JAN GUILLOU
The Crusades Trilogy
The Road
to Jerusalem
Translated by Steven T. Murray
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Harper An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
Copyright © Jan Guillou
Jan Guillou asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Translation copyright © Steven T. Murray 2009 First published in Swedish as Vägen till Jerusalem
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Source ISBN: 9780007285853
Ebook edition © FEBRUARY 2009 ISBN: 9780007313952
Version 2019-02-22
‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions’
Jacula Prudentum, 1651, no. 170
Contents
Title Page Copyright Dedication Principal Characters Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Keep Reading About the Author About the Publisher
THE FOLKUNG CLAN
(including the Bjälbo branch)
Magnus Folkesson, master of Arnäs
Fru Sigrid, first wife of Magnus Folkesson and mother of Eskil and Arn
Erika Joarsdotter, second wife of Magnus Folkesson
Eskil Magnusson, first son of Magnus Folkesson
Arn Magnusson, second son of Magnus Folkesson
Birger Brosa, younger brother of Magnus Folkesson
THE ERIK CLAN
King Erik Jedvardsson, king of Svealand
Joar Jedvardsson, brother of Erik Jedvardsson
Kristina Jedvardsson, wife of Erik Jedvardsson (and kinswoman to Fru Sigrid)
King Knut Eriksson, son of Erik Jedvardsson
THE SVERKER CLAN
King Sverker, king of Eastern Götaland
Queen Ulvhild, first wife of King Sverker
King Karl Sverkersson, son of King Sverker and Ulvhild
Rikissa, second wife of King Sverker
Knut Magnusson, son from Rikissa’s first marriage, later king of Denmark
Emund Ulvbane (aka ‘Emund One-Hand’)
Boleslav and Kol, half-brothers of King Karl Sverkersson
THE PÅL CLAN
Algot Pålsson, steward of Husaby
Katarina Algotsdotter, older daughter of Algot
Cecilia Algotsdotter, younger daughter of Algot
THE CLERGY (Cistercians from France)
Father Henri de Clairvaux, prior of Varnhem
Brother Guilbert de Beaune, the weapons smith
Brother Lucien de Clairvaux, the gardener
Brother Guy le Breton, the fisherman
Brother Ludwig de Bêtecourt, the music master
Brother Rugiero de Nîmes, the chef
Archbishop Stéphan
THE DANES
King Sven Grate of Denmark
Magnus Henriksen, the king-slayer
In the year of Grace 1150, when the ungodly Saracens, the scum of the earth and the vanguard of the Antichrist, inflicted many defeats on our forces in the Holy Land, the Holy Spirit descended upon Fru Sigrid of Arnäs and gave her a vision which changed her life.
Perhaps it could also be said that this vision had the effect of shortening her life. What is certain is that she was never the same again. Less certain is what the monk Thibaud wrote much later, that at the very moment the Holy Spirit revealed itself to Sigrid, a new realm was actually created up in the North, which at the end of the era would come to be known as Sweden.
It was at the Feast of St Tiburtius, the day regarded as the first day of summer, when the ice melts in Western Götaland. Never before had so many people gathered in Skara, since it was no ordinary mass that was now to be celebrated. The new cathedral was going to be consecrated.
The ceremonies were already into their second hour. The procession had made its three circuits around the church, moving with infinite slowness because Bishop Ödgrim was a very old man, shuffling along as if it were his last journey. He also seemed a bit confused, because he had read the first prayer inside the blessed church in the vernacular instead of in Latin:
God, Thou who invisibly preserveth everything
but maketh Thy