The Iron Arrow Head or The Buckler Maiden: A Tale of the Northman Invasion

ersman, a man of about thirty years, of a merry face and clad in the coat and wide breeches of the skippers of the Seine, was named Simon Large-Ears. He owed his surnam

services in the capacity of pilot and oarsmen, the moment that the numerous Northman fleet had appeared at the mouth of the Seine. Simon and his comrades, as well as many other Gallic serfs, who availed themse

e light mist that frequently rises at sunset from the surface of the river's waters. Simon Large-Ears, seated at the poop, and, as pilot, hold

! They must be courted with rough sword whacks, caressed with battle-axe cracks, and their hearts can be reached only by

towards his bench-mate, a gigantic Northman of a beard so blonde that it seemed almost white, Robin said: "Helloa, Lodbrog! If a

one with the sword, become men, everyone of whom are worth ten others in vigor and bravery," answered the gia

a low voice and with an accent of deference that

ied Simon; "but by the devil! Expl

enemies," explained one of the Northmans,

erstood the mysterious words of the pirates. At this moment Ga?lo approached his men. He had awakened from the profo

e ahead of the Beautiful Shigne and seize the abbey of St.

re than once, when I was a serf of the fishery of St. Paterne, may hell consume it, I took your words simply as a lover's jest. Guarded as the abbey is, and fortified

ount, the seigneur and master of a province that Charles the Bald, grandfather of Charles the Simple, who is now king of the Fra

would, indeed, be my answer. A swi

hartres and master of the country if not a pirate who one time was

stain in mind, the old bandit who fought in the

ad sacked

s ships fu

f Rome he

would g

ould take

and pi

of Rome

d Boern I

ng, "listen well with both your large ears t

swered Robin, resuming t

Into

g, the pi

ir ships

of the

ain gave

return t

he Frank

hey their

old Frank

the pirat

to Hasta

not th

nor plun

eignioria

establ

f the C

the pir

the offe

ed agr

am wi

the barga

became t

ast Char

e a swi

which he joined his piercing voice to the deep voices of the pirates, who, striking with their

the barg

became t

ast Char

e a swi

herd serf could become the master of a province, do you hold it impossible for fifteen reso

with their oars the bucklers that hung from the sides of the holker. "To St. Den

would have handled a reed, he bellowed at the top of his voice: "To St. Denis! To St. Denis!" And intoxicating and lashing himself into a fury with his own clamor, his savage features speedily betokened a degree of exaltati

Northmans, who had for some little while before been obse

ad time to prevent it, all the pirates threw themselves upon the gia

by its roof; its walls arrested for a moment the demented course of the berserker. But the obstacle redoubled his rage. The trunk of the poplar served him for a ram. Its repeated blows broke through a portion of the lower wall, which thereupon came tumbling down with a great crash. Held up by the iron work in the opposite wall, a portion of the roof still remained in place. The giant clambered over the debris, grasped the beams of the roof with both hands and shook them furiously, ever bellowing: "To St. Denis! To St. Denis!" At last the beams yielded, and the worm-eaten roof, still partly covered with tiles, sank down upon Lodbrog with a deafening crash. For an instant the raging maniac disappeared under a cloud of dust, but presently reappeared unscathed fro

rt of epilepsy peculiar to the berserkers, with whom the anticipation or the ardor of battle, anger or drunkenness brought on the spell. Simon Large-Ears and Robin Jaws, however, now witnessed the

ely dead! We have n

gerous to their friends as to their enemies. If that berserker had rema

that must have surely weighed three times as much as any man," added Large-Ears. "What an amount of strength all wasted! How he would have scat

s of the oars we can reach the isle, and presently you will

me, I prefer to stay on the vessel with my friend Robin;" and Large-Ears never once took his eyes off the

Robin as the holker approached the shore. "It will be a sweet sensation for Lodbrog to rec

thought to be extinct, suddenly fl

e, while his companions vainly sought to raise Lodbrog into a sitting posture. The body was rigid like a bar of iron. They found it impossible to extract from his clenched fist a stone that he still held as firmly as in a vise between his fingers. His face, surrounded

Ga?lo. "You will blind

his sandy douches. "It is especially when the fine g

ed and allowed the stone that they clenched to roll off. A few minutes later his limbs became supple. One of the Northmans ran to the river and di

celestial Walhalla promised

wered him. "You have broken down a score of huge trees and demolished a h

surprised at having played such havoc. I began to feel myself berserk when I cried out, 'To St. Denis!' and all the time afte

y. "The moon will rise early; we shall row all night; to-morrow e