Skule Bårdsson

“ Lady Ragnhild. Who knocks at the gate?
Voices. [Without.] Townsfolk from Nidaros! Open! We know that Skule Bårdsson is within!
King Skule. Ay, he is within; what would ye with him?
Noisy Voices. [Without.] Come out, come out! Death to the evil man!
Margrete. You townsfolk dare to threaten that?
A Single Voice. King Håkon doomed him at Oslo.
332Another. ’Tis every man’s duty to slay him.
Margrete. I am the Queen; I command you to depart!
A Voice. ’Tis Skule Bårdsson’s daughter, and not the Queen, that speaks thus.
Another. You have no power over life and death; the King has doomed him! ”

“ His mother was the wife of Andres Skjaldarband.
"Only this trifle," he said, "that there are now two kings in Norway."
"Only one is the right king," she answered gravely, "and that one are you."
It had been Skule's first plan to surprise Haakon in Bergen, and capture him. But he soon learned that the king had heard of his exploits, and was prepared to receive him. He then sent out bands of warriors to different parts of the country to kill the royal prefects and all prominent friends of the king. A great many excellent men, who were utterly unprepared for hostilities, were thus foully murdered ”

“ King Skule—Have you never had another skald for your friend, and has he never unfolded to you a great and noble song he thought to make?
Jatgeir—Yes, lord.
King Skule—Did you not then wish that you could slay him, to take his thought and make the song yourself?
Jatgeir—My lord, I am not barren: I have children of my own; I need not to love those of other men. [Goes.]
King Skule [after a pause] —The Icelander is in very deed a skald. He speaks God's deepest truth and knows it not. I am as a barren woman. ”

“ His noble heart and his clear-sighted intelligence led him invariably to choose the right. He was therefore a great king, without being necessarily a great man, unless a well-balanced combination of all average good qualities constitutes in itself greatness. His enemy, Duke Skule, was in many respects a more brilliant personality, and yet what a misfortune it would have been to Norway, if Skule had displaced Haakon! ”

“ The Ribbungs in the meanwhile continued their guerilla warfare, having taken possession of the Helgeö, an island in Lake Mjösen, whence they made forays into the fertile parishes that border on the lake, and practically controlled the Oplands. Earl Skule, who was again sent out to quell the rebellion, dawdled as usual, nursing his secret treason and being at heart more anxious to injure the king than his enemies. In order to destroy the Ribbungs, it was necessary to reach the island, and ostensibly for this purpose he began to build ships on the shores of the lake. ”

“ Accordingly he set sail in 1218, with a large train of followers, visited King Haakon and Earl Skule, and gained the latter's friendship. The king made him his liegeman, and it is said that Snorre promised Skule to bring Iceland under the dominion of the mother country. The plan was a tempting one. If by the surrender of the liberties of the island, he could attain the dignity of Earl of Iceland, he could, at one blow, by Skule's aid, crush all his enemies, and reign undisputed as the first man in the land. ”

“ The king here called his father-in-law formally to account for his actions, and the liegemen rose, one after the other, and cited proofs of the earl's disloyalty. When the turn came to Skule to defend himself, he began in this wise:
"I know a ditty: 'The eagle sat on a stone,' and I also know another which runs like this: 'The eagle sat on a stone,' and a lot more which all run the same way. Thus it is here to-day. Every one talks in his own way, but they all finish up with the same ditty, viz.: to bring accusations against me." ”

“ He prepared himself in every way for an open conflict—built and equipped ships, and steadily increased his force of warriors. His followers were called the “Varbelgs,” the same name that a rebellious party during the reign of King Sverre had carried. In November, 1239, Duke Skule convened the Oere-Thing, where he had his friends proclaim him king of Norway, whereupon he made the usual oath of fidelity to the laws, with his hand upon Saint Olaf’s shrine, which had been forcibly taken from the cathedral and carried to the Thing. ”

“ He began at once to build ships, and to gather warriors about him from all parts of the country. As the Danish king, Valdemar the Victorious, had now regained his liberty, he could also count upon his aid, and a formal agreement was made between them in accordance with which Skule should assist the king in recovering his lost provinces. In return for this service Valdemar promised to put Skule on the throne of Norway. ”

“ When the friars refused, some of the Birchlegs set fire to the monastery. Others endeavored to put out the fire, but their efforts were futile. The smoke and the heat now compelled the duke and his companions to descend from the tower. As he stepped out of the gate he held his shield above his head, saying: "Hew me not in the face; for it is not meet thus to treat chieftains." [427] Instantly the Birchlegs fell upon him and slew him (1240) .
The death of Skule ended the rebellion. There was now no man in Norway who was strong enough to contest the power of the king ”

“ Earl Skule at once began to plan and plot to seize the throne, and in this he was supported by the archbishop, but in spite of them the Birchlegs proclaimed Haakon king and Skule had to yield to the strong sentiment in his favor. As for the noble then called king by the Baglers, he too died just at this time and left no children, so that the way was clear for the boy king, and Haakon soon sailed to the south with a large fleet and took possession of Viken and the Uplands, the chief dominions of the Baglers. ”

“ King Skule—Bid him come hither. [Goes forward to the table; presently Jatgeir enters.] I can not sleep, Jatgeir: 'tis all my great kingly thoughts that keep me awake, you see.
Jatgeir—'Tis with the king's thoughts as with the skald's, I doubt not. They fly highest and grow quickest when there is night and stillness around.
King Skule—Is it so with the skald's thoughts?
Jatgeir—Ay, lord: no song is born by daylight; it may be written down in the sunshine, but it makes itself in the silent night.
King Skule—Who gave you the gift of sorrow, Jatgeir? ”

“ King Skule. The Sleeper?
Jatgeir. Know you not, my lord, that King Håkon is called “Håkon the Sleeper,” because he sits as though benumbed ever since you came to the throne?
Bård Bratte. They say he lies ever with his eyes closed. Doubtless he dreams that he is still king.
King Skule. Let him dream; he shall never dream himself back into the kingship.
Jatgeir. Let his sleep be long and dreamless, then shall I have stuff for songs.
The Men. Ay, ay, do as the skald says!
King Skule. When so many good men counsel as one, the 251counsel must be good; yet will we not talk now of that matter. ”

“ King Skule. [Looks upwards.] O God, I am a poor man, I have but my life to give; but take that, and keep watch over Håkon’s great king’s-thought.—See now, give me your hand.
Peter. Here is my hand, father.
King Skule. And fear not for that which is now to come.
Peter. Nay, father, I fear not, when I go with you.
King Skule. A safer way have we two never trodden together. [He opens the gate; the Townsmen stand without with upraised weapons.] Here are we; we come of our own free will;—but strike him not in the face. ”

“ Håkon. The land has known nought else through many generations; but, see you, God is with me; every foeman falls that would stand against me. There are no more Baglers, no Slittungs, no Ribbungs; Earl Jon is slain, Guthorm Ingesson is dead, Sigurd Ribbung likewise—all claims that were put forth at the folkmote at Bergen have fallen powerless—from whom, then, should the time of dread come now?
Duke Skule. Håkon, I fear me it might come from me!
Håkon. When I came to the throne, I gave you the third part of the kingdom——
231Duke Skule. ”

“ Jatgeir—You have a wife.
King Skule—Her I took to bear me sons.
Jatgeir—But you have a daughter, my lord—a gracious and noble daughter.
King Skule—Were my daughter a son, I would not ask you what gift I need. [Vehemently.] I must have some one by me who sinks his own will utterly in mine—who believes in me, unflinchingly, who will cling close to me in good hap and ill, who lives only to shed light and warmth over my life, and must die if I fall. Give me counsel, Jatgeir Skald! ”

“ King Skule. I hungered for your faith in me, and your faith has turned to sin.
304Peter. [Wildly.] For your sake, for your sake! Therefore God dare not deny to blot it out!
King Skule. “Pure and blameless,” I swore to Ingeborg—and he scoffs at heaven!
Paul Flida. [Entering.] All is in uproar! The impious deed has struck terror to your men; they flee into the churches.
King Skule. They shall out; they must out!
Bård Bratte. [Entering.] The townsfolk have risen against you; they are slaying the Vårbælgs wherever they find them, on the streets or in the houses! ”

“ My God! my God! behold, I abase myself before thee, and stand as the least of all men.
Peter. Take me from the earth, O Lord! Punish me for all my sin; but take me from the earth; for here am I homeless now!
[Sinks down upon the church steps.
King Skule. I had a friend who bled for me at Oslo. He said: A man can die for another’s life-work; but if he is to go on living, he must live for his own.—I have no life-work to live for, neither can I live for Håkon’s,—but I can die for it.
Margrete. Nay, nay, that shall you never do!
King Skule. [Takes her hand, and looks at her tenderly.] ”

“ Earl Skule. [Thoughtfully at first, afterwards in increasing excitement.] Is Håkon made of other clay than mine? The fortunate man?—Ay, does not everything thrive with him? Does not everything shape itself for the best, when he is concerned? Even the peasants note it; they say the trees bear fruit twice, and the fowls hatch out two broods every summer, whilst Håkon is king. Vermeland, where he burned and harried, stands smiling with its houses built afresh, and its cornlands bending heavy-eared before the breeze. ’Tis as though blood and ashes fertilised the land where Håkon’s armies pass ”

“ Nay, it cannot be a sin; for my father doomed the child in Oslo. Sooner or later it must die, for it blocks my father’s path;—my father has a great king’s-thought to carry through; it matters not who or how many fall for its sake.
Paul Flida. Hapless for you was the day you came to know that you were King Skule’s son. [Listening.] Hist!—cast you flat to the ground; there come people this way. ”

“ Bård Bratte. With their good will shall we never meet-’twill be a chase the whole country round.
King Skule. Ay, that it shall be. First we must purge Viken, and make sure of all these eastward parts; then will we get our ships together, and sail round the Naze and up the coast to Nidaros.
Bård Bratte And when you come in such wise to Nidaros, I scare think the monks will deny to move 250St. Olaf’s shrine out to the mote-stead, as they did in the autumn, when we swore allegiance.
King Skule. The shrine shall out; I will bear my kingship in all ways lawfully. ”

“ It would be wiser and more manly to bear another kind of iron—cold steel—against the king's foes, and let God judge between them in that way."
But Inga, the king's mother, declared that she was ready to endure the ordeal and Haakon consented to it. Earl Skule now felt sure of succeeding, not dreaming that the ordeal could be gone through without burning, but to make more sure, he bribed a man to approach Inga and offer her an herb which he said would heal burns. ”

“ Queen Ellisif came from the West, along with her stepson Olaf and her daughter Ingegerd. There came also with Olaf over the West sea Skule, a son of Earl Toste, and who since has been called the king's foster-son, and his brother Ketil Krok. Both were gallant men, of high family in England, and both were very intelligent; and the brothers were much beloved by King Olaf. Ketil Krok went north to Halogaland, where King Olaf procured him a good marriage, and from him are descended many great people. Skule, the king's foster-son, was a very clever man, and the handsomest man that could be seen. ”

“ King Skule. [Wildly.] Håkon Håkonsson must die.
Peter. If you will it, then it is right that he die.
King Skule. ’Twill cost blood; but that we cannot heed!
Peter. The blood is not wasted that flows in your cause.
King Skule. All the might shall be yours when I have built up the kingdom. You shall sit on the throne with the circlet on your brow, with the purple mantle flowing wide over your shoulders; all men in the land shall bow before you—— [The sounds of distant horns [42] are heard.] Ha! what was that? [With a cry.] The Birchleg host! What was it Paul Flida said——? ”

“ Jatgeir. He who doubts of his own doubt.
King Skule. [Slowly.] That, methinks, were death.
261Jatgeir. ’Tis worse; ’tis neither day nor night.
King Skule. [Quickly, as if shaking off his thoughts.] Where are my weapons? I will fight and act—not think. What was it you would have told me when you came?
Jatgeir. ’Twas what I noted in my lodging. The townsmen whisper together secretly, and laugh mockingly, and ask if we be well assured that King Håkon is in the westland; there is somewhat they are in glee over.
King Skule. They are men of Viken, and therefore against me. ”