Some said that it was of no use, but then Havelok
answered that even so it was good to send a challenge
to him.
“For the sake of peace we will do this, though
I would rather meet him in open fight, for I have
my father to avenge.”
Now I rose up and said, “Let me go and speak
with him, taking Withelm as my counsellor. For
I know all the story, and that will make him sure
that he has the right man to fight against. I
will speak with him in open hall, and more than he
shall learn how he thought to slay Havelok.”
All thought that this was good, and I was to go at
once. It was but a few hours’ ride, as
has been said, to his town, and the matter was as
well done with.
So they gave me a guard of twenty of the jarl’s
courtmen, and in half an hour I was riding northward
on my errand. And to say the truth I did not
know if it was certain that I should come back, for
Hodulf was hardly to be trusted.
I did wait to break my fast, and that was all, for
I had no mind to spend the night on the road back
from the talk that I should have had; but though I
wasted so little time, the people were already beginning
to prepare for rejoicing in their own way with games
of all sorts and with feasting in the open. I
saw, as we rode down the street, the piles of firewood
that were to roast oxen whole, and near them were the
butts that held ale for all comers. There were
men who set up the marks for the archers, and others
who staked out the rings for the wrestling and sword
play. And as we left the town we met two men who
led a great brown bear by a ring in his nose, for
the baiting. I was sorry for the poor beast,
but the men called him “Hodulf,” already,
and I thought that a good sign in its way.
Another good sign, and that one which could not be
mistaken, was to see the warriors coming in by twos
and threes as the news reached them. They were
dotted along the roads from all quarters, and across
the heaths we saw the flash of the arms of more.
And ever as they met us they hailed us with, “What
cheer, comrades? Is the news true? Is Havelok
come to his own?” and the like, and they would
hurry on, rejoicing in the answer that they had.
But I will say that presently, when we passed a stretch
of wild moor where we saw no man, the same was going
on towards the town of Hodulf; for if the news came
to a village, some would be for the king that was,
and other and older men for the king that might be.
Yet all asked that question; and more than once, when
they heard the reply, there would be a halt and a
talk, and then the men would turn and cast in their
lot with the son of Gunnar, hastening to him with
more eager steps than had taken them to Hodulf.
