look all the brighter with their clothes of scarlet and blue and green, with their flashing golden bracelets and head-bands and sword-scabbards, with their flying hair of red or yellow.
Across the east end of the hall was a bench. When the men were all in, the queen, Harald's mother, and the women who lived with her, walked in through the east door and sat upon this bench.
Then thralls came running in and set up the long tables before the benches. Other thralls ran in with large steaming kettles of meat. They put big pieces of this meat into platters of wood and set it before the men. They had a few dishes of silver. These they put before the guests at the middle of the tables; for the great people sat here near the high seats.
When the meat came, the talking stopped; for Norsemen ate only twice a day, and these men had had long rides and were hungry. Three or four persons ate from one platter and drank from the same big bowl of milk. They had no forks, so they ate from their fingers and threw the bones under the table among the pine branches. Sometimes they took knives from their belts to cut the meat.
When the guests sat back satisfied, Harald called to the thralls:
"Carry out the tables."
So they did and brought in two great tubs of mead and set one at each end of the hall. Then the queen stood up and called some of her women. They went to the mead tubs. They took the horns, when the thralls had filled them, and carried them to the men with some merry word [omission].
The women were beautiful, moving about the hall. The queen wore a trailing dress of blue velvet with long flowing sleeves. She had a short apron of striped Arabian silk with gold fringe along the bottom. From her shoulders hung a long train of scarlet wool embroidered in gold. White linen covered her head. Her long yellow hair was pulled around at the sides and over her [dress], and was fastened under the belt of her apron. As she walked, her train made a pleasant rustle among the pine branches. She was tall and straight and strong. Some of her younger women wore no linen on their heads and had their white arms bare, with bracelets shining on them. They, too, were tall and strong.
All the time men were calling across the fire to one another asking news or telling jokes and laughing.
An old man, Harald's uncle, sat in the high seat on the north side. That was the place of honor. But the high seat on the south side was empty; for that was the king's seat. Harald sat on the steps before it.
The feast went merrily until long after midnight. Then the thralls took some of the guests to the guest house to sleep, and some to the beds around the sides of the feast hall. But some men lay down on the benches and drew their cloaks over themselves.
Part Three
On the next night there was another feast. Still Harald sat on the step before the high seat. But when the tables were gone and the horns were going around, he stood up and raised high a horn of ale and said loudly:
"This horn of memory I drink in honor of my father, Halfdan, son of Gudrod, who sits now in Valhalla. And I vow that I will grind my father's foes under my heel."
Then he drank the ale and sat down in the king's high seat, while all the men stood up and raised their horns and shouted:
"King Harald!"
And some cried: "That was a brave vow."
And Harald's uncle called out: "A health to King Harald!"
And they all drank it.
Then a man stood up and said:
"Hear my song of King Halfdan!" for this man was a skald.
"Yes, the song!" shouted the men, and Harald nodded his head.
So the skald took down his great harp from the wall behind him and went and stood before Harald. The bottom of the harp rested on the floor, but the top reached as high as the skald's shoulders. The brass frame shone in the light. The strings were some of gold and some of silver. The man struck them with his hand and sang of King Halfdan, of his battles, of his strong arm and good sword, of his death, and of how men loved him.
When he had finished, King Harald took a bracelet from his arm and gave it to him, saying:
"Take this as thanks for your good song."
The guests stayed the next day and at night there was another feast.
When the mead horns were going around, King Harald stood up and spoke:
"I said that no man should go away empty-handed from drinking my father's funeral ale."
He beckoned the thralls, and they brought in a great treasure-chest and set it down by the high seat. King Harald opened it and took out rich gifts--capes and sword-belts and beautiful cloth and bracelets and gold cloak-pins. These he sent about the hall and gave something to every man. The guests wondered at the richness of his gifts.
"This young king has an open hand," they said, "and deep treasure-chests."
After breakfast the next morning the guests went out and stood by their horses ready to go, but before they mounted, thralls brought a horn of mead to each man. That was called the stirrup-horn, because after they drank it the men put their feet to the stirrups and sprang upon their horses and started. King Harald and his people rode a little way with them.
All men said that that was the richest funeral feast that ever was held.
Narration and Discussion
How does Harald show a different kind of bravery in this chapter?
What do you think of his vow? (A Bible verse to consider: Matthew 5:43-44)
Creative narration: "Here hung the shields of the guests; for every man, when he was given his place, turned and hung his shield behind him and set his tall spear by it." Illustrate this scene, and add your own shield to the ones on the wall. What colours or symbols would you use?
Chapter Seven: Harald's Battle
Introduction
Harald, though still a young king, is ready to fight off those who threaten his kingdom.
Vocabulary
forges: hearths (fires) used for heating metal so that it can be hammered and shaped
anvils: iron or steel blocks on which metal is hammered
coats of mail: armour
standard-bearer: flag-carrier
rivets: metal fasteners
ermine: a stoat (like a weasel); its winter fur is traditionally used on royal robes
provision wagons: food-supply wagons
frolic: party
hazels: hazel twigs, used to mark out the battlefield
hel-shoes (helskór): shoes placed on the feet of dead warriors so they could walk to Valhalla. (Sometimes spelled hell-shoes.)
People, Places, Events
King Haki: or Hake; a famous Norse sea-king
Reading
Part One
Now King Halfdan had many foes. When he was alive they were afraid to make war upon him, for he was a mighty warrior. But when Harald became king, they said:
"He is but a lad. We will fight with him and take his land."
So they began to make ready. King Harald heard of this and he laughed and said:
"Good! 'Foes'-fear' is thirsty, and my legs are stiff with much sitting."
He called three men to him. To one he gave an arrow, saying:
"Run and carry this arrow north. Give it into the hands of the master of the next farm, and say that all men are to meet here within two weeks from this day. They must come ready for war and mounted on horses. Say also that if a man does not obey this call, or if he receives this arrow and does not carry it on to his next neighbor, he shall be outlawed from this country, and his land shall be taken from him."
He gave arrows to the other two men and told them to run south and east with the same message.
So all through King Harald's country men were soon busy mending helmets and polishing swords and making shields. There was blazing of forges and clanging of anvils all through the land.
Part Two
On the day set, the fields about King Harald's house were full of men and horses. After breakfast a horn blew. Every man snatched his weapons and jumped upon his horse. Men of the same neighborhood stood together, and their chief led them. They waited for the starting horn.
This did not look like [armies today]. There were no uniforms. Some men wore helmets, some did not. Some wore coats of mail, but others wore only their jackets and tights of bright-colored wool. But at each man's left side hung a great shield. Over his right shoulder went his sword-belt and held his long sword under his left hand. Above most men's heads shone the points of their tall spears. Some men carried axes in their belts. Some carried bows and arrows. Many had ram's horns hanging from their necks.
King Harald rode at the front of his army with his standard-bearer beside him. Chain-armor covered the king's body. A red cloak was thrown over his shoulders. On his head was a gold helmet with a dragon standing up from it. He carried a round shield on his left arm. The king had made that shield himself. It was of brass. The rivets were of silver, with strangely shaped heads. On the back of Harald's horse was a red cloth trimmed with the fur of ermine.
King Harald looked up at his standard and laughed aloud.
"Oh, War-lover," he cried, "you and I ride out on a [merry] journey."
A horn blew again and the army started. The men shouted as they went, and blew their ram's horns.
"Now we shall taste something better than even King Harald's ale," shouted one.
Another rose in his stirrups and sniffed the air.
"Ah! I smell a battle," he cried. "It is sweeter than those strange waters of Arabia."
So the army went merrily through the land. They carried no tents, they had no provision wagons.
"The sky is a good enough tent for a soldier," said the Norsemen. "Why carry provisions when they lie in the farms beside you?"
After two days King Harald saw another army on the hills.
"Thorstein," he shouted, "up with the white shield and go tell King Haki to choose his battlefield. We will wait but an hour. I am eager for the frolic."
Part Three
So Thorstein raised a white shield on his spear as a sign that he came on an errand of peace. He rode near King Haki, but he could not wait until he came close before he shouted out his message and then turned and rode back.
"Tell your boy king that we will not hang back," Haki called after Thorstein.
King Harald's men waited on the hillside and watched the other army across the valley. They saw King Haki point and saw twenty men ride off as he pointed. They stopped in a patch of hazel and hewed with their axes.
"They are getting the hazels," said Thorstein.
"Audun," said King Harald to a man near him, "stay close to my standard all day. You must see the best of the fight. I want to hear a song about it after it is over."
This Audun was the skald who sang at the drinking of King Halfdan's funeral ale.
King Haki's men rode down into the valley. They drove down stakes all about a great field. They tied the hazel twigs to the stakes in a string. But they left an open space toward King Harald's army and one toward King Haki's. Then a man raised a white shield and galloped toward King Harald.
"We are ready!" he shouted.
At the same time King Haki raised a red shield. King Harald's men put their shields before their mouths and shouted into them. It made a great roaring war-cry.
"Up with the war shield!" shouted King Harald. "Horns blow!"
There was a blowing of horns on both sides. The two armies galloped down into the field and ran together. The fight had begun.
All that day long swords were flashing, spears flying, men shouting, men falling from their horses, swords clashing against shields.
"Victory flashes from that dragon," Harald's men said, pointing to the king's helmet. "No one stands before it." And, surely, before night came, King Haki fell dead under "Foes'-fear."
When he fell, a great shout went up from his warriors, and they turned and fled. King Harald's men chased them far, but during the night [they] came back to camp. Many brought swords and helmets, and bracelets, or silver-trimmed saddles and bridles with them.
"Here is what we got from the foe," they said.
Part Four
The next morning King Harald spoke to his men: "Let us go about and find our dead."
So they went over all the battle-field. They put every man on his shield and carried him and laid him on a hill-top. They hung his sword over his shoulder and laid his spear by his side. So they laid all the dead together there on the hill-top. Then King Harald said, looking about:
"This is a good place to lie. It looks far over the country. The sound of the sea reaches it. The wind sweeps here. It is a good grave for Norsemen and Vikings. But it is a long road and a rough road to Valhalla that these men must travel. Let the nearest kinsman of each man come and tie on his hel-shoes. Tie them fast, for they will need them much on that hard road."
So friends tied shoes on the dead men's feet. Then King Harald said:
"Now let us make the mound."
Every man set to work with what tools he had and heaped earth over the dead until a great mound stood up. They piled stones on the top. On one of these stones King Harald made runes telling how these men had died.
After that was done King Harald said:
"Now set up the pole, Thorstein. Let every man bring to that pole all that he took from the foe."
So they did, and there was a great hill of things around it. Harald divided it into piles.
"This pile we will give to Thor in thanks for the victory," he said. "This pile is mine because I am king. Here are the piles for the chiefs, and these things go to the other men of the army."
So every man went away from that battle richer than he was before, and Thor looked down from Valhalla [omission] and was pleased.
The next morning King Harald led his army back. But on the way he met other foes, and had many battles, and did not lose one. The kings either died in battle or ran away, and Harald had their lands.
"He has kept his vow," men said, "and ground his father's foes under his heel."
So King Harald sat in peace for a while.
Narration and Discussion
Did King Harald keep his vow all by himself? What kind of help did he need?
Creative narration: We have not yet heard a song about this battle from Audun the skald. What do you think he might say?
Chapter Eight: Gyda's Saucy Message
Introduction
Those who complain there aren't enough girls in this story are compensated here. Harald hears of a young woman who is "fair and proud," but she unfortunately turns out to be a little too proud.
Vocabulary
make runes: write
herbs: plants used as medicine
wind's-eyes: windows (see note in Chapter One)
vikings: refers to raiders and robbers, not to Norse people in general
smart (verb): hurt
put our heads between his knees: a required part of the loyalty ceremony
People, Places, Events
Gyda: Although history is blurred on Gyda's identity, she seems most closely identified with Ragnhild the Mighty, the daughter of King Eirikr (here called King Eric).
Harald Shockhead: also translated as "Harald Horrid-locks" (see The Little Duke, Chapter 8 (Part 2). A nickname for Harald.
Reading
Part One
Now Harald heard men talk of Gyda, the daughter of King Eric.
"She is very beautiful," they said, "but she is very proud, too. She can both read and make runes. No other woman in the world knows so much about herbs as she does. She can cure any sickness. And she is proud of all this!"
Now when King Harald heard that, he thought to himself:
"Fair and proud. I like them both. I will have her for my wife."
So he called his uncle, Guthorm, and said:
"Take rich gifts and go to Gyda's [father] and tell him that I will marry Gyda."
So Guthorm and his men came to that house and they told [King Harald's] message to [her father]. Gyda was standing near, weaving a rich cloak. She heard the speech. She came up and said, holding her head high and curling her lip:
"I will not waste myself on a king of so few people. Norway is a strange country. There is a little king here and a little king there--hundreds of them scattered about. Now in Denmark there is but one great king over the whole land. And it is so in Sweden. Is no one brave enough to make all of Norway his own?"
She laughed a scornful laugh and walked away. The men stood with open mouths and stared after her. Could it be that she had sent that saucy message to King Harald? They looked at her [father]. He was chuckling in his beard and said nothing to them. They started out of the house in anger. When they were at the door, Gyda came up to them again and said:
"Give this message to your King Harald for me: I will not be his wife unless he puts all of Norway under him for my sake."
Part Two
So Guthorm and his men rode homeward across the country. They did not talk. They were all thinking. At last one said:
"How shall we give this message to the king?"
"I have been thinking of that," Guthorm said; "his anger is no little thing."
It was late when they rode into the king's yard; for they had ridden slowly, trying to make some plan for softening the message, but they had thought of none.
"I see light through the wind's-eyes of the feast hall," one said.
"Yes, the king keeps feast," Guthorm said. "We must give our message before all his guests."
So they went in with very heavy hearts. There sat King Harald in the high seat. The benches on both sides were full of men. The tables had been taken out, and the mead-horns were going round.
"Oh, ho!" cried King Harald. "Our messengers! What news?"
Then Guthorm said: "This Gyda is a bold and saucy girl, King Harald. My tongue refuses to give her message."
The king stamped his foot.
"Out with it!" he cried. "What does she say?"
"She says that she will not marry so little a king," Guthorm answered.
Harald jumped to his feet. His face flushed red. Guthorm stretched out his hand.
"They are not my words, O King; they are the words of a silly girl."
"Is there any more?" the king shouted. "Go on!"
"She said: 'There is one king in Denmark and one king in Sweden. Is there no man brave enough to make himself king of all Norway? Tell King Harald that I will not marry him unless he puts all of Norway under him for my sake.'"
The guests sat speechless, staring at Guthorm. All at once the king broke into a roar of laughter.
"By the hammer of Thor!" he cried, "that is a good message. I thank you, Gyda. Did you hear it, friends? King of all Norway! Why, we are all stupids. Why did we not think of that?"
Then he raised his horn high.
"Now hear my vow. I say that I will not cut my hair or comb it until I am king of all Norway. That I will be, or I will die."
Then he drank off the horn of mead, and while he drank it, all the men in the hall stood up and waved their swords and shouted and shouted. That old hall in all its two hundred years of feasts had not heard such a noise before.
"Ah, Harald!" Guthorm cried, "surely Thor in Valhalla smiled when he heard that vow."
The men sat all night talking of that wonderful vow.
Part Three
On the very next day King Harald sent out his war-arrows. Soon a great army was gathered. They marched through the country north and south and east and west, burning houses and fighting battles as they went. People fled before them, some to their own kings, some inland to the deep woods and hid there. But some went to King Harald and said:
"We will be your men."
"Then take the oath, and I will be friends with you," he said.
The men took off their swords and laid them down and came one by one and knelt before the king. They [each] said:
"From this day, Harald Halfdanson, I am your man. I will serve you in war. For my land I will pay you taxes. I will be faithful to you as my king."
Then Harald said: "I am your king, and I will be faithful to you."
Many kings took that oath and thousands of common men. Of all the battles that Harald fought, he did not lose one.
Part Four
Now for a long time the king's hair and beard had not been combed or cut. They stood out around his head in a great bushy mat of yellow. At a feast one day when the jokes were going round, Harald's uncle said:
"Harald, I will give you a new name. After this you shall be called Harald Shockhead. As my naming gift I give you this drinking-horn."
"It is a good name," laughed all the men.
After that all people called him Harald Shockhead.
During these wars, whenever King Harald got a country for his own, this is what he did. He said:
"All the marshland and the woodland where no people live is mine. For his farm every man shall pay me taxes."
Over every country he put some brave, wise man and called him [the] Earl [of that place]. He said to the earls:
"You shall collect the taxes and pay them to me. But some you shall keep for yourselves. You shall punish any man who steals or murders or does any wicked thing. When your people are in trouble they shall come to you, and you shall set the thing right. You must keep peace in the land. I will not have my people troubled with robber-vikings."
The earls did all these things as best they could; for they were good strong men. The farmers were happy. They said:
"We can work on our farms with peace now. Before King Harald came, something was always wrong. The vikings would come and steal our gold and our grain and burn our houses, or the king would call us to war. Those little kings are always fighting. It is better under King Harald."
Part Five
But the chiefs, who liked to fight and go a-viking, hated King Harald and his new ways. One of these chiefs was [named] Solfi. He was a king's son. Harald had killed his father in battle. Solfi had been in that battle. At the end of it he fled away with two hundred men and got into ships.
"We will make that Shockhead smart," he said.
So they harried the coast of King Harald's country. They filled their ships with gold. They ate other men's meals. They burned farmhouses behind them. The people cried out to the earls for help. So the earls had out their ships all the time trying to catch Solfi, but he was too clever for them.
In the spring, [Solfi] went to a certain king, Audbiorn, and said to him:
"Now, there are two things that we can do. We can become this Shockhead Harald's thralls, [and] we can kneel before him and put our heads between his knees. Or else we can fight. My father thought it better to die in battle than to be any man's thrall. How is it? Will you join with my cousin Arnvid and me against this young Shockhead?"
"Yes, I will do it," said the king.
Narration and Discussion
What is Harald's new vow? Do you think he will be able to keep it?
Why were some people happy under Harald's rule, but not others?
Creative narration: Can you imagine making a vow not to comb your hair? What are some difficulties you might get into? (Somewhat along the same lines: "The Radish Cure" in Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.)
Chapter Nine: The Sea Fight
Introduction
King Harald's enemies have gathered against him, but he is prepared for the fight--especially if it means winning Gyda's hand in marriage. (And being able to comb his hair again.)
Vocabulary
prow: the part of a ship's bow (front portion) which is above water
veer: turn suddenly
cables: ropes
stern: back part of the ship
furled: rolled up
gunwale: the upper edge of the side of a ship (where, in later times, one might have rested guns or cannons)
prow to prow: nose to nose
People, Places, Events
King Arnvid: a king who fought in the Second Battle of Solskjel against Harald Fairhair in 870.
Ran: Ran was the wife of Aegir, the Norse god of the sea.
Reading
Part One
Many men felt as Solfi did. So when King Audbiorn and King Arnvid sent out their war arrows, a great host gathered. All men came by sea. Two hundred ships lay at anchor in the fiord, looking like strange swimming animals because of their high carved prows and bright paint. There were red and gold dragons with long necks and curved tails. Sea-horses reared out of the water. Green and gold snakes coiled up. Sea-hawks sat with spread wings ready to fly. And among all these curved necks stood up the tall, straight masts with the long yardarms swinging across them holding the looped-up sails.
When the starting horn blew, and their sails were let down, it was like the spreading of hundreds of curious flags. Some were striped black and yellow or blue and gold. Some were white with a black raven or a brown bear embroidered on them, or blue with a white sea-hawk, or black with a gold sun. Some were edged with fur. As the wind filled the [omission] sails, and the ships moved off, the [kings'] men waved their hands to the women on shore and sang:
"To the sea! To the sea!
The wind in our sail,
The sea in our face,
And the smell of the fight.
After ship meets ship,
In the quarrel of swords
King Harald shall lie
In the caves under sea
And Norsemen shall laugh."
Part Two
In the prow stood men leaning forward and sniffing the salt air with joy. Some were talking of King Harald.
"Yesterday he had a hard fight," they said. "Today he will be lying still, dressing his wounds and mending his ships. We shall take him by surprise."
They sailed near the coast. Solfi in his "Sea-hawk" was ahead, leading the way. Suddenly men saw his sail veer and his oars flash out. He had quickly turned his boat and was rowing back. He came close to King Arnvid and called:
"He is there, ahead. His boats are ready in line of battle. The fox has not been asleep."
King Arnvid blew his horn. Slowly his boats came into line with his "Sea-stag" in the middle. Again he blew his horn. Cables were thrown across from one prow to the next, and all the ships were tied together so that their sides touched. Then the men set their sails again and they went past a tongue of land into a broad fiord. There lay the long line of King Harald's ships with their fierce heads grinning and mocking at the newcomers. Back of those prows was what looked like a long wall with spots of green and red and blue and yellow and shining gold. It was the locked shields of the men in the bows, and over every shield looked fierce blue eyes. Higher up and farther back was another wall of shields; for on the half deck in the stern of every ship stood the captain with his shield-guard of a dozen men.
Arnvid's people had furled their sails and were taking down the masts, but the ships were still drifting on with the wind. The horn blew, and quickly every man sprang to his place in bow and stern. All were leaning forward with clenched teeth and widespread nostrils. They were clutching their naked swords in their hands. Their flashing eyes looked over their shields.
Part Three
Soon King Arnvid's ships crashed into Harald's line, and immediately the men in the bows began to swing their swords at one another. The soldiers of the shield-guard on the high decks began to throw darts and stones and to shoot arrows into the ships opposite them.
So in every ship showers of stones and arrows were falling, and many men died under them or got broken arms or legs. Spears were hurled from deck to deck and many of them bit deep into men's bodies. In every bow men slashed with their swords at the foes in the opposite ship. Some jumped upon the gunwale to get nearer or hung from the prow-head. Some even leaped into the enemy's boat.
King Harald's ship lay prow to prow with King Arnvid's. The battle had been going on for an hour. King Harald was still in the stern on the deck. There was a dent in his helmet where a great stone had struck. There was a gash in his shoulder where a spear had cut. But he was still fighting and laughed as he worked.
"Wolf meets wolf to-day," he said. "But things are going badly in the prow," he cried. "Ivar fallen, Thorstein wounded, a dozen men lying in the bottom of the boat!"
He leaped down from the deck and ran along the gunwale, shouting as he went:
"Harald and victory!"
So he came to the bow and stood swinging his sword as fast as he breathed. Every time it hit a man of Arnvid's men. Harald's own warriors cheered, seeing him.
"Harald and victory!" they shouted, and went to work again with good heart.
Part Four
Slowly King Arnvid's men fell back before Harald's biting sword. Then Harald's men threw a great hook into that boat and pulled it alongside and still pushed King Arnvid's people back.
"Come on! Follow me!" cried Harald.
Then he leaped into King Arnvid's boat, and his warriors followed him.
"He comes like a mad wolf," King Arnvid's men said, and they turned and ran back below the deck.
Then Arnvid himself leaped down and stood with his sword raised.
"Can this young Shockhead make cowards of you all?" he cried.
But Harald's sword struck him, and he fell dead. Then a big, bloody Viking of King Arnvid leaped upon the edge of the ship and stood there. He held his drinking-horn and his sword high in his hands.
"Ran and not you, Shockhead, shall have them and me!" he cried, and leaped laughing into the water and was drowned.
Many other warriors chose the same death on that terrible day.
All along the line of boats men fought for hours. In some places the cables had been cut, and the boats had drifted apart. Ships lay scattered about two by two, fighting. Many boats sank, many men died, some fled away in their ships, and at the end King Harald had won the battle. So he had King Arnvid's country, and King Audbiorn's country. Many men took the [loyalty] oath and became his friends. All people were talking of his wonderful battles.
Narration and Discussion
How did Harald win the battle against these enemies?
What do you think he will do next?
For further discussion: "He comes like a mad wolf," King Arnvid's men said. Does that remind you of earlier chapters in the book?
Creative narration: What do you think of the men's sea song? Do you know any other good sea songs (perhaps not about fighting)? Here are some from the AO Folk Songs list: "Skye Boat Song"; "There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea"; "The Saucy Sailor." Perhaps that last one would be a good one for Harald to sing to Gyda. "I will cross the briny ocean, I will whistle and I'll sing; Since you have refused the offer, love, Another girl shall have the ring."
Chapter Ten: King Harald's Wedding
Introduction
After ten years of fighting (and tangled hair), Harald decides it is time to earn himself a new nickname.
Vocabulary
girdle: belt, sash
Better With Pictures
It is not hard to find online photographs of a "Viking wedding," because such weddings have become popular in recent years. However, most of the extra information on those websites will not be of interest to (or appropriate for) Year One students. The description given in this chapter would seem to be enough for students to create their own illustrations of the wedding.
Reading
Part One
It had taken King Harald ten years to fight so many battles. And all that time he had not cut his hair or combed it. Now he was feasting one day at an earl's house. Many people were there.
"How is it, friends?" Harald said. "Have I kept my vow?"
His friends answered:
"You have kept your vow. There is no king but you in all Norway."
"Then I think I will cut my hair," the king laughed.
So he went and bathed and put on fresh clothes. Then the earl cut his hair and beard, and combed them, and put a gold band about his head. Then he looked at [his hair] and said:
"It is beautiful, smooth, and yellow."
And all people wondered at the beauty of the king's hair.
"I will give you a new name," the earl said. "You shall no longer be called Shockhead. You shall be called 'Harald Fairhair.'"
"It is a good name," everybody cried.
Part Two
Then Harald said: "But I have another thing to do now. Guthorm, you shall take the same message to Gyda that you gave ten years ago."
So Guthorm went and brought back this answer from Gyda:
"I will marry the king of all Norway."
So when the wedding time came, Harald rode across the country to the home of Gyda's father, Eric. Many men followed him. They were all richly dressed in velvet and gold.
For three nights they feasted at Eric's house. On the next night Gyda sat on the cross-bench with her women. A long veil of white linen covered her face and head and hung down to the ground. After the mead-horns had been brought in, Eric stood up from his high seat and went down and stood before King Harald.
"Will you marry Gyda now?" he asked.
Harald jumped to his feet and laughed.
"Yes," he said. "I have waited long enough."
Then he stepped down from his high seat and stood by Eric. They walked about the hall. Before them walked thralls carrying candles. Behind them walked many of King Harald's great earls. Three times they walked around the hall. The third time they stopped before the cross-bench. King Harald and Eric stepped upon the platform, where the cross-bench was.
Eric gave a holy hammer to Harald, and it was like the hammer of Thor. Harald put it upon Gyda's lap, saying:
"With this holy hammer of Thor's, I, Harald, King of Norway, take you, Gyda, for my wife."
Then he took a bunch of keys and tied it to Gyda's girdle, saying:
"This is the sign that you are mistress of my house."
After that, Eric called out loudly:
"Now are Harald, King of Norway, and Gyda, daughter of Eric, man and wife."
Then thralls brought meat and drink in golden dishes. They were about to serve it to Gyda for the bride's feast, but Harald took the dish from them and said:
"No, I will serve my bride."
So he knelt and held the platter. When he did that his men shouted. Then they talked among themselves, saying:
"Surely Harald never knelt before. It is always other people who kneel to him."
When the bride had tasted the food and touched the mead-horn to her lips, she stood up and walked from the hall. All her women followed her, but the men stayed and feasted long.
Part Three
On the next morning at breakfast Gyda sat by Harald's side. Soon the king rose and said:
"Father-in-law, our horses stand ready in the yard. Work is waiting for me at home and on the sea. Lead out the bride."
So Eric took Gyda by the hand and led her out of the hall. Harald followed close. When they passed through the door Eric said:
"With this hand I lead my daughter out of my house and give her to you, Harald, son of Halfdan, to be your wife. May all the gods make you happy!"
Harald led his bride to the horse and lifted her up and set her behind his saddle and said: "Now this Gyda is my wife."
Then they drank the stirrup-horn and rode off.
"Everything comes to King Harald," his men said; "wife and land and crown and victory in battle. He is a lucky man."
Narration and Discussion
What was your favourite part of the wedding ceremony?
Why does Harald say that "work is waiting for me at home and on the sea?" Should the king of Norway have to work?
For further thought: People said that Harald was a "lucky man" for gaining so many good things. Do you think he was just lucky, or did he make his own luck?
Creative narration: What might the skalds sing about Harald and Gyda's wedding?
Chapter Eleven: King Harald Goes West-Over-Seas
Introduction
In Chapter Ten we had our "happy ending," but now we find out that some people still did not live happily under Harald's rule. This chapter will lead us into the era of Norsemen who settled in new lands, such as Leif Ericson and "Big Rolf-go-afoot." We will learn more about each of them in AO Year Two (Form IB).
Vocabulary
say them nay: do or say anything against them
People, Places, Events
Big Rolf-go-afoot: the first ruler of Normandy, and the grandfather of Richard, The Little Duke. His name can be translated as Hrólfr the Walker; but he is also called Rollo.
the great French River: the Seine
Normandy: Normandy is now a part of France, but at that time (as you will read in The Little Duke), it was a "duchy," ruled over by a duke.
his sons' sons after him were kings of England: See An Island Story, chapter 24, "The Battle of Hastings."
Reading
Part One
Now many men hated King Harald. Many a man said:
"Why should he put himself up for king of all of us? He is no better than I am. Am I not a king's son as well as he? And are not many of us kings' sons? I will not kneel before him and promise to be his man. I will not pay him taxes. I will not have his earl sitting over me. The good old days have gone. This Norway has become a prison. I will go away and find some other place."
So hundreds of men sailed away. Some went to France and got land and lived there. Big Rolf-go-afoot and all his men sailed up the great French River, and won a battle against the French king himself. There was no way to stop the flashing of his battle-axes but to give him what he wanted. So the king made Rolf a duke, gave him broad lands, and gave him the king's own daughter for wife. Rolf called his country Normandy, for old Norway. He ruled it well and was a great lord, and his sons' sons after him were kings of England.
Other Norsemen went to Ireland and England and Scotland. They drew up their boats on the river banks. The people ran away before them and gathered into great armies that marched back to meet the Vikings in battle. Sometimes the Norsemen lost, but oftener they won, so that they got land and lived in those countries. Their houses sat in these strange lands like warriors' camps, and the Norsemen went among their new neighbors with hanging swords and spears in hand, ever ready for fight.
There are many islands north of Scotland. They are called the Orkneys and the Shetlands. They have many good harbors for ships. They are little and rocky and bare of trees. Wild sea-birds scream around them. On some of them a man can stand in the middle and see the ocean all about him. Now the Vikings sailed to these islands and were pleased.
"It is like being always in a boat," they said. "This shall be our home."
Part Two
So it went until all the lands round about were covered with Vikings. Norse carved and painted houses brightened the hillsides. Viking ships sailed all the seas and made harbor in every river. Norsemen's thralls plowed the soil and planted crops and herded cattle, and gold flowed into their masters' treasure-chests. Norse warriors walked up and down the land, and no man dared to say them nay.
These men did not forget Norway. In the summers they sailed back there and harried the coast. They took gold and grain and beautiful cloth back to their homes. In Norway they left burning houses and weeping women.
Every summer King Harald had out his ships and men and hunted these vikings. There are many little islands about Norway. They have crags and caves and deep woods. Here the vikings hid when they saw King Harald's ships coming. But Harald ran his boat into every creek and fiord and hunted in every cave and through all the woods and among the crags. He caught many men, but most of them got away and went home laughing at Harald. Then they came back the next summer and did the same deeds over again. At last King Harald said:
"There is but one thing to do. I must sail to these western islands and whip these robbers in their own homes."
Part Three
So he went with a great number of ships. He found men [as brave as those] he had brought from Norway. These Vikings had brought their old courage to their new homes. King Harald's fine ships were scarred by Viking stones and scorched by Viking fire. The shields of Harald's warriors had dents from Viking blows. Many of those men carried Viking scars all their lives. And many of King Harald's warriors walked the long, hard road to Valhalla, and feasted there with some of these very Vikings that had died in King Harald's battles. But after many hard fights on land and sea, after many men had died and many had fled away to other lands, King Harald won, and he made the men that were yet in the islands take the oath, and he left his earls to rule over them. Then he went back to Norway.
"He has done more than he vowed to do," people said. "He has not only whipped the Vikings, but he has got a new kingdom west-over-seas."
Then they talked of that dream that his mother had.
"King Harald was that great tree," they said. "The trunk was red with the blood of his many battles, but higher up the limbs were fair and green like this good time of peace. The topmost branches were white because Harald will live to be an old man. Just as that tree spread out until all of Norway was in its shade, and even more lands, so Harald is king of all this country and of the western islands. The many branches of that tree are the many sons of Harald, who shall be earls and kings in Norway, and their sons after them, for hundreds of years."
Narration and Discussion
Why did some people feel Norway had become a prison?
Why was it so difficult for King Harald to fight against the Norsemen who had settled in the western islands?
What was your favourite part of this book? What would you like (or not like) about living in Harald's time?
Examination Questions for Viking Tales
Choose one or more of these questions.
1. Tell a story about Harald's childhood.
2. Tell what you know about a Viking funeral or a Viking wedding.
3. How did Harald get to be king of all Norway?
Copyright Anne White, 2024