SOME YEARS AGO I came upon the historical story of the discovery of America by Leif Ericsson in A (8 page)

KING I want no thanks from an outlaw. Still, you have behaved yourselves and made no trouble. Lucky for you. If you had started messing with our women I would have slaughtered the whole lot of you; not one man would have got away to boast of it However, go with my goodwill. Tell King Olaf, when you see him, that I keep this country clean.

LEIF I shall tell him that, sir. I shall tell him that you keep this country as clean as our own.

KING
(Fiercely)
You are insolent.

LEIF I meant no insult, sir. But we are a proud people, too.

KING
(Sinking back)
Go in peace, before I change my mind. Get out.

[DISSOLVE TO:

Leif's Camp

(
It is almost dark; there is a thin band of sunset light still showing in the night sky to the west. The tents have been struck and the camp site has been cleared except for the fire which was in front of
Leif's
tent; this is still burning, and
Leif
is sitting by it; there are one or two packages of his personal goods still there, and some furs.)

(Thorgunna
walks in from the darkness.
Leif
gets up to meet her.)

LEIF I am glad you have come down. If you had not, I would have come up to your window in the night and tapped on it, because I had to see you. My dear, we sail at dawn; the wind is fair for Norway.

THORGUNNA I know; I heard about it at the Hall this afternoon. You went to see my father. He is glad that you are leaving. (
She sits down on a heap of furs before the fire.)

LEIF He hates the sight of me.

THORGUNNA He hates everybody. (
Turns to him
) Leif, I want you to take me away with you in your ship, to Norway.

LEIF Does your father know anything about this?

THORGUNNA No. I wouldn't dare to tell him.

LEIF Oh . . .

(There is a pause. He stares at the fire, considering. She glances at him.)

—I've been thinking about this. If we were free people, you should come with me to Norway and beyond, Thorgunna.

THORGUNNA
(Puzzled)
We are free to do what we want to.

LEIF No, we're not. You are the most high-born lady in this land, and I'm an outlaw. Your father would kill me if I asked for you in marriage. If I carry you off with me, he will come after us; in this poor ship I cannot get away beyond the range of his galleys. I cannot fight your father's warriors, and we so few in number. If I try that, I and all my people with me will be killed in battle. Back in Greenland, the wives of all these men will wait for them until they sink down mourning. That is the truth of it.

THORGUNNA I never thought about the galleys. I think you're right in one thing; my father would do everything he could to have you killed.

LEIF If I were here as a lone man I'd take the chance. But, Thorgunna, I'm on a mission for my father. Back home in Greenland, people depend on what I can achieve for them in Norway, and I've got to get there.
(Pause)
My dear, I can't take you with me in the ship.

THORGUNNA I don't think that's the right decision, Leif.

LEIF
(Heavily)
Thorgunna, as one goes through life one has to make the best decisions that one can, and work on them. You can't do more than your best. I've thought this over a long time, and that is how I'm going to take it.

THORGUNNA You don't know all the facts for your decision. I'm no longer a lone woman, Leif. I'm going to have a baby, and it's yours.

LEIF (Smiling) I wondered about that.
(He slips his arm round her shoulders, and kisses her.)
It looks as though this decision has been made for us, after all. You shall stay here to-night; we sail at dawn. We will declare our marriage at King Olaf's court. You'll have to come just as you are. I have some rough, men's clothes that you can wear; we'll get a proper outfit for you when we get to Norway.

THORGUNNA
(Shivering)
Leif, my father will come after us. He's a terrible man when he is angry.

LEIF I have a black hen in the hencoop, that I brought with me in case we got into a jam. I will make a sacrifice, and ask Odin to send a fog.

THORGUNNA Leif, there is one God only, and He is not Odin. Killing your black hen will do no good. My father will come after us, and we shall all be killed in battle.

LEIF He would never kill you.

THORGUNNA I think he would.

(They sit together silent for a minute. The leaping flames illuminate their faces; there is dark, velvety blackness behind them.)

THORGUNNA
(Much distressed)
Leif, I want to tell you something. Some of my people have the gift of second sight. My mother said once that I would bear a son to a strange man who came up from the sea. We all laughed about it at the time, but now I think that she was right. I can see things in the smoke clouds sometimes, Leif.

LEIF
(Shocked)
You mustn't go playing with that sort of thing. It brings you in touch with devils.

THORGUNNA I haven't done it since the holy man came from Ireland, because he said that it was wrong. But as for devils, Leif, I never saw much harm in anything that happened. Ought I to try to see what lies ahead of us? I think I might get something that would help.

LEIF
(Gently)
I don't know much about these things. I never saw a devil myself; perhaps there aren't any, really. Go ahead and do it, if it will help you, Thorgunna.

THORGUNNA (Distressed) The holy man said that if I did it again it would bring damnation to my soul.

LEIF I should leave it alone.

THORGUNNA Do you think I might just ask Mother?

LEIF I didn't know you had a mother. Where is she?

THORGUNNA She is dead. She died last year.

LEIF Oh . . .

THORGUNNA
(Slightly offended)
You don't have to be afraid of Mother; she's not a devil. She was kind, and good, and very, very wise.

LEIF (
Uneasily)
What have you got to do?

THORGUNNA
(Showing him a satchel)
I brought the things down with me. It's only a matter of burning a few of these dead leaves and rare herbs in the fire to make a smoke. And I must sing the Warlocks' Song.

LEIF
(Very uneasily)
The Warlocks' Song . . . That calls up spirits from the grave.
(Instinctively he loosens a dagger at his belt.)

THORGUNNA
(Sadly)
There is nothing to fear. You will see nothing but a silly, frightened girl staring at the smoke that she is making in the fire, and singing a little.

(She begins to throw the herbs and leaves from her satchel into the fire; smoke begins to rise and wreathe about them.
Leif
is
tense, his hand upon his dagger. In the background, in the
semi-darkness
.
Two
Men
working at the moorings of the ship look up and notice what is going on. They stare appalled, leave their work, and hurry off into the ship in superstitious awe. The smoke swirls up and thickens to a dense screen.)

THORGUNNA
(Chants)

Come now, my mother,

From the shadow of the Holy Tree;

Help me with vision And show me my way.

(
The wreathing smoke turns to a wet mist, grows thin, and gradually discloses Niagara Falls, shot from somewhere at the bottom. The scene merges to an interior shot of the power station at the bottom and a turbo-generator running; a close-up of the rotor gradually fills the screen with a whirl of machinery, changing back into the wreathing smoke.)

(Thorgunna,
puzzled, passes a hand across her eyes and throws more herbs into the fire. Again the smoke swirls up as a dense screen.)

THORGUNNA
(Chants)
From Yggdrasil, come

To succour your daughter That the Power of the Wise Ones May help me in danger.

(
Upon the background of the smoke slowly appears a shot of
Leif
talking to the Scotch slave,
Haki,
who comes later in the story. They are examining some ears of wheat that the Scot has brought. The scene merges to a panorama of a vast wheat-field in the Middle West at harvest time. A large reaper and binder comes straight at the camera, noisy and terrifying.
Thorgunna
gives a slight cry, and the scene merges back into smoke.)

(
Thorgunna
is very distressed, and rubs her eyes again.
)

LEIF
(Uneasily)
Is it nearly over?

THORGUNNA
(Distressed)
I am only allowed one more, and I can't understand what it all means.

(
She throws her last handful of herbs into the fire. Again the smoke wreathes up to form a curtain.)

THORGUNNA
(Chants)
Mother, give me a clue

That will help me to-night, So that that which I do May be wise in your sight-Mother, help me.

(
The smoke clouds wreathe apart and disclose a shot of New York City from across the waters of the harbour, not clear cut, but a sunlit scene seen through a film of smoke. This merges in a swirl of smoke to a repeat of the shots of Niagara, the power station, and the
wheat-field
, and then to a shot of
Leif
at the steering oar of his ship in a rough sea. Finally this merges to a head and shoulders shot of an old lady,
Thorgunna's
mother; she nods slightly, without smiling.)

(The smoke grows thin and dies down, disclosing the wood fire and the stone hearth, and the black night beyond.
Thorgunna
is exhausted with mental strain, she passes a hand wearily across her eyes.
)

LEIF
(Hoarsely)
What did you see?

THORGUNNA
(Piteously)
I don't understand. It must have all meant something. There was a waterfall, but so enormous that it never could have been; it was as if all the sea was pouring down into one place. Then there was a sort of whirling thing, in a house. It might have been a temple. Then I saw you talking to an uncouth man about some ears of wheat, and then it was all wheat as far as one could see, more wheat than all the people in the world could eat. And then there was a dragon. There was an island with stone houses like tall cliffs, taller than any house could ever be, all white and shining in the sun. You were mixed up in all of them in some way, Leif, because I saw you in your ship. And I saw Mother.

LEIF Were you with me in the ship?

THORGUNNA
(Sadly)
No. I wasn't with you.

LEIF
(Gently)
Don't think about it any more now. Lie down here for a bit, and try and get some sleep. I'll wake you when it's time to go on board.

THORGUNNA I must think about it. I've done this several times before and it has always made sense in the end, even if one didn't understand it just at first.

LEIF You'll have a quiet time to think it over in the ship. Lie down now and rest.

THORGUNNA
(Slowly)
Leif, I'm not coming with you in the ship.

LEIF Not coming with me?

THORGUNNA No. I do not understand what I have seen but I know this about it; that there is no evil in it, that in some way it concerns your destiny, that it is terribly important, and that it is true. You must go on alone without me, and do what you have to do.

LEIF But you can come with me.

THORGUNNA
(Getting to her feet)
If I come with you, you and all your
people
will be killed in battle with my father. If it were ourselves only, we might take the chance, for life without each other isn't going to be much fun. But there's more in it than that.

(
She is standing now, and speaking regally. She is no longer a shy girl, but a responsible woman and the daughter of a king.)

—I do not understand what I have learned about your fate, but I know this about it. It is more important than you, or I, or anybody in this place. I will not tamper with such matters, Leif, or bring about your death before you have fulfilled your destiny. You must go on alone. I shall stay here.

LEIF What will your father do when he finds out about the baby?

THORGUNNA He will be very angry, but he will not dare to hurt me or your son. I shall not tell him till some months have passed.

LEIF Thorgunna, all this is based on fancies, wreaths of the wood smoke, no more than that. Come down to earth. We can get away soon after midnight and be well clear of the island before dawn. We'll sail out to the north; your father will not think of that. Let's go on board now.