CHAPTER XXV--THE HOST OF THE MARKMEN COMETH INTO THE WILD-WOOD
Yet though the Romans were gone, the Goth-folk were very hard bested.They had been overthrown, not sorely maybe if they had been in an alienland, and free to come and go as they would; yet sorely as things were,because the foeman was sitting in their own House, and they must needsdrag him out of it or perish: and to many the days seemed evil, and theGods fighting against them, and both the Wolfings and the other kindredsbethought them of the Hall-Sun and her wisdom and longed to hear oftidings concerning her.
But now the word ran through the host that Thiodolf was certainly notslain. Slowly he had come to himself, and yet was not himself, for hesat among his men gloomy and silent, clean contrary to his wont; forhitherto he had been a merry man, and a joyous fellow.
Amidst of the ridge whereon the Markmen now abode, there was a ring madeof the chief warriors and captains and wise men who had not been slain orgrievously hurt in the fray, and amidst them all sat Thiodolf on theground, his chin sunken on his breast, looking more like a captive thanthe leader of a host amidst of his men; and that the more as his scabbardwas empty; for when Throng-plough had fallen from his hand, it had beentrodden under foot, and lost in the turmoil. There he sat, and theothers in that ring of men looked sadly upon him; such as Arinbiorn ofthe Bearings, and Wolfkettle and Thorolf of his own House, and Hiarandiof the Elkings, and Geirbald the Shielding, the messenger of the woods,and Fox who had seen the Roman Garth, and many others. It was night now,and men had lighted fires about the host, for they said that the Romansknew where to find them if they listed to seek; and about those fireswere men eating and drinking what they might come at, but amidmost ofthat ring was the biggest fire, and men turned them towards it forcounsel and help, for elsewhere none said, "What do we?" for they wereheavy-hearted and redeless, since the Gods had taken the victory out oftheir hands just when they seemed at point to win it.
But amidst all this there was a little stir outside that biggest ring,and men parted, and through them came a swain amongst the chiefs, andsaid, "Who will lead me to the War-duke?"
Thiodolf, who was close beside the lad, answered never a word; butArinbiorn said; "This man here sitting is the War-duke: speak to him, forhe may hearken to thee: but first who art thou?"
Said the lad; "My name is Ali the son of Grey, and I come with a messagefrom the Hall-Sun and the stay-at-homes who are in the Woodland."
Now when he named the Hall-Sun Thiodolf started and looked up, andturning to his left-hand said, "And what sayeth thy daughter?"
Men did not heed that he said _thy_ daughter, but deemed that he said_my_ daughter, since he was wont as her would-be foster-father to callher so. But Ali spake:
"War-duke and ye chieftains, thus saith the Hall-Sun: 'I know that bythis time Otter hath been slain and many another, and ye have beenoverthrown and chased by the Romans, and that now there is little counselin you except to abide the foe where ye are and there to die valiantly.But now do my bidding and as I am bidden, and then whosoever dieth orliveth, the kindreds shall vanquish that they may live and grow greater.Do ye thus: the Romans think no otherwise but to find you here to-morrowor else departed across the water as broken men, and they will fall uponyou with their whole host, and then make a war-garth after their mannerat Wolf-stead and carry fire and the sword and the chains of thralldominto every House of the Mark. Now therefore fetch a compass and comeinto the wood on the north-west of the houses and make your way to theThing-stead of the Mid-mark. For who knoweth but that to-morrow we mayfall upon these thieves again? Of this shall ye hear more when we mayspeak together and take counsel face to face; for we stay-at-homes knowsomewhat closely of the ways of these Romans. Haste then! let not thegrass grow over your feet!
"'But to thee, Thiodolf, have I a word to say when we meet; for I wotthat as now thou canst not hearken to my word.' Thus saith theHall-Sun."
"Wilt thou speak, War-duke?" said Arinbiorn. But Thiodolf shook hishead. Then said Arinbiorn; "Shall I speak for thee?" and Thiodolf noddedyea. Then said Arinbiorn: "Ali son of Grey, art thou going back to herthat sent thee?"
"Yea," said the lad, "but in your company, for ye will be comingstraightway and I know all the ways closely; and there is need for aguide through the dark night as ye will see presently."
Then stood up Arinbiorn and said: "Chiefs and captains, go ye speedilyand array your men for departure: bid them leave all the fires burningand come their ways as silently as maybe; for now will we wend this samehour before moonrise into the Wild-wood and the Thing-stead of Mid-mark;thus saith the War-duke."
But when they were gone, and Arinbiorn and Thiodolf were left alone,Thiodolf lifted up his head and spake slowly and painfully:
"Arinbiorn, I thank thee: and thou dost well to lead this folk: since asfor me that is somewhat that weighs me down, and I know not whether it belife or death; therefore I may no longer be your captain, for twice nowhave I blenched from the battle. Yet command me, and I will obey, set asword in my hand and I will smite, till the God snatches it out of myhand, as he did Throng-plough to-day."
"And that is well," said Arinbiorn, "it may be that ye shall meet thatGod to-morrow, and heave up sword against him, and either overcome him orgo to thy fathers a proud and valiant man."
So they spake, and Thiodolf stood up and seemed of better cheer. Butpresently the whole host was afoot, and they went their ways warily withlittle noise, and wound little by little about the Wolfing meadow andabout the acres towards the wood at the back of the Houses; and they metnothing by the way except an out-guard of the Romans, whom they slewthere nigh silently, and bore away their bodies, twelve in number, lestthe Romans when they sent to change the guard, should find the slain andhave an inkling of the way the Goths were gone; but now they deemed thatthe Romans might think their guard fled, or perchance that they had beencarried away by the Gods of the woodland folk.
So came they into the wood, and Arinbiorn and the chiefs were forstriking the All-men's road to the Thing-stead and so coming thither; butthe lad Ali when he heard it laughed and said:
"If ye would sleep to-night ye shall wend another way. For the Hall-Sunhath had us at work cumbering it against the foe with great trees felledwith limbs, branches, and all. And indeed ye shall find the Thing-steadfenced like a castle, and the in-gate hard to find; yet will I bring youthither."
So did he without delay, and presently they came anigh the Thing-stead;and the place was fenced cunningly, so that if men would enter they mustgo by a narrow way that had a fence of tree-trunks on each side wendinginward like the maze in a pleasance. Thereby now wended the host allafoot, since it was a holy place and no beast must set foot therein, sothat the horses were left without it: so slowly and right quietly oncemore they came into the garth of the Thing-stead; and lo, a many folkthere, of the Wolfings and the Bearings and other kindreds, who hadgathered thereto; and albeit these were not warriors in their prime, yetwere there none save the young children and the weaker of the women buthad weapons of some kind; and they were well ordered, standing or sittingin ranks like folk awaiting battle. There were booths of boughs andrushes set up for shelter of the feebler women and the old men andchildren along the edges of the fence, for the Hall-Sun had bidden themkeep the space clear round about the Doom-ring and the Hill-of-Speech asif for a mighty folk-mote, so that the warriors might have room to musterthere and order their array. There were some cooking-fires lighted aboutthe aforesaid booths, but neither many nor great, and they were screenedwith wattle from the side that lay toward the Romans; for the Hall-Sunwould not that they should hold up lanterns for their foemen to find themby. Little noise there was in that stronghold, moreover, for the heartsof all who knew their right hands from their left were set on battle andthe destruction of the foe that would destroy the kindreds.
Anigh the Speech-Hill, on its eastern side, had the bole of a slenderbeech tree been set up, and at the top of it a cross-beam was nailed on,and therefrom hung the wondrous
lamp, the Hall-Sun, glimmering from onhigh, and though its light was but a glimmer amongst the mighty wood, yetwas it also screened on three sides from the sight of the chance wandererby wings of thin plank. But beneath her namesake as beforetime in theHall sat the Hall-Sun, the maiden, on a heap of faggots, and she waswrapped in a dark blue cloak from under which gleamed the folds of thefair golden-broidered gown she was wont to wear at folk-motes, and herright hand rested on a naked sword that lay across her knees: beside hersat the old man Sorli, the Wise in War, and about her were slim lads andsturdy maidens and old carles of the thralls or freedmen ready to bearthe commands that came from her mouth; for she and Sorli were thecaptains of the stay-at-homes.
Now came Thiodolf and Arinbiorn and other leaders into the ring of menbefore her, and she greeted them kindly and said:
"Hail, Sons of Tyr! now that I behold you again it seemeth to me as ifall were already won: the time of waiting hath been weary, and we haveborne the burden of fear every day from morn till even, and in the wakinghour we presently remembered it. But now ye are come, even if this Thing-stead were lighted by the flames of the Wolfing Roof instead of by thesemoonbeams; even if we had to begin again and seek new dwellings, andanother water and other meadows, yet great should grow the kindreds ofthe Men who have dwelt in the Mark, and nought should overshadow them:and though the beasts and the Romans were dwelling in their old places,yet should these kindreds make new clearings in the Wild-wood; and theywith their deeds should cause other waters to be famous, that as yet haveknown no deeds of man; and they should compel the Earth to bear increaseround about their dwelling-places for the welfare of the kindreds. OSons of Tyr, friendly are your faces, and undismayed, and the Terror ofthe Nations has not made you afraid any more than would the onrush of thebisons that feed adown the grass hills. Happy is the eve, O children ofthe Goths, yet shall to-morrow morn be happier."
Many heard what she spake, and a murmur of joy ran through the ranks ofmen: for they deemed her words to forecast victory.
And now amidst her speaking, the moon, which had arisen on Mid-mark, whenthe host first entered into the wood, had overtopped the tall trees thatstood like a green wall round about the Thing-stead, and shone down onthat assembly, and flashed coldly back from the arms of the warriors. Andthe Hall-Sun cast off her dark blue cloak and stood up in hergolden-broidered raiment, which flashed back the grey light like as ithad been an icicle hanging from the roof of some hall in the midnight ofYule, when the feast is high within, and without the world is silent withthe night of the ten-weeks' frost.
Then she spake again: "O War-duke, thy mouth is silent; speak to thiswarrior of the Bearings that he bid the host what to do; for wise are yeboth, and dear are the minutes of this night and should not be wasted;since they bring about the salvation of the Wolfings, and the vengeanceof the Bearings, and the hope renewed of all the kindreds."
Then Thiodolf abode a while with his head down cast; his bosom heaved,and he set his left hand to his swordless scabbard, and his right to histhroat, as though he were sore troubled with something he might not tellof: but at last he lifted up his head and spoke to Arinbiorn, but slowlyand painfully, as he had spoken before:
"Chief of the Bearings, go up on to the Hill of Speech, and speak to thefolk out of thy wisdom, and let them know that to-morrow early before thesun-rising those that may, and are not bound by the Gods against it,shall do deeds according to their might, and win rest for themselves, andnew days of deeds for the kindreds."
Therewith he ceased, and let his head fall again, and the Hall-Sun lookedat him askance. But Arinbiorn clomb the Speech-Hill and said:
"Men of the kindreds, it is now a few days since we first met the Romansand fought with them; and whiles we have had the better, and whiles theworse in our dealings, as oft in war befalleth: for they are men, and weno less than men. But now look to it what ye will do; for we may nolonger endure these outlanders in our houses, and we must either die orget our own again: and that is not merely a few wares stored up for use,nor a few head of neat, nor certain timbers piled up into a dwelling, butthe life we have made in the land we have made. I show you no choice,for no choice there is. Here are we bare of everything in the wild-wood:for the most part our children are crying for us at home, our wives arelonging for us in our houses, and if we come not to them in kindness, theRomans shall come to them in grimness. Down yonder in the plain,moreover, is our wain-burg slowly drawing near to us, and with it is muchlivelihood of ours, which is a little thing, for we may get more; butalso there are our banners of battle and the tokens of the kindred, whichis a great thing. And between all this and us there lieth but little;nought but a band of valiant men, and a few swords and spears, and a fewwounds, and the hope of death amidst the praise of the people; and thisye have to set out to wend across within two or three hours. I will notask if ye will do so, for I wot that even so ye will; therefore when Ihave done, shout not, nor clash sword on shield, for we are no great wayoff that house of ours wherein dwells the foe that would destroy us. Leteach man rest as he may, and sleep if he may with his war-gear on him andhis weapons by his side, and when he is next awakened by the captains andthe leaders of hundreds and scores, let him not think that it is night,but let him betake himself to his place among his kindred and be ready togo through the wood with as little noise as may be. Now all is said thatthe War-duke would have me say, and to-morrow shall those see him who areforemost in falling upon the foemen, for he longeth sorely for his seaton the days of the Wolfing Hall."
So he spake, and even as he bade them, they made no sound save a joyousmurmur; and straightway the more part of them betook themselves to sleepas men who must busy themselves about a weighty matter; for they werewise in the ways of war. So sank all the host to the ground save thosewho were appointed as watchers of the night, and Arinbiorn and Thiodolfand the Hall-Sun; they three yet stood together; and Arinbiorn said:
"Now it seems to me not so much as if we had vanquished the foe and weresafe and at rest, but rather as if we had no foemen and never have had.Deep peace is on me, though hitherto I have been deemed a wrathful man,and it is to me as if the kindreds that I love had filled the wholeearth, and left no room for foemen: even so it may really be one day. To-night it is well, yet to-morrow it shall be better. What thine errandmay be, Thiodolf, I scarce know; for something hath changed in thee, andthou art become strange to us. But as for mine errand, I will tell itthee; it is that I am seeking Otter of the Laxings, my friend and fellow,whose wisdom my foolishness drave under the point and edge of the Romans,so that he is no longer here; I am seeking him, and to-morrow I think Ishall find him, for he hath not had time to travel far, and we shall beblithe and merry together. And now will I sleep; for I have bidden thewatchers awaken me if any need be. Sleep thou also, Thiodolf! and wakeup thine old self when the moon is low." Therewith he laid himself downunder the lee of the pile of faggots, and was presently asleep.