Stoddard William Osborn
Ulric the Jarl: A Story of the Penitent Thief

CHAPTER XXII.
The Tomb Song of Sigurd

The broken portal of the old tower in Esdraelon was as the entrance to a dark cavern, and from it came out a wide-winged owl while Ben Ezra was kindling his flame. Away into the darkness fled the bird of night hooting loudly, and the men said to one another:

"We like not these birds. They are of evil omen. They are friendly with bad spirits and the demons have them for their companions."

Ulric the Jarl stood waiting, and he cared not for the owl, but when a torch was handed to him by the Jew he strode forward, looking warily around him as he went, and others followed him closely.

Naught was there to be seen but bare walls of stone and a flight of stone steps that were builded spirally, leading upward.

"O jarl!" suddenly exclaimed Tostig the Red, going past him, sword in hand, "here, also, are other steps. Look! They go down into the under world. Beneath this tower might be vaults and a prison."

"Such places are ever the abode of the evil spirits," said Ben Ezra. "Go not down this at first. It is likely there have been many men slain here, for this tower hath been a place of defense since the old time. It was builded by the Philistines, but the stonework hath been repaired by the kings of the nations who came after them."

Easy it was to obtain enough of fuel for a bright fire upon the stone floor, and the Saxons loved the light of its blaze, although little need was for warmth. There was a well near by, with a bucket for bringing up water and a trough for beasts to drink from. They who planned the tower had provided wisely, but Ben Ezra said of the deep well:

"Many are the demons which dwell in old wells. They entice men to fall in, and they themselves come out to deal evilly with lone wayfarers. Therefore some who encamp by the wells are heard of no more. Only the very learned of the rabbis know how to cast them out. Let us hope that this fountain hath been purified."

"The water is good," said Knud the Bear, "and I was thirsty. The gods make wells."

They ate and drank, and then Ulric the Jarl knew that it was his duty to further explore the tower. He first climbed the stone stairway to the upper part. Here was no roof, and the walls were notched well for bowmen. There was a place, also, for the burning of a beacon light.

"It is a strong tower," said the jarl. "A few men might keep it against many if the portal had a stout gate with arrow holes. We are garrison enough. I will go down."

The stars above were bright, but there was no moon, and nothing could he discern of the plain or of the mountains. He descended the stairway and went to the downward steps, taking a larger torch but asking no company.

"O jarl," said Sigurd, "have a care for thyself. Thou knowest not who may be the god of this place."

"Odin!" laughed Ulric. "Whoever he may be he hath not hindered our coming in. I will see what is below."

None followed him but Tostig the Red, who was ever curious and who had no fear of demons, thinking them of no account.

"O jarl," he said, at the bottom of the steps, "hold up thy torch. This winding stairway hath taken us down two fathoms or more. There is a bad smell. I like it not. I hear something that moveth."

"Help me! For the sake of Jehovah the Blessed!" gasped a human voice not far away. "I perish with thirst. They bound me and left me here to die."

He spoke in the old Hebrew tongue, not unlike the tongue which was commonly spoken in that land, and Ulric answered:

"Who art thou?"

"I am Abbas, the merchant, of Jerusalem," responded the voice. "Water! Water! They were robbers from Mount Gilboa. I was rash, for I had little treasure with me. They got but my ass and a bag of denarii, and they were wroth to have so little. This was their hiding place, but they are gone out for prey."

Over him stood Ulric, holding the torch, while Tostig with his knife cut the hempen fetters and lifted Abbas to his feet. He was naked save a torn tunic, but he did not seem to be wounded. The Saxons above had heard, and a horn of water was brought down by Sigurd, the son of Thorolf, for Ben Ezra was outside of the tower. Abbas drank, gaining strength, and went up the stairway with little help, while Tostig searched that place in vain for anything worth the taking.

"They take their spoils elsewhere," he muttered, "but we will care little for that if Odin hath sent us the slaying of them. I would be glad to kill some robbers."

"Men in Galilee owed me money for merchandise," explained Abbas as he ate. "I came to obtain it, thinking to return in strong company. The Romans make the highways safe to all, and I had no fear. But this band numbereth a score. I think they will return before the morning."

"Put out the fire!" commanded the jarl. "Every man to his spear and shield. We will not let one of them escape. It is evil to leave a man to die of thirst instead of giving him the sword."

"The Romans will thank thee well, O chief of the gladiators," said Abbas. "They have striven to destroy these robbers of Gilboa, but if these are pressed hardly, they flee across the Jordan. They are from the wilderness."

Ben Ezra heard standing in the doorway, and he already knew all. To Ulric he said in the North tongue:

"Beware whom thou slayest. Thou art but a gladiator in this tower. Thou art not here a jarl, to do as thou wilt."

"Ever am I a son of Odin," said Ulric. "I have sold my sword to no man. Who shall stay me from slaying? I will spare not one."

"If thou slayest one, slay all," said Ben Ezra. "There is danger in the enmity of the men of the wilderness. They forget not, and the next of kin may find thee."

"Not if he be wise," said Ulric, but he bade his men lie down and rest, keeping watches.

Then spoke to him the Jew Abbas:

"I will tell thee a thing. Me they may have thought to ransom. I know not. But they will be here at the dawn to lie in wait for a company that cometh from Tiberias with much merchandise. Thou mayest be sure that, if thou slayest them not, then thou and all of thine are to be slain."

"That I may well believe," said the jarl, "but they who slay Saxons may count their men and we will count how many remain."

"So be it," said Abbas. "Thou art a tall one. But thou, Ben Ezra, come hither and commune with me."

So went they apart and they talked much together in the old Hebrew tongue, and it seemed to the jarl that these two Jews might be of kin to each other, so many names did they speak of men and of women and of places.

"I will trust Ben Ezra," he thought, "but of this Abbas I shall know more at another time. I would see the sun upon his face before I can read its meaning."

Then came around him and Sigurd all the other Saxons asking curiously concerning all these things which had taken place. They asked about the tower and the plain and the mountains until they were satisfied.

"Thou art a prudent jarl," said Tostig the Red, "but I would rather fight lions than to be hidden away among the hills like a wolf. Are there not cities to be seen, and wonderful places? I like not deserts."

"We came out to see the world," said Knud the Bear. "O jarl, there might be excellent fighting if we go in the right direction."

"That would please me also," said Wulf the Skater, "and we may begin with these robbers if they are to come upon us. They may be swordsmen."

Other of the vikings spoke strongly, as became warriors, and Ulric saw that they were in earnest. They liked not Gilboa and its caves. They had been shut up on shipboard long and they were in great wonder concerning this country of the Jews.

"Even so am I," Ulric said to them. "We will go on and see cities, as you desire. We will not be Roman soldiers, but there is no disgrace to a Northman in slaying a fighting beast or a fighting man. Only I will serve no master, even though he be a king. I am of Odin."

"We are as thou art in this matter," said the Saxons. "We will serve none save in thy company, but we pray thee lead us into a better place than this tower or a desert."

Now, also, some remembered to speak again of Lysias, the Greek, wondering whether or not he had escaped and where he might be. "Ought we not rather to have slain him?" they said. "Who knoweth what report he may send out concerning us?"

"He will have good care for his own life in that matter," said the jarl. "He will be secret for his own sake. Do ye not also remember that he is a good bowman?"

"I like him for his archery," said Tostig the Red. "I trust that his gods may be with him to help him slay more Romans."

"That seemeth not to be for us," said Knud the Bear. "We are to be friends with them for a season. But I would see a tiger if I may, and also some of these great elephants, which cause me to think of a whale walking upon the land."

"Thou wilt see them at Tiberias if thou goest there," said Ben Ezra; "but be careful of thy speech, for thou art now in a Roman land and thou art but one man. Thou canst not fight a cohort."

"A warrior may be prudent without dishonor," responded Knud. "I like the Romans better, now I have killed so many of them. They are good fighters and they die where they stand, not running away."

So said other of the Saxons, and all slept but the watchers, and the night passed.

It was in the dull hour before the sun's rising that Abbas, the Jew, came to the jarl and touched him, saying:

"Arise, O captain of the Saxons. The sentinel at the roadside needeth thee."

"Stir up the men," spoke Ulric to Sigurd, the son of Thorolf, "but bid them keep in the tower. Come thou unto me at the road."

So went he out and stood by the sentinel, and with them were Ben Ezra and Abbas.

"O jarl," said Wulf the Skater, "I might not leave my post, but I have slain this man that lieth here. What he is I know not, but he crept near me stealthily and I speared him. It was a cast in the dark. He weareth a turban."

"A robber from beyond Jordan," said Abbas stooping. "He is a bowman. Therefore there are others with him. What sayest thou, captain of the Saxons?"

"Let no man speak loudly," said Ulric. "Bring no light. I hear horses. Be ready. Slay all who come, but give no warning."

So did Sigurd, the son of Thorolf, give direction in the tower, and the men were prudent, waiting for what might come. But Sigurd now stood by Ulric and seemed like a giant in the gloom. By him stood another Saxon quickly, and he was lifting his shield when something smote it, making it ring.

"An arrow," he said, "sent strongly. A dozen men, O jarl!"

"Smitten am I!" shouted Sigurd, but he sprang forward swinging his pole ax.

Upon him darkly, suddenly, pressed hard a swarm of men, and they were as locusts crushed by the foot as his ax fell on them.

Ulric stood fast for a moment, but forward with Sigurd went Wulf the Skater full of war wrath. More than one arrow rattled on the shield of the jarl, but he had cast his spear and he was now swinging the long, straight sword of Annibaal, the Carthaginian, for men were upon him and he mowed them as rushes.

"Back to the tower, Ben Ezra!" exclaimed Abbas.

Past Abbas and Ben Ezra charged four Saxons with Knud the Bear; but the two Jews went back to the tower, for they were cunning and they willed not to be discovered by these robbers whose vengeance is forever.

Men half armored, moderate in stature, not expecting great resistance, were without hope in such a fray as this. They were there to be slaughtered, but at a little distance were others who were on horseback. From among these rode one a little nearer, while the others withheld their archery for fear of hitting their own men.

"O Abbas, of Jerusalem!" he shouted. "Would we had slain thee at once! Thou hast betrayed us to the Romans. I will yet have revenge upon thee and upon thy son. Thou art the father of that Bar Abbas that smote me and mine beyond Machærus. May the Romans crucify him!"

Abbas at the tower heard well, but he replied not, and the Saxons were slaying fast the robbers who were on foot. Not one of them escaped, so swiftly fell the steel of the strong ones from the Northland.

Again shouted the man, the robber chief on horseback, shouting to his footmen, but no voice went back to him. Only a spear thrown by Knud the Bear went through him from breast to back and Ulric blew a blast upon his war horn, for he heard a clash of swords behind him.

"It is naught!" shouted Tostig the Red, from the doorway. "We were three and with us were the two Jews. Some thieves who came here are dead, dying easily. Fight on."

Loud were the shouts of wrath among the horsemen, and one was interpreted by Abbas to Ulric:

"He saith 'a Roman garrison is in the tower.' No robber will venture nearer."

"Woe to thee, Abbas!" came fiercely out of the gloom. "Woe to thee and thine! I curse thee by my gods for ever and ever!"

No word spoke Abbas, but the horsemen wheeled and rode away swiftly, while Ulric stooped over one who lay upon the ground.

"O son of Thorolf!" he exclaimed, "I would thou hadst not been smitten."

"That am I," said Sigurd. "The valkyrias have not passed me by. It was the arrow in the dark, and the bowman was near and it pierced my mail."

"Thou didst fight well, being smitten," said Ulric, "for thou art of the heroes."

"Burn me not," said Sigurd, "but bury me by this tower, in my armor, laying my weapons with me. I may need them when I awake among the gods. I know not much of these matters, but I have great curiosity."

"Aye," said Ulric, "and if thou seest Hilda of the hundred years, thou mayest tell her where I am. Speak thou also to my father, to Brander the Brave, the sea king. Tell him I go on to Asgard, and that I have seen one of the gods in this land and that I seek to see him again."

"I also saw him there in the road," said Sigurd. "I think him one of them by his face and by the word of the evil spirits. If thou meetest him again, greet him for me. Give me thy hand, Ulric the Jarl! The valkyrias! Odin!"

Half sprang to his feet the mighty son of Thorolf and he uttered a great cry. Then crashing heavily down he fell prostrate, his shield and his mail clanging. Silently around him stood the Saxons, and one of them said:

"O jarl, so fall we, one by one. I like it not. We shall never again see the Northland. The gods are against us!"

"He died not in his bed," said Knud the Bear. "It is well with him, Jarl Ulric."

"So die I!" exclaimed Wulf the Skater. "Come! Let us dig, for the ravens must not whet their beaks on the bones of the hero."

Therefore, with knives and spearheads and flat stones the Saxons dug a deep hollow in the earth, and into it the sun looked down when he was risen.

"It will do," said Ulric; "but now we will eat and drink. We have slain eighteen of these robbers. I would we had slain them all."

Many coins had been found upon the dead, especially upon him who had been mounted, and all these the jarl divided among the men, Ben Ezra counting for him their value.

"Keep thou some," said Knud the Bear.

"Not so," replied Ulric. "I have enough. I like not too many coins. Ye may need them to buy with. What have I to do with such things?"

"Thou art jarl," reasoned Knud. "If thou take them not now we will yet compel thee. Thou canst not do altogether as thou wilt. We think thou wilt need many coins. They are the custom of this land."

"So be it," said Ulric. "I am learning much about them. But I would rather be rich in cattle and in horses. I have all the lands of Brander. I think I will take some coins with me when I go, to keep them in a bag like old Oswald, the harper."

"We will pay ours here, I think," said Knud. "But let the Jew make thy bargains for thee; for the sons of Odin are not good merchants."

Ben Ezra spoke then, agreeing well with Knud, but the heart of Ulric was heavy because of Sigurd, for the son of Thorolf had kept good faith with him, and the men who are true to friends are the men who are most missed when the valkyrias come to them.

There were eating and drinking and there was much curious examination of the weapons and clothing and armor of the robbers from beyond Jordan. Ben Ezra and Abbas answered all questions, but they said, also, that there must be no going away from the tower until a messenger should arrive from Julius or from some other Roman officer.

Even while he was saying this to Ulric there was heard from the southward along the highway the sound of a trumpet.

"Whoever cometh," said Ben Ezra, "let me have first speech with him. In slaying these who lie here we have been under the orders of Julius, the centurion, and our official responsibility is to him; but he referreth us to Caius, of the household of the procurator at Jerusalem. We have need of cunning."

The sun was high now, and Esdraelon was exceedingly beautiful between its mountains. It was a plain of brown and green under blue heavens, a place where the gods might walk; but Ulric, the son of Brander, listened to the trumpet and looked from the bodies of the dead to the Saxons, who stood in line on guard at the roadside.

"This is the valley of battles," he said, aloud. "O Jew, I will heed thee. Knowest thou anything of this Julius?"

"Not of myself," said Ben Ezra, "but Abbas knoweth of him that he is said to be a subtle serpent, winning much money on wagers, and that he is cruel."

"Mark thou this, then," said Ulric. "I saw in his face a thing that I read better now that we have lost a brave swordsman. Deal thou carefully with these who come. I like not this place where too many have fallen, and where thou sayest the multitudes are to perish in the latter days."

Dark was the brow of the young jarl, and he went and stood by the open tomb and by the body of Sigurd, the son of Thorolf.

Out stepped Ben Ezra into the highway, and he stood there making due obeisance and uttering a greeting, when a Roman officer wearing a white cloak with a purple border drew rein before him.

"I am Caius, of Thessalonica," said the Roman. "Who art thou and who are these?"

"If thou art Caius, thou art well arrived," said Ben Ezra. "Thy swordsmen rested here at the command of Julius, the centurion, and I have somewhat to tell – "

"These, then, were hired for me by that traitor Hyles?" suddenly exclaimed Caius, in wrath. "And he sent them on to be murdered by Julius? Thou knowest not that Hyles was slain in Samaria yesterday? Tell all!"

Rapidly spoke the Jew, while other horsemen and four chariots halted near in the highway.

Caius dismounted and walked on to where Ulric stood, and the jarl greeted him, pointing down at Sigurd.

"So! I have lost a good sword by this Julius," exclaimed Caius. "He meant me to lose all that he might win the games. Are any more of thy men hurt?"

"None," said Ulric in Latin, "but this was a chief, a hero, a leader of men. Him we must bury before we march."

"I, too, am a soldier!" shouted Caius. "He was a brave man! Bury him according to thy custom. Thinkest thou I am a dog? I, too, will stand by. Brave men grow scarce. I would that Cæsar had ten legions of such as thou art. The new levies are dwarfs!"

Out went the hand of Ulric freely, for the man's face had scars on it and he was of good stature.

"I will go with thee," he said. "I am Ulric the Jarl, of the sons of Odin. It was promised me that I should have a lion to slay and that I should see Jerusalem. Wilt thou keep faith with me?"

"No!" said Caius. "I will give thee not to a lion; but thou shalt go where thou wilt, and then thou shalt see Rome and fight before Cæsar. Wait till thou hast seen this lion prepared for thy destruction. I am not thine enemy to betray thee to ruin."

"I will wait," said Ulric, but he turned and beckoned to the Saxons.

All came and they took up the body of Sigurd, laying it in the deep tomb.

"Put in stones and earth," said Ulric; but Caius, of Thessalonica, stepped forward and threw in the first handful.

"Cunning is he," whispered Abbas to Ben Ezra. "He knoweth men. He is winning these Saxons for himself. There are no men more cunning than the Romans."

Slowly filled they the tomb, but Ulric stood at the head, looking down, and he said aloud: "Who shall sing the tomb song of Sigurd, the son of Thorolf?"

"Thou, O jarl," said Knud the Bear. "We have no harp nor any saga woman. Sing thou to the hero and to the gods."

Song came upon the soul of Ulric and his lips opened – and it was as if Hilda were with him, for he sang wonderfully. There were women in the chariots and they sat listening to the musical voice of the jarl. The legionaries on the horses sat like statues. The Saxons waited, holding each his war horn in his hand, as did the jarl, until the tomb was filled, and they laid a broad stone thereon from a ruined part of the tower.

Ulric lifted his war horn and all the rest did likewise, answering his blast and then shouting. He blew again and he cried out:

"O Sigurd, son of Thorolf, the sea king, I have done as thou didst bid me. Bear thou my messages to the dead. Tell them I come. Keep thou a place for me in Valhalla, in the day when the valkyrias come for me."

"Thou hast bidden farewell to thy comrade," said Caius, frankly. "What doest thou with the corpses of these robbers?"

"Let the ravens and the wolves care for that matter," said Ulric. "They are not ours."

"It is well," said the Roman, for there was pride in the manner of the jarl. "Such work is for slaves, not for thee. An officer will do whatever is needful. Prepare thee to march for Tiberias. Thou wilt have good quarters, near the amphitheater. No man may molest thee, O chief of the Saxons. I like thee well, and I would thy tall comrade were living. Subtle indeed is Julius, the gambler, but he hath obtained only the slaying of robbers, and the quæstor will but laugh as at a jest."

Well pleased were all the Saxons at the respect shown to them and to their jarl, but they went and looked curiously at the chariots in the highway. They studied well the wheels and the harness, but most of all did they gaze at the charioteers.

"Now," said Knud the Bear, "I believe that which was told me, for I have seen black men. I must slay one some day that I may know the color of his blood and of his flesh. They have strange hair, also, and they wear arm rings of silver and rings in their noses and in their ears."

"Those women are like other women," thought Ulric. "Not yet have I seen her who stood by Hilda in my dreams. She is tenfold more beautiful than any of these."

Nevertheless, haste was made, and when the trumpet sounded the march the Saxons were ready for the highway; but it was after the middle of the day, and Ben Ezra had all directions for the way. On went the chariots and the horsemen, and then Ulric and his men followed, saluting first the tomb of Sigurd.