Erling the Bold | Page 4

their children the chances of family annihilation were lessened, and the
probability that some members might be left alive to take revenge was
greatly increased.
Hilda and Ada were warmly attached. Having been brought up together,
they loved each other as sisters--all the more, perhaps, that in character
they were somewhat opposed. Hilda was grave, thoughtful, almost
pensive. Ada was full of vivacity and mirth, fond of fun, and by no
means averse to a little of what she styled harmless mischief.
Now there was a man in Horlingdal called Glumm, surnamed the Gruff,
who loved Ada fervently. He was a stout, handsome man, of ruddy
complexion, and second only to Erling in personal strength and
prowess. But by nature he was morose and gloomy. Nothing worse,
however, could be said of him. In other respects he was esteemed a
brave, excellent man. Glumm was too proud to show his love to Ada
very plainly; but she had wit enough to discover it, though no one else
did, and she resolved to punish him for his pride by keeping him in
suspense.
Horlingdal, where Ulf and Haldor and their families dwelt was, like
nearly all the vales on the west of Norway, hemmed in by steep
mountains of great height, which were covered with dark pines and
birch trees. To the level pastures high up on mountain tops the
inhabitants were wont to send their cattle to feed in summer--the small
crops of hay in the valleys being carefully gathered and housed for
winter use.
Every morning, before the birds began to twitter, Hilda set out, with her
pail and her wooden box, to climb the mountain to the upland dairy or

"saeter", and fetch the milk and butter required by the family during the
day. Although the maid was of noble birth--Ulf claiming descent from
one of those who are said to have come over with Odin and his twelve
godars or priests from Asia--this was not deemed an inappropriate
occupation. Among the Norsemen labour was the lot of high and low.
He was esteemed the best man who could fight most valiantly in battle
and labour most actively in the field or with the tools of the smith and
carpenter. Ulf of Romsdal, although styled king in virtue of his descent,
was not too proud, in the busy summertime, to throw off his coat and
toss the hay in his own fields in the midst of his thralls [slaves taken in
war] and house-carles. Neither he, nor Haldor, nor any of the small
kings, although they were the chief men of the districts in which they
resided, thought it beneath their dignity to forge their own spearheads
and anchors, or to mend their own doors. As it was with the men, so
was it with the women. Hilda the Sunbeam was not despised because
she climbed the mountainside to fetch milk and butter for the family.
One morning, in returning from the fell, Hilda heard the loud clatter of
the anvil at Haldorstede. Having learned that morning that Danish
vikings had been seen prowling among the islands near the fiord, she
turned aside to enquire the news.
Haldorstede lay about a mile up the valley, and Hilda passed it every
morning on her way to and from the saeter. Ulfstede lay near the shore
of the fiord. Turning into the smithy, she found Erling busily engaged
in hammering a huge mass of stubborn red-hot metal. So intent was the
young man on his occupation that he failed to observe the entrance of
his fair visitor, who set down her milk pail, and stood for a few minutes
with her hands folded and her eyes fixed demurely on her lover.
Erling had thrown off his jerkin and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt of
coarse homespun fabric, in order to give his thick muscular arms
unimpeded play in wielding the hammer and turning the mass of
glowing metal on the anvil. He wore woollen breeches and hose, both
of which had been fashioned by the fingers of his buxom mother,
Herfrida. A pair of neatly formed shoes of untanned hide--his own
workmanship--protected his feet, and his waist was encircled by a

broad leathern girdle, from one side of which depended a short
hunting-knife, and from the other a flap, with a slit in it, to support his
sword. The latter weapon--a heavy double-edged blade--stood leaning
against the forge chimney, along with a huge battle-axe, within reach of
his hand. The collar of his shirt was thrown well back, exposing to
view a neck and chest whose muscles denoted extraordinary power, and
the whiteness of which contrasted strikingly with the ruddy hue of his
deeply bronzed countenance.
The young giant appeared to take pleasure in the exercise of his
superabundant strength,