Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen (54 page)
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Authors: Henrik Ibsen
Örnulf. Thou say’st truly. To-night will I shield the slayer of Thorolf; but tomorrow he must die.
Sigurd. He or I — doubt not of that!
Örnulf. Come then, to take vengeance for Örnulf’s sons.
[He goes out with his men by the back, to the right.]
Sigurd. Dagny, do thou follow them; — I must bide here; for the rumour of the combat is already abroad, and I may not meet Gunnar ere the time comes. But thou — do thou keep rein on thy father; he must go honourably to work; in Gunnar’s hall there are many women; no harm must befall Hiördis or the rest.
Dagny. Yes, I will follow them. Thou hast a kind thought even for Hiördis; I thank thee.
Sigurd. Go, go, Dagny!
Dagny. I go; but be thou at ease as to Hiördis; she has gilded armour in her bower, and will know how to shield herself.
Sigurd. That deem I too; but go thou nevertheless; guide thy father’s course; watch over all — and over Gunnar’s wife!
Dagny. Trust to me. Farewell, till we meet again.
[She follows the others.]
Sigurd. ‘Tis the first time, foster-brother, that I stand weaponless whilst thou art in danger.
[Listens.]
I hear shouts and sword-strokes; — they are already at the hall.
[Goes towards the right, but stops and recoils in astonishment.]
Hiördis! Comes she hither!
[Hiördis enters, clad in a short scarlet kirtle, with gilded armour: helmet, hauberk, arm-plates, and greaves. Her hair is flying loose; at her back hangs a quiver, and at her belt a small shield. She has in her hand the bow strung with her hair.]
Hiördis
[hastily looking behind her, as though in dread of something pursuing her, goes close up to Sigurd, seizes him by the arm, and whispers:]
Sigurd, Sigurd, canst thou see it?
Sigurd. What? Where?
Hiördis. The wolf there — close behind me; it does not move; it glares at me with its two red eyes. It is my wraith,
13
, Sigurd! Three times has it appeared to me; that bodes that I shall surely die to-night!
13
The word “wraith” is here used in an obviously inexact sense; but the wraith seemed to be the nearest equivalent in English mythology to the Scandinavian “fylgie,” an attendant spirit, often regarded as a sort of emanation from the person it accompanied, and sometimes
[as in this case]
typifying that person’s moral attributes.
Sigurd. Hiördis, Hiördis!
Hiördis. It has sunk into the earth! Yes, yes, now it has warned me.
Sigurd. Thou art sick; come, go in with me.
Hiördis. Nay, here will I bide; I have but little time left.
Sigurd. What has befallen thee?
Hiördis. What has befallen? That know I not; but true was it what thou said’st today, that Gunnar and Dagny stand between us; we must away from them and from life: then can we be together!
Sigurd. We? Ha, thou meanest —— !
Hiördis
[with dignity]
. I have been homeless in this world from that day thou didst take another to wife. That was ill done of thee! All good gifts may a man give his faithful friend — all, save the woman he loves; for if he do that, he rends the Norn’s secret web, and two lives are wrecked. An unerring voice within me tells me I came into the world that my strong soul might cheer and sustain thee through heavy days, and that thou wast born to the end I might find in
one
man all that seemed to me great and noble; for this I know Sigurd — had we two held together, thou hadst become more famous than all others, and I happier.
Sigurd. It avails not now to mourn. Thinkest thou it is a merry life that awaits me? To be by Dagny’s side day be day, and feign a love my heart shrinks from? Yet so it must be; it cannot be altered.
Hiördis
[in a growing frenzy]
. It
shall
be altered! We must out of this life, both of us! Seest thou this bow-string? With it can I surely hit my mark; for I have crooned fair sorceries over it!
[Places an arrow in the bow, which is strung.]
Hark! hearest thou that rushing in the air? It is the dead men’s ride to Nalhal: I have bewitched them hither; — we two will join them in their ride!
Sigurd
[shrinking back]
. Hiördis, Hiördis — I fear thee!
Hiördis
[not heeding him]
. Our fate no power can alter now! Oh, ‘tis better so than if thou hadst wedded me here in this life — if I had sat in thy homestead weaving linen and wool for thee and bearing thee children — pah!
Sigurd. Hold, hold! Thy sorcery has been too strong for thee; thou art soul-sick, Hiördis!
[Horror-struck.]
Ha, see — see! Gunnar’s hall — it is burning!
Hiördis. Let it burn, let it burn! The cloud-hall up yonder is loftier than Gunnar’s rafter-roof!
Sigurd. But Egil, thy son — they are slaying him!
Hiördis. Let him die — my shame dies with him!
Sigurd. And Gunnar — they are taking thy husband’s life!
Hiördis. What care I! A better husband shall I follow home this night! Ay, Sigurd, so must it be; here on this earth is no happiness for me. The White God is coming northward; him will I not meet; the old gods are strong no longer; — they sleep, they sit half shadow-high; — with them will we strive! Out of this life, Sigurd; I will enthrone thee king in heaven, and I will sit at thy side.
[The storm bursts wildly.]
Hark, hark, here comes our company! Canst see the black steeds galloping? — one is for me and one for thee.
[Draws the arrow to her ear and shoots.]
Away, then, on thy last ride home!
Sigurd. Well aimed, Hiördis!
[He falls.]
Hiördis
[jubilant, rushes up to him]
. Sigurd, my brother, — now art thou mine at last!
Sigurd. Now less than ever. Here our ways part; for I am a Christian man.
Hiördis
[appalled]
. Thou —— ! Ha, no, no!
Sigurd. The White God is mine; King Æthelstan taught me to know him; it is to him I go.
Hiördis
[in despair]
. And I —— !
[Drops her bow.]
Woe! woe!
Sigurd. Heavy has my life been from the hour I tore thee out of my own heart and gave thee to Gunnar. Thanks, Hiördis; — now am I so light and free.
[Dies.]
Hiördis
[quietly]
. Dead! Then truly have I brought my soul to wreck!
[The storm increases; she breaks forth wildly.]
They come! I have bewitched them hither! No, no! I will not go with you! I will not ride without Sigurd! It avails not — they see me; they laugh and beckon to me; they spur their horses!
[Rushes out to the edge of the cliff at the back.]
They are upon me; — and no shelter no hiding — place! Ay, mayhap at the bottom of the sea!
[She casts herself over.]
[Örnulf, Dagny, Gunnar, with Egil, followed by Sigurd’s and Örnulf’s men, gradually enter from the right.]
Örnulf
[turning towards the grave-mound]
. Now may ye sleep in peace; for ye lie not unavenged.
Dagny
[entering]
. Father, father — I die of fear — all that bloody strife — and the storm; — hark, hark!
Gunnar
[carrying Egil]
. Peace, and shelter for my child!
Örnulf. Gunnar!
Gunnar. Ay, Örnulf, my homestead is burnt and my men are slain; I am in thy power; do with me what thou wilt!
Örnulf. That Sigurd must look to. But in, under roof! It is not safe out here.
Dagny. Ay, in, in!
[Goes towards the boat-house, catches sight of Sigurd’s body, and shrieks.]
Sigurd, my husband! — They have slain him!
[Throwing herself upon him.]
Örnulf
[rushes up]
. Sigurd!
Gunnar
[sets Egil down]
. Sigurd dead!
Dagny
[looks despairingly at the men, who surround the body]
. No, no, it is not so; — he must be alive!
[Catches sight of the bow.]
Ha, what is that?
[Rises.]
Örnulf. Daughter, it is as first thou saidst — Sigurd is slain.
Gunnar
[as if seized by a sudden thought]
. And Hiördis! — Has Hiördis been here?
Dagny
[softly and with self-control]
. I know not; but this I know, that her bow has been here.
Gunnar. Ay, I thought as much!
Dagny. Hush, hush!
[To herself.]
So bitterly did she hate him!
Gunnar
[aside]
. She has slain him — the night before the combat; then she loved me after all.
[A thrill of dread runs through the whole group; Asgardsreien — the ride of the fallen heroes to Valhal — hurtles through the air.]
Egil
[in terror]
. Father! See, see!
Gunnar. What is it?
Egil. Up there — all the black horses —— !
Gunnar. It is the clouds that ——
Örnulf. Nay, it is the dead men’s home-faring.
Egil
[with a shriek]
. Mother is with them!
Dagny. All good spirits!
Gunnar. Child, what say’st thou?
Egil. There — in front — on the black horse! Father, father!
[Egil clings in terror to his father; a short pause; the storm passes over, the clouds part, the moon shines peacefully on the scene.]
Gunnar
[in quiet sorrow]
. Now is Hiördis surely dead!
Örnulf. So it must be, Gunnar; — and my vengeance was rather against her than thee. Dear has this meeting been to both of us; ——
—— there is my hand; be there peace between us!
Gunnar. Thanks, Örnulf! And now aboard; I sail with thee to Iceland.
Örnulf. Ay, to Iceland! Long will it be ere our forth-faring is forgotten.
Weapon wielding warrior’s meeting,
woeful by the northern seaboard,
still shall live in song and saga
while our stem endure in Iceland.
Translated by C. H. Herford
After the production of
The Vikings at Helgeland
in 1857, five years were to pass before a new play by Ibsen would appear, being the longest delay in his career as a writer. This was chiefly due to his obligations in the post as artistic director of Kristiania Norske Theater. The idea of
Love’s Comedy
originated in 1858, when themes of love and marriage were on Ibsen’s mind at that time, as on June 18, 1858 he married Suzannah Thoresen. Two central female characters in
The Vikings at Helgeland
and
Love’s Comedy
, Hjørdis and Svanhild, were said to have been modelled on Suzannah.
On June 20, 1862 Ibsen signed a contract with Jonas Lie, the new owner of the weekly literary magazine
Illustreret Nyhedsblad
, regarding the publication of
Love’s Comedy.
The play was advertised as the magazine’s “New Year Gift for
From January 1863 Ibsen had been attached to Christiania Theatre as the aesthetic consultant. Kristiania Norske Theater had gone bankrupt in the summer of 1862, and on June 1st Ibsen had been released from his post at the theatre.
However, the first performance of the play did not take place at this theatre for another ten years. There was a small notice in the magazine
Illustreret Nyhedsblad
of January 25, 1863 to the effect that the play would shortly be produced at the theatre, but the book received poor reviews and the performance was cancelled. Word had spread that the play was immoral, so the theatre did not venture to challenge public opinion.
The first performance of
Love’s Comedy
took place on November 24, 1873 at Christiania Theatre and was a success. Josephson directed, and Sigvart and Laura Gundersen played the parts of Falk and Svanhild.