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Now, however, after his long, yellow hair was combed and clipped, he was named Harald Fairhair, and by this name he was ever after known. Nor did the King forget Gyda, for whose sake he had made his vow. He sent for her, and she, as she had promised, came to marry the King of all Norway.
With the same rational and prudent policy, William respected the fallen royal families, both of Harold and of Edward; at least, he warred not against women; and the wealth and influence of the great English ladies was enormous. Edith, sister of Harold, and widow of the Confessor, lived in wealth and honor at Winchester. Gyda, Harold's mother, retained Exeter and her land.
'Norse habit, say rather, said Rollo, shaking his head; 'Norse habit, induced by Norse necessity. In many a Norwegian homestead you would get little besides porridge, often. But Gyda likes it, and so do I. At any rate, it is invariable for a Norse meal, in this house. It is one of the things which can be transplanted.
After that he subdued Hedemark, Ringerige, Gudbrandsdal, Hadeland, Raumarige, and the whole northern part of Vingulmark, and got possession of all the land as far south as the Glommen. It was at this time that he was taunted by the girl Gyda, and took the oath not to clip his hair until he had subdued the whole land as formerly related.
So he said, and so it is, and our England is rising from the strife into a mighty oneness that has never been hers before. We went to London before long to see the great wedding that was made for Godwine, my friend, and Gyda, the fair daughter of Ulf the jarl, and niece of Cnut himself. There also were Relf and the lady of Penhurst, and Eldred and Sexberga, and many more of Wulfnoth's thanes.
"Do they expect Swend Ulfsson, who never moved a finger yet, unless he saw that it would pay him within the hour, to spend blood and treasure in putting that puppet boy upon the throne instead of himself?" "Calm yourself, great Countess," said Hereward, with a smile. "The man who puts him on the throne will find it very easy to take him off again when he needs." "Pish!" said Gyda.
'Is she good? was the first word that Gyda spoke in this connection, as naïvely as possible. It was rather directed to Rollo. The girl's colour had stirred and mounted under the scrutiny, until interest nearly put shyness out of sight; and the winsome brown eyes now looked at Gyda more wistful than afraid.
But now when he came in for Wych Hazel he went up to where Gyda was standing, bent down and kissed her. 'Miss Kennedy, have you said "Tak för maden?" 'I? No. How should I? said Wych Hazel; 'is it a spell? 'Come here, said he, laughing. 'You must shake hands with Gyda and say, "Tak för maden;" that is, "Thanks for the meat." That is Norwegian good manners, and you are in a Norwegian house.
'I am afraid you are mistaken, said Rollo, gravely. 'The manner and accent of the girl made me apprehend danger of some annoyance which I think she went to prevent. The road being a cul de sac, she knew, and they knew, we must come back that way. Gyda will find out all about it; but she said it meant mischief. 'Mischief? To us? 'Yes.
This I now solemnly vow and call God to witness, that I will not cut or comb my hair until the day when I shall have made myself king of all Norway. If I fail in this, I shall die in the attempt." Such is the legend of Gyda and the vow. What history tells us is that the young king set out to bring all Norway under his rule and prospered in the great enterprise.
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