Then said Havelok, “Now have you taken her for queen for her own sake, and I will tell you a thing that has not been heard here as yet.  On this throne sits the queen of two lands, and there shall come a day when you and I shall set your lady on that other throne which is hers by right.  King’s daughter she is, for Ethelwald of the East Angles was her father, and out of her right has she been kept by Alsi of Lindsey, her evil kinsman.”

At that men were glad, for great is the magic of kingly descent.  And thereupon that old warrior who had bidden Havelok sound the horn said, “We have heard of Ethelwald the good king, and of this Alsi moreover, and we know men who have seen both, and also Orwenna, the mother of our own queen here.  I followed your father across the seas in the old days, and I seem to hear his voice again as you speak to us.  And I saw him—­ ay, I saw him yonder even now, and I am content.  When the time comes that for the sake of Goldberga you will gather a host and cross the ‘swan’s path,’ I will not hold back, if you will have me.”

There was spoken the mind of all that company, and they were not backward to say so.  For in the heart of the Dane is ever the love of the sea, and of the clash of arms on a far-off strand that comes after battle with wind and wave.

Very bravely did Goldberga thank the chiefs for their love to her husband and herself in a few words that were all that were needed to bind the hearers to her, so well and truly were they chosen.  And she said that if the Anglian land was to be won it was for Havelok and not for herself altogether, and she added, “Here we have spoken as if already Hodulf was overthrown, and it is good that we are in such brave heart.  Yet this has been foretold to me, and I am sure that there will be no mishap.”

Then Sigurd said, “What gift do we give our queen, now that she has come among us?”

But Goldberga replied, “If it is the custom that one shall be given, I will mind you of the promise hereafter, when Anglia is won, and you and I are Havelok’s upholders on that throne.  There is one thing that I will ask then, that a wrong may be righted.”

“Nay, but we will give you some gift now, and then you shall ask what you will also.”

“You have given me more than I dared hope,” she said, “even the brave hearts and hands that have hailed us here.  I can ask no more.  Only promise to give me one boon when I need it, and I am happy.”

Then they said, “What you will, and when you will, Goldberga, the queen.  There is naught that you will ask amiss.”

Now they showed Havelok to the warriors as crowned king, and I need not tell how he was greeted.  And after that we all went back into the hall to speak of the way in which we were to meet Hodulf.

Havelok would have a message sent to him, bidding him give up the land in peace.

“It may be that thus we shall save the sadness of fighting our own people, though, indeed, they love the playground of Hodulf.  He is an outlander, and perhaps he may think well to make terms with us.”