Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen (69 page)

With this play, though the Scandinavian criticism of 1864 seems to have been far from suspecting the fact, Ibsen took his place among the great dramatists of the world. In wealth of characterisation, complexity and nobility of emotion, and depth of spiritual insight, it stands high among the masterpieces of romantic drama.

It would be hard to name a more vigorous character projection than that of Bishop Nicholas, or any one dramatic invention more superbly inspired than the old man’s death scene, with the triumphant completion of his
perpetuum mobile.
But even if the Bishop were entirely omitted, the play would not be
Hamlet
without the Prince of Denmark. The characters of Håkon and Skule, and the struggle between them, would still make one of the greatest historic dramas in literature.

It has not been generally noticed, I think, that Ibsen found in Bjørnson’s
King Sverre
, published in
1801, a
study of Bishop Nicholas in his younger days. The play, as a whole, is a poor one, and does not appear in the collected edition of Bjørnson’s works; but there is distinct merit in the drawing of the Bishop’s character. Furthermore, it ought to be remembered that
The Pretenders
was not the first work, or even the first great work, of its class in Norwegian literature. In 1862, Bjørnson had published his splendid trilogy of
Sigurd Slembe,
which, though more fluid and uneven than
The Pretenders,
contains several passages of almost Shakespearean power. It was certainly greater than anything Ibsen had done up to that date. Ibsen reviewed it on its appearance, in terms of unmixed praise, yet, as one cannot but feel, rather overcautiously.

If anything could excuse the coolness of Norwegian criticism towards
The Pretenders
, it was the great and flagrant artistic blemish of the Ghost Scene in the last act.

This outburst of prophetico-topical satire is a sheer excrescence on the play, indefensible, but, at the same time, fortunately negligible. It is, however, of interest as a symptom of Ibsen’s mood in the last months before he left Norway, and also as one of the links in that chain which binds all his works together. Just as Skule’s attempt to plagiarise Håkon’s king’s-thought points backwards to Gunnar’s moral lapse in taking advantage of the fraud on Hiordis, so the ironic rhymes of the Bagler-Bishop’s ghost point forward to the lyric indignation and irony of
Brand
and
Peer Gynt.

CHARACTER
S

HÅKON HÅKONSSON,
the King elected by the Birchlegs.

INGA OF VARTEIG,
his mother.

EARL SKULE.

LADY RAGNHILD,
his wife.

SIGRID,
his sister.

MARGRETE,
his daughter.

GUTHORM INGESSON.

SIGURD RIBBUNG.

NICHOLAS ARNESSON,
Bishop of Oslo.

Dagfinn the Peasant,
Håkon s marshal.

IVAR BODDE,
his chaplain.

VEGARD VAERADAL,
one of his guard.

GREGORIUS JONSSON,
a nobleman.

PAUL FLIDA,
a nobleman.

INGEBORG,
Andres Skialdarband’s wife.

PETER,
her son, a young priest.

SIRA VILIAM,
Bishop Nicholas’s chaplain.

MASTER SIGARD OF BRABANT,
a physician.

JATGEIR SKALD,
an Icelander.

BÅRD BRATTE,
a chieftain from the Trondhiem district.

Populace and Citizens of Bergen
,
Oslo, and Niditros.

Priests, Monks, and Nuns.

Guests, Guards, and Ladies.

Men-at-arms, etc etc.

The action passes in the first half of the Thirteenth Century.

ACT FIRS
T

The churchyard of Christ Church, Bergen. At the back rises the church, the main portal of which faces the spectators. In front, on the left, stands
Håkon Håkonsson,
with
Dagfinn the Peasant, Vegard of Væradal, Ivar Bodde,
and several other nobles and chieftains. Opposite to him stand
Earl Skule, Gregorius Jonsson, Paul Flida,
and others of the Earl’s men. Further back on the same side are seen
Sigurd Ribbung
and his followers, and a little way from him
Guthorm Ingesson,
with several chiefs. Men-at-arms line the approaches to the church; the common people Jill the churchyard; many are perched in the trees and seated on the walls; all seem to await, in suspense, the occurrence of some event. All the church bells of the town are ringing far and near.

EARL SKULE.
[Softly and impatiently, to Gregorius Jonsson.]
Why tarry they so long in there?

GREGORIUS JONSSON.
Hush! The psalm is beginning.
[From inside the closed church doors, to the accompaniment of trumpets, is heard a
Choir of Monks and Nuns
singing
Domine coeli,
etc etc. While the singing is going on, the church door is opened from inside; in the porch
Bishop Nicholas
is seen, surrounded by Priests and Monks.

BISHOP NICHOLAS.
[Steps forward to the doorway and proclaims with uplifted crozier.]
Inga of Varteig is even now bearing the iron on behalf of Håkon the Pretender.
[The church door is closed again; the singing inside continues.

GREGORIUS JONSSON.
[In a low voice to the Earl.]
Call upon Holy King Olaf to protect the right.

EARL SKULE.
[Hurriedly, with a deprecating gesture.]
Not now. Best not remind him of me.

IVAR BODDE.
[Seizing Håkon by the arm.]
Pray to the Lord thy God, Håkon Håkonsson.

HÅKON.
No need; I am sure of him.
[The singing in the church grows louder; all uncover; many fall upon their knees and pray.

GREGORIUS JONSSON.
[To the Earl.]
A solemn hour for you and for many!

EARL SKULE.
[Looking anxiously towards the church.]
A solemn hour for Norway.

PAUL FLIDA.
[Near the EARL.]
NOW is the glowing iron in her hands.

DAGFINN.
[Beside HÅKON.]
They are coming down the nave.

IVAR BODDE.
Christ protect thy tender hands, Inga, mother of the King!

HÅKON.
Surely all my life shall reward her for this hour.

EARL SKULE.
[Who has been listening intently, breaks out suddenly.]
Did she cry out? Has she let the iron fall?

PAUL FLIDA.
[Goes up.]
I know not what it was.

GREGORIUS JONSSON.
Hark to the women weeping in the outer hall!

THE CHOIR IN THE CHURCH.
[Breaks forth in jubilation.]
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
[The doors are thrown open.
Inga
comes forth, followed by Nuns, Priests, and Monks.

INGA.
[On the church steps.]
God has given judgment! Behold these hands; with them I bore the iron!

VOICES AMONGST THE MULTITUDE.
They are tender and white as before!

OTHER VOICES.
Fairer still!

THE WHOLE MULTITUDE.
He is Håkon’s son! He is Sverre’s grandson:

HÅKON.
[Embraces her.]
Thanks to thee, thanks to thee, blessed among women!

BISHOP NICHOLAS.
[In passing, to the EARL.]
’Twas ill done to press for the ordeal.

EARL SKULE.
Nay, my lord Bishop, needs must we pray for God’s voice in this matter.

HÅKON.
[Deeply moved, holding INGA by the hand.]
It is done, then, that which my every fibre cried out against — that which has made my heart shrivel and writhe within me —

DAGFINN.
[Turning towards the multitude.]
Ay, look upon this woman and bethink you, all that are gathered here! Who ever doubted her word, until certain folk required that it should be doubted.

PAUL FLIDA.
Doubt has whispered in every corner from the hour when Håkon the Pretender was borne, a little child, into King Inge’s hall.

GREGORIUS JONSSON.
And last winter it swelled to a roar, and sounded forth over the land, both north and south; I trow every man can bear witness to that.

HÅKON.
I myself can best bear witness to it. Therefore have I yielded to the counsel of many faithful friends, and humbled myself as no other chosen king has done for many a day. I have proved my birth by the ordeal, proved my right, as the son of Håkon Sverresson, to succeed to the throne of Norway. I will not now question who fostered the doubt, and made it, as the Earl’s kinsman says, swell into a roar; but this I know, that I have suffered bitterly under it. I have been chosen king from boyhood, but little kingly honour has been shown me, even where it seemed I might look for it most securely. I will but remind you of last Palm Sunday in Nidaros, when I went up to the altar to make my offering, and the Archbishop turned away and made as though he saw me not, to escape greeting me as kings are wont to be greeted. Yet such slights I could easily have borne, had not open war been like to break loose in the land; that I must needs hinder.

DAGFINN.
It may be well for kings to hearken to counsels of prudence; but had my counsel been heard in this matter, it had not been with hot iron, but with cold steel that Håkon Håkonsson had called for judgment between himself and his foes.

HÅKON.
Curb yourself, Dagfinn; think what beseems the man who is to be foremost in the State.

EARL SKULE.
[With a slight smile.]
’Tis easy to call every one the King’s foe who chimes not with the King’s will. Methinks h e is the King’s worst foe who would counsel him against making good his right to the kingship.

HÅKON.
Who knows? Were my right alone in question, mayhap I had not paid so dear to prove it; but higher things are here at stake: my calling and my duty. Deep and warm is the faith within me — and I blush not to own it — that I alone am he who in these times can sway the land to its weal. Kingly birth begets kingly duty —

EARL SKULE.
There are others here who bear themselves the like fair witness.

SIGURD RIBBUNG.
That do I, and with full as good ground. My grandfather was King Magnus Erlingsson —

HÅKON.
Ay, if your father, Erling Steinvæg, was indeed King Magnus’s son; but most folks deny it, and in that matter none has yet faced the ordeal.

SIGURD RIBBUNG.
The Ribbungs chose me as king of their own free will, whereas ‘twas by threats that Dagfinn the Peasant and other Birchlegs gained for you the name of King.

HÅKON.
Ay, so ill had you dealt with Norway that the stock of Sverrë had to claim its right with threats.

GUTHORM INGESSON.
I am of the stock of Sverrë as much as you —

DAGFINN.
But not in the true male line.

BISHOP NICHOLAS.
You come on the spindle side, Guthorm.

GUTHORM INGESSON.
Yet this I know, that my father, Ingë Bårdsson, was lawfully chosen king of Norway.

HÅKON.
Because none knew that Sverrë’s grandson was alive. From the day that became known, he held the kingdom in trust for me — not otherwise.

EARL SKULE.
That cannot truly be said; Ingë was king all his days, with all lawful power and without reserve. ‘Tis true enough that Guthorm has but little claim, for he was bora out of wedlock; but I am King Ingë’s lawfully begotten brother, and the law is with me if I claim, and take, his full inheritance.

DAGFINN.
Ah, Sir Earl, of a truth you have taken full inheritance, not of your father’s wealth alone, but of all the goods Håkon Sverresson left behind him.

BISHOP NICHOLAS.
Not all, good Dagfinn. Respect the truth; — King Håkon has kept a brooch and the golden ring he wears on his arm.

HÅKON.
Be that as it will; with God’s help I shall win myself wealth again. And now, ye barons and thanes, ye churchmen and chieftains and men-at-arms, now it is time we held the folkmote, as has been agreed. I have sat with bound hands until this day; methinks no man will blame me for longing to have them loosed.

EARL SKULE.
There are others in like case, Håkon Håkonsson.

HÅKON.
[His attention arrested.]
What mean you, Sir Earl?

EARL SKULE.
I mean that all we Pretenders have the same cause for longing. We have all alike been straitly bound, for none of us has known how far his right might reach.

BISHOP NICHOLAS.
The Church has been even as unstable as the kingdom; but now must we abide by the sainted King Olaf’s law.

DAGFINN.
[Half aloud.]
Fresh subtleties!
[Håkon’s men gather more closely together.]

HÅKON.
[With forced calmness, advances a couple of paces towards the Earl.]
I would fain think I have not rightly taken your meaning. The ordeal has made good my birthright to the kingdom, and therefore, as I deem, the folkmote has nought to do but to confirm my election, made at the Orething six years ago.

SEVERAL OF THE EARL’S AND SIGURD’S MEN.
No, no! That we deny!

EARL SKULE.
‘Twas with no such thought that we agreed to hold the folkmote here. The ordeal has not given you the kingdom; it has but proved your title to come forward to-day, along with the other Pretenders here present, and contend for the right you hold to be yours —

HÅKON.
[Constraining himself to be calm.]
That means, in brief, that for six years I have unlawfully borne the name of King, and you, Sir Earl, have for six years unlawfully ruled the land as regent for me.

EARL SKULE.
In no wise. When my brother died, ‘twas needful that some one should bear the kingly title. The Birchlegs, and most of all Dagfinn the Peasant, were active in your cause, and hastened your election through before we others could set forth our claims.

BISHOP NICHOLAS.
[To Håkon.]
The Earl would say that that election gave you but the use of the kingly power, not the right to it.

EARL SKULE.
You have held all the marks of kingship; but Sigurd Ribbung and Guthorm Ingesson and I hold ourselves to the full as near inheritors as you; and now shall the law judge between us, and say whose shall be the inheritance for all time.

BISHOP NICHOLAS.
In truth, Earl Skule reads the case aright.

EARL SKULE.
There has been talk more than once in these years of both ordeal and folkmote; but something has ever come between. And, Sir Håkon, if you deemed your right for ever fixed by the first election, how came you to accept the ordeal?

DAGFINN.
[Exasperated.]
To your swords, King’s men, let them decide!

MANY OF THE KING’S MEN.
[Rushing forward.]
Down with the King’s enemies!

EARL SKULE.
[Calls to his men.]
Slay none! Wound none! Only keep them off.

HÅKON.
[Restraining his men.]
Up with your blades, all who have drawn them! — Up with your blades, I say!
[Calmly.]
You make things tenfold worse for me by such doings.

EARL SKULE.
Even so are men flying at each other’s throats all the country over. You see now, Håkon Håkonsson; does not this show clearly what you have to do, if you care aught for the country’s peace and the lives of men?

HÅKON.
[After some reflection.]
Yes — I see it.
[Takes Inga by the hand and turns to one of those standing by him.]
Torkell, you were a trusty man in my father’s guard; take this woman to your own abode and see you tend her well; she was very dear to Håkon Sverresson. — God bless you, my mother, — now I must gird me for the folkmote.
[Inga presses his hand, and goes with Torkell. Håkon is silent awhile, then steps forward and says with emphasis:]
The law shall decide, and it alone. Ye Birchlegs who, at the Ôrething, took me for your King, I free you from the oath ye sware to me. You, Dagfinn, are no longer my marshal; I will not appear with marshal or with guard, with vassals or with henchmen. I am a poor man; all my inheritance is a brooch and this gold ring; — these are scant goods wherewith to reward so many good men’s service. Now, ye other Pretenders, now we stand equal; I will have no advantage of you, save the right which I have from above — that I neither can nor will share with any one. — Let the assembly-call be sounded, and then let God and the Holy King Olaf’s law decide.
[Goes out with his men to the left; blasts of trumpets and horns are heard in the distance.