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SIGURD SLEMBE 
 
 91 SDtamatit Crilogp 
 
 BY 
 
 BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE NORWEGIAN 
 
 By WILLIAM MORTON PAYNE 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 
 1888 
 
Copyright, 1888, 
 By WILLIAM MORTON PAYNE. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 The Riverside Press, Cambridge : 
 Electrotyped and Printed by H. 0. Houghton & Co. 
 
PT ^s/^ 
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 The work here reproduced is probably the noblest 
 production of a literature which, while neither very rich 
 nor very ancient, still deserves to be better known to 
 English readers than it is. Bjomstjerne Bjornson, who 
 may be said to have created that literature, still remains 
 its most conspicuous figure, although his later work 
 suffers, artistically speaking, from the too obvious en- 
 listment of the author's genius in the service of political 
 and social reform. 
 
 To the majority of English readers BjOrnson is known 
 solely as. the author of a series of charming stories of 
 Norwegian peasant life. These stories have been made 
 familiar by repeated translations into English, from the 
 version of " SynnOve Solbakken," prepared by Mary 
 Howitt in 1858, to the recently published uniform edition 
 of all the stories, which we owe to Professor Rasmus B. 
 Anderson. But to his countrymen Bjornson's fame is 
 far from being founded upon these stories alone. He 
 is chiefly great, not as a novelist, but as a lyric and dra- 
 matic poet, and in these phases of his literary activity 
 he is practically unknown to English readers. Yet it is 
 impossible to form any adequate estimate of his genius 
 without taking account of his verse as well as of his 
 prose, and of his dramas no less than of his idyllic tales. 
 
 A^646043 
 
iv TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 Of the long series of dramatic works in prose and verse 
 which he has produced, the trilogy of " Sigurd Slembe " 
 is altogether the finest ; it is characterized by the great- 
 est breadth of treatment, by the most masterly delinea- 
 tion of character, and by the highest poetic truth. 
 
 Bjornson is the great national writer of Norway be- 
 cause his finer work deals with national themes. His 
 contemporary, Ibsen, endowed with genius of a high 
 order, has chosen to be cosmopohtan rather than national, 
 and so the claim made for Bjornson cannot be disputed 
 on behalf of his most famous fellow-worker in the field 
 of letters. Bjornson's tales of peasant life are purely 
 national, his more poetic dramas are no less so, and his 
 best lyrics are true northland notes. Norway is peculiarly 
 rich in materials for a national literature. It is, more 
 than any other part of Europe, the home of that rich 
 mythology which has so profoundly influenced Teutonic 
 thought, and which, had conditions been more favorable, 
 might have borne in earlier times a fruitage comparable 
 for poetic wealth with that of the mythology of Southern 
 Europe which so early became embodied in works of im- 
 perishable beauty. In Central Europe we find this my- 
 thology in a somewhat corrupt and perverted state, modi- 
 fied by classical influences and mixed with elements of 
 indigenous growth. In the North alone did it remain 
 comparatively free from foreign admixture ; there alone 
 did it acquire form and consistency, and there did it 
 wait in vain, until too late, for some master mind to so 
 mould it that it should be sure forever of the world's 
 regard. But the Norsemen had more pressing work at 
 hand than the cultivation of the art of poetry. Their 
 life was a hard and unremitting struggle for existence, 
 and the rough poetry in which their inheritance of 
 
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. v 
 
 mythical lore became embodied was fitted to the rugged 
 life they were forced to lead. Then Christianity found 
 its way among them, and the chance was missed. The 
 vitality of the old faith waned. Thor and Odin and 
 Balder were dethroned by the new god from the South. 
 Deities and heroes faded into the mists of the past, 
 lingering, indeed, in the popular consciousness for many 
 centuries, but growing ever more impotent to inspire 
 poet or sage. 
 
 Yet such a body of myth and hero-story as this could 
 never be quite lost or become wholly meaningless to the 
 race which gave it birth, and the elementary traits of 
 whose character were bound up within it. So it was 
 natural that when, in modern times, and in common 
 with the other nations of Europe, the people of the North 
 were impelled to the development of a studied literature, 
 they should draw largely upon the varied store of tradi- 
 tion for their material, and seek at a later day to do 
 something of the work so long left undone. Thus Teg- 
 ner in Sweden, Ewald and Oehlenschlasger in Denmark, 
 and BjOrnson in Norway have found many of their 
 themes in the treasure-house of myth and saga. Of all 
 this modern work that of Bjornson seems the most re- 
 moved from modern ways of thought and expression, ex- 
 hibits most clearly the modes of feeling of that quasi- 
 historical past which it reproduces, is the most vigorous 
 and the most elemental. 
 
 The work here translated has a definite historical 
 basis. During the first half of the twelfth century Nor- 
 way was plunged into civil strife by the pretensions to 
 the throne of one Sigurd, surnamed " Slembe " (an 
 adjective meaning ill-disposed or worthless), on account 
 of his lawless youth. This Sigurd was a natural son of 
 
vi TRANSLATORS PREFACE. 
 
 the great king Magnus Barfod, and, according to the law 
 of Norway, the succession could not rightfully be with- 
 held from him on the score of his illegitimacy. The 
 trilogy of " Sigurd Slembe " deals with the life of this 
 pretender from the time when, in early manliood, he 
 learns the secret of his birth, to the eve of the final 
 struggle which crowns his life with failure and restores 
 peace to his long-suffering country. It is a tale of in- 
 domitable but ever-thwarted will, deeply tragic in its im- 
 port, but not without that final touch of what the Ger- 
 mans call Versohnung, and we, for want of a better 
 word, call reconciliation, which is the attribute of the 
 noblest tragic productions, and by virtue of which tragedy 
 fulfills its purpose as defined by Aristotle, purging the 
 mind of pity and fear. The consummation of a tragic 
 action is found in that supreme moment when the pro- 
 tagonist surrenders, in Schopenhauer's phrase, not merely 
 life, but the very desire to live. Perhaps the most per- 
 fect illustration of this in literature is the cry of Gret- 
 chen at the close of the first part of " Faust " — " Hein- 
 rich, mir grant's vor dir ! " In the present work this 
 tragic consummation follows, in the closing act, upon the 
 flight of Sigurd's last remaining hope of victory. Fail- 
 ure, absolute and unrelieved, confronts him as the result 
 of all his toil. He attempts in thought each avenue of 
 escape, but they are all closed upon him. He has raised 
 his last force, and no stratagem can avail him further. 
 As all the events of life crowd upon the memory of a 
 dying man, so all Sigurd's past comes before him now 
 face to face with the ruin of the edifice so nearly reared 
 by him. And the peace of mind which he has sought 
 for so many years comes to him also, and all the tem- 
 pests of life are stilled. He sees that this was indeed 
 
TRANSLATORS PREFACE, vii 
 
 the inevitable end, and, recognizing the fitness with 
 which events have shaped themselves, he sees life in its 
 true aspect. No longer veiled in the mists that have 
 hidden it from his passionate gaze, he takes note of what 
 it really is, and casts it from him. In this hour of pas- 
 sionless contemplation such a renunciation is not a thing 
 torn from the reluctant soul, but the clear solution, so 
 long sought, of the problem so long blindly attempted. 
 
 Other scenes of great power and beauty are not lack- 
 ing in this work. In the first part, Sigurd's outburst 
 upon learning his parentage, and his departure with the 
 crusaders ; in the second part, the love scene and the 
 parting of Sigurd and Audhild, and the sublime self- 
 sacrifice of Earl Harald ; in the third part, the king's 
 death at Bergen, and the scene with the skald, who has 
 traced Sigurd to his retreat in the wilds of Finland, — 
 these are all of a nature to hold the interest spellbound. 
 The character of Earl Harald, in the second division of 
 the trilogy, irresistibly suggests that of Hamlet, not be- 
 cause the author has imitated Shakspere, but because 
 he has conceived his melancholy Norwegian in the 
 Shaksperean spirit. The scenes between Sigurd and 
 Audhild have power to move the reader, by their union 
 of simplicity with intensity of passion, almost as deeply 
 as the love scenes of " Faust." BjOrnson has the power, 
 rare even with the greater dramatists, to condense so 
 much of passion in a single pregnant sentence, by means 
 of a word or single phrase so to illuminate as by a light- 
 ning flash some tragic situation, as to put the ordinary 
 rhetorical effusion of feeling to shame. He has the in- 
 stinct which sees, at the fateful moment of the action, 
 how incomparably greater and truer is a direct, rightly 
 chosen word, than the most elaborate rhetorical amplifi- 
 cation. 
 
viii TRANSLATORS PREFACE. 
 
 From what has been said, it will be seen that this 
 work claims consideration chiefly as a piece of literature, 
 irrespective of its fitness for production upon the stage. 
 It has, however, been performed with great success, both 
 in Christiania and Copenhagen, under the supervision 
 of the author. The performance requires two evenings. 
 An English audience, probably, could not be persuaded 
 to approve of a play too long for a single performance, 
 and the present translation is not made with any refer- 
 ence to the stage. The text used has been that of the 
 fourth edition, Copenhagen, 1884. 
 
 CmcAGO, September^ 1888. 
 
PART FIRST. 
 
 SIGUKD'S FIRST FLIGHT. 
 
CHARACTERS. 
 
 KoLL S^BJORNSON, cUeftain. 
 ToRA, daughter of Sakse ViJc. 
 Sigurd, her son. 
 
 The scene is laid in the church at Stavanger, in the year 1122. 
 
SCENE FIRST. 
 
 A small family chapel in Stavanger church, dedicated to St. Olaf. 
 A short bench at the left. At its side, a grated door, which forms the 
 sole entrance. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Enters, casts his cap on the floor, and kneels before the altar. 
 
 Now shalt thou hear, St. Olaf ! 
 
 To-day I conquered Bejntejn. Bejntejn was 
 
 The strongest in the land, but now am I ! 
 
 Now may I all the way from Lindesnaes 
 
 Up to the snows of Bjarmland go, nor need 
 
 Uncover to the best, or step aside. 
 
 And where I am shall none have leave to quarrel, 
 
 To meet in strife, to threaten, or to slay. 
 
 Peace shall be everywhere, and who is wronged 
 
 He shall be righted, and the laws have sway. 
 
 And if some strong man have oppressed a weak one, 
 
 The weak shall be avenged upon the strong. 
 
 Now may I at the Thing in council sit, 
 
 Now may I to the table of the king 
 
 Go up, sit by his side, say : here am I. 
 
 And for all this, I thank myself alone ! 
 Thou, Olaf, hast not helped me in the least. 
 I bade thee tell me who my father was, 
 But thou wast silent, true log that thou art. 
 And yet I must know ; all that I may do 
 
4 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 Will not avail me, with my race unknown ; 
 
 For when I pass, men cry : " 'T is Sigurd Slembe : " 
 
 *' Slembe,*' they say. In vain I strike them down, 
 
 For others come who still with scornful finger 
 
 Point : " Slembe, Slembe," say they. Oh, the shame ! 
 
 I join the young men in their sports, and strike 
 
 The mightiest stroke, make the best throw, but they, 
 
 They cry not " Sigurd, hail ! " nor cheer, ah no, 
 
 But rather shout, " What dost thou here, thou Slembe ? " 
 
 I think at such times 't is the work of Olaf 
 
 Who yonder in the church so silent stands. 
 
 If thou shouldst will it, would my mother speak, 
 
 For surely she must know. Oh, help me, Olaf ! 
 
 Dost thou not see that I without a name 
 
 Am but a St. John's fire, alone enkindled 
 
 Deep in the vale, less seen of men than is 
 
 The least light on the heights ? Oh, set me there ! 
 
 Others have fame^ and I alone have none ! 
 I see about me men of wide renown 
 Who with the king went to Jerusalem. 
 And others still who came from Micklegarth 
 Laden with store of gold, and memories 
 So rich, their splendor haunts my very dreams. 
 Men journey now in hosts from England, France, 
 From Burgundy, and Apulia, on crusade. 
 Baldwin himself was but an unknown knight 
 And after in Jerusalem was king ! 
 And Bohemond and Raymond, Ademar 
 And Tancred, Robert, all these won renown ! 
 Give me but name and ships, that I may sail, 
 And I will win a kingdom for myself. 
 
 My mother comes, — 't was here that we should meet 
 Before thy face, — and Koll comes too as witness. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 6 
 
 Now if thou wilt but move her heart and tongue, 
 
 I vow that I will give to thee this cup, 
 
 This heirloom come to me from Sakse Vik. {He rises. 
 
 SCENE SECOND. 
 
 SiQUKD. ToRA,/oWotce£?6y KoLL S^BJORNSON. They enter and 
 kneel before the altar. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 There is uproar without ; I hear that thou 
 Hast fought with Bejntejn. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Ay, and conquered him. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Unwise it is to battle with the strongest. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 With whom else, then ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 A son of Adalbrekt 
 May not at all times conquer. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Thou hast come 
 To hear, instead of songs of praise, a nickname. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Reveal my father's name, the songs will follow. 
 
6 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 TORA. 
 
 'Twas Adalbrekt. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Nay, I believe it not. 
 For once thou saidst in anger, 't was another. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 In anger, yes. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 In anger men speak truth. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Then flies the best, and devils take its place. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But they reveal the soul within. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Away I 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 As thou didst give me life within thy womb, 
 I do conjure thee that thou give me now 
 Birthplace and name I 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Thou shalt win both of these 
 After a few years' honorable strife. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Shall then my best years go to build the ship, 
 When men no older than myself are now 
 Far in the south, upon the coasts of Greece ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 Thou, Koll, art witness, and as thou didst build 
 This church and chapel where we now are met, 
 I do conjure thee that thou teach my mother 
 What both the church and I alike demand. 
 
 KOLIi. 
 
 Thou knowest, Tora, he may now compel thee, 
 For he is full-grown. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Ah ! but do not ask it, 
 For that thou askest is but thy destruction. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Little I reck, so there be no disgrace. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Disgrace there is. 
 
 SIGURD \»)metohat surprised] . 
 I cannot be low-born, 
 That I am sure, and thou art Sakse's daughter. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 And yet disgrace may come with no low birth. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes, for the moment. But in twenty years 
 Shame may be buried deep as in the grave. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 And by the grave there is a fount of tears 
 
8 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 That breaks perforce afresh, the grave reopened, 
 And brings me back the sorrow of the past. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But many days are yet to come for me, 
 And heavy must they be without my father. 
 
 {^Koll seats himself on the bench 
 
 TORA lafter a moments thought}. 
 He lives no more ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Ah ! but his memory lives. 
 His might, perchance, — I ask for nothing more. 
 Dost thou not see how like my daily life 
 Is to a dog's, who, having lost his master, 
 Must stand perforce apart when food is dealt ? 
 
 TORA. 
 
 What matter, when thou knowest thou art the best. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 It may be so, but 't is a heavy life. 
 
 None will caress him, he is driven off 
 
 When he would gambol with some peasant child. 
 
 And every cur is set against his peace. 
 
 And so his eye grows wild, he learns mistrust 
 
 Of all things, and dejected slinks away. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Oh, never, for thou courage hast and fortune ; 
 Wilt thou but wait, thou mayst attain the highest. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But wait I cannot. Now the time is come, 
 We stand in Olaf s church, here is his image. 
 Here is a witness, and I too am here. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Dost think a word of mine can give so much ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes ; race is power, e'en were one else alone. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 But if the race thou get'st should know us not. 
 Nor thee nor me ? If it should cast us out ? 
 And if it shamed me, Sigurd, unto death ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 My race should know me not ? . . . 
 
 [ With emphasis.'] Then 't is because 
 They would withhold from me my heritage ! 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Ah, do not storm so ! Hear my earnest prayer, 
 
 And tear not in thy eager thirst for fame 
 
 Thy mother's bleeding heart. Oh, pity me ! 
 
 And let me keep the secret of my shame ; 
 
 Let me withhold thee from thine own destruction I 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 It is too late, for now I know at once 
 Too little and too much. 
 
10 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Sigurd, forbear. 
 A moment's weakness brought upon me shame, 
 My life and all I had have made atonement. 
 One moment has revealed to thee my sin. 
 Thou set'st thy life at stake to know the rest. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 It is enough. Thou must believe thy mother. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Farewell ! 
 
 TORA [anxioudy}. 
 But whither goest thou? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 To sea I 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Oh, Sigurd, Sigurd ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes, the life thou gav'st me 
 May be no longer by thy silence chained. 
 If to know all shall be to me destruction, 
 It is no less so that I know but this. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 His speech betrays defiance and despair. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Thou hast indeed his mind who made of me, 
 Once innocent, one of the silent folk. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 11 
 
 My father cast me forth from out his house 
 
 With thee, new-born. Up in the window stood 
 
 My sister, cast our garments after us 
 
 With outcry loud — and after died of sorrow. 
 
 For thou shalt know now, — thou wert born in incest ! 
 
 Thy father, Sigurd, was my sister's husband. 
 
 Was King of Noi'way, — he was Magnus Barfod ! 
 
 KOLL \rise$\. 
 
 The king! 
 
 TOBA. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 SIGURD {before the image of St. Olaf with deep expressionl. 
 Then we two are of one race ! 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 This news is pregnant with thy destiny. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes, it is more, far more, than I had thought. 
 But once conceived it opens all the world. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 But thou must keep it secret from the world. 
 
 SIGURD \looJes arownd]. 
 Yes, so it is. Now am I free to go. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 But whither goest thou ? 
 
12 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGUKD. 
 
 To the king, my brother : 
 He shall bestow upon me half the kingdom. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 What dost thou think of ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Hast thou lost thy senses ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 The king is bastard born, his brother too, 
 
 Who shared the kingdom with him, was a bastard. 
 
 And many kings besides, for Olaf's law 
 
 Makes no distinction. I too have the right 
 
 To be a king ! 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 But, softly, softly, friend. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 The royal heritage shall be shared alike. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 He who has power shares but unwillingly. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 He shared with Ojstejn, and with Olaf too. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 But he is old now, and he has a son. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yet my clear right he may deny me not. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 13 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 It must be proved. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Mother shall bear me witness. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 The ordeal will proclaim my own disgrace I 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 When I am king, it shall be held as honor ! 
 
 TORA. 
 
 For me ? Oh, never I 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Hear me and be calm. 
 For every tear in sorrow thou hast wept 
 Joy in thy son shall be full recompense. 
 Thou shalt go foremost in the great procession, 
 And sit upon my right hand in the hall. 
 Thou shalt be robed with purple and with gems. 
 Thou wilt bear witness ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 On the king it all 
 Depends, even at the best, and if he wills 
 The ordeal can but come to evil issue. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Then were the new shame greater than the old. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 A rascal king ? 
 
14 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 No, but a wise one, merely. 
 Unlikely that he heed a boy, who comes 
 Without a following and devoid of witness. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Without a following ? But thou, KoU, art such ; 
 Thou art a chieftain, and of mighty race. 
 Thy friends aie of the first men in the land. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 He who doth follow thee on such an errand 
 Has broken with the king, and stakes his life. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But I will make it up to thee, and more. 
 Thou shalt become the second in the land, 
 Thy race be held in such regard as mine. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 A dangerous project, should it not succeed, — 
 A far more dangerous one, should it succeed. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But often hast thou wished another king ! 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 True. Yet not such another one as thou. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But what stands in the way ? Wherefore not I ? 
 For in my birth 't was so ordained of God. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE, 15 
 
 Art thou a chieftain and wilt dare refuse me 
 The help I crave ? Thou, who in Olaf 's presence 
 Wast first to hear it, thou art of him chosen 
 To give his seed thy strength and thy protection. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 That I may shield my country am I chosen, 
 And were it for her weKare, I should aid thee. 
 I think 't is not. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Now hear me, blessed Olaf ! 
 They will deny my right. King Jorsalfarer 
 Would now withhold from me that which is mine 
 Through God and thee. They tread upon thy law, 
 And God's. The law which gives me justice 
 Now in this place so dearly bought with tears 
 Wrung from a mother's eyes, with life-long sorrow, 
 Is torn asunder as 't were forged and void. 
 Be thy strength with me now and give me counsel 
 Whose wisdom o'er this dangerous hour shall tide 
 
 me ! 
 My prayer is answered ! To the king I go. 
 To tell him that I am his younger brother, 
 And that I crave not of him land, but men 
 And war-ships, and I will at once set forth 
 And seek adventures in some distant land. 
 Like Olaf Trygveson, like Olaf Digre, 
 Like Harald Sigurdson, like the king himself ! 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Be warned, nor venture near the bear's retreat ; 
 Nor dare to seize the prey which is his own ! 
 
16 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But I renounce my claim to share the kingdom. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 He will not place within a rival's power 
 His trusty warriors. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Good ; then will I seek 
 Without his help to gather men about me. 
 Many there are who long for new adventures. 
 He cows the great, and plunged in evil life 
 Rests on his old renown, and glory won 
 In bringing home a fragment of the cross. 
 But I will fire the ears of men with tales 
 Of other days, and deeds of old-time heroes : 
 Tell how their fathers' graves in distant lands 
 Have been ungarlanded for many years ; 
 TeU them of jousts on horseback and with spears 
 Fought in the fields of Provence, with display 
 Of golden armor, splendid in array. 
 And I will lead them where is wealth untold, 
 In pagan cities f uU of Moorish gold ; 
 And thence in arms into our Saviour's land, 
 To wash us clean of blood by Jordan's strand ; 
 For now within its depths the world is shaken, 
 The powers long crushed to earth from sleep awaken, 
 The peoples rise in might. And now the soul 
 Of Christendom is stirred from pole to pole. 
 So thither shall we go as on the chase 
 Some storm that takes the world to its embrace. 
 And home returning shall such treasures bring. 
 As to make dim the splendors round the king ; 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 17 
 
 Nor ears shall lack, when at the feasting-hour 
 Some word be said of sharing kingly power, 
 And if he will not, to the sword we '11 fall, 
 And he who conquers then shall win it all. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Thou art forgetful of the name of this : 
 Here in the North we call it civil war. 
 
 TOBA. 
 
 Since when the sun grew dark at Stiklestad, 
 
 A memory lingering in the Northland still, 
 
 Hath none conceived such thoughts of Cain as these. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 O Christ ! Not merely every port of refuge 
 Is closed against me, but sealed fast with sin. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 To me it seems too wildly dost thou chase 
 From one side of the forest to the other. 
 There are so many ways — 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Still, still ! 
 
 TORA. 
 
 My son ! 
 Remain in peace and seek but — 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Never, never ! 
 For now the earth I tread on burns beneath me ! 
 
18 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 Shall I at mine own table be a beggar ? 
 Shall I there serve where I of right should reign ? 
 Shall I then hold the stirrup for my brother 
 And stay behind, while he upon the chase 
 Sets forth, and but receive the filth in parting 
 Cast from his horse's hoofs ? Accursed thoughts ! 
 Now like the cloud of dust about his head 
 In wild confusion do they mount upon me I 
 
 TORA. 
 
 But, Sigurd ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 With what a boyish joy I came this hour 
 
 From conflict, then just conscious of my strength ! 
 
 And now my strength is as a sword whose aim 
 
 Is lofty set, that strikes and springs back shattered. 
 
 My courage and my longings knew no bound, 
 
 And all the world was my inheritance. 
 
 Then got I right to claim a part thereof, 
 
 And got it but to lose it, and to lose 
 
 All faith in justice, all belief in good. 
 
 O mother, mother ! thou should'st not have told me. 
 
 \^Casts himself on his face to earth. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Thou knowest now what sufferings have been mine. 
 
 [Throws herself upon him. 
 
 CHORUS OF CRUSADERS \vnthin the church}. 
 
 Fair is the earth. 
 
 Fair is God's heaven. 
 
 Fair is the pilgrim-path of the soul. 
 
 Singing we go 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 19 
 
 Through the fair realms of earth, 
 Seeking the way to our heavenly goal. 
 
 Eaces shall come 
 
 And shall pass away, 
 
 And the world from age to age shall roll, 
 
 But the heavenly tones 
 
 Of our pilgrim song 
 
 Shall echo still in the joyous soul. 
 
 First heard of shepherds 
 
 By angels sung, 
 
 Wide it has spread since that glad mom r 
 
 Peace upon earth ! 
 
 Rejoice, all men ! 
 
 For unto us is a Saviour born ! 
 
 KOLL [_as the song beginil . 
 
 'Hie song of the crusaders ! 
 
 The two others rise, Tora erect and Sigurd to his hnee. Little 
 by little he feels himself moved, and, ere the song is ended, 
 has arisen, and with its close cries out. 
 
 SIGUBD. 
 
 I will take 
 The cross and follow ! To Jerusalem ! 
 The path that Tancred and that Robert took 
 To the Lord's honor and their own renown ! 
 
 TOBA. 
 
 Then shall I be alone ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But when men ask thee : 
 
20 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 Where is thy son ? Thou shalt say : Palestine ! 
 Over the night's gloom streams in dawning skies 
 The splendor of the cross in laurel wreathed, 
 And he who bears the one shall win the other. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 But ere thou hast returned, I shall be dead. 
 
 SIGURD. . 
 
 But when I come, it shall be as a chieftain 
 Great as the king, or if I come not, still 
 Without me shall my fame come sorrow-clad. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 But I ? Thou hast no longer thought for me ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes, mother, — but what better canst thou wish? 
 
 Thy son's fame shall be thine. " See, Sigurd's mother ! " 
 
 Thus shall men speak : " he is become a chieftain 
 
 In Palestine, a chieftain of the cross. 
 
 How proud she must be of him." Here at home 
 
 It would go ill with me. But 't is to fly 
 
 From evil thoughts to journey, thoughts of strife 
 
 At home, for, mother, deep I feel within me, 
 
 / could not hear injustice. Stay me not ! 
 
 [Organ and trumpets heard in the church. 
 Under the cross ! The cross that turns to stone 
 All evil spirits, and that casts out devils, 
 That gives the heathen stronghold to the flames ! 
 The destroying angel now to earth descended 
 Chases men through the world with naked sword. 
 Now all the South is lit with lurid fire, 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 21 
 
 Thither I must begone ! And in the battle, 
 Foreshadowing the last judgment, shall the soul 
 Be lighted up as by a lightning flash, 
 And then shall songs of resurrection heard 
 In Eastern lands bedew it with their grace. 
 
 Listen, the mass streams from within the church, 
 And now the host is raised before the altar, 
 E'en now are sacred crosses by the priests 
 Dealt out. Yes, I will haste and take one too ! {Goes. 
 
 SCENE THIRD. 
 
 KOLL, TORA. 
 
 The mother at first will follow her son, then tuims bach, Jails on her 
 knees before St. Olaf stretches her hands up to him, then bows down. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Strive to be strong ! The inevitable must 
 
 Be borne by all, as each must bear his name, 
 
 As all must bear the certainty of death. 
 
 And, Tora, what has come might not be stayed. 
 
 The wolf must rove, the eagle soar aloft, 
 
 A mighty longing is a mighty force. 
 
 And must have vent. Then, Tora, do not weep 
 
 That thou hast given birth to such a son. 
 
 The largest ship in the crusaders' fleet. 
 
 By me outfitted ; it shall be his own, 
 
 And thus are wings provided for his flight, 
 
 And they will grow with years. Nay, do not thank 
 
 me ! 
 I owe it to a son of Magnus Barfod, — 
 A welcome sight to me 't is that he leaves us. 
 
 [ The music of the organ ceases. 
 
22 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 TORA \who has Wsen] . 
 That I should come to suffer this at last ! 
 His childhood was so fair, 
 
 Boundless his love of knowledge, and his strength 
 Victorious ever, and his thought all joyous. 
 Then was I glad to think he should not bear 
 His father's name. How other has it happened J 
 To-day with thy help has he been the victor ; 
 And I to-day have lost my son forever. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 But if abroad his soul find peace again 
 
 Then hast thou won him back for more than life. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 But he with careless hand now casts away 
 His mother's love, and all that he is sure of ; 
 He spurns it all, dazzled by glittering hope. 
 He has no longer ears to hear our counsels, 
 Nor eyes to see that which is close about him ; 
 With yearnings so immense and will so weak, 
 As from a mountain he will fall at last. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 The church is emptied, we must seek him out. [Goes. 
 
 SCENE FOURTH. 
 
 ToRA will follow him, but once more turns to St. Olaf, for a moment 
 kneels in pray er^ then quickly rises. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 No, this time Olaf has no comfort for me, 
 My heart throbs now as once upon that day 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 23 
 
 When Magnus went, and I was left alone. 
 Where'er I turned, 't was with me as with him 
 Who breasts a storm, at cost of breath and strength. 
 The church itself seemed gloomy as the grave ; 
 There stood the saints and over them the cross, 
 And none might tell me wherein I had sinned. 
 Why should that day be come to me again, 
 Again that darkness ? Why now is it with me 
 As if I heard the cry of shipwrecked men ? 
 
 A mother suffers from the day she is one. 
 She loves the child before its time of birth, 
 Midst pangs as sharp as death she gives it life, 
 And for its childhood's sake she gives her health. 
 She is for it the eye, the foot, the arm, 
 The wings that lift it up into the light. 
 
 But has she reared it, how is she repaid ! 
 It tears itself from aU her tears away. 
 Nor backward looks, but joyous pushes on 
 Until it wounded falls to earth again, 
 Or else gives wounds to others, but is sure. 
 Whichever of these it do, to wound its mother. 
 
 So she gives birth, so rears unto herself 
 A sorrow lasting as her life is long. [Goes, 
 
 SCENE FIFTH. 
 
 A cliff by the seashore. In the hay are seen the ships of the crusaders, 
 all ready to hoist sail. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 Yon mighty ship that rides the wave is mine ! 
 The first that I in all the world have owned ! 
 Soon shall it plough its way through foaming billows, 
 
24 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 And bear me towards my future ; at the helm 
 I will take heed of currents and of skies, 
 The high-pitched song of hope shall fill my ears, 
 And I at last shall taste of life indeed. 
 
 How great and fateful was this day to me ! 
 I won, I lost, I won again, — and now 
 Take leave of country and inheritance, 
 And know no more than knows the wayward bird 
 That northward wings his flight, what life awaits me. 
 But thus 't is best, for in hope's wonderland 
 Filled with unseen adventure — there alone 
 May I forget all that I here have lost. 
 
 Even as a tree, the tallest in the forest, 
 Hewn to be fashioned for a mast, my life 
 Is torn from where it grew in vigorous health 
 And set at mercy of the wind and wave. 
 
 But may not thoughts of home have power to tempt 
 me. 
 May memories sad and dear not turn me back ? 
 No, not if all go well. But if, perchance, 
 I should, my ship and aims all crushed together, 
 Cling to the wreck, and God look silent on, — 
 O Christ be with me ! Evil thoughts swarm thick 
 As sharks in Southern seas about a shipwreck ! 
 
 It cannot be that I shall fare so ill ! 
 My calling is too high, it cannot go 
 Thus unrewarded — and the .cross waves o'er me 
 Its holy banner ! 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 25 
 
 SCENE SIXTH. 
 
 SiGUBD, TOBA. 
 TORA. 
 
 Art thou there, my son ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes, here upon this rock I stood but now 
 
 And watched the ships sail by, and watched mine 
 
 own 
 That yonder lies at anchor in the bay. 
 See, there it is ! So towers some ice-clad peak 
 Above the forest. How the sail now swells, 
 How like youth's courage stands the mast erect, 
 See yon proud curves defiant of the storm, 
 And see yon deck clean as a maiden's honor 
 Who holds her lover to her faithful breast, 
 And spurns the tempters who would take his place. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 There goes a shudder through me when I think 
 That one should trust his fortunes to a ship. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 It cannot be it shall fare ill with me ! 
 For I have well considered, and I feel 
 Of cheer as certain as is fortune's self. 
 See how the morning round about us gleams, 
 How shine its colors clear on my departure, 
 And give me promise of a glorious day. 
 The spring's young shoots now fill the air with fra- 
 grance; 
 
26 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 How fresh now is the breeze, how high the heavens ; 
 
 Nor have I ever known, methinks, a day 
 
 My gaze could pierce so far out o'er the sea. 
 
 The all-pervading air that gently fans 
 
 Me on the cheek, doth it not bring me cheer 
 
 From heaven, from sea, from morning, and from spring ? 
 
 Hail to thy journey, Sigurd Magnusson ! 
 
 TORA. 
 
 This ring was placed upon my arm by Magnus 
 That very night when he took leave of me. 
 Whene'er I see it, I recall thy father, 
 
 [Gives it to him. 
 Whene *er thou seest it, think upon thy mother, 
 What she has suffered for thee, how she yearns, — 
 Oh, take me to thee, if it shall go well ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Mother, I will ! 
 
 TORA. 
 
 And if it should go ill. 
 Then do not shun me ; but come back to me ! 
 
 SIGURD [kisses her]. 
 
 May God be with thee, my beloved mother ! 
 
 [Puts the ring on. 
 
 TORA [turning away]. 
 
 And now in God's name on thy way set forth ! 
 
 [Bursts into tears. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Weep not, my mother, Olaf stands beside me ! 
 
 [The song of the crusaders is heard afar. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 27 
 
 TORA [throws herself upon his neck]. 
 Come back to me, should it go ill with thee ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Weep not, my mother, if we think aright 
 'T is a fair thing, that I may thus set forth. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 I have no word to say against it more. 
 
 But, — [Weeps. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Sit upon this rock, where late I sat, 
 And for the first time see me on my ship ! 
 
 TORA. 
 
 OGod! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Be comforted, and I will try 
 To come again. We do not leave at once. 
 
 [Helps her upon the rock. 
 See, thou art seated now where I was seated, 
 And soon shall be fulfilled my youthful longings. 
 
 [Rises and kisses her. 
 Farewell ! Farewell ! I will come back once more ! 
 
 [Goes. 
 TORA [on the rock]. 
 
 Sigurd ! Sigurd ! 
 
 [ While the curtain falls the song is heard again. 
 
PART SECOND. 
 SIGUED'S SECOND FLIGHT. 
 
CHARACTERS. 
 
 Habald, Earl of Caithness. {Earl also of a portion of the 
 Orkneys, but cast out from them by his co-regent and half-brother 
 Paul.) 
 
 Helga, his mother. 
 
 Fkakabk, her sister. 
 
 AuDHiLD, their niece. 
 
 SvEN AsLEJvssoN, a boy. 
 
 SvEN Bbiostbejp, known as Sven Viking. 
 
 Sigurd of Norway. 
 
 Kake, follower of Harold. 
 
 Other followers ofHarald. 
 \ . 
 
 Caithness in Scotland, and Orfjara in the Orkneys. 1127. 
 
ACT FIRST. 
 
 Caithness. A lofty, dimly -lighted hall of early twelfth century 
 architecture. 
 
 SCENE FIRST. 
 
 Fbakabk, Helga. 
 
 Frdkark is sewing upon a red shirt, richly embroidered with gold and 
 precious stones. Helga is at work upon a cap. 
 
 FBAKARK. 
 
 Listen to those mighty gusts ! I believe we shall never 
 have fair weather here again. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 It is already late in the autumn. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 How the house creaks ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 It takes a heavy storm to overturn a well-built house. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 The setting-in of autumn is a serious matter, espe- 
 cially to those whose future is uncertain. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Sven Viking comes to-day from the Orkneys. 
 
82 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 What news will he bring, thinkest thou ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 None that is good. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 No. [^She leans forward on the table.'] Then we 
 must remain snowed in here for another winter. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 It is just three years to-day, since we were cast forth. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 I could not endure it for three years longer. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And yet we must. There is none who can help us. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 The vikings come daily home from their summer 
 cruises. Something might be done with so many brave 
 men. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 But they have no leader. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 T must tell thee : in the last few days I have thought 
 of one. {_The sisters look at one another.] What dost 
 thou require of a leader ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 High birth. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 33 
 
 FBAKAKK. 
 
 That, I think, he has. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 He must be a stranger. 
 
 FBAKABK. 
 
 Wherefore ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 A too powerful leader might become a menace to us ; 
 therefore he must be free, without kin or friends. 
 
 FBAKABK. 
 
 Such is he, and thus have I thought too. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Hast thou also taken thought of the means whereby 
 we may win him to our cause ? 
 
 FBAKABK. 
 
 There is but one bond that makes men faithful ; it is 
 that of success. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 It might stead him better to be faithless, for Earl 
 Paul has more treasure than Harald. 
 
 FBAKABK. 
 
 Knowest thou of any other bond ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 I do. But knowest thou the man ? 
 
34 
 
 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 FRAKASK. 
 
 What thinkest thou of him who came hither two 
 weeks since ? 
 
 From Scotland ? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 WeU. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 FRAKABK. 
 
 HELOA. 
 
 FBAKABK. 
 
 Him I mean. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And him have I Ukewise had in mind from the day 
 when I first saw him, but I would not be the first to 
 speak of it. {She rises. 
 
 FRAKARK [rises also]. 
 
 What hast thou thought of him, Helga ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 No man before him has so awed me. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 And I in these two weeks have come to trust him 
 more than Sven Viking, whom I have known from child- 
 hood. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Dost thou, too, think him of high birth ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 86 
 
 FBAKARK. 
 
 Yes ; he gives all others their due. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And never shares in their sports. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Why does he not tell us who he is ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 He waits for us to ask him. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Well, we will ask him, then, — and win him ; but by 
 what means ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Let not impatience carry thee away. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 But in truth, we have waited long. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Let US take counsel with the earl. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Thy son ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 If he were but capable of counsel. 
 
86 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 He is our chief ; and then, he may not wish it. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Has ever any one been able to find out what he 
 wishes ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou speakest truly ; but we must consult him, after 
 all — otherwise we might have cause for regret. 
 
 SCENE SECOND. 
 
 The same. An old servant, 
 THE SERVANT. 
 
 Your niece Audhild is still away. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 What dost thou mean ? Away ? 
 
 THE SERVANT. 
 
 She went out yesterday, and now a day has past. In 
 spite of the storm she came not home. Her maids could 
 tell nothing, but sought for her; then old Kare went 
 forth with many men, but she has not yet been found. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Out in such weather, alone, all the while alone ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 More than a whole day I 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 37 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 We have no neighbors here ; she must be in the 
 woods or upon the shore — 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Or dead ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 What sayest thou ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Hast thou searched everywhere, in every cave, every 
 grove, every remotest nook ? 
 
 THE SERVANT. 
 
 They shouted with the wind, and so must have been 
 heard. But she came not. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 I always thought that would be the end of it. She 
 would never stay where others were, and she took no 
 counsel. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 All the men about the place must go forth ! We too 
 will go ! Such search must be made that no spot in 
 the great forest be overlooked. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Call out the men who are at work in the ship-houses. 
 
 THE SERVANT. 
 
 But here comes a boat. 
 
38 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Surely Sven Viking ! 
 
 THE SERVAITT. 
 
 It seems so, and he needs help in such weather. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 He must help himself. Come, Frakark, let us dress 
 for the search. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 But here she is already. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Audhild! 
 
 SCENE THIRD. 
 
 The same. AUDHILD. 
 
 FRAKARK and HELGA. 
 
 Where hast thou heen ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Out. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou hast put us in the greatest fright ! Thy weep- 
 ing maids seek thee in the woods ; old Kare and many 
 men also make search for thee. We have just heard of 
 it all, and have been terribly alarmed — 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 And all on account of thy foolish caprices. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 39 
 
 HELGA \to the servant]. 
 Thou may est go. [^He goes.'\ Where hast thou been, 
 chHd? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 In many places. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Where didst thou sleep last night ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I did not sleep. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Thy conduct is most unseemly. Thou must obey 
 those who have charge of thee, even if thou dost not 
 love them. Whither art thou going ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 To eat 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Poor child. Didst thou have nothing with thee ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 No. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 And now thou wilt get only cold food when thou art 
 in need of warm. The whole place cannot be ordered 
 after thy whims. Perhaps thou hast in mind to seek 
 some other ? 
 
40 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 AUDHILD {with a sigK]. 
 
 No. 
 
 FRAKABK. 
 
 And how dost thou spend thy time, my child ! At 
 thy age, there should be no need thus to reproach thee. 
 And these escapades of thine ! What is to prevent thee 
 from being captured some day by the vikings who hug 
 these shores, and carried off, or worse ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I can run away from them. 
 
 FRAKABK. 
 
 No maiden can run from men. Still less can she de- 
 fend herself, if taken. [Audhild smiles.'] Why dost 
 thou smile ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I have a little hallowed knife, which came to me from 
 my father; its blade bears the image of the blessed 
 Mary. \_8he draws it from her bosom. 
 
 HELGA [aside to Frakarh']. 
 She can win the stranger for us ! 
 
 FRAKAKK [looking at her"]. 
 Thou art right ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 What do you want of me ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 41 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 She is fair. Dost thou ever think of marriage, Aud- 
 
 hUd? 
 
 AUDHILD [shakes her head]. 
 
 No — 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 And yet thou shouldst. — The other time ours was a 
 sorry failure, but it may chance better the next. 
 
 AUDHTLD. 
 
 The safest thing is not to try at all. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 There are men worthy a woman's love. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 As thou shouldst well know. 
 
 HELGA [wounded]. 
 Not I ! A good marriage is an honor to our kin- 
 dred, and to them something is due. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Thou wouldst sell me again ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Why use such words ? Helga says truly ; there are 
 men worthy a woman's love. Thou art young and livest 
 only in thy fancies, but we speak from experience. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Yes, you have had experience. He whom thou didst 
 
42 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 choose, aunt Frakark, was called dastard ; and he whom 
 Helga chose was so worthy that he made of her — his 
 mistress. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Silence, bold child ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I cannot keep silent, aunt, for it is my daily thought. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Experience includes more than what one alone has 
 lived through : in such case its counsels were indeed 
 often of doubtful worth. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Trust to us, who are here in thy mother's place, for 
 we would not offer our child the sorrows we ourselves 
 have borne. We speak not to thee of unwilling mar- 
 riage, but ask only that thou mistrust not all men, be- 
 lieve not that all are unworthy. We mean no more 
 than this. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Young people imagine that they make great discov- 
 eries about life, or else they think they are not under- 
 stood, because men do not seem to notice them. But 
 we understand thee well, Audhild. Yet I will not now 
 tell thee what thou longest for ; I will but say, thou art 
 weary of Caithness. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Weary to death. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBB. 43 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 What wouldst thou say, were we to leave it ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I have been so often deceived, that I will not again 
 believe until I stand once more upon my native soil. 
 
 FKAKARK. 
 
 Thou thyself mayest perchance bring that to pass. 
 HELGA \to Fraharlc]. 
 
 No more now. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 What meanest thou ? 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 There is a noteworthy stranger here. Thou hast seen 
 him? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 HELGA [as before]. 
 No further. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 What thinkest thou of him ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Ha ! ha ! ha ! Be sure that from this time on I shall 
 hate him. 
 
 IShejmts her hand to her breast with an expression of pain. 
 
44 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 What is it, child ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 You should not vex me to-day. My breast pains me ; 
 I am faint. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Why didst thou not say so at once, child ? 
 
 [Audhild goes. 
 
 SCENE FOURTH. 
 Frakabk, Helga. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 She has a most passionate nature. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And the more it is vexed, the higher rise the waves. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 I do not understand thy caution. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 No, thou understandest nothing but thine own will, 
 and [as she sits down] for that reason things have fared 
 as they have. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 What sayest thou ? \_Pausing a moment.] I am 
 never sure whether thou art with or against me. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 45 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 When violent measures are in question, I am always 
 against thee. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 But so little has been accomplished here. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Harald grows ever more unhappy — and so it seems 
 that too much has been accomplished. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 And yet I find thy counsel in all that has hitherto 
 been done. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 What will a mother not devise for her son's sake ; — 
 and yet she may stop short of its performance. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Why dwell upon him alone ! That it is that weak- 
 ens thy will. I have children, too, but I think neither 
 of them nor of myself alone : it were too narrow an 
 ambition. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Yet each of them has an immortal soul. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 I am far from feeling sure of the individual immor- 
 tality so much preached of ; but there is an immortality 
 of which I am sure : it is that of the race. Sow but for 
 that, and the race itself, in its own autumn and spring- 
 
46 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 time, will carry on the work ; the one will harvest and 
 the other provide for the future. Seen from all sides, 
 life is but a struggle between different races, and the 
 waves of battle beat most furiously about the throne. 
 Two kings engage in strife, and races take sides with 
 them from noble down to peasant ; they who win cast 
 forth from possessions and country them who lose, but 
 hardly has conquest been achieved when the conquerors 
 fight among themselves for precedence, and, chainwise, 
 one race draws another after it, either up to the throne 
 or down to the abyss. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Countries then need no laws ! 
 
 FRAEAKK. 
 
 No ! For my part I know no other law than that of 
 blood; no other sin than that of abstention from the 
 strife. Link must strengthen link, that the race may 
 become the first in its native land. And I will not rest, 
 until your son is once more earl of all the Orkneys and 
 of Caithness, that he may make our brother earl of Torsa 
 and provide good marriages for our daughters. Land 
 and people all about must be ours. For thus alone am 
 I sure of owning the grave in which I shall be laid, and 
 sure that it will be honored by those who come after. 
 \_She takes the shirt in her hands and goes to the door. 
 After opening it, she exclaims.'] Sven Viking marches 
 up to the house at the head of his men ; we must go to 
 meet him ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 I come ! [8he follows in haste. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 47 
 
 SCENE FIFTH. 
 Harald, Sven Aslejvsson. 
 
 SVEN ASLEJVSSOM" [peering in]. 
 Yes ; they are gone. 
 
 HABAIiD [enters: they step forward]. 
 Say, the wolf we caught in the wolf-caves ought to be 
 called aunt, ought it not ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Yes, aunt; it would look like her, too, if it wore a 
 head-dress. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 We will kill him to-day, won't we ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 We can do it right away ; it will ^ve us something 
 to do. 
 
 HABALD. 
 
 But slowly, Sven. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Yes, slowly. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Tell me, how shall we do it ? 
 
 SVEN [seated on the floor be/ore the earT]. 
 We might fasten knives to long poles and stab it. 
 
48 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HABALB. 
 
 Yes, yes ; and then ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Then we can throw fire upon it. 
 
 HABALD. 
 
 Yes, yes. How wicked thou wilt be when thou art 
 come to power ! And then ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Then we can tease it with sticks armed with spikes. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Ho, ho, how wicked he grows ! 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Wicked ? It killed our best dog. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Truly, I forgot, it kiUed Balder. Aunt, too — Sup- 
 pose we let it loose ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Why ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Among aunt's flocks. What sayest thou ? * 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Then it would get into thine, too. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 True. Well, we will kill it. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 49 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Come on, then 
 
 HAHALD. 
 
 Bat it is an ugly thing to look at : cannot some one 
 else do it ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Why, dear, the fun of it is in looking on ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 •True also, I had forgotten. But — thou mightest 
 look on, and tell me about it afterwards. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 That is the way thou always art ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 No, no, little Sven, be good, and I will find some 
 other sport for thee. What is that ? The storm ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 No, it is a shout. [Clambers up to the window.'] It 
 is Sven Viking with all his men. He has come at last. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 So it is. The stranger has his place at board and 
 bed. We shall soon have quarrels enough here, Sven. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Who will win ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Sven Viking will win. I like not the stranger, dost 
 thou? 
 
50 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 I like no one here. 
 
 HASALD. 
 
 No, let them fight, we shall be rid of them ! But it 
 was not I who bestowed the place on him. It is thy 
 fault. 
 
 SVEN-. 
 
 But I never leave thee. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 No, and so they cannot harm thee. Dost thou like 
 Sven Viking ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 No one ! No one ! 
 
 HARAIiD. 
 
 Nor I. Oh, for him who should dare, Sven ! 
 
 SVENT. 
 
 What wouldst thou then ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 I will not say now. But one thing I dare do, if it 
 last much longer. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 What is it? 
 
 HABALD. 
 
 Die. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 61 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Dear earl ! 
 
 HABALD [who has sat down\. 
 Tell me about Sigurd Jorsalf arer. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Always about him ! 
 
 HAHALD. 
 
 He is a great chieftain, Sven. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 He was : he is mad now. 
 
 HARAIiD. 
 
 What made him mad, thinkest thou ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 A fish came to him in the bath. 
 
 HARALD \shaking his head], 
 H'm, H'm 1 Dost thou know what the fish is Y 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 The fish? 
 
 HABALD. 
 
 It is an evil thought, that keeps one from sleep. 
 
 SVEN [going up to him and stroking his hair]. 
 Think no more of it, earl ! Let us do something, 
 let us sing ! 
 
52 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Yes, little Sven, yes ; let us sing. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 About the king without lands or queen ; the song that 
 thou madest. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Yes, that will do, yes. Sing thou the refrain, and I 
 will sing the song. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Not so slowly. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 No. \_Sings.'] Will that do ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Yes, that is right. [Harold is silent.^ Now, earl ! 
 
 HABALD. 
 
 No, I will not. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 What shall we do, then ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 We will amuse ourselves to-morrow, little Sven, to- 
 morrow. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 There comes thy mother, earl. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE, 63 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 So ! Then an end to my peace ! [Rises. 
 
 SCENE SIXTH. 
 Harald, Helga, Sven Aslejvsson. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Good morning, my son ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 That is more than I knew before. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 How is it with thee ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Not so ill as with the ambitious, nor so well as with 
 the dead. 
 
 HELGA [showing the cap], 
 I have made thee a pretty cap, is it not ? Do me the 
 kindness to accept it. 
 
 HARALD [as he takes it"]. 
 Thanks. It will become me well on my marriage day. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 What dost thou mean by that, my son ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 I mean, mother, that I am deeply in love, and think 
 to change my estate. 
 
64 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HELurA. 
 
 There is nothing in the way. 
 
 HARAIiD. 
 
 Dost thou think it, mother ? Yes, the cap is pretty ; 
 it will look well enough upon my head in death. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 In death ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 A living head does not fit me. And the bride of 
 whom I spoke, — dost thou understand Latin, mother ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 No. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 If thou didst, I might tell thee her name in Latin. 
 But in all tongues alike she is dark and very quiet. 
 What hast thou bought of me with this cap ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 It is a mother's gift. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Thy gifts are as those of Jacob to Pharaoh. Thou 
 wouldst enter into Goshen. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 What dost thou name thus ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 My thoughts, dear mother. Be not vexed. I will 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 65 
 
 use another figure. Every time thou givest me aught, 
 thou dost but sell a fragment of me to my aunt. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 By all the saints, what sayest thou ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Be not vexed ; thou art not the only one to see his 
 image in the water. Come, what is it thou wilt have of 
 me to-day ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 It seems that thou art angry with me. Is it because 
 Sven Viking is again trying to deal with thy brother ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 I say naught : I am never angry. Come, what wilt 
 thou? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou dost not treat me courteously. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 I beg, then, for thy pardon. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Oh, didst thou but know, Harald ! 
 
 HARALD {giving way]. 
 
 Spare thy pathos, mother ; thou knowest I am as easily 
 moved without it. 
 
66 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Tell me thy meaning, and we will act according to 
 thy wish. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 For God's sake, no ; I have no meaning. 
 
 HELGA. * 
 
 But why not trust in me ? I surely am worthy of it. 
 I have suffered much for thy sake. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Much ! Ay, " much '* may be a great deal, but much 
 from much leaves naught. Let that drop, mother. But 
 hasten, hasten, I have other things to do ; say, what wilt 
 thou buy of me to-day ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Buy of thee, I ? I who have given thee my whole life ! 
 Canst thou believe that I still think of self ? As truly 
 as there is a heaven above us — 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 There is a hell beneath us. Yes, yes, mother, keep 
 thy thoughts from straying upwards. The world we 
 dwell in is wild enough. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou shalt never succeed in wearing out my forbear- 
 ance. I held thee in my arms as a child, and, looking 
 though thy infant eyes into thy soul saw there the germs 
 of good. It is some other than thou that now speakest 
 to me ; but I will patiently wait till thy wild words and 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 57 
 
 deeds shall give place to the old smile which made me 
 first feel that I was indeed a mother. Oh, wouldst 
 thou but tell me what I might do to behold it once 
 more ! 
 
 HABAliD. 
 
 I will tell thee quickly : thou must go to bed, for 
 dreams bring back many things that life knows no 
 longer. They say, too, that a young man lying in 
 death may once again wear the look of his childhood : 
 so thou must wait. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Oh, Harald, hast thou ever thought that thou mightest 
 kill me ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Yes, dear mother. Had I not, many things would 
 be other than they now are. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 I love thee more than all the earth besides, and there 
 is nothing in all the circle of the world or of thought 
 that I would shrink from, if it might purchase thee a 
 happy hour. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Yes, a mother's love may be a fearful thing. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 My son ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Come, come, mother ! The suffering is so long, and 
 
58 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 the name so short. We bear the one, let not the other 
 frighten thee. Mother, thy errand ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thy many words — 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Yes, they are my fence ! Thy errand ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 God ! nothing but my errand. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Is it too much to ask ? You have driven me from 
 one earldom, you have taken possession of the other, 
 and of my power and my house and much besides. 
 And now I beg of you but one small thing ; to be left 
 in peace. But that, it seems, is the hardest thing of all 
 for you will in no wise grant it me. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Hast thou through our fault lost the things of which 
 thou speakest, it was, believe me, out of love for thee, — 
 a love, perhaps, that erred. And believe, too, that we 
 think night and day of how we may restore them to 
 thee. We have just made the last effort possible, by 
 peaceable means, and Sven Viking has just returned. 
 Meet him with friendliness, hear the message he brings, 
 and tell us thy will. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 The fox chased the frightened lambs before him. I 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 69 
 
 know tMne errand. I have sent no message to my bro- 
 ther, I have done naught. I will hear naught. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 But it is done in thy name, and for the people's sake, 
 for ours and thine own — 
 
 HABALD. 
 
 Well, then, yes ; as you will, — yes. But let it 
 quickly be over. [Helga remains motionless.'] Is there 
 anything more ? 
 
 HEL6A. 
 
 If it were only I who might ask that ! 
 
 HABALD. 
 Yet anything more ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 No, no ; there is nothing more. {She goes. 
 
 SCENE SEVENTH. 
 
 Habald, Sven Aslejvsson. Afterwards Feakaek, 
 Helga, Sven Viking. 
 
 HABALD \seats himself]. 
 Would they but leave me in peace ! There are too 
 many wolves for a single dog. [Sinks back. 
 
 SVEN ASLEJVSSON [who has seated himself upon a footstool}. 
 What a day for delays and vexation I 
 
60 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 Frakark enters, followed hy Helga and Sven Vi- 
 king. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 We come hither with Sven, our foremost man; he 
 brings messages from thy brother. \_Harald rises. 
 Sven Aslejvsson goes forward and stands at his side,~\ 
 Thou thyself shalt hear, if agreement be possible. 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 God's peace with you, lord earl ! I come to-day in 
 rough weather, but I wished to deliver my message. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 I have bargained neither for the weather nor for the 
 message, and so I cannot say welcome. But thou shalt 
 thyself be received as befits thee. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Care has been taken for that. 
 
 HARALD [softly^ to the hoy]. 
 His face is overcast ; he surely knows that the stranger 
 has his place. 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 You brothers are much unlike. Paul is silent and 
 sparing of speech, so that men call him the taciturn ; but 
 thou hast many words, more often than there is need 
 for, and therefore they call thee the loquacious. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 I can tell thee something yet stranger : we were once 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 61 
 
 much tlie same, but that which made him silent made 
 me full of speech. 
 
 [He seats himself ^ takes the boy on his knee, and leans his head 
 
 on the boy's shoulder. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Do thine errand, Sven, and as the earl forgets to 
 thank thee for thy trouble, I will do it. We should not 
 forget the rough weather in which thou hast fared forth, 
 and left, perhaps, an earl to whom thou wert more wel- 
 come. 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 I have a word to say of that later. But first I will 
 deliver what I have been charged with ; although it 
 seems I have little thanks for it. 
 
 SVEN ASLEJVSSON. 
 
 Yes, he knows it. 
 
 SVEN VIKING [stepping nearer]. 
 Earl Paul sends you God's greeting and his own. 
 He says to you that the half of the kingdom which you 
 got, although not born in wedlock, from your father, 
 you have forfeited by what since has happened. But 
 when I announced to him your present will, he said 
 that for the sake of the friendship he once bore you, 
 he would yet do what he might. But he must impose a 
 new condition. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 You may share with me, said the wolf to the hare, 
 but when you have eaten your portion, I will eat you. 
 
62 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 The condition is, that you come back alone, with 
 neither aunt nor mother. ISUence. 
 
 FBAKARK. 
 
 I hope thou seest the drawn sword which lies in the 
 message of peace ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Sharpen it, thou ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Dost thou understand aright ? She, who for thy sake 
 lived sixteen years with thy father. Earl Hakon, despite 
 the scorn and the hatred of his people and lawful wife ; 
 thy mother, who loves thee, Harald, more than another 
 may comprehend; it is thy mother who shall be re- 
 jected. [^Silence,'} Thou surely canst not understand ? 
 
 HARALD [motionless]. 
 Yes, I understand. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Thou canst not, Harald, else wouldst thou speak to 
 her. Behold her fear — lovest thou thy brother more ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Frakark ! 
 
 HARALD [as before]. 
 Ah, yes, I understand it fully ; I must either slay 
 my brother or slay my mother. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 63 
 
 BOTH SKTEES. 
 
 What? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 I cannot return to the Orkneys until • my brother is 
 slain, for should I accept the condition which he has 
 named, I should slay my mother. 
 
 HELGA [approaching fttm]. 
 Yes, shouldst thou leave me, it would kill me ! May 
 God ever bless thee for the words — the first words of 
 love I have had from thee in three years. Now I see 
 it all. \_Clasping his knees.'] Thou may est upbraid 
 me, for thou art ill ; but I know now that thou lovest 
 me still. O Harald, let it appear in this hour. 
 
 HARALD \who has put the hoy aside, and then arisen]. 
 Have I said aught that should bring thee to thy knees 
 before me, I beg for thy forgiveness. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 The flame of her maternal love sinks at thy look as 
 before a chilling mist. Helga ! Canst thou not put 
 out the hearth-fire and go forth into the great light of 
 the world ? Beasts love their own brood alone : men 
 should hold more within their grasp. 
 
 HARALD [who i$ again seated, to the hoy]. 
 Thou must remember what she says, when thou art 
 grown to manhood. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 To come back now from this confusion to our busi- 
 
64 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 ness. Was Torkel Fostre present when Paul delivered 
 this message ? 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 <^It came from him. 
 
 FRAKABK. 
 
 I thought it. 
 
 SVEN VIKESTG. 
 
 He strode forward and said : For twenty years have 
 Helga and Frakark stirred up dissension in the Orkneys- 
 It was they who caused the father of the earls to strive 
 for sole power, they at whose bidding he slew Magnus, 
 Torkel Fostre's friend. It is they, too, who have set the 
 brothers at war, for their sole thought is of supreme 
 power. And as long as they shall live will peace re- 
 main afar. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 That saying I will turn about thus : as long as Torkel 
 Fostre shall live, there will be no peace. Thanks for 
 thy mission, Sven. Leave us, now, and make thyself at 
 home. 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 That might be — did I only know whither to ^o. 
 
 HARALD and SVEN ASLEJVSSON \to one another]. 
 Now it is coming ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Whither thou shalt go ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 65 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 Hitherto have I always had here at Caithness the first 
 place at board and bed, but while I was absent on the 
 earl's errand, it has been given to a stranger. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 That I have seen ; but who has done so ? 
 
 HELGA \}iastily'\. 
 
 Surely, it was done thoughtlessly. 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 No, they say it was done at the earl's command. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 That cannot be ; thou must have failed to understand. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Has it been said that I commanded it ? 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 Your boy said so. 
 
 HARALD \taTcing him by the ear]. 
 
 How canst thou say such things, boy ? 
 
 SVEN ASLEJVSSON. • 
 
 Oh, lord earl, I knew no better. He who came was 
 so tall and grand. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 For that trick I shall pay thee as I never have be- 
 fore. 
 
66 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 JGA \to Sven Vihing], 
 
 Thou hast heard, it was but a child's trick. 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 I have heard. A man may not fight with boys ; else 
 should Sven be Sven's bane. 
 
 HABALD [to Sven Asl^vsson]. 
 Thou must remember him too, when thou art grown. 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 But he, who was so sure of himself that he took the 
 place, must prove himself able to defend it. Even now 
 are the people gathered in the court-yard. [Goes. 
 
 HABALD and SVEN ASLEJVSSON. 
 
 Now it will begin ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Nay, Sven, bethink thyself ! 
 
 FRAKABK. 
 
 We, Sven, will make good thy loss. 
 
 HELGA. 
 Be reconciled in friendship. [Sven has disappeared. 
 
 SCENE EIGHTH. 
 The same without Sven Viking. AuDHILD enters. 
 HELGA. 
 
 This does not augur well. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 67 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Why does he not turn the boy away ? 
 
 SVEN ASLEJVSSON. 
 
 I must get up in the window to see. [^Climbs up.'] 
 Just so — they are in the court-yard, all the men are 
 coming out, Sven is speaking. See there ! The others 
 go to one side. Come, earl, it is going on finely. 
 
 HARALD [steps to the window and then back again"]. 
 No, I do not want to look. Tell me about it. 
 
 [Audhild and Helga are upon either side of him, and endeavor 
 topeer otU, 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 It might have been avoided. [_She goes to the win- 
 dow.'] Sven has thrown off his cloak already. 
 
 SVEN ASLEJVSSON. 
 
 The stranger smiles : he is not afraid. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Have they drawn their swords ? 
 
 SVEN ASLEJYSSON. 
 
 No, not yet. They are still speaking — now Sven — 
 now the other. See there ! The stranger sprang upon 
 hun! Ha! 
 
 AliL. 
 
 They fall 
 
 SVEN ASLEJYSSON. 
 
 The stranger underneath ! 
 
68 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 ALL. 
 
 Oh, no ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 How is it ? How is it ? 
 
 SVEN ASLEJVSSON. 
 
 I have never seen its match ! [Jumps down.'] The 
 stranger sprang upon him like a cat, threw himself down 
 with Sven, himself underneath, and then, with legs and 
 hands to Sven's breast, threw him off, several feet away 
 — then sprang up, drew his sword, and laid it upon 
 him. [^Cries without. 
 
 FRAKARK [coming forward]. 
 I have never seen the like. 
 
 HELGA [further ba,clc\. 
 He will serve our purpose. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 K he conquer Sven Viking, none can withstand him. 
 
 [Cries withoitt. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Hear, how they hail him ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Audhild, go out and call him in. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 69 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 She means, you shall ask one of the men to do it. 
 [Audhild goes, the cries are renewed. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Hear me ! That man is born to be a leader. We will 
 now send Earl Paul his answer. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 That he is made for, surely. I have felt all along 
 that I could not bear him. Sven, bring the chess- 
 board. We will play the game in which the chieftain 
 stands still, and the woman has all the power. 
 
 \8eat$ himself, Sven goes, and returns with the chessmen. 
 
 SCENE NINTH. 
 
 The same. AUDHILD, after her SiGURD, in knighVs costume of 
 Scotch cut. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 God's peace in this house ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 We have all beheld thy deed, and now bid thee ap- 
 proach. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 He would seize upon the place that you had honored 
 me with. [Harald and Sven sit down at the right and play. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou hast come from our friend, the Scottish king ? 
 
70 
 
 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 From him last. 
 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 But thou art hardly Scotch ? 
 
 SIGUBD. 
 
 I am a Northman. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 How didst thou happen, then, to be in Scotland ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 My ship was driven thither in a storm. I was asked 
 to stay, and did so. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Whither wert thou bound, when thou camest thither ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Upon crusade. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And now ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 If nothing else is offered me — on crusade. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Hast thou no object in view ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 None. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 71 
 
 HELGA- 
 
 Hast thou kindred '' 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I have a mother. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou hast a mother. 
 
 FBAKABK. 
 
 Who art thou ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What my deeds make me. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 We will not question thee further. Thou hast been 
 here for a fortnight, we have asked thee neither of thy 
 home nor of thy mission. And what is now in question 
 is this : if thou art as well pleased with us as we with 
 thee, we would ask for thy service. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 It falls out well, for my errand had to do with that. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 We are pleased to hear it. 
 
 SVEN ASLEJVSSON {to the earl]. 
 Thou dost not attend. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Yes, I attend. 
 
72 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 FRAKAKK. 
 
 Speech is now made of an expedition against Paul in 
 Orkney. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I have heard it. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 But the earl is sick ; we have no leader. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I knew that, too. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 We have trust in thee ; wouldst thou not consent to 
 act as chieftain of the men thou seest here, and of many- 
 others ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 The men are very wild. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Thou shouldst have the earl's power over them. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 But the earl will not have it so, I can see. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Who asks him? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 He will not ! and it shall not be ! 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 73 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 What does this mean, and at the last moment ? Har- 
 ald, dost thou not wish for war? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Did some one ask me a question ? 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Thou knowest well, nothing may be gained by peace ; 
 here, now, is the opportunity to try other means. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 One way to the gallows is as good as another, said the 
 boy; I am willing to take the shortest. [Goes on playing. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Can one understand from that what he wishes ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 If we should act awrong ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 I have often said it, only in Orfjara can he be happy 
 again. \_To Sigurd.'] Dost thou accept the offer? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That depends. If all will swear to obey me, and I 
 receive commands from none, I will be the leader. 
 
 \The earl rises, but seats himself again. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 That is too much power for one man. 
 
74 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Then wilt thou be lord, and we but followers. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Otherwise I should but follow, and you command. 
 
 PRAKARK. 
 
 Thou shalt have it as thou wilt. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 But the earl ? 
 
 PRAKARK. 
 
 Will reap only profit by it. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Now I am sold, little Sven ; what wilt thou give for 
 me now ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 I will give a whole earldom for thee now. 
 
 FRAKARK \to Sigurd]. 
 
 The woman thou seest is our niece. 
 
 SIGURD [greeting Audhild]. 
 So I have heard. [Audhild draws back. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Can the men pledge their obedience at once ? 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 I am glad that we have at last found a man who will 
 not flag. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 76 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 What reward do you require ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 When I have done the work you may give me what 
 you will. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 He is after my own heart. Audhild, see that the men 
 are called together for council. [Audhild goes. 
 
 HARALD [rising]. 
 Let us go now, Sven, there are so many people com- 
 ing, [Sven gathers up the chessmen. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Dost thou leave us ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 I may be spared, perhaps. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 But the men are coming now. 
 
 HARALD [departing}. 
 Say that I am sick. You will not be far from the 
 truth. 
 
 SCENE TENTH. 
 
 The same, without Harold and Sven, AuDHILD. 
 
 HELGA. 
 Dost thou see ? He approves it not. 
 
76 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 We may not pause half-way. \_To Sigurd.^ The earl 
 seems to you to act strangely ? 
 
 SIGUBD. 
 
 H'm ; he who is not strong sinks often beneath the 
 weight of his own thoughts. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thine answer was kindly. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Good fortune alone can cure such sickness. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Dost thou think it ? If all should fare well — 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 He would soon be himself again. 
 
 AUDHILD [enters]. 
 The storm has carried the roof from off the ship- 
 houses, and therefore many men are at work there. But 
 word has been sent. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 Thanks, my child. [Speaks to her, and adjusts her dress. 
 
 HELGA [to Sigurd:]. 
 Thou seemest very sure that with good fortune he 
 will be himself again. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 For I know something of his case. It is hard to 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 77 
 
 strive with kindred, and through the fault of kindred 
 to lose all that one is born to is hard also. There are 
 many who dare not choose between such conditions. 
 But the choice once made, then comes peace of mind. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou must have known something of the sort. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 He who cannot help himself finds often solace in 
 helping others. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And therefore art thou come ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 In proof thereof I have a letter from king David 
 of Scotland. 
 
 FRAKARK [coming up}. 
 A letter from the king of Scotland ? 
 
 SIGURD [giving it to her\. 
 To you. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 I cannot read. Here, Helga. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 No, my eyesight has failed me of late. But Audhild 
 can read it. 
 
 FRAKARK [to Audhild]. 
 Come hither and read. 
 
7B SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 AUDHILD \i'eads\. 
 
 " David, king of Scotland, sends God's greeting and 
 his own to Frakark, daughter of Maddad. Since we 
 have learned the straits of thy nephew Harald, — to whom 
 God grant many days, — we send thee by this token a 
 man who can surely help you. He has been with me 
 for three years, and for two of them has held the leader- 
 ship in his own hands, and better man have I never had. 
 He will now away, which grieves me, but it likewise 
 gladdens me, since it is in thy cause. The strife of Earl 
 Harald and his brother he has taken much to heart ; he 
 has heard that you need a leader, and offers himself. 
 And my word is this, that you will find no better man. 
 May all the saints pray Lord Jesus, our Saviour, to take 
 us under his protection." 
 
 FBAKABK. 
 
 And thou hast not given us this before ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I wished first to learn how things stood here, and that 
 was not to be done in a day. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Unlooked-for succor is like a guide at the crossway. 
 We know, now, what our path must be. 
 
 HELGA [taking Sigurd's hand]. 
 
 Thanks ! And may God reward thee, for I cannot. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 79 
 
 SCENE ELEVENTH. 
 The same: the men enter. 
 
 FBAKARK. 
 
 Men of Caithness, and strangers I You have often said 
 that you would join in an expedition against Earl Paul, 
 for you have suffered from the wrong done by him. If 
 your ships are in order, there is a man here who can 
 direct you whither to steer them. When brave men go 
 forth to war, no words are needed — least of all a 
 woman's. But after victory they are more fitting, if good 
 gifts go with them. As the oldest of our race I promise 
 you these, but ask of you that you swear obedience to 
 him whom we give you for a leader. [^Haising a cru- 
 cifix.'] In the sight of the Redeemer, pledge to him 
 [pointing to Sigurd] the obedience that men owe to 
 their chieftain. 
 
 THE MEN. 
 
 "We pledge it to him ! 
 
 FRAKARK \to Sigurd]'. 
 Now speak, who hereafter art to command them. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I have never spoken at Thing or at king's council. 
 [Approaching them.] But it seemed to me there were 
 some who gave no pledge. Let them leave ; and this 
 be said to thee, Sven Viking, yonder by the door ! 
 
 SVEN VIKING [maUng his way forward]. 
 
 I will go with you — but as a free man, giving help 
 
80 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 or not, as I choose. We shall see who will first show 
 his heels, he who was so fierce, or he who was silent. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Upon such self-appointed terms comes no one. But 
 that thou mayst know that I esteem thee, Sven Viking, 
 I offer thee the fourth part of the spoils that fall to the 
   leader's share. 
 
 SEVERAIi OF THE YOUNGER MEN. 
 
 It was a fair offer. 
 
 SEVERAL OF THE ELDERS. 
 
 Yes, it was no mean one. 
 
 TWO MEN [to Sven]. 
 Thou canst accept it, Sven. 
 
 KARE. 
 
 Yes, there is no shame in doing it. 
 
 FRAKARK {standing by Eelga and Audhild]. 
 He understands them. 
 
 KARE [turns toward Sigurd and removes Ms cap]. 
 There are many here who in former days followed 
 the noble chieftain Magnus Barfod. And thou art as 
 like to him as one drop of water is to another, and there- 
 fore wo will follow thee ! 
 
 ANOTHER OLD MAN. 
 
 Yes, he is like unto him who bore the lion upon the 
 red shirt ! 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 81 
 
 MANY. 
 
 He is a son of Magnus ! 
 
 [In the mean while several of the younger men have advanced, 
 one after another, to look at him. Sigurd has come forward 
 and stands near the women. 
 
 SVEN VIKING [forward]. 
 And for that came I in with the others. For when 
 I heard that said by many trustworthy men, I held it no 
 shame to be overcome. [Sigurd crosses to the other side. 
 
 HELGA [to Frakark]. 
 
 We have done a rash deed ! He will prove a danger 
 to my son ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Dost thou think so, Helga ? 
 
 SIGURD [advancing quickly towards the men]. 
 Strive, then, to be like his men, for no warriors had 
 ever nobler memory. To-night we will drink to each 
 other, to-morrow man our ships ! 
 
 ALL. 
 
 Yes, to-night for pleasure, to-morrow — 
 
 [They talk together in groups. 
 
82 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 ACT SECOND. 
 
 A hall in Orjjara [(}rhney'\. It is dark. 
 
 SCENE FIRST. 
 
 Sigurd Slembe and Sven Viking. 
 
 Both in travel-stained costume. The latter bears a lantern^ and things 
 which betoken a journey. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 What a greeting is this, when we return from an 
 expedition which has conquered the rest of the land ! 
 
 SVEN VIKING [striking a light]. 
 Perhaps they are not up yet. 
 
 SIGURD [laying weapons and cloak aside]. 
 Not up ! The crusader priests are at morning pray- 
 ers on the chapel hill ; all are up. 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 Then they have not seen us. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Thou meanest not what thou sayest. 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 Neither wilt thou believe me, perhaps, when I tell 
 thee that Torkel Fostre was slain this night. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Impossible ! My honor was pledged for the prison- 
 er's life ! 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE, 83 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 It was too thin a wall to set between Frakark and 
 him she hates. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Then I leave at once. 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 Stay, rather ! Take possession of thy land ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 My land ? 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 The Orkneys are a Norse fief, and the brothers have 
 forfeited their rights in them. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Away ! 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 Thou art Magnus Barfod's son. Here art thou at 
 home. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Away! 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 All the men love thee. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Then I must go. Some one must bind my wound. 
 
 SVEN VIKING \taTces his lantern and follows]. 
 Hear you the uproar from the hill ? The people have 
 learned of Torkel Fostre's murder. Now let it be ! 
 
 [Both go. 
 
84 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SCENE SECOND. 
 
 HelQA [enters from the right, and listens at a door on the leff]. 
 Yes, he is up. But I saw a light at daybreak. So 
 he sleeps no better in Orf jara. But he has won again 
 what he lost, so, it was not that. \_Listens again.~\ His 
 boy surely sleeps, he moves so quietly. So calm within, 
 and without such an uproar from the earliest dawn ! 
 The crusader priests urge our people to seek Christ's 
 grave. Where they are, watchfulness is needful. But 
 what a noise ! Surely they are not now talking of 
 crusade ! And if they speak of aught else, it must be 
 of us, of our plans. "Words may fall to thwart us ; we 
 should have been there. Sigurd has returned, but may 
 not be trusted ; he wins the people more and more. In 
 some heated moment, — Harald must go with us up to 
 the hill ! \_Listens, then knoGks.~\ He paused — no, he 
 walks again. [^Knocks.'] No answer ! [Stands still for 
 a moment.^ The noise still increases. "We women can- 
 not go up there alone, — he must go with us. [CaZZs.] 
 Harald ! Harald ! it is I ! [The door is opened. 
 
 HELGA [starts backward]. 
 Saints of heaven ! how pale he is ! 
 
 HABALD [softly, from within]. 
 They hover about me night and day, like ravens about 
 a corpse. Come in, but quietly. 
 
 [She enters : he closes the door. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 86 
 
 SCENE THIRD. 
 Sigurd. AuDHILD [with a little flash and bandages]. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Where are you wounded, say you ? 
 
 SIGURD {holding out his Hght hand]. 
 Here, between the two fingers — a spear-prick. Pour 
 on a drop or two from the flask I gave you, and then 
 bind it up. They never succeed in deahng me deep 
 wounds. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But you deal such full often. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And even when I am wounded, it quickly heals. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 It is a fortunate thing for you, who fare so far abroad. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 You are spilling the drops upon the floor. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I was up very early, and my hand trembles. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 You do not seem to be weak. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I try not to be. Will you hold the flask ? 
 
86 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD \tahing i7]. 
 
 This balm is a noble thing. I have it from my 
 mother. It came from Ireland with Magnus Barfod. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 It availed him little at the last. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Nothing avails at the last. [^She gazes upon him."] 
 But when it has come to that pass, it is surely sweet to 
 give up. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 It is all done. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And I thank you. \^Smiling.2 I cannot offer the 
 right hand. [^Extends the left.'] How warm yours is ! 
 Mine is cold. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 That betokens health. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 So they say. [He looks for a place to put the flash 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 Shall I not keep it for you ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That would be of little use to me, for I must now de- 
 part. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 87 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 You depart ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes ; I have finished here, and others take my work 
 upon them. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 What mean you ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 You do not know, then ? While I was away, Torkel 
 Fostre was slain in his prison. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Sancta Maria, Torkel slain ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes. I had promised him freedom upon my honor, 
 when all should be settled. The pledge is broken, but 
 not by me. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 By whom, then ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That may be guessed and said. \_Silence.'] Hear the 
 uproar from the chapel hill ! They are now talking of 
 the murder. The crusader priests journey the country 
 round, and seize every opportunity to urge men to take 
 the cross. The minds of the people are disturbed. 
 When holy things stir the thoughts of men, they will not 
 bear what they otherwise would. But they who have 
 brought this about must abide the outcome ! 
 
88 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Now we are indeed undone. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 However that may be, I must depart at once. Should 
 I remain, the murder would appear to be mine. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 None would believe it of you. And if it were be- 
 lieved, should you, who stand so high, fear a mere 
 phantasm ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 One's memory is more than that. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But there are claims to which even judgment must 
 give way. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Here are none such. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Helga and her son. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 If I am to further their cause, I must not become en- 
 tangled in the evil works of others. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But Earl Harald should not suffer for the deeds of 
 the others. 
 
• SIGURD SLEMBE. 89 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That is his fate. Suspicion and dishonor are round 
 about him, and nothing can help him more. Then I 
 would not become too closely entangled, for my sole 
 happiness is in freedom. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I thought so too — once, but found it an illusion. 
 
 [Silence. 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Sorrows come with ties. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Which is harder to bear, think you, an aimless life, 
 or one of sorrow ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Oh, an aimless one ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Then you are answered. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But however large a part I might take in matters here, 
 I should not be satisfied. I never enter a small church 
 without picturing a large one, never a wooden one with- 
 out longing for those of marble, with their forests of 
 columns and their arched immensity. So I never do a 
 small deed, without thinking of great ones, done in the 
 sight of thousands, in the glow of song. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I understand; with such longings you cannot find 
 rest in Orkney. 
 
90 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 If I had but some great aim, I could bear anything, 
 suffer anything ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 And have you not ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Know you of what you ask ? Have you ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 A woman — 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 True, she awaits hers. I began by putting mine be- 
 hind me. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I had thought an aim in life might be found at any 
 time. \_Sigurd shakes his head.'] Forgive me that I 
 have led your thoughts to this. You depart at once ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I am now placed as once before. When I came to 
 Scotland my crusader's path was clear before me, and 
 yet I stayed. And every day I yearned — not for the 
 crusade, nor for home, nor for anything definite, but 
 still unceasingly yearned. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 You will stay. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 You have spoken such words, and so spoken them — I 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 91 
 
 will stay, until I have thought it over. I now go up to 
 the hill, to see how matters stand yonder. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Take your sword with you. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That you should remind me of that ! Thanks ! May 
 I in return remind you of something ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 If you will take so much thought for me. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I hear that you go about the island alone. It is not 
 safe ; I have heard words spoken — for you are fair. 
 Do not be angered by my counsel : you can forget it. 
 
 \_Goe8. 
 
 SCENE FOURTH. 
 
 AuDHILD. HelGA [from Tier son's room, downcastl. 
 
 AUDHILD [falls on her nec¥\. 
 I have wounded thee often ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Wilt thou but learn to love, thou wilt be gentler. 
 
 {Audhild kisses her and goes. 
 
92 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SCENE FIFTH. 
 Helga. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 I cannot grasp his thought. It is Kke an affrighted 
 beast, and hides itself deeper and deeper. Too much 
 have we done — or too little. "We stand midway, and 
 he now fears both friend and foe. But what if he had 
 nothing to fear ! What if he had no longer need of 
 Sigurd, of these men, of us even — having no longer a 
 brother ! To do away with the brother ! Horrid 
 thought, how it tempts me ! I must speak to Frakark 
 — no, it is her thought too ; I must trust in Sigurd, — 
 no, he may no longer be depended on ; Sven Viking ? 
 But what would I have of him after all. There is now 
 but one thing — and I dare not do that. I must behold 
 my son daily wasting away, and may not help him ! 
 Not help him? A mother and not help him? Fra- 
 kark ; yes, Frakark is so strong ! There is a chill in her 
 very look — away with Sigurd ! But is she not worse 
 than Sigurd ? Her violence frightens every one away. 
 But Sigurd, he draws men too closely to him. I would 
 that light might come from Heaven, for in my mind 
 there is only darkness. 
 
 SCENE SIXTH. 
 Helga. Fkakaek [enters].- 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Hast thou been upon the chapel hill ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 93 
 
 FKAKAKK. 
 
 Yes. [She walks about humming softly. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 What means that terrible outcry? Surely no one 
 can be preaching, for they are all speaking at once. 
 
 FBAKARK. 
 
 Then they must have something serious to talk about 
 HEIiGA. 
 
 What dost thou mean ? Speak they of us ? 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 They do indeed. \^Singing.'] 
 " He put forth to sea with full-set sail, 
 And the waves cast their light on his glistening mail, 
 As he stood at the helm ! " 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Frakark, I am afraid of Sigurd. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 And I fear him no longer. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Has anything happened ? 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Yes, the people seek to make him earL 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And thou dost not fear him? 
 
94 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 FRAKABK. 
 
 A handful of traitors ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 In whom can we trust ? 
 
 FBAKARK \dngs\, 
 
 " He put forth to sea with full-set sail '* 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 In ourselves? Should Torkel Fostre take his part, 
 our power will avail little. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Yes ; Torkel Fostre might be dangerous. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 But he is here and in confinement. Sigurd visits him 
 daily — oh, a deep trap is laid for us ! 
 
 FRAKARK [sings], 
 
 " As he stood at the helm " — 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Frakark ! Torkel has much to avenge ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 That he has. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And the day that he is a free man, we are lost ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Yes ; the day — 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 95 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 What dost thou mean ? 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 That thou art a f ool : Torkel Fostre is slain. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Slain ! [^Frakark sings.'] In prison ? By whom ? 
 \_Steps nearer to her sister.] By whom ? 
 
 FRAKABK. 
 
 They suspect me. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Fie! 
 
 FRAKARK [pauses\. 
 Does that come from thy heart ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Yes, from its depths. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 It must he shallow to-day. [Continues to walk ahout. 
 
 HELGA. 
 Frakark ! what is to come of all this ? 
 
 FRAKARK \sings loudly]. 
 " And the waves cast their light on his glistening mail." 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Ay, and saw their own restless image reflected in it. 
 
S6 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 But we, who swim after the ship of fate, we must sink, 
 if something does not soon come in sight ! 
 
 FBAKAKK. 
 
 I did not reckon upon thy thanks, although the deed 
 has saved us all. Had Torkel Fostre been set free, we 
 should not have had long to swim after the ship of fate. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 A living enemy may be won over ; a dead one leaves 
 only vengeance behind. 
 
 FBAKABEU 
 
 Which at the most can but strike a woman, for thy 
 son, our race, is now secure. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Dost thou think that Sigurd's men will stiU bear arms 
 for us ? 
 
 FBAKARK. 
 
 They will rage for a while and make many plans, but 
 soon come to see that without help they dare not revolt, 
 for their numbers are too small. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And Sigurd ? 
 
 FRAKAKK. 
 
 Over Torkel's body he will change his mind. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 All the threads are slipping from my grasp, so fast 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 97 
 
 do events follow upon one another. I feel no longer 
 safe ; I fear many, and Sigurd most of all. 
 
 FItAKAKE, 
 
 Sigurd departs. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 He departs ? 
 
 FBAKABK. 
 
 He is too proud to remain second where for a brief 
 hour he had dreamed of being first 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 But when he is gone, who will help us against Earl 
 Paul? 
 
 FRAJKARK. 
 
 Earl Paul ? He lies without and has but three ships ; 
 he is naught. No, Torkel Fostre — in him was the 
 danger, and it is now done away with. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 It is well, then, thinkest thou ? 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 I know not when it has been better. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 What a terrible noise from the hill ! It is increasing ; 
 it is still increasing. 
 
98 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SCENE SEVENTH. 
 
 The same. AuDHILD. 
 
 AUDHILD {hastily and in terror], 
 Helga, Helga, take Harald and fly ! The men will 
 no longer serve you : some will go over to Earl Paul, 
 others will have Sigurd for a leader ; your life is in 
 danger ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Dost thou hear, Frakark ? 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Comest thou from the hill ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Yes, they are all in revolt, all ! When Sigurd ap- 
 peared, he was received as a king ; they who were ahout 
 to seek Earl Paul paused again; he spoke to the 
 people — 
 
 FBAKABK. 
 
 Fished in troubled water. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Sigurd stepped forward with noble bearing. He bade 
 them choose between Earl Harald and them who acted 
 contrary to Harald's will — 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 So! So! 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 99 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 And the monks still cried about civil strife and hell- 
 fire ; ever about civil strife and hell-fire. The mob was 
 aroused ; some vowed to take the cross, others shouted 
 that the earls must leave the islands, and Sven Viking's 
 voice, higher than all the rest, proclaimed that Sigurd 
 must now take the helm ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 My son, my son ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 And then there was a terrible uproar. I think I saw 
 Sigurd sitting upon his shield, and then, — the storm 
 broke over me, — they shouted, about me and after me, 
 — some, that they would burn our house ; others, that 
 Earl Paul was coming up the fjord. I know not how I 
 came hither. But fly, Helga ; for they will soon break 
 in upon us ! 
 
 HELGA [with dedsion]. 
 I will depart with my son. So will it be known to 
 all who is guilty of the murder. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Do not so, Helga! We should be separated. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 When my son is in safety, I will take thought of 
 whom I have left behind. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 It sounds like the breaking up of ice in a storm. Fly, 
 Helga! 
 
100 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Ay ! \_Hastens towards her son's room, and then 
 paiises'], Sigurd's voice ? 
 
 AITDHILD. 
 
 He might save us yet ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 But he will not. 
 
 AUDHILD [as if spellbound]. 
 WiU he not ? 
 
 SIGURD [without}. 
 You, who hold watch by the fjord, send me word of 
 every sail that approaches ; you, who hold watch over 
 the house, let no one pass in or out, save at my com- 
 mand. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Blessed Olaf, what is this ? 
 
 FRAKAKK. 
 
 Are we prisoners in our own house ? 
 
 [The three women cling together. 
 
 SCENE EIGHTH. 
 Theaame. SiGURD [armed]. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 It must be done quickly ! Good, you are both here ! 
 [Removes his cloak and helmet, steps bach, and draws the bolts. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 101 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 What art thou thinking of ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That should I rather ask of you. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 We are fastened in ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Ay, and the watch stands without. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 At the other door, too ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes ; should you attempt to break out, you are as good 
 as dead. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 This is the stranger in whom we trusted ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Take heed, Sigurd ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Because of you, who cannot now take heed for your- 
 
 7 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 We gave our power to an honest man, and find a 
 rebel. 
 
102 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Give me parchment : there is a treaty of peace to be 
 drawn. 
 
 FBAKABK and HELGA. 
 
 A treaty of peace ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 With whom ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 With Earl Paul. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 His power has grown again ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And thou wilt not fight him ? 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Dost thou not perceive, he is to be fought with 
 quills? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Sigurd ! Thou dost not fight him ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 No! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Now dost thou deem thyself secure. But thou art 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 103 
 
 such a traitor, Sigurd Slembe, that no power upon earth 
 shall save thee from my vengeance ! 
 
 SIGHED [astonished], 
 I will show you that I have the upper hand here. 
 
 FRAKABK. 
 
 Do not think that thou hast conquered us. We can 
 find help, where thou least thinkest ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Find some higher aim ! for this will fail you. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Speak not to me of aims, young man, for of ours 
 mine is the higher set. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What say you? Ah well, it is true. So little is 
 needed. But do not remind me too strongly of it now. 
 
 AUDHILD [stepping forward] . 
 Tell me ; must Helga go ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 She is my prisoner, as are all of you. No one leaves 
 this spot. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But Earl Paul is coming. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Not so far as this. 
 
104 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Not? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 He waits for my men to stream forth from the assem- 
 bly and join forces with him. Instead, he will hear that 
 they have gathered about me. 
 
 FBAKARK. 
 
 Then it is with thee that we have to deal ? 
 
 SIGUED. 
 
 With me. 
 
 FRAKAKK. 
 
 And thou dost plot with our enemies, with Earl Paul ; 
 now I understand thee ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Hast thou the heart to forget him who sits yonder in 
 his sick-room, and knows naught of danger ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Go in. there yourself ! I no longer share my power 
 and my plans with any one. You have caused enough 
 misfortune. 
 
 AUDHHiD. 
 
 Oh, you are noble — you will not misuse your power ? 
 
 HELGA \to FrakarTc]. 
 Look at Audhild ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I thought we had spoken together. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE, 105 
 
 AUDHELD. 
 
 Yes. /trust in you ! 
 
 FKAKARK [to Helga], 
 
 Thou art right ! 
 
 HELOA. 
 
 But it is too late now ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 It is dangerous ! 
 
 SIGTJBD [who has seated himself at the table, rising]. 
 But I cannot write — my hand — [To Audhild.'] 
 You must help me. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I? But I have never written .except for myself. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Your help now is of much moment to me. [Firmly.'] 
 You will not refuse it. 
 
 AUDHILD, 
 
 K I can be of service to you — 
 
 FRAKAEK. 
 
 Her writing is not good enough to be of use. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 It takes one who can read to judge of that. You 
 may leave us ! 
 
106 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Audhild must come too. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Audhild has promised to stay. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 She must obey us ; we stand in her mother's stead. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 It is I who command now ; and if she do not write, 
 it may fare ill with you all. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Come, Helga ! When in need, good sometimes flows 
 from evil. 
 
 HELOA. 
 
 Yes, if they are found together. [They go. 
 
 SCENE NINTH. 
 Sigurd, Audhild. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 The people believe that I wish to seize the power ; 
 through that belief I can save you all. If I now use 
 my position to quickly arrange a peace between the 
 brothers, all plans of revolt will be thwarted. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Then the treaty is in the interest of the brothers. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 107 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Of the brothers. What should I care for these bare 
 islands ? I wish for nothing here. 
 
 AUBHILD. 
 
 Nobly said ! [Sits down to write. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Do you sit at ease ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Thanks! 
 
 SIGURD \slowly\. 
 " In the name of the Holy Trinity do we make the 
 following treaty, and pray that the king of Norway may 
 ratify it." 
 
 AUDHILD [guestioning]. 
 
 The king of Norway ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 His rights must be declared anew ; therein is the 
 only safety. [To himself, as Audhild writes.'] May 
 not the two brothers love one another ? I must try 
 those means that the women have not tried — and they 
 have hardly thought of that. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 " The king of Norway may ratify it." 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 " We will rule over the islands together, and dwell 
 together, with a single court." 
 
108 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 AUDHILD [half rising]. 
 
 Together, and with a single court ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 They have never been happy when apart. [Audhild 
 looks at him and writes.'] But they who are likely 
 to stir up strife must away ; yes, she must away ! 
 
 AUDHILD \after a while]. 
 " A single court." 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 " All who were concerned in Torkel Fostre's murder 
 are banished from the islands forever." 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Frakark, then ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes, she it is whom I mean. \^AudhUd writes.'] 
 But the mother shall stay. She must have learned wis- 
 dom by this. [Pause. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 " Forever.'^ — No, no, you must not look I 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Surely I must look ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But remember, until now I have only written what 
 my own eyes should read. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 109 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Free and clear. Thanks ! There is nothing more 
 now, — but for me to go. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Jesus ! Wherefore ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Both earls must wish it. Otherwise they could not 
 trust in my treaty. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But how can you get away ? And your followers ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 As soon as the earls are brought together, I can be 
 spared. I shall have sailed with the crusaders. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 You said but now, you would reflect upon it. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 I must needs depart, \8ilence, AvdUld finishes her writing, 
 
 SIGURD [thoughtful]. 
 
 Thus I shall do my duty. And yet, did I first hold 
 fast the fief, I might more easily win the kingdom, for 
 from hence on some fair day I might sail over the sea's 
 blue carpet to the very throne of Norway. But in any 
 case it would be uncertain. And the Orkneys were too 
 small for me should they not take me to Norway. They 
 would but poorly satisfy my longings. Were there only 
 something here to hold me ! 
 
110 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 
 AUDHII.T), 
 
 Is this all? 
 
 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes, I thank you. 
 
 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 You go, then ? 
 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes, the counsel I but now gave you must be the last. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 It was just concerning that — 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 You remember, then ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Yes, and to show you that I will heed it — I have a 
 knife ; [takes it from her hosorri] and I no longer have 
 use for it. I wish that you would take it — it has been 
 blessed. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 A noble weapon. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 It came from Jerusalem. My father brought it 
 thence. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Now shall it make the journey once more, and go 
 home with me as once with him. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. Ill 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 May God be with you ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 You go? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But not yet ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 There is nothing more. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But we have never before really spoken together. 
 
 '"* AUDHILD. 
 
 And now I think it best that we speak no more to- 
 gether. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What say you ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Nothing. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 AudhUd! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Farewell ! 
 
112 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Audhild! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Sigurd ! \^He stretches his arms towards her and she 
 casts herself upon his neck. As in a trance.^ What 
 have I done ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I know not, but one moment has made me happier 
 than I had thought all my life could make me. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 You must away. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But now no more. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Your crusaders ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I know them not. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Your plans ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I have forgotten them. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 God in heaven, what happiness is mine ! 
 
 [They embrace. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 113 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Audhild! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Sigurd ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Once again, Audhild ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Sigurd ! Eternal Creator ! that thou shouldst love 
 me ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Look upon me ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I do naught else. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Thou hast tears ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I may not stay them. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Let me kiss thee ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Yes. [He kisses her. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Can this have an end ? 
 
114 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Not while I hold thee. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Then loosen thy hair and bind me ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Is it indeed thee whom I hold ? 
 
 SIGUBD. 
 
 Oh, yes ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 And is it indeed true that thou lovest me ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I think it is. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 It is almost too much to believe. 
 
 [They embrace, again, 
 
 SCENE TENTH. 
 
 The same. HelGA [enters]. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What will you ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 The treaty. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What ? The treaty ? Here it is. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. H6 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 It provides ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 No, do not read, but get it signed — quickly ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 But I must know the contents. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 No, — yes ; but not here ! Hear me, read it and 
 study it as you will, so that I hear nothing from you ; 
 for, by Olaf, I will have no reflection, nothing but the 
 signature ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 I do not know you now ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 No, you do not know me! You know not who I 
 am, what I deign to do ! No reflection, woman. Bring 
 me the signature at once ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 By all the saints ! There must be something in it ! 
 [^Glances at the parchment and cries,'] Shall Frakark 
 away? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 But Frakark ? 
 
116 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes ! yes ! Do not dare oppose a word ! \_nelga 
 goes towards her son's door.] Yes, I have spoken, 
 
 yes ! [She withdraws. 
 
 SCENE ELEVENTH. 
 Sigurd, Audhild. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 These women are so importunate, given to dispute, 
 wearisome ! Audhild ! Hast thou fled into some cor- 
 ner ? Come out again ! [She is silent.'] Audhild ! 
 \_She is still silent. ^ How changed is thy look ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I am afraid of thee ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Thou art afraid of me ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 There are two men in thee. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What dost thou say ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 That was not thyself. 
 
 SIGURD.   
 But, Audhild. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Hard as steel springing over the floor with unmeas- 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 117 
 
 ured step, with evil flashing eyes, and a voice as from 
 some gloomy passage. While thou standest thus, I see 
 it again ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Only a moment's temper, Audhild. The feelings 
 easily escape their hounds when aroused. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But in such fashion ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Forget it and come forth again ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Speak gently to me first ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I am gentle only when I look at thee. And if there 
 yet remain in me any passion to cause thee terror, be- 
 lieve me, it will vanish when thou shalt blush upon my 
 morning, and smiling bring to me once more the day ; 
 call me home and cast a veil over my eventide [she 
 approaches], for thou art peace and home to me. Lay 
 thy hands upon my head. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Sigurd. Couldst thou ever leave me ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Never ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But this unrest in thee ? Who art thou, Sigurd ? 
 
118 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 One who forgets who he is. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Hast thou done some evil deed ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 No. But question not. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 In love there is trust. I could teU thee all. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And I thee. But it is not best that thou shouldst 
 know all. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Yet it is not well that I should know something to be 
 hidden. Hast thou loved another before me ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Never. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 How didst thou come to love me ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 In a moment, I think — I know not how — and thou 
 me .'' 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 From when I first saw thee ; and now I can tell 
 thee, hadst thou departed, I should have died. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 119 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And I was so near to departure ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 See now ! How different is thy love from mine ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I, too, am unlike thee. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Yes, I cannot grasp it yet ; it is something great, won- 
 derful ! Thou must be some mighty chieftain's son. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Audhild! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 What is it ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 For our future's sake, speak no more of that ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 My God ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Nor look thus, Audhild ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Look ? I know not — 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 It still asks. Who art thou, Sigurd ? 
 
120 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 AUDHILD, 
 
 Then do not gaze upon me ! 
 
 [/SAe hides her head upon his breast. 
 
 SCENE TWELFTH. 
 The same. HelGA. 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Again there ! 
 
 HELGA [from her son^s room]. 
 Thou must be a wizard, stranger ! For thy work has 
 done what mine for three years has not availed to ; he 
 rose up and sang. And when he came to what is written 
 about Frakark, he laughed, and called his boy to him. 
 Here is his signature ; see what monstrous letters they 
 are ! 
 
 SIGURD [taking the treaty}. 
 
 Good, — it shall be sent at once. 
 
 SCENE THIRTEENTH. 
 The same. FrAKARK. 
 HELGA. 
 
 But what will Frakark say ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Ask her : there she is. 
 
 HELGA [calls]. 
 Frakark ! [The sisters look at one another. Silence- 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 121 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 What is it ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I have drawn a treaty of peace between the brothers ; 
 among other matters therein is this, that all who were 
 concerned in Torkel Fostre's murder are forever ban- 
 ished from the islands. The treaty bears already 
 Earl Harald's signature. [^Silence.'] It is you who are 
 meant. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 That, then, is my reward. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 It befits the work. {8ihnce, 
 
 FRAKARK \to Bigurd], 
 And thou remainest ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I leave the islands at the same time. \^Asid6 and in 
 great confusion.'] But that is no longer my plan. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Now thou wilt not do that. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Who shall remain with the earl ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 No one. 
 
122 
 
 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 
 FRAKAKK. 
 
 No one ? 
 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 But me. The brothers shall dwell together hereafter. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Ha, ha, ha, ha ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou art not the only one to be rejoiced at this news. 
 Harald laughed too. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Ha, ha, ha, ha ! So, when children build, old folks 
 get the stones. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou shalt see more ! [To Sigurd."] Let the treaty- 
 be sent to Earl Paul at once ! [^Sigurd looks at it, but 
 does not answer.] Hast thou changed thy mind again ? 
 
 SIGURD [turning from her, to himself]. 
 
 All is changed now. My future springs from the 
 same soil as theirs. 
 
 HELGA [to Audhild]. 
 
 Why goes he not? [To Sigurd.] Thou wilt depart; 
 it is thine own wish ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 It was ; — but who would push his boat away from 
 shore, when a woman beckons with white hand, and the 
 house stands open behind her ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 123 
 
 HELGA [stepping with a cry between them\. 
 You love one another ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes ! [^Going to AmihUd's side.'] And I will depart 
 no more! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou art no longer in my son's service ? Thou hast 
 plans of thine own ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 True ; I have other aims now. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And my son shall fall ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I work no longer for others. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And thou wilt take what is his ? 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I take what offers. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Jesus Christ ! Where may I look for help now ? 
 
 FRAKARK [forward]. 
 
 "With me, Helga. Away from him, Audhild, he is a 
 traitor to our race ! 
 
124 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 SIGURD [reflectively]. 
 I think I will break loose at once. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 If there is in thee the least honor, thou wilt send the 
 treaty ! 
 
 SIGUBD. 
 
 Yes, I will break loose ! 
 
 [Makes a motion to tear the treaty, 
 
 HELGA. 
 It is no longer thine ! It bears his hand who sways 
 the land ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 The land is not his : it is the King of Norway's. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 The feudal claims have not been enforced since the 
 time of Magnus Barfod. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 The brothers are in unlawful possession — and it is 
 time to change that. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 And that wilt thou take upon thyself ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I have a word for the King of Norway, who will give 
 me as a fief what they unjustly hold. 
 
 [Audhild has retired to the background. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 125 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And all the blood that our race has spilt in strife for 
 this unhappy dominion, has it all been shed for a stran- 
 ger's sake ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 It is ever thus. From the theft of Fafner's gold has 
 stolen wealth brought with it no fortune, only sorrow. 
 
 FKAKARK. 
 
 But this wealth hast thou undertaken to preserve for 
 us ! 
 
 SIGXJRD. 
 
 When you slew Torkel Fostre, you broke the pact 
 yourself. To no one here do I owe aught — save to her. 
 
 [Looking towards Audhild. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Does Audhild stand for the right by which you seize 
 upon my son's land ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 She made me wish to use the right which the arms of 
 my followers gives me. But I have another and a 
 greater right, and of that you shall hear upon the day 
 when I meet the King of Norway. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Art thou then he whom they say ? — 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That shall you know in time. 
 
126 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 FEAKARK. 
 
 Thou seest, Helga, thou seest now what comes of 
 sharing the power with another. And wouldst thou still 
 further share it with thy son's brother ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Oh, Audhild, help me, as thou knowest what it is to 
 love ! 
 
 AXJDHILD {to Sigurd]. 
 Sigurd, we might live together without that. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Must I, then, always be sacrificed ? 
 
 AXJDHILD. 
 
 To renounce what is another's is not to be sacrificed. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But it is not theirs ! Couldst thou but know : it is 
 mine with far more right than theirs ! 
 
 AXJDHILD. 
 
 What now stirs thy soul, I may not divine. Oh, give 
 them the treaty : I will follow thee whither thou wilt ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Hearest thou ? She whom thou hast chosen implores 
 thee, I as a mother implore thee, and he whose entire 
 happiness rests in that treaty implores thee also. 
 
 SIGURD [to liimself]. 
 Well, Earl Paul may come ! The two brothers to- 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 127 
 
 gether! The easier are both made prisoners — and 
 sent to the King of Norway. Here is the treaty ! 
 
 [^Givesit to Audhild. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Oh, thanks, thanks ! Here, Helga. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 All the saints be praised ! It must ofE at once. 
 
 FRAKARK [coming towards her]. 
 Hast thou bethought thyself ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Yes. It is the sole means to save him yet untried. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 There is one other. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Tempt me not ! Earl Paul shall come ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 But when he comes — [Helga pauses.'] We will 
 give him the shirt on which I have sewn for three years. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Hush I \8he leaves. 
 
 AUDUJULD. 
 
 Sigurd, whither shall we go ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Meet me in thie morning before the others are up. 
 
128 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But shall we not depart ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That I will tell thee when the brothers have come to- 
 gether. 
 
ACT THIRD. 
 
 The hall is decked with shields, shins, and carpets ; seats are ar- 
 ranged ; servants run in and out. It is dawn ; a Tcnot of servants are 
 Bitting together and cleaning the silver, Kare among them, singing. 
 
 SCENE FIRST. 
 
 KIre, Servants. 
 
 kIre. 
 What unseen force do the waves obey ? 
 
 What mounts in the west so red ? 
 What kindles stars in the camp of day 
 
 As torches lit for the dead ? 
 
 ALL. 
 
 God give thee help, our earl, 
 God give thee help, our earl, 
 For 't is Helga, who comes to the Orkneys. 
 
 KARE. 
 
 What dragon is this that speeds so fleet 
 O'er the waves struck red with blood, 
 
 While the sea-birds flock about my feet 
 And screaming skim o'er the flood ? 
 
 ALL. 
 
 God give thee help, our earl, 
 
130 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 God give thee help, our earl, 
 
 For 't is Helga, who comes to the Orkneys. 
 
 KAKE. 
 
 What radiant maid doth my senses daze ? 
 
 What wonderful melody ? 
 And why, oh why, do you tearful gaze ? 
 
 And why do the flowers die ? 
 
 ALL. 
 
 God give thee help, our earl, 
 God give thee help, our earl. 
 For 't is Helga, who comes to the Orkneys. 
 
 A WINTERCLAD MAN [at the door]. 
 
 Hush ! A light is struck in the earl's room ! 
 
 [They all rise. 
 
 KARE. 
 
 He expects his brother to-day. Are the ships in 
 
 sight ? 
 
 THE MAN. 
 
 It is too dark to see yet. 
 
 KARE. 
 Well, well, it will soon be day. [They leave. 
 
 SCENE SECOND. 
 The Earl and his boy, SVEN ASLEJVSSON. 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 Come, now ! There is no one here. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 131 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Hu ! it is so cold here ! 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 Put something more about thee. [ife enwraps him. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Why dost thou wish to stay here ? 
 
 THE EABL. 
 
 There is more room. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Wilt thou never sleep ? 
 
 THE EABL. 
 
 Later, I will sleep later. My brother's ships ought 
 to be in sight now. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 It is too dark to see yet. 
 
 THE EABL. 
 
 Poor boy, thou art tired. Watch but this one night 
 with me ! Thou mayest rest afterwards. They are still 
 sewing upon the shirt, sayest thou ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Yes, both. 
 
 THE EABL. 
 
 And they speak of my brother as they sew. 
 
132 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 All the time. 
 
 THE EABL. 
 
 All the time. \^Silence.J Didst thou hear what the 
 men were talking about in the night ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 No, not in the night, I was so sleepy. 
 
 THE EABL. 
 
 But thou heardst the song ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 The song, yes. 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 It was about my mother, thou sayest. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Yes, and about thy father, who went mad when thy 
 mother came. But he did not do that ? 
 
 THE EABL. 
 
 He was a wise man. But the song, do they all sing it ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 They aU sing it. 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 They all sing it. \_Silence.'\ Sven ! 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 They hate us, then, here in the islands ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 133 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 I do not think you are beloved. 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 I will tell thee something to-day that I have long had 
 at heart. I will go hence ! 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Go ? but whither ? 
 
 THE EABL. 
 
 Away from it all — from hatred, from temptation, 
 from all evil things, away ! 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Then I will go, too. 
 
 THE EAKL. 
 
 Whither I go, none may follow. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 But only the great ships go from the Orkneys. 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 That is not the only way ; it is a discovery, Sven. 
 When thou hast observed me silent, I was thinking it 
 out. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 I do not understand thee. 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 And yet it is old enough. But each time it must 
 be found anew ; it may not be explained. 
 
134 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 And thou hast found it ? 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 Long since. It was the knowledge of it which for- 
 bade me to resist, for I knew well that I might fall 
 back upon it. It was that which made me patient, for 
 I knew that I might go if things went too ill with me. 
 And now are things much too ill with me — they would 
 kill my brother ! 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Thou goest, then ? 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 Over the great waters, the sea shall take me and hide 
 me. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Nay, do not go ! for my sake, do not go ! 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 For thy sake, too, must I go. Thou hast been with 
 me too long. A great future awaits thee ; I would not 
 stand in thy way. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Thou standest in the way of none. 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 Of all, even of myself. My life is to me a burden, 
 to others an object of scorn and hatred, and to my own 
 mother a temptation. She has done much evil for my 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 135 
 
 sake, and now for my sake will she kill my brother. 
 Why should he die ? Is it not better that I, who am 
 nothing worth, should go, than he, who is strong and a 
 man of deeds ? And shall I not spare my mother the 
 sin ? And shall I not give to thee a future, my beloved 
 boy? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 If thou dost leave me, I shall have nothing more to 
 live for. 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 Thou art young, thou wilt soon be happy again. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Oh, never! 
 
 THE EABL. 
 
 Yes, when thou art home in thy father's house again, 
 and knowest that it is well with thy poor sick earl where 
 he is, thou wilt confess that thou art happy. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 But whither wilt thou go ? 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 Hush! 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Will thy dogs go with thee ? 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 Thou shalt have them. They were howling last 
 night. Thou must be kind to them. 
 
136 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 And wilt thou leave us at once ? 
 
 THE EAKL. 
 
 I know not, and did I know, I should not tell thee. 
 Do not weep, little Sven ! 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Oh, wilt thou never look upon me again ? 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 Yes, at night-tide, in thy dreams. I think I may- 
 promise that, for I know that I have thus heen with my 
 brother. And then I will speak with thee as now, and 
 tell thee when danger threatens, and help thee bear 
 those thoughts that are too heavy for one alone. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 But wilt thou not come in the daytime, too ? 
 
 T HK EARL. 
 
 A bird of night have I been and must remain ; I have 
 never known the daytime. Do not weep, little Sven! 
 How kind thou hast been to me ! And now I thank 
 thee for it all. \_Kisses him.'] And so we must part ! 
 
 SVEN. 
 No, no ! {Throws himself upon Harald's neck. 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 For to-day, I mean. Be patient, my beloved boy ! 
 
 [ Weeps himself. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 137 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 No, thou biddest me farewell ; thou wilt not go with- 
 out my knowing it ? 
 
 THE SlABL. 
 
 No, no — 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Oh, take me with thee ! 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 Hush ! For thee are great things in store. Thou 
 shalt fare far abroad, and mighty deeds shall praise 
 thee ; foes shall rise up and fall again before thy sword ; 
 conquering shalt thou fulfil all that I have left thee to 
 do, and then only shalt thou follow me. Go out now 
 and breathe strength with the morning air ! 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 But thou wilt call me when thou art ready to go ? 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 That I promise thee. \_Going to the door with him.] 
 Now it is day, and I must go back to my room, and be 
 alone. Farewell ! 
 
 SVEN [upon his necJc]. 
 Oh, .earl, how I love thee ! 
 
 THE EARL. 
 
 Thanks, thanks ! 
 
 [He hisses Sven in return, and gently pushes him out at the door. 
 
138 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SCENE THIRD. 
 THE EARL [_alone\. 
 
 So ! The hardest is over. They may come now. I 
 will go to my room and wait with the door half-open. 
 And when they come, I will for once arouse their con- 
 science. {^Goes in at the left. 
 
 SCENE FOURTH. 
 
 AUDHILD [from the right] . 
 Ah, I am always the first. But if I were not, I 
 should be ashamed. He must be here soon, for T saw 
 them carrying lights about down at the ship-houses. 
 The day is not far off ; and when its first rays kiss the 
 snow, he will — \_Hides her face.~\ I will pray till he 
 comes ; I am forgetting it of late. I woke up last night 
 when the earl's dogs howled so piteously ; I was afraid 
 and tried to pray. But the moment a door opened I 
 found myself listening for Sigurd's step ; if the watch- 
 man but coughed, I was beside myself, for I thought that 
 Sigurd was waiting. Oh, ye blessed men and women, be 
 not angry with me that I forget you for him ! I know 
 it is wrong, but I cannot help it. Now I will make 
 amends and pray till he comes. \_Kneels.'] Yet not to 
 you, ye stern saints in the church, but to thee, thou 
 blessed Olaf, to thee who didst take the golden-haired 
 Astrid to thy embrace, — although it was not wholly fit- 
 ting, — thou must know what lovers suffer, and how they 
 are beset by manifold temptations, and give way to them, 
 and forget you, ye saints, and all that is, and afterwards 
 atone for it with a lifetime of tears. But be not thus 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 139 
 
 stem with me, for my plight is most piteous ! I cannot 
 hold fast the man whom I love. I live in continual fear 
 lest the next day take him from me ; I surely cherish 
 him more than I ought, for he is far above me, but still 
 must I pray that he be mine ! For how noble he is ! I 
 went about and would not perceive it ; but even when I 
 turned away from him I felt his radiant presence near ; 
 I was persuaded that I would not love, and so came to 
 love far too well — oh, forgive me, for how noble he is ! 
 His very wrath, is it not like wave rolling upon wave ; 
 
 v/his sgeei^ does it not rouse the thoughts as the birds are 
 aroused when the huntsman strikes into the forest ; his 
 
 ^walk, is it not soft as an echo in a summer night, and are 
 noJP^is movements like the tones of a martial song ; the 
 speech of his eyes, is it not whispered through the air 
 as the wind in the tree-tops ! But this is not prayer ! 
 I am deep bowed down with shame, for his image dis- 
 places yours, ye holy men and women. Hush, he him- 
 self is here ! 
 
 SCENE FIFTH. 
 
 SiGUBD [at the principal door]. AUDHILD. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I am here ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But see : I was the first ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 It is because I lay awake longer than thou last night ; 
 I thought of thee. 
 
140 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But the love that keeps watch for desire is stronger 
 than that which is kept awake by memories. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Ah, when I sleep, my sleep is filled with dreams of 
 thee, and so I am loth to wake when morning comes. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But I love better, for my dreams of thee are so vivid 
 that they wake me. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 No, Audhild, I love thee better, for now is dream and 
 reality one for me, and I know no longer when I sleep 
 and when I am awake. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I love thee still more, for away from thee I cannot 
 sleep at all. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Now thou hast lost, for thou art never away from me. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 No, I have won, for not even the thought of thee 
 will fill thy place. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Ah, thou art my thought ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Let us exchange, then, that we may round out each 
 other's joy. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 141 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Thou hast so hlossomed in these hapjjy days that thou 
 mightest go with me to Provence and be queen of love 
 there. 
 
 ATJDHILD. 
 
 If I am but thine, I have all the crown I desire. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 How joyous thou art ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Because thou hast never looked so lovingly upon me. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Why, thinkest thou ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Thou hast resolved to depart ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 No. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Shall we not go, then ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Whither ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 To Scotland. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I am tired of Scotland. 
 
142 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 To England. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I have fought "Against her. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 To Normandy. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I might find some of my countrymen. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Sigurd, I am afraid ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 We can stay where we are. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But thou hast banished thyself ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 If I but stretch out my hand, I am earl here. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Our happiness must not be built upon others' distress. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 It would do the earls a good turn to end their lord- 
 ship, and the land a still better one. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 My soul is troubled at the thought. Didst thou hear 
 Harald's dogs in the night ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 143 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 No. But let us talk of our love. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 We live a venturesome life ; our love consumes itself. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 It rejoices when it knows that danger is near. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Thou art like him who gazes upon the sea, thy look 
 is fixed in its depths. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 The happiness of these latter days is so greatly like 
 the sea. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But if it bear the enemy's ships against thee, thou 
 must needs look up. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That the ships are an enemy's is not certain, but cer- 
 tain it is that thou art now sitting by my side. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Canst thou then think of but one thing at a time ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I can, but will not. For if I would, I should not be 
 sitting here. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 What sayest thou ? 
 
144 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Now thou hast that look again! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Oh no ! \_She hides her face in his hosomJ] Si- 
 gurd ! \_She blinds his eyes with her hands.'] See 
 nothing but my love ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And it is for that thou dost blind me ? 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I must do it. Oh, the day when some great thought 
 comes to thee, then wilt thou leave me ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Impossible : for just such a thought came with thy 
 love ; I had once more an aim. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 It is just that which makes me afraid, for love is not 
 all thy thought. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 No, it has noble company, earls' company ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Sigurd, Sigurd, thou dost wish for more than me alone. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Love broadens life. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 It is that ! Oh, thou wilt leave me at last ! 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE, 145 
 
 SIGURD [embraces her]. 
 Childishness ! Dost thou not see, all that we say- 
 goes in a circle, which must be closed with a kiss. 
 
 [He hisses her. 
 ATJDHILD. 
 
 How happy I am ! {^Knocking is heard. Starting 
 up."] The earl's ships are in sight ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Not yet 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But when they are ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 You will hear it from all about, when they are in 
 sight. \_Knocking heard again.~\ The watch would 
 speak with me. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Shall I make ready for a journey ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Wait till I shall tell thee further. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Sigurd, what is thy meaning ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Trust to me ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 I cannot go ; I know not whither to go. \_Bursts 
 into tears.'] Oh, let me stay with thee ! 
 
146 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That cannot be ; I have much to see to. \_Knoching 
 heardJ\ Yes, yes ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Oh, Sigurd, do not forsake me ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 How canst thou think it, child ? \^He leads her to 
 the door J] Grood morning ! \^In the doorway.'] Good 
 morning ! \_He opens the principal door. 
 
 SCENE SIXTH. 
 SvEN Viking [winterclad], Sigurd. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Forgive me, I made thee wait. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 We do not see the ships yet ; but it is to be done 
 agreed ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Certainly. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 So, when thou shalt give the signal ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 You are to take the earls captive ; but cautiously. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 147 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Frakark tried once more to send a message over to 
 Caithness yesterday. [Smiles. 
 
 8IGURD \smihs\. 
 
 So. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 But he to whom she gave the money drank it up. 
 
 [Laughs. 
 
 SIGUED {laughs\. 
 
 So. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 The crusader ships set forth to-day. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Ah, that is why there were lights down at the ship- 
 houses last night. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Yes, they think that thou wilt go too. [Laughs. 
 
 SIGURD [laughs']. 
 
 So. \_They look at one another for a moment. Sven 
 is about to go.'] Thou, Sven ! 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Well? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Thou must not act before I give the signal. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 No, no. 
 
148 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Even if it come a little late. 
 
 SVEN. 
 Good. [Goes. 
 
 SIGURD {looking after Mml. 
 I will go down to the crusaders. For it may yet be 
 that I depart with them. [Goe». 
 
 SCENE SEVEl^TH. 
 
 The door to the right is slowly opened : the two sisters enter. Fro- 
 kark carries the shirt. 
 
 Frakark, Helga. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 The ships are not yet in sight ; but we must hasten, 
 while we are still left alone. Hast thou the ointment ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Here. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Only on the inside. If a grain of it get on thy fin- 
 ger — [ They take up the shirt and turn it inside out. 
 
 HELGA. 
 Yes. I know it. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 The shirt is fair without : he loves gold and jewels ; 
 he will eagerly put it on. 
 
 [They hold the shirt with a cloth, and apply the ointment by 
 
 means oj" another. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 149 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou settest a trap for the wolf who is to come, while 
 the other is already in the house. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 [f Sigurd will reflect at sight of Earl PauFs body. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 j( He did not at sight of Torkel's. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 It is not the single attempt that terrifies, but the calm 
 repetition. Spread thinner, Helga. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Yes, it must not be seen. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 This poison is a fine invention. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Whose was it ? 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Some woman's, surely, who was faithless. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Why faithless ? 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Such have the deepest thoughts — and are silent. 
 
150 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 It comforts me to think that he will die at once and 
 painlessly. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 And be far happier than he is now. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 May he who survives be that also ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 He may yet be happy — alone. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 I hope he may. One of the brothers must die. I am 
 very calm now. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 When Maddad's race shall rule the Orkneys and 
 Caithness, our task will be accomplished, Helga. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 I will build a chapel here on the island. The roof of 
 the old one is rotten. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 I have often thought — yes, there on the wrist — 
 that thy son ought to take the cross when all was done. 
 It will arouse him ; his father did thus when Magnus 
 was slain. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Yes, thou sayest well. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 151 
 
 FBAKARK. 
 
 By taking the cross one may blot out his own sins 
 and those of others. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Not of others, I think, 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 I have heard so, — yes, in the sleeve, wherever it 
 comes closest to the body, — but the monks often prom- 
 ise more than they can fulfil. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 They will do much for gold. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 I have spoken with the bishop in Kirkevag. He is 
 a reasonable man, from whom it is easy to get absolu- 
 tion. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 The ointment is almost gone. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Then we must have spread it too thick. He will die 
 all the easier. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 He has caused us much sorrow. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 And more was in store. 
 
162 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Had I known what I know now, this should have been 
 done three years ago. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 I proposed it. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Yet, much would have been different. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 But our old age will be peaceful now. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 And I am weary. I need peace. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 We must live here in Orf jara ; the sea lends our 
 thought seriousness. 
 
 SCENE EIGHTH. 
 
 The same. HarALD [enters in light morning dress]. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Good day, my son ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Would that I might say as much to you. That is a 
 singular garment. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 It is a gift of welcome for thy brother. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 163 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 It will be welcome indeed since made by your own 
 hands. It would have cost another much toil to make 
 such a shirt. 
 
 FBAKABK. 
 
 Well ; it has cost us three years of it. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Three years. Much good may be done in three years. 
 How long did Jesus Christ go about with his disciples ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 I do not know. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Three years — it is a sacred number. Karl the Great 
 did much in three years. Saint Olaf converted all south- 
 ern Norway. It took William less to conquer England, 
 and Alexander half the world. And in three years I 
 have done nothing — while you have worked this shirt. 
 Can a man make up for three years in a single day ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 If a man have given three years to thought, and with 
 each year become more unhappy, he may attempt it, 
 some day. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 If a man have given three years to thought, and with 
 each year become more unhappy, he may attempt it 
 some day, — thou didst say the same thing three days 
 ago. 
 
154 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 It may be. 
 
 HAEALD. 
 
 And I said : strange how our thoughts meet, I said. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou didst indeed. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 And again to-day. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 What meanest thou, my son ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 It is three years* toil ; and for three years I have 
 done no toil. If I should put it on could I put three 
 years of toil upon me ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 There is no meaning in what thou sayest. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 The shirt is for thy brother. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 It would make a rare penitent's robe for me. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou dost not know of what thou speakest ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Hear my dogs, poor beasts ! Give me the shirt ! 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 166 
 
 BOTH. 
 
 Take care ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 If I put it on, you can see better how it will fit Paul. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Do not touch it ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 The color will come off I 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 It must be from your hands, then, for the stuff is not 
 homespun. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thy dogs are howling. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Yes, piteously. Give me the shirt ! [Tries to take it. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 It concerns thy life ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Now thou dost jest. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Is it not thou who dost jest ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Life, mother, life. Three years of toil are asked to 
 dance for an hour. Earl Paul shall see from his ship ! 
 
156 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 BOTH. 
 
 What does he say ? 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 I have never begged you for anything, that I can re- 
 member, but now I do beg you for this shirt. I have 
 fallen in love with it, as the smoke with tbe bosom of 
 the air, the leaves of autumn with the earth, the dew of 
 evening with the grass, or a wounded deer with his 
 covert. 
 
 FKAKABK. 
 
 What madness is this ? 
 
 HABALD. 
 
 I long for this shirt ! It is not on account of the 
 color, for that speaks of blood ; nor the pearls, for they 
 speak of the treacherous sea ; nor the gold, for that 
 speaks of the fires of hell. But it is for the three years 
 inwoven like good thoughts in an evil deed, like sense 
 in the speech of a madman, like Daniel at Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's feast. Give me the shirt, that I may put my- 
 self within it, — only a moment, for a man's light 
 lasts no longer than that. What great thing will you 
 do with it, women ? Is there aught greater than to give 
 comfort to a child or light to a man's soul ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Harald, spare us ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Ah, mother, it is all jest, merely jest. Is there any- 
 thing more amusing than the fox who fears his own 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 157 
 
 shadow ; or the avaricious woman who so loads down 
 her boat, that it sinks with her midway ; or a she-tiger 
 who finds that she has slain her young with her caresses ; 
 or the ambitious man who dies the day before he shall 
 be crowned ? So have I seen life miss its aim, and now 
 at the last do I see death fail of its aim also. 
 
 BOTH. 
 
 But Harald, what is it ? 
 
 HABALD. 
 
 Hush, hush ! My finger, the one that touched your 
 shirt, now tingles, burns ; it is pregnant with a secret ; 
 now, I hold it to my ear, and it tells me, oh, you shall 
 know — here is the shirt ! 
 
 [ With a hound he reaches the table and seizes the shirt, which 
 the women have forgotten at sight of his finger, runs with it 
 to his room and bars the door. 
 
 SCENE NINTH. 
 
 The two sisters alone [ci'ying to him}. 
 HELGA. 
 
 The shirt is poisoned ! My son, poison ! 
 
 FBAKARK. 
 
 It is for thy brother, insensate ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Thou dost give thyself up to eternal torments ! 
 
 FKAKABK. 
 
 And all of us together ! 
 
158 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Before the merciful Almighty's face I fall down upon 
 my knees and pray Him and thee ! I who first gave 
 thee life, and a thousand times gave it thee anew at the 
 risk of mine, I, I, it is I who pray ! If thou dost leave 
 me there remains but darkness and terror and dearth of 
 heaven all the world around ! 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Do not put it on 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Do not put it on ! Do not put it on I 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 He is doing it, he is doing it ! 
 
 [She tears the cap from her head. 
 
 HELGA [rising]. 
 
 Thou fearful, accursed spectre of some evil spirit, it 
 is thou who hast done this! Colder than the winter 
 night's wind, more deadly than the marsh vapors, thou 
 hast wrought upon my soul. Through my only weak- 
 ness, through my love for this child borne by me in 
 shame, thou hast overpowered and misused me I See 
 now thy work ! Magnus, Hakon, Torkel, my son, and 
 soon myself, all slain about thee, while thou dost stand 
 there as a tombstone whose inscription tells the manner 
 of our death ! There he comes ! [She falls. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 159 
 
 SCENE TENTH. 
 
 The same. HarALD \in the shirt], 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Well, mother, didst thou fall ! 
 
 FRAKABK. 
 
 Let us help her to her feet again. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 She will but fall once more. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Now it is out ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Ay, it is out ! And now it is ill that all the springs 
 are frozen, for I burn in hell-fire. So it was this you 
 had prepared for him ; — what must be prepared for 
 you ? Help me ! I did not know it was so horrible ! 
 My brother, my brother, my brother, couldst thou see 
 me now ! Let me but bear it to the end and die like a 
 man, unbent ! \_Shrieks.'] No, no, no, I cannot bear 
 it ! \^FaUs. Eelga rises. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 There is nothing in the world can help him now. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Yes, something — oh, what torments ! Mother, thou 
 art the nearest to it ! 
 
160 
 
 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 
 HH1I.GA. 
 
 What is it? 
 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Or Sven, call for Sven ! It blazes, it burns, it hisses, 
 it crackles* Oh, oh, give me water ! 
 
 FRAKABK \bringing water]. 
 
 Here, here ! 
 
 HARAXD. 
 
 No, thou give it me, mother ! [^She gives it, he drinksP] 
 A moment's relief! \_LooJcs at his mother.'] Poor 
 mother ! So this draught at death's hour was all thou 
 shouldst give me. Oh, it comes again with licking 
 tongues of flame ; call Sven ! [He calls.'] Sven, Sven ! 
 
 SCENE ELEVENTH. 
 The same. SVEN ASLEJVSSON [_enters with a knife in his hand]. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Thou dost call, earl ! The shirt ! Poison ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Give me thy knife ! 
 
 SVEN. 
 Earl, earl ! {Ee falls to the ground. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Come not near me ! It will be thy death ! Thy 
 knife, thy knife ! [^He takes it and stabs himself.] 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 161 
 
 Now it will soon be over. \_Sven takes it hack and 
 lifts up HaraldJ's head.'] Sven, take care of my dogs ! 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 And ask my brother to have masses said for me. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 How everything changes ! Is it thou standing there ? 
 
 HEL6A. 
 
 No, it is I. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Is it thou ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Oh, look at me ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 I see thee not. 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Here I am, here ! Oh, canst thou forgive me ! 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Who is holding my head ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 It is I, — Sven. 
 
162 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Is it Sven ? Where art thou, mother ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 I am holding thy hand now. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Look out for the shirt, mother ! 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 No, Harald, I will die with thee. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 This is the first time thou hast ever understood me, 
 mother. Where art thou ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 It is I who kiss thee now. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 How light it grows ! Is it thou all white ? 
 
 HELGA. 
 
 Here is no one in white. 
 
 HARALD. 
 
 Yes, there is some one. Lay me down! \_It is 
 done.'] Mother, where art thou ? 
 
 [She throws herself upon him. 
 
 SVEN" {pdngl. 
 He is dead. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 163 
 
 SCENE TWELFTH. 
 
 The same. SiGURD enters. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Dead! 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 By his own hand. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 Lord Jesus ! [He tries to raise him up. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Do not touch the shirt ! It is poisoned. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Poisoned ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 It was worked for Paul, but he put it on. 
 
 SIGURD [thunderstruckl^. 
 He did that ! And I ? \_Covers his face with his hands. 
 
 SCENE THIRTEENTH. 
 The same. SvEN ViKING [with several followers]. 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 Earl Paul's ships are in sight now. 
 
164 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And Earl Harald's have reached their haven. 
 
 SVEN VIKING. 
 
 He is dead ! 
 
 THE OTHERS. 
 
 Dead! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes, by his own hand ! {^Throws down his cloak.'] 
 Bear him away in this cloak, for the shirt he wears is 
 poisoned. 
 
 SVEN VIKING [passing by Sigurd to take hold of the body]. 
 One of them is out of the way. 
 
 SIGURD [deeply moved, forward]. 
 Hear me, O God Almighty, who hast warned me; 
 the other brother shall sail away in peace ! 
 
 HELGA [to the men who are spreading out the cloah]. 
 Carefully ! Carefully ! 
 
 SVEN VIKIXG. 
 
 He knows no more of suffering. 
 
 HELGA [who has arisen, and made a sign calling for the attention of 
 the bystanders]. 
 
 Frakark! The house thou wouldst have built has 
 
 fallen in upon us all. Thou alone art spared, and the 
 
 worst fate thou canst know is thine : thou shalt live 
 
 longer than thy plans. Ye others, pray for me ! 
 
 Pray that the love which brought death upon me may 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 165 
 
 plead for me with the Source of all love. I follow him 
 still further, whom in life I have sought to know ; but 
 let many masses be said for me ; for it may be that 
 love alone will not suffice to reunite us- Farewell ! 
 
 [The men go out bearing the dead, Helga follows. 
 
 SIGURD [to the hoy Sven]. 
 And thou, my little friend, whither wilt thou ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 I will go with them until he is buried. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And then ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 I will take his dogs and row home. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Thou hast served him faithfully, and put many to 
 shame. 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 I thank you. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Is not this knife thine ? 
 
 SVEN. 
 
 Ay. 
 
 [He takes it, looks at it, then looks quietly at Frdkark, and goes. 
 SIGURD [toherl. 
 
 There grows the man who shall be thy bane. 
 
166 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Hast thou more to say to me ? 
 
 SIGUBD. 
 
 No. 
 
 FRAKARK. 
 
 Then I will leave thee alone. [She goes. 
 
 SCENE FOURTEENTH. 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I am left alone — in this house — between his corpse 
 and their broken hopes — face to face with my own. 
 This silence — this silence following, staring at me like 
 an enormous eye — all I look upon is plunged in it, and 
 eternity is round about me. I hear above me a rushing 
 as of mighty wings ; for He is here, the great, angry 
 God. He has spared me, but how shall I now creep 
 away and hide myself ? The warning set in my path 
 was so great, so terrible. Crushed in spirit I bow down 
 before Thee ; nevermore shall the hope of power tempt 
 me ! If I may not serve others, as I have learned but 
 now ; and as Thou hast not granted that I pursue my 
 own ends, I here devote myself to thy service. Thou 
 Ruler of the world, — not in ambition, as once before, 
 but entirely, and with every thought, and the deed of 
 every moment yet unborn ! And make Thou this vow 
 to be, more than a gleam cast by thy angry lightnings 
 in my soul ; make it to be a lasting light upon my path ! 
 Deep below me now sinks all that has cursed my life, 
 and my ardor raises me up to Thee, as the disciples to 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 167 
 
 thy son. Free from all burdens, my soul aspires to Thee ; 
 do Thou unfold the banner of the cross, and where it 
 waves, there will I fight to the glory of thy name. What 
 are all things earthly save vapors, spread abroad and 
 drawn m with every breath ! How my soul has vainly 
 vexed itself with selfish aims, which come and go ! Thy 
 cross is not heavy upon my shoulder ; but heaviest of all 
 things known to me is that emptiness of soul which seeks 
 for what I have sought hitherto. Oh, hear me, thou 
 Cross-bearer ; I am with Thee while it is day ; make but 
 Thou the day to last, so that no night come between us 
 more. 
 
 AU DHILD [is heard ca lling] , 
 
 Oh, this house of horrors ! Where art thou, Sigurd ? 
 Sigurd, where art thou ? [She enters. 
 
 SCENE FIFTEENTH. 
 Sigurd, Audhild. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 What has happened ? Helga lies dead upon her son's 
 body ; the doors are all open ; strangers break in upon 
 us. Earl Paul is coming, and Frakark rows away. 
 Where shall I find refuge save with thee, my eternally 
 beloved one ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Then dost thou seek it with an outlaw ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Take me with thee. 
 
168 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 A wife is for peace and the home, but I have no 
 place where I may stay. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Thou wilt leave me ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 The dawn has broken in upon our embraces ; tb'^ 
 house shall be cleansed ; now must each seek his own. 
 
 AUDHLLD. 
 
 Eternal Grod ! What, then, will become of me ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Ask, rather, what I have given thee. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Sigurd! 
 
 SIGURD. ^ 
 
 Sorrow and trembling ; an hour of rapture, another 
 of weeping. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But what, then, art thou, Sigurd, that I have never 
 felt myself at ease with thee ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Magnus Barf od's son, and heir to Norway ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Thou shouldst not then have spoken to me. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE, 169 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I have in vain sought peace through all the world, 
 and it was sweet to me when thou didst offer it. I have 
 robbed thee of thine, but have won none for mysiBlf. 
 Child, how much ill I have wrought thee ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Fear and trembling thou first gavest me. Didst thou 
 appear, I might hardly breathe. What since hath been 
 I know not ; it flits before my eyes like a vision of air 
 and sea. I have never been truly awake since then. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 We have learned of late that one may not be so much 
 to another. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 But what is then to come ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That which is now past brought no content — we 
 must seek it in the future. I go upon crusade ! 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 O Christ ! And I shall remain as before — alone ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Even more alone, — and I, who am the cause of it 
 all, may not help thee, — I am the restless one who 
 brings but evil in return for good. I am the outcast, 
 who may find no peace — save with Thee alone, my 
 God and Father ! 
 
170 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Do not sorrow ; for I would not spare a single hour 
 of those that I have passed in anxious joy with thee. 
 But tell me, thou mighty one, that thou hast loved none 
 save me alone. 
 
 SIGUBD. 
 
 I will tell thee more : in all my life I will love none 
 other. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 Then will I think of thee as my noble husband, away 
 upon a journey. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But thou must not forget that he will hardly come 
 back to thee. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 
 O Sigurd, Sigurd ! 
 
 SONG OF THE CRUSADERS {is heard from the sea]. 
 Fair is the earth. 
 Fair is God's heaven, 
 Fair is the pilgrim path of the soul ; 
 Singing we go 
 
 Through the fair realms of earth 
 Seeking the way to our heavenly goal ! 
 
 SIGURD [os the song begins]* 
 Dost thou hear the song of the crusaders? Once 
 again it lifts me above all doubts and dreams, but higher 
 than before. And let these tones, gliding through the 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 171 
 
 air like white-robed angels, be our mighty bridal song ! 
 Audhild, farewell ! {They embrace for the last time ; 
 he tears himself away.'] Yes, I come, I come ! 
 
 [Departs. 
 
 AUDHILD. 
 Lord, be with him ! [ On her knees.] But remain 
 with me also ! 
 
PAKT THIRD. 
 
 SIGURD'S RETURN. 
 
CHARACTERS. 
 
 Sigurd Sl&mbe. 
 
 King Habaxj) Guxe, his half-hroiher. 
 
 KOIX S-EBJOBNSON, ) i- a. • /.^t t- 
 
 _ o ' > chieftains of the king. 
 
 HALLKELIi HUK. 
 
 Bejntejn, ) 
 
 Sigurd Stallab, / brothers : king^s men. 
 
 Gyrd, ) 
 
 IvAR KoLLBEJNSON, chief of the king^s men. 
 
 IVAR InGBMUNDSON, pOCt. 
 
 Erlend. 
 
 A Watchman. 
 
 A Nun 
 
 A Finnish Maiden. 
 
 Followers, Citizens, etc. 
 
 Time — 1136 and the three follotving years. 
 
ACT FIEST. 
 
 The king^s court at Bergen. The hall is decked for a feast. En- 
 trance forward on the [spectator's] right. In the centre, on a dais, 
 the throne with a table before it. Harald Gille sits on the throne ; 
 his marshal is at the table opposite him, but seated upon a lower level. 
 Upon each side of the king a page, holding a lighted candle. The 
 king^s men sit on benches along the side walls ; before them are tables 
 laden unth food and drink; waiters run back and forth; when they 
 offer anything to the king they fall upon their knees, Gyrd is master 
 of the feoffor the day. The scene is one of greai magnificence. 
 
 SCENE FIRST. 
 ^ The King, Koll S-ebjobnson, HALLKBLii Huk, Tjostulv 
 A T i K soN, IvAB Ingemxtndson, Bkjntejn, Gybd, Sigurd Stai> 
 liAB, IvAB KoLiiBBJNSON, and many others. A low conversation 
 is going on. 
 
 TJOSTULV AliESON 
 [rises from his seat and goes towards Ivar Ingemundson, who sits at 
 the right in the foreground. Tjostulv draws a stool forward 
 and sits down by him}. 
 You know him then ? 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Not himself, but his career. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 They were hard words that we heard spoken of him. 
 Do you believe them true ? 
 
176 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 lYAR. 
 
 It was very quiet here afterwards. So I think that 
 his fate is sealed. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Bejntejn must have crossed him before. No man 
 speaks thus without a sense of injury. 
 
 IV AR. 
 
 Bejntejn seeks to be the first man in the land. But 
 Sigurd conquered him when a boy. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Aha ! Then Sigurd comes at an ill-chosen hour, for 
 Bejntejn and his kin — 
 
 rvAB. 
 You are overheard ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 How long has Sigurd been on crusade ? 
 
 IVAB. 
 
 Eight full years. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 And since then ? 
 
 IVAB. 
 
 Since then he has cruised for two years in the North 
 Sea, between Denmark, Iceland, and Normandy. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 As a merchant ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 177 
 
 rvAB. 
 As a merchant. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 He has been uncertain of himself. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 He has been that all his life. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 And he comes at an unfortunate time. 
 
 rvAR. 
 The king knows of whom we are speaking. 
 
 GYRD \in a low voice to TJostulv}. 
 
 The king does you the honor of drinking with you. 
 
 {Tjc^tulv hastens back to his place, and rises, holding a beaker to 
 his breast, with head bowed, until the king has drunk. 
 
 THE KINQ. 
 
 Hail, thoa ! 
 
 GYRD [calls]. 
 
 The king drinks ! 
 
 [All drop what they have in their hands, bow their heads, and 
 fold their hands, until the king has drunk. 
 
 HALLKELL HUK. 
 
 May I be allowed, my lord, to resume the subject of 
 which we last spoke ; I would fain ask Koll Saebjbrnson, 
 who comes but now from the Orkneys, of the murder of 
 Torkel Fostre. "Who has answered for it ? 
 
178 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 It is now ten years old. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 That I know, and also that the slain man was your 
 friend. "Was not Sigurd Slembe guilty of that murder ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 He was then chief in power upon the islands ; more 
 I know not. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 If he was chief in power, it behooves him to answer 
 for it. What think you, my lord, of calling him to ac- 
 count ? It might give him other matter to think upon 
 than the sharing of your kingdom. 
 
 SEVERAL VOICES. 
 
 Ay. Hallkell is right! 
 
 THE KING [whose speech and pronunciation are somewhat foreign. 
 
 Let — let us talk of something else. \_To Hallkell.'] 
 
 Hail^ thou ! [They all bow their heads as before. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Take it not ungraciously, my lord, that we would fain 
 ward off this danger. For it may hardly be doubted 
 that Sigurd is the son of Magnus Barfod ; he bears the 
 proof upon his brow. He now in all respect demands 
 an answer, and that must he have. And that the answer 
 should not consort with his wish is hardly to be coun- 
 seled, for strife would sm*ely then arise. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 179 
 
 But there are not many sitting here who can desire 
 that it shall consort with his wish. 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 The way out of the difficulty, offered by Hallkell, does 
 not seem to me ill advised. 
 
 SEVERAL VOICES. 
 
 No, it is not ill advised. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 It seems to me both dangerous and unjust. It is a 
 shame thus to counsel the king, who is so good of heart. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Marshal, have we no gift for Tjostulv ? 
 
 THE MAKSHAIi. 
 
 The gifts which we last got are all— 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Take this beaker ! 
 
 [Ht gives it to the marshal and takes another; the marshal 
 
 hands it to Tjostulv. 
 
 TJOSTULV [standing]. 
 Many think this with me, that you are the most gra- 
 cious king in the North. 
 
 \The beaker is passed around amid cries and exclamations. 
 
 GYBD [callsl. 
 The king drinks ! [All do as before. 
 
180 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 We were speaking of the Orkneys. Can you not, KoU 
 Saebjornson, tell us something of the Orkneys ? As you 
 have but now come from them, you must have news 
 unknown to the most of us. [The king nods assent to KolL 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Since the king, our lord, welcomes the suggestion, it 
 becomes to me a duty. You, lord, bestowed men and 
 ships upon my son, and so the subjugation of the land 
 was undertaken. Earl Paul was made prisoner by a 
 cunning man whose name is Sven Aslejvsson, and the 
 Orkneys fell to the rule of my son, — and thus became 
 once more a fief of Norway. \_Rising.'] It is, then, my 
 lord, a happy day for me that I may thank you for the 
 grace granted to me and to my son, although we were 
 the most unworthy of all. And the lordly men I see 
 here about me surely feel as I do, that in the Orkneys 
 the crown has won back a great possession, and that 
 more through report of the great goodness and gra- 
 ciousness of our king than through strife, which it is 
 ever best to avoid. The Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint 
 Olaf will pray for you every day. May the love of your 
 subjects and your wonted fortune follow you until your 
 last hour — which we pray may be far off, for the sake 
 of this kingdom, and for our sakes also, who are nearest 
 you! 
 
 ALL [rising]. 
 
 Fortune be with the king ! 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Marshal, hast thou no gift for KoU ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 181 
 
 THE MARSHAL. 
 
 The gifts which we last got are all — 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Then take these cushions from my seat. 
 
 [They take the cushions upon which he has been sitting, and 
 
 give them to Koll. 
 
 ALL [to one another]. 
 
 What liberality ! What goodness of heart ! 
 
 [The cushions are passed around. 
 
 KOLL [rising]. 
 There needs not such costly gifts, my lord, to cause 
 my old age, after much labor, to rest as softly and as 
 gently in your grace as in silk and down. 
 
 [Murmurs of applause. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 Never sat so open-handed a king upon the throne of 
 Norway. 
 
 ALL. 
 
 Never. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 What, to him, was Hakon Adelstejnsfostre? 
 
 OTHERS. 
 
 Or Magnus the Good ? 
 
 STILL OTHERS [together]. 
 Or Olaf Kyrre, or — [General confusion. 
 
182 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HALLKELL [Imider]. 
 
 There is not one of us here, who does not owe to him 
 ihe half of his possessions. 
 
 rVAB KOLLBEJNSON [still huderl. 
 
 Most of us owe him all ! 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 The king is about to rise ! 
 
 [All spring to their feet ; the king is assisted to rise. Some of 
 the men come forward and group themselves about the king. 
 In the mean while the tables are carried away. 
 
 THE KLNQ, 
 
 Before I became king, I could stand well upon my 
 feet. 
 
 ALL. 
 
 Ha, ha, ha ! 
 
 IVAB KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 You were the swiftest runner that the North has ever 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 I was there, my lord, when you deigned to race with 
 Magnus's Gothic horse. 
 
 SEVERAL VOICES. 
 
 I too. The king won three times. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 But since I have been king, my strength has gone 
 from my legs up into my head. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 183 
 
 SEVERAL VOICES. 
 
 Ha, ha, ha ! It has gone from his legs up into his 
 head ! 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Yet I think that no man can now show the match to 
 your legs, from ankles up to thighs. 
 
 rVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 A man who had the honor to feel of the royal legs 
 once said that he should think them made at the forge 
 were they not so white. 
 
 THE KING \to Ivar Kollbejnson}. 
 Thou shalt feel of them. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Heaven defend me ! 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Why not? 
 
 rvAR. 
 To lay hands upon the king ? 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 But I grant it. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 For nothing in the world. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 But I say thou shalt. 
 
184 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Such condescension ! \_^Feels.'] Yes, is it not — is it 
 not like — all the way up ! 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Perhaps there are others here who would like to feel 
 of my legs. ISeveral press forward, 
 
 KOLL. 
 I think I have felt others as £rm. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Hast thou, Koll ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Yes, of marble and gold. 
 
 T HK KING. 
 
 Marble and gold. Ha, ha, ha ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 It is most wonderful. True horse-legs. That is, I 
 mean the fore-legs of a horse. That is, I do not exactly 
 mean a horse, but if a man were to have legs as strong as 
 the fore-legs of a horse, I mean — yes, it is wonderful. 
 
 [Several feel of them. 
 
 rVAB KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 I could wish for nothing else upon earth, if I had 
 such legs. 
 
 GTBD. 
 
 Yon man, who calls himself your brother, has waited 
 without for three hours. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 185 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Bid him come to-morrow. Say that we have business. 
 
 IV AR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 He has had that answer for eight days. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 If I may say so, it may not perhaps be best to dismiss 
 him too often. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Yes, let us have done with him once and for all. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 I have thought — my men might have rid me of him 
 — without me. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Thus stood you once at the door of Sigurd Jorsalfa- 
 rer ; and he took you in and called you brother. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 The difference is that Harald was the king's brother, 
 and no one knows who this man is. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Harald was put to the ordeal, and this man might 
 crave as much. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 The king cannot grant the right of ordeal to every 
 stranger who comes with shameless demands to the 
 court. 
 
186 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 For we all know how the ordeal is managed. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 If we all know it, we do not speak of it. 
 
 IV AR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 Tjostulv, speak further ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Lord king, you have never yet allowed your predeces- 
 sors to surpass you in gracious condescension. Do not 
 so this day ! 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Tjostulv is right. What Sigurd Jorsalfarer did to 
 me ought I to do to this chieftain. Lead him in ! 
 
 [Ivar KoUbejnson leave$. 
 
 SIGURD STALL AR [mcZmm^']. 
 Will you not mount the throne ? 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Yes ; he has been in Provence, in Rome, in Jerusa- 
 lem, and in Micklegarth. We must show him that we 
 know what is befitting our state. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 But, my lord, perchance you show him too much con- 
 sideration. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 We know not yet who he is. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 187 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Well, we will remain here. Thus ? 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 The king perhaps should sit, while the others stand. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Well, I will sit, and you shall stand. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Were it not better that we should sit around upon the 
 floor ? It is the custom with many foreign princes. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 I will have that by no means. You shall not sit 
 upon the floor. [They group themselves. 
 
 SCENE SECOND. 
 Tht same. SiGURD, IvAR KOLLBEJNSON, who stands a little aside, 
 
 SIGURD [on his knees before the king] . 
 May the blessed Olaf , our heavenly friend, be with us 
 to-day at this meeting. [Rises. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 This man looks as if he had suffered much. 
 IVAR. 
 
 Yes, yes. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Lord king and brother, you have made me wait long. 
 
188 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 Have now patience with me, hear me, and remember 
 that a single hour to-day is to decide a conflict of fifteen 
 years I 
 
 Magnus Barfod, your father, was mine also. Chief- 
 tain Koll Saebjornson was present in Stavanger church, 
 when my mother revealed to me the fact before God's 
 face. I was then twenty years old. 
 
 The mighty lord Sigurd Jorsalfarer, your brother, 
 sat upon the throne of Norway. He was a natural son, 
 as I myself, and I had the right to share his throne. 
 But Koll Saebjornson and my mother convinced me that 
 an unknown youth could not succeed in pressing such a 
 claim. I did not feel in myself the strength to remain 
 at home shut out from my rights, and I set out upon 
 crusade ; I sought for might and honor in foreign lands. 
 
 But God cast my ship and my purpose upon Scot- 
 land's coast, and broke them in pieces. A soldier from 
 such unhallowed motives He would not own. 
 
 I understood not the sign then, but took service where 
 I was, and day followed day in discontent. 
 
 I heard presently that close at hand had been accom- 
 plished what I had fled from doing ; in the Orkneys, 
 Norway's old fief, two brothers fought for the power. 
 I journeyed thither and took the part of him who was 
 the weaker. 
 
 Victory was mine ; but the thought — for whom hast 
 thou conquered ? — awoke new plans in my soul ; could 
 I not have the kingdom, I would have the fief, and I 
 cast the two weak brothers aside. 
 
 Then God closed for me all the paths of ambition 
 with a fearful warning ; in terror I forsook my plans, 
 and even my obligations, and sought refuge in his em- 
 brace, seeming to catch sight of the crown that shines 
 for us all in eternity's dawn. I took the cross. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 189 
 
 For eight years my life was a crusader's. Many a 
 great and solemn hour it gave me upon sea and land, 
 but peace it gave me not. For a man may not efface 
 his thoughts like a footprint, and the glowing sun of 
 NOrvasund could not burn up within me the memory of 
 my home, of my birth, and of the duties I had fled. 
 
 For it was indeed thus ; I had fled them, not fulfilled 
 them. 
 
 And in what company was I fallen ? Monks, who 
 sang before the battle, and preached of a glorious death, 
 and fled in terror at the sight of an oriental turban 
 through the palm-trees ; knights, who embraced one an- 
 other with brotherly kisses before the fight, and after, 
 slew one another in strife for the leadership. Should 
 I not better serve my God, I asked, in turning home- 
 wards, and fulfilling the least obligations that there 
 awaited me ? 
 
 Twice I had gone awrong; I would not do so a 
 third time, and so I let my thoughts ripen during eight 
 years, — can you understand how long that is for one 
 who yearns ? 
 
 TJOSTULV \to Ivar Tngemundson]. 
 This man has suffered greatly, and there is truth in 
 his speech. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Of a truth, he is our brother. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Be not hasty. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 When I stood once more in Denmark, I heard that 
 
190 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 the two for whose sake most I had come had sought 
 refuge in the cloister. But I heard also that Sigurd 
 Jorsalfarer was dead, and his son Magnus become king, 
 but of half the kingdom only, while the other half was 
 ruled by my own younger half-brother — by you, my 
 lord ! You had dared what I had shrunk from, and the 
 man who in his time had counseled me against it, [he 
 points to Koll Scehjornsori] had counseled you to do it, 
 and stood now, high in rank, at your side ! And when 
 I looked towards Orkney, I saw that his son had been 
 tempted to do what I fled for fear of doing, for he had 
 conquered Earl Paul's kingdom I 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 I could not have borne that. 
 
 GYRD [to Eallkell]. 
 A marvelous career ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 There was sorrow and strife in both lands : I would 
 not add to them. For two years I sailed as a merchant 
 to and fro in the North Sea, but during those years Earl 
 Paul of Orkney was captured and slain. And during 
 the same time young Magnus of Norway was imprisoned 
 and — blinded. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 It was not I that did it, — not 1 1 * 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That I know, and the silence of your followers tells 
 me who it was that did it. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 191 
 
 It was soon reported about that your heart was gentle, 
 that you gladly shared your power, and gave every man 
 his right. Then thought I, perchance he will give me 
 mine — the hour is come ! In peace and unprotected 
 will I go to him, tell him who I am, and what I have 
 suffered. Therefore, O king and brother, am I come 
 to-day. Will you not acknowledge me, then say but a 
 word, and, Saint Olaf is my witness, I will retire. But 
 if you incline to me, I am so easily led that I, who am 
 passionate and strong, will try to make myself better ; 
 and a gentle brother may win the kingdom for us both. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 It shall be so ! Yes, yes — 
 
 HALLKELL [who has pressed forward]. 
 Lord king ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 When I see you sitting in your royal seat, and the 
 poorest man about you better treated than I, who am 
 your brother, unbidden thoughts arise in me. Let them 
 not take hold of me, lest all I have won this day be lost 
 again. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Hallkell, Hallkell, — we must not be too hard. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I have roamed far abroad both in deed and in 
 thought. I have fought in more battles than all of 
 these men together ; nearly all the known world have I 
 seen, and plans and great experience do I bring with 
 
192 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 me. And I have so great a desire for activity that I 
 can hardly control it. May it all prove a blessing to my 
 fatherland ! 
 
 There are moments in our life, when good and evil 
 hold watch alike together — this may be such for me ! 
 And there are moments too for whose sake our whole 
 being has been shaped — if this were such for you ! If 
 you perchance were made king but that you might do 
 V this great deed — and then should fail to do it ! 
 
 But you will not ! You remember too well how you 
 yourself came to Sigurd Jorsalfarer ; you will show your 
 gratitude for the great fortune God has given you, and 
 let some share of it be mine. {Falls on his knees. 
 
 THE KING [rising, and much moved]. 
 Yes, yes, thou art my brother ! I will do all that is 
 good by thee ! [Embraces and kisses him. 
 
 HALLKELL, GYRD, SIGURD STALLAK, BEJNTEJN. 
 King, king ! [Great confusion among the chieftains. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 You say yourselves, he is my brother ! KoU, thou 
 didst hear his mother, what said she ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 She said he was Magnus Barfod's son. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 You all can hear that ; and I feel it, at once feel it to 
 be true. 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 But so weighty a matter should not be decided off- 
 hand. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 198 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 And in affairs of state the heart has hardly the first 
 claim. 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Justice, rather. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Yes, justice ! And I will do by him as Sigurd did 
 by me ; that is justice ! 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Sigurd Jorsalfarer gave you the right to prove your 
 birth ; more than that he did not grant. That you be- 
 came lord over the kingdom of Norway, that you owe 
 to your chieftains, who can claim to be called upon for 
 counsel in a matter of such immense importance, and it 
 grieves me that I should be the first to remind the king 
 of this. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 My chieftains ! Dear friends all ! "Would you have 
 all that I possess, then take it. But in such a matter, 
 when my heart tells me it would be an ill thing not to 
 do justice — that I shall not live long, that I feel — I 
 know not how to say it — I know not your speech — but 
 only be kind to me, for I have only kindly feelings to- 
 wards you. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 I shall never forget, O king, how nobly you have 
 spoken and felt this day. 
 
 Undoubtedly the first thing to be done in this case is 
 
194 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 to ask : does any man doubt that this man is Magnus 
 Barfod's son ? 
 
 MOST OF THE CHIEFTAINS. 
 
 Yes! 
 
 TJOSTULV [pauses a moment']. 
 Good ! The next thing, then, is to grant him the or- 
 deal ; thus he may prove his birth ; such grant was 
 made Harald. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 We know what comes of that, if a few skillings can 
 be raised for the priests. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 I must repeat that such things should not be said. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 I am too good a subject to hide them ; the glowing 
 iron must not become the way to Norway's throne. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 I have heard that Hallkell was witness what time the 
 king went that way. I have never yet heard a man 
 stand up and brand himself a cheat. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 There, there, no quarrel, friends ! Marshal, have we 
 no gift for Tjostulv ? 
 
 THE MARSHAL. 
 
 The gifts which we — 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 195 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 King Harald and his men cheated no one; there 
 were other proofs than the glowing iron at hand. But 
 the proofs of Sigurd's cause are entirely lacking. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Now it is getting so complicated. Koll, what sayest 
 thou ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 I have never known or heard, lord king, of the man 
 whose cause was in question being present at the trial. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 True, true, that is a great mistake. Sigurd, go in to 
 my apartments — chieftain, follow — no, a greater, mar- 
 shal, follow him. Trust in me, I will soon give you an 
 answer. {Sigurd bows and leaves. 
 
 SCENE THIRD. 
 
 The same, except, at first, SiGURD SlembE and SiGURD 
 StALLAB, the latter of whom soon returns. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Now I will sit down, and we will consider it carefully. 
 Speak thou first, Tjostulv. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 If discussion shall precede the ordeal, so let us begin. 
 [To Ivar Ingemundson.'] Is his mother living? 
 
 IV AR. 
 
 She is in the cloister. 
 
196 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 With all the greater force does her testimony come to 
 us, for she has forsaken the world, and it is to her own 
 shame that she witnesses. Is further proof needed? 
 His very face is proof; send for Vidkun Jonson of 
 Bjarko, send for the old men who followed Magnus 
 upon his glorious expedition, and we shall hear. 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 Tjostulv speaks as if he wished for Sigurd's welfare 
 rather than the king's. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 It is a poor friend who wishes for aught but justice. 
 Should we fail to do it, Harald may thereby lose more 
 than half the kingdom. God help him who should bring 
 misfortune upon us. 
 
 GYRD, SIGURD STALLAB. 
 
 These are threats ! 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 No, no, do not quarrel ! Tjostulv is right, and my 
 own feelings count for much. Be kind, Hallkell ! 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 That have I always been, I think. Tjostulv was far 
 away then, when I brought you with me to Norway, 
 and to the presence of Sigurd Jorsalfarer. It cost more 
 to befriend you then than now. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Yes, yes, Hallkell, thou wast the first. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 197 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 If our reward is to be that we now get two masters, 
 I cannot say that it is great. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 The country's welfare is of greater consequence than 
 Hallkell's, and to do justice does not always mean to 
 accomplish one's desires. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 The chieftains can best look after the country's wel- 
 fare. Let Koll speak, I do not understand his silence. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 I cannot in any way support Hallkell. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Hear that ! 
 
 KOLL. 
 But I must rather admit that Tjostulv is right. I 
 have never doubted that Sigurd was Magnus Barfod's 
 son. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 You hear ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 What more do we want ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 But I remember that in my own life there was a time 
 when we had two and three rightful kings, and they 
 brought civil strife into every part of the land. It was 
 the saddest time that I ever lived through. 
 
198 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Now it is getting so complicated — what shall we do ? 
 Speak out briefly ! 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 It is all the worse that it cannot be briefly spoken. 
 But from the first I have urged delay. Time brings 
 counsel. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Well, then, we will put the matter off. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 But you promised him to decide it. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 So I did. It is as complicated as the very devil. 
 Cannot we decide something ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Yes ; whether or not he is your brother, for example. 
 
 GTBD, SIGURD STALLAR, HALLKELL, BEJNTEJN. 
 
 No, to do that would be to decide all. 
 
 HAIiLKELL. 
 
 That is a trap. 
 
 THE KINO. 
 
 What shall we do, then ? 
 
 GYRD [in a low voice, to the king]. 
 Do you not remember whom you promised to see 
 after the banquet ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 199 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Thunder and lightning, I forgot all about it ! 
 
 GYRD [whispering']. 
 You will be sorry if you make her wait. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 She will make me pay for it, she will ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Let this day be marked by a kingly deed. Decide 
 the matter before you go. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 But, my good man, I have done all that I can. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Give him at least a few words of comfort ; tell him 
 that he may stiU hope. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Yes, he may hope ; I will tell him that. 
 
 HALLKELL \to Gyrd]. 
 
 He must not speak to him. 
 
 GYRD [to the Idng], 
 
 Cannot one of us tell Sigurd that ? 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Yes, that is better. Tell him, teU him, that he may 
 hope. 
 
200 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 That is too little. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 But my good man — 
 
 GYBD. 
 
 She is waiting. 
 
 THE KING. 
 
 Yes, yes ! Oh ! how many things a king has to hear 
 about — and do ! 
 
 [iTe goes^ followed by the court, which has first formed in two 
 ranks, and bowed to the king. 
 
 SCENE FOURTH. 
 
 KOLL, HaLLKELL [in conversation at one side"] ; IVAB InGS- 
 MXJNDSON, TjOSTULV \_on the other side']. IvAR KOLLBEJN- 
 SON [sits apart]. 
 
 IVAB. INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Lose not the king from sight these coming days. 
 Perhaps all is not yet lost. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 The devil take the king, and Sigurd, and his cause ! 
 
 IVAK INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Do not say that ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 No, I will not say that either. But I will go home 
 to Viken. I am weary of things here. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 201 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Do not that either. 
 
 TJOSTULV [gloomilyl. , 
 Yes, I will. \_A pause.'] When the weather is fair 
 and the sea calm, it is pleasant enough with such a king. 
 But when the wind fills the sails so that a man can 
 hardly hold the helm with his legs, our plight is a sad 
 one. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Why did you support him ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 You must ask KoU : he thought for me. 
 
 KOLL {crossing^ while HaUkell leaves]. 
 Do you speak of me ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Yes, we do. How can you stand before Harald and 
 say that two kings are dangerous ? Were you not the 
 one who made Harald king at Magnus's side ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 But we rid ourselves of Magnus as soon as possible. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Was it in your thought to overthrow Magnus then ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Was the drunkard fit to be king ? 
 
202 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 He was better than this — man of legs. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 That is a matter of taste. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 At first I thought liim merely lacking in speech, but 
 't is brains that he needs. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Who has ever said that a king need have brains ? 
 
 \Tjostulv looks at him in wonderment. 
 
 IV AR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 God has said it. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Has he ? I did not know it. In any case, I do not 
 think it wisely said. 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 These are light words, and an old chieftain should 
 know what Holy Writ says — and respect it. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 My wise skald, I think you have read it awrong. 
 For it is written that the king shall be the head, but not 
 that he shall have one. [Ivar Ingemundson is silent. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Is it your honest thought that a king should be — 
 what this one is ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 203 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 I will not set him up as a model. Yet he is a good 
 man — that is, as long as good men are about him. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 So we have seen this day. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 He did finely to-day, better than we expected. If 
 such a man as Sigurd were to come to the throne or near 
 it, all would be over with us. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Then Sigurd's fault is that he has too good a head ! 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 I am glad to see that you understand for once. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 What you say is shameful. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 We know what we have ; we know not what we 
 might get. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 And with this musty proverb you think to set aside a 
 man's rights and the sufferings of a lifetime ! Think 
 you that will bar the way for him, for his powers and 
 the impulse that brings him to seek his father's throne ? 
 If there come not a storm from this, I have had no 
 skill to read those deep eyes that judged our meeting 
 to-day. 
 
204 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 The rights and the sufferings of one man do not weigh 
 with me against the fate of a people. Whatever punish- 
 ment KoU Saebjornson may suffer for this faith, he will 
 endure with patience. Good evening, friends ! [Leaves. 
 
 SCENE FIFTH. 
 
 Tjostulv, Ivar Ingemundson, Ivar Kollbejnsen. 
 
 tjostulv. 
 You hear, Ivar, there is no escape. The proud heads, 
 raised above the masses, have only to signal each other, 
 and no one may enter their circle. 
 
 rVAB INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 A king must come some time who will strike down 
 many of them at one blow. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 What say you there ? The powerful chiefs, the 
 strength and the pride of the land ? God preserve us ! 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON". 
 
 Then is the world made for the few, and Christianity 
 a delusion. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 You quiet little man, you, what sort of ideas are these ? 
 
 rVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Those that stir within half the world to-day. Every 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 205 
 
 country seems to me like a closed vessel. Its cover is 
 the kingly power, and the bands about it are the chief- 
 tains. But the noble wine is working, it will force up 
 its cover, it will burst its bands, and flow in red streams 
 over the blessed fields of Jerusalem. What is the cru- 
 sader's song but the expression of that desire for free- 
 dom, that joy in active life, which breaks all bounds and 
 loses itself in the infinite ? 
 
 TJOSTUIiV. 
 
 If this be true, then is the whole world sick and draws 
 its breath in pain. 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 In the whole world there are only some ten thousand 
 men who are free to work their will, to do which is 
 for the soul what breath is for the body. The blood of 
 southern lands is being spilt in the terrible crusade war- 
 fare, and thereby will they lose their power and come 
 again to be led by the stronger. In northern lands 
 these imprisoned forces will soon make their way over 
 the jailers* bodies. . 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 You speak thus from your humble birth. Justice may 
 still be had in the land, and there is a place for the 
 strong : I have never seen things otherwise. 
 
 rVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Then you were not in Harald's court to-day. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 If it comes to that, Sigurd also will find that this is 
 true. 
 
206 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Then make it so ! There are not many here who 
 know your strength, for you are yourself forgetful of it. 
 You are weary, because there is no more war, no high 
 aims, no oppressed cause to fight for. Take Sigurd's 
 cause upon your strong shoulders, and be once more 
 Tjostulv Aleson ! You waste your life in this court. 
 For a moment you flash out and your noble heart is 
 stirred, but a question or a gift calms it again. Make 
 of these good impulses your daily thought, and it will 
 be with you as it ever is when a good man and a good 
 cause work together. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Where is Sigurd ? 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 He waits in the king's apartments. But the king has 
 gone to his mistress, and there are now in all the land 
 but two men who think of Sigurd — you and I. 
 
 \Tjostulv gives him his hand and leaves. 
 
 rVAR INGEMUNDSON [to Ivar KoUbejnson']. 
 
 Are you here ? 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 rVAR ENTGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Are you waiting for sombody ? 
 
 rVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 Yes. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 207 
 
 SCENE SIXTH. 
 SiGUBD Slembe, Tjostulv, Ivar Ingemundson, Ivar 
 
 KOLLBEJNSON. 
 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 Is the king not here ? Is there no answer for me ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 No. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Whither has the king gone ? 
 
 rVAR KOLLBEJNSON [ristng and coming forward]. 
 To his mistress. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 To his — [Pauses. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 Do you wonder ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I was prepared for everything else — but not for in- 
 difference. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 When the fate of the imprisoned Magnus was to be 
 settled — the king likewise went to his mistress. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Is it possible ! 
 
208 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 IVAB KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 When he asked about Magnus afterwards — they had 
 cut off his foot, blinded him, and in still fouler fashion 
 mutilated him. 
 
 SIGUBD. 
 
 It was even so ! 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 The chieftains thought that Bishop Rejnald of Sta- 
 vanger had concealed Magnus's treasure. He would not 
 confess, and so they hanged him out on the shore in all 
 his priestly vestments j the king was drunk that day, 
 and first learned of the deed next morning. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And what did he then ? 
 
 rVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 He went to church and got absolution. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But what did he do with his chieftains ? 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 He went hunting with them. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What this man says, is it true ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Ay, it is true. Ay, it is shameful, and something must 
 be done. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 209 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 There are more than you who say that. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Who are you ? 
 
 IVAB KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 Chieftain here at court. But I was Sigurd Jorsal- 
 farer's follower and his son's. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What ? Are there men from Magnus's court here in 
 Harald's ? 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 More than half are of Magnus's old court. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And you can eat Harald's bread ? 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 Wfe were waiting. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 For whom ? 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 We heard that Sigurd Magnusson was cruising in the 
 North Sea. [Sigurd springs forward y then pauses. 
 
 TJOSTULV [following hini]. 
 
 No violence ! 
 
210 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGUBD. 
 
 You are right. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Once in a perilous hour I broke my oath to the king. 
 Since then I have never been quite myself. Do not 
 overstep the limits of the law ! But as far as they may 
 stretch — and with all your great powers — and if you 
 want help — [Offers his hand. 
 
 SIGUBD \taUng tf]. 
 
 Thanks. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 I shall stand watch under your gallows within three 
 days. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Old man, thou dost not know us. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 But I know HallkeU Huk and ten other leaders here 
 at court. All depends upon acting the fii'st. 
 
 SIGURD, TJOSTULV. 
 
 But how ? 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 If you cannot guess, I will not say it. [Silence. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Does more than half the court think with you ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 211 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 They await but a signal. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 To-morrow I will have you aU arrested, every man of 
 you, and charge you with plotting to murder the king. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 To-morrow you will find something else to do, as cer- 
 tainly as that Koll and Hallkell were whispering here to- 
 gether just now. 
 
 SCENE SEVENTH. 
 The same. Bejntejn, a Watchman. 
 BEJNTEJN [to Sigurd]. 
 
 In the king's name ! You are my prisoner ! 
 
 TJOSTULV, SIGURD. 
 
 Prisoner ! 
 
 BEJNTEJN. 
 
 You are charged with the murder of Torkel Fostre in 
 Orkney, and you are to be held prisoner until found 
 guiltless or doomed. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Who gave this order ? 
 
 bejntejn; 
 The king. 
 
212 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 IVAB EOLLBEJNSON [stepping up to Sigurd], 
 t Now will you — \FoinU to his weapons. 
 
 rVAB INGEMUNDSON [approaching with outstretched hands from 
 the other side}. 
 
 No! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 No ! So end my dreams ! 
 
 [He goes with Bejntejn and the watchman. 
 
ACT SECOND. 
 
 Scene the same as in the preceding act. 
 
 SCENE FIRST. 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Ee is seated, and striking chords upon a harp^ hut soon stops, leans 
 upon it and speaks. 
 
 Whence are these yearnings 
 
 That I cannot satisfy ; 
 
 And why have I sight, 
 
 When my eyes behold but sorrow ? 
 
 Look they out upon the world, 
 
 Are all things dark to them, mist-enfolded : 
 
 Look they here about me. 
 
 They are dimmed with pity. 
 
 For I see a people without a leader, 
 
 I see a leader without a people. 
 
 Oh, how the people suffer ! 
 
 And the leader, how he yearns for them ! 
 
 Knew the men, but knew they 
 That he were among them ! 
 They behold but a man in chains, 
 And let him lie there. 
 
214 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 The ship is torn asunder in the storm, 
 
 A fool at the helm : who can save her ? 
 
 He, he who lies beneath the deck, 
 
 Half dead and in chains. [Rises. 
 
 Hear how they shriek 
 And stretch their arms toward thee ! 
 They have safety with them, 
 And thou wilt not tell them ! 
 
 Shall they all come to grief, 
 Because one is lacking ? 
 Wilt thou not offer up the fool, 
 That the many may live ? 
 
 Make clear to me : the Word says : 
 One shall suffer for many. 
 But many suffer for one, 
 Oh, make clear to me ! 
 
 The wisdom thou gavest me 
 Confronts me with riddles. 
 And the light thou didst kindle 
 Leads me into darkness. 
 
 And not me alone, 
 
 But millions upon millions ; 
 
 Space has not room for the questions 
 
 Which earth sends up to heaven. 
 
 The weak pray in the cloister. 
 But the strong fare forth ; 
 They press one upon another. 
 And the land will not contain them. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 215 
 
 Wliither turn they ? Night veils their eyes. 
 '* There is light in Nazareth ! " cries one, 
 A hundred thousand echo the cry ; 
 All men see it : " To Nazareth ! '* 
 
 But half die of hunger upon the way, 
 The other half fall by the hand of the heathen, 
 And pilgrims by the plague in Nazareth, — 
 Wert thou there, or wert thou not ? 
 
 Oh, where art thou ? 
 The whole world is up 
 And seeks after thee, 
 And longs for thee ! 
 
 Or wert thou in the famine ? 
 
 Wert thou in the plague ? 
 
 Wert thou in the sword of the heathen ? 
 
 Dost thou preserve with the salt of wrath ? 
 
 Dost thou make pure by the fire of suffering ? 
 
 Dost thou see millions upon millions in thy future. 
 
 Whom thus thou wilt save ? 
 
 Compared with them are the thousands who now 
 
 suffer. 
 But as one ; 
 
 And the one for whom I would pray. 
 As none ! 
 
 I follow a slender stream 
 
 And come upon an ocean ; 
 
 I look at a little drop. 
 
 And it dissolves in the infinite skies. 
 
216 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 See how aimlessly I toss 
 Upon the waves of thought. 
 The wind has upset my little boat, 
 And I cling to the wreck. 
 
 Lead me, lead me, 
 No land is in sight ! 
 Raise me, raise me, 
 I feel no bottom ! 
 
 SCENE SECOND. 
 IvAR Ingemundson, Tjostulv Aleson, Koll Sje- 
 
 BJORNSON. A Page. 
 
 TJOSTULV [enters in haste; the page has just come from the king']. 
 Announce me to the king ! Is some one there already ? 
 
 THE PAGE. 
 
 Hallkell has just come. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 Hasten! \The page starts to go. 
 
 KOLL S^BJORNSON [entering in haste]. 
 Hold ! Announce me too ! [The page goes. 
 
 [The two chiefs greet each other in silence. 
 
 KOLL S^BJORNSON. 
 
 You are seated at the harp ? 
 
 IVAR ESTGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Yes. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE, 217 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 A song to the morning-star ? 
 
 IVAR INQEMUNDSON. 
 
 Which is setting : yes. 
 
 KOLL, 
 
 At daylight, Ivar Ingemundson : it sets at daylight. 
 
 THE PAGE, 
 
 Chieftain Koll Saebj5rnson has audience ! 
 
 [Leaves. TJosiulv makes a movement of impatience. 
 
 KOLL [to TJostulv^. 
 You may go before me when you are older than I. 
 
 SCENE THIRD. 
 Tjostulv, Ivar Ingemundson. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Tjostulv, why do you not speak to me ? I need you. 
 
 tjostxtlv. 
 Silence is safe. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 I see that you are working restles^y, tell me but this : 
 hope you for success ? 
 
 tjostulv. 
 You can see for yourself in a brief half hour. Have 
 you been to his prison ? 
 
218 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 rvAR. 
 Yes. He is greatly changed ; he is sterner, colder. 
 I will tell you, you should have Ivar KoUbejnson and 
 half the court arrested. Ivar is with him every day. 
 A dark dungeon is a fit place for evil designs. 
 
 TJOSTULV [afier a little thought, taking his artn]. 
 Have you seen the long ships that came to the wharf 
 to-day? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 They are your own. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 I have undertaken an honorable mission to Trfindelag. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 "Will you forsake him, then ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Know you who goes with me ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 No. 
 
 TJOSTULV [lohispering']. 
 Sigurd : — hush ! 
 
 IVAB. 
 
 Tjostulv, thus you will break the law ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 The law is with me. Still another comes on board. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 219 
 
 rvAB. 
 
 The king ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 The king himself ! 
 
 IVAB. 
 
 Saint Olaf ! How have you brought that about ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 I had an idea. I have let the king promise every- 
 thing to everybody, but at the same time he has promised 
 me to free himself from his tormentors, and exchange 
 ten masters for one. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Then Sigurd shall reign with him ? \_Tjostulv nods 
 and makes a signal of caution.~\ You have won many 
 victories, war-tried chieftain, but none fairer or greater 
 than this, or of such tremendous import. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 I almost think so myself ; at least I am as happy as a 
 child. But those two are speaking with the king alone. 
 They may frighten him at the last moment ; they may 
 lead him to betray himself. If I but had him on board 
 my ship ! 
 
 IVAB. 
 
 How I envy you your gift of fitting the deed to the 
 word! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Icelander ! Come with us to Nidaros ! Hear Sigurd 
 speak at Frostathing ! 
 
220 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 rvAB. 
 
 Yes, yes ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 A fresh breeze comes even now from the mountains. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 I will get my festal garments. 
 
 THE PAGE [enters]. 
 The king sends word that he is ready, — that he waits 
 for you! [Goes. 
 
 TJOSTULV [to Ivar]. 
 
 He has kept his counsel. 
 
 [Goes in to the king ; Ivar departs hastily. 
 
 SCENE FOURTH. 
 XOLL and Hallkell [coming from the king's apartment]. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 He went in joyously. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 And his joy will be doubled when he finds two estates 
 added to his honorable mission. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Such good fortune and the festal preparations for the 
 journey make him forgetful of Sigurd's cause. Tjostulv 
 is vain and nowise deep. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 221 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 But the other is a deep one. What a following he has 
 already ! And who can his tools be ! 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 We need not think of that, if we can but convey him- 
 self to some safe place. It is not enough to send 
 Tjostulv to TrOndelag. Sigurd must away from Bergen, 
 — far away. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 I will have nought to do with that. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 It is of more importance than the other. So long as 
 Sigurd is here, no one is secure. I wake in terror every 
 morning ; I will put an end to that. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 You have much courage, Hallkell. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Bejntejn has taken all upon himself ; he is now on 
 his way. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Well, I like it better so. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Wherefore ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 It is good for a party to have such tools ; one need 
 not do the work himself. 
 
222 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 I hold myself ready to answer for it at any moment. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 That is as if you were to wear both Bejntejn's cloak 
 and your own. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 When Sigurd's disappearance shall become known, 
 Bejntejn must be able to fall back upon us to save him- 
 self. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Who speaks here of us ? I have given counsel against 
 it from the start 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 And yet you do not disapprove of it. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 That is another matter. You ask me if I wish a 
 dangerous man put out of the way, and I answer yes. 
 But if you ask that you or I shall do the deed, I answer 
 no. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 You almost put me at my wit's end. I see that we 
 cannot count upon your powerful help. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Does it seem so ? When the matter becomes known, 
 who can so well come forward and defend you as an 
 impartial man ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 228 
 
 You think of doing that ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 So let me keep out of it. I know nothing of the mat- 
 ter, and my counsel is against your course. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Now I understand. Before evening Sigurd shall be 
 a dead man. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 God forfend ! not that, I mean it. You would break 
 all the laws, and he is a defenseless man. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 But a dangerous man, and more dangerous every day. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 I rejoice in your love of country and of king. But 
 take good heed, Hallkell ! 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 What can I lose ? The king will do naught. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 You may be worsted in your conflict with Sigurd, and 
 the more closely you are entangled, the more severely 
 will he punish you. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 I have done far too much for him ever to forgive. 
 
224 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Your hair is thick and dark. It would grieve me to 
 see it in the hands of the headsman. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Would you frighten me — or urge me on ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Your strife with Sigurd is for life and death. Could 
 you yet spare him, it would be nobly done, Hallkell. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 I will speak of it no more with you. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 That is the wisest course. . 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Good — I will talk with Bejntejn. 
 
 KOLL [indifferently]. 
 Bejntejn ? 
 
 Bejntejn undertakes to convey him through the fjords, 
 but on the way — 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 It is a long way ; farewell ! 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 I will go with you. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 226 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 You have to speak with Bejntejn. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 He is outside. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Then I will stay here. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 He can come in just as well. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 My steps to-day should not fall in with yours or 
 Bejntejn's. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Then I will go. {Ooe$. 
 
 SCENE FIFTH. 
 KoLL, Tjostulv. 
 
 KOLL [alone], 
 I must see how Tjostulv bears himself, whether he 
 has the snare about his legs, or has slipped through it. 
 Yet more joyful ? It is about his legs, worthy man. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 See you aught strange about me ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Nothing at all. 
 
226 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 You look at me with so much compassion. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 That is just because I see no change. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 I am still the same old fool, you mean ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Are you, indeed ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 And better be the same fool than the same knave. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 You are at least quite as polite as ever. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 There is a politeness current here at court which I 
 am tempted to test with the edge of a good sword. But 
 it would be like hewing at wool. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 You remind me of the boy who thought he might ford 
 the river by putting on his father's shoes. What did 
 you seek at court, Tjostulv ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 I saw that you were so well off here. But I see now 
 that I should have waited until I was old ; then one can 
 better bend his back to pick up the crumbs from the 
 master's table. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 227 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 How was it, you got some honorable mission north- 
 wards ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Your ships are at the wharf. You took it, then ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 It was the king's command. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 And you also got to-day two choice farms for your 
 traveling expenses ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 You are well informed. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 So you have come to it also. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Think you so ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 The crumbs are choice ones, but you must bend the 
 back to pick them up. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Is it you whom I have to thank for the gift ? 
 
228 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 One would not think it from your speech to-day. But 
 I am glad that you have taken them. And it would 
 make me doubly glad could these gifts tell you who are 
 indeed your truest friends, who in spite of everything 
 best recognize the great services you have done for the 
 king and for the upholding of the nation. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 These gifts were not needed to remind me of that. 
 It has long weighed upon my soul, and has made me at 
 last resolve that I would strive to make good the mis- 
 takes of my earlier years. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 I must remind you also that the gifts have another 
 meaning. They tell you, Tjostulv Aleson, who has the 
 power here. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 And I must tell you something also. I have had 
 word from many of the land's chieftains, from Vidkun 
 of Bjarko, from Gunnar of Gimse, from the best men 
 of Trondelag : they are weary of you, and they are 
 ready with me to see Sigurd raised up at Harald's side. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 What is this that you dare ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 And I took the honorable mission just because it car- 
 ries me thither, to those men, to Trondelag, to the great 
 rock of Frostathing, where Sigurd shall be chosen. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE, 229 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Tjostulv ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 For that I took the two farms also, for they will be 
 of good use to me : Sigurd may gain many voices thereby 
 in Trondelag. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Rebel ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 For that too will I take Sigurd in my ship. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 And you are rash enough to tell Koll Ssebjornson all 
 this ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Ay, and cautious enough to add : the king goes with 
 me — is now on board my ship. He sends you word 
 that he would not pain you who have served him so long, 
 that you and Hallkell and the other chieftains may stay 
 here and watch over the empty stronghold. Farewell, 
 old man ! [Goes- 
 
 SCENE SIXTH. 
 
 KOLL [completely cast down]. 
 
 Just as I have led him into the straits he has got a 
 
 pilot on board, and sets out for sea with full sails, — and 
 
 the work of my lifetime goes with him ! Can nothing 
 
 now be done ? Hallkell, Bejntejn, you come too late. 
 
230 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 Sigurd is already on the king's ship. The king, the 
 king, the king ! To offer up his old faithful friends for 
 an adventurer ! Like all weak souls, he flies from those 
 who mean well with him, and takes refuge with those 
 who will cut short his days. For in a year he will 
 have no shadow of power ; the stronghold he dwelt in, 
 guarded by strong men, will be overthrown ; and the 
 future of the land laid open to every storm ! 
 
 What we built, then, was it so insecure that one man 
 might in a moment overthrow it ? Ah ! I have often 
 thought that the foundation on which we built was law- 
 lessness, and that the higher our work was reared, the" 
 sooner it might fall. 
 
 What condition is less secure than that of the old 
 depotism ? When were we more utterly lawless than 
 in the last days of Jorsalfarer's reign and the first days 
 of his son's ? We sought a refuge for ourselves and our 
 laws, and we built it ; now it is overthrown. 
 
 For Sigurd will bring back the old despotic rule. A 
 man whom fifteen years of suffering have not made to 
 forget his birth, he must feel assured of his calling ; he 
 will consult himself alone, he will overthrow our plans, 
 and the land shaU again tremble at one man's wiU. And 
 after his death ? It will remain as a timorous maiden, 
 / who awaits her wooer, and loses heart ere her prime. 
 
 // The game is played out ! The future shall remember 
 
 / f of us only that we overthrew young Magnus, shall know 
 j \ naught of what we hoped to build, naught of our plan to 
 / ; surround this one sceptre with a mighty, hundred-towered 
 
 I stronghold. Now, KoU, the evening sun goes down, and 
 
 \ sees not thy task accomplished. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 231 
 
 SCENE SEVENTH. 
 Hat. t.ktct.t. , Koll. 
 
 hallkell. 
 Up ! rouse your people, chieftain ; Sigurd's prison is 
 wide open ! I seek in vain for Bejntejn ; perhaps he is 
 seeking Sigurd. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Sigurd is in the king's ship, and the king goes with 
 Tjostulv to Frostathing; there shall Sigurd be ac- 
 claimed. Ingratitude took from us our power, and fool- 
 ishness will wreck it altogether. Lay out your ships : 
 we will sail over to my son, and leave the land to its 
 fate. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Shall we so ! I will rather give Tjostulv battle in 
 the midst of the fjord, and take the king from him. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Then would Hallkell Jonson be king of Norway, and 
 the land worse o£E than before. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 As long as the king is kept from his counselors he is 
 an imprisoned man, and can only be king again when 
 set free. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Such talk teaches me for the first time the uncer- 
 tainty of the situation — that I deemed so secure. 
 
232 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 What government upon earth can be secure, when 
 the watchman leaves his post at the hour of danger ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 That one for which I have done watchman's service 
 has dismissed me. It hurts me, for I am old and have 
 been faithful, but I will not raise arms against my own 
 master and law, still less against my own work. 
 
 HAIiLKELL. 
 
 You spoke otherwise, KoU, when King Magnus was 
 to be put out of the way. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Yes ; then we sought to build up law and order upon 
 a foundation of lawlessness : we see the consequences 
 now. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 You will not stay and stand by your friends ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 I am too old to seek for a place under the new order ; 
 let them build, who can ! I will go rest with my son. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Yes, we helped him to become earl of the Orkneys ; 
 you have got what you worked for, and now forsake us ! 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Your proud, unreasonable course has estranged the 
 trust of king and people ; and now, when all grows hol- 
 low about us, you fall upon your own friends. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 233 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Old hypocrite, I have spoken and acted when you 
 feared to do so, and now you count it to be sin. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Feared ? No, do not let men say that we were friends 
 only when we shared in the danger. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Who is it that seeks to break the bonds between us ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 I will do all for my friends, all but aid them in re- 
 volt against the supreme law. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Law ? You speak of law ? An hour since you spoke 
 for Sigurd's death in defiance of all law. You are held 
 fast in a web of contradiction. The spider of conscience 
 watches from his corner, but you seek still to struggle 
 with the wings of self-esteem ! 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 We can cast down him who is dangerous to the su- 
 preme law, but we may not overthrow that law itself. 
 If there be contradiction in this, my whole life has been 
 at fault, and an eventide of regret awaits me. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Time for regret is always to be found, but not for 
 action. [Starts to go» 
 
234 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SCENE EIGHTH. 
 The same. TjOSTULV, later IvAR InGEMUNDSON. 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Is Sigurd not here ? 
 
 HALLKELL and KOLL. 
 
 Is he not on your ship ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 No ; I thought he might seek the king here, but the 
 king is on board. 
 
 HALLKELL [to Koll]. 
 
 Then Bejntejn was first, — and we are saved 1 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON [enters]. 
 
 Is Sigurd not here ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 No ; hast thou not seen him either ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Yes, I have seen him. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 What dost thou mean ? Where ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 When I went hence for my things, I could not bring 
 myself to pass by his prison ; so I entered and told him 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 235 
 
 the king's men were coming for him ; that they would 
 take him to freedom, to you, to the king, to Nidaros, to 
 the throne ! He fell upon his knees, and burst out 
 weeping as he prayed. And I hastened home for my 
 things, and then back again to wait at his side. But the 
 door was open, and the watch said that the king's men 
 had come already — but Bejntejn was their leader ! 
 
 TJOSTTJLV. 
 
 Bejntejn ! I am overmatched ! By you ! 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Yes, it is by them. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 The king's men are about to start for the ships. Stop 
 them here. [Ivar haves. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 What shall they do here ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 You will not dare ! — 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Trustingly has he followed his murderers, for he 
 thought it the way to freedom, to me, to the king, to 
 Nidaros, to the throne — and they have led him to the 
 caves of death. Oh shameful baseness ! Oh accursed 
 law-breakers ! Oh robbers in a king's council ! Ay, in 
 the king's council, where your voices from the first day 
 have clamored for blood! So this victim also must 
 follow King Harald's memory like a horrid spectre, even 
 
236 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 as the mutilation of Magnus, as the murders of Bishop 
 Rejdar and the captured chieftains who suffered for 
 Magnus's sake ! You have given him the name of king, 
 and have robbed him of the name of man through all 
 eternity ! You have degraded him to an ambush for 
 your murderous lust ! And who is he that you now 
 have murdered ? The king's brother, the oldest son of 
 Magnus, and the greatest chieftain who has ever come 
 to Norway ! He was the salvation of the kingdom ; he 
 was the man we should have awaited when we cast in 
 our lot with Harald ; he it was who might have made 
 good the wrong you did. And you have destroyed him, 
 have destroyed the country's hope ! My work too have 
 you destroyed ; after the strain of months, I grasped it 
 at last ; I held my work up to the God of the future, 
 and it is broken in my hands ! 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 You may well mourn now, Tjostulv, for your revolt is 
 ended with Sigurd. How does it stead you now to have 
 fooled your old friends, and enticed the king as prisoner 
 upon your ship, misled him into traitorous ways ? Nay, 
 spare your angry looks ; you are the law-breaker ! We 
 are they who have saved the land ! Its fate shall not 
 be cast upon the moods of an adventurer, but rest be- 
 neath the guard of sure men. You have seen how they 
 can strike to earth whoever withstands them. 
 
 [In the meanwhile the approach of the king's men is heard. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 No, your bloody rule is at an end. Like an evil hail- 
 storm you have shattered my plans, but yours shall no 
 more wax in the land ! 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 237 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 You stand there with threats and speak like God 
 Almighty. When the fit is over, you will see how small 
 your strength has grown. The king's council is again 
 in power, and you alone are shut out from it. Hallkell, 
 let us go to the king ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 You shall never see his face more ! The guards are 
 here. \_Th6 music stops.'] I am their captain; from 
 this day I am second in the kingdom. In the king's 
 name you are my prisoners, and- shall be taken to the 
 very dungeon in which Sigurd sat. 
 
 BOTH. 
 
 What dare you ? 
 
 Think you of the outcome ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 I first do my duty, and think of the outcome after- 
 wards. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 None but the king can condemn us. We demand to 
 be brought before the king ! 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Any one who will be is king now. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Thus you reap the fruit of your own sowing. 
 
288 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SCENE NINTH. 
 The same. IvAR IngemUNDSON, IvAR KollBEJTN^SON. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Captain, take these men to the dungeon in which Si- 
 gurd sat. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 Your weapons ! \_Koll gives up his. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 For five years it has been drawn only in the king's 
 defense. [Gives his. 
 
 TJOSTULV [to KoU]. 
 Give us some jest, since you are about to leave the 
 court ; you had so many of them but now. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 That I should go, and you stay, is jest enough. 
 
 [They turn to go. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON [in haste to TJostulv]. 
 Gyrd is without. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 Him also, him also ! [Ivar Kollbejnson opens the door. 
 
 KOLL and HALLKELL [jitst stepping ouf]. 
 
 Gyrd! 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE, 239 
 
 SCENE TENTH. 
 The same. GtRD. 
 
 GTRD. 
 
 A message from Bejntejn ! 
 
 ALL. 
 
 From Bejntejn ! 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 Bejntejn was to take Sigurd to a safe place ; he fol- 
 lowed willingly. But he grew restless when he saw 
 them turn in through the fjord. Soon he rose to his 
 feet, but two men rose also and held him by the cloak. 
 Then did Sigurd grasp them with either hand, dragged 
 them over into the ice cold water with him, then freed 
 himself, and swam away under the water. Before the 
 boat could be turned about and the two men saved, he 
 had reached the mountain's foot, and soon they saw 
 him climbing up its slippery side with neither hat nor 
 cloak. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Then the last rope is broken. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 And we are plunged into civil war. 
 
 rVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Poor Sigurd ! In the icy fjord at dead of winter ; 
 on the bare mountain without cloak or hat ! 
 
240 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Evil thoughts will rise up in him. 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Shall we send out the guards to lead him back ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 He will see a foe in every man who draws near, and 
 flee from him, for never was man treated more treacher- 
 ously. 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 Bejntejn called out to him that he should not be slain, 
 but taken to a safe place, yet he still fled. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 His flight has saved you from a murder. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Common danger must unite us now. From this hour 
 there is civil war. Our acts, by which we thought to 
 quench the fire, will blow it up to a glowing heat in his 
 wronged soul, and all the land will soon burn in it. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Yes, should Sigurd live, you have kindled a great 
 fire. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 The weather is cold, and the wind from the north. 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 The nights are harsh in the mountains. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 241 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 But his spirit will not be quenched there. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 No, he is stronger than other men. 
 
 IV AR INGEMXTNDSON. 
 
 But the patience, the peaceful thoughts he brought 
 back from fifteen years of exile, they will freeze to death 
 this night. 
 
 GTRD. 
 
 Can we not stay his hand yet ? 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSOU". 
 
 Can we not offer him what before was ready to be 
 offered ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 For my part, face to face with this danger, I would 
 advise that we offer everything. 
 
 \_HaUkeU and Gyrd converse together apart from the rest. 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 He will no longer have faith in you. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Thou art right. The storm must come. When its last 
 thunderous burst shall be over, who can say what trunks 
 will be cleft, what dams burst open, whose fields and 
 hearths laid waste by flood and avalanche ! 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON [with much feeling']. 
 
 You, Tjostulv, can master the whole danger. The 
 
242 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 king is in your power, these others as well ; a little 
 pressure and everjrthing will give way — there is no 
 more strength to resist. 
 
 , HALLKELL, GYED, KOLL {coming forward\. 
 
 No, no. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 No, there is something which is worse than civil war. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Then you will fight against Sigurd, Tjostulv ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Against Sigurd ? No ! 
 
 GYRD, HALLKELL. 
 
 Will you forsake the king ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 I forsake hoth. You may fight who will ; you all 
 are free ! 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 Tjostulv ! 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 And you yourself ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 I will go hence to my lands. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 Tjostulv. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 243 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 My toil and my hopes are turned to child's play. 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 None of us has won ; we all have lost. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 We have fought as in a mist, two divisions of the 
 same army, and have only wounded one another. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 For that to be done was beyond our strength. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Let us go to the king, tell him of the land's danger, 
 and offer him our help ! 
 
 KOLL, GYRD. 
 
 Yes, to the king ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 I go with you to take my leave. 
 
 rVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 Tjostulv ! [Tjostulv goes without remanding to the call. 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 I will seek the church and let a mass be said for the 
 soul who must wrestle with his God to-night up in the ice 
 of the mountains. 
 
 [He leaves^ and Ivar Kollbejnson slowly follows. 
 
244 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SCENE ELEVENTH. 
 
 A narrow mountain cavern. 
 
 It is dark, SiGURD comes in from above on hands and Jcneea. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Now they can row homfe with Sigurd's cloak and cap. 
 Some gray-white night when the north wind blows cold 
 I shall claim them both again. It is damp here. Noth- 
 ing seems to live here. When I stand still, I freeze. 
 My wet clothes are stiff with ice and cut me. When I 
 walk, they rattle like some skeleton following in my foot- 
 steps. It is death himself ! The grisly one would own 
 me, since I have swum his broad fjord. But life has 
 cheated me, and I will cheat death. The biting moun- 
 tain snow cannot reach me down here, and my limbs 
 will give each other warmth. And so I will think upon 
 how it is that I am come hither. 
 
 First of aU I am a king's son. But in my twentieth 
 year I was changed into a black dog and driven out into 
 the world. A madman sat in my father's seat ; then 
 came a child, then a simpleton. But I was so chased 
 about that I grew tame and licked the hand that struck 
 me. Then came I home again, and the simpleton who 
 sat where I should sit was asked if he knew me. Yes, 
 said he, this is my changed brother : I will take him to 
 my embrace. But the embrace was that of the deep, 
 cold sea, which would swallow me up, and behold, 1 
 sank not, I rose. But the dog's skin sank, and he who 
 rose was a king (he rises), armored in revenge, with 
 despairing eye, and a red, flaming sword. And when 
 the sword is wielded it shall flash over all Norway, and 
 tears shall follow as close as rain upon the lightning 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 245 
 
 flash ; yet all the tears of the race could not suffice to 
 relieve the weight now upon my heart. 
 
 [He throws himself down ; then halfrises^ leaning on his elbow. 
 
 Shall I live and thus suffer ? Death is better — and 
 death it was they would have given me, but I got life 
 instead. Then it must be they who shall die, for we 
 cannot all live. 
 
 When I endured the heat of Asia I said to myself : 
 thy life must be worth something. If I endure this 
 night, it must be that other lives are worthless. 
 
 A king ! What thoughts were not mine, when I 
 thought of myself as a king ! In every land where I 
 sojourned, I gathered a jewel for his crown, great men 
 gave wisdom to his sway, all good laws were his. But 
 when I came home to my throne, a toad had crept up 
 into it. Shall I leave it there, and fare further myself ? 
 
 [He rises higher and higher. 
 
 No, by the righteous God, thus far and no further. 
 From this time onward, it is I who will pursue, and 
 they who shall seek for shelter. I will force the king's 
 stronghold, and sharp as the winter wind shall be the 
 reckoning. Yet more, I will cast these counsellors of 
 dishonor out of the open windows, as of yore did Israel's 
 avenger himself, and his council, and his servants, great 
 as well as small, — all who have suffered injustice to be 
 done. The unhappy shall be happy now; there shall 
 be no more sobbing, even in the remotest corner — ah, 
 I hear it even here, and most from a cloister in Nidar- 
 holm. Magnus ! Plunged into the dreary night at 
 eighteen years ! I will raise him up on velvet and re- 
 store him to his friends. But every one who forsook 
 him shall be cast out ; every one who fought against 
 him shall die ; all who shall defy us both shall die also, 
 
246 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 aj) were there ten thousand ! Who is looking at me 
 from that corner ? 
 
 Can a man see himself ? Fever from the chill waters. 
 For if I see myself for the first time to-day, who was I 
 yesterday ? 
 
 Revelation is granted to the race, but the individual 
 gets only that which he may find in his fortunes and 
 in his own heart. That after fifteen years of exile I 
 should be brought hither ; I may call that a revelation. 
 
 The ice of this night is for the sharpening of my will. 
 The droppings of a thousand years have hollowed out 
 this refuge for one night's use. 
 
 There again ! Speak, if thou art more than mine own 
 fancy ! Or take one step towards me, that I may know 
 thou art here. Thou dost ! 
 
 They say that only he who is about to die sees him- 
 self. Shall I die, then ? For I surely see myself ; now 
 I lift my hand, now let it fall. I am ill ; I must find 
 some one to save me. I am freezing ; I will sit down ; 
 see — he too sits down in a corner. How I shiver, and 
 yet my head is burning, burning with a hundred thou- 
 sand fires. What if I were to die ? Why did I not 
 perish in the water ? Why did they not kill me ? No, 
 I shall not die, but I shall suffer. If only the day 
 would come, that I might find my way to shelter ! 
 
ACT THIRD. 
 
 The king's bridge at Bergen, the fjord beneath, but so far down that 
 an approaching boat cannot be seen. Bocks upon the side stretching 
 out to the fjord. Night, near Christmas time. 
 
 SCENE FIRST. 
 
 A Watchman, A Nun. 
 
 The watchman sits on a rock in the background; the nun on the 
 other side in the foreground ; she tells her beads, bowing down ; pauses 
 at times, and looks out upon the fjord. 
 
 THE WATCHMAN [singing " Magnus is blinded "]. 
 " But once more let me the heavens see, 
 When the stars their watch are keeping," 
 Young Magnus begged, and fell on his knee, 
 It was sad to see, 
 And the women away turned weeping. 
 
 " Let me once more the mountains see, 
 And the blue of the ocean far-reaching. 
 Only once more, and then let it be ! " 
 And he fell on his knee. 
 While his friends were for pity beseeching. 
 
 " Let me go to the church that the sacred sight 
 Of the blood of God may avail me ; 
 That my eyes may bathe in its holy light. 
 Ere the day take flight. 
 And my vision forever shall fail me ! " 
 
248 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 But the sharp steel sped, and the shadows fell, 
 As the darkness the day o'erpowers. 
 
 " Magnus our king, farewell, farewell ! " 
 
 " So farewell, farewell, 
 All my friends of so many glad hours." 
 
 SCENE SECOND. 
 
 The same. IvAB IngemundsON. The watchman rises. 
 
 IV Alt [approaching him]. 
 God's peace upon your watch ! The night is cold. 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 A cold night. 
 
 rvAR. 
 The moon is full and the sea calm. 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 Calm sea. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 It is dismal to watch alone. 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 I am not alone. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 No, I see now, — a woman. 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 She is crazy. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 249 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 No cheerful company in the dark. 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 No ; this is the third night she has come. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 You must speak to her. 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 She does not answer. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 What does she all night long ? 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 Sits there, as you see. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Does no one here know her ? 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 She does not belong hereabouts. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 You ought to try and get her under shelter, she will 
 freeze to death. 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 Yes, 'but she will not go. 
 
 IVAR \to the nun\. 
 God's peace ! 
 
250 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 Let him try it ! 
 
 \^Crosses over. The nun looks up, then bows her head, and 
 
 prays as be/ore. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 You must be freezing, worthy sister — sitting there 
 so quietly. [^The nun nods and continues as before.^ 
 Will you seek shelter ? [^The nun nods.^ Is it to do 
 penance that you sit thus here at night ? [^The nun raises 
 her head, looks out to sea, then lets it sink again."] 
 Jesus, I thought so : it is she ! Tora ! \_The nun 
 makes a motion as if frightened.] Do you not know 
 me any more ? \^The nun looks at him long, then shakes 
 her head.] Ivar, who sought you out in the cloister ? 
 Who spoke of your son ? 
 
 THE NUN [rising]. 
 My son — where is he ? 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 She answers him ! [Goes back and forth by thejjord. 
 
 THE NUN. 
 Tell me, but softly. They would slay him. 
 
 rvAR. 
 
 I cannot tell you. 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 Is there no one here who can tell me? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 No one, I think — but God. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 251 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 Dead — mean you ? — No, he is not dead. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Would you mourn if you knew it to be so ? 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 No, — for then no one could harm him any more. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Then be glad, for he is dead. 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 Have you seen his body ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 He died in the mountains. He cannot be found till 
 spring, when the snow melts. 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 No, he is not dead in the mountains. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Were he alive, we should have heard from him by 
 this. Tjostulv Aleson has had search made in every 
 hut about the mountain to which he escaped ; he has also 
 asked in the seaports, but Sigurd has come to none of 
 them. Believe me, I spoke with Tjostulv but yesterday. 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 He is not dead ; he comes to me in my dreams every 
 night. He is pale ; he suffers, suffers. 
 
252 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 You may be at rest. It is well with him where he is, 
 and he awaits you. 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 Here, here he awaits me. [Pause. 
 
 IVAB. 
 
 You are ill, Tora. 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 But I must stay till he comes. 
 
 IVAK. 
 
 From whence ? 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 He shall rise up from the sea. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 From the sea ? 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 I will tell you, but do not repeat it to any one ; he 
 will rise up from the sea and look about him. Peace 
 has taken flight from him, he is pursued by hate, he will 
 ever on, ever on — but he must come to me. I have not 
 seen him for fifteen years, but I have waited for him 
 every hour of all those years. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Have you leave from the cloister to go thus about the 
 land? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 253 
 
 TORA. 
 
 No ; you must not tell where I am. 
 
 IVAE. 
 
 And you journey in search of him ? 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Ever. Ah, they will capture him at last, and blind 
 him as they did Magnus. 
 
 rvAR. 
 His eyes are closed to this world. Come, Sigurd was 
 dear to me, I could do naught for him, let me do what I 
 may for his mother. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 My son is dear to you ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 How looks he now ? Pale, is he not ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Pale. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 And with the high forehead ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 With the high forehead. But his hair is thin. 
 
254 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 It was always like silk. Such hair soon falls. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Come home with me and I will tell you more of him, 
 how fair he is still, and what he said. 
 
 TOEA. 
 
 Yes, I will come, when it is morning. 
 
 IVAB. 
 
 But it is morning already. 
 
 TOBA. 
 
 No, I can tell the time by my prayers. Thanks, many 
 thanks! [Bows and sits down, 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Look at the watchman, how he freezes. Think you 
 that you can bear more than he ? Should you shorten 
 your own life ? Should you take the days from God .'* 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Do you think I am doing that ? 
 
 rvAB. 
 Yes, I think so. 
 
 TORA [rises']. 
 "Well, then. Well, I should not do that. But I am 
 not very cold. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Because you are so iU that you do not feel it. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 255 
 
 TOBA. 
 
 Is it SO ? But if my son should come just when I 
 have gone ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 You speak like one who is ill, too. What would you 
 
 of him ? 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Hist ! Is there no one who can hear us ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 No. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 I would say to him, that for Christ's dear blood's sake 
 he must put an end to all this. 
 
 rvAR. 
 Come now. 
 
 TORA {pleadingly']. 
 Do you not think I can sit out this one night ? 
 
 IVAR.   
 
 It may become eternity's night for you. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 So ? Oh, then, I must go with you. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Here is my mantle, wrap it well about you. How you 
 are chilled ! 
 
256 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Yes, — but I — 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Lean on my arm. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Thanks, many thanks ! But I — 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 No, this way. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Oh no, I cannot ! \_Falls on her knees.'] If he were 
 to come just now ! 
 
 rvAB. 
 The dead rise not up from the sea. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 He is not dead ! 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 If he live, I will find him for you. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 What say you ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Wherever he may be in the world, I will bring you 
 together. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 You promise me that upon the cross of Christ ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 267 
 
 IVAB. 
 Yes. [She rises with his help. 
 
 TORA. 
 
 Then I will go with you. 
 
 rvAR. 
 The day will soon be here ; the stars are fading. 
 
 THE WATCHMAN [seawards]. 
 Hold, who is there ? 
 
 TORA. 
 
 The oar-strokes from a boat ! 
 
 VOICE FROM THE SEA. 
 
 Captain ! 
 
 rvAR. 
 It is the one who looks after the watch, 
 
 TORA. 
 
 But there are many. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 His rowers. Come now. [They go. 
 
 SCENE THIRD. 
 
 The Watchman, Ivar Kollbejnson, followed by Si- 
 gurd Slembe, Erlend, and two others. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 Do you push the boat off ? 
 
258 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD SLEMBB. 
 
 We need it no longer. 
 
 rVAR [softly to the watchman]. 
 Is the king in town to-night ? 
 
 THE WATCHMAN [softly]. 
 Yes. [Laughs. 
 
 IVAR [laughs]. 
 Did any one go with him ? 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 A page. {Passes over, 
 
 TVAR [to Sigurd and the others]. 
 He sleeps with his mistress. 
 
 ERLEND [to Sigurd]. 
 Lord ! Shall we wake him, then ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What art thou thinking of ? 
 
 ERLEND. 
 
 If we slay him in sin, he will go to hell. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 When Sigurd is king, he can have masses said. 
 
 ERLEND. 
 
 One does not kill even a beast in his sleep. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 259 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Death comes easiest in sleep. 
 
 ERLEND. 
 
 Let him say a short pater noster. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 With three swords in his face he will not think of 
 that. 
 
 ERLEND ^pointing to Sigurd]. 
 
 The brother can help him. He has had priestly 
 training. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Hear ! The cock crows the second time : it is the 
 hour ! iThey go. 
 
 SCENE FOURTH. 
 
 THE WATCHMAN \sits down where the nun sat"]. 
 
 I wonder, will the little one let mother rest to-night. 
 If he but turns in his sleep, she awakes. A mother is a 
 strange thing. If children only knew what she does for 
 them when they are little, they would be more thought- 
 ful when they are grown. 
 
 But who can think of everything ? I think it is not 
 worth while to think. What must happen happens, and 
 crazily enough, for the most part, but we cannot help it. 
 Sin came into the world by — {Sings, 
 
 Sin and Death, at break of day, 
 
 Day, day. 
 
 Spoke together with bated breath ; 
 
260 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 Many thee, sister, that I may stay, 
 
 Stay, stay, 
 
 In thy house, quoth Death. 
 
 Death laughed aloud when Sin was wed. 
 
 Wed, wed. 
 
 And danced on the bridal day ; 
 
 But bore that night from the bridal bed. 
 
 Bed, bed. 
 
 The groom in a shroud away. 
 
 Death came to her sister at break of day, 
 
 Day, day, 
 
 And Sin drew a weary breath : 
 
 He whom thou lovest is mine for aye, 
 
 Aye, aye. 
 
 Mine he is, quoth Death. 
 
 A woman's voice \in the distance]. 
 Help, help ! The king is slain, the king ! 
 
 THE WATCHMAN" [falling on his knees]. 
 Saint Olaf , where art thou ? Pater noster, noster pater, 
 pater, pater, pater, pater, I cannot think — Thanks 
 for the meat and drink which thou in fit time hast set 
 before us, so that we were all filled ; the poor — 
 
 THE VOICE [nearer]. 
 Help, help ! The king is slain, the king ! 
 
 THE WATCHMAN [on his feet]. 
 
 Help, help ! The king is slain, the king ! I must 
 pass it on, though it burn my tongue. God save the 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 261 
 
 king, and give peace to the land, and good seasons, fish 
 from the sea and bread from the dry earth, no pestilence 
 fall upon people — 
 
 A MAN FROM THE OTHER SIDE. 
 Up, up ! All the king's men ! [Horns are heard. 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 Up, up! All the king's men! I ought to have 
 shouted that before. 
 
 SCENE FIFTH. 
 
 The Watchman {several others enter'\. 
 
 HALLKELL HUK [half- dressed, sword in hand]. 
 Whence is the cry ? 
 
 THE watchman. 
 
 From yonder ! Now it comes from yonder too ! 
 Saint Olaf, to whom does the great dog belong ? 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 I see no dog. lEunning. 
 
 BEJNTEJN [enters]. 
 Yonder ? 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 Yes, the chieftain Hallkell Hiik ran yonder, but the 
 great black dog came from this side, and the captain 
 came from the sea. \_Bejntejn sets out running, several 
 
262 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 others cross the scene partly clothed.'] Now they are all 
 running as if they had hot coals in their shoes, and now 
 they leave me here alone. Sigurd Jorsalfarer has been 
 seen here before, sword in hand, they say, and to-night 
 his son Magnus has brought him out again. No watch- 
 man can stand this. God save the king ! It was to- 
 day — therefore — ^Seeks to make his escape. 
 
 KOLL [meets him']. 
 Dost thou hold the watch here ? 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 No, I must be excused from that. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Art thou dismissed ? 
 
 THE WATCHMAN. 
 
 If I am not dismissed now, I never will be ! [Runs off, 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 With the king falls the law, and with the law obe- 
 dience. \_HaUkell returns.'] Hallkell, is it true ? 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 I have seen him myself. Five thrusts through the 
 breast. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 And the murderer ? 
 
 It was dark, no one could see him. Who thinkest 
 thou? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE 263 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 The same as thou. 
 
 HALLEELL. 
 
 Have I named any one ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 I see it in your terror. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Yes, Sigurd is alive ; this was the first word from him. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 And the king was guiltless, Hallkell ! 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Koll, we have slain the king, we, we ! 
 
 [He sits down and hides his face in his hands. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Speak not of that, but of what shall now be done. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 An invisible hand is against us. Every arrow we 
 shoot comes back into our camp. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 What shall we do ? 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Nothing steads us ! "We are entrenched within strong 
 defenses, yet death climbs over the walls at night and 
 slays the king in his sleep. 
 
264 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Dost thou lose courage, Hallkell ? 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Soon will he come noiselessly to thee, to me, to all the 
 king's friends ; for there are traitors among us, and the 
 people desert our cause. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Shall we sit down, then, and wait for death ? 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Whom shall we rise up and fight for ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 For what we have always fought for. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 I am not merely a sword to be plucked from the hand 
 of the slain. All that I could fight for lies low with him. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 A man alone has fallen, but a cause remains — and 
 trust me, — Sigurd has set it on its feet. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 There is no being of flesh and blood to whom thou 
 givest an hour's thought, except to think of how thou 
 canst make use of him. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 When we get time we can talk about the king. Hear 
 me : had Sigurd met him in open strife, God knows 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 265 
 
 what might have come of it. But he murdered him, and 
 
 has turned the whole people against him, and united the 
 
 powerful in one common fear and bitterness of feeling. 
 
 \_Alarm bells are heard; also, in the distance, uproar and the 
 
 sound of drums. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 With what purpose ? We have no more a king. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Hast thou lost thy wits, or forgotten Saint Olaf 's law ? 
 His children ! 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Boys of four years and less. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Had we taken a child the first time instead of a 
 simpleton, we should hear no alarm bells now. But with 
 them there comes to me a powerful voice : Save the land, 
 it calls, it is for you that Sigurd has toiled this night. 
 During the period of regency we may strengthen the 
 chieftain power which we have created, and build up a 
 peaceful future for the land. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 They are the old ideas that you thus trifle with on the 
 night of the king's death. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Trifle ? No ! With new force they seize upon his 
 empty crown and offer it to us ; they raise up his bloody 
 purple in the midst of the tumult, as a holy standard to 
 protect us ; they bring his fatherless children before the 
 
266 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 tearful people, to be acclaimed by them with blows upon 
 their shields. Can you not see that, Hallkell ? 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 I see what you forget — the people's warrior, their 
 idol — 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Tjostulvl 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 He is released from his oath now. Whither he goes 
 the people will follow. 
 
 KOLL [affrighted]. 
 
 You are right ! Sigurd had Tjostulv in mind when 
 he did this. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 And what if Tjostulv should give fealty to Sigurd ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Tjostulv acts like a drowsy man. Perhaps he will 
 declare for neither side. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 The people will crowd about him and awaken him, 
 
 KOIL. 
 
 Much depends upon this moment. The dam is burst 
 and the flood rushes by. We do not yet know where 
 to find the fords. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Or where the water is most shallow. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 267 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 A single stone in the path is often enough. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Let us see ! A great crowd comes from the town. 
 Their weapons gleam in the sun's first rays. It is the 
 new day of strife that now begins. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Are they Sigurd's men or ours ? 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Either's, as it may chance. Let us step aside. I am 
 ill at ease in a crowd. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 No, no, if the stream is loose, let us go with the cur- 
 rent J some hindrance may arise which will be useful to 
 us. 
 
 [The people draw nearer in a tumult, speaking hurriedly to- 
 gether ; the following scene passes quickly. 
 
 SCENE SIXTH. 
 
 The same. The People, headed by IvAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 SEVERAL VOICES. 
 
 We would have peace in the land ! 
 
 OTHERS. 
 
 We will not have strife ! 
 
 SEVERAL. 
 
 Peace and trade ! 
 
268 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 OTHERS. 
 
 Down with them who stir up strife and murder ! 
 
 SEVERAL. 
 
 Down with the chieftains ! 
 
 ALL. 
 
 Down with them ! 
 
 SEVERAL. 
 
 There are two of them ! 
 
 OTHERS. 
 
 Did they kill the king ? 
 
 ALL. 
 
 Murderers ! 
 
 IV AR KOLLBEJNSON \in disguise]. 
 No, no ! These were the king's friends ! Know you 
 not Koll and Hallkell ? 
 
 SEVERAL. 
 
 Are those the bloodhounds ? 
 
 OTHERS. 
 
 Those who put out Magnus's eyes ? 
 
 [Shouts of abuse and general tumult. 
 
 A CRONE [with shrill voice"]. 
 Out upon you, bloodsuckers ! 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 Here comes Tjostulv Aleson. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 269 
 
 SCENE SEVENTH. 
 
 The same. TjOSTULV AlesON [cast down}. 
 
 SEVERAL. 
 
 Hurrah for Tjostulv Aleson ! 
 
 ALL. 
 
 Hurrah ! 
 
 SEVERAL. 
 
 Help the people to have peace ! 
 
 OTHERS. 
 
 Help us against the chieftains ! 
 
 THE CRONE. 
 
 Put their eyes out, the — 
 
 TJOSTULV [reluctantly speaking]. 
 Let me be ! 
 
 SEVERAL [seizing her]. 
 
 Let him be ! 
 
 THE CRONE. 
 
 Ah! 
 
 KOLL [to Tjostulv]. 
 What think you of this ? [Tjostulv does not reply. 
 
 ALL. 
 
 We will help whom you help ! 
 
 [ They all promise one after the other. 
 
270 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 TVAJR KOLLBEJNSON [with meaning]. 
 
 There lives no longer any king to whom you owe alle- 
 giance. 
 
 THE PEOPLE. 
 
 Name him to whom thou wilt suhmit ! 
 
 IV AR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 Name also them who stand in thy way. 
 
 ALL. 
 
 Name them ! 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Do not listen to that, Tjostulv ! 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 They stand in the way ! \^Pointing to Hallkell and 
 Koll.'\ They betray themselves ! 
 
 ALL. 
 Yes, they ! [The people approach threatening. 
 
 HALLKELL [his hand on his sword] . 
 Back ! Your throats roar lawlessness ; pretend not 
 to invoke the law against us, for you yourselves rend 
 it and trample it under foot ! 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJIS^SON. 
 
 Lay hands upon them ! Down with them ! All the 
 bells of vengeance now ring ! 
 
 [They are surrounded ; great uproar. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 271 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Tjostulv I The horrors of this night will be on your 
 head ! 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Speak to them ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Quiet, good people, quiet ! . Who is he that hath slain 
 the king ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 He bides in the night whence he came forth ! 
 
 HALLKELL [while the crowd still menaces hirn]. 
 Yes, it is one man's hate which has loosed all the evil 
 spirits this night ! Mark, like lightning he struck the 
 king ; hear, he rings the alarum ; see, he stirs up the 
 people ! He is everywhere and nowhere like the devil 
 himself, while all that now stirs is moved by him ! 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Turn away from him? Tjostulv ! 
 
 TJOSTULV [quietly}. 
 Where is he that hath slain the king ? 
 
 ALL. 
 
 We know not ! 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 He comes not in the daylight, he flashes out like an 
 evil thought, he springs like a tiger, he slays like a 
 snake ; thus does he come, and thus go ! 
 
272 
 
 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 
 SEVERAL. 
 
 Where is he ? 
 
 
 
 OTHERS. 
 
 Ay, where is he ? 
 
 
 ALL. 
 
 Where is he ? 
 
 Where is he? 
 
 rVAB KOLLBEJNSON [standing on a high rock and looJcing out 
 upon the fjord']. 
 
 Hush ! There is a man in a blue cloak, who calls to 
 
 us from a boat below. 
 
 SIGUBD's voice [slowly]. 
 Seek you him who hath slain the king ? 
 
 THE PEOPLE. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 sigubd's voice. 
 It is I who did it ; I, Sigurd Magnusson. 
 
 THE people. 
 Then it was he. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 For he had much to avenge. 
 
 Sigurd's voice. 
 I have avenged blind Magnus and myself. Now we 
 win share the throne together. 
 
 'I 'H K PEOPLE. 
 
 Together I 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 273 
 
 KOLL to [HallkeU]. 
 This will win the people ! 
 
 IV AR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 Then shall peace quickly come, good people. 
 
 THE PEOPLE. 
 
 Ay, it is peace that we would have. 
 
 SIGURD*S VOICE. 
 
 If you accept this deed there shall be peace in the 
 land, and no ill-hap, save one man's death, who should 
 never have been king. 
 
 rVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 The first true word I ever heard said of Harald ! 
 
 MANY. 
 
 Yes, yes ! 
 
 HALLKELL [to Koiq, 
 
 Things are going ill ! 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 Hush ! [A pause. 
 
 Sigurd's voice. 
 Is there no chieftain on the bridge ? 
 
 MANY VOICES. 
 
 Yes ; Tjostulv Aleson is here ! 
 
 SIGXJRD's VOICE. 
 
 He should have a word for me. [All turn to Tjostulv. 
 
274 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 TJOSTULV [slowly mounts upon a rock]. 
 Yes ; I have a word for thee, Sigurd. Either art 
 thou Harald's brother, when it is clear that thou wert 
 born in sin, or thou art not Harald's brother, and the 
 work thou hast done doubly foul. 
 
 Sigurd's voice. 
 Think of it again, Tjostulv Aleson. Think also of 
 
 me 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 When thou didst plunge the sword in thy brother's 
 breast thou didst forget that the deed would drive me 
 and all honest men from thee. 
 
 SIGURD's voice [very slowly]. 
 For what I have done I can answer before God. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 That may well be, but before me thou canst not an- 
 swer it. I had given thee aid to the very limit of the 
 law, but now thou callest upon me from without its 
 pale. 
 
 Sigurd's voice. 
 Let come, then, what God will ! 
 
 TJOSTUIiV [to the people]. 
 Hear ! He turns the evil of his mind to the wiU of 
 God ! Thus at the last he will deceive himself, as he has 
 now deceived us. He is a dangerous man, and beneath 
 his fair seeming there lurks a dark purpose. But we 
 will be bound by the law of the land. The children of 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 275 
 
 Harald now claim its protection, and stretch out their 
 little hands for help. For that man yonder in the blue 
 cloak — cast stones into his boat and drive him from the 
 shore, for he brings ill-fortune with him. 
 
 THE PEOPLE. 
 
 Yes, yes ! Out upon thee, thou murderer of thy 
 brother ! 
 
 [They cast stones at him. As Tjostulv descends, Hallhell falls 
 upon his breast, and Koll grasps his hand. Then ail draw 
 their swords and lay them together; Sigurd Stallar and 
 Gyrd, who have also entered, lay theirs with the rest. 
 
ACT FOURTH. 
 
 More than two years later. A great cave by the Gljusre Fjord at 
 Tjeldesund. Sails are hung as curtains in the background, so thai 
 they can be drawn aside. Ship^s tools and skins of animals strewn 
 about the ground. 
 
 SCENE FIRST. 
 IVAR KOLLBEJ^^SON" [others enter during the scene]. 
 
 rVAB [sewing upon a sheepskin cap. He calls out] . 
 
 Has he shot the deer? Then we will have it for 
 dinner. No, may you ? God's death ! Skin it at 
 once ! What ? Grouse ? I think the very devil is in 
 you ! Leave the grouse lying in the snow and skin the 
 deer ! [TAe sail is drawn aside, revealing an outlook 
 over the majestic landscape ; snow-mountains upon one 
 side and the dark sea upon the other ; moonlight bathes 
 the scene. Three skin-clad men try to enter with a 
 slain deer.~\ Don't bring it in until the chieftain comes 
 up from the sea with the stranger ! \_They leave.~\ Pull 
 the sail to : it is cold here ! \_They do as they are bid ; 
 he sews on, muttering all the while to himself.'] Whom 
 are you shouting to ? They will not answer now. Who 
 is coming ? They pretend not to hear now. 
 
 [The sail is once more drawn aside; a skin-clad man enters. 
 
 ERLEND. 
 
 The chieftain shouts up that they cannot climb any 
 further, the ice is breaking. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 277 
 
 rVAR KOLLBEJNSON \after waiting a little}. 
 Why dost thou stand there gaping ? Take the rope 
 and wind it down ! 
 * lErlend takes up a coiled rope and goes ; the sail is drawn to 
 again. Ivar Kollbejnson rises, puts things to order, but acts 
 as if weary of solitude. 
 
 SCENE SECOND. 
 
 The same. SlGXJRD Slembe, IvAR InGEMUNDSON. 
 
 rVAB INGEMTJNDSON [looks first about the cave, then at Ivar 
 Kollbejnson, who evades his glance}. 
 That is Ivar Kollbejnson ! 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 
 H'm! 
 
 rVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 I have never seen a man grow so old in two years. 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 H'm ! [Goes. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Ivar Kollbejnson has outlived many illusions, and the 
 greatest of them last of all. 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 He must be cold company for you. A whole winter 
 in this Northland cave with him ! 
 
 SIGURD [lies down]. 
 Life does not always bring warmth. It was good of 
 you to come : it is lonesome here. 
 
278 SIGURD SLEMBE, 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON [sits down]. 
 
 But what a time I have had in finding you ! After 
 you lost in the last fight I thought Magnus the blind 
 would seek the cloister. But he was not there, and so 
 I looked for him with his old foster father in Bjarko, 
 and there I found him. I am the only one whom he 
 would tell where you were. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What do the people think ? 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 The people think that you went down in the last 
 storms of autumn. 
 
 SIGXJRD. 
 
 They think themselves safe now. 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Yes, the army has disbanded, and the chieftains gone 
 home. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 So be it ! But why did you believe that I was living ? 
 
 rVAR INGEMUISTDSON. 
 
 There was one who said so with much assurance. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And yet none might bring any tidings of me. For 
 none who for any cause came hither have ever returned. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 What mean you ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 279 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What I say. The time for scruples is now past with 
 me. The Finns have given me food. There is nothing 
 to which one may not become used. Five years ago I 
 drank camel's milk with Arabs ; this winter, reindeer's 
 milk with Finns. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 And you think to maintain this struggle ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I have a new sort of ships that will outsail all others. 
 The Finns have built them for me. I set out in them 
 to-morrow or the day after, and I shall find the chief- 
 tains one by one. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Then you will never desist ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes, when my aim is reached. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 But you have now failed for more than two years. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Say, rather, I have failed for more than seventeen ; 
 for it is thus long since I began. Ivar, do you believe 
 that my cause is just ? And do you believe that I may 
 achieve something if once I reach the throne of my 
 fathers ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 I believe that your right to be king of Norway is 
 
280 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 greater than that of any other living man ; I believe that 
 as king you would build all anew. 
 
 SIGURD [who has risen]. 
 And you can yet ask if I will desist ? 
 
 rvAR [remains sitting]. 
 I will tell you something of my life, poor compared 
 with yours, but not without experience, A maiden in 
 Iceland was so dear to me that I could not bear to 
 think of a future without her. And yet I said nothing, 
 not even when I left to sojourn in strange lands. But 
 once when my brother returned home, I bade him tell 
 her that she must wait, for I could not live without her. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 She was thy life's aim. 
 
 rvAR. 
 She was mine. When I returned, I went to my 
 brother's, and there I met her as his wife. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What didst thou then ? 
 
 rvAR. 
 What would you have done ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That I know not. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 I will tell you. First you would have left and 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 281 
 
 returned — twice or so — but you would have slain 
 him. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 No ! That aim would have been too low for me. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 But suppose that she meant for you the kingdom of 
 Norway ? [Pause. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 Thou hast never been joyful since. 
 
 rvAR. 
 Would I have been sq the more, had I killed my 
 brother ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Harald Gille was a wretch, a reptile, who defiled my 
 throne, and sought my own life ! 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Not he, but his followers. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 The land was lawless, and his the guilt. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Well, let that pass. Do you remember, Sigurd, that 
 you have a mother ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Why dost thou ask me that ? 
 
282 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Would you see her — talk with her ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Dost thou know her ? Where is she ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 She was on the bridge at Bergen that night — the last 
 night you were there. She remained until I came. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Saint Olaf ! 
 
 rvAR. 
 Would you speak with her ? 
 
 % 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 No ! Later. No, not now. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Then you are not at peace with yourself ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Not so ; but now we should not understand one an- 
 other. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Yet it might be so. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 To meet were to bring ill to us both. 
 
 rvAR. 
 Your mother has outlived the time when anything in 
 the world could again bring her ill. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 283 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But she lives ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Yes. I but meant that she sees in you only her son ; 
 all the rest matters little to her. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But much to me. One would fain have accomplished 
 something before he again meets his mother. 
 
 IVAB. 
 
 Your mother is old now. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes, she must be old. 
 
 IVAB. 
 
 What I meant was that she might have too long to 
 wait. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Does she greatly wish to see me ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 She lives for nothing else. She has lost her right to 
 the protection of the cloister. For two years, now, she 
 has followed you through the land. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Lord Jesus ! 
 
 rvAR. 
 Will you speak with her ? 
 
284 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Where is she ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 I left her at More. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 You have followed her, then ? 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 SIGURD [offering his hand]. 
 Ivar, wilt thou be my friend ? 
 
 rvAR. 
 I cannot, my lord. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Is it too hard for thee, Ivar ? 
 
 rvAR. 
 Yes, my lord ; for then I should have to share in 
 your work. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And that thou canst not do ? 
 
 rvAR. 
 No, my lord, no — not as you have begun it — and 
 continued it. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Then go, Ivar ! 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 285 
 
 rvAR. 
 
 But first — 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Go, for thou hast fooled me. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 I am sorry for it. But let not jont mother for my 
 sake want an answer. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 She shall see me — when I sit upon the throne of 
 Norway. 
 
 rvAR. 
 The poor soul will weep many tears ere that time. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 The burden she bears is no heavier than mine. 
 
 IVAR. 
 But her love is stronger, my lord ! She may not so 
 endure delay. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But ay ! for it is so little that she craves. 
 
 rvAR. 
 Yet when you returned, you, too, craved but little. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 Many things have changed since then. 
 
286 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 May I say it once more, my lord ? When a man has 
 grown afraid to meet his mother the change is not for 
 the better. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Afraid ? You have mistaken me. Tell my mother 
 that I will meet her where she will. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 It is but pride that forces him to this. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Name thou the place ; we have no more a home. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 K she but speak with you home shall be found again. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes ; but it must be agreed that naught be said of 
 my plans, for you know well that in them I make no 
 changes. 
 
 rvAR. 
 But, my lord, of what else is there to speak ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 There is enough else, quite enough. But you must 
 tell her this. 
 
 rvAR. 
 She shall be told of it. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 287 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Bear to her my filial greeting, and say that all is well 
 with me. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 I will do it. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Tell her that I hope for a happy outcome. 
 
 rvAR. 
 I will tell her that, also. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And that all shall be well with her. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 If she live. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes, and should she die meanwhile, she will see even 
 better how well I meant it with her. But the way was 
 long, and led over cold, high places, where there was no 
 warm room for meeting. And now, farewell ! Because 
 thou hast brought this message from my mother I will 
 ever hold thee dear. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 But you have forgotten to name the place. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Ah, the place ! It were better that she should name it. 
 
288 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 IVAB. 
 No. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Well, then — but it will be hard to find me, for hence- 
 forth I go upon uncertain ways. 
 
 IVAB. 
 There are many gray islets along the coast, name one 
 of them, and she shall be there. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Gray islets, sayest thou ? Holmengra ! 
 
 IVAB. 
 
 It is far to the south. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But just on my way when I sail from Denmark in 
 the summer. 
 
 rvAB. 
 Holmengra ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes. It is quiet in the bay there. 
 
 IVAR. 
 
 We shall meet. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Dost thou, too, follow ? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 289 
 
 IVAE. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 SIGTJED. 
 
 Why art thou, then, so concerned for my mother, yet 
 wilt not be my friend ? 
 
 IVAB. 
 
 I cannot tell you all the reason. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I have never before prayed for a man's confidence or 
 friendship — and thou deniest me both. 
 
 IVAB. 
 
 With you it is but as a moment's impulse. Your soul 
 reaches out after higher things. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But a friend upon the way — one only. 
 
 rvAR. 
 Then set your path so low that I may. Come with 
 me to your mother, send your men to their homes, make 
 an end of it all, weep once with her, and, God in heaven ! 
 what friends we shall become ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Now the skald in you speaks, Ivar, and all the deeds 
 of a lifetime become dissolved in one moment of emo- 
 tion. 
 
 IVAB. 
 
 Farewell ! 
 
290 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD [calling\. 
 Draw the sail ! [/if is done, Ivar goes."] Farewell ! 
 \^Calls.'] Ivar Kollbejnson ! \^Ivar enters.'] That man 
 is not to be struck down ! Send two men to row him 
 over the fjord, — dost thou understand ? 
 
 IVAR KOLLBEJNSON. 
 H'm ! iGoes. 
 
 SCENE THIRD. 
 
 SIGURD [alone]. 
 
 He too scorns me ! No ! No more prayei^ for friend- 
 ship ! No more begging ! What have I lost during 
 these two years, through my weakness in seeking to gain 
 friends by mildness ! I saw quickly we should not suc- 
 ceed that way, but Magnus would have it so — and now 
 we are cast as a wreck upon the shore, for such is life ! 
 Light craft must bear us — swift oars cleave the water, 
 for we row death shorewards. My right is from God, 
 and my sufferings from men ; it is for me now to recon- 
 cile them. 
 
 The mighty, in betraying me, have betrayed the land. 
 Therefore shall the land have their bodies, and I their 
 goods. He who has goods has power, and he who has 
 power gets success — friends are needless then. The 
 helmsman prays not for warm sun and calm sea. Rather 
 does he rejoice when the wind begins to whistle in the 
 rigging. [A woman's voice is heard singing. 
 
 Ah, that is the Finnish maiden calling her dogs. I 
 am glad that she has come. She is like the dawn of 
 life with its dreams and its yearnings. She is like the 
 noiiihern light, streaming with its uncertain gleam over 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 291 
 
 the twilight heavens. Were the light stronger, it would 
 be colorless. 
 
 [The sail is raised suddenly: the Finnish maiden appears in 
 
 the opening. 
 
 SCENE FOURTH. 
 
 Sigurd Slembe, The Finnish Maiden. 
 
 the maiden. 
 I buckled on my snow-shoes and came down the 
 mountain ; for is it true that the fires are quenched in 
 the cavern, and that thou steerest once more for thy 
 star ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 THE MAIDEN {stepping forward, with a warning gesture"]. 
 Ah, believe not in it ! It has led thee from the land 
 where the sand burns beneath the feet, and hither, where 
 the snow lays its roof upon the tent, — see, how unsafe a 
 guide it is ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I could not always see it ; therefore did I fare so far. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 It leads astray ! My father, the old king, has asked 
 the Great Spirit concerning thee, — and we tremble. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What saw he ? 
 
292 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 THE MATDEn. 
 
 A battle-field and many slain. 
 
 SIGURD [fearful]. 
 Was I among them ? 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 No. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Then take comfort, for my way leads over the field. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Then saw he an island in the sea. Many men were 
 there in blue garments. And others came up from the 
 sea and sat down with them. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Was I among them ? 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 No ! but they who came from the sea were the slain 
 kinsmen of the others, wet and gray, — and they bore 
 with them a bound man. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Who was he ? 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Thou wert he ! \_Sigurd sits down."] Let me sit at 
 thy knee ! \_Sitting at his feet,'] What is the name 
 of thy God? 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 293 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 He has no name. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Where lives he ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Everywhere. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Is he here now ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Surely. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Then ask him if thy journey shall be fortunate. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 He will not answer me. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 With signs, I mean, and other signs shall answer. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 No, he answers not. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 What is he good for, then ? 
 
 SIGURD [pointing to his hreasf]. 
 He speaks here, and here bids me loosen the knots I 
 have tied, and seek the goal that is set me. 
 
294 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 And has he named this goal ? 
 
 SIGTJRD. 
 
 It was set at my birth and revealed by my fate. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 And this goal is death ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 What sayest thou ? 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Thou dost journey but to meet a hard death ; thus 
 says the Great Spirit. [A pause. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 So my God's will shall be done. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Then thy God is a hard God ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Peace! 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 No wonder ; for all the people who worship Him are 
 hard. They are, like thee, ever unsatisfied. First they 
 took our land in the south, then they took it in the north, 
 and now they have driven us up to the snow. But they 
 forget us not even yet, and each year they come and 
 take the tithe of our possessions. And when they have 
 taken it, they slay one another in strife for it ! 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 295 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 The evil in them is not of God. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 But He speaks in your own breast ! Look at thyself ! 
 Hast thou not told me of thy life's course — has it not 
 been insatiable as theirs ? Why wouldst thou not stay 
 with thy mother ? Thou wert well received by a foreign 
 chieftain, why didst thou leave him ? Didst thou not 
 serve an earl with honor, why didst thou depart ? Wert 
 thou not a captain in the far southern lands, and yet 
 turned thee homewards ? Didst thou not gather ships 
 and goods upon the sea, what didst thou do with them ? 
 Now thou art defeated and forsaken by the people of 
 whom thou art king, and wouldst thou seek them again ? 
 Is not thy God a hard God, that He pursues thee with 
 ceaseless unrest, and now drives thee to thy death ? 
 
 Look at our people ! No man here owns garments 
 of foreign wool, or adornments of any kind, but eats his 
 reindeer's flesh and drinks their milk ; sleeps never save 
 on the ground, and yields up the tithe of his belongings 
 to thy people ; has no house save the open air — and 
 yet we are happy ! For we know that when death shall 
 bring us over the eternal snow-mountains, there shall 
 shine a great noble land, where the sun is ever up, and 
 the brooks have melted the snow ; where the birches 
 grow to threefold height and bear fruit ; and where the 
 Great Spirit shall come down to the shore and draw to 
 him all the beasts of the forest and the sea, and men 
 shall walk among them with no evil thoughts. [She rises. 
 
 Oh, Sigurd, hear me ! I am a Finnish maiden, less 
 than thou and thy people. But thou didst not come 
 like other strangers to rob and slay ; my people love 
 
296 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 thee, and I may speak thus to thee. Thou hast entered 
 our tents, and sat at our boards ; thou hast told us of 
 strange countries, and taught us useful things. See, 
 when thou comest our dogs do not bark, but lick thy 
 hand, and the reindeer rub against thy clothes. Stay 
 with us ! My father owns five thousand deer, I am his 
 heir — take half of them, and drive them whither thou 
 wilt ! Thy God is everywhere ; then He. is in the ever- 
 lasting snow-mountains ! 
 
 SIGUBD. 
 
 Once before did a maiden entice me as thou, — and 
 thou art like her. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 And what she offered thee — 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I might not take then, because I sought for greater 
 things. Now — 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Now — 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Now I must be steadfast to the end, not only for my 
 own sake, but for theirs who trust in me. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Dost thou think it shall go well with thee ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 That I know not. But as things now are, a life 
 among you would be terrible. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 297 
 
 THE MAIDEN [offended]. 
 
 Terrible ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Rather death itself : all would then be over ! 
 
 THE MAIDEN [alarmed]. 
 Are we worse than death to thee ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Thou dost not understand me. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Tell me what I do not understand ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 There is something dearer to me than all things else. 
 If thou shouldst love a man, wouldst thou not forsake 
 all to follow him ? 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Yes, if he loved me. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And not otherwise ? 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 No! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Thou wouldst seek to win him ? 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 No! 
 
298 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But then wouldst thou be unhappy. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 For an hour. But when I came to another clearing, 
 where I might feel myself a child again — 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Couldst thou then forget him ? 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Oh, yes, — if it were summer. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I cannot explain my meaning to thee. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 May I explain something to thee ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Willingly. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Canst thou feel how fair it is here ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Ah, yes, at times. When I stand outside the cave 
 and see the unending snow, the trees above it seem like 
 mighty spectres warning me in the twilight. Then thou 
 comest sliding down the mountain upon thy snow-shoes, 
 thy dogs about thee, thy followers behind, and you all 
 seem of threefold stature. And when the colored stream- 
 ers of the northern light shine over your path and over 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 299 
 
 all this enchanted fairyland, narrowing, broadening, 
 wildly, weirdly, — yes, then deep feelings take hold of 
 
 me. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 And what dost thou feel then ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yearnings for all that my life has not reached. 
 
 THE MAIDEN [remainsfor a time musing : then recovers herself^. 
 
 Ah, I understand ; that is because thou hast never seen 
 the summer here. Then wouldst thou have yearnings 
 for naught else. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 But in winter thou too hast yearnings for something 
 else. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Yes, I yearn for the sun. But in summer it never 
 sets ; I sleep outdoors with my dogs, and the deer lie 
 about. We rest an hour, we wander an hour ; night 
 is as day and day as night ; we think of no future ; it 
 seems as if it would never end, or as if the end of all 
 things were come. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Then would I yearn the more ! 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Then thou canst not know what joy is. Canst thou 
 love a dog ? 
 
300 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGUBD. 
 
 There are times when I can love the smallest thing. 
 
 THE MAIDEN \in toonderment]. 
 But not always ? 
 
 SIGUBD. 
 
 Most often I have no time to think of it. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 No time, what does that mean ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 My eye does not see it. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 Now I miderstand. [Starts to go. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Wilt thou go ? Ah, thou thinkest I cannot bear thy 
 people, thy country ! 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 More than that ! Go thy way ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Wherefore ? 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 No spot on earth can give thee rest, and no being 
 lives for whom thou canst care ! Thy God must be a 
 hard God, and death dear to thee ! Now I understand 
 that thou must depart ! Farewell ! 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE, 301 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Ah, but stay ! 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 I will call my deer, strike my tents, and journey 
 southwards to await the sun ! 
 
 [The sail is raided and she disappears. 
 
 SCENE FIFTH. 
 
 SIGURD [alone']. 
 
 The snow-flake melts when it falls upon the warm 
 hand. In an hour I shall have ceased to remember 
 her. 
 
 A man must look beyond his birthplace and his kin ; 
 they are as forests that shut out our view. What he 
 may see beyond them is not as fair as he has pictured it, 
 but he has clearness of vision. His goal appears before 
 him, and he goes in safety. 
 
 Why have I no more following ? Why won Harald 
 Gille friends — and not I ? Because I let down no 
 ladder of weakness for my approach. High upon my 
 rights I stand ; the law would come to me, but has no 
 strength to climb ; therefore I am alone. 
 
 Pity myself ? I, who am come to bring the law ! The 
 axe cannot be the forest's friend, or the hoe the weed's, 
 or the huntsman the beast of prey's. Shame and dis- 
 honor, should they who loved Harald Gille love me ! 
 
302 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SCENE SIXTH. 
 Sigurd. [The sail is raised; shin-clad men enter and Jill the cave.'] 
 
 It is noon ? 
 
 Yes! 
 
 Our last here. 
 
 THE MEN. 
 
 WeU! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 THE MEN, 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 You are glad, I see. You long for plunder ? You 
 shall have it. I know that not one of you goes for my 
 
 SEVERAL. 
 
 Yes, yes ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Still ! No lies ! It does not matter to me ! [To Ivar 
 Kollhejnson.'] Dost thou press forward, old man? 
 Thou hast stood at my side in every fight, thou wilt say, 
 and didst prepare my camp afterwards. H'm I thou dost 
 but seek revenge upon the strong, and thou dost think 
 that I can best give it thee ! [^Ivar holds out a cap.'] 
 Hast thou made this cap for me ? Hast thou bound up 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 303 
 
 my wounds this winter? Ay, Kke the peasant, who 
 grinds his axe at the hour of noon. Still ! No more 
 lies. I know it. I know, too, that I am held in your 
 hands as a hawk by a cord ; you let me fly that I may 
 make a capture. You shall have it ! I have need of 
 you ; as you are, we suit one another, for we now go 
 forth to greet all traitors, law-breakers, murderers in 
 the land. I am the law, for I am the king ! I now 
 decree that every chieftain in the land, every king's 
 steward, every peasant-leader, who has betrayed Magnus 
 and me, is doomed to death, and his possessions are 
 mine ! In our light ships we will fall upon them ; be- 
 hind us a burning settlement, and before, one that awaits 
 us ! Then shall we see if many do not flock to our 
 cause, when it is shown them that something may be 
 gained by it ! And when my strength is great enough, 
 I will give battle, and thence mount the throne. Then, 
 at a sign, the fire shall be quenched in the land, and 
 grain grow once more, and if you obey me not, your 
 turn shall come. You hear now what bond holds us to- 
 gether, what you have to await, and what to fear. Stand 
 from me ! It is not your love I would have, but your 
 hatred, your lust for plunder, your thirst for revenge, 
 that I may use them to kindle the flame. No, cast not 
 down your heads, care not for me; I am happiest 
 thus! 
 
ACT FIFTH. 
 
 Upon Holmengra. Ranged by the seashore are high rocks. It is 
 an autumn evening, near sunset, and the sky is clear. Out at sea 
 many long ships may be seen, sailing up. 
 
 SCENE FIRST. 
 
 GtRD, Sigurd StALLAR, and TjOSTULV AleSON enter, 
 climbing up from the beach one after the other. Hallkell o,nd 
 KOLL follow, out of breath ; they have grown much older in these 
 three years. As they come up they group themselves together and look 
 out to the right. There is long silence among them. 
 
 TJOSTULV [turning towards the others']. 
 Well, why are we silent ? We cannot hide the fact ; 
 here are Sigurd's forces, equal to our own ! 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Three months ago he had two Finnish hoats ; to-day 
 he has a mighty fleet. 
 
 GTRD. 
 
 Now I begin to fear. The more we defeat him, with 
 the greater strength does he come against us. 
 
 "HALLKELL, 
 
 I depend upon this : that every third man in our army 
 has a slain kinsman to avenge, — it gives them courage. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 305 
 
 TJOSTXJLV. 
 
 Sigurd's men have nothing to lose, and all to gain, and 
 the courage of revenge is equaled by that of the beast 
 of prey. 
 
 GTRD. 
 
 But the other two thirds of our men fight with the 
 strength of despair. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Who are they, then, who fight for the country ? 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 There are not many such in civil strife. 
 
 [Koll sits down in the middle, and the others folloto his example, 
 all but Tjostulv, who looks steadily in the direction of Sigurd' $ 
 fleet. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Should we lose this fight, God only knows what our 
 fate will be. 
 
 GTRD. 
 
 We know well enough it will be that of the many 
 chieftains, whose goods he seized, whose houses he 
 burned, and whose bodies had to be cut down from the 
 gallows. 
 
 SIGURD STALLAR. 
 
 It will be like our brother Bejntejn's. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Poor Bejntejn ! He took fearful vengeance upon 
 him! 
 
306 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 Upon all, upon all ! Harder man was there never in 
 Norway since our people dwelt there. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 They say that retribution will come upon him. I do 
 not understand that saying ; for one man cannot atone 
 for the death of a hundred. 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 Yes — if his death be made as lingering as that of a 
 hundred. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 No man could bear to see that. 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 I know of one who could bear it. 
 
 SIGURD STALLAB. 
 
 And I of one. 
 
 TJOSTULV \looTdng out on thejleet]. 
 His ships are larger than ours ; we cannot board them. 
 So we have something other to think of than the man- 
 ner of Sigurd's death. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Thou hast lost courage, Tjostulv ? 
 
 TJOSTULV 
 
 Yes. I will not conceal the fact that in every battle 
 I have won from him, my strength was the greater. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 307 
 
 This time it is not so, — and Sigurd is a better leader 
 than I. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 But thou countest the most prows. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 No, look for thyself ! The evening sun shines on 
 them ; thou canst count them. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Wait till the gray of morning, — and thou shalt see 
 the half of them stand out to sea ! 
 
 ALL. 
 
 What sayest thou ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 They are Danes and would go home again. 
 
 ALL. 
 
 Do the Danes desert him ? 
 
 [Hallkell, Gyrd, and Sigurd Stallar jump up. 
 
 KOLL [remains seated]. 
 I have had a little boat in among them, and to-morrow 
 at sunrise will they hoist their sails, for they have gained 
 what they sought in Norway. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Then an overwhelming victory awaits us ! 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Hemmed in upon every side — 
 
308 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD STALLAR and GYRD. 
 
 He is ours with all his force. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Then let Saint Olaf be praised in all time to come, 
 for from to-morrow the peasant may sleep with open 
 doors. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 And it is our lot to appoint the solemn hour of judg- 
 ment. 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 If it turns out as I hope, the church wHl have cause 
 to rejoice. 
 
 SIGURD STALLAR. 
 
 And if it turns out as I wish, the bishop's seat in 
 Stavanger shall have two boatloads of fire-wood ; they 
 need it on that bleak rock. 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 What is thy wish, brother ? 
 
 SIGURD STALLAB. 
 
 What is thine ? 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 Perhaps our wish is the same. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 You both wish that he may fall alive into your hands. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 309 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 If it turns out as I wish, I will set two gold candle- 
 sticks in the church that I have built. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 What is thy wish, old man ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 That he may die like a warrior, — for as such he has 
 lived. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 That is my thought also. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 As a robber and a bloodhound has he lived, — and he 
 must die as such ! 
 
 SIGURD STALLAR. 
 
 That is the thought of the whole host ! 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 And it will fare ill with any one who opposes it ! 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 Hast thou, Koll, ever known a man to be hated thu^ ? 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 No. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 But there has never lived before so cold-blooded a 
 murderer. Such a cruise as his last exceeds all known 
 horrors. 
 
810 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 GYBD. 
 
 Think of how our hrother Bejntejn was slain ! He 
 hewed off his head, and let the blood drip out among 
 his men. 
 
 TJOSTULV [sits down; the others do likewise]. 
 Yes ; a devil has indeed taken possession of him, and 
 now holds full sway. To no other have I ever been so 
 closely drawn as to Sigurd, and no one has so far re- 
 pelled me ! 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 I was never dravm to him. From the first hour I 
 was forced to use well my strength that I might not fall 
 beneath his heeL It seems to me that none might live 
 near him, save as bondsmen. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 That I never felt. There was a time when I would 
 have given him everything, even my life. Who knows ? 
 Good fortune might have made him a great king. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 I do not believe that. If misfortune turn his disposi- 
 tion to evil, power would but make him hard. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 He is one of those men who force all the world to rise 
 up against them, to surround, and to destroy. And when 
 it is done, we stand about regretful. 
 
 HALLKELL. 
 
 Thou, Koll, hast known him from a child ; thou 
 knowest him better than we. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 311 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 No. But this I will say : that were he again to begin 
 the strife, and I again to counsel him, he should get 
 other than worldly wisdom from me. 
 
 When he returned a man, we feared him. It was the 
 strength of his nature that we feared — feared lest it 
 shatter our own designs. Who shall conquer in the end, 
 no one of us may foresee ; at this moment not only has 
 he overturned our work, but the whole country has 
 trembled in his hand. 
 
 Of late his own strength has bewitched him. He has 
 heard in nature the echo of evil things, and may no 
 more cease to call upon her. He has come to be such 
 that either must we all take flight, and he alone live, or 
 else the powers that cannot here find fitting exercise 
 must be scattered like vapors. 
 
 But this thing I believe, that the powers here but im- 
 perfectly revealed in the strife will yonder be gathered 
 together to noble outcome. My friends, I believe in a 
 life after this one. 
 
 [He rises, turns around, and beholds Sigurd, whose head at this 
 moment appears above the rocks. Sigurd is pale as death, and 
 immediately disappears. Koll is startled, but keeps silence. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 It seems to me as if we were the country's doomsmen, 
 and had sat in judgment upon him. 
 
 HALLKELL [rising]. 
 
 Since the Danes forsake him, we go not to battle to- 
 morrow, but rather to carry out the country's judgment 
 upon him. 
 
312 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 GTRD [rising with the others]. 
 And that judgment is that all his men shall fall, and 
 he be captured alive. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Nay ! [ With raised voice.'] Could he hear me now, 
 I would tell him to fall at the head of his followers, or to 
 take his own life ; for he must not come into the hands 
 of evil men. 
 
 TJOSTULV. 
 
 God help the man who must put up with such counsel ! 
 
 SIGURD STALLAR. 
 
 It is more than he deserves. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 Were God as severe as man, the world would soon 
 be empty. [Crosses with the others. 
 
 GYRD. 
 
 There is a boat moored by ours. {^Looking around.] 
 There are several. 
 
 KOLL. 
 
 A fisherman after bait. {^As Gyrd makes an attempt 
 to look down.] Give me your hand, Gyrd ! 
 
 [Gyrd hastens to help him down from the rock- 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 313 
 
 SCENE SECOND. 
 
 The scene is at first empty. Then SlGURD SlemBE enters, climb' 
 ing over a rock; he comes forward in silence, but powerfully agitated. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 The Danes forsake me ! The battle is lost ! Thus 
 far — and no further ! 
 
 Escape to the mountains to-night! Exchange my 
 ships for freedom ! There are herds of horses on the 
 mountains, we will climb up there and then fall upon 
 the valleys like a snow-storm. 
 
 But when winter comes ? To begin at the beginning ; 
 the outlaw's life — never more ! I have made my last 
 effort ; had it been successful, men would have wondered 
 at me. It has failed, and vengeance is loose. I cannot 
 gatlier another force in Norway ! 
 
 All over ? Thus far and no further ? No ! The 
 Danes sail, but we will sail with them ! This night, 
 this very night we will raise our yards and follow them 
 to the open sea. 
 
 But whither shall we turn our prows ? To Denmark ? 
 We will raise no third force in Denmark. Start out 
 again as merchant ? No ! Serve in foreign lands ? 
 No ! Crusade ? No ! Hither and no further ! Sigurd, 
 the end has come ! 
 
 J[Almost sobbing.'] Death ! The thought sprang up 
 in my mind as a door springs open, clashing upon its 
 hinges ; light, air, receive me ! [jETe draws his sword.^ 
 No, I will fall fighting for the cause I have lived for — 
 my men shall have a leader ! 
 i "*'*w Is there no chance of victory ? no trick ? Can I 
 not get them ashore ? Can I not get them in the toils ? 
 
314 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 try them in point-blank fight, man to man, all the 
 strength of despair fighting with me ? Ah, could they 
 but hear me, could I but find some high place and 
 speak to them ; tell them how clear as the sun is my 
 right, how monstrous the wrongs I have borne, what a 
 crime is theirs in withstanding me ! You murder not 
 me alone, but thousands upon thousands of thoughts for 
 my fatherland's welfare ; I have carried nothing out, 
 I have not sown the least grain, or laid one stone upon 
 another to witness that I have lived. Ah, I have 
 strength for better things than strife ; it was the desire 
 to work that drove me homewards ; it was impatience 
 that wrought me ill ! Believe me, try me, give me but 
 half what Harald Gille promised me, even less ; I ask 
 but very little, if I may still live and strive to accomplish 
 something ! Jesus, my God, it was ever the little that 
 thou didst offer me, and that I ever scorned ! 
 
 Where am I ? I stand upon my own grave, and hear 
 the great bell ring. I tremble as the tower beneath its 
 stroke, for where now are the aims that were mine ? 
 The grave opens its mouth and makes reply. But life 
 lies behind me like a dried-up stream, and these eight, 
 een years are lost as in a desert. The sign, the sign 
 that was with me from my birth ! In lofty flight I have 
 followed it hither with all the strength of my soul, and 
 here I am struck by the arrow of death ; I fall, and be- 
 hold the rocks beneath upon which I shall be crushed. 
 Have I, then, seen awrong ? Ah, how the winds and cur- 
 rents of my life stood yonder, where it was warm and 
 fruitful, while I toiled up where it grew ever colder, and 
 my ship is now clasped by the drifting icebergs ; a mo- 
 ment yet and it must sink. Then let it sink, and all 
 will be over. [ On his knees.'] But in thy arms, All- 
 merciful, I shall find peace ! 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 315 
 
 What miracle is this ? For in the hour I prayed the 
 prayer was granted ! Peace, perfect peace ! \_Rises.'] 
 Then will I go to-morrow to my last battle as to the 
 altar ; peace shall at last be mine for all my longings. 
 
 [Holds his head bowed and covered by his hands. As he, after a 
 time, slowly removes them, he looks around. 
 
 How this autumn evening brings reconciliation to my 
 soul ! Sun and wave and shore and sea flow all together, 
 as in the thought of God all others ; never yet has it 
 seemed so fair to me ! Yet it is not mine to reign over 
 this lovely land. How greatly I have done it ill ! But 
 how has it all come so to pass ? for in my wanderings I 
 saw thy mountains in every sky, I yearned for home as 
 a child longs for Christmas, yet I came no sooner, and 
 when at last I came — I gave thee wound upon wound. 
 
 But thou, in contemplative mood, now gazest upon 
 me, and givest me at parting this fairest autumn night 
 of thine. I will ascend yonder rock and take a long 
 farewell. [Mounts up. 
 
 And even thus I stood eighteen years ago, — thus 
 looked out upon the sea, blue beneath the rising sun. 
 The fresh breezes of morning seemed wafted to me from 
 a high future ; through the sky's light veil a vision of 
 strange lands was mine ; in the glow of the morning sun 
 wealth and honor shone upon me ; and to all this, the 
 white sails of the crusaders should swiftly bear me. 
 
 Farewell, dreams of my youth ! Farewell, my sweet 
 country ! Ah, to what sorrows thou hast brought me 
 forth ! But now it will soon be over. [He descends. 
 
 If these ships should sail up to me this very night 
 bearing the fulfillment of all my dreams ! Could any 
 one of them be now in truth mine, — or may a tree bear 
 fruit twice in one year ? 
 
316 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 I give way to make room for some better man. But 
 be Thou gracious to me, and let death be mine with 
 these feelings in my heart, for strength to be faithful 
 might not long be vouchsafed me. 
 
 Thou shalt die to-morrow ! How sure a father-con- 
 fessor is that word. Now for the first time I speak truth 
 to myself. 
 
 SCENE THIRD. 
 Sigurd Slembe, Ivar Ingemundson with The Nun. 
 
 rVAR [climbing over a rockl. 
 Yes, here he is. [Gives his hand to the nun. 
 
 THE NUN [without seeing^. 
 
 Sigurd ! [Mounts up.'] Yes, there he is ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Mother ! 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 My child, found once more ! [^They remain long 
 clasped in each other's arms.~\ My son, my son, now 
 shalt thou no more escape me ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Oh, my mother ! 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 Thou wilt keep away from this battle, is it not so ? 
 We two will win another kingdom, — a much better one. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 317 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I understand thee, mother. 
 
 [Leads her to a seat, and falls upon his knee. 
 
 THE mm. 
 Yes, dost thou not ? Thou art not so bad as all men 
 would have it. I knew that well, but wanted so much 
 to speak with thee, — and since thou art wearied and 
 hast lost thy hopes for this world, thou hast come back 
 to me, for even now there is time ! And of all thy 
 realm they must leave thee some little plot, and there 
 we will live by the church, so that when the bells ring 
 for vespers we shall be near the blessed Olaf, and with 
 him seek the presence of the Almighty. And there we 
 will heal thy wounds with holy water, and thoughts of 
 love, more than thou canst remember ever to have had, 
 shall come back to thee robed in white, and wondering 
 recollection shall have no end. For the great shall be 
 made small and the small great, and there shall be ques- 
 tionings and revelations and eternal happiness. Thou 
 wilt come and thus live with me, my son, wilt thou not ? 
 Thou wilt stay from this battle and come quickly ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Mother, I have not wept till now since I lay upon the 
 parched earth of the Holy Land. 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 Thou wilt follow me ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 To do thus were to escape the pledges I have made 
 but by breaking them. 
 
318 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 To what art thou now pledged ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Pledged to the blind king I took from the cloister ; 
 pledged to the men I have led hither. 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 And these pledges thou shalt redeem — how ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 By fighting and falling at their head. 
 
 THE NUN {springs to her feet. Sigurd also rises']. 
 No ! No ! No ! Shall I now, after a lifetime of 
 sorrow, behold thy death ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Yes, mother. The Lord of life and death will have 
 it so. 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 Ah ! what sufferings a moment's sin may bring ! 
 [She falls upon his breast ^ then sinks with outstretched 
 arms.^ Oh, my son, spare me ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Do not tempt me, mother ! 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 Hast thou taken thought of what may follow ? Hast 
 thou thought of capture, of mutilation ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 I have some hymns left me from childhood. I can 
 sing them. 
 
SIGURD SLEMBE. 319 
 
 THE NUN". 
 
 But I — thy mother — spare me ! 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Make uot to me this hour more bitter than death 
 itself. 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 But why now die ? "We have found one another. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 We two have nothing more to live for. 
 
 THE NUN. 
 
 Wilt thou soon leave me ? 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 Till the morning sun appear we will sit together. Let 
 me lift thee upon this rock. \^He does so and casts him- 
 self at her feet.'] It was fair that thou shouldst come to 
 me. All my life is now blotted out, and I am a child 
 with thee once more. And now we will seek out to- 
 gether the land of our inheritance. I must away for a 
 moment to take my leave, and then I shall be ready, 
 and I think that thou, too, art ready. 
 
 rVAR INGEMUNDSON [falling on his knee]. 
 My lord, now let me be your friend. 
 
 SIGURD [extending his hand]. 
 Ivar, thou wilt not leave her to-morrow ? 
 
 IVAR INGEMUNDSON. 
 
 Not until she is set free. 
 
320 SIGURD SLEMBE. 
 
 SIGURD. 
 
 And now sing me the crusader's song. I may joy- 
 fully go hence after that. 
 
 IV AB INGEMUNDSON [rises and sings]. 
 Fair is the earth, 
 Fair is God's heaven, 
 Fair is the pilgrim-path of the soul. 
 Singing we go 
 
 Through the fair realms of earth, 
 Seeking the way to our heavenly goal. 
 
 Kaces shall come. 
 
 And shall pass away. 
 
 And the world from age to age shall roll ; 
 
 But the heavenly tones 
 
 Of our pilgrim song 
 
 Shall echo still in the joyous soul. 
 
 First heard of shepherds, 
 
 By angels sung, 
 
 Wide it has spread since that glad morn : 
 
 Peace upon earth ! 
 
 Rejoice, all men. 
 
 For unto us is a Saviour born. 
 
 [The mother places both her hands on Sigurd's head, and they 
 look into one another's eyes, he then rests his head upon her 
 breast. 
 
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES. 
 
 Page 3. BjarmHand. 
 
 Bjarmeland is often mentioned in the Norse sagas as 
 lying far to the north. Probably the country about the 
 White Sea. 
 
 Page 3. Thing. 
 
 The popular assembly of early times in the North. The 
 name is still preserved, although the assemblies have become 
 representative. Thus, in Norway to-day, the legislative body 
 is known as the Storthing, and its two divisions as Lagthing 
 and Odelsthing, respectively. 
 
 Page 4. Saint John^s Fire. 
 The custom of kindling bonfires on Saint John's, or mid- 
 summer eve (June 23), is still kept up in Norway. The 
 practice is of the remotest antiquity. 
 
 Page 4. Micklegarih. 
 Myklegard, the great city, was the old Norse name for 
 Constantinople. In giving to this word the English form of 
 Micklegarth, the translator has followed Professor E. W. 
 Gosse, in his tragedy of " King Erik." 
 
 Page 12. Saint Olaf^s Law. 
 Olaf II., who consolidated the kingdom of Norway and 
 converted the land to Christianity, reigned from 1015 to 
 
322 TRANSLATOR'S NOTES. 
 
 1028. In the latter year, disaffection among his subjects, 
 and the invasion of Knut (Canute the Great), King of Den- 
 mark and England, caused Olaf to flee to Russia. In 1030, 
 he returned to Norway at the head of an army and gave bat- 
 tle to Knut at Stiklestad. Having fallen in this battle, his 
 remains were conveyed to the cathedral at Throndhjem, and 
 there interred. In the following century he was proclaimed 
 patron saint of Norway. According to the law as established 
 by him, illegitimacy of birth could not stand in the way of 
 succession to the throne. 
 
 Page 13. The Ordeal 
 
 The " jaernbyrd," or ordeal here referred to, is the one so 
 familiar to the student of mediaeval history, and consisted 
 either in handling a red-hot iron, or in walking barefoot over 
 red-hot plowshares. If, at the end of a certain number of 
 days, the wounds healed without causing any permanent in- 
 jury, the cause of the person placed upon trial was declared 
 to be just. 
 
 Page 14. King Jorsalfarer. 
 
 Sigurd I. of Norway, who reigned from 1103 to 1130, was 
 named " Jorsalfarer," or " Jerusalem-farer, " from the fa- 
 mous expedition made by him in the years 1107-1111. He 
 went by sea to the Holy Land, and thence to Constantinople, 
 doing battle with the heathen in Spain, Portugal, the Bale- 
 aric Islands, and Palestine. He returned home by land with 
 the remnant of his followers. 
 
 Page 16. Since when the sun grew dark, etc. 
 Tradition reports an obscuration of the sun on the day that 
 Olaf fell at Stiklestad. Astronomical calculations show that 
 a total eclipse of the sun occurred in Norway on the 31st of 
 August, 1030. July 29th is, however, the date which tradi- 
 tion assigns to the battle. 
 
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES. 323 
 
 Page 18. Chorus of Crusaders. 
 Bjbrnson has borrowed the words of this song from the 
 Danish poet and novelist, B. S. Ingemann. A slight altera- 
 tion has been made in the text. 
 
 Page 125. Fafner's Gold. 
 Fafner is the giant of Nibelungen tradition. The story of 
 the gold, which brought a curse upon its possessors, has been 
 made familiar to everybody by the Nibelungen tetralogy of 
 Richard Wagner. 
 
 Page 138. The Golden-haired Astrid. 
 Astrid was the daughter of the King of Sweden, and Olaf 
 married her in opposition to her father's will. 
 
 Page 219. Frostathing. 
 The Thing held upon the peninsula of Frosta, near Thrond- 
 hjem. Nidaros was the old name for Throndhjem. 
 
 Page 288. Holmengrd. 
 There is a play upon words here, based on the fact that 
 "gray islet" is the literal meaning of Holmengra. 
 
Works of Bjornstjerne Bjornson. 
 
 Translated from the Norse, at the request of the Author, 
 by Professor Rasmus B. Anderson, of the University 
 of Wisconsin. With a Portrait and a Biographical 
 Sketch. 
 
 I. Synnove Solbakken. 
 II. Arne, 
 
 III. The Bridal March, and Other Stories. 
 
 {Illustrated.) 
 
 IV. A Happy Boy. 
 
 V. The Fisher Maiden. 
 VI. Captain Mansana, and Other Stories. 
 VII. Magnhild. 
 
 In three volumes, 12mo, $4.50. {Sold only in sets.) 
 
 Nos. III. and VI. can be furnished separately, in 
 16mo volumes, $1.00 each. 
 
 In this group of stories we have a distinct addition to the 
 world's literature, — the exponents of a high and noble genius. — 
 The Atlantic Monthly. 
 
 Of the series, as a whole now completed, it may be said that it 
 has opened a new world to American readers, one whose power 
 of impressing and of fascinating can hardly be described. Its 
 attractiveness will not soon be forgotten, and its genuineness will 
 serve as a model, we trust, to those who, in writing for the public, 
 might be tempted to copy the artificial style into which English 
 fiction has been fast degenerating during the past half century. 
 — 2'Ae Churchman (New York). 
 
 These tales of the Norwegian poet and story-writer are pecu- 
 liarly interesting from the fact that they give us pictures of real 
 life in Norway and Sweden. They give us the manners, habits, 
 characters, religion, and superstitions of Scandinavia. They show, 
 better than any description can do it, what the people of the north 
 of Europe really are. — New York Evangelist. 
 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY, 
 
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 Boston and New York. 
 
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