The Paladins of Edwin the Great

  CHAPTER I

  STILLINGFLEET

  The sacred ash tree spread its wide leafy branches over the court ofthe Stillingas. On one side of this court was the long hall, built oftimber, with quaintly-carved joists and gables, on two others were thebarns and cattle-sheds, the whole being surrounded by a stiff quicksethedge concealing the view of the open country. This ash was not onlysacred from its size and antiquity, and as an emblem of the ash tree of_Yggdrasil_, but it also had an elf hole through which children couldbe passed, a peculiarity possessed by no other ash for miles around.Six children were dancing joyously round the tree one bright summerafternoon 1300 years ago, and making the whole place resound with merrylaughter. The eldest was twelve years of age, a sturdy, straight-limbedboy named Coelred, the eldest son of Seomel, the warrior chief of theStillingas. He had blue eyes and a sunburnt little face, with massesof brown hair falling over his shoulders. His brother Porlor, twoyears his junior, was a bright child with a dreamy, thoughtful lookin his eyes when at rest, and a strong little frame fit for sustainedwork even at that early age. Their companion, Hereric, numbering thesame years as Porlor, was an inch taller, and his hair was golden andglistened as the sun's rays rested on it. He was a young prince, sonof the warrior Elfric, the brother of Ella the king of Deira. Hislittle brother Osric was only three years of age. The four boys hadtwo girls for playfellows--Bergliot, the golden-haired princess, agedsix years, and Braga, or Bragaswith, the little sister of Coelred andPorlor. Ella, the king, lived at Aldby with his queen and his daughter,the princess Alca, aged sixteen, and the new-born prince Edwin, thehope of Deira. Elfric was established at the Aldwark, the remains ofthe imperial palace within the walls of Eburacum, or Eoforwic (York),as the English then called it. But he was a widower, and his childrenwere generally at Stillingfleet, under the care of the gentle wife ofSeomel, the British lady Volisia. Elfric himself was also a frequentvisitor, to consult with Seomel, his friend and companion in arms, overthe affairs of the frontier.

  Dancing Around the Sacred Ash]

  On that bright summer afternoon the Lady Volisia sat on a bench by thecarved door-post of the hall, her baby-girl Nanna asleep by her side.She was tall and slim, with a slightly aquiline nose and soft browneyes. She watched the happy group round the ash tree, a gentle smilelighting up her face as she bent again over her work. It consisted ofa bright-coloured scarf to which she was attaching tassels. Presentlythe children left off dancing and began passing each other through theelf hole. It was said to bring luck, but it was too rough a game forthe little ones, so the lady called the children to come round her, andtold them that they should play the chance game for the scarf. This wasone of the most ancient of all Teutonic games. Every child held theedge of the scarf with both hands. One was chosen to say a well-knownspell, touching a hand at each word, and the hand on which the lastword fell was dropped out. The spell was then repeated as often asnecessary, and the owner of the last hand left won the game. Twelvesmall hands held the scarf, and the Princess Bergliot said the spell.

  Thus it ran:

  _Hurli Burli_ _Scipa Hwede_ _Blypan Trothorn_ _Gang Feran_ _Eastor Gasta_ _Ut_.

  The final "_ut_" came to Hereric the Atheling, but he presented thescarf, with all the ardour of a lover of ten years old, to his littleplaymate Braga. At the moment that the happy and smiling child receivedit, a horn was heard in the distance, and all ran at full speed to thegateway left in the line of the defensive hedge. Coelred, the eldest,was allowed to rush on, but the rest were called back by Volisia toawait the arrivals within the courtyard.

  The view outside the surrounding hedge showed that the home of Seomel,the chief of the Stillingas, stood on the edge of a ridge runningeast and west, with a stream flowing through the valley below. Thehomesteads of the Stillingas, each with some tillage and pasturageround it, were built at intervals on either side of the stream, justclear of the highest flood. But beyond the narrow valley the wholelandscape consisted of one dense forest. The ridge was chiefly woodedwith ash trees, whence the name of Escrick (or Ashridge) for its moreeastern part, and a short steep hill led down from the gateway of theStillingfleet to the margin of the brook.

  Coelred ran down the hill, and his bare legs and feet carried himthrough the water and up the opposite side, just as the cavalcadeemerged from the forest. It consisted of Elfric the Atheling; Seomel,the chief of the Stillingas; Guthlaf, the chief of the Hemingas; thePrincess Alca, a young girl numbering sixteen summers, with her women;the gleeman Coifi; and a following of warriors returning from a shortcampaign against their northern neighbours of Bernicia. It is notcertain whether the ladies rode as is now the fashion. Some peoplemaintain that the Lady Wake, grandmother of the Fair Maid of Kent, wasthe first Englishwoman who used a side-saddle, 800 years afterwards.Others consider that the question is unsettled. At all events, whileGuthlaf took his leave and rode on to his more distant home with hisfollowers, and the Stillinga folk made for their homesteads in thevalley, the rest cantered up the hill and dismounted in the courtyard,where they were warmly greeted by Volisia and the children. Coelred ranlike a young deer by his father's horse, and it was his proud privilegeto assist the Lady Alca to dismount.

  Elfric and Seomel were men of gigantic proportions, tall, sinewy,and well knit, with blonde beards and fair hair flowing over theirshoulders, and of the same height. They wore over their linen tunicsleathern shirts with iron scales or rings sewn upon them in rows, overwhich were metal collars. Their hose were blue, cross-gartered fromankle to knee with strips of leather, and their shoes had an openingdown the instep tied close with thongs. On their left sides hung longsingle-edged iron swords, with hilts wrought of silver and bronze andscored with mystic runes, in wooden scabbards tipped and edged withbronze. Short daggers, called _seax_, were suspended from their girdleson the right side. The small round war-boards or shields, with an ironboss, were slung over their backs, and in their hands were the longashen spears. Their helmets were of leather bound with iron and crestedwith iron-wrought figures of wild boars with eyes of brass. Over theirarmoured shirts they wore embroidered cloaks of blue cloth, fastened ontheir shoulders with a golden and jewelled buckle. Coifi, the gleeman,was in less warlike guise. He wore a garment with tight sleeves andembroidered breast, not unlike a smock-frock, with a hood attached, hisfeet and legs being cross-gartered, while a small harp was suspendedround his neck and hung at his left side.

  The return from a warlike expedition was usually the occasion for afeast in the hall of the chief. It was so in this instance. As the sunwent down Alca and the children retired to rest in the inner rooms,while the servants prepared the meal. In the centre of the long hallwas the hearth-fire, with a hole in the roof for smoke; but now it wascovered with green boughs, and on either side of it the boards werefixed on trestles. The freemen, or _ceorls_, of the Stillingas andof the Atheling almost filled the great room, seated in rows on thebenches or settles, while the Prince and Seomel, with his wife, tooktheir places at the head of the upper board. Our English ancestors werevery clean, the use of baths was general, and before the Stillingas satdown to meat water was brought them for hands and feet. The fare wasgood and plentiful, meat being handed round on spits, while the hornswere filled with ale, and the warriors talked in groups over the eventsof the campaign. But it was not until the Lady Volisia had herselfhanded round the brimming mead-cups to her guests and had retired,that the harp and song were called for. Then all eyes turned to thefamous gleeman who had arrived in the Atheling's train from York. Noman in the kingdom came near him for depth of knowledge of the ancientreligion or of the folk-lore of the English. He stood by the chiefs atthe upper end of the hall and tuned the harp as the mead-cup circulated.

  Coifi sang that thrilling legend which never failed to arouse theenthusiasm of his countrymen, and which was peculiarly appropriateafter an expedition which had for its object the rescue of a Deirantown from a Bernician invasion. He told how the hero Beowulf came toHeorot with a
chosen band, to rescue the subjects of King Hrothgarfrom the cruelties of their fiendish enemy Grendel; how Beowulf,single-handed, tore the monster's arm from his shoulder; how he thenovercame Grendel's mother at the bottom of the sea with the aid of thesword Hrunting; and how he returned home victorious after this dreadencounter. The touches of nature in the descriptions of scenery, theexciting speeches and challenges, the warlike sentiments, went righthome to the hearts of his hearers, and loud and long was the applauseat the conclusion of each fytte or canto, when the mead-cup passedround, and Coifi paused for breath.

  And here the singer for his art Not all in vain may plead: The song that nerves a nation's heart Is in itself a deed.

  At length the long but inspiriting song was ended. Seomel and theAtheling retired, the Stillingas went to their homes, while straw wasshaken down along the hall, behind the mead-benches, as beds for thestrangers. An eventful day thus ended, and all was silence in thecourts of Seomel.