TLV - 02 - The Road of the Sea Horse Read Online Free PDF Page A

quarrel that Harald finally left. In the morning, when heads had cooled, Magnus agreed sulkily that it would be wisest at least to take Jutland first. But through that whole summer's campaigning, he was at odds with Harald, and the older man often had to fight to keep his temper.
     
     
     
    From the beaches of the Skaw, across a vastness of heath, down into the forests and plains of Schleswig, the Norse Army moved. This was not a Byzantine force of lifetime soldiers with their own supplies and years of training; up in the North, each man kept what weapons he willed, and brought them with him when the war arrow was passed from house to house. These were Lofoten fishermen, twisted and bent from their age - long strife with the sea; hunters of Finnmark, shy and skin-clad; rough burly Uplanders; rich yeomen of the valleys, who could even afford coats of mail; traders and artisans from the small young towns—a host of many thousands, fighting on foot, each shire under its own chiefs and banners. They lived off the country, slaughtering cattle and sheep and pigs, looting barns and cribs and homes, plundering and burning with more glee than malice. When the Jutes, little different from themselves, made a stand, they formed a ragged wedge and rolled down hallooing. A few oxcarts carried their badly wounded, but these seldom lived many days.
    There was no chance to call a Thing at Viborg, because the Danes fought stoutly there and, when beaten, had to be pursued. Nevertheless, Harald was well pleased at how swiftly the land was overrun and the chiefs made submission. In battle, he took the right wing with the Southern levies, Einar the Northerners on the left, while Magnus had the tip of the wedge: the "swine-fylking" which Odhinn himself had taught to men. There was no denying that the young king fought well and cheerily.
    Toward fall, when the heath was a sudden purple glory of bloom, scouts brought word that Svein Estridhsson was raising a host among the islanders. Harald had to agree it was best to go meet him now. The ships had been left with skeleton crews, to round the Skaw and come down the Little Belt; now the Norsemen embarked and sailed for Sealand.
    They landed in the South, where the country was rich and green, long ago cleared of forest, and went up through it toward Roskilde. Emptiness met them, folk had fled, the garths and hamlets stood open with a few unlatched doors creaking drearily in the wind. It was ghostly, this walking through miles where only the ravens spoke. Overhead reached Danish sky, dizzily far above that low wet land; smoke of burning farmsteads stained the horizon, and the stone tombs of a forgotten people brooded in murmuring grass.
    One night Magnus woke with a small shriek, struggling against the leather of his bag. Einar Thambaskelfir lay nearby, and crept out to see what the matter was. The light nights were past; darkess lay over the world with stars glinting steely in heaven. A damp wind gusted from the marshes and somewhere an owl hooted.
    "What's awry, my lord?" Gently, he laid a callused hand on Magnus's forehead and felt sweat.
    "I ... a dream." The king shook his head as if to clear it. "I dreamt I saw my father St. Olaf again."
    Einar crossed himself. "You've seen that erenow, at Hlyrskog Heath, and there he spaed victory for you."
    "Yes, but this time—" Magnus sat up, wildness in his voice. "There was something horrible about it. Yet he spoke in a friendly way, though I thought he was saddened. He asked me if I chose to follow him, or to become the mightiest of kings and have long life but to ... to commit a sin so great that I would late or never atone for it."
    Einar shuddered. The night was chill around him. "And what did you choose, my lord?"
    "I thought I asked him to choose for me what seemed best. And he said I should follow him. Then I awoke."
    "It may be a lucky sign," said Einar. "If he was testing you—"
    "I had not thought of death before." Magnus's teeth rattled in his