the son of Thoralf, fled from Norway. Then the scald’s song followed the youth to Russia, to the court of Olga and Vladimir. Then followed him in the ship, where as a boy sea-king he went viking. Sang of his marriage to the Princess Geira, the daughter of King Burislav, in Wendland.
An anxious look fastened upon Gyda’s face when this theme was touched, but the anxiety was lifted, when the softer note of the scald’s song went with the tale of Geira’s death. Then harp and voice went wandering with the young king to Greece, where he renounced Odin and Thor, and was signed with the Sign of the White Christ. Then the young king in his gratitude sent the message of the Cross to Russia to his friends, Vladimir and Olga. The saga went with the hero to the land of the Danes, and over the seas to the farther lands of the Scoti and the Angles.
The scald sang too of the darkness over the king’s own land. How the storm of rival claims to the throne shook the kingdom from sea to sea; and Norway waited for the great North Star that would rise when the son of Trygge Olafsson came. Somewhere they knew his light was quenched, and they prayed the White Christ it would soon rise over them. His viking ship had been seen on the North Sea, and passing the shores of the Scoti and the Angles had sailed up the dark tide of the Liffey.
Kavaran, the king, leaned forward to listen. Gyda’s blue eyes were wide with wonder. Every Celtic
