{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_24421/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_24421","id":"gutenberg_24421","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24421","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Historical Novels","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore","Legends -- Iceland","Mythology, Norse","Sagas -- Translations into English"],"text":"Produced by David Widger\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF GUNNLAUG THE WORM-TONGUE AND RAVEN THE SKALD.\n\nTranslated From The  Icelandic By Eirikr Magnusson And William Morris\n\n1875\n\n[Transcriber\u2019s Note: Thought to be written in the 13th Century]\n\n_EVEN AS ARI THORGILSON THE LEARNED, THE PRIEST, HATH TOLD IT, WHO WAS\nTHE MAN OF ALL ICELAND MOST LEARNED IN TALES OF THE LAND\u2019S INHABITING\nAND IN LORE OF TIME AGONE_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.     Of Thorstein Egilson and his Kin.\n\nThere was a man called Thorstein, the son of Egil, the son of\nSkallagrim, the son of Kveldulf the Hersir of Norway. Asgerd was the\nmother of Thorstein; she was the daughter of Biorn Hold. Thorstein dwelt\nat Burg in Burg-firth; he was rich of fee, and a great chief, a wise\nman, meek and of measure in all wise. He was nought of such wondrous\ngrowth and strength as his father Egil had been; yet was he a right\nmighty man, and much beloved of all folk.\n\nThorstein was goodly to look on, flaxen-haired, and the best-eyed of\nmen; and so say men of lore that many of the kin of the Mere-men, who\nare come of Egil, have been the goodliest folk; yet, for all that, this\nkindred have differed much herein, for it is said that some of them have\nbeen accounted the most ill-favoured of men: but in that kin have been\nalso many men of great prowess in many wise, such as Kiartan, the son of\nOlaf Peacock, and Slaying-Bardi, and Skuli, the son of Thorstein. Some\nhave been great bards, too, in that kin, as Biorn, the champion of\nHit-dale, priest Einar Skulison, Snorri Sturluson, and many others.\n\nNow, Thorstein had to wife Jofrid, the daughter of Gunnar, the son of\nHlifar. This Gunnar was the best skilled in weapons, and the lithest of\nlimb of all bonderfolk who have been in Iceland; the second was Gunnar\nof Lithend; but Steinthor of Ere was the third. Jofrid was eighteen\nwinters old when Thorstein wedded her; she was a widow, for Thorodd,\nson of Odd of Tongue, had had her to wife aforetime. Their daughter was\nHungerd, who was brought up at Thorstein\u2019s at Burg. Jofrid was a very\nstirring woman; she and Thorstein had many children betwixt them, but\nfew of them come into this tale. Skuli was the eldest of their sons,\nKollsvein the second, Egil the third.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.     Of Thorsteins Dream.\n\nOne summer, it is said, a ship came from over the main into Gufaros.\nBergfinn was he hight who was the master thereof, a Northman of kin,\nrich in goods, and somewhat stricken in years, and a wise man he was\nwithal.\n\nNow, goodman Thorstein rode to the ship, as it was his wont mostly\nto rule the market, and this he did now. The Eastmen got housed, but\nThorstein took the master to himself, for thither he prayed to go.\nBergfinn was of few words throughout the winter, but Thorstein treated\nhim well The Eastman had great joy of dreams.\n\nOne day in spring-tide Thorstein asked Bergfinn if he would ride with\nhim up to Hawkfell, where at that time was the Thing-stead of the\nBurg-firthers; for Thorstein had been told that the walls of his booth\nhad fallen in. The Eastman said he had good will to go, so that day they\nrode, some three together, from home, and the house-carles of Thorstein\nwithal, till they came up under Hawkfell to a farmstead called Foxholes.\nThere dwelt a man of small wealth called Atli, who was Thorstein\u2019s\ntenant Thorstein bade him come and work with them, and bring with him\nhoe and spade. This he did, and when they came to the tofts of the\nbooth, they set to work all of them, and did out the walls.\n\nThe weather was hot with sunshine that day, and Thorstein and the\nEastman grew heavy; and when they had moved out the walls, those two sat\ndown within the tofts, and Thorstein slept, and fared ill in his sleep.\nThe Eastman sat beside him, and let him have his dream fully out, and\nwhen he awoke he was much wearied. Then the Eastman asked him what he\nhad dreamt, as he had had such an ill time of it in his sleep.\n\nThorstein said, \u201cNay, dreams betoken nought.\u201d\n\nBut as they rode homeward in the evening, the Eastman asked him again\nwhat he had dreamt.\n\nThorstein said, \u201cIf I tell thee the dream, then shalt thou unriddle it\nto me, as it verily is.\u201d\n\nThe Eastman said he would risk it.\n\nThen Thorstein said: \u201cThis was my dream; for methought I was at home\nat Burg, standing outside the men\u2019s-door, and I looked up at the\nhouse-roof, and on the ridge I saw a swan, goodly and fair, and I\nthought it was mine own, and deemed it good beyond all things. Then I\nsaw a great eagle sweep down from the mountains, and fly thitherward and\nalight beside the swan, and chuckle over her lovingly; and methouht\nthe swan seemed well content thereat; but I noted that the eagle was\nblack-eyed, and that on him were iron claws: valiant he seemed to me.\n\n\u201cAfter this I thought I saw another fowl come flying from the south\nquarter, and he, too, came hither to Burg, and sat down on the house\nbeside the swan, and would fain be fond with her. This also was a mighty\neagle.\n\n\u201cBut soon I thought that the eagle first-come ruffled up at the coming\nof the other. Then they fought fiercely and long, and this I saw that\nboth bled, and such was the end of their play, that each tumbled either\nway down from the house-roof, and there they lay both dead.\n\n\u201cBut the swan sat left alone, drooping much, and sad of semblance.\n\n\u201cThen I saw a fowl fly from the west; that was a falcon, and he sat\nbeside the swan and made fondly towards her, and they flew away both\ntogether into one and the same quarter, and therewith I awoke.\n\n\u201cBut a dream of no mark this is,\u201d he says, \u201cand will in all likelihood\nbetoken gales, that they shall meet in the air from those quarters\nwhence I deemed the fowl flew.\u201d\n\nThe Eastman spake: \u201cI deem it nowise such,\u201d saith he.\n\nThorstein said, \u201cMake of the dream, then, what seemeth likest to thee,\nand let me hear.\u201d\n\nThen said the Eastman: \u201cThese birds are like to be fetches of men: but\nthy wife sickens now, and she will give birth to a woman-child fair and\nlovely; and dearly thou wilt love her; but high-born men shall woo thy\ndaughter, coming from such quarters as the eagles seemed to fly from,\nand shall love her with overweening love, and shall fight about her,\nand both lose their lives thereby. And thereafter a third man, from the\nquarter whence came the falcon, shall woo her, and to that man shall\nshe be wedded. Now, I have unravelled thy dream, and I think things will\nbefall as I have said.\u201d\n\nThorstein answered: \u201cIn evil and unfriendly wise is the dream\ninterpreted, nor do I deem thee fit for the work of unriddling dreams.\u201d\n\nThen Eastman said, \u201cThou shalt find how it will come to pass.\u201d\n\nBut Thorstein estranged himself from the Eastman thenceforward, and he\nleft that summer, and now he is out of the tale.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.     Of the Birth and Fostering of Helga the Fair.\n\nThis summer Thorstein got ready to ride to the Thing, and spake to\nJofrid his wife before he went from home. \u201cSo is it,\u201d he says, \u201cthat\nthou art with child now, but thy child shall be cast forth if thou bear\na woman; but nourished if it be a man.\u201d\n\nNow, at this time when all the land was heathen, it was somewhat the\nwont of such men as had little wealth, and were like to have many young\nchildren on their hands, to have them cast forth, but an evil deed it\nwas always deemed to be.\n\nAnd now, when Thorstein had said this, Jofrid answers, \u201cThis is a word\nall unlike thee, such a man as thou art, and surely to a wealthy man\nlike thee it will not seem good that this should be done.\u201d\n\nThorstein answered: \u201cThou knowest my mind, and that no good will hap if\nmy will be thwarted.\u201d\n\nSo he rode to the Thing; but while he was gone Jofrid gave birth to a\nwoman-child wondrous fair. The women would fain show her to the mother;\nshe said there was little need thereof, but had her shepherd Thorvard\ncalled to her, and spake to him:--\n\n\u201cThou shalt take my horse and saddle it, and bring this child west\nto Herdholt, to Thorgerd, Egil\u2019s daughter, and pray her to nourish it\nsecretly, so that Thorstein may not know thereof. For with such looks of\nlove do I behold this child, that surely I cannot bear to have it cast\nforth. Here are three marks of silver, have them in reward of thy work;\nbut west there Thorgerd will get thee fare and food over the sea.\u201d\n\nThen Thorvard did her bidding; he rode with the child to Herdholt, and\ngave it into Thorgerd\u2019s hands, and she had it nourished at a tenant\u2019s of\nhers who dwelt at Freedmans-stead up in Hvamfirth; but she got fare for\nThorvard north in Steingrims-firth, in Shell-creek, and gave him meet\noutfit for his sea-faring: he went thence abroad, and is now out of the\nstory.\n\nNow when Thorstein came home from the Thing, Jofrid told him that the\nchild had been cast forth according to his word, but that the herdsman\nhad fled away and stolen her horse. Thorstein said she had done well,\nand got himself another herdsman. So six winters passed, and this matter\nwas nowise wotted of.\n\nNow in those days Thorstein rode to Herdholt, being bidden there as\nguest of his brother-in-law, Olaf Peacock, the son of Hoskuld, who was\nthen deemed to be the chief highest of worth among all men west there.\nGood cheer was made Thorstein, as was like to be; and one day at the\nfeast it is said that Thorgerd sat in the high seat talking with her\nbrother Thorstein, while Olaf was talking to other men; but on the bench\nright over against them sat three little maidens. Then said Thorgerd,--\n\n\u201cHow dost thou, brother, like the look of these three little maidens\nsitting straight before us?\u201d\n\n\u201cRight well,\u201d he answers, \u201cbut one is by far the fairest; she has all\nthe goodliness of Olaf, but the whiteness and the countenance of us, the\nMere-men.\u201d\n\nThorgerd answered: \u201cSurely this is true, brother, wherein thou sayest\nthat she has the fairness and countenance of us Mere-folk, but\nthe goodliness of Olaf Peacock she has not got, for she is not his\ndaughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can that be,\u201d says Thorstein, \u201cbeing thy daughter none the less?\u201d\n\nShe answered: \u201cTo say sooth, kinsman,\u201d quoth she, \u201cthis fair maiden is\nnot my daughter, but thine.\u201d\n\nAnd therewith she told him all as it had befallen, and prayed him to\nforgive her and his own wife that trespass.\n\nThorstein said: \u201cI cannot blame you two for having done this; most\nthings will fall as they are fated, and well have ye covered over my\nfolly: so look I on this maiden that I deem it great good luck to have\nso fair a child. But now, what is her name?\u201d\n\n\u201cHelga she is called,\u201d says Thorgerd.\n\n\u201cHelga the Fair,\u201d says Thorstein. \u201cBut now shalt thou make her ready to\ncome home with me.\u201d\n\nShe did so, and Thorstein was led out with good gifts, and Helga rode\nwith him to his home, and was brought up there with much honour and\ngreat love from father and mother and all her kin.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.     Of Gunnlaug Worm-tongue and his Kin.\n\nNow at this time there dwelt at Gilsbank, up in White-water-side, Illugi\nthe Black, son of Hallkel, the son of Hrosskel. The mother of Illugi was\nThurid Dandle, daughter of Gunnlaug Worm-tongue.\n\nIllugi was the next greatest chief in Burg-firth after Thorstein\nEgilson. He was a man of broad lands and hardy of mood, and wont to do\nwell to his friends; he had to wife Ingibiorg, the daughter of Asbiorn\nHordson, from Ornolfsdale; the mother of Ingibiorg was Thorgerd, the\ndaughter of Midfirth-Skeggi. The children of Illugi and Ingibiorg were\nmany, but few of them have to do with this story. Hermund was one of\ntheir sons, and Gunnlaug another; both were hopeful men, and at this\ntime of ripe growth.\n\nIt is told of Gunnlaug that he was quick of growth in his early youth,\nbig, and strong; his hair was light red, and very goodly of fashion; he\nwas dark-eyed, somewhat ugly-nosed, yet of lovesome countenance; thin\nof flank he was, and broad of shoulder, and the best-wrought of men; his\nwhole mind was very masterful; eager was he from his youth up, and in\nall wise unsparing and hardy; he was a great skald, but somewhat bitter\nin his rhyming, and therefore was he called Gunnlaug Worm-tongue.\n\nHermund was the best beloved of the two brothers, and had the mien of a\ngreat man.\n\nWhen Gunnlaug was fifteen winters old he prayed his father for goods to\nfare abroad withal, and said he had will to travel and see the manners\nof other folk. Master Illugi was slow to take the matter up, and said he\nwas unlike to be deemed good in the out-lands \u201cwhen I can scarcely shape\nthee to my own liking at home.\u201d\n\nOn a morning but a very little afterwards it happened that Illugi came\nout early, and saw that his storehouse was opened, and that some\nsacks of wares, six of them, had been brought out into the road, and\ntherewithal too some pack-gear. Now, as he wondered at this, there came\nup a man leading four horses, and who should it be but his son Gunnlaug.\nThen said he:--\n\n\u201cI it was who brought out the sacks.\u201d\n\nIllugi asked him why he had done so. He said that they should make his\nfaring goods.\n\nIllugi said: \u201cIn nowise shalt thou thwart my will, nor fare anywhere\nsooner than I like!\u201d and in again he swung the ware-sacks therewith.\n\nThen Gunnlaug rode thence and came in the evening down to Burg, and\ngoodman Thorstein asked him to bide there, and Gunnlaug was fain of\nthat proffer. He told Thorstein how things had gone betwixt him and his\nfather, and Thorstein offered to let him bide there as long as he liked,\nand for some seasons Gunnlaug abode there, and learned law-craft of\nThorstein, and all men accounted well of him.\n\nNow Gunnlaug and Helga would be always at the chess-playing together,\nand very soon each found favour with the other, as came to be proven\nwell enough afterwards: they were very nigh of an age.\n\nHelga was so fair, that men of lore say that she was the fairest woman\nof Iceland, then or since; her hair was so plenteous and long that it\ncould cover her all over, and it was as fair as a band of gold; nor was\nthere any so good to choose as Helga the Fair in all Burgfirth, and far\nand wide elsewhere.\n\nNow one day, as men sat in the hall at Burg, Gunnlaug spake to\nThorstein: \u201cOne thing in law there is which thou hast not taught me, and\nthat is how to woo me a wife.\u201d\n\nThorstein said, \u201cThat is but a small matter,\u201d and therewith taught him\nhow to go about it.\n\nThen said Gunnlaug, \u201cNow shalt thou try if I have understood all: I\nshall take thee by the hand and make as if I were wooing thy daughter\nHelga.\u201d\n\n\u201cI see no need of that,\u201d says Thorstein. Gunnlaug, however, groped\nthen and there after his hand, and seizing it said, \u201cNay, grant me this\nthough.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo as thou wilt, then,\u201d said Thorstein; \u201cbut be it known to all who\nare hereby that this shall be as if it had been unspoken, nor shall any\nguile follow herein.\u201d\n\nThen Gunnlaug named for himself witnesses, and betrothed Helga to him,\nand asked thereafter if it would stand good thus. Thorstein said that it\nwas well; and those who were present were mightily pleased at all this.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.     Of Raven and his Kin.\n\nThere was a man called Onund, who dwelt in the south at Mossfell: he\nwas the wealthiest of men, and had a priesthood south there about the\nnesses. He was married, and his wife was called Geirny. She was the\ndaughter of Gnup, son of Mold-Gnup, who settled at Grindwick, in the\nsouth country. Their sons were Raven, and Thorarin, and Eindridi; they\nwere all hopeful men, but Raven was in all wise the first of them. He\nwas a big man and a strong, the sightliest of men and a good skald;\nand when he was fully grown he fared between sundry lands, and was well\naccounted of wherever he came.\n\nThorod the Sage, the son of Eyvind, then dwelt at Hjalli, south in\nOlfus, with Skapti his son, who was then the spokesman-at-law in\nIceland. The mother of Skapti was Ranveig, daughter of Gnup, the son of\nMold-Gnup; and Skapti and the sons of Onund were sisters\u2019 sons. Between\nthese kinsmen was much friendship as well as kinship.\n\nAt this time Thorfin, the son of Selthorir, dwelt at Red-Mel, and\nhad seven sons, who were all the hopefullest of men; and of them were\nthese--Thorgils, Eyjolf, and Thorir; and they were all the greatest men\nout there. But these men who have now been named lived all at one and\nthe same time.\n\nNext to this befell those tidings, the best that ever have befallen here\nin Iceland, that the whole land became Christian, and that all folk cast\noff the old faith.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI. How Helga was vowed to Gunnlaug, and of Gunnlaug\u2019s\nfaring abroad.\n\nGunnlaug Worm-Tongue was, as is aforesaid, whiles at Burg with\nThorstein, whiles with his father Illugi at Gilsbank, three winters\ntogether, and was by now eighteen winters old; and father and son were\nnow much more of a mind.\n\nThere was a man called Thorkel the Black; he was a house-carle of\nIllugi, and near akin to him, and had been brought up in his house. To\nhim fell an heritage north at As, in Water-dale, and he prayed Gunnlaug\nto go with him thither. This he did, and so they rode, the two together,\nto As. There they got the fee; it was given up to them by those who had\nthe keeping of it, mostly because of Gunnlaug\u2019s furtherance.\n\nBut as they rode from the north they guested at Grimstongue, at a rich\nbonder\u2019s who dwelt there; but in the morning a herdsman took Gunnlaug\u2019s\nhorse, and it had sweated much by then he got it back. Then Gunnlaug\nsmote the herdsman, and stunned him; but the bonder would in nowise bear\nthis, and claimed boot therefor. Gunnlaug offered to pay him one mark.\nThe bonder thought it too little.\n\nThen Gunnlaug sang,--\n\n          \u201cBade I the middling mighty\n          To have a mark of waves\u2019 flame;\n          Giver of grey seas? glitter,\n          This gift shalt thou make shift with.\n          If the elf sun of the waters\n          From out of purse thou lettest,\n          O waster of the worm\u2019s bedy\n          Awaits thee sorrow later.\u201d\n\nSo the peace was made as Gunnlaug bade, and in such wise the two rode\nsouth.\n\nNow, a little while after, Gunnlaug asked his father a second time for\ngoods for going abroad.\n\nIllugi says, \u201cNow shalt thou have thy will, for thou hast wrought\nthyself into something better than thou wert.\u201d So Illugi rode hastily\nfrom home, and bought for Gunnlaug half a ship which lay in Gufaros,\nfrom Audun Festargram--this Audun was he who would not flit abroad the\nsons of Oswif the Wise, after the slaying of Kiartan Olafson, as is\ntold in the story of the Laxdalemen, which thing though betid later than\nthis.--And when Illugi came home, Gunnlaug thanked him well.\n\nThorkel the Black betook himself to seafaring with Gunnlaug, and their\nwares were brought to the ship; but Gunnlaug was at Burg while they made\nher ready, and found more cheer in talk with Helga than in toiling with\nchapmen.\n\nNow one day Thorstein asked Gunnlaug if he would ride to his horses with\nhim up to Long-water-dale. Gunnlaug said he would. So they ride both\ntogether till they come to the mountain-dairies of Thorstein, called\nThorgils-stead. There were stud-horses of Thorstein, four of them\ntogether, all red of hue. There was one horse very goodly, but little\ntried: this horse Thorstein offered to give to Gunnlaug. He said he was\nin no need of horses, as he was going away from the country; and so they\nride to other stud-horses. There was a grey horse with four mares, and\nhe was the best of horses in Burgfirth. This one, too, Thorstein offered\nto give Gunnlaug, but he said, \u201cI desire these in no wise more than the\nothers; but why dost thou not bid me what I will take?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is that?\u201d said Thorstein.\n\n\u201cHelga the Fair, thy daughter,\u201d says Gunnlaug.\n\n\u201cThat rede is not to be settled so hastily,\u201d said Thorstein; and\ntherewithal got on other talk. And now they ride homewards down along\nLong-water.\n\nThen said Gunnlaug, \u201cI must needs know what thou wilt answer me about\nthe wooing.\u201d\n\nThorstein answers: \u201cI heed not thy vain talk,\u201d says he.\n\nGunnlaug says, \u201cThis is my whole mind, and no vain words.\u201d\n\nThorstein says, \u201cThou shouldst first know thine own will. Art thou not\nbound to fare abroad? and yet thou makest as if thou wouldst go marry.\nNeither art thou an even match for Helga while thou art so unsettled,\nand therefore this cannot so much as be looked at.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug says, \u201cWhere lookest thou for a match for thy daughter, if\nthou wilt not give her to the son of Illugi the Black; or who are they\nthroughout Burg-firth who are of more note than he?\u201d\n\nThorstein answered: \u201cI will not play at men-mating,\u201d says he, \u201cbut if\nthou wert such a man as he is, thou wouldst not be turned away.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug said, \u201cTo whom wilt thou give thy daughter rather than to me?\u201d\n\nSaid Thorstein, \u201cHereabout are many good men to choose from. Thorfin of\nRed-Mel hath seven sons, and all of them men of good manners.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug answers, \u201cNeither Onund nor Thorfin are men as good as my\nfather. Nay, thou thyself clearly fallest short of him--or what hast\nthou to set against his strife with Thorgrim the Priest, the son of\nKiallak, and his sons, at Thorsness Thing, where he carried all that was\nin debate?\u201d\n\nThorstein answers, \u201cI drave away Steinar, the son of Onund Sioni, which\nwas deemed somewhat of a deed.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug says, \u201cTherein thou wast holpen by thy father Egil; and, to end\nall, it is for few bonders to cast away my alliance.\u201d\n\nSaid Thorstein, \u201cCarry thy cowing away to the fellows up yonder at the\nmountains; for down here, on the Meres, it shall avail thee nought.\u201d\n\nNow in the evening they come home; but next morning Gunnlaug rode up to\nGilsbank, and prayed his father to ride with him a-wooing out to Burg.\n\nIllugi answered, \u201cThou art an unsettled man, being bound for faring\nabroad, but makest now as if thou wouldst busy thyself with wife-wooing;\nand so much do I know, that this is not to Thorstein\u2019s mind.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug answers, \u201cI shall go abroad all the same, nor shall I be well\npleased but if thou further this.\u201d\n\nSo after this Illugi rode with eleven men from home down to Burg,\nand Thorstein greeted him well. Early in the morning Illugi said to\nThorstein, \u201cI would speak to thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us go, then, to the top of the Burg, and talk together there,\u201d says\nThorstein; and so they did, and Gunnlaug went with them.\n\nThen said Illugi, \u201cMy kinsman Gunnlaug tells me that he has begun a\ntalk with thee on his own behalf, praying that he might woo thy daughter\nHelga; but now I would fain know what is like to come of this matter.\nHis kin is known to thee, and our possessions; from my hand shall be\nspared neither land nor rule over men, if such things might perchance\nfurther matters.\u201d\n\nThorstein said, \u201cHerein alone Gunnlaug pleases me not, that I find him\nan unsettled man; but if he were of a mind like thine, little would I\nhang back.\u201d\n\nIllugi said, \u201cIt will cut our friendship across if thou gainsayest me\nand my son an equal match.\u201d\n\nThorstein answers, \u201cFor thy words and our friendship then, Helga shall\nbe vowed, but not betrothed, to Gunnlaug, and shall bide for him three\nwinters: but Gunnlaug shall go abroad and shape himself to the ways of\ngood men; but I shall be free from all these matters if he does not then\ncome back, or if his ways are not to my liking.\u201d\n\nThereat they parted; Illugi rode home, but Gunnlaug rode to his ship.\nBut when they had wind at will they sailed for the main, and made\nthe northern part of Norway, and sailed landward along Thrandheim to\nNidaros; there they rode in the harbour, and unshipped their goods.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.     Of Gunnlaug in the East and the West.\n\nIn those days Earl Eric, the son of Hakon, and his brother Svein, ruled\nin Norway. Earl Eric abode as then at Hladir, which was left to him by\nhis father, and a mighty lord he was. Skuli, the son of Thorstein, was\nwith the earl at that time, and was one of his court, and well esteemed.\n\nNow they say that Gunnlaug and Audun Festargram, and seven of them\ntogether, went up to Hladir to the earl. Gunnlaug was so clad that he\nhad on a grey kirtle and white long-hose; he had a boil on his foot by\nthe instep, and from this oozed blood and matter as he strode on. In\nthis guise he went before the earl with Audun and the rest of them,\nand greeted him well. The earl knew Audun, and asked him tidings from\nIceland. Audun told him what there was toward. Then the earl asked\nGunnlaug who he was, and Gunnlaug told him his name and kin. Then\nthe earl said: \u201cSkuli Thorstein\u2019s son, what manner of man is this in\nIceland?\u201d\n\n\u201cLord,\u201d says he, \u201cgive him good welcome, for he is the son of the best\nman in Iceland, Illugi the Black of Gilsbank, and my foster-brother\nwithal.\u201d\n\nThe earl asked, \u201cWhat ails thy foot, Icelander?\u201d\n\n\u201cA boil, lord,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cAnd yet thou wentest not halt?\u201d\n\nGunnlaug answers, \u201cWhy go halt while both legs are long alike?\u201d\n\nThen said one of the earl\u2019s men, called Thorir: \u201cHe swaggereth hugely,\nthis Icelander! It would not be amiss to try him a little.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug looked at him and sang:--\n\n          \u201cA courtman there is\n          Full evil I wis,\n          A bad man and black,\n          Belief let him lack.\u201d\n\nThen would Thorir seize an axe. The earl spake: \u201cLet it be,\u201d says he;\n\u201cto such things men should pay no heed. But now, Icelander, how old a\nman art thou?\u201d\n\nGunnlaug answers: \u201cI am eighteen winters old as now,\u201d says he.\n\nThen says Earl Eric, \u201cMy spell is that thou shalt not live eighteen\nwinters more.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug said, somewhat under his breath: \u201cPray not against me, but for\nthyself rather.\u201d\n\nThe earl asked thereat, \u201cWhat didst thou say, Icelander?\u201d\n\nGunnlaug answers, \u201cWhat I thought well befitting, that thou shouldst bid\nno prayers against me, but pray well for thyself rather.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat prayers, then?\u201d says the earl.\n\n\u201cThat thou mightest not meet thy death after the manner of Earl Hakon,\nthy father.\u201d\n\nThe earl turned red as blood, and bade them take the rascal in haste;\nbut Skuli stepped up to the earl, and said: \u201cDo this for my words, lord,\nand give this man peace, so that he depart at his swiftest.\u201d\n\nThe earl answered, \u201cAt his swiftest let him be off then, if he will have\npeace, and never let him come again within mv realm.\u201d\n\nThen Skuli went out with Gunnlaug down to the bridges, where there was\nan England-bound ship ready to put out; therein Skuli got for Gunnlaug\na berth, as well as for Thorkel, his kinsman; but Gunnlaug gave his ship\ninto Audun\u2019s ward, and so much of his goods as he did not take with him.\n\nNow sail Gunnlaug and his fellows into the English main, and come at\nautumntide south to London Bridge, where they hauled ashore their ship.\n\nNow at that time King Ethelred, the son of Edgar, ruled over England,\nand was a good lord; this winter he sat in London. But in those days\nthere was the same tongue in England as in Norway and Denmark; but the\ntongues changed when William the Bastard won England, for thenceforward\nFrench went current there, for he was of French kin.\n\nGunnlaug went presently to the king, and greeted him well and worthily,\nThe king asked him from what land he came, and Gunnlaug told him all as\nit was. \u201cBut,\u201d said he, \u201cI have come to meet thee, lord, for that I have\nmade a song on thee, and I would that it might please thee to hearken to\nthat song.\u201d The king said it should be so, and Gunnlaug gave forth the\nsong well and proudly; and this is the burden thereof:--\n\n          \u201cAs God are all folk fearing\n          The free lord King of England,\n          Kin of all kings and all folk,\n          To Ethelred the head tow.\u201d\n\nThe king thanked him for the song, and gave him as song-reward a scarlet\ncloak lined with the costliest of furs, and golden-broidered down to the\nhem; and made him his man; and Gunnlaug was with him all the winter, and\nwas well accounted of.\n\nOne day, in the morning early, Gunnlaug met three men in a certain\nstreet, and Thororm was the name of their leader; he was big and strong,\nand right evil to deal with. He said, \u201cNorthman, lend me some money.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug answered, \u201cThat were ill counselled to lend one\u2019s money to\nunknown men.\u201d\n\nHe said, \u201cI will pay it thee back on a named day.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen shall it be risked,\u201d says Gunnlaug; and he lent him the fee\nwithal.\n\nBut some time afterwards Gunnlaug met the king, and told him of the\nmoney-lending. The king answered, \u201cNow hast thou thriven little, for\nthis is the greatest robber and reiver; deal with him in no wise, but I\nwill give thee money as much as thine was.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug said, \u201cThen do we, your men, do after a sorry sort, if,\ntreading sackless folk under foot, we let such fellows as this deal us\nout our lot. Nay, that shall never be.\u201d\n\nSoon after he met Thororm and claimed the fee of him. He said he was not\ngoing to pay it.\n\nThen sang Gunnlaug:--\n\n          \u201cEvil counselled art thou,\n          Gold from us withholding;\n          The reddener of the edges,\n          Pricking on with tricking.\n          Wot ye what? they called me,\n          Worm-tongue, yet a youngling;\n          Nor for nought so hight I;\n          Now is time to show it!\u201d\n\n\u201cNow I will make an offer good in law,\u201d says Gunnlaug; \u201cthat thou either\npay me my money, or else that thou go on holm with me in three nights\u2019\nspace.\u201d\n\nThen laughed the viking, and said, \u201cBefore thee none have come to that,\nto call me to holm, despite of all the ruin that many a man has had to\ntake at my hands. Well, I am ready to go.\u201d\n\nThereon they parted for that time.\n\nGunnlaug told the king what had befallen; and he said, \u201cNow, indeed,\nhave things taken a right hopeless turn; for this man\u2019s eyes can dull\nany weapon. But thou shalt follow my rede; here is a sword I will\ngive thee--with that thou shalt fight, but before the battle show him\nanother.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug thanked the king well therefor.\n\nNow when they were ready for the holm, Thororm asked what sort of a\nsword it was that he had. Gunnlaug unsheathed it and showed him, but\nhad a loop round the handle of the king\u2019s sword, and slipped it over\nhis hand; the bearserk looked on the sword, and said, \u201cI fear not that\nsword.\u201d\n\nBut now he dealt a blow on Gunnlaug with his sword, and cut off from him\nnigh all his shield; Gunnlaug smote in turn with the king\u2019s gift; the\nbearserk stood shieldless before him, thinking he had the same weapon he\nhad shown him, but Gunnlaug smote him his deathblow then and there.\n\nThe king thanked him for this work, and he got much fame therefor, both\nin England and far and wide elsewhere.\n\nIn the spring, when ships sailed from land to land, Gunnlaug prayed King\nEthelred for leave to sail somewhither; the king asks what he was about\nthen. Gunnlaug said, \u201cI would fulfil what I have given my word to do,\u201d\n and sang this stave withal:--\n\n          \u201cMy ways must I be wending\n          Three kings\u2019 walls to see yet,\n          And earls twain, as I promised\n          Erewhile to land-sharers.\n          Neither will I wend me\n          Back, the worms\u2019-bed lacking,\n          By war-lord\u2019s son, the wealth-free,\n          For work done gift well given.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it, then, skald,\u201d said the king, and withal he gave him a ring\nthat weighed six ounces; \u201cbut,\u201d said he, \u201cthou shalt give me thy word to\ncome back next autumn, for I will not let thee go altogether, because of\nthy great prowess.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.     Of Gunnlaug in Ireland.\n\nThereafter Gunnlaug sailed from England with chapmen north to Dublin. In\nthose days King Sigtrygg Silky-beard, son of King Olaf Kvaran and Queen\nKormlada, ruled over Ireland; and he had then borne sway but a little\nwhile. Gunnlaug went before the king, and greeted him well and worthily.\nThe king received him as was meet. Then Gunnlaug said, \u201cI have made a\nsong on thee, and I would fain have silence therefor.\u201d\n\nThe king answered, \u201cNo men have before now come forward with songs for\nme, and surely will I hearken to thine.\u201d Then Gunnlaug brought the song,\nwhereof this is the burden,--\n\n          \u201cSwaru\u2019s steed\n          Doth Sigtrygg feed.\u201d\n\nAnd this is therein also:--\n\n          \u201cPraise-worth I can\n          Well measure in man,\n          And kings, one by one--\n          Lo here, Kvararis son!\n          Gruageth the king\n          Gift of gold ring?\n          I, singer, know\n          His wont to bestow.\n          Let the high king say,\n          Heard he or this day,\n          Song drapu-measure\n          Dearer a treasure?\u201d\n\nThe king thanked him for the song, and called his treasurer to him, and\nsaid, \u201cHow shall the song be rewarded?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat hast thou will to give, lord?\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cHow will it be rewarded if I give him two ships for it?\u201d said the king.\n\nThen said the treasurer, \u201cThis is too much, lord; other kings give in\nregard of songs good keepsakes, fair swords, or golden rings.\u201d\n\nSo the king gave him his own raiment of new scarlet, a gold-embroidered\nkirtle, and a cloak lined with choice furs, and a gold ring which\nweighed a mark. Gunnlaug thanked him well.\n\nHe dwelt a short time here, and then went thence to the Orkneys.\n\nThen was lord in Orkney, Earl Sigurd, the son of Hlodver; he was\nfriendly to Icelanders. Now Gunnlaug greeted the earl well, and said he\nhad a song to bring him. The earl said he would listen thereto, since he\nwas of such great kin in Iceland.\n\nThen Gunnlaug brought the song; it was a shorter lay, and well done. The\nearl gave him for lay-reward a broad axe, all inlaid with silver, and\nbade him abide with him.\n\nGunnlaug thanked him both for his gift and his offer, but said he was\nbound east for Sweden; and thereafter he went on board ship with chapmen\nwho sailed to Norway.\n\nIn the autumn they came east to King\u2019s Cliff, Thorkel, his kinsman,\nbeing with him all the time. From King\u2019s Cliff they got a guide up to\nWest Gothland, and came upon a cheaping-stead, called Skarir: there\nruled an earl called Sigurd, a man stricken in years. Gunnlaug went\nbefore him, and told him he had made a song on him; the earl gave a\nwilling ear hereto, and Gunnlaug brought the song, which was a shorter\nlay.\n\nThe earl thanked him, and rewarded the song well, and bade him abide\nthere that winter.\n\nEarl Sigurd had a great Yule-feast in the winter, and on Yule-eve came\nthither men sent from Earl Eric of Norway, twelve of them together, and\nbrought gifts to Earl Sigurd. The earl made them good cheer, and bade\nthem sit by Gunnlaug through the Yule-tide; and there was great mirth at\ndrinks.\n\nNow the Gothlanders said that no earl was greater or of more fame than\nEarl Sigurd; but the Norwegians thought that Earl Eric was by far the\nforemost of the two. Hereon would they bandy words, till they both took\nGunnlaug to be umpire in the matter.\n\nThen he sang this stave:--\n\n          \u201cTell ye, staves of spear-din,\n          How on sleek-side sea-horse\n          Oft this earl hath proven\n          Over-toppling billows;\n          But Eric, victory\u2019s ash-tree,\n          Oft hath seen in east-seas\n          More of high blue billows\n          Before the bows a-roaring.\u201d\n\nBoth sides were content with his finding, but the Norwegians the best.\nBut after Yule-tide those messengers left with gifts of goodly things,\nwhich Earl Sigurd sent to Earl Eric.\n\nNow they told Earl Eric of Gunnlaug\u2019s finding: the earl thought that he\nhad shown upright dealing and friendship to him herein, and let out some\nwords, saying that Gunnlaug should have good peace throughout his land.\nWhat the earl had said came thereafter to the ears of Gunnlaug.\n\nBut now Earl Sigurd gave Gunnlaug a guide east to Tenthland, in Sweden,\nas he had asked.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX. Of the Quarrel between Gunnlaug and Raven before the Swedish King.\n\nIn those days King Olaf the Swede, son of King Eric the Victorious, and\nSigrid the High-counselled, daughter of Skogul Tosti, ruled over Sweden.\nHe was a mighty king and renowned, and full fain of fame.\n\nGunnlaug came to Upsala towards the time of the Thing of the Swedes in\nspring-tide; and when he got to see the king, he greeted him. The\nking took his greeting well, and asked who he was. He said he was an\nIceland-man.\n\nThen the king called out: \u201cRaven,\u201d says he, \u201cwhat man is he in Iceland?\u201d\n\nThen one stood up from the lower bench, a big man and a stalwart, and\nstepped up before the king, and spake: \u201cLord,\u201d says he, \u201che is of good\nkin, and himself the most stalwart of men.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet him go, then, and sit beside thee,\u201d said the king.\n\nThen Gunnlaug said, \u201cI have a song to set forth before thee, king, and I\nwould fain have peace while thou hearkenest thereto.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo ye first, and sit ye down,\u201d says the king, \u201cfor there is no leisure\nnow to sit listening to songs.\u201d\n\nSo they did as he bade them.\n\nNow Gunnlaug and Raven fell a-talking together, and each told each of\nhis travels. Raven said that he had gone the summer before from Iceland\nto Norway, and had come east to Sweden in the forepart of winter. They\nsoon got friendly together.\n\nBut one day, when the Thing was over, they were both before the king,\nGunnlaug and Raven.\n\nThen spake Gunnlaug, \u201cNow, lord, I would that thou shouldst hear the\nsong.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I may do now,\u201d said the king.\n\n\u201cMy song too will I set forth now,\u201d says Raven.\n\n\u201cThou mayst do so,\u201d said the king.\n\nThen Gunnlaug said, \u201cI will set forth mine first if thou wilt have it\nso, king.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said Raven, \u201cit behoveth me to be first, lord, for I myself came\nfirst to thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhereto came our fathers forth, so that my father was the little boat\ntowed behind? Whereto, but nowhere?\u201d says Gunnlaug. \u201cAnd in likewise\nshall it be with us.\u201d\n\nRaven answered, \u201cLet us be courteous enough not to make this a matter of\nbandying of words. Let the king rule here.\u201d\n\nThe king said, \u201cLet Gunnlaug set forth his song first, for he will not\nbe at peace till he has his will.\u201d\n\nThen Gunnlaug set forth the song which he had made to King Olaf, and\nwhen it was at an end the king spake. \u201cRaven,\u201d says he, \u201chow is the song\ndone?\u201d\n\n\u201cRight well,\u201d he answered; \u201cit is a song full of big words and little\nbeauty; a somewhat rugged song, as is Gunnlaug\u2019s own mood.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, Raven, thy song,\u201d said the king.\n\nRaven gave it forth, and when it was done the king said, \u201cHow is this\nsong made, Gunnlaug?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell it is, lord,\u201d he said; \u201cthis is a pretty song, as is Raven himself\nto behold, and delicate of countenance. But why didst thou make a short\nsong on the king, Raven? Didst thou perchance deem him unworthy of a\nlong one?\u201d\n\nRaven answered, \u201cLet us not talk longer on this; matters will be taken\nup again, though it be later.\u201d\n\nAnd thereat, they parted.\n\nSoon after Raven became a man of King Olaf\u2019s, and asked him leave to\ngo away. This the king granted him. And when Raven was ready to go, he\nspake to Gunnlaug, and said, \u201cNow shall our friendship be ended, for\nthat thou must needs shame me here before great men; but in time to come\nI shall cast on thee no less shame than thou hadst will to cast on me\nhere.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug answers: \u201cThy threats grieve me nought. Nowhere are we likely\nto come where I shall be thought less worthy than thou.\u201d\n\nKing Olaf gave to Raven good gifts at parting, and thereafter.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.     How Raven came home to Iceland, and asked for Helga to Wife.\n\nNow this spring Raven came from the east to Thrandheim, and fitted out\nhis ship, and sailed in the summer to Iceland. He brought his ship to\nLeiruvag, below the Heath, and his friends and kinsmen were right fain\nof him. That winter he was at home with his father, but the summer after\nhe met at the Althing his kinsman, Skapti the law-man.\n\nThen said Raven to him, \u201cThine aid would I have to go a-wooing to\nThorstein Egilson, to bid Helga his daughter.\u201d\n\nSkapti answered, \u201cBut is she not already vowed to Gunnlaug Worm-tongue?\u201d\n\nSaid Raven, \u201cIs not the appointed time of waiting between them passed\nby? And far too wanton is he withal, that he should hold or heed it\naught.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us then do as thou wouldst,\u201d said Skapti.\n\nThereafter they went with many men to the booth of Thorstein Egilson,\nand he greeted them well.\n\nThen Skapti spoke: \u201cRaven, my kinsman, is minded to woo thy daughter\nHelga. Thou knowest well his blood, his wealth, and his good manners,\nhis many mighty kinsmen and friends.\u201d\n\nThorstein said, \u201cShe is already the vowed maiden of Gunnlaug, and with\nhim shall I hold all words spoken.\u201d\n\nSkapti said, \u201cAre not the three winters worn now that were named between\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Thorstein; \u201cbut the summer is not yet worn, and he may still\ncome out this summer.\u201d\n\nThen Skapti said, \u201cBut if he cometh not this summer, what hope may we\nhave of the matter then?\u201d\n\nThorstein answered, \u201cWe are like to come here next summer, and then\nmay we see what may wisely be done, but it will not do to speak hereof\nlonger as at this time.\u201d\n\nThereon they parted. And men rode home from the Althing. But this talk\nof Raven\u2019s wooing of Helga was nought hidden.\n\nThat summer Gunnlaug came not out.\n\nThe next summer, at the Althing, Skapti and his folk pushed the wooing\neagerly, and said that Thorstein was free as to all matters with\nGunnlaug.\n\nThorstein answered, \u201cI have few daughters to see to, and fain am I that\nthey should not be the cause of strife to any man. Now I will first see\nIllugi the Black.\u201d And so he did. .\n\nAnd when they met, he said to Illugi, \u201cDost thou not think that I am\nfree from all troth with thy son Gunnlaug?\u201d\n\nIllugi said, \u201cSurely, if thou wiliest it. Little can I say herein, as I\ndo not know clearly what Gunnlaug is about.\u201d\n\nThen Thorstein went to Skapti, and a bargain was struck that the wedding\nshould be at Burg, about winter-nights, if Gunnlaug did not come out\nthat summer; but that Thorstein should be free from all troth with Raven\nif Gunnlaug should come and fetch his bride.\n\nAfter this men ride home from the Thing, and Gunnlaug\u2019s coming was long\ndrawn out. But Helga thought evilly of all these redes.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.     Of how Gunnlaug must needs abide away from Iceland.\n\nNow it is to be told of Gunnlaug that he went from Sweden the same\nsummer that Raven went to Iceland, and good gifts he had from King Olaf\nat parting.\n\nKing Ethelred welcomed Gunnlaug worthily, and that winter he was with\nthe king, and was held in great honour.\n\nIn those days Knut the Great, son of Svein, ruled Denmark, and had\nnew-taken his father\u2019s heritage, and he vowed ever to wage war on\nEngland, for that his father had won a great realm there before he died\nwest in that same land.\n\nAnd at that time there was a great army of Danish men west there, whose\nchief was Heming, the son of Earl Strut-Harald, and brother to Earl\nSigvaldi, and he held for King Knut that land that Svein had won.\n\nNow in the spring Gunnlaug asked the king for leave to go away, but he\nsaid, \u201cIt ill beseems that thou, my man, shouldst go away now, when all\nbodes such mighty war in the land.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug said, \u201cThou shalt rule, lord; but give me leave next summer to\ndepart, if the Danes come not.\u201d\n\nThe king answered, \u201cThen we shall see.\u201d\n\nNow this summer went by, and the next winter, but no Danes came; and\nafter midsummer Gunnlaug got his leave to depart from the king, and went\nthence east to Norway, and found Earl Eric in Thrandheim, at Hladir, and\nthe earl greeted him well, and bade him abide with him. Gunnlaug thanked\nhim for his offer, but said he would first go out to Iceland, to look to\nhis promised maiden.\n\nThe earl said, \u201cNow all ships bound for Iceland have sailed.\u201d\n\nThen said one of the court, \u201cHere lay, yesterday, Hallfred\nTroublous-Skald, out tinder Agdaness.\u201d\n\nThe earl answered, \u201cThat may well be; he sailed hence five nights ago.\u201d\n\nThen Earl Eric had Gunnlaug rowed put to Hallfred, who greeted him with\njoy; and forthwith a fair wind bore them from land, and they were right\nmerry.\n\nThis was late in the summer: but now Hallfred said to Gunnlaug, \u201cHast\nthou heard of how Raven, the son of Onund, is wooing Helga the Fair?\u201d\n\nGunnlaug said he had heard thereof but dimly. Hallfred tells him all he\nknew of it, and therewith, too, that it was the talk of many men that\nRaven was in nowise less brave a man than Gunnlaug. Then Gunnlaug sang\nthis stave:--\n\n          \u201cLight the weather wafteth;\n          But if this east wind drifted\n          Week-long, wild upon us\n          Little were I recking;\n          More this word I mind of\n          Me with Raven mated,\n          Than gain for me the gold-foe\n          Of days to make me grey-haired.\u201d\n\nThen Hallfred said, \u201cWell, fellow, may\u2019st thou fare better in thy strife\nwith Raven than I did in mine. I brought my ship some winters ago into\nLeiruvag, and had to pay a half-mark in silver to a house-carle of\nRaven\u2019s, but I held it back from him. So Raven rode at us with sixty\nmen, and cut the moorings of the ship, and she was driven up on the\nshallows, and we were bound for a wreck. Then I had to give selfdoom\nto Raven, and a whole mark I had to pay; and that is the tale of my\ndealings with him.\u201d\n\nThen they two talked together alone of Helga the Fair, and Gunnlaug\npraised her much for her goodliness; and Gunnlaug sang:--\n\n          \u201cHe who brand of battle\n          Beareth over-wary,\n          Never love shall let him\n          Hold the linen-folded;\n          For we when we were younger\n          In many a way were playing\n          On the outward nesses\n          From golden land outstanding.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell sung!\u201d said Hallfred.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII. Of Gunnlaug\u2019s landing, and how he found Helga wedded to Raven.\n\nThey made land north by Fox-Plain, in Hraunhaven, half a month before\nwinter, and there unshipped their goods. Now there was a man called\nThord, a bonder\u2019s son of the Plain, there. He fell to wrestling with the\nchapmen, and they mostly got worsted at his hands.\n\nThen a wrestling was settled between him and Gunnlaug. The night before\nThord made vows to Thor for the victory; but the next day, when they\nmet, they fell-to wrestling. Then Gunnlaug tripped both feet from under\nThord, and gave him a. great fall; but the foot that Gunnlaug stood on\nwas put out of joint, and Gunnlaug fell together with Thord.\n\nThen said Thord, \u201cMaybe that other things go no better for thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat then?\u201d says Gunnlaug.\n\n\u201cThy dealings with Raven, if he wed Helga the Fair at winter-nights. I\nwas anigh at the Thing when that was settled last summer.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug answered naught thereto.\n\nNow the foot was swathed, and put into joint again, and it swelled\nmightily; but he and Hallfred ride twelve in company till they come to\nGilsbank, in Burg-firth, the very Saturday night when folk sat at the\nwedding at Burg. Illugi was fain of his son Gunnlaug and his fellows;\nbut Gunnlaug said he would ride then and there down to Burg. Illugi said\nit was not wise to do so, and to all but Gunnlaug that seemed good. But\nGunnlaug was then unfit to walk, because of his foot, though he would\nnot let that be seen. Therefore there was no faring to Burg.\n\nOn the morrow Hallfred rode to Hreda-water, in North-water dale, where\nGalti, his brother and a brisk man, managed their matters.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII. Of the Winter-Wedding at Skaney, and how Gunnlaug\ngave the Kings Cloak to Helga.\n\nTells the tale of Raven, that he sat at his weddings-feast at Burg, and\nit was the talk of most men that the bride was but drooping; for true is\nthe saw that saith, \u201cLong we remember what youth gained us,\u201d and even so\nit was with her now.\n\nBut this new thing befell at the feast, that Hungerd, the daughter\nof Thorod and Jofrid, was wooed by a man named Sverting, the son of\nHafr-Biorn, the son of Mold-Gnup, and the wedding was to come off that\nwinter after Yule, at Skaney, where dwelt Thorkel, a kinsman of Hungerd,\nand son of Torn Valbrandsson; and the mother of Torn was Thorodda, the\nsister of Odd of the Tongue.\n\nNow Raven went home to Mossfell with Helga his wife. When they had been\nthere a little while, one morning early before they rose up, Helga was\nawake, but Raven slept, and fared ill in his sleep. And when he woke\nHelga asked him what he had dreamt. Then Raven sang:--\n\n          \u201cIn thine arms, so dreamed I,\n          Hewn was I, gold island!\n          Bride, in blood I bled there,\n          Bed of thine was reddened.\n          Never more then mightst thou,\n          Mead-bowl\u2019spourer speedy,\n          Bind my gashes bloody--\n          Lind-leek-bough thou likst it.\u201d\n\nHelga spake: \u201cNever shall I weep therefor,\u201d quoth she; \u201cye have evilly\nbeguiled me, and Gunnlaug has surely come out.\u201d And therewith she wept\nmuch.\n\nBut, a little after, Gunnlaug\u2019s coming was bruited about, and Helga\nbecame so hard with Raven, that he could not keep her at home at\nMossfell; so that back they had to go to Burg, and Raven got small share\nof her company.\n\nNow men get ready for the winter-wedding. Thorkel of Skaney bade Illugi\nthe Black and his sons. But when master Illugi got ready, Gunnlaug sat\nin the hall, and stirred not to go. Illugi went up to him and said, \u201cWhy\ndost thou not get ready, kinsman?\u201d\n\nGunnlaug answered, \u201cI have no mind to go.\u201d\n\nSays Illugi, \u201cNay, but certes thou shalt go, kinsman,\u201d says he; \u201cand\ncast thou not grief over thee by yearning for one woman. Make as if thou\nknewest nought of it, for women thou wilt never lack.\u201d\n\nNow Gunnlaug did as his father bade him; so they came to the wedding,\nand Illugi and his sons were set down in the high seat; but Thorstein\nEgilson, and Raven his son-in-law, and the bridegroom\u2019s following, were\nset in the other high seat, over against Illugi.\n\nThe women sat on the dais, and Helga the Fair sat next to the bride.\nOft she turned her eyes on Gunnlaug, thereby proving the saw, \u201cEyes will\nbewray if maid love man.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug was well arrayed, and had on him that goodly raiment that King\nSigtrygg had given him; and now he was thought far above all other men,\nbecause of many things, both strength, and goodliness, and growth.\n\nThere was little mirth among folk at this wedding. But on the day when\nall men were making ready to go away the women stood up and got ready\nto go home. Then went Gunnlaug to talk to Helga, and long they talked\ntogether: but Gunnlaug sang:--\n\n          \u201cLight-heart lived the Worm-tongue\n          All day long no longer\n          In mountain-home, since Helga\n          Had name of wife of Raven;\n          Nought foresaw thy father,\n          Hardener white of fight-thaw,\n          What my words should come to.\n          --The maid to gold was wedded.\u201d\n\nAnd again he sang:--\n\n          \u201cWorst reward I owe them,\n          Father thine, O wine-may,\n          And mother, that they made thee\n          So fair beneath thy maid-gear;\n          For thou, sweet field of sea-flame,\n          All joy hast slain within me.--\n          Lo, here, take it, loveliest\n          E\u2019er made of lord and lady!\u201d\n\nAnd therewith Gunnlaug gave Helga the cloak, Ethelred\u2019s-gift, which was\nthe fairest of things, and she thanked him well for the gift.\n\nThen Gunnlaug went out, and by that time riding-horses had been brought\nhome and saddled, and among them were many very good ones; and they\nwere all tied up in the road. Gunnlaug leaps on to a horse, and rides\na hand-gallop along the homefield up to a place where Raven happened\nto stand just before him; and Raven had to draw out of his way. Then\nGunnlaug said,--\n\n\u201cNo need to slink aback, Raven, for I threaten thee nought as at this\ntime; but thou knowest forsooth, what thou hast earned.\u201d.\n\nRaven answered and sang,--\n\n          \u201cGod of wound-flamed glitter,\n          Glorier of fight-goddess,\n          Must we fall a-fighting\n          For fairest kirtle-bearer?\n          Death-staffs many such-like\n          Fair as she is are there\n          In south-lands o\u2019er the sea floods.\n          Sooth saith he who knoweth.\u201d\n\n\u201cMaybe there are many such, but they do not seem so to me,\u201d said\nGunnlaug.\n\nTherewith Illugi and Thorstein ran up to them, and would not have them\nfight.\n\nThen Gunnlaug sang,--\n\n          \u201cThe fair-hued golden goddess\n          For gold to Raven sold they,\n          (Raven my match as men say)\n          While the mighty isle-king,\n          Ethelred, in England\n          From eastward way delayed me,\n          Wherefore to gold-waster\n          Waneth tongue\u2019s speech-hunger.\u201d\n\nHereafter both rode home, and all was quiet and tidingless that winter\nthrough; but Raven had nought of Helga\u2019s fellowship after her meeting\nwith Gunnlaug.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.     Of the Holmgang at the Althing.\n\nNow in summer men ride a very many to the Althing: Illugi the Blacky and\nhis sons with him, Gunnlaug and Hermund; Thorstein Egilson and\nKolsvein his son; Onund, of Mossfell, and his sons all, and Sverting,\nHafr-Biorn\u2019s son. Skapti yet held the spokesmanship-at-law.\n\nOne day at the Thing, as men went thronging to the Hill of Laws, and\nwhen the matters of the law were done there, then Gunnlaug craved\nsilence, and said:--\n\n\u201cIs Raven, the son of Onund, here?\u201d\n\nHe said he was.\n\nThen spake Gunnlaug, \u201cThou well knowest that thou hast got to wife my\navowed bride, and thus hast thou made thyself my foe. Now for this I bid\nthee to holm here at the Thing, in the holm of the Axe-water, when three\nnights are gone by.\u201d\n\nRaven answers, \u201cThis is well bidden, as was to be looked for of thee,\nand for this I am ready, whenever thou wiliest it.\u201d\n\nNow the kin of each deemed this a very ill thing. But, at that time it\nwas lawful for him who thought himself wronged by another to call him to\nfight on the holm.\n\nSo when three nights had gone by they got ready for the holmgang, and\nIllugi the Black followed his son thither with a great following. But\nSkapti, the lawman, followed Raven, and his father and other kinsmen of\nhis.\n\nNow before Gunnlaug went upon the holm he sang,--\n\n          \u201cOut to isle ofeel-field\n          Dight am I to hie me:\n          Give, O God, thy singer\n          With glaive to end the striving.\n          Here shall I the head cleave\n          Of Helga\u2019s love\u2019s devourer,\n          At last my bright sword bringeth\n          Sundering of head and body.\u201d\n\nThen Raven answered and sang,--\n\n          \u201cThou, singer, knowest not surely\n          Which of us twain shall gain it;\n          With edge for leg-swathe eager,\n          Here are the wound-scythes bare now.\n          In whatso-wise we wound us,\n          The tidings from the Thing here,\n          And fame of thanes\u2019 fair doings,\n          The fair young maid shall hear it.\u201d\n\nHermund held shield for his brother, Gunnlaug; but Sverting,\nHafr-Biorn\u2019s son, was Raven\u2019s shield-bearer. Whoso should be wounded was\nto ransom himself from the holm with three marks of silver.\n\nNow, Raven\u2019s part it was to deal the first blow, as he was the\nchallenged man. He hewed at the upper part of Gunnlaug\u2019s shield, and the\nsword brake asunder just beneath the hilt, with so great might he smote;\nbut the point of the sword flew up from the shield and struck Gunnlaug\u2019s\ncheek, whereby he got just grazed; with that their fathers ran in\nbetween them, and many other men.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Gunnlaug, \u201cI call Raven overcome, as he is weaponless.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I say that thou art vanquished, since thou art wounded,\u201d said\nRaven.\n\nNow, Gunnlaug was nigh mad, and very wrathful, and said it was not tried\nout yet.\n\nIllugi, his father, said they should try no more for that time.\n\nGunnlaug said, \u201cBeyond all things I desire that I might in such wise\nmeet Raven again, that thou, father, wert not anigh to part us.\u201d\n\nAnd thereat they parted for that time, and all men went back to their\nbooths.\n\nBut on the second day after this it was made law in the law-court that,\nhenceforth, all holmgangs should be forbidden; and this was done by the\ncounsel of all the wisest men that were at the Thing; and there, indeed,\nwere all the men of most counsel in all the land. And this was the last\nholmgang fought in Iceland, this, wherein Gunnlaug and Raven fought.\n\nBut this Thing was the third most thronged Thing that has been held\nin Iceland; the first was after Njal\u2019s burning, the second after the\nHeath-slaughters.\n\nNow, one morning, as the brothers Hermund and Gunnlaug went to Axe-water\nto wash, on the other side went many women towards the river, and in\nthat company was Helga the Fair. Then said Hermund,--\n\n\u201cDost thou see thy friend Helga there on the other side of the river?\u201d\n\n\u201cSurely, I see her,\u201d says Gunnlaug, and withal he sang:--\n\n          \u201cBorn was she for men\u2019s bickering:\n          Sore bale hath wrought the war-stemy\n          And I yearned ever madly\n          To hold that oak-tree golden.\n          To me then, me destroyer\n          Of swan-mead\u2019s flame, unneedful\n          This looking on the dark-eyed,\n          This golden land\u2019s beholding.\u201d\n\nTherewith they crossed the river, and Helga and Gunnlaug spake awhile\ntogether, and as the brothers crossed the river eastward back again,\nHelga stood and gazed long after Gunnlaug.\n\nThen Gunnlaug looked back and sang:--\n\n          \u201cMoon of linen-lapped one,\n          Leek-sea-bearing goddess,\n          Hawk-keen out of heaven\n          Shone all bright upon me;\n          But that eyelid\u2019s moonbeam\n          Of gold-necklaced goddess\n          Her hath all undoing\n          Wrought, and me made nought of.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV. How Gunnlaug and Raven agreed to go East to Norway,\nto try the matter again.\n\nNow after these things were gone by men rode home from the Thing, and\nGunnlaug dwelt at home at Gilsbank.\n\nOn a morning when he awoke all men had risen up, but he alone still lay\nabed; he lay in a shut-bed behind the seats. Now into the hall came\ntwelve men, all full armed, and who should be there but Raven, Onund\u2019s\nson; Gunnlaug sprang up forthwith, and got to his weapons.\n\nBut Raven spake, \u201cThou art in risk of no hurt this time,\u201d quoth he, \u201cbut\nmy errand hither is what thou shalt now hear: Thou didst call me to a\nholmgang last summer at the Althing, and thou didst not deem matters to\nbe fairly tried therein; now I will offer thee this, that we both fare\naway from Iceland, and go abroad next summer, and go on holm in Norway,\nfor there our kinsmen are not like to stand in our way.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug answered, \u201cHail to thy words, stoutest of men! this thine offer\nI take gladly; and here, Raven, mayest thou have cheer as good as thou\nmayest desire.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well offered,\u201d said Raven, \u201cbut this time we shall first have to\nride away.\u201d Thereon they parted.\n\nNow the kinsmen of both sore misliked them of this, but could in no wise\nundo it, because of the wrath of Gunnlaug and Raven; and, after all,\nthat must betide that drew towards.\n\nNow it is to be said of Raven that he fitted out his ship in Leiruvag;\ntwo men are named that went with him, sisters\u2019 sons of his father Onund,\none hight Grim, the other Olaf, doughty men both. All the kinsmen of\nRaven thought it great scathe when he went away, but he said he had\nchallenged Gunnlaug to the holmgang because he could have no joy soever\nof Helga; and he said, withal, that one must fall before the other.\n\nSo Raven put to sea, when he had wind at will, and brought his ship to\nThrandheim, and was there that winter and heard nought of Gunnlaug that\nwinter through; there lie abode him the summer following: and still\nanother winter was he in Thrandheim, at a place called Lifangr.\n\nGunnlaug Worm-tongue took ship with Hallfred Troublous-Skald, in the\nnorth at The Plain; they were very late ready for sea.\n\nThey sailed into the main when they had a fair wind, and made Orkney a\nlittle before the winter. Earl Sigurd Lodverson was still lord over the\nisles, and Gunnlaug went to him and abode there that winter, and the\nearl held him of much account.\n\nIn the spring the earl would go on warfare, and Gunnlaug made ready to\ngo with him; and that summer they harried wide about the South-isles\nand Scotland\u2019s firths, and had many fights, and Gunnlaug always showed\nhimself the bravest and doughtiest of fellows, and the hardiest of men\nwherever they came.\n\nEarl Sigurd went back home early in the summer, but Gurmlaug took ship\nwith chapmen, sailing for Norway, and he and Earl Sigurd parted in great\nfriendship.\n\nGunnlaug fared north to Thrandheim, to Hladir, to see Earl Eric, and\ndwelt there through the early winter; the earl welcomed him gladly, and\nmade offer to Gunnlaug to stay with him, and Gunnlaug agreed thereto.\n\nThe earl had heard already how all had befallen between Gunnlaug and\nRaven, and he told Gunnlaug that he laid ban on their fighting within\nhis realm; Gunnlaug said the earl should be free to have his will\nherein.\n\nSo Gunnlaug abode there the winter through, ever heavy of mood.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.     How the two Foes met and fought at Dingness.\n\nBut on a day in spring Gunnlaug was walking abroad, and his kinsman\nThorkel with him; they walked away from the town, till on the meads.\nbefore them they saw a ring of men, and in that ring were two men with\nweapons fencing; but one was named Raven, the other Gunnlaug, while they\nwho stood by said that Icelanders smote light, and were slow to remember\ntheir words.\n\nGunnlaug saw the great mocking hereunder, and much jeering was brought\ninto the play; and withal he went away silent.\n\nSo a little while after he said to the earl that he had no mind to bear\nany longer the jeers and mocks of his courtiers about his dealings with\nRaven, and therewith he prayed the earl to give him a guide to Lifangr:\nnow before this the earl had been told that Raven had left Lifangr and\ngone east to Sweden; therefore, he granted Gunnlaug leave to go, and\ngave him two guides for the journey.\n\nNow Gunnlaug went from Hladir with six men to Lifangr; and, on the\nmorning of the very day whereas Gunnlaug came in in the evening, Raven\nhad left Lifangr with four men. Thence Gunnlaug went to Vera-dale, and\ncame always in the evening to where Raven had been the night before.\n\nSo Gunnlaug went on till he came to the uppermost farm in the valley,\ncalled Sula, wherefrom had Raven fared in the morning; there he stayed\nnot his journey, but kept on his way through the night.\n\nThen in the morning at sun-rise they saw one another. Raven had got to\na place where were two waters, and between them flat meads, and they\nare called Gleipni\u2019s meads: but into one water stretched a little ness\ncalled Dingness. There on the ness Raven and his fellows, five together,\ntook their stand. With Raven were his kinsmen, Grim and Olaf.\n\nNow when they met, Gunnlaug said, \u201cIt is well that we have found one\nanother.\u201d\n\nRaven said that he had nought to quarrel with therein;\n\n\u201cBut now,\u201d says he, \u201cthou mayest choose as thou wilt, either that we\nfight alone together, or that we fight all of us man to man.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug said that either way seemed good to him.\n\nThen spake Raven\u2019s kinsmen, Grim and Olaf, and said that they would\nlittle like to stand by and look on the fight, and in like wise spake\nThorkel the Black, the kinsman of Gunnlaug.\n\nThen said Gunnlaug to the earl\u2019s guides, \u201cYe shall sit by and aid\nneither side, and be here to tell of our meeting;\u201d and so they did.\n\nSo they set on, and fought dauntlessly, all of them. Grim and Olaf went\nboth against Gunnlaug alone, and so closed their dealings with him that\nGunnlaug slew them both and got no wound. This proves Thord Kolbeinson\nin a song that he made on Gunnlaug the Wormtongue:--\n\n          \u201cGrim and Olaf great-hearts\n          In Gondul\u2019s din, with thin sword\n          First did Gunnlaug fell there\n          Ere at Raven fared he;\n          Bold, with blood be-drifted\n          Bane of three the thane was;\n          War-lord of the wave-horse\n          Wrought for men folks\u2019 slaughter.\u201d\n\nMeanwhile Raven and Thorkel the Black, Gunnlaug\u2019s kinsman, fought until\nThorkel fell before Raven and lost his life; and so at last all their\nfellowship fell. Then they two alone fought together with fierce\nonsets and mighty strokes, which they dealt each the other, falling on\nfuriously without stop or stay.\n\nGunnlaug had the sword Ethelred\u2019s-gift, and that was the best of\nweapons. At last Gunnlaug dealt a mighty blow at Raven, and cut his leg\nfrom under him; but none the more did Raven fall, but swung round up to\na tree-stem, whereat he steadied the stump.\n\nThen said Gunnlaug, \u201cNow thou art no more meet for battle, nor will I\nfight with thee any longer, a maimed man.\u201d\n\nRaven answered: \u201cSo it is,\u201d said he, \u201cthat my lot is now all the worser\nlot, but it were well with me yet, might I but drink somewhat.\u201d\n\nGunnlaug said, \u201cBewray me not if I bring thee water in my helm.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not bewray thee,\u201d said Raven. Then went Gunnlaug to a brook and\nfetched water in his helm, and brought it to Raven; but Raven stretched\nforth his left hand to take it, but with his right hand drave his sword\ninto Gunnlaug\u2019s head, and that was a mighty great wound.\n\nThen Gunnlaug said, \u201cEvilly hast thou beguiled me, and done traitorously\nwherein I trusted thee.\u201d\n\nRaven answers, \u201cThou sayest sooth, but this brought me to it, that I\nbegrudged thee to lie in the bosom of Helga the Fair.\u201d\n\nThereat they fought on, recking of nought; but the end of it was that\nGunnlaug overcame Raven, and there Raven lost his life..\n\nThen the earl\u2019s guides came forward and bound the head-wound of\nGunnlaug, and in meanwhile, he sat and sang:--\n\n          \u201cO thou sword-storm stirrer,\n          Raven, stem of battle\n          Famous, fared against me\n          Fiercely in the spear din.\n          Many a flight of metal\n          Was borne on me this morning,\n          By the spear-walls\u2019 builder,\n          Ring-bearer, on hard Dingness.\u201d\n\nAfter that they buried the dead, and got Gunnlaug on to his horse\nthereafter, and brought him right down to Lifangr. There he lay three\nnights, and got all his rights of a priest, and died thereafter, and was\nburied at the church there.\n\nAll men thought it great scathe of both of these men, Gunnlaug and\nRaven, amid such deeds as they died.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.     The News of the Fight brought to Iceland.\n\nNow this summer, before these tidings were brought out hither to\nIceland, Illugi the Black, being at home at Gilsbank, dreamed a dream:\nhe thought that Gunnlaug came to him in his sleep, all bloody, and he\nsang in the dream this stave before him; and Illugi remembered the song\nwhen he woke, and sang it before others:--\n\n          \u201cKnew I of the hewing\n          Of Raven\u2019s hilt-finned steel-fish\n          Byrny-shearing--sword-edge\n          Sharp clave leg of Raven.--\n          Of warm wounds drank the eagle,\n          When the war-rod slender,\n          Cleaver of the corpses,\n          Clave the head of Gunnlaug.\u201d\n\nThis portent befel south at Mossfell, the self-same night, that Onund\ndreamed how Raven came to him, covered all over with blood, and sang:--\n\n          \u201cRed is the sword, but I now\n          Am undone by Sword-Odin.\n          \u2018Gainst shields beyond the sea-flood\n          The ruin of shields was wielded.\n          Methinks the blood-fowl blood-stained\n          In blood der men\u2019s heads stood there,\n          The wound-erne yet wound-eager\n          Trod over wounded bodies?\u201d\n\nNow the second summer after this, Illugi the Black spoke at the Althing\nfrom the Hill of Laws, and said:--\n\n\u201cWherewith wilt thou make atonement to me for my son, whom Raven, thy\nson, beguiled in his troth?\u201d\n\nOnund answers, \u201cBe it far from me to atone for him, so sorely as their\nmeeting hath wounded me. Yet will I not ask atonement of thee for my\nson.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen shall my wrath come home to some of thy kin,\u201d says Illugi. And\nwithal after the Thing was Illugi at most times very sad.\n\nTells the tale how this autumn Illugi rode from Gilsbank with thirty\nmen, and came to Mossfell early in the morning. Then Onund got into the\nchurch with his sons, and took sanctuary; but Illugi caught two of his\nkin, one called Biorn and the other Thorgrim, and had Biorn slain, but\nthe feet smitten from Thorgrim. And thereafter Illugi rode home, and\nthere was no righting of this for Onund.\n\nHermund, Illugi\u2019s son, had little joy after the death of Gunnlaug his\nbrother, and deemed he was none the more avenged even though this had\nbeen wrought.\n\nNow there was a man called Raven, brother\u2019s son to Onund of Mossfell;\nhe was a great sea-farer, and had a ship that lay up in Ramfirth: and in\nthe spring Hermund Illugison rode from home alone north over Holt-beacon\nHeath, even to Ramfirth, and out as far as Board-ere to the ship of\nthe chapmen. The chapmen were then nearly ready for sea; Raven, the\nship-master, was on shore, and many men with him; Hermund rode up to\nhim, and thrust him through with his spear, and rode away forthwith: but\nall Raven\u2019s men were bewildered at seeing Hermund.\n\nNo atonement came for this slaying, and therewith ended the dealings of\nIllugi the Black and Onund of Mossfell.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.     The Death of Helga the Fair.\n\nAS time went on, Thorstein Egilson married his daughter Helga to a man\ncalled Thorkel, son of Hallkel, who lived west in Hraundale. Helga went\nto his house with him, but loved him little, for she cannot cease to\nthink of Gunnlaug, though he be dead. Yet was Thorkel a doughty man, and\nwealthy of goods, and a good skald.\n\nThey had children together not a few, one of them was called Thorarin,\nanother Thorstein, and yet more they had.\n\nBut Helga\u2019s chief joy was to pluck at the threads of that cloak,\nGunnlaug\u2019s gift, and she would be ever gazing at it.\n\nBut on a time there came a great sickness to the house of Thorkel and\nHelga, and many were bed-ridden for a long time. Helga also fell sick,\nand yet she could not keep abed.\n\nSo one Saturday evening Helga sat in the fire-hall, and leaned her head\nupon her husband\u2019s knees, and had the cloak Gunnlaug\u2019s gift sent for;\nand when the cloak came to her she sat up and plucked at it, and gazed\nthereon awhile, and then sank back upon her husband\u2019s bosom, and was\ndead. Then Thorkel sang this:--\n\n         \u201cDead in mine arms she droopeth,\n          My dear one, gold-rings bearer,\n          For God hath changed the life-days\n          Of this Lady of the linen.\n          Weary pain hath pined her,\n          But unto me, the seeker\n          Of hoard of fishes highway,\n          Abiding here is wearier.\u201d\n\nHelga was buried in the church there, but Thorke dwelt yet at Hraundale:\nbut a great matter seemed the death of Helga to all, as was to be looked\nfor.\n\nAND HERE ENDETH THE STORY.","title":"The Story of Gunnlaug the Worm-Tongue and Raven the Skald: 1875","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":12434}