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NOTES 139
“Then they brought their host out to Staff. And when the king came
upon the Staff-mere he made a halt; and there he heard of a truth that
the bonders fared with an host against him, and that he would have
battle speedily. Then the king took the muster of his host, and the
tale of the men was scored, and there were found to be in the host
nine hundred heathen men. So when the king knew this he bade them
let themselves be christened, saying he will not have heathen men in his
battle. ‘We will not,’ said he, ‘trust in the multitudes. In God will we
trust, for by his might and mercy shall we gain the victory ; but I will
not blend heathen folk up with my men.’
“ But when the heathen heard this, they took counsel together, and
at last four hundred took christening, but five hundred gainsaid Christ’s
law, and that host turned back to their own country. Then stepped
forward the brethren Gowk-Thorir and Afrafasti with their band, and
offered the king their aid once more. He asked if they had already taken
christening, and Gowk-Thorir said it was not so. The king bade them
take christening and the new faith, or go their ways otherwise. So then
they turned away and had a talk between them, and took counsel to-
gether what rede they should take up. Then spake Afrafasti : ‘So is it
to be said of my mind, that I will not turn back. I will fare to the battle,
and give my aid to one side or other; but to me it makes no odds
on which side I be.’ Then said Gowk-Thorir: ‘If I shall fare to the
battle, then will I give aid to the king, for he stands in the greatest need
of help; but if I am to trow in some god or other, why should it be
worse to me to trow in White-Christ than in any other god ? Now it is
my counsel that we should let us be christened, if the king deemeth that
a great matter, and let us afterwards go into the battle with him.’ This
they all yeasaid, and go to the king to tell him that they are willing
to take christening. So they were christened of the clerks and confirmed
thereafter, and the king took them into the laws of his body-guard,
and said they should be under his banner in the battle.”
PacE 78. THE KING’s PRAYER.
This beautiful Song reveals the workings of the King’s mind on the
eve of the battle which is to determine the fate of his cause. If anything
further were needed to enlist our sympathies in his behalf, it would be
provided by the deeply-moving self-revelation of this Prayer. In this
fervent outpouring we get a glimpse of the inmost recesses of his soul,
and see the working of the motives by which he is actuated. Standing
in the shadow of imminent death, the deep humility of this utterance,
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