{"id":12609,"date":"2019-07-18T19:12:46","date_gmt":"2019-07-18T23:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/?p=12609"},"modified":"2019-07-18T19:12:46","modified_gmt":"2019-07-18T23:12:46","slug":"the-tale-of-roe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/?p=12609","title":{"rendered":"The Tale of Roe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I\u2019m in the \u201cthinking it up\u201d stage<\/strong> of writing my next Erling book. In the course thereof, I\u2019m reading the Flatey Book<\/a><\/em> in the handsome Norwegian translation published by Saga Bok Publishers <\/a>in Norway (they were kind enough to send me the first three volumes as a goodwill gesture \u2013 a generous one). In St. Olav\u2019s Saga I discovered an interesting story, not much known even to Viking buffs, because so few people have read Flatey. It\u2019s called \u201cThe Tale of Roe.\u201d The original story has several plot threads, but I\u2019ve reduced it to the one thread I liked best. I offer my re-telling below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was once a merchant named Roe, who came from Denmark. He was an easy man to recognize, as his eyes were of two different colors \u2013 one was blue, the other black. He traveled to many lands, and had mixed luck with his business dealings.<\/p>

One day he was in Upsala, and he met a man walking down the street. The man\u2019s name was Tore, and he had only one eye. He stopped when he saw Roe, and said, \u201cI know you. I saw you once in Denmark.\u201d<\/p>

Roe did not remember him, but could not deny that was possible.<\/p>

\u201cNot only that,\u201d said Tore. \u201cYou robbed me! You got a wizard to magic my eye out of my head, and put it into yours. And there it sits! Anyone can see the blue one isn\u2019t yours! I\u2019m going to bring a case against you before the king when he sits in judgment tomorrow \u2013 and you should know the king and I are good friends. He trusts my word.\u201d<\/p>

Roe went on his way, troubled. After a while he met a very pretty girl, who smiled at him. He smiled back, but his smile was sad.<\/p>

\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d the girl asked. \u201cWhy so down in the mouth?\u201d<\/p>

Roe told her about the accusation Tore the One-Eyed had made against him.<\/p>

\u201cYou should talk to my father,\u201d the girl said. \u201cMy name is Sigbj\u00f8rg, and my father is Torgny Torgnisson, the lawspeaker of the Upsala Thing. They call him the wisest man in Sweden.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWould he help me?\u201d Roe asked.<\/p>

\u201cWell,\u201d said Sigbj\u00f8rg, \u201cFather doesn\u2019t usually have much time for Danes. But I\u2019ll tell you what I\u2019ll do. Come to my house at sundown tonight, and stand outside where I tell you. I\u2019ll go to my father\u2019s bedchamber and ask him about your problem. You can listen through the wall and hear what he has to say.\u201d<\/p>

Roe agreed to do this. That night he met Sigbj\u00f8rg at her house, and she told him where to stand under the eaves. He listened as she told her father about his problem, and asked him what he\u2019d do in his place.<\/p>

\u201cAh,\u201d said Torgny. \u201cThat\u2019s an interesting problem. He\u2019s dealing with a treacherous man here, and treachery must be met with treachery. Here is what I\u2019d do if I were he\u2026\u201d<\/p>

After Torgny lay down to sleep, Sigbj\u00f8rg went out to Roe and asked if what he\u2019d heard had helped him. Roe said it had indeed helped, and he thanked her.<\/p>

The next day Roe met Tore the One-Eyed at the king\u2019s judgment seat, and Tore laid down his accusation. He demanded that his eye be returned to him, plus Roe\u2019s entire cargo as compensation.<\/p>

\u201cThis is a serious charge,\u201d said the king. \u201cRoe, what do you have to say in your defense?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019d not be afraid to go through the iron ordeal to prove my honesty,\u201d Roe replied. \u201cBut I have a simpler way we can learn the truth of the matter. Tore says my blue eye belongs to him. I think we can all agree that no two things are more alike than a man\u2019s two eyes. So I suggest each of us have his blue eye removed, and you can weigh them both in a balance scale. If both eyes weigh the same, then Tore\u2019s case is proven. If not, then I demand compensation.\u201d<\/p>

The king asked Tore the One-Eyed what he thought of the proposition, and Tore was not keen on the plan. He confessed at last that he\u2019d lied.<\/p>

The king had Tore hanged on a gallows, and gave Roe some of his property. Later on, Roe met Sigbj\u00f8rg again, and he went to her father to ask for her hand. They were married, and many prominent people in Sweden are descended from them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m in the \u201cthinking it up\u201d stage of writing my next Erling book. In the course thereof, I\u2019m reading the Flatey Book in the handsome Norwegian translation published by Saga Bok Publishers in Norway (they were kind enough to send me the first three volumes as a goodwill gesture \u2013 a generous one). In St. … Continue reading The Tale of Roe<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[983,3272],"class_list":["post-12609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creative-writing","tag-flatey-book","tag-vikings"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12609\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}