Wulnoth the Wanderer. Inman Herbert Escott
you conquer and slay me," answered Wulnoth, "that will I not know. You may be warlock or mountain troll who has stolen my shape and who uses magic against me, but Wulnoth, the son of Cerdic, you are not."
"Tarry till the morning and I will prove it," said the other. But Wulnoth answered —
"Nay, why should we tarry; by night as by day can we fight. Come, prove it now."
"I am hungry and weary, and desire to quaff from the wine horn," the other replied. "Let us do that first and fight afterwards."
"Not so," answered Wulnoth. "We will make an end of this matter, and that at once."
"Now, evil seize thee," growled the other. "For this I will surely slay thee. Yet fight, if it is in thy mind to do so."
So they gripped again, and wrestled, and strove, yet still Wulnoth could gain no victory; and as the night deepened, it seemed that the other grew the stronger, so that he cast Wulnoth to the earth and laughed and said —
"I conquer! I conquer, Wanderer, and bitter shall be the drink in which you pledge me. Now cry for mercy."
"I cry for no mercy," answered Wulnoth, speaking short and hoarse. "Come, let us make an end of this."
So there on the ground they wrestled, the stranger on top and Wulnoth beneath seeking to cast him off, and so they struggled until the sun rose; and then stronger and stronger Wulnoth seemed to grow, and weaker and weaker the stranger became, until he fell, and said —
"I can fight no more. Thou hast beaten me. Yet thou wouldst not have done this save for that shadow."
He pointed, as he spoke, to the earth, and Wulnoth looked and wondered; for two of the timbers of the ruined king's hall still stood, and they caught the beams of the rising sun, and upon the ground their shadows fell just where the two had struggled, and the shadows formed – a cross, the sign of the weak one whom Wulnoth had called nithing!
Then cried Wulnoth and said —
"O stranger, who didst take my name and whom I have conquered, can you tell me this riddle, for I am weary of mysteries. Whence comes it that yonder shadow made me strong and you weak?"
"'T is the sign of the mightiest and the strongest," answered the other, and at that Wulnoth laughed aloud in mockery —
"'T is the sign of one who was a nithing," he said; "and yet, if it made me strong, why did it not make thee strong also?"
"Thou wouldst not understand even if I told thee, Wanderer," was the reply. And Wulnoth spoke again —
"Now confess that thou didst lie when thou didst take my name." But the other replied —
"I lied not, for of a surety I am Wulnoth, Cerdic's son!"
"Now this passes all!" cried Wulnoth. "Then who may I be, if thou art Wulnoth?"
"The Wanderer, and thou shalt wander until thy task is done. Yet remember that again thou hast rejected the Strong, and called Him the weak. Hither was I sent to meet thee and to conquer thee, and thou hast conquered me. Well for thee that thou hast conquered Wulnoth, Cerdic's son, for unless thou hadst done this, thou wouldst never have conquered others; and it was for this purpose that Wyborga the Wise sent thee to tarry with Osth the giant to learn strength."
"Thou wilt bewilder me with words," cried Wulnoth impatiently. "I tell thee that I am Wulnoth. Moreover, it was Wulnoth whom Osth did teach, and since thou ownest that he taught me, thou ownest that I am Wulnoth, and thou provest thyself false."
"I may not explain this to thee," was the answer. "Some day thou shalt understand it."
"Some day!" was Wulnoth's angry reply. "Why are all the good things promised thus? The future must be stored with them, and the now has never a one."
"The future has all golden store, Wulnoth, since so thou wilt have it. And now farewell."
"Not so fast," cried Wulnoth. "I have conquered thee, and thou art my man now."
"And truly so, and truly I shall serve thee even though thou mayst not know it. Yet beware of one thing – thou must watch me, for I may yet turn and smite thee. I tell thee, Wulnoth, that I am thy best friend and thy worst foe – weak am I and yet I am thy strength. Seek not to keep me now."
"Oh, go thy way! Thou art like all the rest, filled with riddles and dark sayings. Yet before thou dost go tell me one thing, and plainly, if it be in thee to speak to the point."
"Ask thy question," said the other. And Wulnoth went on —
"Whither must I turn to seek for Guthred son of Hardacnute, who was King of Lethra in his day – canst thou tell me that?"
"By Hungwar and by Hubba was he carried off," answered the other. "From them must you seek him. Seek the Danes, Wanderer, yet in seeking hold thy counsel, for Hungwar hath a long memory, and his face still beareth a scar of a wound made by a broken sword once in this very spot. And, moreover, the names of Cerdic, thrall of Berwulf, and of Wulnoth, the son of Cerdic, might be remembered. So keep thy counsel, and call thyself the Wanderer if thou come to the Danish sea-kings." And with that this strange man turned and hastened away, leaving Wulnoth seated there wondering, yet sore spent with his fight.
"Now, this is passing strange," Wulnoth reflected. "Yet the advice is good, for where shall I glean tidings of the Prince save from the Danes who carried him off?"
Then he paused a moment and cried out —
"Now, by my word! Who so mighty and strong as Regner Lodbrok? There is Wyborga's rede! I will seek Regner Lodbrok the Dane, and to him will I give service."
Then he rose, and lo, his eye fell upon the shadow again, and he frowned and shook his head.
"There is some dark rede in all this," he mused, "and I must try and come by its meaning. 'T is but a shadow, yet as it fell upon me I grew strong and conquered yonder strange being."
He stood pressing his feet idly into the dust and pondering, and presently his foot struck something buried in the ashes, and he stooped and put down his hand. And then he uttered a cry of joy, for he drew out a mighty sword with good handle, fashioned so that the fingers could grip it well, and with long, well-tempered blade, pointed and double-edged, which the dry ashes, piled high over it, had preserved bright and free from rust.
"By Thor, a right good weapon!" he laughed, as he swung it round, making it sing its song in the air. "A right good weapon, and how it makes the heart rejoice to feel the fingers clasp such a friend! Now I have a long road to tread, and none can say what may befall in the journey or at its close, yet the way is clear thus far – I must seek Regner Lodbrok the Danish sea-king, and from him shall I glean tidings of Guthred the Prince." And with that Wulnoth, who called himself the Wanderer, turned from the place of desolation, carrying the great sword in his hand.
Now, this is how Wulnoth wrestled with one who called himself by his name, and this is how he started to seek for Regner Lodbrok, the mightiest of all the sea-kings of Denmark.
CHAPTER VII
Of the Coming of Wulnoth to the Danish Sea-kings
For many days did Wulnoth journey southward, for though Lethra was nigh the sea, and the journey over the Westarweg was the shortest road, yet he had no boat in which to sail, and, moreover, the time of the storms was coming, and he knew that to sail alone was to seek for death.
So by land he was forced to go, and the way was long and hard, and many were the times that he felt he would abide where he was, and give up this vain search.
And strange was it that whenever these thoughts came to him, then also came the strange being who was so like himself, and he would cry to Wulnoth to wrestle with him ere he went farther, and only when Wulnoth had wrestled and conquered was he able to go on again.
Many were the adventures which he met with, and many the perils he encountered, yet, still, in spite of all, he went his way over the long, long leagues towards the southern sea, where he must perforce take ship of some kind if he wished to reach the sea-king's land on the other side of the wild Baltic, whereon the storm-king makes his dwelling-place and rides in his flying palace of lightning