King Edgar's Elephant Read online

nearly sank with her weight!

  But she put her front feet into the second boat, and the first one rose up, so that both were well enough out of the water for the crossing. "She's a muckle wecht!" the boatman said, pushing the ferry out into deeper water, while Olifant began picking up with her trunk some hay that Thorgils scattered on the deck. And helping herself to his sack of apples when he was not looking.

  On the shoulder of the Hill of Craigie, Thorgils and Olifant stopped for a rest and to gaze at the view - for there before them lay their final destination, a broad plain

  beside a wide river flowing down from a distant wall of hills, and on the river's edge

  a cluster of small houses with smoke drifting from their thatched roofs

  This was St. John's toun, and with a shock Thorgils realized the roofs were smoking because they were on fire!

  He peered at the riverside and saw three longships with dragons carved on their prows, and striped sails, pulled up just south of the town. "Danes!" thought Thorgils grimly, " Sacking the very place we are going to."

  He urged Olifant down the hill and along the high ground to the west of the river, and as they approached the outlying houses, several people ran out, pursued by three vikings waving swords.

  Thorgils dug his heels hard into Olifant's neck to make her go faster, and she broke into a run, bearing down on the three men with swords, who stopped dead in their tracks and stared with widening eyes at what must have seemed like their worst nightmare coming straight at them.

  Perhaps Olifant sensed that the men were up to no good, for she did then what

  Thorgils had never seen before; she raised her trunk into the air and blew a long, loud trumpeting cry of anger which pierced the air and struck terror into the three vikings who actually dropped their swords -something a viking never does - and ran as fast as they could back towards their boats.

  The smell of the burning and the drifting smoke caused Thorgil's eyes to water, and it maddened Olifant who stopped running, and trumpeted again and again, each blast like the trumpets of doom at the end of the world.

  More Danish vikings appeared from between the houses, some carrying sacks of plunder, looking this way and that to see what was making the din. When they caught sight of the great beast with her trunk high in the air and heard her fearful cries, they too dropped whatever was in their hands and ran with amazing speed towards the boats. Thorgils had to laugh at the sight, for he knew they would never be allowed to forget such cowardly conduct.

  Then the main body of vikings came hurrying out of the town, carrying their shields and spears and axes, and ready for battle. Men from the town soon followed, also armed with spears and axes and a few with helmets or chain mail.

  The vikings halted and formed a wall with their shields, spears bristling between them, while the townsmen stopped at a safe distance, threatening them with spears but not daring to get too close.

  Then all eyes turned as the elephant, with Thorgils on her back, emerged from the smoke, raised her snake-like trunk to the sky, and blew a great trumpeting bugle -cry.

  The line of armed vikings began to back slowly away, shields held high so that only their round white eyes could be seen over the rims. When they had retreated some distance, there was a shout from their leader, and all of them turned and ran for the boats, which were now in the water and ready to go downstream and back to Denmark.

  Thorgils felt like cheering as he watched the scampering men clamber aboard their longships and begin rowing downstream as if they were in a race. "It was worth the whole journey just to see that," he said out loud to Olifant, who was beginning to calm down. "This feat deserves a verse, at least...

  Her trumpet blared,

  Over shields

  Men stared,

  And fled the Kamal's wrath,"

  Then Thorgils turned to look at the townsmen on the meadow. Led by a man in a chainmail shirt, they had all dropped to their knees and were - he thought he was in a dwam - SINGING! Your houses are burning, he almost said to them, but then reflected that they must know that already, and this is more important.

  They stopped chanting their hymn, the man in the chainmail shirt rose and replaced his sword in its sheath, then walked slowly over to Thorgils and Olifant. Better to dismount, thought Thorgils, and slid from her back, to face the man as he approached.

  "I am Edgar, " he announced, " and who are you that has saved us from those vile pirates?"

  " Thorgils, from Orkney, but your saviour is from the Holy land." At this he stopped, for Edgar had fallen again to his knees and crossed himself..."This Kamal I mean. Her name is Olifant." Edgar rose to his feet and began walking slowly around her, staring with wonder. "And strange as it may seem," continued Thorgils, " I have been sent here by Earl Sigurd, your Uncle, to present her to you."

  Edgar could only shake his head in wonderment; he was at a loss for words. Finally he said "Well met; well met indeed."

  Olifant plucked a clump of tall grass from the meadow and stuffed it into her mouth, and began chewing, while regarding the King through her elephant eyes.

  Other men began to come over, to join the King, to look at Olifant, and to thank

  Thorgils, shaking his hand.

  One of them introduced himself to Thorgils: "My name is Walter, the King's Steward, and you came in the very nick of time, for those..." he snarled in the direction of the three longships, now disappearing around the bend in the river..."Pagans had trapped us in the church and had set fire to it, hoping to burn the king. It must be a miracle that you came, a sign of God's favour."

  Thorgils was quite pleased to be thought of as a messenger from God as well as from Earl Sigurd. But he was not so happy to be parting with Olifant, of whom he had grown fond.

  Thorgils pulled his bags from Olifant's back and said in her ear, "There is your new master; serve him well as you have served me," and he slapped her flank. Over to the King she went, reached out her trunk and sniffed him loudly. Thorgils turned away for he did not want anyone to see tears in his eyes.

  Thorgils was greatly surprised when he awoke to find himself in a bed. He could barely remember the last time he had been in a bed, before setting off for the Holy Land with Sigurd. To be sure, there were also two other men in the bed, snoring deeply, but still Thorgils felt this was as close to real luxury as he had been for a while. He got up, wearing his linen breeks and shirt, and scratched himself - a few bites, not too many, he thought.

  There was a splendid looking red silk tunic with gold stitching, lying across the blankets. Thorgils blinked and recalled that it had something to do with him...yes, it was his, in fact; King Edgar had given it to him the night before, that was it. His head ached and he suddenly felt very thirsty.

  Pulling the tunic over his head, he pushed open the door and staggered into the street, still groggy with sleep, but curious to know where he was.

  The sound of trumpeting filled the air, Taraa Taraa. But it was not an elephant trumpet, these were brass trumpets,blown by people, many people. The din grew louder, then it stopped, and there was a great cheer, hurrah, hurrah!

  Everyone with a trumpet had been told by King Edgar to come to the town cross and there all the trumpets had been blown at once, to celebrate their deliverance from the viking pirates and to honour their saviour, for imitation is the sincerest form of gratitude.

  And sure enough, there was an answering blast from Oliphant, who felt she had to add her voice, just to show how it should be done.

  "From this day on," said the King in his loudest voice so everyone could hear, "each of my subjects must have a trumpet and will carry it with him where ever he goes!"

  "I suppose it is time I was going home, back to Orkney," said Thorgils.

  "There is a man over the river in Scone who comes from there," said Walter, "and he is going back someday soon. His name is Olaf."

  "I know him," exclaimed Thorgils, "It's Erland's boy who was taken hostage by King Magnus and who esc
aped from Magnus's boat when he was off the west coast. We all had to go ashore and look for him, but even the bloodhounds lost the trail. Lucky for him , as Barelegs was not one to cross."

  "He feels it is safe to go home now that King Magnus is dead. Edgar gave him a job to keep him busy, looking after the royal stables across the river. I hope I get that job when he leaves."

  "In that case," replied Thorgils, "You may find yourself looking after Olifant as well. She will eat as much hay as several horses, and you must hide the apples when she is around. And she does not like the cold. Take this money" - he handed several foreign coins made of silver to Walter - " and buy her a coat of many fleeces before the winter sets in."

  And so Thorgils joined Olaf on a boat heading for Orkney, laden with timber to trade for wool, and they sailed down the Tay with the ebbing tide, very glad to be going home at last. And as they rounded the bend in the river, they heard the far away sound of a trumpet carrying over the glassy green water - or was it the elephant's farewell,

  AFTERWORD

  Many years have passed since then, and St. John's toun is now called Perth, but if you go there, you will find an old church in the centre of town on the same spot where King Edgar escaped the pirates. And at the back, you can see a small side street named "Oliphant's Vennel". I wonder how it got that name?

  And that is how it was that Edgar, King of Scotia in the far north of

  Britain, came to have an