The Story of the Glittering Plain<br />Which Has Been Also Called the Land of Living Men or the Acre by William Morris (free ebook reader .TXT) 📖

his sleight; and that he hath played out the play right well and cunningly with the wisdom of a warrior.  Thirdly, the manliness of him is well proven, in that having overcome us in sleight, he hath spoken out the sooth concerning our beguilement and hath made himself our foeman and captive, when he might have sat down by us as our guest, freely and in all honour.  And this he did, not as contemning the Puny Fox and his lies and crafty wiles (for he hath told us that he loveth him); but so that he might show himself a man in that which trieth manhood.  Moreover, ye shall not forget that he is the rebel of the Undying King, who is our lord and master; therefore in cherishing him we show ourselves great-hearted, in that we fear not the wrath of our master.  Therefore I naysay the word of the War-brand that we should make this man a wolf’s-head; for in so doing we shall show ourselves lesser-hearted than he is, and of no account beside of him; and his head on our hall-gable should be to us a nithing-stake, and a tree of reproach.  So I bid thee, O Erne, to make much of this man; and thou shalt do well to give him worthy gifts, such as warriors may take, so that he may show them at home in the House of the Raven, that it may be the beginning of peace betwixt us and his noble kindred.  This is my say, and later on I shall wax no wiser.”

Therewith he sat down, and there arose a murmur and stir in the hall; but the more part said that the Grey-goose had spoken well, and that it was good to be at peace with such manly fellows as the new guest was.

But the Erne said: “One word will I lay hereto, to wit, that he who desireth mine enmity let him do scathe to Hallblithe of the Ravens and hinder him.”

Then he bade fill round the cups, and called a health to Hallblithe, and all men drank to him, and there was much joyance and merriment.

But when the night was well worn, the Erne turned to Hallblithe and said: “That was a good word of the Grey-goose which he spake concerning the giving of gifts: Raven-son, wilt thou take a gift of me and be my friend?”

“Thy friend will I be,” said Hallblithe, “but no gift will I take of thee or any other till I have the gift of gifts, and that is my troth-plight maiden.  I will not be glad till I can be glad with her.”

Then laughed the Erne, and the Puny Fox grinned all across his wide face, and Hallblithe looked from one to the other of them and wondered at their mirth, and when they saw his wondering eyes, they did but laugh the more; and the Erne said: “Nevertheless, thou shalt see the gift which I would give thee; and then mayst thou take it or leave it as thou wilt.  Ho ye! bring in the throne of the Eastland with them that minister to it!”

Certain men left the hall as he spake, and came back bearing with them a throne fashioned most goodly of ivory, parcel-gilt and begemmed, and adorned with marvellous craftsmanship: and they set it down amidst of the hall-floor and went aback to their places, while the Erne sat and smiled kindly on the folk and on Hallblithe.  Then arose the sound of fiddles and the lesser harp, and the doors of the screen were opened, and there flowed into the hall a company of fair damsels not less than a score, each one with a rose on her bosom, and they came and stood in order behind the throne of the Eastlands, and they strewed roses on the ground before them: and when they were duly ranged they fell to singing:

      Now waneth spring,
      While all birds sing,
      And the south wind blows
      The earliest rose
      To and fro
      By the doors we know,
      And the scented gale
      Fills every dale.
Slow now are brooks running because of the weed,
And the thrush hath no cunning to hide her at need,
So swift as she flieth from hedge-row to tree
As one that toil trieth, and deedful must be.

      And O! that at last,
      All sorrows past,
      This night I lay
      ’Neath the oak-beams grey!
      O, to wake from sleep,
      To see dawn creep
      Through the fruitful grove
      Of the house that I love!
O! my feet to be treading the threshold once more,
O’er which once went the leading of swords to the war!
O! my feet in the garden’s edge under the sun,
Where the seeding grass hardens for haysel begun!

      Lo, lo! the wind blows
      To the heart of the Rose,
      And the ship lies tied
      To the haven side!
      But O for the keel
      The sails to feel!
      And the alien ness
      Growing less and less;
As down the wind driveth and thrusts through the sea
The sail-burg that striveth to turn and go free,
But the lads at the tiller they hold her in hand,
And the wind our well-willer drives fierce to the land.

      We shall wend it yet,
      The highway wet;
      For what is this
      That our bosoms kiss?
      What lieth sweet
      Before our feet?
      What token hath come
      To lead us home?
’Tis the Rose of the garden walled round from the croft
Where the grey roof its warden steep riseth aloft,
’Tis the Rose ’neath the oaken-beamed hall, where they bide,
The pledges unbroken, the hand of the bride.

Hallblithe heard the song, and half thought it promised him somewhat; but then he had been so misled and mocked at, that he scarce knew how to rejoice at it.

Now the Erne spake: “Wilt thou not take the chair and these dainty song-birds that stand about it?  Much wealth might come into thine hall if thou wert to carry them over sea to rich men who have no kindred, nor affinity wherein to wed, but who love women as well as other men.”

Said Hallblithe: “I have wealth enow were I once home again.  As to these maidens, I know by the fashion of them that they are no women of the Rose, as by their song they should be.  Yet will I take any of these maidens that have will to go with me and be made sisters of my sisters, and wed with the warriors of the Rose; or if they are of a kindred, and long to sit each in the house of her folk, then will we send them home over the sea with warriors to guard them from all trouble.  For this gift I thank thee.  As to thy throne, I bid thee keep it till a keel cometh thy way from our land, bringing fair gifts for thee and thine.  For we are not so unwealthy.”

Those that sat nearby heard his words and praised them; but the Erne said: “All this is free to thee, and thou mayst do what thou wilt with the gifts given to thee.  Yet shalt thou have the throne; and I have thought of a way to make thee take it.  Or what sayst thou, Puny Fox?”

Said the Puny Fox: “Yea if thou wilt, thou mayst, but I thought it not of thee that thou wouldst.  Now is all well.”

Again Hallblithe looked from one to the other and wondered what they meant.  But the Erne cried out: “Bring in now the sitter, who shall fill the empty throne!”

Then again the screen-doors opened, and there came in two weaponed men, leading between them a woman clad in gold and garlanded with roses.  So fair was the fashion of her face and all her body, that her coming seemed to make a change in the hall, as though the sun had shone into it suddenly.  She trod the hall-floor with firm feet, and sat down on the ivory chair.  But even before she was seated therein Hallblithe knew that the Hostage was under that roof and coming toward him.  And the heart rose in his breast and fluttered therein, so sore he yearned toward the Daughter of the Rose, and his very speech-friend.  Then he heard the Erne saying, “How now, Raven-son, wilt thou have the throne and the sitter therein, or wilt thou gainsay me once more?”

Thereafter he himself spake, and the sound of his voice was strange to him and as if he knew it not: “Chieftain, I will not gainsay thee, but will take thy gift, and thy friendship therewith, whatsoever hath betided.  Yet would I say a word or two unto the woman that sitteth yonder.  For I have been straying amongst wiles and images, and mayhappen I shall yet find this to be but a dream of the night, or a beguilement of the day.”  Therewith he arose from the table, and walked slowly down the hall; but it was a near thing that he did not fall a-weeping before all those aliens, so full his heart was.

He came and stood before the Hostage, and their eyes were upon each other, and for a little while they had no words.  Then Hallblithe began, wondering at his voice as he spake: “Art thou a woman and my speech-friend?  For many images have mocked me, and I have been encompassed with lies, and led astray by behests that have not been fulfilled.  And the world hath become strange to me, and empty of friends.”

Then she said: “Art thou verily Hallblithe?  For I also have been encompassed by lies, and beset by images of things unhelpful.”

“Yea,” said he, “I am Hallblithe of the Ravens, wearied with desire for my troth-plight maiden.”

Then came the rosy colour into the fairness of her face, as the rising sun lighteth the garden of flowers in the June morning; and she said: “If thou art Hallblithe, tell me what befell to the finger-gold-ring that my mother gave me when we were both but little.”

Then his face grew happy, and he smiled, and he said: “I put it for thee one autumntide in the snake’s hole in the bank above the river, amidst the roots of the old thorn-tree, that the snake might brood it, and make the gold grow greater; but when winter was over and we came to look for it, lo! there was neither ring nor snake, nor thorn-tree: for the flood had washed it all away.”

Thereat she smiled most sweetly, and whereas she had been looking on him hitherto with strained and anxious eyes, she now beheld him simply and friendly; and she said: “O Hallblithe, I am a woman indeed, and thy speech-friend.  This is the flesh that desireth thee, and the life that is thine, and the heart which thou rejoicest.  But now tell me, who are these huge images around us, amongst whom I have sat thus, once in every moon this year past, and afterwards I was taken back to the women’s bower?  Are they men or mountain-giants?  Will they slay us, or shut us up from the light and air?  Or hast thou made peace with them?  Wilt thou then dwell with me here, or shall we go back again to Cleveland by the Sea?  And when, oh when, shall we depart?”

He smiled and said: “Quick come thy questions, beloved.  These are the folks of the Ravagers and the Sea-eagles: they be men, though fierce and wild they be.  Our foes they have been, and have sundered us; but now are they our friends, and have brought us together.  And to-morrow, O friend, shall we depart across the waters to Cleveland by the Sea.”

She leaned forward, and was about to speak softly to him, but suddenly started back, and said: “There is a big, red-haired man, as big as any here, behind thy shoulder.  Is he also a friend?  What would he with us?”

So Hallblithe turned about, and beheld the Puny Fox beside him, who took up the word and spoke, smiling as a man in great glee: “O maiden of the Rose, I am Hallblithe’s thrall, and his scholar, to unlearn the craft of lying, whereby I have done amiss towards both him and thee.  Whereof I will tell thee all the tale soon.  But now I will say that it is true that we depart to-morrow for Cleveland by the Sea, thou and he, and I in company.  Now I would ask thee, Hallblithe, if thou wouldst have me bestow this gift of thine in safe-keeping to-night, since there is an end of her sitting in the hall like a graven image: and to-morrow the way will be long and wearisome, What sayest thou?”

Said the Hostage: “Shall I trust this