Owing to the pig stink that permeated his clothing and person, poor Helmuth was never allowed inside the house. When it rained or snowed he slept in the barn, but when the days were fine and warm, Helmuth slept outside with heaven's vast starfields his only roof. Even had he not preferred it, he would have done so anyway to guard his precious swine from the wolves. Odd, when he was not working, stayed always with Helmuth.
That I should take meals with the family while my brother slaves ate alone outside or together in the barn, caused me some little anguish on their account. But as no one else seemed to think it any hardship, and Odd and Helmuth were apparently content, I very soon came to accept the arrangement.
After breaking fast that first day Gunnar, accompanied by young Ulf and the two hounds, went out to examine the state of his domain. In all it was a handsome holding, everything well made and neatly ordered; he was justly proud of what he had accomplished in the harsh northland. For his part, little Ulf was proud of his father; I observed that he never left his father's side the whole day long.
We walked the fields together, Gunnar and Ulf chattering away, myself lagging behind as, now and again, my master stopped to inspect some part or portion of his holding: a ploughed field, a new calf, an iron binding for a door, the level of grain in the granary, the fishpond, a length of newly-woven hurdle fencing-anything that came to hand. A blind man could have perceived how much this rough brawny Dane loved his land, concerning himself with every detail of its husbandry.
All that first day we traversed the boundaries of Gunnar's realm-a lonely island fortress, as it seemed to me, set in an evergreen sea, cut off from the wider world. As the days passed, I felt more and more distant to the world I had known. Our little abbey, by contrast, was a busy port on a well-travelled route where trade was conducted not in silver, but in words.
Gunnar had saved me from certain death, that I will not deny. But the cost of my salvation was high indeed. I felt lost and very, very alone. Accordingly, I began to pray the daily round, and to say psalms when I had the chance. One night, at table, I prayed aloud over the meal while my master and his family looked on in amazement. So taken aback were they by this peculiar behaviour, it did not occur to them to prevent me. In time, they came to expect it and waited for me to say the prayer before eating. The ritual, I suppose, appealed to them. I have no idea what they made of it.
That first evening, however, when I raised my head from the prayer, I found Gunnar staring at me. Karin stood at his shoulder, also gazing at me, and prodding her husband insistently. He spoke a few words to her and she desisted.
The next morning, my master took me to Helmuth and, using a complicated series of gestures, indicated that I should pray again as I had the night before.
This I did.
The effect this produced upon the swineherd was extraordinary. He threw down his stick, sank to his knees and cried out, clasping his hands, his lips quivering in thanksgiving as huge wet tears filled his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. Then up he leaped, clutching me by the arms and crying, "Alleluia! Alleluia!"
Gunnar watched this with a bemused expression on his face. Helmuth subsided after a moment, and fell to murmuring to himself. Gunnar spoke a few words to him, whereupon the swineherd seized his master's hand, kissed it, and blubbered enthusiastically. The baffled Dane nodded curtly to his slave, then turned on his heel and left us there together with the pigs.
"Master Gunnar says I am to be…" Helmuth paused, searching his dusty memory for the proper word. "Heya! I am to be pupil-nay, not pupil…scolere, nay…teacher! Alleluia!" He beamed ecstatically, and I had the uncomfortable feeling that I was seeing zealous Brother Diarmot in another guise.
"I am to be the teacher of you," Helmuth continued. "You are to be pupil to me." He studied me for my reaction.
"Forgive me, friend, I mean no offence," I replied, "but how is it that every skald and swineherd knows and speaks good Latin?" I then went on to tell him about Scop.
"Scop!" he cried. "Scop it was who taught me. An excellent man, Scop. I was sent to him as a boy to sit at his feet and learn the mirabili mundi! I was one of his best pupils!"
"He was still a priest then."
"Priest he was, yes," Helmuth confirmed, "and his name was Ceawlin, a most holy and righteous man-a Saecsen, like me. He taught me the love of Jesu and the veneration of the saints, and much else. I thought to be a priest myself," he halted, shaking his head sadly, "but that was not to be." He looked at me. "Though it is long since I have heard the Mass, I still believe. And I often speak to the All Father-I ask him to send me someone to talk to. He has sent you, I think."
