Post by pup on Jun 16, 2006 1:02:27 GMT -5
He then drew with the handle of his ax a circle, some twenty feet in diameter, in the dirt floor of the circle. It was a bond-maid circle. "Females," he cried, gesturing with the great ax toward the wall opposite the doors, "swiftly! To the wall! Stand with your backs against it!"
Chapter three page 54
The nineteen girls regarded him, terrified, eyes wide, their faces lit in the left side by the flames of the burning wall. "Go to the bond-maid circle," said Ivar Forkbeard, indicating the circle he had drawn in the dirt. The women cried out in misery. To enter the circle, if one is a female, is, by the laws of Torvaldsland, to declare oneself a bond-maid. A woman, of course, need not to enter the circle of her own free will. She may, for example, be thrown within it, naked and bound. Howsoever she enters the circle, voluntarily, or by force, free or secured, she emerges from it, by the laws of Torvaldsland, as a bond-maid. Seventeen of the girls, weeping, fled to the circle, and huddled within it. Two did not, the slender blond girl and the larger one, in black velvet. "I am Aelgifu," said the large girl. "I am the daughter of Gurt of Kassau. He is administrator. There will be ransom money for me." "It is true!" cried a man, the burgher in black satin, whose chain of office Forkbeard had torn from his neck. "One hundred pieces of gold," said Forkbeard to him observing the girl. She stiffened. "Yes," cried the man. "Yes!" "Five nights from this night," said Ivar Forkbeard, "on the skerry of Einar by the rune-stone of the Torvaldsmark." I had heard of this stone. It is taken by many to mark the border between Torvaldsland and the south. Many of those of Torvaldsland, however, take its borders to be much farther extended than the Torvalds regard Torvaldsmark. Indeed, some of their ships beach, as the took their country, and their steel, with them. "Go to the bond-maid circle," said Ivar Forkbeard to the large girl, "but do not enter it." "Yes," she said, hurrying to its edge. "The wall of the temple will not last much longer, " said one of the men of the Forkbeard. Forkbeard looked then at the younger, blond, more slender girl, she with her hair now loose, the snood of scarlet. She looked up at him, boldly. "My father is poorer than Aelgifu's," she said, "but forme, too, there will be a ransom." She looked at him with horror. In the crowd I heard a man and a woman cry out with misery. "Go to the circle and enter it," said Ivar Forkbeard to the girl. She held up her head. "No," she said. "I am free. Never will I consent to be a bond-maid. I shall first choose death!" "Very well," laughed the Forkbeard. "Kneel." Startled, she did so, uncertainly. "Put your head down," he said, "throw your hair forward, exposing your neck." She did so. He lifted the great ax. Suddenly she cried out and thrust her head to his boot. She held his ankl.e. Have mery on a bond-maid!" she wept. Ivar Forkbeard laughed and reached down and pulled her up by the arm, his great fist closed about her arm within the white woolen blouse, and thrust her stumbling well within the circle.
Chapter three page 56-57
Chapter three page 54
The nineteen girls regarded him, terrified, eyes wide, their faces lit in the left side by the flames of the burning wall. "Go to the bond-maid circle," said Ivar Forkbeard, indicating the circle he had drawn in the dirt. The women cried out in misery. To enter the circle, if one is a female, is, by the laws of Torvaldsland, to declare oneself a bond-maid. A woman, of course, need not to enter the circle of her own free will. She may, for example, be thrown within it, naked and bound. Howsoever she enters the circle, voluntarily, or by force, free or secured, she emerges from it, by the laws of Torvaldsland, as a bond-maid. Seventeen of the girls, weeping, fled to the circle, and huddled within it. Two did not, the slender blond girl and the larger one, in black velvet. "I am Aelgifu," said the large girl. "I am the daughter of Gurt of Kassau. He is administrator. There will be ransom money for me." "It is true!" cried a man, the burgher in black satin, whose chain of office Forkbeard had torn from his neck. "One hundred pieces of gold," said Forkbeard to him observing the girl. She stiffened. "Yes," cried the man. "Yes!" "Five nights from this night," said Ivar Forkbeard, "on the skerry of Einar by the rune-stone of the Torvaldsmark." I had heard of this stone. It is taken by many to mark the border between Torvaldsland and the south. Many of those of Torvaldsland, however, take its borders to be much farther extended than the Torvalds regard Torvaldsmark. Indeed, some of their ships beach, as the took their country, and their steel, with them. "Go to the bond-maid circle," said Ivar Forkbeard to the large girl, "but do not enter it." "Yes," she said, hurrying to its edge. "The wall of the temple will not last much longer, " said one of the men of the Forkbeard. Forkbeard looked then at the younger, blond, more slender girl, she with her hair now loose, the snood of scarlet. She looked up at him, boldly. "My father is poorer than Aelgifu's," she said, "but forme, too, there will be a ransom." She looked at him with horror. In the crowd I heard a man and a woman cry out with misery. "Go to the circle and enter it," said Ivar Forkbeard to the girl. She held up her head. "No," she said. "I am free. Never will I consent to be a bond-maid. I shall first choose death!" "Very well," laughed the Forkbeard. "Kneel." Startled, she did so, uncertainly. "Put your head down," he said, "throw your hair forward, exposing your neck." She did so. He lifted the great ax. Suddenly she cried out and thrust her head to his boot. She held his ankl.e. Have mery on a bond-maid!" she wept. Ivar Forkbeard laughed and reached down and pulled her up by the arm, his great fist closed about her arm within the white woolen blouse, and thrust her stumbling well within the circle.
Chapter three page 56-57