Havelok the Dane: A Legend of Old Grimsby and Lincoln

It seemed only the other day that I had passed over the well-known ways, and I showed Withelm the hollow where Grim had met with the king and taken his precious burden from him....

Now after I had gone, Grim, my father, tried to bring the child round, but he could not do so; and therefore, leaving him near the fire, he went softly to call Leva, my mother,...

In the early morning Alsi set his men in order in the valley, and seemed to wait for us to come down to him, for it was of no use to try to take the strong camp which sheltered...

Maybe it was about an hour before midnight when the first waking came to any of us, and then it was Biorn himself who was roused by footsteps that stayed at the doorway itself,...

Therefore for all these years my father told none of us the secret of Havelok’s birth; and when Arngeir married my sister Solva he made him take oath that he would not tell what...

Now Alsi the king went from the feast with a new and cruel thought in his mind under the smiling face that he wore, and long he sat in his own chamber, chin on hand and eyes far...

Long spoke Withelm and the priest David together, until it was time for them to seek the palace; and when they came there, they spoke to Mord also. Then David thought it was wel...

For that night we went to the house of the old dame with whom my father and I were wont to lodge when we came to the market, and she took us in willingly, though she could make...

Now I have to tell of a strange thing that happened in the night that was just past, the first that the Lady Goldberga had spent here in Lincoln for many a year, for on that hap...

Three weeks after we came the Witan[8] began to gather, and that was a fine sight as the great nobles of Lindsey, and of the North folk of East Anglia, came day by day into the...

Now there was one thing that was in the minds of all of us, and that was the winning of Goldberga’s kingdom for her; but that was a matter which was not to be thought of yet for...

Now the folk cheered, and loudest of all honest Eglaf and his warriors. I wondered what should come next, for neither feast nor bride ale was prepared, and Berthun was looking p...

There is no need for me to tell aught of the entry of the Lady Goldberga into the town, for anyone may know how the people cheered her, and how the party were met by the Norfolk...

The gale held without much change through the night, and then with morning shifted a few points to the westward, which was nothing to complain of. The sea rose, and a few rain s...

There is no need for me to say how my arms came to me from Grimsby, and how I went to Eglaf as I had promised. I will only say that the life was pleasant enough, if idle, as a h...

Now one would like to tell of quiet days at Grimsby; but they were not to be. Three days after Havelok’s homecoming we were on the “swan’s path,” and heading for Denmark, with t...

This story is not about myself, though, because I tell of things that I have seen, my name must needs come into it now and then. The man whose deeds I would not have forgotten i...

We went quietly back to the town, and there was only one thing that I wished, and that was that Havelok had not had to tell his name twice. Ragnar was full of thanks to us for o...

While the nurse told Withelm to fetch the priest when Alsi was in the hall that evening, the housecarl came for Havelok; and much wondering, he followed the man to the king, and...

Worn out we were with that long fight, and we all had some small wounds—not much worth speaking of; and when these were seen to, we slept. Only my brother Raven waked, and he sa...

All that night, and during the morning of the next day, we sailed steadily with a fresh northwest breeze that bade fair to strengthen by-and-by. If it held, we should see the cl...

Easily we went ashore when the tide fell, across the spits of sand that ran between the mud banks, and we climbed the low sandhill range that hid the land from us, and saw the p...

My father came home heavy and anxious enough, for he did not know how things would go under this new king, though he had promised peace to all men who would own him. We in our p...

Now there was feasting enough, and somewhere they found at a thane’s house a great tent, and they set that up, so that Havelok and Goldberga might have their own court round the...

If any excuse is needed for recasting the ancient legend of Grim the fisher and his foster-son Havelok the Dane, it may be found in the fascination of the story itself, which ma...