On awaking the next morning, Toke swore fearfully at finding himself tied up, being unable to remember anything of what had happened. When they told him, he was full of remorse for the way he had behaved, and explained that it was his great misfortune that drink sometimes made him difficult. Ale, he said, translated him completely, and now, regrettably, it seemed that wine was going to have the same effect. He inquired anxiously whether Orm now regarded him as his enemy, in view of his conduct of the previous night. Orm replied that he did not, adding that he would be delighted to continue the fight amiably any time that Toke felt so disposed; but he begged that Toke would promise him one thing, namely, that he would abstain from song, for the rasp of a nightjar, or the croaking of an old crow on an outhouse roof, was far more melodious than his nocturnal serenading. Toke laughed, and promised that he would try to improve his talents in that respect; for he was a kindly man except when ale or wine distorted his nature.
All the men thought that Orm had come out of the affair remarkably well, especially considering his youth; for few of those who came within the range of Toke’s arm once he had reached the weeping stage escaped unscathed. So Orm rose in the estimation of his fellows, as well as in his own. After this incident, they began to call him Red Orm, not only because of his red hair but also because he had proved himself a man of mettle, and one not to be provoked without sound cause.
After some days, a good wind sprang up, and they put out to sea. They kept well away from the land, to avoid dangerous currents, and headed westwards along the coast of Ramiro’s kingdom until they had rounded the cape. Then they rowed southwards along a steep and broken coast, proceeding through a small archipelago, which reminded the men of their own group of islands off Blekinge. At length, they reached the mouth of a certain river, for which the Jew had been keeping a look-out. They entered the river on the flood tide, and rowed up it until they were halted by weirs; there they went ashore and held counsel. Solomon described the journey that lay ahead of them, saying that bold men might march in less than a day to the fortress of the man upon whom he wished to be revenged, one of King Ramiro’s margraves, a man called Ordono, the most villainous and scoundrelly bandit (he said) in all the shores of Christendom.
Krok and Berse questioned him closely concerning the fortress, asking him details of its strength and situation, and how large an army the margrave kept to defend it. Solomon replied that it lay in such a craggy and deserted tract of country that the Caliph’s army, which consisted largely of cavalry, never came near it. This made it an excellent hideout for a bandit, and there was great wealth contained within its walls. It was built of oak-trunks and was protected by an earthen dyke, surmounted by a stockage; and its defenders might be reckoned to number, at the outside, 200 men. Solomon thought that they probably did not keep careful watch because its situation was so remote; and, indeed, the majority of the margrave’s men were often absent marauding in the south.
Krok said the number of the defenders worried him less than the dyke and the stockade, which would make a surprise assault difficult. Some of the men thought it would be a simple matter to set fire to the stockade, but Berse reminded them that the whole fortress might then catch, in which case they would gain little profit from whatever wealth it might contain. In the end, they decided that they would trust to their luck and determine what plan to follow when they reached the place. It was agreed that forty men should remain on board the ships, while the rest were to set out when evening fell, for it would then be cooler. Then they drew lots to determine which of them should stay with the ships, for they were all keen to be on the spot when the looting began.
They saw to their weapons, and slept during the heat of the day in a grove of oak-trees. Then they fortified themselves with food and drink and, as evening fell, the company set out, numbering in all 136 men. Krok marched at their head, with the Jew and Berse, and the rest followed, some wearing chain-shirts and others leathern jackets. Most of them were armed with sword and spear, though a few carried axes; and each man had a shield and helmet. Orm marched beside Toke, who said it was a good thing to have this opportunity to loosen one’s joints before the fighting began, after so many sedentary weeks upon the oar-bench.
They marched through a barren wilderness, in which no signs of human life could be seen; for these border regions between the Christian and the Andalusian kingdoms had for long been deserted. They kept to the northern bank of the river, fording a number of small streams; meanwhile the darkness thickened and, after some hours, they rested and waited for the moon to rise. Then they turned northwards along a valley, making swift progress over flat terrain, and Solomon proved himself a good guide for, before the skies grew grey, they reached the approaches to the fortress. There they hid in the scrub and rested again for a while, peering forward into the gloom to discern what they could by the pale light of the moon. The sight of the stockade somewhat daunted them, for it consisted of rough tree-trunks more than twice the height of a man; and the huge gate, which was fortified on top, looked exceedingly formidable.
Krok observed that it would be no easy task to set fire to this, adding that he would, in any event, prefer to storm the place without using fire, if it were at all possible; but that there might be no other way, in which case they would have to pile brushwood against the stockade and set light to it, and hope that the whole building would not catch. He asked Berse if he had any better suggestion to put forward, but Berse shook his head, and sighed, and said that he could not think of any alternative, though he, too, disliked resorting to the use of fire. Nor had Solomon anything better to propose; he muttered that he would have to rest content with seeing the infidel burn, although he had hoped to obtain a more satisfying mode of revenge.
At this point in the discussion Toke crawled forward to Krok and Berse and asked what the delay was for, as he was beginning to grow thirsty and, the sooner they stormed the fortress, the sooner he would be able to get something to drink. Krok told him that the problem they were debating was how to force an entry. To this, Toke replied that, if they would give him five spears, he could, he thought, show them that he was capable of more things than merely rowing and drinking ale. The others asked what plan he had in mind, but he would only answer that, if all went well, he would procure their entry into the fortress, though the owners of the spears would have to be prepared to re-shaft them when they got them back. Berse, who knew Toke of old, advised that he should be given his head; so the spears were brought, and Toke cut off their shafts just where the iron joined the wood, so that he had a short stump left below each blade. He then announced that he was ready to begin; and he and Krok began to steal quietly towards the rampart, taking cover behind rocks and bushes, with a handful of picked men following them. They heard a few cocks crow from within the fortress but, apart from this, the night was completely quiet.
They crept up to the rampart a short way along from the gate; then Toke climbed up to the foot of the stockade and drove one of his spears between two of the piles, a good ell’s length from the ground, twisting it with all his strength to make it fast. Higher up in the next chink along, he drove a second blade; then, when he had noiselessly made sure that both of them would take the strain, he stepped carefully up on to the shortened shafts and fixed a third spear-head higher up in the next chink. But, placed as he was, he found himself unable to make this blade fast without creating a noise. Krok, who had by now realized what Toke had in mind, signed to him to come down, whispering that they would have to do a bit of hammering now, even at the risk of disturbing certain sleepers from their slumber. Then, carrying the two remaining spear-heads