Hapley

“ He turned to fiction—and found it had no grip on him. He read the “Island Nights’ Entertainments” until his “sense of causation” was shocked beyond endurance by the Bottle Imp. Then he went to Kipling, and found he “proved nothing,” besides being irreverent and vulgar. These scientific people have their limitations. Then, unhappily, he tried Besant’s “Inner House,” and the opening chapter set his mind upon learned societies and Pawkins at once.
146So Hapley turned to chess, and found it a little more soothing. ”

“ My theory of the Lay of Havelok is then simply this, that I look upon it as the general result of various narratives connected with the history of Northumbria and Lindesey at the close, or possibly the beginning, of the sixth century, gathered round some favourite local (i.e. Lincolnshire) tradition as a nucleus. A similar theory may be true of the Lay of Horn.
§ 25. On the names “Curan” and “Havelok.”
The French version tells us that Coaran, Cuaran, or Cuheran is the British word for a scullion. This etymology has not hitherto been traced, but it may easily have been perfectly true. ”

“ One might think that the king was growing afraid of his own kitchen knave.
“If that is so, there is no more to be said,” answered Havelok. “Yet you will forgive me if I say that I must have this from the lips of the princess herself as well. It may be that her mind will change.”
“That is but fair,” answered Alsi; “and you are a wise man. The mind of a damsel is unsteady, whether she be princess or milkmaid; but have no fear.”
“No man fear I; but I do fear to hurt any lady, and I would not do that.” ”

“ Then one of them shouted that he must speak to the king, and that seemed as if they owned him at least, so Havelok went to them.
“You have heard my terms,” he said, “and I think that they are all that you could ask. What is amiss?”
“Your terms are good enough,” the speaker said, “and we know that our time is come. But we must have surety that the people will not fall on us, for we are flying, as it were. And we want the body of our king. We would not have him buried any wise, as if he was a thrall.” ”

“ For ‘Bare is back without brother behind it,’ son Radbard and ‘Ere one goes out, give heed to the doorways,’ son Raven; and ‘Wisdom is wanted by him who fares widely’ son Withelm. So say the old proverbs, and they are true. No quarreller is Havelok; but if he must fight, that will be no playground. Careful is he; but he has met with no guile as yet, and he trusts all men. Slow to think, if sure, are so mighty frames as his becomes, even when quick wit is needed. ”

“ Now Havelok grew restless, and wandered here and there looking at things, though not going far from me; and while I was thus alone on the bridge, a man I knew by sight came and leaned on the rail by me, and told me that he had just seen the most handsome man and the goodliest to look on that was in the kingdom, as he thought.
“Yonder he stands,” he said, “like a king who has fallen on bad times. I mind that I thought that Alsi, our king, would look like that, before I saw him, and sorely disappointed was I in him therefore. Now I wonder who yon man may be?” ”

“ Then, on the third day, Havelok called Arngeir and us, and spoke what was in his mind.
“Brothers, I may not bear this any longer, and I must go away. I can do no more to help than can the weakest in the town; and even my strength is an added trouble to those who have not enough without me. Day by day grows the store in the house less ”

“ And at last, not seeming to notice this, Alsi answered plainly.
“The Princess Goldberga.”
Then Havelok stared at him in blank wonder for some moments; and Alsi grew red under his gaze, and his eyes were shifty, and would not meet the honest look that was on him.
Then at last said Havelok slowly, and watching the king intently all the while, “What this means I cannot tell. If you speak truth, it is wonderful; and if not, it is unkingly.”
“On my word as a king, truth it is,” said Alsi hastily, for there was that in Havelok’s face that he did not like. ”

“ One heard much of Havelok, though, for word of him and his strength and goodliness, and of his kindness moreover, went through the town, with tales of what he had done. But I never heard that any dared to ask him to make a show of himself by doing feats of strength. Only when he came down to the guardroom sometimes with me would he take part in the weapon play that he loved, and the housecarls, who were all tried and good warriors, said that he was their master in the use of every weapon, and it puzzled them to know where he had learned so well, for he yet wore his fisher’s garb. ”

“ Now he had just finished buying when Havelok happened along, and the cook shouted, “Porter, porter!” for somebody to come to carry his marketing home. Instantly ten or a dozen jumped for the chance, for there were plenty of men looking for work in Lincoln. But Havelok got ahead of them all; he pushed them this way and that and sent them sprawling head over heels, and seized hold of the cook's baskets, without so much as a “By your leave.” Rough and ready was the young Havelok, as strong as a bear and as hungry as a savage. ”

“ Knight, children, young and old,
All him loved that him saw,
Both high men and low,
Of him full wide the word sprang
How he was meek, how he was strong."
At last even the wicked Godrich in his palace heard of Havelok in the kitchen. "Now truly this is the best man in England," he said, with a sneer. And thinking to bring shame on Goldboru, and wed her with a kitchen knave, he sent for Havelok.
"Master, wilt wed?" he asked, when the scullion was brought before him.
"Nay," quoth Havelok, "by my life what should I do with a wife? I could not feed her, nor clothe her, nor shoe her. ”

“ Havelok’s father slain, A.D. 487; his expedition to Denmark, A.D. 507; his reign in England, A.D. 511-531, or a little later. These dates follow a system which is here about 16 years earlier than the dates in the A.S. Chronicle. His results are obtained from totally different considerations. On the whole, let us place Havelok in the sixth century, at some period of his life.
§ 24. It is, perhaps, worthy of a passing remark that some of the circumstances in the Lay may have been suggested by the romantic story of Eadwine of Northumbria, who was also born at the close of the sixth century. ”

“ Out of one earth should they be made afresh, as it were, that on the face of earth they shall be one. Pass therefore under the arch, beginning with Havelok.”
Then, while my father spoke strange and ancient runes, Havelok did as he was bidden, kneeling down and creeping under the uplifted turf; and as I came after him he gave me his hand and raised me, and so with each of the other two. And then, unbidden, Arngeir followed, for he too loved Havelok, and would fain be his brother indeed. ”

“ But now the last lurking doubt was gone, and there was no more delay, for the chiefs crowded with shouts of joy to the high place, and they knelt to Havelok and hailed him as king then and there; and so they led him to the great door of the hall, and the mightiest of them raised him high on a wide shield before all the freemen who waited on the green that is round the jarl’s house, and they cried, “Skoal to Havelok the king!”
And there was in answer the most stirring shout that a man may hear—the shout of a host that hail the one for whom they are content to die. ”

“ But Havelok knew naught of that, and went his way with his loaves to the bridge end, and there sat on the rail and looked at the men before him. And lo! back to my mind came old days in Denmark, and how I once saw Gunnar the king sitting in open court to do justice, and then I knew for certain that I was looking on his son. And when Havelok spoke it was in the voice of Gunnar that I had long forgotten, but which came back to me clear and plain, as if it were yesterday that I had heard it. Never does a boy forget his first sight of the king. ”

“ Into Sigurd’s haven we sailed on the morning tide, and strange it seemed to me to see the well-known place unchanged as we neared it. My father’s house was there, and Arngeir’s, and the great hall of the jarl towered over all, as I remembered it. Men were building a ship in the long shed where ours had been built, and where the queen had hidden; and the fishing boats lay on the hard as on the day when Havelok had come to us. ”

“ Sigurd’s host went back in the autumn, rich with the treasure of Alsi the king; and from that time forward no Danish host ever sought our shores. Wars enough have been in England here, but they have not harmed us. No host has been suffered to cross the borders of Lindsey or East Anglia, save in peace, and in the wars of Penda of Mercia Havelok has taken no part. Yet he has had to fight to hold his own more than once, but always with victory, for always the prayers of the few Christians have been with him. ”

“ In order to avoid Godard, Grim fitted up a ship, and provisioned it, and with his wife Leve, his three sons, his two daughters, and Havelok, put out to sea. They landed in Lindesey at the month of the Humber, at a place afterwards named Grimsby after Grim. Grim worked at his old trade, a fisherman’s, and Havelok carried about the fish for sale. Then arose a great dearth in the land, and Havelok went out to seek his own livelihood, walking to Lincoln barefoot. He was hired as a porter by the earl of Cornwall’s cook, and drew water and cut wood for the earl’s kitchen. ”

“ Then Sigurd said, “Speak to the people, my king, and all is done.”
So Havelok smiled, and lifted his voice, and spoke.
“Stand by me, friends, as steadfastly as you have fought against me, and I shall be well content. And see, here is the queen for whom you will fight also. There is not one of you but will play the man under her eyes.” ”

“ The man who had the stone made his cast, which was nothing to speak of; and then the stone lay unclaimed for a time, while all the onlookers waited to see who came forward next. Then Havelok made his way through the crowd, and a silence as of wonder fell on the people; for some knew him, and had heard of his strength, and those who did not stared at him as at a wonder. But the silence did not last long, for the porters who were there set up a sort of shout of delight, and that one who had made the longest cast so far began to tell him how best to heft the stone and swing it. ”

“ True are the words of the Havamal, the song of the wisdom of Odin, which say, “One may know and no other, but all men know if three know.”
Therefore for all these years my father told none of us the secret of Havelok’s birth; and when Arngeir married my sister Solva he made him take oath that he would not tell what he knew to her, while she, being but a child at the time of the flight, had forgotten how this well-loved brother of hers came to us. ”

“ Then all the English nobles came and sware fealty to Havelok and crowned him King in London. Of Grim's two daughters, Havelok wedded Gunild, the elder, to Earl Reyner of Chester; and Levive, the younger, fair as a new rose blossom opening to the sun, he married to Bertram, the cook, whom he made Earl of Cornwall in the room of Godrich.
Sixty years reigned Havelok and Goldborough in England, and they had fifteen children, who all became kings and queens. All the world spake of the great love that was between them. ”

“ And then men knew who he was indeed, for little by little the secret had been pieced together, if not told from the king’s place, in the years that had passed. And at that there rose and grew a murmur and a cry.
“Havelok, son of Gunnar! Havelok the king!”
Then said Sigurd in a great voice, “Who is for Hodulf of us all? Let no man go hence who is for him.” ”

“ I was the only mounted man of my little force, and that rather to save my strength than because I liked riding. I should certainly fight on foot, as would Havelok himself, in the old way. It is not good to trust to the four feet of a horse when one means business.
We bided where we were, waiting to see what these men did, and soon beyond them grew the long cloud of dust starred with shifting sparks that told us that the host of Hodulf was on foot and advancing. ”

“ His forefather had won them at that time, and now they were worn by one who was surely like the Valkyries, for no fairer or more wondrous to look on in war gear could they be than our English queen.
She would have gone even into the battle with Havelok, but that neither he nor we would suffer. She was to bide here in the town until we came back in triumph or defeat; and as men looked on her, they grew strong, that no tears might be for those bright eyes. ”

“ They found there, however, a daughter of Grim’s, named Kelloc, who had married a tradesman of that town. Up to this time Havelok had not known his true parentage, but Kelloc thought it was now time to tell him, and said: “Your father was Gunter, the King of the Danes, whom Hodulf slew. Hodulf obtained the kingdom as a grant from Arthur. Grim fled with you, and saved your life; but your mother perished at sea. Your name is Havelok. My husband will convey you to Denmark, where you must inquire for a lord named ‘Sigar l’estal;’ and take with you my two brothers.” ”

“ When all had failed, it was given to Havelok, who blew it loud and long, and was joyfully recognized and acknowledged to be the true King. Then with a great army he attacked Hodulf the usurper, whom he slew with his own hand. Thus was Havelok made King of Denmark.
But after he had reigned four years, his wife incited him to return to England. With a great number of ships he sailed there, and arrived at Carleflure;25 and sent messengers to Alsi, demanding the inheritance of Argentille. Alsi was indeed astonished at such a demand as coming from a scullion, and offered him battle. ”