XXXII
THE STATUE OF THOR
It was Yule-tide and King Olaf had come to More. Here the peasants had gathered, angry and defiant. Earl Ironbeard had prompted them to meet the king and his followers in hostile attitude. On Christmas eve, the opposing parties were encamped on the snowy plains of More; and acting under Ironbeard’s advice, the peasants intended to be present at the Christmas mass, and after that ceremony to demand of King Olaf that he attend the sacrifice to Thor in their temple, as was the law for every former overlord of Norway. They represented that they could not serve a king who violated the old Norse law by refusing to offer sacrifices to the gods.
On Christmas eve, the Lady Aastrid had sat with Maidoch through the vesper service. A little way apart was the king with Thorgills and Earl Sigvalde. When the psalms had been sung, and the lights put out, Father Meilge and Father Tuathal strolled out over the snowy fields. A brilliant sky of boreal light was canopied over the still, white earth.
The young priest turned to his companion. “Father Meilge,” he said, “sometimes my heart fails me in my work in this wild land. King Olaf is so zealous, and
