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038 - King Magnus Barefoot · Manx Fairy Tales

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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirty seven of Manx Fairy Tales. This is a
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Kurt from Tucson, Arizona. Manx Fairy Tales by
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  Speaker 1: Sophia Morrison. King Magnus Barefoot Magnus, great nephew of Olaf
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  Speaker 1: the Saint, was King of Norway in the days when
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  Speaker 1: the Norwegian kings were lords over Man, and he was
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  Speaker 1: called by the name of Barefoot because he wore kilts.
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  Speaker 1: He was the bravest and most beautiful young king of
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  Speaker 1: his time, Tall and strong and brilliant as a meteor.
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  Speaker 1: He wore a helmet on his head and carried a
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  Speaker 1: red shield with a golden lion upon it. He had
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  Speaker 1: in his belt a sword of exceeding sharpness with an
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  Speaker 1: ivory hilt inlaid with gold, and a keen javelin in
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  Speaker 1: his hand. Over his coat of mail was a tunic
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  Speaker 1: of ruby red embroidered with a golden lion. He was
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  Speaker 1: a fine and valiant figure. It was he who brought
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  Speaker 1: King Olaf's Cup of Peace to our island, and this
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  Speaker 1: is the way it happened. Magnus was sitting at supper
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  Speaker 1: one day with his chief men, and their talk ran
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  Speaker 1: on the beautiful shrine of Olaf the Saint, which was
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  Speaker 1: the wonder of its age. They spake to one another
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  Speaker 1: of how it was said that Olaf's body would never
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  Speaker 1: be destroyed by death, but would remain as in life,
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  Speaker 1: and would heal those who prayed at the shrine of
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  Speaker 1: any sickness. Magnus laughed the story to scorn and said, boldly,
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  Speaker 1: seeing is believing, Let the shrine be open, that we
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  Speaker 1: may see for ourselves if the story be true. Then
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  Speaker 1: the bishop and clergy were horrified and begged the King,
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  Speaker 1: O King, let not the thing be done. It will
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  Speaker 1: surely bring evil on thee. But Magnus commanded, let the
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  Speaker 1: shrine be opened at once. I fear no man alive
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  Speaker 1: or dead. So his will was done, and when the
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  Speaker 1: jeweled shrine was opened, all saw the body of Holy Olaf,
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  Speaker 1: lying incorrupt and fair as if alive. Magnus touched it
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  Speaker 1: with his hands, but was suddenly seized with a great fear.
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  Speaker 1: He went away in haste, but took with him the
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  Speaker 1: lovely crystal cup that lay beside the saint. Next night,
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  Speaker 1: in his sleep he had a vision of King Olaf,
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  Speaker 1: majestic and stern said to him, Jews, I tell you
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  Speaker 1: one of two things, either to lose your kingdom and
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  Speaker 1: life within thirty days, or to leave Norway and never
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  Speaker 1: see it again. Magnus awoke and called his chiefs and
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  Speaker 1: great men to tell them of his vision, O King.
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  Speaker 1: They cried in fear, leave Norway with all speed, and
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  Speaker 1: keep thy life and kingship. So Magnus, who was the
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  Speaker 1: last of our great sea kings, got together a fleet
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  Speaker 1: of one hundred sixty long ships, each with twenty or
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  Speaker 1: thirty rowers, benches, and with boughs carved in the shape
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  Speaker 1: of dragons. He loved the sea, and like a true Viking,
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  Speaker 1: he used to say, I will never sleep under a
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  Speaker 1: sooty rafter, nor drink in the chimney corner. Away he
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  Speaker 1: sailed to the Orkneys. He conquered them in all the
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  Speaker 1: western islands, and came to man He put in at
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  Speaker 1: Saint Patrick's Isle and went to see the sight of
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  Speaker 1: the Battle of Saint Wat near Peel, which had been
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  Speaker 1: fought three days before between the Manks of North and South.
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  Speaker 1: The beauty of our island pleased his eyes, and he
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  Speaker 1: chose it for his dwelling place. He made the men
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  Speaker 1: of Galloway cut timber and bring it over to make
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  Speaker 1: three forts for him. In one of them, near Douglas,
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  Speaker 1: he placed the Cup of Peace, which he knew would
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  Speaker 1: be well guarded by the Leaninshi the peace Fairy, who
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  Speaker 1: never left it. Then he sailed to Anglesey and made
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  Speaker 1: himself lord over it. But he soon came back to
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  Speaker 1: the Isle of Man, for it pleased him best. On
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  Speaker 1: his return he sent his dirty shoes over to Morrow,
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  Speaker 1: King of Ireland, with this message. Magnus Barefoot, King of
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  Speaker 1: Norway and the Isles, bids thee carry his dirty shoes
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  Speaker 1: on thy shoulders through thy house on Christmas Day in
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  Speaker 1: thy royal state and own that thou hast thy kingdom
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  Speaker 1: in power from the Lord of Norway and the Isles,
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  Speaker 1: And this thou must do in sight of his envoys.
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  Speaker 1: When the Irish heard this, they were furiously angry and indignant.
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  Speaker 1: But wise King Morro said, I will not only carry
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  Speaker 1: the shoes, but eat them, Rather than that Magnus should
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  Speaker 1: ruin a single province in Ireland. Then he carried the
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  Speaker 1: shoes on Christmas Day, as Magnus bade treated the messengers
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  Speaker 1: with honor and sent them back to Man with many
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  Speaker 1: fine gifts for their king, with whom he made a
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  Speaker 1: treaty of peace. But the envoys told their master of
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  Speaker 1: their richness of the Irish lands and the pleasantness of
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  Speaker 1: the air, and Magnus kept it in his mind. After this,
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  Speaker 1: the King of Scotland sent a message to him, saying,
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  Speaker 1: cease to make war against me, and I will yield
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  Speaker 1: thee those of the western isles, that thou canst from
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  Speaker 1: the mainland go round in a vessel with a paddle rudder.
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  Speaker 1: Magnus made peace on those terms, and so the Norse
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  Speaker 1: kings gained the southern isles, among which they counted the
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  Speaker 1: Peninsula of Cantyre. Because Magnus, sitting at the helm, caused
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  Speaker 1: his great warship to be dragged across the neck of
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  Speaker 1: the land which joins it to the mainland, his vikings
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  Speaker 1: shouted with triumph as they pulled the ship along with
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  Speaker 1: their young king and his red and gold, laughing at
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  Speaker 1: the stern. But all this time in his heart Magnus
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  Speaker 1: could think of nothing but the conquest of Ireland. He
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  Speaker 1: sailed to the coast of Down, where he began to
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  Speaker 1: invade and pillage. It was on Saint Bartholomew's day eleven
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  Speaker 1: o three that his last battle was fought. The Irish
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  Speaker 1: had promised to bring him cattle for his troops the
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  Speaker 1: day before, but as they had not come, he landed
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  Speaker 1: his men and marched them to the top of the
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  Speaker 1: hill on the plain of Coba. From this place he
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  Speaker 1: could see all the country round, and presently there appeared
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  Speaker 1: a great cloud of dust in the distance. Some of
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  Speaker 1: his men said that it was an army approaching, others
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  Speaker 1: that it was the herd of cattle. The last were right,
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  Speaker 1: and when the cattle had been handed over, Magnus and
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  Speaker 1: his men returned towards his ships. It was now the
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  Speaker 1: noon of a calm and sunny day when they reached
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  Speaker 1: the marshes. Suddenly a band of Irish rushed out from
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  Speaker 1: their ambush and a wood close by, and attacked them fiercely.
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  Speaker 1: Magnus ordered his chief ivander to down the trumpet and
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  Speaker 1: summon his men around the royal standard. He ordered them
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  Speaker 1: to close ranks with overlapping shields until they got to
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  Speaker 1: the dry ground where they would be safe. They made
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  Speaker 1: their way as far as an old fort, but the
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  Speaker 1: Irish pressed them and slew many of them. Then the
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  Speaker 1: king called to a chief named Thorgrim, do you, with
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  Speaker 1: your cohort, crossed the rampart and occupy the hill opposite
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  Speaker 1: with your archers till we join you. Thorgrim and his
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  Speaker 1: men did as they were told and crossed over. But
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  Speaker 1: when they were across, they put their shields on their
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  Speaker 1: backs and fled to the ships. When Magnus saw them,
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  Speaker 1: he shouted, is it thus you run, you coward. I
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  Speaker 1: was a fool to send you instead of Sigurd, who
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  Speaker 1: would not thus desert me. Magnus fought like a lion,
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  Speaker 1: but soon he was pierced through the thigh by a spear.
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  Speaker 1: He pulled it out and snapped it beneath his feet, crying,
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  Speaker 1: thus we young warriors break these twigs. Fight on bravely,
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  Speaker 1: my men, and fear no danger for me. His men
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  Speaker 1: prayed him to try to spare himself, but he said,
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  Speaker 1: better for a people to have a brave king than
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  Speaker 1: an old king, and so saying foremost in battle, he
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  Speaker 1: met his death. End of chapter thirty seven