Among those who had joined his banner was Orm Tostesson, known as Red Orm, from the Mound in Skania. He had brought with him a large and well-manned ship. Thorkel remembered him from the Christmas feast at King Harald’s castle and welcomed him joyfully.
It had so turned out with Orm that he had quickly wearied of sitting at home and arranging the affairs of cattle and farmhands; and he had found it difficult to live peaceably with Asa, though she did her best to make him happy. For she still regarded him as a half-grown boy and fussed continually over him with motherly counsel, as though he lacked the sagacity to manage things for himself. He did his best to explain to her that he had, for some years, been accustomed to deciding the affairs of other men as well as his own, but this information did not appear to impress her; nor did her zealous endeavors to convert him to her new religion and find him a wife improve his humor.
The news of King Harald’s death had come as a great relief to them both; for when Asa had first learned the truth about how Toke had got his woman, she had been overcome with terror and had been convinced that there was nothing for it but to sell the house and flee to the estate she had inherited from her father in the forests on the Smaland border, where even King Harald’s arm would scarcely be able to reach them. Her fear had been ended by the news of King Harald’s death; but Orm could not keep his thoughts from Ylva, and he worried more about her safety than about his own. Often he wondered what had become of her when her father had died; whether King Sven had taken her under his wing, as a prospective wife for one of his berserks, or whether, perhaps, she had fallen into the hands of the Swedes, the thought of which troubled him no less. Since he was on evil terms with King Sven, he could not think of any way in which he might regain her for himself, least of all while war was raging through and around the islands.
He said nothing about Ylva to Asa, for he had no wish to listen to the fruitless advice he knew she would immediately shower upon him. But he profited little thereby, for Asa knew several maidens in the district who would admirably suit his needs, and their mothers, being of the same mind as she, brought them to the house and displayed them newly washed, with their plaits fastened with red silk ribbons. The maidens came willingly and sat high-bosomed, a-clink with ornaments, shooting large-eyed glances at him; but he showed no enthusiasm for any of them, for none of them resembled Ylva or was as witty and ready-tongued as she was, so that in the end Asa grew impatient with him, and thought that even Odd had hardly been more difficult to please.
When, therefore, the news came that Thorkel intended to fare forth a-viking, Orm lost no time in procuring himself a good ship and hiring men from the district to come with him, paying little heed to Asa’s tears and entreaties. Everybody knew him to be a widely traveled man who had returned with much gold from his voyage, so that he found little difficulty in assembling a good crew. He told Asa that he did not expect to be away for as long this time as when he had previously set forth, and promised her that, when he returned, he would settle down to a peaceful life and take up farming in earnest. Asa wept, and protested that she could not endure such sorrow and loneliness, but Orm assured her that she would live much longer than he, and would help to birch his children, and his grandchildren to boot. But this only caused her to weep the more bitterly. So they parted, and Orm sailed to join Thorkel.
While Thorkel was still lying off Hven, waiting for a favorable wind, a fleet of twenty-eight ships came rowing up from the south; and from their banners and the cut of their stems it was apparent that they were Swedish. The weather was calm and good for fighting, and both sides made ready for battle; but Thorkel shouted across the water to the strangers, proclaiming his identity, and stating that he wished to speak with their chieftain. The Swedes were under the command of two chieftains, of equal sway. One was called Jostein, a man from Uppland, and the other Gudmund, an East Gute. They said they had come to help King Erik plunder in Denmark, and asked what more he wished to know.
“If our fleets join battle,” shouted Thorkel, “there will be little booty for the winners, and many men will be killed on both sides. I tell you this, though I am the more likely to prevail.”
“We have five ships more than you,” roared the strangers.
“That may be,” replied Thorkel. “But mine are all picked men, and we have just eaten our morning meal, while your men are weary from rowing, which makes a man less skillful with his spear and sword. But I have a better suggestion to make, which would redound to the advantage of us all; for I can name a more rewarding place than Denmark to go a-viking in.”
“We have come to aid King Erik,” shouted the Upplander.
“I do not doubt it,” replied Thorkel; “and if I join battle with you, I shall have given good aid to King Sven. But if, instead of fighting each other, we join forces and sail together to lands ripe for plunder, we shall have served our kings just as usefully as if we stay and battle it out here. For in either case none of us will take any further part in this war; and the difference will be that, if we do as I suggest, we shall all still be alive, with much fine booty waiting for us to come and collect it.”
“You use words skillfully,” said Gudmund. “There is wisdom in what you say, and I think we might profitably continue this discussion at closer quarters.”
“I know from report that you are both noble chieftains and honorable men,” said Thorkel. “Therefore I am not afraid that you will act treacherously if we meet to debate the matter.”
“I know your brother Sigvalde,” said Jostein, “but I have often heard it said that you, Thorkel, are of stouter mettle than he.”
So they agreed to meet on the island to debate the matter, on the beach at the foot of a cliff, in sight of the ships. Jostein and Gudmund were each to bring three men with them, and Thorkel five, bearing swords but no casting weapons. This was done, and from the ships the men of the opposing fleets marked how, at first, the chieftains kept their distance from each other, with their men standing close behind them. Then Thorkel ordered ale to be offered to the Swedes, together with pork and bread; and soon they were seen to sit down in a circle and talk as friends.
The more Jostein and Gudmund considered Thorkel’s proposition, the more excellent it appeared to them to be, and before long Gudmund was anxiously supporting it. Jostein at first held out against it, saying that King Erik had a savage memory for men who betrayed his trust in them; but Thorkel regaled them with details of the splendid plunder that awaited sea-rovers in the islands of the west, and Gudmund reckoned that they could worry about King Erik’s memory when the time came. Then they came to an agreement regarding the division of command during the voyage, and how the booty was to be shared out, so that no disputes should arise later; and Gudmund observed that so much meat and talk gave a man a fine thirst, and praised the excellence of Thorkel’s ale. Thorkel shook his head and said that it was, in truth, the best that he could offer them for the moment, but that it was nothing compared with the ale in England, where the best hops in the world grew. Then even Jostein had to agree that this sounded like a land worth voyaging to. So they took each other by the hand and swore to be faithful and to keep their word; then, when they had returned to their ships, three sheep were slaughtered over the bows of each chieftain’s vessel, as a sacrifice to the sea people for weather-luck and a good voyage. All the crews were well satisfied with the agreement that their chieftains had made; and Thorkel’s reputation, which was already great in the eyes of his men, waxed because of the wisdom he had displayed in this matter.