Erling the Bold | Page 5

for, instead of using the ordinary single-hand
hammer with which other men were wont to bend the glowing metal to
their will, he wielded the great forehammer, and did it as easily, too,
with his right arm as if it had been but a wooden mallet. The mass of
metal at which he wrought was thick and unyielding, but under his
heavy blows it began to assume the form of an axe--a fact which Hilda
noticed with a somewhat saddened brow. Erling's long hair, rolling as it
did down his shoulders, frequently straggled over his face and
interfered slightly with his vision, whereupon he shook it back with an
impatient toss, as a lion might shake his mane, while he toiled with
violent energy at his work. To look at him, one might suppose that
Vulcan himself had condescended to visit the abodes of men, and work
in a terrestrial smithy!
During one of the tosses with which he threw back his hair, Erling
chanced to raise his eyes, which instantly fell upon Hilda. A glad smile
beamed on his flushed face, and he let the hammer fall with a ringing
clatter on the anvil, exclaiming:
"Ha! good morrow to thee, Hilda! Thou comest with stealthy tread, like
the midnight marauder. What news? Does all go well at Ulfstede? But
why so sad, Hilda? Thy countenance is not wont to quarrel with the
mountain air."
"Truly, no!" replied the girl, smiling, "mountain air likes me well. If my
looks are sadder than usual, it is because of the form of the weapon
thou art fashioning."

"The weapon!" exclaimed Erling, as he raised the handle of the
hammer, and, resting his arms on it, gazed at his visitor in some
surprise. "It is but an axe--a simple axe, perchance a trifle heavier than
other axes because it suits my arm better, and I have a weakness that
way. What ails thee at a battle-axe, Hilda?"
"I quarrel not with the axe, Erling, but it reminds me of thy love of
fighting, and I grieve for that. Why art thou so fond of war?"
"Fond of war!" echoed the youth. "Now, out upon thee, Hilda! what
were a man fit for if he could not fight?"
"Nay, I question not thine ability to fight, but I grieve to see thy love
for fighting."
"Truly there seems to me a close relationship between the love of war
and the ability to fight," returned the youth. "But to be plain with thee: I
do not love war so much as ye think. Yet I utter this in thine ear, for I
would not that the blades of the valley knew it, lest they might presume
upon it, and I should have to prove my ability-- despite my want of
love--upon some of their carcasses."
"I wish there were no such thing as war," said Hilda with a sigh.
Erling knitted his brows and gazed into the smithy fire as if he were
engaged in pondering some knotty point. "Well, I'm not sure," said he
slowly, and descending to a graver tone of address--"I'm not sure that I
can go quite so far as that. If we had no war at all, perchance our
swords might rust, and our skill, for want of practice, might fail us in
the hour of need. Besides, how could men in that case hope to dwell
with Odin in Valhalla's bright and merry halls? But I agree with thee in
wishing that we had less of war and more of peace at home."
"I fear," said Hilda, "we seem likely to have more of war and less of
peace than usual, if rumours be true. Have you heard that Danish
vikings have been seen among the islands?"
"Aye, truly, I have heard of them, and it is that which has sent me to the

smithy this morning to hasten forward my battle-axe; for I love not too
light a weapon. You see, Hilda, when it has not weight one must
sometimes repeat the blow; especially if the mail be strong. But with a
heavy axe and a stout arm there is no need for that. I had begun this
weapon," continued the youth, as if he were musing aloud rather than
speaking to his companion, "with intent to try its metal on the head of
the King; but I fear me it will be necessary to use it in cracking a
viking's headpiece before it cleaves a royal crown."
"The King!" exclaimed Hilda, with a look of surprise, not unmingled
with terror, "Erling, has ambition led thee to this?"
"Not so; but self-preservation urges me to it."
The maiden paused a few seconds, ere she replied in a meditative
voice--"The old man who came among us a year ago, and who