XLII
“THAT INSULT SHALL BE THY RUIN”
After his discouraging experience with Gudrun, King Olaf turned a deaf ear to the hints of his earls as to the advisability of his marrying. Rumors, however, began to spread of the great power and wealth of Queen Sigrid, the widow of the Swedish king, Erik the victorious. The young king of Sweden, who was also called Olaf, was Sigrid’s son. Thorgills, thinking of his own fair, gentle, young wife, could not welcome the prospect of his handsome, youthful sovereign wedded to the middle-aged, arrogant Swedish queen. One day the earl-folk were eagerly advising in favor of the alliance.
“It is as thou dost say, my dear Thanes,” Olaf assented; “my own place would be more secure if my brother King of Sweden were indeed my brother.”
“Thy son, thou dost mean, my King,” protested Thorgills. “Now if Queen Sigrid had a daughter—”
“Thou wouldst say, Thorgills,” King Olaf interrupted, “that Sigrid’s daughter might be a more fitting mate for me. So she might be, but she hath no daughter, and if I ally myself to Sweden it must be through Erik’s widow.”
