Hero-Myths & Legends of the British Race
pretend to grieve, for her father's sake, and when she came to test
our bonds I was sure of it, for as she fingered a knot she slipped a
knife into my hands, and bade me use it. Now we are free from our
bonds, and must try to escape from our prison."
The Princess Visits the Captives
In vain, however, the master and man ranged round the room in which
they were confined; it was a tiny chapel, with walls and doors of
great thickness, and violently as Hereward exerted himself, he could
make no impression on either walls or door, and, sitting sullenly down
on the altar steps, he asked Martin what good was freedom from bonds
in a secure prison. "Much, every way," replied the servant; "at least
we die with free hands; and I, for my part, am content to trust that
the princess has some good plan, if we will only be ready." While he
was speaking they heard footsteps just outside the door, and the sound
of a key being inserted into the lock. Hereward beckoned silently to
Martin, and the two stood ready, one at each side of the door, to make
a dash for freedom, and Martin was prepared to slay any who should
hinder. To their great surprise, the princess entered, accompanied by
an old priest bearing a lantern, which he set down on the altar step,
and then the princess turned to Hereward, crying, "Pardon me, my
deliverer!" The Saxon was still aggrieved and bewildered, and replied:
"Do you now say 'deliverer'? This afternoon it was 'murderer,
villain, cut-throat.' How shall I know which is your real mind?" The
princess almost laughed as she said: "How stupid men are! What could I
do but pretend to hate you, since otherwise the Picts would have slain
you then and us all afterwards, but I claimed you as my victims, and
you have been given to me. How else could I have come here to-night?
Now tell me, if I set you free will you swear to carry a message for
me?"
Sigtryg Ranaldsson of Waterford
"Whither shall I go, lady, and what shall I say?" asked Hereward.
"Take this ring, my ring of betrothal, and go to Prince Sigtryg, son
of King Ranald of Waterford. Say to him that I am beset on every side,
and beg him to come and claim me as his bride; otherwise I fear I may
be forced to marry some man of my father's choosing, as I was being
driven to wed the Pictish giant. From him you have rescued me, and I
thank you; but if my betrothed delays his coming it may be too late,
for there are other hateful suitors who would make my father bestow my
hand upon one of them. Beg him to come with all speed." "Lady, I will
go now," said Hereward, "if you will set me free from this vault."
Hereward Binds the Princess
"Go quickly, and safely," said the princess; "but ere you go you have
one duty to fulfil: you must bind me hand and foot, and fling me, with
this old priest, on the ground." "Never," said Hereward, "will I bind
a woman; it were foul disgrace to me for ever." But Martin only
laughed, and the maiden said again: "How stupid men are! I must
pretend to have been overpowered by you, or I shall be accused of
having freed you, but I will say that I came hither to question you,
and you and your man set on me and the priest, bound us, took the key,
and so escaped. So shall you be free, and I shall have no blame, and
my father no danger; and may Heaven forgive the lie."
Hereward reluctantly agreed, and, with Martin's help, bound the two
hand and foot and laid them before the altar; then, kissing the
maiden's hand, and swearing loyalty and truth, he turned to depart.
But the princess had one question to ask. "Who are you, noble
stranger, so gallant and strong? I would fain know for whom to pray."
"I am Hereward Leofricsson, and my father is the Earl of Mercia." "Are
you that Hereward who slew the Fairy Bear? Little wonder is it that
you have slain my monster and set me free." Then master and man left
the chapel, after carefully turning the key in the lock. Making their
way to the shore, they succeeded in getting a ship to carry them to
Ireland, and in course of time reached Waterford.
Prince Sigtryg
The Danish kingdom of Waterford was ruled by King Ranald, whose only
son, Sigtryg, was about Hereward's age, and was as noble-looking a
youth as the Saxon hero. The king was at a feast, and Hereward,
entering the hall with the captain of the vessel, sat down at one of
the lower tables; but he was not one of those who can pass unnoticed.
The prince saw him, distinguished at once his noble bearing, and asked
him to come to the king's own table. He gladly obeyed, and as he drank
to the prince and their goblets touched together he contrived to drop
the ring from the Cornish princess into Sigtryg's cup. The prince saw
and recognised it as he drained his cup, and, watching his
opportunity, left the hall, and was soon followed by his guest.
Hereward and Sigtryg
Outside in the darkness Sigtryg turned hurriedly to Hereward, saying,
"You bring me a message from my betrothed?" "Yes, if you are that
Prince Sigtryg to whom the Princess of Cornwall was affianced." "Was
affianced! What do you mean? She is still my lady and my love." "Yet
you leave her there unaided, while her father gives her in marriage to
a hideous giant of a Pict, breaking her betrothal, and driving the
hapless maiden to despair. What kind of love is yours?" Hereward said
nothing yet about his own slaying of the giant, because he wished to
test Prince Sigtryg's sincerity, and he was satisfied, for the prince
burst out: "Would to God that I had gone to her before! but my father
needed my help against foreign invaders and native rebels. I will go
immediately and save my lady or die with her!" "No need of that, for I
killed that giant," said Hereward coolly, and Sigtryg embraced him in
joy and they swore blood-brotherhood together. Then he asked: "What
message do you bring me, and what means her ring?" The other replied
by repeating the Cornish maiden's words, and urging him to start at
once if he would save his betrothed from some other hateful marriage.
Return to Cornwall
The prince went at once to his father, told him the whole story, and
obtained a ship and men to journey to Cornwall and rescue the
princess; then, with Hereward by his side, he set sail, and soon
landed in Cornwall, hoping to obtain his bride peaceably. To his grief
he learnt that the princess had just been betrothed to a wild Cornish
leader, Haco, and the wedding feast was to be held that very day.
Sigtryg was greatly enraged, and sent a troop of forty Danes to King
Alef demanding the fulfilment of the troth-plight between himself and
his daughter, and threatening vengeance if it were broken. To this
threat the king returned no answer, and no Dane came back to tell of
their reception.
Hereward in the Enemy's Hall
Sigtryg would have waited till morning, trusting in the honour of the
king, but Hereward disguised himself as a minstrel and obtained
admission to the bridal feast, where he soon won applause by his
beautiful singing. The bridegroom, Haco, in a rapture offered him any
boon he liked to ask, but he demanded only a cup of wine from the
hands of the bride. When she brought it to him he flung into the empty
cup the betrothal ring, the token she had sent to Sigtryg, and said:
"I thank thee, lady, and would reward thee for thy gentleness to a
wandering minstrel; I give back the cup, richer than before by the
kind thoughts of which it bears the token." The princess looked at
him, gazed into the goblet, and saw her ring; then, looking again, she
recognised her deliverer and knew that rescue was at hand.
Haco's Plan
While men feasted Hereward listened and talked, and found out that the
forty Danes were prisoners, to be released on the morrow when Haco was
sure of his bride, but released useless and miserable, since they
would be turned adrift blinded. Haco was taking his lovely bride back
to his own land, and Hereward saw that any rescue, to be successful,
must be attempted on the march. Yet he knew not the way the bridal
company would go, and he lay down to sleep in the hall, hoping that
he might hear something more. When all men slept a dark shape came
gliding through the hall and touched Hereward on the shoulder; he
slept lightly, and awoke at once to recognise the old nurse of the
princess. "Come to her now," the old woman whispered, and Hereward
went, though he knew not that the princess was still true to her
lover. In her bower, which she was soon to leave, Haco's sorrowful
bride awaited the messenger.
Rescue for Haco's Bride
Sadly she smiled on the young Saxon as she said: "I knew your face
again in spite of the disguise, but you come too late. Bear my
farewell to Sigtryg, and say that my father's will, not mine, makes me
false to my troth-plight." "Have you not been told, lady, that he is
here?" asked Hereward. "Here?" the princess cried. "I have not heard.
He loves me still and has not forsaken me?" "No, lady, he is too true
a lover for falsehood. He sent forty Danes yesterday to demand you of
your father and threaten his wrath if he refused." "And I knew not of
it," said the princess softly; "yet I had heard that Haco had taken
some prisoners, whom he means to blind." "Those are our messengers,
and your future subjects," said Hereward. "Help me to save them and
you. Do you know Haco's plans?" "Only this, that he will march
to-morrow along the river, and where the ravine is darkest and forms
the boundary between his kingdom and my father's the prisoners are to
be blinded and released." "Is it far hence?" "Three miles to the
eastward of this hall," she replied. "We will be there. Have no fear,
lady, whatever you may see, but be bold and look for your lover in the
fight." So saying, Hereward kissed the hand of the princess, and
passed out of the hall unperceived by any one.
The Ambush
Returning to Sigtryg, the young Saxon told all that he had learnt, and
the Danes planned an ambush in the ravine where Haco had decided to
blind and set free his captives. All was in readiness, and side by
side Hereward and Sigtryg were watching the pathway from their covert,
when the sound of horses' hoofs heard on the rocks reduced them to
silence. The bridal procession came in strange array: first the Danish
prisoners bound each between two Cornishmen, then Haco and his unhappy
bride, and last a great throng of Cornishmen. Hereward had taken
command, that Sigtryg might look to the safety of his lady, and his
plan was simplicity itself. The Danes were to wait till their
comrades, with their guards, had passed through the ravine; then while
the leader engaged Haco, and Sigtryg looked to the safety of the
princess, the Danes would release the prisoners and slay every
Cornishman, and the two parties of Danes, uniting their forces, would
restore order to the land and destroy the followers of Haco.
Success
The whole was carried out exactly as Hereward had planned. The
Cornishmen, with Danish captives, passed first without attack; next
came Haco, riding grim and ferocious beside his silent bride, he
exulting in his success, she looking eagerly for any signs of rescue.
As they passed Hereward sprang from his shelter, crying, "Upon them,
Danes, and set your brethren free!" and himself struck down Haco and
smote off his head. There was a short struggle, but soon the rescued
Danes were able to aid their deliverers, and the Cornish guards were
all slain; the men of King Alef, never very zealous for the cause of
Haco, fled, and the Danes were left masters of the field. Sigtryg had
in the meantime seen to the safety of the princess, and now placing
her between himself and Hereward, he escorted her to the ship, which
soon brought them to Waterford and a happy bridal. The Prince and