Jarl

“ He proceeded accordingly to conquer, in fierce battle, a Jarl or two every year, and, at the end of twelve years, had his unkempt (and almost unimaginable) head of hair clipt off,—Jarl Rognwald (Reginald) of More, the most valued and valuable of all his subject-jarls, being promoted to this sublime barber function;—after which King Harald, with head thoroughly cleaned, and hair grown, or growing again to the luxuriant beauty that had no equal in his day, brought home his Gyda, and made her the brightest queen in all the north. ”

“ With my own hands will I slay the last of the brood of Svend, in the name of the cross!"
Edvard Haakonsson stood straight and tall and pale against the wall. His eyes narrowed as they pulled the weeping Thyra away, and he looked after her with love in his glance.
Harald the Just grasped the ax a man gave him and stood before the black jarl.
"It is but justice!" he said.
"Would you strike down an unarmed jarl?"
"This is an execution, jarl! You are not worthy to be met in honorable combat! Scum of the Svend blood! Do you even falter in the face of death?" ”

“ But the Jarl’s voice sounded presently in measured accents: “Has it come to your ears that men are speaking against my rule?”
Slightly appeased, Mord’s hands relaxed to smooth his beard. “I do not mean that, Starkad’s son. You mistake me if you think I mean that the fellow has yet power enough to get you disliked. Well spoken of over all the land is your rule. Only—”
Measured and relentless as the boom of surf, the Jarl’s voice sounded through his. “When it happens that they do find fault, come and tell me of it; and I will listen patiently. ”

“ Magnus saw, and growled low down in his throat. Brynhild was not the one to pass by a jarl and accept a jarl's lieutenant. Her eyes burned with ambition more than love. In her heart she despised the black jarl for his small stature, yet she gladly would wed with him.
The feast went on. Warriors were teasing the shield maidens now, and scuffling with them. Shrieks of merriment rang out in the great hall. Dogs fought at the sides of the tables, and thralls scrambled with them for bits of food.
Svend the Bloody lurched to his feet, a huge wine goblet in his hand. ”

“ The waning light falling into the Jarl’s bedchamber from its one small window under the eaves disclosed dimly the figures of the priest and the counsellor and the courtman, as they waited in the middle of the floor, but showed little more than the mass of the high curtained bed that stood under the window against the wall. The old advice-giver, declaiming before it, had the feeling that he was talking into space, even while he knew that somewhere in the gloom beneath the hangings the young ruler must lounge listening to him. ”

“ Noble in splendor was Helvin Jarl as the firelight 101caught the golden embroideries and jewelled clasps of his sweeping robes; and noble in purpose was his pale finely cut face under the mass of blood-red hair when he raised the great horn and spoke so that all could hear him.
“I drink the toast to the old gods and to the new,” he said, “and to those who have gone before me; but the vow I make is no vow that I shall be great. What I promise is that I shall make no other man small. ”

“ A chess-board was produced, and they played together. Jarl Ulf was hasty in temper, stiff, and in nothing yielding; but everything he managed went on well in his hands: and he was a great warrior, about whom there are many stories. He was the most powerful man in Denmark next to the King. Jarl Ulf's sister, Gyda, was married to Jarl Gudin (Godwin) Ulfnadson; and their sons were, Harald King of England, and Jarl Tosti, Jarl Walthiof, Jarl Mauro-Kaare, and Jarl Svein. Gyda was the name of their daughter, who was married to the English King Edward, the Good (whom we call the Confessor) . ”

“ Another jarl was approaching from the opposite side. He, too, sent forward thralls with rich presents. He, too, had dignity in his bearing, and behind him came men-at-arms richly weaponed, and glorious maidens. ”

“ Now, in old Jarl's lingo there was never an idiom. Your aboriginal tar is too much of a cosmopolitan for that. Long companionship with seamen of all tribes: Manilla-men, Anglo-Saxons, Cholos, Lascars, and Danes, wear away in good time all mother-tongue stammerings. You sink your clan; down goes your nation; you speak a world's language, jovially jabbering in the Lingua-Franca of the forecastle. ”

“ Svafa, the daughter of Bjartmar jarl, gave birth to a girl; most people thought she ought to be exposed, and said she would not have the character of a woman if she became like the kinsmen of her father. [266] The jarl had her besprinkled with water, and brought up and called her Hervör, and said the kin of Arngrim’s son was not quite dead while she was alive. When she grew up she was fair; she practised more shooting and the handling of sword and shield than sewing and embroidering; she was tall and strong, and as soon as she was able she oftener did evil than good ”

“ One sneered at him. "If the jarl so wishes to take it," he said.
"Do I understand that you question my courage, my honor, and possibly that of my parents?"
"The day is too hot for a man to repeat his words," said the second. ”

“ Through the mass of dark hair from which he had plucked off his jewelled cap, the Jarl ran his white hands, throwing back his head with a movement of impatience.
175“Why is it that it comes so much easier to believe in Hel than in Valhalla? Is it because the earth-clods we are made of weigh us down when we try to mount? If I cannot prove her love to you through her gentleness, then will I prove it through her hardness. No ball leaps up high that has not gone down hard,—had she stooped no lower than pity, she had never risen so high as hate. ”

“ Therefore I held my peace; while Jarl went on to declare, that with regard to the character of the brigantine, his mind was now pretty fully made up;—she was an arrant impostor, a shade of a ship, full of sailors' ghosts, and before we knew where we were, would dissolve in a supernatural squall, and leave us twain in the water. In short, Jarl, the descendant of the superstitious old Norsemen, was full of old Norse conceits, and all manner of Valhalla marvels concerning the land of goblins and goblets. ”

“ Jarl Rognvald’s followers were not numerous enough to force their way across the bog and the moss-hag in face of the men at Thorbiorn’s back, and they were equally at a loss for lack of a leader who was skilled in war.
Jomar and others ran to Jarl Harald’s side as he rode amongst them.
“See, Lord Jarl,” they called. “There are the murderers of our lord. Do you lead your men and us, and we will soon get across and be the means of his death.” ”

“ As has been pointed out, he had no more than a hunting-knife; while my feet are more used to paved roads than to fox-trails. It made a merry game, altogether too merry to fall to the ground here. But for Norse law, fairest law-woman, there is no handle to take hold of. Turn him loose, and forget that so unworthy a happening ever quickened your fragrant breath.” He ended with another bow, his last words almost lost amid the applauding murmurs of the women and the pages.
With an unconscious gesture of relief, the Jarl’s daughter rose quickly. ”

“ It cannot be gainsaid that this is a better place to give a thrust than to take one. I admit that I expect to meet some unexpected things in the path I am entering. Not a little overgrowth hides it. Although I cannot tell why, much that the Jarl said that night came to me as a surprise. I suppose that the strangeness of his temper is the explanation of it.... ”

“ It is said that Thorstein Uxafót was in the foreroom aft by the lypting, [162] and said to the king, when the Jarl’s men came thickest on board the Serpent: ‘Lord, each man must now do what he can?’ ‘Why not?’ answered the king. ”

“ Edvard could see the long lane with pavilions on either side. Shield maidens and ladies of jarls' households were in the midst of the throng. Men-at-arms scowled at one another or greeted one another warmly, according to their creeds. ”

“ And away inland, beyond the palisades and under the entrenched camp of the besiegers, the ground pitched and rocked, so that every tent fell grovelling; and whenever the ground gaped, captains and men-at-arms were swallowed down in detachments.
Hardly had the call of old Jarl's warhorn ceased, [36] before the Constable commanded the castle gates to be thrown open, and out he came leading a gaunt and hungry band of Jarl-folk warriors; for over in the enemy's camp they had scent of a hot supper which must be cooked and eaten before dawn. ”

“ It is unlikely that you will be banished. In the teeth of all the lawmen, Helvin has refused it. And while it may not turn out to your honor with the advice-givers, I think the Jarl will push it through by boldness. ”

“ But between the brass helmets Rolf’s son caught a glimpse of the Jarl’s daughter, and made the discovery that in turning his low rank into a high one he had but turned the cheek of his offence. She said, when she could make herself heard:
“There seems to me to be two sides to this matter. For a churl to bear such a bold look beneath his brows would be bad enough, but I find it far worse that a man of high birth should form himself after the manner of savages. Have you no regard for your King’s blood?” Again her glance took stock of his deerskin husk and his untrimmed hair. ”

“ Then as she continued to look at him entreatingly, he yielded, smiling, to come forward with playful ceremony and take up his stand before her.
While he was bowing, however, one of the guards—a burly ruddy-faced fellow—entered into the conversation, after the off-hand manner of Northern retainers. Hemming loudly, he held up the horn-handled knife which he had taken from the forester’s unresisting hold.
27“This can be told about the youth, Jarl’s daughter,” he said, “that he is no better than a crazy Berserker. Behold with what a cheese-cutter he met the flail of Thorgrim’s son!” ”

“ Svend took another step forward, gloating, and once more the black jarl raised his hand.
"Then let me be champion for this thrall, since the fault is mine!" he said. "It will furnish sport for the throng." ”

“ Since the fight this morning we have been allowed to do no more than growl at the English dogs across the plain, because it was held unadvisable to make an onset until the Jarl’s men should increase our strength. It is to be hoped they are not far behind? ”

“ The trader’s man laughed impatiently. “Good Bend-the-Bow, are you too drunk to understand that I am talking about the Jarl’s favorite, whose shabby belt-pouch is fuller of gold than your head of wits,—even when you 156are sober and they are all at home? If he were still a ringless forester, who would stir tongue about his habits? It is because he has gold to spend but is too careless to do it, that he has my blame; and I would lay my purse on it that this is a part of the cause why he has lost credit with the Jarl’s sister, as gossips say he has. ”

“ It counted for little that some of the lawmen murmured, and Magnus Fire-and-Sword spoke to his neighbor from under a frown.
Only the Jarl noticed that, and noticing, smiled mockingly. When the tumult had sunk once more he spoke, the smile dwindling to a droop of his mouth-corner.
102“The first thing that I must try my hand on is the filling of the other high-seat with the man I hold highest in honor. That would be to take a great deal on my hands if custom did not say that he must be a holy man, which makes the choice easy.” ”

“ If he could force his way up those steps perhaps he could manage to break into the room, he thought. There he could barricade himself, possibly escape, possibly even find the jarl's daughter and hold her as hostage for his own freedom after the fight. ”

“ Then they saw that very many men were on the skerry; the jarl told them to go out to them and bring them all to him, as he wanted to have their lives in his power. The jarl’s men went on board a ship, and rowed out to the skerry; few men there were able to fight, on account of wounds and cold, nor is it told that any one defended himself; they were all taken by the jarl’s men ashore to him; they were seventy. Then the jarl had Vagn and his men led up on land, and their hands were tied behind their backs, and 204they were bound with one rope, one at the other’s side, not loosely. ”

“ Again the Jarl set his foot upon the coffer and his elbow on his knee, but the look he bent on his friend now had a hint of amiable amusement.
“True it is that much lies on that! You might feign sickness and be taken into the guest-chamber off the women’s hall, where it is the custom for sick men to—But the ill luck might befall you that unless you seemed balancing on the grave-edge, she would leave you to her women. ”

“ Carefully they replaced the spongy earth. Then, with Jarl Gare in the lead, the pair walked upright, but quietly, to the great power-charged fence.
It went up twenty feet and down the same distance underground—Jarl Gare had learned this depth from a prisoner who had tried to dig his way out but failed and nearly drowned as liquid seeped into the hole he was digging.
The big Jovian, his thick-thewed body glimmering with sweat in the ground light, bent to pick up Jarl Gare's slight naked body.
"Wait," Jarl Gare warned. "We must wait until one of the river beasts start plunging." ”

“ The jarl seated Godwin in the high-seat at his side, and treated him in everything like himself or his son, and in short gave him in marriage his sister Gyda; and with the aid and advice of Ulf 492jarl, King Knut gave him a jarldom for the sake of Ulf jarl, his brother-in-law. The sons of Godwin and Gyda were: Harald the English king, and Tosti jarl, called wooden spear; Maurukari jarl (Morcar) ; Valthjof (Waltheof) jarl, and Svein jarl; from them have sprung many chiefs in England, Denmark, Sweden, and Gardariki (Russia) . They are king’s families in the Danish realm. ”