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"Thanks, kinsman, for the wish, if not for the welcome," replied the youth, somewhat stiffly, as he dismounted; "but it matters little to me whether our intercourse be pleasant or painful, so long as it is profitable. The men of Horlingdal send a message to Harald Haarfager; can my companion and I have speech with him?"
"From this I see," continued Erling in a tone of deep seriousness, "that the long-looked-for time is at last approaching. This battle that must surely come will decide the fate of freemen. King Harald Haarfager must now be crushed, or Norway shall be enslaved. Alric, my boy, thou hast been styled Lightfoot.
Next day there was great bustle at Ulfstede, and along the shores of the fiord, for the men of Horlingdal were busy launching their ships and making preparations to go to the Springs to meet and hold council with King Harald Haarfager.
It is impossible for us of Norway to understand the feelings or ideas of the men who have thus sold themselves for we have never known such tyranny having, as the scalds tell us, enjoyed our privileges, held our Things, and governed ourselves by means of the collective wisdom of the people ever since our forefathers came from the East; but I warn ye that if this man, Harald Haarfager, is allowed to have his will, our institutions shall be swept away, our privileges will depart, our rights will be crushed, and the time will come when it shall be said of Norsemen that they have utterly forgotten that they once were free!
But neither Gyda's love, nor the rude splendours of her father's court, can make Olaf forgetful of his claims upon the throne of Norway the inheritance of his father; and when that object of his just ambition is attained, and he is proclaimed King by general election of the Bonders, as his ancestor Harald Haarfager had been, his character deepens in earnestness as the sphere of his duties is enlarged.
"Ho! fellow," cried Glumm, "hast heard of King Harald Haarfager of late?" "The King is in guest-quarters in Updal," answered the thrall, "in the house of Jarl Rongvold, my master." "We must speed on," said Erling to Glumm, "if we would speak with the King before supper-time."
Busk ye for the fight, and briskly too, for when Harald Haarfager lifts his hand he is not slow to strike. Where is Alric?" "Here I am, father." "Hast fed well, boy?" "Aye, famously," answered Alric, wiping his mouth and tightening his belt. "Take the war-token, my son, and see that thou speed it well. Let it not fail for want of a messenger.
"Hah! let me get wind! nay, I have better news than that," exclaimed Alric; "Harald is coming King Harald Haarfager with a monstrous fleet of longships, cutters, dragons, and little boats, and a mighty host of men, to lay waste Horlingdal with fire and sword, and burn us all alive, perhaps eat us too, who knows!"
Harold Haarfager may have learnt in Constantinople to wash his face, and comb his beautiful hair, but I doubt if many of his followers imitated him.
"Self-defence against a tyrant." Hauskuld glanced at his comrade, and smiled sarcastically as he asked "And who may this tyrant be?" "Harald Haarfager, tyrant King of Norway," replied the lad stoutly. "I thought so," said Hauskuld, with a grim twist of his features.
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