Baf 66 merlins ring, p.44
BAF 66 - Merlin's Ring, page 44
part #66 of Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series
“I am told that you are a man of the sea and know something of lands to the west of Thule.” Gwalchmai started.
“How did you learn that?”
“It is common talk in the village that you have widely voyaged. I came here on yonder English herring boat, out of Bristol, hoping to learn of lands to the west There has been much comment concerning lands beyond Greenland and speculation that India and Cathay might be reached in that direction. I have made the theory my life’s effort and I mean to prove it. Can you tell me aught of those countries? Would you be willing to draw me maps or act as pilot thither?”
“From whence came you? You are not a native of England?”
“Nay. I was born in Genoa, which is in Italy. I can find few there who agree with my ideas. Most laugh at me. If I can prove that I am right, I mean to take the evidence to Portugal or Spain. Perhaps I can interest one or the other. Portugal is much taken with seafarers.”
Gwalchmai began to wonder if this could be the man awaited—the one Merlin had promised would seek him out.
“What are you called?” he asked.
“I was christened Christopher. My surname is Columbus, but some call me Colon. I think I have always had a yearning for the ocean.”
“Were your people sailors?”
“There is a tale in my family records that one of my ancestors was a man of the north, in the service of Constantinople. Somewhere he found a treasure and spent it for lands in Italy. Most of our men have had a desire to wander. It is in our blood.”
The descendant of Mairtre and Arngrim! The man he was to meet! The wheel had indeed come full round.
“What of Spain? And Portugal? Are they Christian kingdoms?”
“Both of them. Of the two, I would say that Spain is the most Christian kingdom of any upon earth because, except for a few Moors who hold the city of Granada, no others live in Spain but ardent Christians.
“No others can live in that country. Granada is under siege and by the time I get back, the city may well have fallen. Such are the latest reports.”
“Then I would by all means seek aid in Spain. I think I can promise you success. My prophetic soul foretells it. Yes, I will draw you maps ,and act as your pilot, if you will stay here and hire a sailing boat. I believe it will do me good if I take one more sea voyage.”
For some weeks, the old hermit disappeared from his cave. His absence coincided with that of the sailor who jumped ship from the English herring boat and who as unaccountably was seen again at the same time that a missing Icelandic sailboat turned up drifting aimlessly off Reykjavik.
There was certainly a connection but it could not be proved, and the English sailor, for so they thought Columbus to be, kept his own counsel and an extremely tight mouth. Later, he found another berth and sailed away again. They never saw him more.
As for asking questions of the old hermit—long ago folk had found that vain.
A few days after the return of the pair, little Sigrid went with her father to bring food to the cave. They found their friend lying with eyes closed and smiling.
She ran to him and touched his hand to awaken him. The flesh was cold. He did not open his eyes.
She turned from Mm. Her lips quivered.
“Father, is the storyteller dead? What are the bells, father? Can you hear them ringing?”
Ragnar hesitated. He thought his small daughter was far too young to be introduced in this way to such a hard fact as death.
“Let us not call it death, darling. We will say a prayer for him. Let us say—he has gone home!”
They knelt on the bare floor of the hermitage. As he took her hand in his and they bent their heads, at the instant of the touch of fingers he too suddenly heard the heavenly chiming of little golden bells that filled the cave—a melody that faded farther and farther away, into infinity and beyond—as the tenants passed forever out of their ken.
Epilogue
There is a single piece of evidence on record that is hard to dispute.
Were you to take the trouble to closely inspect the original charter given to Christopher Columbus, under the seal of their Most Christian Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, of Aragon and Castile, you might, if you have good eyes or a powerful microscope, find an alteration, an erasure in the first wording, as though the scribe had made a foolish mistake and corrected it.
Under the words giving the Admiral of the Ocean Sea an interest in the lands that he will discover, you may be able to discern the earlier phrasing. It reads “the lands which he has discovered”!
A minor change perhaps—but of what tremendous significance.
And what of Gwalchmai and Corenice?
This tale is not the end, for no story ever really comes to any definite end. There is only a pause in life—a change, a blending, a transmutation into something new, which in itself is impermanent.
It continues changing toward a development known only to God.
If, sometime, you again have that experience common to all of us—an eery sensation of looking upon familiar things and for an instant finding them new and curious, do not be alarmed.
Flann would have thought that both Gwalchmai and Core-nice should have been translated to dwell forever young in Tir-Nan-Og, the place of Eternal Spring.
The Vikings would have gladly seen Gwalchmai as a warrior “in Valhalla and granted Corenice an honored appointment as Sheild-Maiden.
The Fay would have been happy to receive them as joyous guests in Astophar.
Surely Jeanne would have used her good offices to obtain them a place in Paradise.
But neither would have been content. This wandering pair could never be happy in any one place very long.
Remember, if you have this feeling, it may be that one of them is today using you as a medium and gazing out through your eyes—using them as windows which open upon the many wonders of the world.
Do not be afraid. Be kind. Let that one briefly share your life.
It may chance that the other is very near, and in repayment for your kindness, you may also feel, for just a moment, the love they possess for each other—for all eternity.
Lin Carter (ed.), BAF 66 - Merlin's Ring
