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Story of the Glittering Plain; or, the land of Living Men
Morris, William
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Story of the Glittering Plain; or, the land of Living Men
Morris, William
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pubOne.info present you this new edition. First printed in the English Illustrated Magazine, Vol. VII, 1890.
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CHAPTER I: OF THOSE THREE WHO CAME TO THE HOUSE
OF THE RAVEN
Ā Ā It has been told that there was once a young man of
free kindred and whose name was Hallblithe: he was fair, strong,
and not untried in battle; he was of the House of the Raven of old
time.
Ā Ā This man loved an exceeding fair damsel called the
Hostage, who was of the House of the Rose, wherein it was right and
due that the men of the Raven should wed.
Ā Ā She loved him no less, and no man of the kindred
gainsaid their love, and they were to be wedded on Midsummer
Night.
Ā Ā But one day of early spring, when the days were yet
short and the nights long, Hallblithe sat before the porch of the
house smoothing an ash stave for his spear, and he heard the sound
of horse-hoofs drawing nigh, and he looked up and saw folk riding
toward the house, and so presently they rode through the garth
gate; and there was no man but he about the house, so he rose up
and went to meet them, and he saw that they were but three in
company: they had weapons with them, and their horses were of the
best; but they were no fellowship for a man to be afraid of; for
two of them were old and feeble, and the third was dark and sad,
and drooping of aspect: it seemed as if they had ridden far and
fast, for their spurs were bloody and their horses all a-sweat.
Ā Ā Hallblithe hailed them kindly and said: āYe are
way-worn, and maybe ye have to ride further; so light down and come
into the house, and take bite and sup, and hay and corn also for
your horses; and then if ye needs must ride on your way, depart
when ye are rested; or else if ye may, then abide here night-long,
and go your ways to-morrow, and meantime that which is ours shall
be yours, and all shall be free to you. ā
Ā Ā Then spake the oldest of the elders in a high piping
voice and said: āYoung man, we thank thee; but though the days of
the springtide are waxing, the hours of our lives are waning; nor
may we abide unless thou canst truly tell us that this is the Land
of the Glittering Plain: and if that be so, then delay not, lead us
to thy lord, and perhaps he will make us content. ā
Ā Ā Spake he who was somewhat less stricken in years
than the first: āThanks have thou! but we need something more than
meat and drink, to wit the Land of Living Men. And Oh! but the time
presses. ā
Ā Ā Spake the sad and sorry carle: āWe seek the Land
where the days are many: so many that he who hath forgotten how to
laugh, may learn the craft again, and forget the days of Sorrow.
ā
Ā Ā Then they all three cried aloud and said:
Ā Ā āIs this the Land? Is this the Land? ā
Ā Ā But Hallblithe wondered, and he laughed and said:
āWayfarers, look under the sun down the plain which lieth betwixt
the mountains and the sea, and ye shall behold the meadows all
gleaming with the spring lilies; yet do we not call this the
Glittering Plain, but Cleveland by the Sea. Here men die when their
hour comes, nor know I if the days of their life be long enough for
the forgetting of sorrow; for I am young and not yet a yokefellow
of sorrow; but this I know, that they are long enough for the doing
of deeds that shall not die. And as for Lord, I know not this word,
for here dwell we, the sons of the Raven, in good fellowship, with
our wives that we have wedded, and our mothers who have borne us,
and our sisters who serve us. Again I bid you light down off your
horses, and eat and drink, and be merry; and depart when ye will,
to seek what land ye will. ā
Ā Ā They scarce looked on him, but cried out together
mournfully:
Ā Ā āThis is not the Land! This is not the Land! ā
Ā Ā No more than that they said, but turned about their
horses and rode out through the garth gate, and went clattering up
the road that led to the pass of the mountains. But Hallblithe
hearkened wondering, till the sound of their horse-hoofs died away,
and then turned back to his work: and it was then two hours after
high-noon.
CHAPTER II: EVIL TIDINGS COME TO HAND AT
CLEVELAND
Ā Ā Not long had he worked ere he heard the sound of
horsehoofs once more, and he looked not up, but said to himself,
āIt is but the lads bringing back the teams from the acres, and
riding fast and driving hard for joy of heart and in wantonness of
youth. ā
Ā Ā But the sound grew nearer and he looked up and saw
over the turf wall of the garth the flutter of white raiment; and
he said:
Ā Ā āNay, it is the maidens coming back from the
sea-shore and the gathering of wrack. ā
Ā Ā So he set himself the harder to his work, and
laughed, all alone as he was, and said: āShe is with them: now I
will not look up again till they have ridden into the garth, and
she has come from among them, and leapt off her horse, and cast her
arms about my neck as her wont is; and it will rejoice her then to
mock me with hard words and kind voice and longing heart; and I
shall long for her and kiss her, and sweet shall the coming days
seem to us: and the daughters of our folk shall look on and be kind
and blithe with us. ā
Ā Ā Therewith rode the maidens into the garth, but he
heard no sound of laughter or merriment amongst them, which was
contrary to their wont; and his heart fell, and it was as if
instead of the maidensā laughter the voices of those wayfarers came
back upon the wind crying out, āIs this the Land? Is this the Land?
ā
Ā Ā Then he looked up hastily, and saw the maidens
drawing near, ten of the House of the Raven, and three of the House
of the Rose; and he beheld them that their faces were pale and
woe-begone, and their raiment rent, and there was no joy in them.
Hallblithe stood aghast while one who had gotten off her horse (and
she was the daughter of his own mother) ran past him into the hall,
looking not at him, as if she durst not: and another rode off
swiftly to the horse-stalls. But the others, leaving their horses,
drew round about him, and for a while none durst utter a word; and
he stood gazing at them, with the spoke-shave in his hand, he also
silent; for he saw that the Hostage was not with them, and he knew
that now he was the yokefellow of sorrow.
Ā Ā At last he spoke gently and in a kind voice, and
said: āTell me, sisters, what evil hath befallen us, even if it be
the death of a dear friend, and the thing that may not be amended.
ā
Ā Ā Then spoke a fair woman of the Rose, whose name was
Brightling, and said: āHallblithe, it is not of death that we have
to tell, but of sundering, which may yet be amended. We were on the
sand of the sea nigh the Ship-stead and the Rollers of the Raven,
and we were gathering the wrack and playing together; and we saw a
round-ship nigh to shore lying with her sheet slack, and her sail
beating the mast; but we deemed it to be none other than some bark
of the Fish-biters, and thought no harm thereof, but went on
running and playing amidst the little waves that fell on the sand,
and the ripples that curled around our feet. At last there came a
small boat from the side of the round-ship, and rowed in toward
shore, and still we feared not, though we drew a little aback from
the surf and let fall our gown-hems. But the crew of that boat
beached her close to where we stood, and came hastily wading the
surf towards us; and we saw that they were twelve weaponed men,
great, and grim, and all clad in black raiment. Then indeed were we
afraid, and we turned about and fled up the beach; but now it was
too late, for the tide was at more than half ebb and long was the
way over the sand to the place where we had left our horses tied
among the tamarisk-bushes. Nevertheless we ran, and had gotten up
to the pebble-beach before they ran in amongst us: and they caught
us, and cast us down on to the hard stones.
Ā Ā āThen they made us sit in a row on a ridge of the
pebbles; and we were sore afraid, yet more for defilement at their
hands than for death; for they were evil-looking men exceeding foul
of favour. Then said one of them: āWhich of all you maidens is the
Hostage of the House of the Rose? ā
Ā Ā āThen all we kept silence, for we would not betray
her. But the evil man spake again: āChoose ye then whether we shall
take one, or all of you across the waters in our black ship. ā Yet
still we others spake not, till arose thy beloved, O Hallblithe,
and said:
Ā Ā āāLet it be one then, and not all; for I am the
Hostage. ā
Ā Ā āāHow shalt thou make us sure thereof? ā said the
evil carle.
Ā Ā āShe looked on him proudly and said: āBecause I say
it. ā
Ā Ā āāWilt thou swear it? ā said he.
Ā Ā āāYea, ā said she, āI swear it by the token of the
House wherein I shall wed; by the wings of the Fowl that seeketh
the Field of Slaying. ā
Ā Ā āāIt is enough, ā said the man, ācome thou with us.
And ye maidens sit ye there, and move not till we have made way on
our ship, unless ye would feel the point of the arrow. For ye are
within bowshot of the ship, and we have shot weapons aboard. ā
Ā Ā āSo the Hostage departed with them, and she
unweeping, but we wept sorely. And we saw the small boat come up to
the side of the round-ship, and the Hostage going over the gunwale
along with those evil men, and we heard the hale and how of the
mariners as they drew up the anchor and sheeted home; and then the
sweeps came out and the ship began to move over the sea. And one of
those evil-minded men bent his bow and shot a shaft at us, but it
fell far short of where we sat, and the laugh of those runagates
came over the sands to us. So we crept up the beach trembling, and
then rose to our feet and got to our horses, and rode hither
speedily, and our hearts are broken for thy sorrow. ā
Ā Ā At that word came Hallblitheās own sister out from
the hall; and she bore weapons with her, to wit Hallblitheās sword
and shield and helm and hauberk. As for him he turned back silently
to his work, and set the steel of the spear on the new ashen shaft,
and took the hammer and smote the nail in, and laid the weapon on a
round pebble that was thereby, and clenched the nail on the other
side. Then he looked about, and saw that the other damsel had
brought him his coal-black war-horse ready saddled and bridled;
then he did on his armour, and girt his sword to his side and leapt
into the saddle, and took his new-shafted spear in hand and shook
the rein. But none of all those damsels durst say a word to him or
ask him whither he went, for they feared his face, and the sorrow
of his heart. So he got him out of the garth and turned toward the
sea-shore, and they saw the glitter of his spear-point a minute
over the turf-wall, and heard the clatter of his horse-hoofs as he
galloped over the hard way; and thus he departed.
CHAPTER III: THE WARRIORS OF THE RAVEN SEARCH
THE SEAS
Ā Ā Then the women bethought them, and they spake a word
or two together, and then they sundered and went one this way and
one that, to gather together the warriors of the Raven who were
a-field, or on the way, nigh unto the house, that they might follow
Hallblithe down to the sea-shore and help him; after a while they
came back again by one and two and three, bringing with them the
wrathful young men; and when there was upward of a score gathered
in the garth armed and horsed, they rode their ways to the sea,
being minded to thrust a long-ship of the Ravens out over the
Rollers into the sea, and follow the strong-thieves of the waters
and bring a-back the Hostage, so that they might end the sorrow at
once, and establish joy once more in the House of the Raven and the
House of the Rose. But they had with them three lads of fifteen
winters or thereabouts to lead their horses back home again, when
they should have gone up on to the Horse of the Brine.
Ā Ā Thus then they departed, and the maidens stood in
the garth-gate till they lost sight of them behind the sandhills,
and then turned back sorrowfully into the house, and sat there
talking low of their sorrow. And many a time they had to tell their
tale anew, as folk came into the hall one after another from field
and fell. But the young men came down to the sea, and found
Hallblitheās black horse straying about amongst the tamarisk-bushes
above the beach; and they looked thence over the sand, and saw
neither Hallblithe nor any man: and they gazed out seaward, and saw
neither ship nor sail on the barren brine. Then they went down on
to the sand, and sundered their fellowship, and went half one way,
half the other, betwixt the sandhills and the surf, where now the
tide was flowing, till the nesses of the east and the west, the
horns of the bay, stayed them. Then they met together again by the
Rollers, when the sun was within an hour of setting. There and then
they laid hand to that ship which is called the Seamew, and they
ran her down over the Rollers into the waves, and leapt aboard and
hoisted sail, and ran out the oars and put to sea; and a little
wind was blowing seaward from the gates of the mountains behind
them.
Ā Ā So they quartered the sea-plain, as the kestrel doth
the water-meadows, till the night fell on them, and was cloudy,
though whiles the wading moon shone out; and they had seen nothing,
neither sail nor ship, nor aught else on the barren brine, save the
washing of waves and the hovering of sea-fowl. So they lay-to
outside the horns of the bay and awaited the dawning. And when
morning was come they made way again, and searched the sea, and
sailed to the out-skerries, and searched them with care; then they
sailed into the main and fared hither and thither and up and down:
and this they did for eight days, and in all that time they saw no
ship nor sail, save three barks of the Fish-biters nigh to the
Skerry which is called Mew-stone.
Ā Ā So they fared home to the Raven Bay, and laid their
keel on the Rollers, and so went their ways sadly, home to the
House of the Raven: and they deemed that for this time they could
do no more in seeking their valiant kinsman and his fair damsel.
And they were very sorry; for these two were well-beloved of all
men. But since they might not amend it, they abode in peace,
awaiting what the change of days might bring them.
CHAPTER IV: NOW HALLBLITHE TAKETH THE SEA
Now must it be told of Hallblithe that he rode fiercely down to the sea-shore, and from the top of the beach he gazed about him, and there below him was the Ship-stead and Rollers of his kindred, whereon lay the three long-ships, the Seamew, and the Osprey and the Erne. Heavy and huge they seemed to him as they lay there, black-sided, icy-cold with the washing of the March waves, their golden dragon-heads looking seaward wistfully. But first had he looked out into the offing, and it was only when he had let his eyes come back from where the sea and sky met, and they had beheld nothing but the waste of waters, that he beheld the Ship-stead closely; and therewith he saw where a little to the west of it lay a skiff, which the low wave of the tide lifted and let fall from time to time. It had a mast, and a black sail hoisted thereon and flapping with slackened sheet. A man sat in the boat clad in black raiment, and the sun smote a gleam from the helm on his head. Then Hallblithe leapt off his horse, and strode down the sands shouldering his spear; and when he came near to the man in the boat he poised his spear and shook it and cried out: āMan, art thou friend or foe? ā
Said the man: āThou art a fair young man: but there is grief in thy voice along with wrath. Cast not till thou hast heard me, and mayst deem whether I may do aught to heal thy grief. ā
āWhat mayst thou do? ā said Hallblithe; āart thou not a robber of the sea, a harrier of the folks that dwell in peace? ā
The man laughed: āYea, ā said he, āmy craft is thieving and carrying off the daughters of folk, so that we may have a ransom for them. Wilt thou come over the waters with me? ā
Hallblithe said wrathfully:
āNay, rather, come thou ashore here! Thou seemest a big man, and belike shall be good of thine hands. Come and fight with me; and then he of us who is vanquished, if he be unslain, shall serve the other for a year, and then shalt thou do my business in the ransoming. ā
The man in the boat laughed again, and that so scornfully that he angered Hallblithe beyond measure: then he arose in the boat and stood on his feet swaying from side to side as he laughed. He was passing big, long-armed and big-headed, and long hair came from under his helm like the tail of a red horse; his eyes were grey and gleaming, and his mouth wide.
In a while he stayed his laughter and said: āO Warrior of the Raven, this were a simple game for thee to play; though it is not far from my mind, for fighting when I needs must win is no dull work. Look you, if I slay or vanquish thee, then all is said; and if by some chance stroke thou slayest me, then is thine only helper in this matter gone from thee. Now to be short, I bid thee come aboard to me if thou wouldst ever hear another word of thy damsel betrothed. And moreover this need not hinder thee to fight with me if thou hast a mind to it thereafter; for we shall soon come to a land big enough for two to stand on. Or if thou listest to fight in a boat rocking on the waves, I see not but there may be manhood in that also. ā
Now was the hot wrath somewhat run off Hallblithe, nor durst he lose any chance to hear a word of his beloved; so he said: āBig man, I will come aboard. But look thou to it, if thou hast a mind to bewray me; for the sons of the Raven die hard. ā
āWell, ā said the big man, āI have heard that their minstrels are of many words, and think that they have tales to tell. Come aboard and loiter not. ā Then Hallblithe waded the surf and lightly strode over the gunwale of the skiff and sat him down. The big man thrust out into the deep and haled home the sheet; but there was but little wind.
Then said Hallblithe: āWilt thou have me row, for I wot not whitherward to steer? ā
Said the red carle: āMaybe thou a...