Erling the Bold | Page 8

it seemed to me that the clouds are gathering somewhat too thickly
over the dale for comfort or peace to remain long with us."
As the young man and maiden wended their way down the rocky path
that skirted the foaming Horlingdal river, Hilda assumed a more serious
tone, and sought to convince her companion of the impropriety of being
too fond of fighting, in which attempt, as might be supposed, she was
not very successful.
"Why, Hilda," said the youth, at the close of a speech in which his fair

companion endeavoured to point out the extreme sinfulness of viking
cruises in particular, "it is, as thou sayest, unjust to take from another
that which belongs to him if he be our friend; but if he is our enemy,
and the enemy of our country, that alters the case. Did not the great
Odin himself go on viking cruise and seize what prey he chose?"
Erling said this with the air of a man who deemed his remark
unanswerable.
"I know not," rejoined Hilda. "There seems to me much mystery in our
thoughts about the gods. I have heard it said that there is no such god as
Odin."
The maiden uttered this in a subdued voice, and her cheek paled a little
as she glanced up at Erling's countenance. The youth gazed at her with
an expression of extreme surprise, and for a few minutes they walked
slowly forward without speaking.
There was reason for this silence on both sides. Hilda was naturally of a
simple and trustful nature. She had been brought up in the religion of
her fathers, and had listened with awe and with deep interest on many a
long winter night to the wild legends with which the scalds, or poets of
the period, were wont to beguile the evening hours in her father's
mansion; but about a year before the time of which we write, an aged
stranger had come from the south, and taken up his abode in the valley,
in a secluded and dilapidated hut, in which he was suffered to dwell
unmolested by its owner, Haldor the Fierce; whose fierceness, by the
way, was never exhibited except in time of war and in the heat of
battle!
With this hermit Hilda had held frequent converse, and had listened
with horror, but with a species of fascination which she could not resist,
to his calm and unanswerable reasoning on the fallacy of the religion of
Odin, and on the truth of that of Jesus Christ. At first she resolved to fly
from the old man, as a dangerous enemy, who sought to seduce her
from the paths of rectitude; but when she looked at his grave, sad face,
and listened to the gentle and--she knew not why--persuasive tones of
his voice, she changed her mind, and resolved to hear what he had to

say. Without being convinced of the truth of the new religion--of which
she had heard rumours from the roving vikings who frequented
Horlingdal--she was much shaken in regard to the truth of her own, and
now, for the first time, she had ventured to hint to a human being what
was passing in her mind.
At this period Christianity had not penetrated into Norway, but an
occasional wanderer or hermit had found his way thither from time to
time to surprise the inhabitants with his new doctrines, and then,
perchance, to perish as a warlock because of them. Erling had heard of
this old man, and regarded him with no favour, for in his sea rovings he
had met with so-called Christians, whose conduct had not prepossessed
him in their favour. As for their creed, he knew nothing whatever about
it.
His mind, however, was of that bold, straightforward, self-reliant, and
meditative cast, which happily has existed in all ages and in all climes,
and which, in civilised lands, usually brings a man to honour and power,
while in barbarous countries and ages, if not associated with extreme
caution and reticence, it is apt to bring its possessor into trouble.
It was with astonishment that Erling heard sentiments which had long
been harboured in his own mind drop from the lips of one whose
natural character he knew to be the reverse of sceptical in matters of
faith, or speculative in matters of opinion. Instead of making a direct
reply to Hilda's remark, he said, after a pause:
"Hilda, I have my doubts of the old man Christian; men say he is a
warlock, and I partly believe them, for it is only such who shun the
company of their fellows. I would caution thee against him. He
believes not in Odin or Thor, which is matter of consideration mainly
to himself, but methinks he holdeth fellowship with Nikke, [Satan,