Hungarian Heritage Review, 1988 (17. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1988-01-01 / 1. szám
-------Hungarian lú'gcttiis - ---SAINT MARGIT OF SCOTLAND Once upon a time — this must begin like a fairy tale, because the story is more wonderful than a fairy tale might be, even though this is a true story. Far away, where the ocean’s breath is fog, there lived and ruled the Anglo-Saxon King, Ironside Edmund, with his two little sons, and his second wife, Emma. They would have lived happily forever if Canute, the Danish ruler, would not have wanted the English Empire. With his armies, he invaded and conquered the island, killing Edmund, thus earning for himself the first name or title, “Bloody Hand.” Yet the widow of King Edmund married him. Whether or not she was forced to, no one can tell. After their son, Hardicanute was born, she let her two stepsons, Edmund and Edward, be smuggled out of the country into Denmark. Canute’s brother, the Danish King, was to execute them, but the Danish King felt pity and sent the boys to Sweden. Olaf, King of Sweden, was the uncle of the boys from the mother’s side, and he raised the two lads with love. The happiness did not last long, for King Olaf died, and the boys fled from one land to another, from one hostile nation to another. Finally, after a long and adventurous journey, they arrived in Russia to the city of Kiev. At the same time, far away from the ocean’s salty breath, but where the grass of the Nagyalfold (Great Plain) waves like the ocean, lived King István, the first. He wanted to leave his kingdom to his son, Prince Imre, even though it was against the rules of the Arpads. For, according to ancient custom, the son did not follow his father as his successor, but the oldest member of the House of Arpad. Istvan’s decision caused a revolt among his relatives, Koppány, Ajtony and Gyula. Their sons fled from the revenge of the King, and this is how the three princes of the House of Arpad — Endre, Bela and Levente, came to Kiev. Life is hard for the exiled. Abroad, the bread tastes bitter and even the air smells poisonous! Thus, the five orphaned princes met each other and made a friendship that was to last a lifetime. Together, they watched the starry sky, for it was the same sky as each had in his homeland. The Scots told their Magyar friends about their country where ocean waves smashed against the white cliffs of Dover, and above, a thousand sea gulls cried out for the Anglo-Saxon fate. They told about the night of terror, when only with the help of the nurse had their lives been saved. They told about the cruel death of their Father and about the adventures of their escape. .. The Magyars told of their country nearby, where the sun shines brighter, the stars are bigger, and the songs of the birds sound more beautiful. They spoke of a bloody battlefield, where their fathers had died, and where they, themselves, under the dark cover of night, had fled on their horses, to save their lives. To each other they told their stories and watched the stars, till one day fate turned on its wheel. The three Princes of the House of Arpad had the opportunity to return. Imre, the prince Hereditary, had died, as had King István, and the quarrel of the successors had precipitated their —continued next page JANUARY 1988 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 29
