ILLUSTRATED ARTICLE. HAROLD HARRUNG. "HENCE, then, proud scorner of the power of Urfred? hence to unknown seas, where thy pennon shall droop idly on the mast, and thy sail hang loose and quivering; where the dauntless riders of the ocean shall sink, powerless and unresisting, before an unseen enemy! Hence, and learn how swiftly comes the vengeance of the gods on those who mock their favoured servants!" Such were the accents which pursued the young and valiant Harold Harrung, as he launched his gallant ship, in those far-distant days when the children of Norway were rulers and dwellers on the deep. The betrothed husband of the beauteous Ulla, the favourite leader of a bold and numerous crew, he had vowed to undertake a distant voyage, and to return with spoils sufficient to render his bridal splendid, as became that of Odin's lineal offspring. But the imprudence of Harold was, alas! as pre-eminent as his valour; and, in his recklessness of danger, he neglected to propitiate, by gifts or flattery VOL. I. 2 E tne favour of the sorceress, Urfred-the most powerful of those who were then universally believed to direct the elements at will. He made no prayer to her for prosperous winds; he even treated with scorn her prophetic warnings, and thus drew upon himself those maledictions which filled the bravest of his followers with dread, and caused Harold himself to wish in secret that the hour of his return to the embraces of Ulla were now come, notwithstanding his ardent anticipation of a successful descent upon the shores of Spain. But he carefully concealed such feelings as he cheered his drooping warriors to spread their broad canvass to the wind; and a favourable breeze from the north-east soon bore them far away from the Norwegian coast, till the cloudlike hills melted into air, and the sinking sun gleamed only on a world of waters. It was high morning, and the young hero still rested half-slumbering on his couch of reindeer-skins, when the aged pilot roused him to point out the tokens of an impending storm which his experience warned him would be violent. But the bold sea-kings of those days were too 27-SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1828 much accustomed to brave the utmost fury of the elements, in their small and fragile barks, to tremble at the coming of the tempest; and the delay of a few days, which might result from driving out of their course, was all that Harold feared. But there were some among that crew, who, while they remembered the threatenings of the sorceress, could not, without some sinking of the heart, mark cloud upon cloud piling in awful accumulation toward the south, or watch the rapidlyincreasing swell that came from that quarter, though the vessel now lay rolling heavily, without a breath to fill her flapping canvass. Suddenly, the cry of the steersman was heard to take in every sail; and, ere this could be more than partially accomplished, a blast, that swept off the whole surface of the sea into a mist of foam, snapt the stout mast in twain, and the vessel was in a moment driving north'ward with portentous swiftness. Four days and nights did that resolute crew in vain expect the lulling of the gale; though its violence abated, it still drove them powerless before it, unable to use oar or sail. On the sixth morning it grew calm; and all snatched a brief space of delicious slumber, before they gathered round their leader, to consult on their perilous situation. The land was not in sight, and in what direction any lay, the most experienced of the crew were ignorant; but the intense cold which benumbed their hardy limbs, and the vast fragments of ice that floated on all sides round the ship both proved that the power of the tempest had driven them farther to the north, than any, perhaps, of their countrymen had ever ventured to penetrate before. What was their horror and astonishment, when, after wasting the dubious twilight of those arctic nights in troubled slumber, they woke to find themselves encompassed on all sides by rough fields of ice, to which the swell from the south, yet unsubsided, was each minute adding in extent. Hour after hour, as it passed, only increased the dangers of their position; yet the bolder still talked hopefully of escape, and their chieftain went from man to man to cheer, by exhortation, their fast drooping spirits. But when a discoloured fog gathered round the ship, and the thick-falling snows reminded them too surely that autumn was advancing-when their provision, though scantily doled out, began to fail then dismay and despair fell on all but the firm soul of Harold Harrung." Warriors and friends!" he exclaimed, as they stood with stern and anxious looks around him, "fear not for yourselves; curse me not, that I disdained to purchase the favour of a loathsome witch! Can ye believe that the mighty Odin would permit his descendant, hitherto so favoured, to die the death of a dog in a wreath of snow? No, friends! if it had seemed fitting to the gods to bid me thus, in early youth, to the banquets of Valhalla-the battle-field, the deck running deep with foemen's blood, would have been my appointed place of summons. The gods, who only can, will aid us yet. They answered not; for they loved their chief too well to curse him, even in such extremity of misery. Meanwhile the snow gave place to a frost of the bitterest intensity; the last morsel of food was gone; and, one by one, yet without a reproachful glance or word, Harold beheld his gallant followers expire around him, till he was left the only living thing in that dark and icy desert. It was, in truth, a dreadful doom to linger thus alone among the dead-to gaze upon their glassy eye-balls and withered lips, that seemed to glare and smile in scorn! many, too, still standing, as the frost had fixed them in their death-pangs, with the air and attitude of life!—and Harold, racked almost to madness by the horror of the scene, cast himself over the vessel's side, and fled across those pathless wastes he knew not whither. The pangs of memory returned not to the hero, till he found his headlong flight arrested suddenly by a rocky precipice that rose high into the clouds before him. In its front, not far above his head, there yawned a spacious cave; and, still seeking to es cape from his own thoughts, he sprang up and entered. He passed a long and winding way in utter darkness, but, at length, a faint light glimmered in the distance. The passage through which he moved spread wider and higher as he approached till it expanded into a vast illuminated hall. To a mind less torn with anguish than the hero's, the spectacle of that cavern might have compensated years of toil. rar as the eye could reach, the soil was overspread with structures of magnificence and beauty. All that the inventive genius of man has, in ancient or modern times, devised the massy pyramid-the graceful column the arch, in each variety of form and ornament ;-all these were there carved out of solid ice, tinted with all the hues of the rainbow, and above floated a transparent cloud, athwart which the ever-changing forms of the aurora boreais played in perpetual flashes. But Harold wandered through this labyrinth of beauty, half-unconscious of the wonders that surrounded him. At length, the sound of gushing waters, so long unheard in these regions of frost, fell sweetly on his ear, and, in pursuit of it, he entered another passage, dark and tedious as the first, but when he emerged again, it was to behold a scene of wondrous, change. Before him, in the rich soft light of evening, was spread a vast and verdant plain chequered with lakes and groves, the turf beneath his feet was enamelled with sweet flowers, and watered by freshspringing fountains, the delicious green of the prospect refreshed his aching eyeballs, and the mild warmth of the air revived his frozen limbs. "Surely, " cried the warrior," "I have reached Valhalla by this strange approach; and these are the ever-blooming meads prepared for the repose of heroes." Scarcely had he given utterance to the thought, when the voice of one unseen sang sweetly :— Oh! welcome, warrior! welcome to our land, From the rude perils of the unkind sea: Lord of the dauntless heart and matchless hand! Long have we watched, long have we wished for thee. Unconsciously Harold wandered on until he reached a pleasant bower, where the trees grew in a circle around a flowery sward, and amidst them the vine twisted its exuberant trellice-work. Here, to his amazement, he beheld a luxuriant banquet spread; rich wine and smoaking venison seemed to invite the wayworn wanderer to taste; and again the same sweet voice breathed out: Harold, for thee the feast is spread; No longer doubting that he had reached the blissful abodes of those departed spirits who had found favour in the eyes of Odin, the young hero obeyed the injunetions of his unseen guardian, though he marvelled that no sharers of the banquet should appear. When he had sufficiently gratified the wants of long restricted nature, he felt that a delightful languor stole gradually on his weary frame, the softness of his fragrant couch, the gentle waving of the boughs, invited to repose; and again the friendly voice was heard to sing: Rest, wanderer, rest! All nature now lies dreaming; The small bird settles in its downy nest; Hushed lies the deer beneath the mild moon's beaming: Then rest-oh! rest. Long ere this strain had ceased, the delighted Harold Harrung lay buried in profound repose; and the duration of his slumber was such as nature needed after sufferings like his. But when he roused himself at length, new prodigies burst upon his view. His resting-place was no longer on the verdant sward, but on a soft and stately couch, strewed with the richest skins and sables. The apartment in which he lay far exceeded in magnificence aught that he before had looked on, though he had ere now led his daring band to spoil the fairest palaces of the south. Yet his eye scarcely glanced for a moment on the various splendours of the scene; for before him stood at length revealed the queen of all those fair delights which had surrounded him within the last few hours. Of the loftiest stature among women, but formed in the most exquisite proportionsbeautiful as Freya herself, yet with more of majesty and command in her air than would become the deity of love-the mighty Druda was beheld by Harold with those sentidents of admiration and reverence, unmingled with fear, which the sea-kings of old ever felt toward those goddesses who deigned to cross their mortal path. Humbly, yet not timidly, he told his tale, and gave his thanks. But when he learned, from her reply, which was uttered with a dignity that scorned concealment, and felt no shame at such a revelation, that she the mighty mistress of the northern realms, sprung from the union of the awful Balder with an earth-born maid-had stooped to love a mortal-that she had rescued him from destruction, and led him to this paradise of sweets, to share her love and throne -what marvel if the warrior, in the triumph of the moment, forgot his country, his fame, and Ulla herself? Months rolled away; and the brave sea-king, who had once deemed each moment wasted that was not spent in the foray or on the wave, still lingered in the thrall of the enchantress. Yet, though the beauty and the wisdom of Druda could well beguile the hours, he felt at length how irksome a life of indolence and solitude must ever be. The flowers grew less fragrant; the lovely prospects lost their charms; and Harold sighed in secret 66 was for his bleak Norwegian hills-for the galley and the sword, with which his forefathers had never failed to win the pleasures denied by their inclement climate -nay, at times, when he contrasted her gentle smiles with the frowns of his imperious mistress, his memory would revert to Ulla. Yet gratitude compelled him to bury these feelings in his inmost heart; and, perchance, he might have wasted years in uncomplaining durance, had not the keen eye of Druda soon marked the change in his demeanour. One morning, as he wandered forth alone, chance led him to the bower which he had first entered on his arrival in that enchanted land; and in secret he gave vent to the despondency that long had weighed upon his soul." Why--- h ! why," exclaimed the young hero, my life preserved for this? Better it were to have died that inglorious death among my brave companions, than thus to linger out dull years of dishonourable ease, whilst my banner shall never more be dreaded on the sea, and the bold Norsemen have even now almost forgotten the name of him who was once their foremost leader, where danger was to be braved, and glory won!" He ceased-for a bitter laugh rang loudly in his ear-and, turning, he beheld the sorceress, Druda. Her countenance was calm, though pale, for those distortions of passion which betray the anguish of mortals, when affliction falls heavily upon them, were unworthy the daughter of Balder, yet was there something in her painful smile that caused the blood of the hitherto undaunted Harold to curdle with him." Son of the sea!" exclaimed the sorceress, in a slow and solemn tone, "I have tried thee, with all thy boasted merit, but I find thou art but as other men. Like them, the idle recompence of fame or power is dearer to thee than a woman's constant love. When first, for you she sacrifices all beside, ye vow eternal gratitude and love, but the prize grows palling on the appetite ere long, and then, for the merest trifle-nay, in the mere thirst of variety itself-ye leave her to pine without a sigh. But this is weakness. Let others lament their lovers' treachery, my part is to revenge. Go then-I will aid thy flight go to thy native land. Be again the leader of a robber-band, the boasted lord of the untamed elements. Thy friends, no doubt, will greet thee well, and marvel when they hear thy tale, and scoff at Druda's weakness. Nay, perhaps, some maid, proud of her blue eyes and flaxen ringlets, will hail thy coming with ready smilewill scoff at the enchantress, whose magic arts could not, for a few brief days, retain the heart she rules and moulds at will. Yet tremble, Harold! for thou returnest not alone. In the battle-on the deep at the festal meeting in the bridal nour, if such shall come--I will be near thee. Hence, then, wretched ingrate! Lo with this wand I dissipate the illusions my senseless love had raised for thee." She waved the figured staff that she held in her right hand; and in a moment, forests plains, and rivers faded from the eyes of the astonished hero. They stood upon the pathless fields of ice; the bitter air benumbed his limbs; and, in the expectation that she had borne him there to perish, he turned towards her, to speak his defiance of the utmost her power could effect. She saw his intention, and interrupted him." No, Harold-no! To kill thee here were poor revenge! Begone to thy home, and her thou pinest for; be again great and glorious as before ;-but, in thy hour of greatest bliss, expect my coming. Yet, ere thou goest, take with thee one gift-one token of Druda's inextinguishable love!" She grasped his hand violently, and a mortal coldness thrilled through every vein.-" There!" she exclaimed, as she slowly loosed her hold, "it is done! And now, for a season, fare thee well! But, remember, that no mortal may henceforth touch that frozen hand and live. Stretch it not forth when thy friends in rapture come to greet thee; when thy love hangs on the neck of her long lost one, twine it not in her soft flowing hair for all shall die who feel its pressure.-Harold of the frozen hand! once more farewell!" Once more she waved her wand; and, in a moment, the young hero stood again on the threshold of his long-abandoned home. When the friends of Harold Harrung learned his sudden appearance, and came in throngs to welcome home their longlost leader, they found a changed and moody man. His right hand ever buried in the folds of his mantle, his brow furrowed with an expression of settled grief, they saw that he no longer heard with envy the triumphs and conquests of his rivals, or felt disposed to embark in those daring enterprises by which he formerly eclipsed the fame of the boldest of his compeers. Alone in his desolate halls, to which he no longer bade his well pleased guests, Harold Harrung dwelt from day to day, till men began to deem him mad. Nothing less than distraction, they said, could make so brave a hero alike forget his glory and his love; and they knew not what most to marvel at-his refusal to lead their expeditions, or his indifference to his betrothed bride, whom he had not visited or even enquired for since his return. Others thought that the loss of his brave crew, who had all perished, as he told them, by shipwreck, preyed keenly on his heart, and made him unwilling any more to risk the lives of gallant men under the guidance of so unfortunate a chief. But many days passed by, and still no change was observable in the demeanour of the hero. At length there came an aged man over the hills from the south, the father of Ulla. He had learned at last, in his distant hills, the tidings of Harold's unexpected return; and never did more welcome tidings reach the old man's ear; for the giant Gruthioff a formerly rejected suitor of the lovely Ulla, presuming on her lover's lengthened absence and supposed death, had threat ened to destroy her father's hall, and seize her person, unless she instantly consented to requite his passion, The hoary Sweno told his tale to the silent Harold, and urg ed him to hasten and deliver his love from the violence of a detested rival. In the eagerness of his recital, he neglected to remark the cold and gloomy air of the young hero; but, when all was told, he looked in vain for the glance of anger and resolved revenge which become a lover, when he hears that any one has dared to offer insult to his mistress. The old man's blood boiled high, and he broke out into bitter reproaches,-"What!" he exclaimed, "has the bold Harold no reply to my request? Has his heart grown cold, or his arm weak? Is his love too little, or his fear too much, that he dares not brave the wrath of Gruthioff? Thanks generous warrior, high-souled lover, thanks! The despised Sweno will return to his halls-will lift alone his feeble arm, in defence of his wronged child. Weak though it be, it will be stronger than that of a traitor to his friend and love. But how-oh! how will my poor Ulla endure to hear that he, whom she had mourned as dead, so fondly and so long, lives to desert, to prove unworthy of her!" Fa The unhappy warrior could restrain himself no longer. In uncontrollable emotion, he cast himself at the old man's feet.-"Father!" he cried, " you have conquered. Harold cannot bear the name of coward. He cannot suffer her he so fondly loves to deem her affections are bestowed on an undeserving caitiff. ther, I will summon all my band; I will away this night, and rescue her or die. Yet, oh! if you should live to curse the hour when Harold came to aid your child, remember by what powers you enforced his coming, and hate him not, though he bring desolation on thy house, and rouse the ire of a far more fearful enemy than Gruthioff." |