CONTENTS

	PAGE
The Sweeping of the Hall	1
An Incident	37
Where the Wolves dance	61
The Sacrilege	99
The Story of the Oar-Captain	115
The Last Voyage	145

THE SWEEPING OF THE HALL:[1]
AN OLD DANISH TRAGEDY[2]

And now this is the story of Witlaf the[3]harper, that he told in the great hall ofGorm, the king of all Denmark, tencenturies ago, waving his handless armsin the flickering glow of the firelight.

I tell the tale of Snorē, the lord ofthe north of the island of Zeeland, yearsago; and of how he swept his hall asthe day broke.

First, as to his birth. Men say that theheavens were darkened, and that tumultuousclouds swept low over the battlements,and that voices were heard,meaningless, in the air. I do not know—wondersare kind to great names whenthey have been memories a little time.

But this much is true, that we in thehall of the castle were told by a white-facedwoman, just as the sun set—I rememberhow red its light fell on therush-covered floor, and how the woman[4]leaned half through the door and toldus, holding the curtain—that the childwas born, and was strong, and a man;but that the mother was dead, and thatthe Lord Sigmund was with her.

That night in the hall, by the light ofthe fire, as we men were talking inwhispers, and telling kind deeds of ourlady (for she was ever about in thecottages, and she and her women madesoft-sewed clothes for all the men of theship-crew), came, from behind the curtainthat is to my lady’s chambers, a long,low wail of a child, strong and insistent,and then a man’s tread for a few paces,and then silence again, save for themen’s whisperings and the sound of thesqueaking of their leather-belts as theymoved, and the gentle rubbing of thewooden shields on the walls as the windblew through under the rafters.

And afterwards, when the fire burnedlow, the men departed for their bedsand left the hall empty, and then I alsowent, because I did not like the shadows,but to the battlements, not to my sleep,for I felt that this night meant something,[5]and I was not yet enough settledin my mind to lie and think in the da

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