Guthredd Sleeve-Heart's Tale Pt. 03

Arinbiorn kept the still living heart of Guthredd in a locked coffer and would often hold it in his hands and tell it of his love for Guthredd and the heart did love Arinbiorn.

But one night, having quaffed much wine, did Arinbiorn confess to the still living heart with the back and glistening face, of his murdering of Jofrid.

And so the heart came to hate Arinbiorn and would spit and snarl at him ere he ever opened the coffer, so that in time, was the heart left locked in the coffer to its own bitter rage. Full of hate for Arinbiorn was the heart, but also full of hatred for itself; for it saw its own betrayal of Guthredd in telling Guthredd to sleep with Arinbiorn the night he had slain her foster-mother.

And full of hate for the tattoo upon the upper arm of Guthredd was the heart, and often did it ponder the secret reasons for telling Guthredd to listen to her heart.

But worst of all to the heart was the echo of the stave;

"Because she heard, but lost,

barnacles guard the heart

I do not hear, but it is mine.

And so I am long searching,

from end to this beginning.

Thorarna harkens not her heart

Although she hears; and it is hers.

And so I am long searching,

And make the endless circle.

Guthredd harkens to her heart

And well she hears; and it is hers.

And so I am long searching

Because she heard, but lost."

The heart knew itself to be the cause of Guthredd's enchantment of Thora; that Thora might not hear her own heart.

So it was that at night Arinbiorn would hear the heart thumping madly against the walls of the locked coffer, ever locked in hatred and torment for it knew that the shrewish voice that sang the stave was that of Thora.

And Arinbiorn took the bitter heart in the locked coffer and placed it deep in the locked stores that he might visit the land of Nod without the haunting thump of the heart against the wooden coffer.

So seasons turned and Thora became first a child Queen but grew to womanhood upon the throne.

~~~~~~~~~

Now was Queen Thora ever pale and with tresses long and so blonde as to seem white. By womanhood had she grown tall that people said she took after her father, but of limb was she all a flowing like to the willow.

Queen Thora earned great renown for her dealings in matters of state, for never hearing her heart, her judgements were of sound mind and made on evidence alone.

Where Thorarna held the earthy beauty of the heath-land of the middle islet of the Sound, and Guthredd the terrible beauty of the dark sea, now did Thora show herself to hold the beauty of the snow flurry or bird song carried from up the valley.

And in battle also did Queen Thora earn renown for she knew no fear in her heart, or sympathy for her enemies.

Seen in public, fragranced courtiers would whisper of her seeing things that could not be seen, for often did her peepers rest on things that were not there. For although Thora was of this world, was she also ethereal and like to a thinning of cloth between this word and the spirit world.

Thora heard the off-beat of the heart and saw many wonderments of the spirit world that it took mickle effort to always be focused on matters of state.

But in private did the Queen lament her lost heart and often wandered what it would be like to not only hear the singing of the linnet, but to hear it in her heart.

One day Thora wandered about the corridors, as always lamenting her lost heart, but going down steps did seem to hear the beating of her heart.

Full of joy Thora followed the sound to a locked store-room and breaking open the lock found a locked coffer. She broke this lock too, for she would see what was inside and on pulling open the lid, did shriek at the black and glistening face that spat at her with twisted lip and glared with sudden white eyes.

But after, Thora would often descend the stairs to talk with the heart, and the heart so long without company, suffered the visits despite the pain they caused.

Often would Thora plead with the heart for the secret of where her own heart lay, but never would the heart tell and so Thora remained hearing only the off-beat of the heart and walking betwixt the raindrops.

Thora visited the heart in the store-room each day that the heart be not alone,

but the heart was filled with sorrow for seeing its mournful creation each day, until one day the heart did break and so finally died.

And now did Thora have no means of weaning the whereabouts of her heart and

began her quest across the land.

As she rode across the land did the mournful pleadings of King Ketil's men arise on the floating seeds of the fields that Thora might know that they had meant no evil in their serving of King Ketil, but had been ordinary folk with wives and children of their own.

And the men-seeds told this tale:

They were the King's men once but were caught in a great sea-trap of giant walls and there slain. But once dead, were their bodies cast into strange pods and pulled through holes in the sea-trap to the depths of the dark sea, and that these pods were chrysalises so that they were metamorphosed into seedlings and the strange pods then washed ashore, popping and spreading the seeds on the sea breeze.

But Thora felt not the plight of the seed-men but instead asked them of the whereabouts of her heart, but the sea-men could not say. Then did Thora bid them clap up their mournful pleadings for they were sore irritant to her.

When Thora saw that she would not find her heart amidst the land she grew hungry in her longing to feel as others felt. She now searched for her heart in the actions of her people, deeming that if she could see how they saw, might she learn and perhaps grow a heart.

And so Thora would have her subjects fornicate before her throne upon the dais, her peepers ever searching to understand what lay beneath the physical acts, but ever was Thora blind to the meaning of a lover's gaze or why a woman wept when Thora killed her husband.

She grew desperate to feel and hated Guthredd Sleeve-heart for the hiding away of her heart and was mickle glad of the pushing of her mother off the cliff. And now did Thora commit strange acts in her quest to feel as others did.

The people cowered lest it be their village that Thora next visited in her 'feeling quest'.

In one village would she have all the men-folk spill their seed into a bath that she might bathe in man-milk and know such luxury as was denied other women, but the bath was just of sliming substance and of no joy to Thora.

In another village did she have all the men-folk lap between her thighs so that for the full waxing of a moon was Thora pleasured by many men a day, but although Thora revelled in countless orgasms, nowise could she see within the waves of pleasure aught that might be in a heart.

And when Thora saw that she would not find her heart amidst the land nor in the actions of her people, then did Thora turn to the spirit world that she ever had one foot in.

This spirit-quest did Thora undertake alone, lying for hours abed that the fragranced courtiers whispered she be dead, but that her fetch walk abroad in the spirit world.

So Thora searched the spirit world; and so became a legend; as the lost mortal who wandered the spirit world for her heart.

Thora searched the ever growing boat that sails for all time upon the dark sea, its wooden bow ever feeding from the sea. She searched the dreams of others and asked of the dream women, both good and ill, of the whereabouts of her heart but they could not, or perhaps would not say.

Many of the strange aspects of the spirit world did Thora search as she lay sickly abed until one day she came upon an ancient kingdom, shining silvery in a shimmer. Within the kingdom was a castle and within the castle a tall man of princely port, and crowned, also shining silver.

And the tall man felt the eagers for Thora mickle strong and told her he would give up all but that she love him also.

But Thora could not love him also, for she could not feel her heart and the tall man of princely port, and crowned, and shining silver swore to find the hidden heart for Thora, that she might love him also.

Now was the tall man of princely port called Thorolf and he saw that Thora's heart had been hidden in time past. But Thorolf knew not how he might find something in time past and so thought upon where to find such wily advice.

Thorolf bid Thora walk in the silver garden awhile, the air a shimmer with bird song, and sought the head gardener, that he might know how to find something hidden in time past.

Thorolf found the head gardener tending to the silver weeds upon the portico and said "Come, I have need of your rede."

Obediently did the head gardener drop fork and trowel and picking up his head from where it was laid beside him, held it up that he might look up at Thorolf with his wormy, suppliant smile.

"Thou hast a reputation for brewing wily machinations when alive, that your skills did match your name. I would make use of them now."

And Thorolf told Fox of the woman who could not hear her heart and that her heart had been hidden a long time ago and that none knew the whereabouts of the heart, but that Thorolf would find this heart.

Nowise would Fox offer rede to Thorolf until he saw that the finding of the heart would have mickle vexed Guthredd the upstart whore and then keenly did he apply his wily mind.

"It is not possible to travel back in time, Thorolf, for time moves only forward. But what if going forward it was to bend upon itself, like unto a circle and so future meet past?"

"Be clearer fox, like unto the mountain stream."

"Take a point in the future, Thorolf, and bend it backwards that it weld with a point in the past. Then as you walk the path of your future, must hap that you walk into the past."

"Would you see me trapped in a circle of time; it would be for eternity."

"Aye, an eternity with your eternal love. Perchance this is Valhalla I offer you?"

Thorolf thought long upon wily Fox's rede and saw that it was good. But saw he too, how such a plan must trap all involved in an endless circle of time so that past led to future, and future to past. Yet would he then walk the past and so see where Thora's heart was hidden and so retrieve it.

So Thorolf pattern-welded time into a ring, so that the future lead to the past and the past again to the future.

And then, taking Thora's hand they stepped into the future past and coming out of a cliff face in the physical world, there beheld a woman walking through the mist, her tunic trailing through the hoar frost of the heath-land as she searched out a stray sheep.

The woman rested a moment upon a lone boulder amidst the frosted scrub, and looking up seemed to behold the two figures from out the cliff face. Shining silver through the hoar mist, Thorolf saw that this meeting was where he had welded the future to the past and then Thora sang this stave:

"Because she heard, but lost,

barnacles guard the heart

I do not hear, but it is mine.

And so I am long searching,

from end to this beginning.

Thorarna harkens not her heart

Although she hears; and it is hers.

And so I am long searching,

And make the endless circle.

Guthredd harkens to her heart

And well she hears; and it is hers.

And so I am long searching

Because she heard, but lost."

And the woman looked strangely muggy-minded as she listened to Thora's shrewish voice nor but Thorolf beheld her lips sing the stave even as he and Thora walked back into the cliff face.

Now did Thorolf and Thora behold their fate weave betwixt the future and the past, betwixt real and spirit so that an endless circle was forming.

And now walking forward Thorolf saw that neither he, nor the woman, nor Thora knew the meaning of the stave for it was born of the weld of future-past, but that the stave would run like a stream through their lives and become clear only from knowing the full circle of his pattern-welding.

So having walked the past up to the present was it clear to Thorolf the whereabouts of Thora's heart and he swam to the bottom of the sea and there the mermaids handed Thorolf the small chest that held Thora's beating heart at the deepest bottom of the dark sea.

And Thora's heart loved Thorolf and with the small chest ever beside her, did Thora feel his love and love Thorolf in return.

Now because of the pattern-welding of time undertaken by Thorolf, was the cirlce of the three hearts as to a glitch in the woven tapestries of the fates and because none could happen unless already happened, did the fates but leave the glitch alone.

And because of the pattern-welding of time undertaken by Thorolf would the love betwixt Thorolf and Thora last forever but also would the paining of Thorarna and of Guthredd Sleeve-heart last forever as the birth caul of their eternal love.