{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_2721/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_2721","id":"gutenberg_2721","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2721","summary":null,"tags":["Adventure stories","Category: Historical Novels","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Novels","Category: Romance","Fantasy fiction","Iceland -- Fiction","Norse cults -- Fiction","Sisters -- Fiction","Vikings -- Fiction"],"text":"Eric Brighteyes\n\nby H. Rider Haggard\n\n\nContents\n\n DEDICATION\n INTRODUCTION\n ERIC BRIGHTEYES\n\n CHAPTER I. HOW ASMUND THE PRIEST FOUND GROA THE WITCH\n CHAPTER II. HOW ERIC TOLD HIS LOVE TO GUDRUDA IN THE SNOW ON COLDBACK\n CHAPTER III. HOW ASMUND BADE ERIC TO HIS YULE-FEAST\n CHAPTER IV. HOW ERIC CAME DOWN GOLDEN FALLS\n CHAPTER V. HOW ERIC WON THE SWORD WHITEFIRE\n CHAPTER VI. HOW ASMUND THE PRIEST WAS BETROTHED TO UNNA\n CHAPTER VII. HOW ERIC WENT UP MOSFELL AGAINST SKALLAGRIM THE BARESARK\n CHAPTER VIII. HOW OSPAKAR BLACKTOOTH FOUND ERIC BRIGHTEYES AND SKALLAGRIM LAMBSTAIL ON HORSE-HEAD HEIGHTS\n CHAPTER IX. HOW SWANHILD DEALT WITH GUDRUDA\n CHAPTER X. HOW ASMUND SPOKE WITH SWANHILD\n CHAPTER XI. HOW SWANHILD BID FAREWELL TO ERIC\n CHAPTER XII. HOW ERIC WAS OUTLAWED AND SAILED A-VIKING\n CHAPTER XIII. HOW HALL THE MATE CUT THE GRAPNEL CHAIN\n CHAPTER XIV. HOW ERIC DREAMED A DREAM\n CHAPTER XV. HOW ERIC DWELT IN LONDON TOWN\n CHAPTER XVI. HOW SWANHILD WALKED THE SEAS\n CHAPTER XVII. HOW ASMUND THE PRIEST WEDDED UNNA, THOROD\u2019S DAUGHTER\n CHAPTER XVIII. HOW EARL ATLI FOUND ERIC AND SKALLAGRIM ON THE SOUTHERN ROCKS OF STRAUMEY ISLE\n CHAPTER XIX. HOW KOLL THE HALF-WITTED BROUGHT TIDINGS FROM ICELAND\n CHAPTER XX. HOW ERIC WAS NAMED ANEW\n CHAPTER XXI. HOW HALL OF LITHDALE TOOK TIDINGS TO ICELAND\n CHAPTER XXII. HOW ERIC CAME HOME AGAIN\n CHAPTER XXIII. HOW ERIC WAS A GUEST AT THE WEDDING-FEAST OF GUDRUDA THE FAIR\n CHAPTER XXIV. HOW THE FEAST WENT\n CHAPTER XXV. HOW THE FEAST ENDED\n CHAPTER XXVI. HOW ERIC VENTURED DOWN TO MIDDALHOF AND WHAT HE FOUND\n CHAPTER XXVII. HOW GUDRUDA WENT UP TO MOSFELL\n CHAPTER XXVIII. HOW SWANHILD WON TIDINGS OF ERIC\n CHAPTER XXIX. HOW WENT THE BRIDAL NIGHT\n CHAPTER XXX. HOW THE DAWN CAME\n CHAPTER XXXI. HOW ERIC SENT AWAY HIS MEN FROM MOSFELL\n CHAPTER XXXII. HOW ERIC AND SKALLAGRIM GREW FEY\n CHAPTER XXXIII. HOW ERIC AND SKALLAGRIM FOUGHT THEIR LAST GREAT FIGHT\n\n\n\n\nDEDICATION\n\n\nMadam,\n\nYou have graciously conveyed to me the intelligence that during the\nweary weeks spent far from his home\u2014in alternate hope and fear, in\nsuffering and mortal trial\u2014a Prince whose memory all men must\nreverence, the Emperor Frederick, found pleasure in the reading of my\nstories: that \u201cthey interested and fascinated him.\u201d\n\nWhile the world was watching daily at the bedside of your Majesty\u2019s\nImperial husband, while many were endeavouring to learn courage in our\nsupremest need from the spectacle of that heroic patience, a distant\nwriter little knew that it had been his fortune to bring to such a\nsufferer an hour\u2019s forgetfulness of sorrow and pain.\n\nThis knowledge, to an author, is far dearer than any praise, and it is\nin gratitude that, with your Majesty\u2019s permission, I venture to\ndedicate to you the tale of Eric Brighteyes.\n\nThe late Emperor, at heart a lover of peace, though by duty a soldier\nof soldiers, might perhaps have cared to interest himself in a warrior\nof long ago, a hero of our Northern stock, whose days were spent in\nstrife, and whose latest desire was Rest. But it may not be; like the\nGolden Eric of this Saga, and after a nobler fashion, he has passed\nthrough the Hundred Gates into the Valhalla of Renown.\n\nTo you, then, Madam, I dedicate this book, a token, however slight and\nunworthy, of profound respect and sympathy.\n\nI am, Madam,\n\nYour Majesty\u2019s most obedient servant,\n\nH. Rider Haggard.\n\nNovember 17, 1889.\n\nTo H.I.M. Victoria, Empress Frederick of Germany.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\n\u201cEric Brighteyes\u201d is a romance founded on the Icelandic Sagas. \u201cWhat is\na saga?\u201d \u201cIs it a fable or a true story?\u201d The answer is not altogether\nsimple. For such sagas as those of Burnt Njal and Grettir the Strong\npartake both of truth and fiction: historians dispute as to the\nproportions. This was the manner of the saga\u2019s growth: In the early\ndays of the Iceland community\u2014that republic of aristocrats\u2014say, between\nthe dates 900 and 1100 of our era, a quarrel would arise between two\ngreat families. As in the case of the Njal Saga, its cause, probably,\nwas the ill doings of some noble woman. This quarrel would lead to\nmanslaughter. Then blood called for blood, and a vendetta was set on\nfoot that ended only with the death by violence of a majority of the\nactors in the drama and of large numbers of their adherents. In the\ncourse of the feud, men of heroic strength and mould would come to the\nfront and perform deeds worthy of the iron age which bore them. Women\nalso would help to fashion the tale, for good or ill, according to\ntheir natural gifts and characters. At last the tragedy was covered up\nby death and time, leaving only a few dinted shields and haunted cairns\nto tell of those who had played its leading parts.\n\nBut its fame lived on in the minds of men. From generation to\ngeneration skalds wandered through the winter snows, much as Homer may\nhave wandered in his day across the Grecian vales and mountains, to\nfind a welcome at every stead, because of the old-time story they had\nto tell. Here, night after night, they would sit in the ingle and while\naway the weariness of the dayless dark with histories of the times when\nmen carried their lives in their hands, and thought them well lost if\nthere might be a song in the ears of folk to come. To alter the tale\nwas one of the greatest of crimes: the skald must repeat it as it came\nto him; but by degrees undoubtedly the sagas did suffer alteration. The\nfacts remained the same indeed, but around them gathered a mist of\nmiraculous occurrences and legends. To take a single instance: the\naccount of the burning of Bergthorsknoll in the Njal Saga is not only a\npiece of descriptive writing that for vivid, simple force and insight\nis scarcely to be matched out of Homer and the Bible, it is also\nobviously true. We feel as we read, that no man could have invented\nthat story, though some great skald threw it into shape. That the tale\nis true, the writer of \u201cEric\u201d can testify, for, saga in hand, he has\nfollowed every act of the drama on its very site. There he who digs\nbeneath the surface of the lonely mound that looks across plain and sea\nto Westman Isles may still find traces of the burning, and see what\nappears to be the black sand with which the hands of Bergthora and her\nwomen strewed the earthen floor some nine hundred years ago, and even\nthe greasy and clotted remains of the whey that they threw upon the\nflame to quench it. He may discover the places where Fosi drew up his\nmen, where Skarphedinn died, singing while his legs were burnt from off\nhim, where Kari leapt from the flaming ruin, and the dell in which he\nlaid down to rest\u2014at every step, in short, the truth of the narrative\nbecomes more obvious. And yet the tale has been added to, for, unless\nwe may believe that some human beings are gifted with second sight, we\ncannot accept as true the prophetic vision that came to Runolf,\nThorstein\u2019s son; or that of Njal who, on the evening of the onslaught,\nlike Theoclymenus in the Odyssey, saw the whole board and the meats\nupon it \u201cone gore of blood.\u201d\n\nThus, in the Norse romance now offered to the reader, the tale of Eric\nand his deeds would be true; but the dream of Asmund, the witchcraft of\nSwanhild, the incident of the speaking head, and the visions of Eric\nand Skallagrim, would owe their origin to the imagination of successive\ngenerations of skalds; and, finally, in the fifteenth or sixteenth\ncentury, the story would have been written down with all its\nsupernatural additions.\n\nThe tendency of the human mind\u2014and more especially of the Norse mind\u2014is\nto supply uncommon and extraordinary reasons for actions and facts that\nare to be amply accounted for by the working of natural forces.\nSwanhild would have needed no \u201cfamiliar\u201d to instruct her in her evil\nschemes; Eric would have wanted no love-draught to bring about his\noverthrow. Our common experience of mankind as it is, in opposition to\nmankind as we fable it to be, is sufficient to teach us that the\npassion of one and the human weakness of the other would suffice to\nthese ends. The natural magic, the beauty and inherent power of such a\nwoman as Swanhild, are things more forceful than any spell magicians\nhave invented, or any demon they are supposed to have summoned to their\naid. But no saga would be complete without the intervention of such\nextraneous forces: the need of them was always felt, in order to throw\nup the acts of heroes and heroines, and to invest their persons with an\nadded importance. Even Homer felt this need, and did not scruple to\nintroduce not only second sight, but gods and goddesses, and to bring\ntheir supernatural agency to bear directly on the personages of his\nchant, and that far more freely than any Norse sagaman. A word may be\nadded in explanation of the appearances of \u201cfamiliars\u201d in the shapes of\nanimals, an instance of which will be found in this story. It was\nbelieved in Iceland, as now by the Finns and Eskimo, that the passions\nand desires of sorcerers took visible form in such creatures as wolves\nor rats. These were called \u201csendings,\u201d and there are many allusions to\nthem in the Sagas.\n\nAnother peculiarity that may be briefly alluded to as eminently\ncharacteristic of the Sagas is their fatefulness. As we read we seem to\nhear the voice of Doom speaking continually. \u201c_Things will happen as\nthey are fated_\u201d: that is the keynote of them all. The Norse mind had\nlittle belief in free will, less even than we have to-day. Men and\nwomen were born with certain characters and tendencies, given to them\nin order that their lives should run in appointed channels, and their\nacts bring about an appointed end. They do not these things of their\nown desire, though their desires prompt them to the deeds: they do them\nbecause they must. The Norns, as they name Fate, have mapped out their\npath long and long ago; their feet are set therein, and they must tread\nit to the end. Such was the conclusion of our Scandinavian ancestors\u2014a\nbelief forced upon them by their intense realisation of the futility of\nhuman hopes and schemings, of the terror and the tragedy of life, the\nvanity of its desires, and the untravelled gloom or sleep, dreamless or\ndreamfull, which lies beyond its end.\n\nThough the Sagas are entrancing, both as examples of literature of\nwhich there is but little in the world and because of their living\ninterest, they are scarcely known to the English-speaking public. This\nis easy to account for: it is hard to persuade the nineteenth century\nworld to interest itself in people who lived and events that happened a\nthousand years ago. Moreover, the Sagas are undoubtedly difficult\nreading. The archaic nature of the work, even in a translation; the\nmultitude of its actors; the Norse sagaman\u2019s habit of interweaving\nendless side-plots, and the persistence with which he introduces the\ngenealogy and adventures of the ancestors of every unimportant\ncharacter, are none of them to the taste of the modern reader.\n\n\u201cEric Brighteyes\u201d therefore, is clipped of these peculiarities, and, to\nsome extent, is cast in the form of the romance of our own day,\narchaisms being avoided as much as possible. The author will be\ngratified should he succeed in exciting interest in the troubled lives\nof our Norse forefathers, and still more so if his difficult experiment\nbrings readers to the Sagas\u2014to the prose epics of our own race. Too\nample, too prolix, too crowded with detail, they cannot indeed vie in\nart with the epics of Greece; but in their pictures of life, simple and\nheroic, they fall beneath no literature in the world, save the Iliad\nand the Odyssey alone.\n\n\n\n\nERIC BRIGHTEYES\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\nHOW ASMUND THE PRIEST FOUND GROA THE WITCH\n\n\nThere lived a man in the south, before Thangbrand, Wilibald\u2019s son,\npreached the White Christ in Iceland. He was named Eric Brighteyes,\nThorgrimur\u2019s son, and in those days there was no man like him for\nstrength, beauty and daring, for in all these things he was the first.\nBut he was not the first in good-luck.\n\nTwo women lived in the south, not far from where the Westman Islands\nstand above the sea. Gudruda the Fair was the name of the one, and\nSwanhild, called the Fatherless, Groa\u2019s daughter, was the other. They\nwere half-sisters, and there were none like them in those days, for\nthey were the fairest of all women, though they had nothing in common\nexcept their blood and hate.\n\nNow of Eric Brighteyes, of Gudruda the Fair and of Swanhild the\nFatherless, there is a tale to tell.\n\nThese two fair women saw the light in the self-same hour. But Eric\nBrighteyes was their elder by five years. The father of Eric was\nThorgrimur Iron-Toe. He had been a mighty man; but in fighting with a\nBaresark,[*] who fell upon him as he came up from sowing his wheat, his\nfoot was hewn from him, so that afterwards he went upon a wooden leg\nshod with iron. Still, he slew the Baresark, standing on one leg and\nleaning against a rock, and for that deed people honoured him much.\nThorgrimur was a wealthy yeoman, slow to wrath, just, and rich in\nfriends. Somewhat late in life he took to wife Saevuna, Thorod\u2019s\ndaughter. She was the best of women, strong in mind and second-sighted,\nand she could cover herself in her hair. But these two never loved each\nother overmuch, and they had but one child, Eric, who was born when\nSaevuna was well on in years.\n\n[*] The Baresarks were men on whom a passing fury of battle came; they\nwere usually outlawed.\n\n\nThe father of Gudruda was Asmund Asmundson, the Priest of Middalhof. He\nwas the wisest and the wealthiest of all men who lived in the south of\nIceland in those days, owning many farms and, also, two ships of\nmerchandise and one long ship of war, and having much money out at\ninterest. He had won his wealth by viking\u2019s work, robbing the English\ncoasts, and black tales were told of his doings in his youth on the\nsea, for he was a \u201cred-hand\u201d viking. Asmund was a handsome man, with\nblue eyes and a large beard, and, moreover, was very skilled in matters\nof law. He loved money much, and was feared of all. Still, he had many\nfriends, for as he aged he grew more kindly. He had in marriage\nGudruda, the daughter of Bj\u00f6rn, who was very sweet and kindly of\nnature, so that they called her Gudruda the Gentle. Of this marriage\nthere were two children, Bj\u00f6rn and Gudruda the Fair; but Bj\u00f6rn grew up\nlike his father in youth, strong and hard, and greedy of gain, while,\nexcept for her wonderful beauty, Gudruda was her mother\u2019s child alone.\n\nThe mother of Swanhild the Fatherless was Groa the Witch. She was a\nFinn, and it is told of her that the ship on which she sailed, trying\nto run under the lee of the Westman Isles in a great gale from the\nnorth-east, was dashed to pieces on a rock, and all those on board of\nher were caught in the net of Ran[*] and drowned, except Groa herself,\nwho was saved by her magic art. This at the least is true, that, as\nAsmund the Priest rode down by the sea-shore on the morning after the\ngale, seeking for some strayed horses, he found a beautiful woman, who\nwore a purple cloak and a great girdle of gold, seated on a rock,\ncombing her black hair and singing the while; and, at her feet, washing\nto and fro in a pool, was a dead man. He asked whence she came, and she\nanswered:\n\n\u201cOut of the Swan\u2019s Bath.\u201d\n\n[*] The Norse goddess of the sea.\n\n\nNext, he asked her where were her kin. But, pointing to the dead man,\nshe said that this alone was left of them.\n\n\u201cWho was the man, then?\u201d said Asmund the Priest.\n\nShe laughed again and sang this song:\u2014\n\nGroa sails up from the Swan\u2019s Bath,\n    Death Gods grip the Dead Man\u2019s hand.\nLook where lies her luckless husband,\n    Bolder sea-king ne\u2019er swung sword!\nAsmund, keep the kirtle-wearer,\n    For last night the Norns were crying,\nAnd Groa thought they told of thee:\n    Yea, told of thee and babes unborn.\n\n\n\u201cHow knowest thou my name?\u201d asked Asmund.\n\n\u201cThe sea-mews cried it as the ship sank, thine and others\u2014and they\nshall be heard in story.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen that is the best of luck,\u201d quoth Asmund; \u201cbut I think that thou\nart fey.\u201d[*]\n\n[*] _I.e._ subject to supernatural presentiments, generally connected\nwith approaching doom.\n\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d she answered, \u201cfey and fair.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue enough thou art fair. What shall we do with this dead man?\u201d\n\n\u201cLeave him in the arms of Ran. So may all husbands lie.\u201d\n\nThey spoke no more with her at that time, seeing that she was a\nwitchwoman. But Asmund took her up to Middalhof, and gave her a farm,\nand she lived there alone, and he profited much by her wisdom.\n\nNow it chanced that Gudruda the Gentle was with child, and when her\ntime came she gave a daughter birth\u2014a very fair girl, with dark eyes.\nOn the same day, Groa the witchwoman brought forth a girl-child, and\nmen wondered who was its father, for Groa was no man\u2019s wife. It was\nwomen\u2019s talk that Asmund the Priest was the father of this child also;\nbut when he heard it he was angry, and said that no witchwoman should\nbear a bairn of his, howsoever fair she was. Nevertheless, it was still\nsaid that the child was his, and it is certain that he loved it as a\nman loves his own; but of all things, this is the hardest to know. When\nGroa was questioned she laughed darkly, as was her fashion, and said\nthat she knew nothing of it, never having seen the face of the child\u2019s\nfather, who rose out of the sea at night. And for this cause some\nthought him to have been a wizard or the wraith of her dead husband;\nbut others said that Groa lied, as many women have done on such\nmatters. But of all this talk the child alone remained and she was\nnamed Swanhild.\n\nNow, but an hour before the child of Gudruda the Gentle was born,\nAsmund went up from his house to the Temple, to tend the holy fire that\nburned night and day upon the altar. When he had tended the fire, he\nsat down upon the cross-benches before the shrine, and, gazing on the\nimage of the Goddess Freya, he fell asleep and dreamed a very evil\ndream.\n\nHe dreamed that Gudruda the Gentle bore a dove most beautiful to see,\nfor all its feathers were of silver; but that Groa the Witch bore a\ngolden snake. And the snake and the dove dwelt together, and ever the\nsnake sought to slay the dove. At length there came a great white swan\nflying over Coldback Fell, and its tongue was a sharp sword. Now the\nswan saw the dove and loved it, and the dove loved the swan; but the\nsnake reared itself, and hissed, and sought to kill the dove. But the\nswan covered her with his wings, and beat the snake away. Then he,\nAsmund, came out and drove away the swan, as the swan had driven the\nsnake, and it wheeled high into the air and flew south, and the snake\nswam away also through the sea. But the dove drooped and now it was\nblind. Then an eagle came from the north, and would have taken the\ndove, but it fled round and round, crying, and always the eagle drew\nnearer to it. At length, from the south the swan came back, flying\nheavily, and about its neck was twined the golden snake, and with it\ncame a raven. And it saw the eagle and loud it trumpeted, and shook the\nsnake from it so that it fell like a gleam of gold into the sea. Then\nthe eagle and the swan met in battle, and the swan drove the eagle down\nand broke it with his wings, and, flying to the dove, comforted it. But\nthose in the house ran out and shot at the swan with bows and drove it\naway, but now he, Asmund, was not with them. And once more the dove\ndrooped. Again the swan came back, and with it the raven, and a great\nhost were gathered against them, and, among them, all of Asmund\u2019s kith\nand kin, and the men of his quarter and some of his priesthood, and\nmany whom he did not know by face. And the swan flew at Bj\u00f6rn his son,\nand shot out the sword of its tongue and slew him, and many a man it\nslew thus. And the raven, with a beak and claws of steel, slew also\nmany a man, so that Asmund\u2019s kindred fled and the swan slept by the\ndove. But as it slept the golden snake crawled out of the sea, and\nhissed in the ears of men, and they rose up to follow it. It came to\nthe swan and twined itself about its neck. It struck at the dove and\nslew it. Then the swan awoke and the raven awoke, and they did battle\ntill all who remained of Asmund\u2019s kindred and people were dead. But\nstill the snake clung about the swan\u2019s neck, and presently snake and\nswan fell into the sea, and far out on the sea there burned a flame of\nfire. And Asmund awoke trembling and left the Temple.\n\nNow as he went, a woman came running, and weeping as she ran.\n\n\u201cHaste, haste!\u201d she cried; \u201ca daughter is born to thee, and Gudruda thy\nwife is dying!\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it so?\u201d said Asmund; \u201cafter ill dreams ill tidings.\u201d\n\nNow in the bed-closet off the great hall of Middalhof lay Gudruda the\nGentle and she was dying.\n\n\u201cArt thou there, husband?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cEven so, wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou comest in an evil hour, for it is my last. Now hearken. Take thou\nthe new-born babe within thine arms and kiss it, and pour water over\nit, and name it with my name.\u201d\n\nThis Asmund did.\n\n\u201cHearken, my husband. I have been a good wife to thee, though thou hast\nnot been all good to me. But thus shalt thou atone: thou shalt swear\nthat, though she is a girl, thou wilt not cast this bairn forth to\nperish, but wilt cherish and nurture her.\u201d\n\n\u201cI swear it,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cAnd thou shalt swear that thou wilt not take the witchwoman Groa to\nwife, nor have anything to do with her, and this for thine own sake:\nfor, if thou dost, she will be thy death. Dost thou swear?\u201d\n\n\u201cI swear it,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cIt is well; but, husband, if thou dost break thine oath, either in the\nwords or in the spirit of the words, evil shall overtake thee and all\nthy house. Now bid me farewell, for I die.\u201d\n\nHe bent over her and kissed her, and it is said that Asmund wept in\nthat hour, for after his fashion he loved his wife.\n\n\u201cGive me the babe,\u201d she said, \u201cthat it may lie once upon my breast.\u201d\n\nThey gave her the babe and she looked upon its dark eyes and said:\n\n\u201cFairest of women shalt thou be, Gudruda\u2014fair as no woman in Iceland\never was before thee; and thou shalt love with a mighty love\u2014and thou\nshalt lose\u2014and, losing, thou shalt find again.\u201d\n\nNow, it is said that, as she spoke these words, her face grew bright as\na spirit\u2019s, and, having spoken them, she fell back dead. And they laid\nher in earth, but Asmund mourned her much.\n\nBut, when all was over and done, the dream that he had dreamed lay\nheavy on him. Now of all diviners of dreams Groa was the most skilled,\nand when Gudruda had been in earth seven full days, Asmund went to\nGroa, though doubtfully, because of his oath.\n\nHe came to the house and entered. On a couch in the chamber lay Groa,\nand her babe was on her breast and she was very fair to see.\n\n\u201cGreeting, lord!\u201d she said. \u201cWhat wouldest thou here?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have dreamed a dream, and thou alone canst read it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is as it may be,\u201d she answered. \u201cIt is true that I have some\nskill in dreams. At the least I will hear it.\u201d\n\nThen he unfolded it to her every word.\n\n\u201cWhat wilt thou give me if I read thy dream?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cWhat dost thou ask? Methinks I have given thee much.\u201d\n\n\u201cYea, lord,\u201d and she looked at the babe upon her breast. \u201cI ask but a\nlittle thing: that thou shalt take this bairn in thy arms, pour water\nover it and name it.\u201d\n\n\u201cMen will talk if I do this, for it is the father\u2019s part.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a little thing what men say: talk goes by as the wind. Moreover,\nthou shalt give them the lie in the child\u2019s name, for it shall be\nSwanhild the Fatherless. Nevertheless that is my price. Pay it if thou\nwilt.\u201d\n\n\u201cRead me the dream and I will name the child.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, first name thou the babe: for then no harm shall come to her at\nthy hands.\u201d\n\nSo Asmund took the child, poured water over her, and named her.\n\nThen Groa spoke: \u201cThis lord, is the reading of thy dream, else my\nwisdom is at fault: The silver dove is thy daughter Gudruda, the golden\nsnake is my daughter Swanhild, and these two shall hate one the other\nand strive against each other. But the swan is a mighty man whom both\nshall love, and, if he love not both, yet shall belong to both. And\nthou shalt send him away; but he shall return and bring bad luck to\nthee and thy house, and thy daughter shall be blind with love of him.\nAnd in the end he shall slay the eagle, a great lord from the north who\nshall seek to wed thy daughter, and many another shall he slay, by the\nhelp of that raven with the bill of steel who shall be with him. But\nSwanhild shall triumph over thy daughter Gudruda, and this man, and the\ntwo of them, shall die at her hands, and, for the rest, who can say?\nBut this is true\u2014that the mighty man shall bring all thy race to an\nend. See now, I have read thy rede.\u201d\n\nThen Asmund was very wroth. \u201cThou wast wise to beguile me to name thy\nbastard brat,\u201d he said; \u201celse had I been its death within this hour.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis thou canst not do, lord, seeing that thou hast held it in thy\narms,\u201d Groa answered, laughing. \u201cGo rather and lay out Gudruda the Fair\non Coldback Hill; so shalt thou make an end of the evil, for Gudruda\nshall be its very root. Learn this, moreover: that thy dream does not\ntell all, seeing that thou thyself must play a part in the fate. Go,\nsend forth the babe Gudruda, and be at rest.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat cannot be, for I have sworn to cherish it, and with an oath that\nmay not be broken.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well,\u201d laughed Groa. \u201cThings will befall as they are fated; let\nthem befall in their season. There is space for cairns on Coldback and\nthe sea can shroud its dead!\u201d\n\nAnd Asmund went thence, angered at heart.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\nHOW ERIC TOLD HIS LOVE TO GUDRUDA IN THE SNOW ON COLDBACK\n\n\nNow, it must be told that, five years before the day of the death of\nGudruda the Gentle, Saevuna, the wife of Thorgrimur Iron-Toe, gave\nbirth to a son, at Coldback in the Marsh, on Ran River, and when his\nfather came to look upon the child he called out aloud:\n\n\u201cHere we have a wondrous bairn, for his hair is yellow like gold and\nhis eyes shine bright as stars.\u201d And Thorgrimur named him Eric\nBrighteyes.\n\nNow, Coldback is but an hour\u2019s ride from Middalhof, and it chanced, in\nafter years, that Thorgrimur went up to Middalhof, to keep the Yule\nfeast and worship in the Temple, for he was in the priesthood of Asmund\nAsmundson, bringing the boy Eric with him. There also was Groa with\nSwanhild, for now she dwelt at Middalhof; and the three fair children\nwere set together in the hall to play, and men thought it great sport\nto see them. Now, Gudruda had a horse of wood and would ride it while\nEric pushed the horse along. But Swanhild smote her from the horse and\ncalled to Eric to make it move; but he comforted Gudruda and would not,\nand at that Swanhild was angry and lisped out:\n\n\u201cPush thou must, if I will it, Eric.\u201d\n\nThen he pushed sideways and with such good will that Swanhild fell\nalmost into the fire of the hearth, and, leaping up, she snatched a\nbrand and threw it at Gudruda, firing her clothes. Men laughed at this;\nbut Groa, standing apart, frowned and muttered witch-words.\n\n\u201cWhy lookest thou so darkly, housekeeper?\u201d said Asmund; \u201cthe boy is\nbonny and high of heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, he is bonny as no child is, and he shall be bonny all his\nlife-days. Nevertheless, she shall not stand against his ill luck. This\nI prophesy of him: that women shall bring him to his end, and he shall\ndie a hero\u2019s death, but not at the hand of his foes.\u201d\n\nAnd now the years went by peacefully. Groa dwelt with her daughter\nSwanhild up at Middalhof and was the love of Asmund Asmundson. But,\nthough he forgot his oath thus far, yet he would never take her to\nwife. The witchwife was angered at this, and she schemed and plotted\nmuch to bring it about that Asmund should wed her. But still he would\nnot, though in all things else she led him as it were by a halter.\n\nTwenty full years had gone by since Gudruda the Gentle was laid in\nearth; and now Gudruda the Fair and Swanhild the Fatherless were women\ntoo. Eric, too, was a man of five-and-twenty years, and no such man had\nlived in Iceland. For he was strong and great of stature, his hair was\nyellow as gold, and his grey eyes shone with the light of swords. He\nwas gentle and loving as a woman, and even as a lad his strength was\nthe strength of two men; and there were none in all the quarter who\ncould leap or swim or wrestle against Eric Brighteyes. Men held him in\nhonour and spoke well of him, though as yet he had done no deeds, but\nlived at home on Coldback, managing the farm, for now Thorgrimur\nIron-Toe, his father, was dead. But women loved him much, and that was\nhis bane\u2014for of all women he loved but one, Gudruda the Fair, Asmund\u2019s\ndaughter. He loved her from a child, and her alone till his day of\ndeath, and she, too, loved him and him only. For now Gudruda was a maid\nof maids, most beautiful to see and sweet to hear. Her hair, like the\nhair of Eric, was golden, and she was white as the snow on Hecla; but\nher eyes were large and dark, and black lashes drooped above them. For\nthe rest she was tall and strong and comely, merry of face, yet tender,\nand the most witty of women.\n\nSwanhild also was very fair; she was slender, small of limb, and dark\nof hue, having eyes blue as the deep sea, and brown curling hair,\nenough to veil her to the knees, and a mind of which none knew the end,\nfor, though she was open in her talk, her thoughts were dark and\nsecret. This was her joy: to draw the hearts of men to her and then to\nmock them. She beguiled many in this fashion, for she was the\ncunningest girl in matters of love, and she knew well the arts of\nwomen, with which they bring men to nothing. Nevertheless she was cold\nat heart, and desired power and wealth greatly, and she studied magic\nmuch, of which her mother Groa also had a store. But Swanhild, too,\nloved a man, and that was the joint in her harness by which the shaft\nof Fate entered her heart, for that man was Eric Brighteyes, who loved\nher not. But she desired him so sorely that, without him, all the world\nwas dark to her, and her soul but as a ship driven rudderless upon a\nwinter night. Therefore she put out all her strength to win him, and\nbent her witcheries upon him, and they were not few nor small.\nNevertheless they went by him like the wind, for he dreamed ever of\nGudruda alone, and he saw no eyes but hers, though as yet they spoke no\nword of love one to the other.\n\nBut Swanhild in her wrath took counsel with her mother Groa, though\nthere was little liking between them; and, when she had heard the\nmaiden\u2019s tale, Groa laughed aloud:\n\n\u201cDost think me blind, girl?\u201d she said; \u201call of this I have seen, yea\nand foreseen, and I tell thee thou art mad. Let this yeoman Eric go and\nI will find thee finer fowl to fly at.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, that I will not,\u201d quoth Swanhild: \u201cfor I love this man alone, and\nI would win him; and Gudruda I hate, and I would overthrow her. Give me\nof thy counsel.\u201d\n\nGroa laughed again. \u201cThings must be as they are fated. This now is my\nrede: Asmund would turn Gudruda\u2019s beauty to account, and that man must\nbe rich in friends and money who gets her to wife, and in this matter\nthe mind of Bj\u00f6rn is as the mind of his father. Now we will watch, and,\nwhen a good time chances, we will bear tales of Gudruda to Asmund and\nto her brother Bj\u00f6rn, and swear that she oversteps her modesty with\nEric. Then shall Asmund be wroth and drive Eric from Gudruda\u2019s side.\nMeanwhile, I will do this: In the north there dwells a man mighty in\nall things and blown up with pride. He is named Ospakar Blacktooth. His\nwife is but lately dead, and he has given out that he will wed the\nfairest maid in Iceland. Now, it is in my mind to send Koll the\nHalf-witted, my thrall, whom Asmund gave to me, to Ospakar as though by\nchance. He is a great talker and very clever, for in his half-wits is\nmore cunning than in the brains of most; and he shall so bepraise\nGudruda\u2019s beauty that Ospakar will come hither to ask her in marriage;\nand in this fashion, if things go well, thou shalt be rid of thy rival,\nand I of one who looks scornfully upon me. But, if this fail, then\nthere are two roads left on which strong feet may travel to their end;\nand of these, one is that thou shouldest win Eric away with thine own\nbeauty, and that is not little. All men are frail, and I have a draught\nthat will make the heart as wax; but yet the other path is surer.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what is that path, my mother?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt runs through blood to blackness. By thy side is a knife and in\nGudruda\u2019s bosom beats a heart. Dead women are unmeet for love!\u201d\n\nSwanhild tossed her head and looked upon the dark face of Groa her\nmother.\n\n\u201cMethinks, with such an end to win, I should not fear to tread that\npath, if there be need, my mother.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow I see thou art indeed my daughter. Happiness is to the bold. To\neach it comes in uncertain shape. Some love power, some wealth, and\nsome\u2014a man. Take that which thou lovest\u2014I say, cut thy path to it and\ntake it; else shall thy life be but a weariness: for what does it serve\nto win the wealth and power when thou lovest a man alone, or the man\nwhen thou dost desire gold and the pride of place? This is wisdom: to\nsatisfy the longing of thy youth; for age creeps on apace and beyond is\ndarkness. Therefore, if thou seekest this man, and Gudruda blocks thy\npath, slay her, girl\u2014by witchcraft or by steel\u2014and take him, and in his\narms forget that thine own are red. But first let us try the easier\nplan. Daughter, I too hate this proud girl, who scorns me as her\nfather\u2019s light-of-love. I too long to see that bright head of hers dull\nwith the dust of death, or, at the least, those proud eyes weeping\ntears of shame as the man she hates leads her hence as a bride. Were it\nnot for her I should be Asmund\u2019s wife, and, when she is gone, with thy\nhelp\u2014for he loves thee much and has cause to love thee\u2014this I may be\nyet. So in this matter, if in no other, let us go hand in hand and\nmatch our wits against her innocence.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it,\u201d said Swanhild; \u201cfail me not and fear not that I shall fail\nthee.\u201d\n\nNow, Koll the Half-witted went upon his errand, and the time passed\ntill it lacked but a month to Yule, and men sat indoors, for the season\nwas dark and much snow fell. At length came frost, and with it a clear\nsky, and Gudruda, ceasing from her spinning in the hall, went to the\nwoman\u2019s porch, and, looking out, saw that the snow was hard, and a\ngreat longing came upon her to breathe the fresh air, for there was\nstill an hour of daylight. So she threw a cloak about her and walked\nforth, taking the road towards Coldback in the Marsh that is by Ran\nRiver. But Swanhild watched her till she was over the hill. Then she\nalso took a cloak and followed on that path, for she always watched\nGudruda.\n\nGudruda walked on for the half of an hour or so, when she became aware\nthat the clouds gathered in the sky, and that the air was heavy with\nsnow to come. Seeing this she turned homewards, and Swanhild hid\nherself to let her pass. Now flakes floated down as big and soft as\nfifa flowers. Quicker and more quick they came till all the plain was\none white maze of mist, but through it Gudruda walked on, and after her\ncrept Swanhild, like a shadow. And now the darkness gathered and the\nsnow fell thick and fast, covering up the track of her footsteps and\nshe wandered from the path, and after her wandered Swanhild, being\nloath to show herself. For an hour or more Gudruda wandered and then\nshe called aloud and her voice fell heavily against the cloak of snow.\nAt the last she grew weary and frightened, and sat down upon a shelving\nrock whence the snow had slipped away. Now, a little way behind was\nanother rock and there Swanhild sat, for she wished to be unseen of\nGudruda. So some time passed, and Swanhild grew heavy as though with\nsleep, when of a sudden a moving thing loomed upon the snowy darkness.\nThen Gudruda leapt to her feet and called. A man\u2019s voice answered:\n\n\u201cWho passes there?\u201d\n\n\u201cI, Gudruda, Asmund\u2019s daughter.\u201d\n\nThe form came nearer; now Swanhild could hear the snorting of a horse,\nand now a man leapt from it, and that man was Eric Brighteyes.\n\n\u201cIs it thou indeed, Gudruda!\u201d he said with a laugh, and his great shape\nshowed darkly on the snow mist.\n\n\u201cOh, is it thou, Eric?\u201d she answered. \u201cI was never more joyed to see\nthee; for of a truth thou dost come in a good hour. A little while and\nI had seen thee no more, for my eyes grow heavy with the death-sleep.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, say not so. Art lost, then? Why, so am I. I came out to seek\nthree horses that are strayed, and was overtaken by the snow. May they\ndwell in Odin\u2019s stables, for they have led me to thee. Art thou cold,\nGudruda?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut a little, Eric. Yea, there is place for thee here on the rock.\u201d\n\nSo he sat down by her on the stone, and Swanhild crept nearer; for now\nall weariness had left her. But still the snow fell thick.\n\n\u201cIt comes into my mind that we two shall die here,\u201d said Gudruda\npresently.\n\n\u201cThinkest thou so?\u201d he answered. \u201cWell, I will say this, that I ask no\nbetter end.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a bad end for thee, Eric: to be choked in snow, and with all thy\ndeeds to do.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a good end, Gudruda, to die at thy side, for so I shall die\nhappy; but I grieve for thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cGrieve not for me, Brighteyes, worse things might befall.\u201d\n\nHe drew nearer to her, and now he put his arms about her and clasped\nher to his bosom; nor did she say him nay. Swanhild saw and lifted\nherself up behind them, but for a while she heard nothing but the\nbeating of her heart.\n\n\u201cListen, Gudruda,\u201d Eric said at last. \u201cDeath draws near to us, and\nbefore it comes I would speak to thee, if speak I may.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpeak on,\u201d she whispers from his breast.\n\n\u201cThis I would say, then: that I love thee, and that I ask no better\nfate than to die in thy arms.\u201d\n\n\u201cFirst shalt thou see me die in thine, Eric.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe sure, if that is so, I shall not tarry for long. Oh! Gudruda, since\nI was a child I have loved thee with a mighty love, and now thou art\nall to me. Better to die thus than to live without thee. Speak, then,\nwhile there is time.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not hide from thee, Eric, that thy words are sweet in my ears.\u201d\n\nAnd now Gudruda sobs and the tears fall fast from her dark eyes.\n\n\u201cNay, weep not. Dost thou, then, love me?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, sure enough, Eric.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen kiss me before we pass. A man should not die thus, and yet men\nhave died worse.\u201d\n\nAnd so these two kissed, for the first time, out in the snow on\nColdback, and that first kiss was long and sweet.\n\nSwanhild heard and her blood seethed within her as water seethes in a\nboiling spring when the fires wake beneath. She put her hand to her\nkirtle and gripped the knife at her side. She half drew it, then drove\nit back.\n\n\u201cCold kills as sure as steel,\u201d she said in her heart. \u201cIf I slay her I\ncannot save myself or him. Let us die in peace, and let the snow cover\nup our troubling.\u201d And once more she listened.\n\n\u201cAh, sweet,\u201d said Eric, \u201ceven in the midst of death there is hope of\nlife. Swear to me, then, that if by chance we live thou wilt love me\nalways as thou lovest me now.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, Eric, I swear that and readily.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd swear, come what may, that thou wilt wed no man but me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI swear, if thou dost remain true to me, that I will wed none but\nthee, Eric.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I am sure of thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cBoast not overmuch, Eric: if thou dost live thy days are all before\nthee, and with times come trials.\u201d\n\nNow the snow whirled down faster and more thick, till these two,\nclasped heart to heart, were but a heap of white, and all white was the\nhorse, and Swanhild was nearly buried.\n\n\u201cWhere go we when we die, Eric?\u201d said Gudruda; \u201cin Odin\u2019s house there\nis no place for maids, and how shall my feet fare without thee?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, sweet, my May, Valhalla shuts its gates to me, a deedless man; up\nBifrost\u2019s rainbow bridge I may not travel, for I do not die with byrnie\non breast and sword aloft. To Hela shall we go, and hand in hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cArt thou sure, Eric, that men find these abodes? To say sooth, at\ntimes I misdoubt me of them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not so sure but that I also doubt. Still, I know this: that where\nthou goest there I shall be, Gudruda.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen things are well, and well work the Norns.[*] Still, Eric, of a\nsudden I grow fey: for it comes upon me that I shall not die to-night,\nbut that, nevertheless, I shall die with thy arms about me, and at thy\nside. There, I see it on the snow! I lie by thee, sleeping, and one\ncomes with hands outstretched and sleep falls from them like a mist\u2014by\nFreya, it is Swanhild\u2019s self! Oh! it is gone.\u201d\n\n[*] The Northern Fates.\n\n\n\u201cIt was nothing, Gudruda, but a vision of the snow\u2014an untimely dream\nthat comes before the sleep. I grow cold and my eyes are heavy; kiss me\nonce again.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was no dream, Eric, and ever I doubt me of Swanhild, for I think\nshe loves thee also, and she is fair and my enemy,\u201d says Gudruda,\nlaying her snow-cold lips on his lips. \u201cOh, Eric, awake! awake! See,\nthe snow is done.\u201d\n\nHe stumbled to his feet and looked forth. Lo! out across the sky flared\nthe wild Northern fires, throwing light upon the darkness.\n\n\u201cNow it seems that I know the land,\u201d said Eric. \u201cLook: yonder are\nGolden Falls, though we did not hear them because of the snow; and\nthere, out at sea, loom the Westmans; and that dark thing is the Temple\nHof, and behind it stands the stead. We are saved, Gudruda, and thus\nfar indeed thou wast fey. Now rise, ere thy limbs stiffen, and I will\nset thee on the horse, if he still can run, and lead thee down to\nMiddalhof before the witchlights fail us.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo it shall be, Eric.\u201d\n\nNow he led Gudruda to the horse\u2014that, seeing its master, snorted and\nshook the snow from its coat, for it was not frozen\u2014and set her on the\nsaddle, and put his arm about her waist, and they passed slowly through\nthe deep snow. And Swanhild, too, crept from her place, for her burning\nrage had kept the life in her, and followed after them. Many times she\nfell, and once she was nearly swallowed in a drift of snow and cried\nout in her fear.\n\n\u201cWho called aloud?\u201d said Eric, turning; \u201cI thought I heard a voice.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d answers Gudruda, \u201cit was but a night-hawk screaming.\u201d\n\nNow Swanhild lay quiet in the drift, but she said in her heart:\n\n\u201cAy, a night-hawk that shall tear out those dark eyes of thine, mine\nenemy!\u201d\n\nThe two go on and at length they come to the banked roadway that runs\npast the Temple to Asmund\u2019s hall. Here Swanhild leaves them, and,\nclimbing over the turf-wall into the home meadow, passes round the hall\nby the outbuildings and so comes to the west end of the house, and\nenters by the men\u2019s door unnoticed of any. For all the people, seeing a\nhorse coming and a woman seated on it, were gathered in front of the\nhall. But Swanhild ran to that shut bed where she slept, and, closing\nthe curtain, threw off her garments, shook the snow from her hair, and\nput on a linen kirtle. Then she rested a while, for she was weary, and,\ngoing to the kitchen, warmed herself at the fire.\n\nMeanwhile Eric and Gudruda came to the house and there Asmund greeted\nthem well, for he was troubled in his heart about his daughter, and\nvery glad to know her living, seeing that men had but now begun to\nsearch for her, because of the snow and the darkness.\n\nNow Gudruda told her tale, but not all of it, and Asmund bade Eric to\nthe house. Then one asked about Swanhild, and Eric said that he had\nseen nothing of her, and Asmund was sad at this, for he loved Swanhild.\nBut as he told all men to go and search, an old wife came and said that\nSwanhild was in the kitchen, and while the carline spoke she came into\nthe hall, dressed in white, very pale, and with shining eyes and fair\nto see.\n\n\u201cWhere hast thou been, Swanhild?\u201d said Asmund. \u201cI thought certainly\nthou wast perishing with Gudruda in the snow, and now all men go to\nseek thee while the witchlights burn.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, foster-father, I have been to the Temple,\u201d she answered, lying.\n\u201cSo Gudruda has but narrowly escaped the snow, thanks be to Brighteyes\nyonder! Surely I am glad of it, for we could ill spare our sweet\nsister,\u201d and, going up to her, she kissed her. But Gudruda saw that her\neyes burned like fire and felt that her lips were cold as ice, and\nshrank back wondering.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\nHOW ASMUND BADE ERIC TO HIS YULE-FEAST\n\n\nNow it was supper-time and men sat at meat while the women waited upon\nthem. But as she went to and fro, Gudruda always looked at Eric, and\nSwanhild watched them both. Supper being over, people gathered round\nthe hearth, and, having finished her service, Gudruda came and sat by\nEric, so that her sleeve might touch his. They spoke no word, but there\nthey sat and were happy. Swanhild saw and bit her lip. Now, she was\nseated by Asmund and Bj\u00f6rn his son.\n\n\u201cLook, foster-father,\u201d she said; \u201cyonder sit a pretty pair!\u201d\n\n\u201cThat cannot be denied,\u201d answered Asmund. \u201cOne may ride many days to\nsee such another man as Eric Brighteyes, and no such maid as Gudruda\nflowers between Middalhof and London town, unless it be thou, Swanhild.\nWell, so her mother said that it should be, and without doubt she was\nforesighted at her death.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, name me not with Gudruda, foster-father; I am but a grey goose by\nthy white swan. But these shall be well wed and that will be a good\nmatch for Eric.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet not thy tongue run on so fast,\u201d said Asmund sharply. \u201cWho told\nthee that Eric should have Gudruda?\u201d\n\n\u201cNone told me, but in truth, having eyes and ears, I grew certain of\nit,\u201d said Swanhild. \u201cLook at them now: surely lovers wear such faces.\u201d\n\nNow it chanced that Gudruda had rested her chin on her hand, and was\ngazing into Eric\u2019s eyes beneath the shadow of her hair.\n\n\u201cMethinks my sister will look higher than to wed a simple yeoman,\nthough he is large as two other men,\u201d said Bj\u00f6rn with a sneer. Now\nBj\u00f6rn was jealous of Eric\u2019s strength and beauty, and did not love him.\n\n\u201cTrust nothing that thou seest and little that thou hearest, girl,\u201d\nsaid Asmund, raising himself from thought: \u201cso shall thy guesses be\ngood. Eric, come here and tell us how thou didst chance on Gudruda in\nthe snow.\u201d\n\n\u201cI was not so ill seated but that I could bear to stay,\u201d grumbled Eric\nbeneath his breath; but Gudruda said \u201cGo.\u201d\n\nSo he went and told his tale; but not all of it, for he intended to ask\nGudruda in marriage on the morrow, though his heart prophesied no luck\nin the matter, and therefore he was not overswift with it.\n\n\u201cIn this thing thou hast done me and mine good service,\u201d said Asmund\ncoldly, searching Eric\u2019s face with his blue eyes. \u201cIt had been sad if\nmy fair daughter had perished in the snow, for, know this: I would set\nher high in marriage, for her honour and the honour of my house, and so\nsome rich and noble man had lost great joy. But take thou this gift in\nmemory of the deed, and Gudruda\u2019s husband shall give thee another such\nupon the day that he makes her wife,\u201d and he drew a gold ring off his\narm.\n\nNow Eric\u2019s knees trembled as he heard, and his heart grew faint as\nthough with fear. But he answered clear and straight:\n\n\u201cThy gift had been better without thy words, ring-giver; but I pray\nthee to take it back, for I have done nothing to win it, though perhaps\nthe time will come when I shall ask thee for a richer.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy gifts have never been put away before,\u201d said Asmund, growing angry.\n\n\u201cThis wealthy farmer holds the good gold of little worth. It is foolish\nto take fish to the sea, my father,\u201d sneered Bj\u00f6rn.\n\n\u201cNay, Bj\u00f6rn, not so,\u201d Eric answered: \u201cbut, as thou sayest, I am but a\nfarmer, and since my father, Thorgrimur Iron-Toe, died things have not\ngone too well on Ran River. But at the least I am a free man, and I\nwill take no gifts that I cannot repay worth for worth. Therefore I\nwill not have the ring.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs thou wilt,\u201d said Asmund. \u201cPride is a good horse if thou ridest\nwisely,\u201d and he thrust the ring back upon his arm.\n\nThen people go to rest; but Swanhild seeks her mother, and tells her\nall that has befallen her, nor does Groa fail to listen.\n\n\u201cNow I will make a plan,\u201d she says, \u201cfor these things have chanced well\nand Asmund is in a ripe humour. Eric shall come no more to Middalhof\ntill Gudruda is gone hence, led by Ospakar Blacktooth.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd if Eric does not come here, how shall I see his face? for, mother,\nI long for the sight of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is thy matter, thou lovesick fool. Know this: that if Eric comes\nhither and gets speech with Gudruda, there is an end of thy hopes; for,\nfair as thou art, she is too fair for thee, and, strong as thou art, in\na way she is too strong. Thou hast heard how these two love, and such\nloves mock at the will of fathers. Eric will win his desire or die\nbeneath the swords of Asmund and Bj\u00f6rn, if such men can prevail against\nhis might. Nay, the wolf Eric must be fenced from the lamb till he\ngrows hungry. Then let him search the fold and make spoil of thee, for,\nwhen the best is gone, he will desire the good.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it, mother. As I sat crouched behind Gudruda in the snow at\nColdback, I had half a mind to end her love-words with this knife, for\nso I should have been free of her.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, and fast in the doom-ring, thou wildcat. The gods help this Eric,\nif thou winnest him. Nay, choose thy time and, if thou must strike,\nstrike secretly and home. Remember also that cunning is mightier than\nstrength, that lies pierce further than swords, and that witchcraft\nwins where honesty must fail. Now I will go to Asmund, and he shall be\nan angry man before to-morrow comes.\u201d\n\nThen Groa went to the shut bed where Asmund the Priest slept. He was\nsitting on the bed and asked her why she came.\n\n\u201cFor love of thee, Asmund, and thy house, though thou dost treat me\nill, who hast profited so much by me and my foresight. Say now: wilt\nthou that this daughter of thine, Gudruda the Fair, should be the light\nMay of yonder long-legged yeoman?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is not in my mind,\u201d said Asmund, stroking his beard.\n\n\u201cKnowest thou, then, that this very day your white Gudruda sat on\nEric\u2019s lap in the snow, while he fondled her to his heart\u2019s content?\u201d\n\n\u201cMost likely it was for warmth. Men do not dream on love in the hour of\ndeath. Who saw this?\u201d\n\n\u201cSwanhild, who was behind, and hid herself for shame, and therefore she\nheld that these two must soon be wed! Ah, thou art foolish now, Asmund.\nYoung blood makes light of cold or death. Art thou blind, or dost thou\nnot see that these two turn on each other like birds at nesting-time?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey might do worse,\u201d said Asmund, \u201cfor they are a proper pair, and it\nseems to me that each was born for each.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen all goes well. Still, it is a pity to see so fair a maid cast\nlike rotten bait upon the waters to hook this troutlet of a yeoman.\nThou hast enemies, Asmund; thou art too prosperous, and there are many\nwho hate thee for thy state and wealth. Were it not wise to use this\ngirl of thine to build a wall about thee against the evil day?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have been more wont, housekeeper, to trust to my own arm than to\nbought friends. But tell me, for at the least thou art far-seeing, how\nmay this be done? As things are, though I spoke roughly to him last\nnight, I am inclined to let Eric Brighteyes take Gudruda. I have always\nloved the lad, and he will go far.\u201d\n\n\u201cListen, Asmund! Surely thou hast heard of Ospakar Blacktooth\u2014the\npriest who dwells in the north?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, I have heard of him, and I know him; there is no man like him for\nugliness, or strength, or wealth and power. We sailed together on a\nviking cruise many years ago, and he did things at which my blood\nturned, and in those days I had no chicken heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cWith time men change their temper. Unless I am mistaken, this Ospakar\nwishes above all to have Gudruda in marriage, for, now that everything\nis his, this alone is left for him to ask\u2014the fairest woman in Iceland\nas a housewife. Think then, with Ospakar for a son-in-law, who is there\nthat can stand against thee?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not so sure of this matter, nor do I altogether trust thee, Groa.\nOf a truth it seems to me that thou hast some stake upon the race. This\nOspakar is evil and hideous. It were a shame to give Gudruda over to\nhim when she looks elsewhere. Knowest thou that I swore to love and\ncherish her, and how runs this with my oath? If Eric is not too rich,\nyet he is of good birth and kin, and, moreover, a man of men. If he\ntake her good will come of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is like thee, Asmund, always to mistrust those who spend their days\nin plotting for thy weal. Do as thou wilt: let Eric take this treasure\nof thine\u2014for whom earls would give their state\u2014and live to rue it. But\nI say this: if he have thy leave to roam here with his dove the matter\nwill soon grow, for these two sicken each to each, and young blood is\nhot and ill at waiting, and it is not always snow-time. So betroth her\nor let him go. And now I have said.\u201d\n\n\u201cThy tongue runs too fast. The man is quite unproved and I will try\nhim. To-morrow I will warn him from my door; then things shall go as\nthey are fated. And now peace, for I weary of thy talk, and, moreover,\nit is false; for thou lackest one thing\u2014a little honesty to season all\nthy craft. What fee has Ospakar paid thee, I wonder. Thou at least\nhadst never refused the gold ring to-night, for thou wouldst do much\nfor gold.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd more for love, and most of all for hate,\u201d Groa said, and laughed\naloud; nor did they speak more on this matter that night.\n\nNow, early in the morning Asmund rose, and, going to the hall, awoke\nEric, who slept by the centre hearth, saying that he would talk with\nhim without. Then Eric followed him to the back of the hall.\n\n\u201cSay now, Eric,\u201d he said, when they stood in the grey light outside the\nhouse, \u201cwho was it taught thee that kisses keep out the cold on snowy\ndays?\u201d\n\nNow Eric reddened to his yellow hair, but he answered: \u201cWho was it told\nthee, lord, that I tried this medicine?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe snow hides much, but there are eyes that can pierce the snow. Nay,\nmore, thou wast seen, and there\u2019s an end. Now know this\u2014I like thee\nwell, but Gudruda is not for thee; she is far above thee, who art but a\ndeedless yeoman.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I love to no end,\u201d said Eric; \u201cI long for one thing only, and\nthat is Gudruda. It was in my mind to ask her in marriage of thee\nto-day.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen, lad, thou hast thy answer before thou askest. Be sure of one\nthing: if but once again I find thee alone with Gudruda, it is my axe\nshall kiss thee and not her lips.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat may yet be put to the proof, lord,\u201d said Eric, and turned to seek\nhis horse, when suddenly Gudruda came and stood between them, and his\nheart leapt at the sight of her.\n\n\u201cListen, Gudruda,\u201d Eric said. \u201cThis is thy father\u2019s word: that we two\nspeak together no more.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen it is an ill saying for us,\u201d said Gudruda, laying her hand upon\nher breast.\n\n\u201cSaying good or ill, so it surely is, girl,\u201d answered Asmund. \u201cNo more\nshalt thou go a-kissing, in the snow or in the flowers.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow I seem to hear Swanhild\u2019s voice,\u201d she said. \u201cWell, such things\nhave happened to better folk, and a father\u2019s wish is to a maid what the\nwind is to the grass. Still, the sun is behind the cloud and it will\nshine again some day. Till then, Eric, fare thee well!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is not thy will, lord,\u201d said Eric, \u201cthat I should come to thy\nYule-feast as thou hast asked me these ten years past?\u201d\n\nNow Asmund grew wroth, and pointed with his hand towards the great\nGolden Falls that thunder down the mountain named Stonefell that is\nbehind Middalhof, and there are no greater water-falls in Iceland.\n\n\u201cA man may take two roads, Eric, from Coldback to Middalhof, one by the\nbridle-path over Coldback and the other down Golden Falls; but I never\nknew traveller to choose this way. Now, I bid thee to my feast by the\npath over Golden Falls; and, if thou comest that way, I promise thee\nthis: if thou livest I will greet thee well, and if I find thee dead in\nthe great pool I will bind on thy Hell-shoes and lay thee to earth\nneighbourly fashion. But if thou comest by any other path, then my\nthralls shall cut thee down at my door.\u201d And he stroked his beard and\nlaughed.\n\nNow Asmund spoke thus mockingly because he did not think it possible\nthat any man should try the path of the Golden Falls.\n\nEric smiled and said, \u201cI hold thee to thy word, lord; perhaps I shall\nbe thy guest at Yule.\u201d\n\nBut Gudruda heard the thunder of the mighty Falls as the wind turned,\nand cried \u201cNay, nay\u2014it were thy death!\u201d\n\nThen Eric finds his horse and rides away across the snow.\n\nNow it must be told of Koll the Half-witted that at length he came to\nSwinefell in the north, having journeyed hard across the snow. Here\nOspakar Blacktooth had his great hall, in which day by day a hundred\nmen sat down to meat. Now Koll entered the hall when Ospakar was at\nsupper, and looked at him with big eyes, for he had never seen so\nwonderful a man. He was huge in stature\u2014his hair was black, and black\nhis beard, and on his lower lip there lay a great black fang. His eyes\nwere small and narrow, but his cheekbones were set wide apart and high,\nlike those of a horse. Koll thought him an ill man to deal with and\nhalf a troll,[*] and grew afraid of his errand, since in Koll\u2019s\nhalf-wittedness there was much cunning\u2014for it was a cloak in which he\nwrapped himself. But as Ospakar sat in the high seat, clothed in a\npurple robe, with his sword Whitefire on his knee, he saw Koll, and\ncalled out in a great voice:\n\n[*] An able-bodied Goblin.\n\n\n\u201cWho is this red fox that creeps into my earth?\u201d\n\nFor, to look at, Koll was very like a fox.\n\n\u201cMy name is Koll the Half-witted, Groa\u2019s thrall, lord. Am I welcome\nhere?\u201d he answered.\n\n\u201cThat is as it may be. Why do they call thee half-witted?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause I love not work overmuch, lord.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen all my thralls are fellow to thee. Say, what brings thee here?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis, lord. It was told among men down in the south that thou wouldst\ngive a good gift to him who should discover to thee the fairest maid in\nIceland. So I asked leave of my mistress to come on a journey and tell\nthee of her.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen a lie was told thee. Still, I love to hear of fair maids, and\nseek one for a wife if she be but fair enough. So speak on, Koll the\nFox, and lie not to me, I warn thee, else I will knock what wits are\nleft there from that red head of thine.\u201d\n\nSo Koll took up the tale and greatly bepraised Gudruda\u2019s beauty; nor in\ntruth, for all his talk, could he praise it too much. He told of her\ndark eyes and the whiteness of her skin, of the nobleness of her shape\nand the gold of her hair, of her wit and gentleness, till at length\nOspakar grew afire to see this flower of maids.\n\n\u201cBy Thor, thou Koll,\u201d he said, \u201cif the girl be but half of what thou\nsayest, her luck is good, for she shall be wife to Ospakar. But if thou\nhast lied to me about her, beware! for soon there shall be a knave the\nless in Iceland.\u201d\n\nNow a man rose in the hall and said that Koll spoke truth, for he had\nseen Gudruda the Fair, Asmund\u2019s daughter, and there was no maid like\nher in Iceland.\n\n\u201cI will do this now,\u201d said Blacktooth. \u201cTo-morrow I will send a\nmessenger to Middalhof, saying to Asmund the Priest that I purpose to\nvisit him at the time of the Yule-feast; then I shall see if the girl\npleases me. Meanwhile, Koll, take thou a seat among the thralls, and\nhere is something for thy pains,\u201d and he took off the purple cloak and\nthrew it to him.\n\n\u201cThanks to thee, Gold-scatterer,\u201d said Koll. \u201cIt is wise to go soon to\nMiddalhof, for such a bloom as this maid does not lack a bee. There is\na youngling in the south, named Eric Brighteyes, who loves Gudruda, and\nshe, I think, loves him, though he is but a yeoman of small wealth and\nis only twenty-five years old.\u201d\n\n\u201cHo! ho!\u201d laughed great Ospakar, \u201cand I am forty-five. But let not this\nsuckling cross my desire, lest men call him Eric Holloweyes!\u201d\n\nNow the messenger of Ospakar came to Middalhof, and his words pleased\nAsmund and he made ready a great feast. And Swanhild smiled, but\nGudruda was afraid.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\nHOW ERIC CAME DOWN GOLDEN FALLS\n\n\nNow Ospakar rode up to Middalhof on the day before the Yule-feast. He\nwas splendidly apparelled, and with him came his two sons, Gizur the\nLawman and Mord, young men of promise, and many armed thralls and\nservants. Gudruda, watching at the women\u2019s door, saw his face in the\nmoonlight and loathed him.\n\n\u201cWhat thinkest thou of him who comes to seek thee in marriage,\nfoster-sister?\u201d asked Swanhild, watching at her side.\n\n\u201cI think he is like a troll, and that, seek as he will, he shall not\nfind me. I had rather lie in the pool beneath Golden Falls than in\nOspakar\u2019s hall.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat shall be proved,\u201d said Swanhild. \u201cAt the least he is rich and\nnoble, and the greatest of men in size. It would go hard with Eric were\nthose arms about him.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not so sure of that,\u201d said Gudruda; \u201cbut it is not likely to be\nknown.\u201d\n\n\u201cComes Eric to the feast by the road of Golden Falls, Gudruda?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, no man may try that path and live.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen he will die, for Eric will risk it.\u201d\n\nNow Gudruda thought, and a great fire burned in her heart and shone\nthrough her eyes. \u201cIf Eric dies,\u201d she said, \u201con thee be his blood,\nSwanhild\u2014on thee and that dark mother of thine, for ye have plotted to\nbring this evil on us. How have I harmed thee that thou shouldst deal\nthus with me?\u201d\n\nSwanhild turned white and wicked-looking, for passion mastered her, and\nshe gazed into Gudruda\u2019s face and answered: \u201cHow hast thou harmed me?\nSurely I will tell thee. Thy beauty has robbed me of Eric\u2019s love.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt would be better to prate of Eric\u2019s love when he had told it thee,\nSwanhild.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou hast robbed me and therefore I hate thee, and therefore I will\ndeliver thee to Ospakar, whom thou dost loath\u2014ay and yet win Brighteyes\nto myself. Am I not also fair and can I not also love, and shall I see\nthee snatch my joy? By the Gods, never! I will see thee dead, and Eric\nwith thee, ere it shall be so! but first I will see thee shamed!\u201d\n\n\u201cThy words are ill-suited to a maiden\u2019s lips, Swanhild! But of this be\nsure: I fear thee not, and shall never fear thee. And one thing I know\nwell that, whether thou or I prevail, in the end thou shalt harvest the\ngreatest shame, and in times to come men shall speak of thee with\nhatred and name thee by ill names. Moreover, Eric shall never love\nthee; from year to year he shall hate thee with a deeper hate, though\nit may well be that thou wilt bring ruin on him. And now I thank thee\nthat thou hast told me all thy mind, showing me what indeed thou art!\u201d\nAnd Gudruda turned scornfully upon her heel and walked away.\n\nNow Asmund the Priest went out into the courtyard, and meeting Ospakar\nBlacktooth, greeted him heartily, though he did not like his looks, and\ntook him by the hand and led him to the hall, that was bravely decked\nwith tapestries, and seated him by his side on the high seat. And\nOspakar\u2019s thralls brought good gifts for Asmund, who thanked the giver\nwell.\n\nNow it was supper time, and Gudruda came in, and after her walked\nSwanhild. Ospakar gazed hard at Gudruda and a great desire entered into\nhim to make her his wife. But she passed coldly by, nor looked on him\nat all.\n\n\u201cThis, then, is that maid of thine of whom I have heard tell, Asmund? I\nwill say this: fairer was never born of woman.\u201d\n\nThen men ate and Ospakar drank much ale, but all the while he stared at\nGudruda and listened for her voice. But as yet he said nothing of what\nhe came to seek, though all knew his errand. And his two sons, Gizur\nand Mord, stared also at Gudruda, for they thought her most wonderfully\nfair. But Gizur found Swanhild also fair.\n\nAnd so the night wore on till it was time to sleep.\n\nOn this same day Eric rode up from his farm on Ran River and took his\nroad along the brow of Coldback till he came to Stonefell. Now all\nalong Coldback and Stonefell is a steep cliff facing to the south, that\ngrows ever higher till it comes to that point where Golden River falls\nover it and, parting its waters below, runs east and west\u2014the branch to\nthe east being called Ran River and that to the west Lax\u00e0\u2014for these two\nstreams girdle round the rich plain of Middalhof, till at length they\nreach the sea. But in the midst of Golden River, on the edge of the\ncliff, a mass of rock juts up called Sheep-saddle, dividing the waters\nof the fall, and over this the spray flies, and in winter the ice\ngathers, but the river does not cover it. The great fall is thirty\nfathoms deep, and shaped like a horseshoe, of which the points lie\ntowards Middalhof. Yet if he could but gain the Sheep-saddle rock that\ndivides the midst of the waters, a strong and hardy man might climb\ndown some fifteen fathoms of this depth and scarcely wet his feet.\n\nNow here at the foot of Sheep-saddle rock the double arches of waters\nmeet, and fall in one torrent into the bottomless pool below. But, some\nthree fathoms from this point of the meeting waters, and beneath it,\njust where the curve is deepest, a single crag, as large as a\ndrinking-table and no larger, juts through the foam, and, if a man\ncould reach it, he might leap from it some twelve fathoms, sheer into\nthe spray-hidden pit beneath, there to sink or swim as it might befall.\nThis crag is called Wolf\u2019s Fang.\n\nNow Eric stood for a long while on the edge of the fall and looked,\nmeasuring every thing with his eye. Then he went up above, where the\nriver swirls down to the precipice, and looked again, for it is from\nthis bank that the dividing island-rock Sheep-saddle must be reached.\n\n\u201cA man may hardly do this thing; yet I will try it,\u201d he said to himself\nat last. \u201cMy honour shall be great for the feat, if I chance to live,\nand if I die\u2014well, there is an end of troubling after maids and all\nother things.\u201d\n\nSo he went home and sat silent that evening. Now, since Thorgrimur\nIron-Toe\u2019s death, his housewife, Saevuna, Eric\u2019s mother, had grown dim\nof sight, and, though she peered and peered again from her seat in the\ningle nook, she could not see the face of her son.\n\n\u201cWhat ails thee, Eric, that thou sittest so silent? Was not the meat,\nthen, to thy mind at supper?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, mother, the meat was well enough, though a little undersmoked.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow I see that thou art not thyself, son, for thou hadst no meat, but\nonly stock-fish\u2014and I never knew a man forget his supper on the night\nof its eating, except he was distraught or deep in love.\u201d\n\n\u201cWas it so?\u201d said Brighteyes.\n\n\u201cWhat troubles thee, Eric?\u2014that sweet lass yonder?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, somewhat, mother.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat more, then?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis, that I go down Golden Falls to-morrow, and I do not know how I\nmay come from Sheep-saddle rock to Wolf\u2019s Fang crag and keep my life\nwhole in me; and now, I pray thee, weary me not with words, for my\nbrain is slow, and I must use it.\u201d\n\nWhen she heard this Saevuna screamed aloud, and threw herself before\nEric, praying him to forgo his mad venture. But he would not listen to\nher, for he was slow to make up his mind, but, that being made up,\nnothing could change it. Then, when she learned that it was to get\nsight of Gudruda that he purposed thus to throw his life away, she was\nvery angry and cursed her and all her kith and kin.\n\n\u201cIt is likely enough that thou wilt have cause to use such words before\nall this tale is told,\u201d said Eric; \u201cnevertheless, mother, forbear to\ncurse Gudruda, who is in no way to blame for these matters.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou art a faithless son,\u201d Saevuna said, \u201cwho wilt slay thyself\nstriving to win speech with thy May, and leave thy mother childless.\u201d\n\nEric said that it seemed so indeed, but he was plighted to it and the\nfeat must be tried. Then he kissed her, and she sought her bed,\nweeping.\n\nNow it was the day of the Yule-feast, and there was no sun till one\nhour before noon. But Eric, having kissed his mother and bidden her\nfarewell, called a thrall, Jon by name, and giving him a sealskin bag\nfull of his best apparel, bade him ride to Middalhof and tell Asmund\nthe Priest that Eric Brighteyes would come down Golden Falls an hour\nafter mid-day, to join his feast; and thence go to the foot of the\nGolden Falls, to await him there. And the man went, wondering, for he\nthought his master mad.\n\nThen Eric took a good rope, and a staff tipped with iron, and, so soon\nas the light served, mounted his horse, forded Ran River, and rode\nalong Coldback till he came to the lip of Golden Falls. Here he stayed\na while till at length he saw many people streaming up the snow from\nMiddalhof far beneath, and, among them, two women who by their stature\nshould be Gudruda and Swanhild, and, near to them, a great man whom he\ndid not know. Then he showed himself for a space on the brink of the\ngulf and turned his horse up stream. The sun shone bright upon the edge\nof the sky, but the frost bit like a sword. Still, he must strip off\nhis garments, so that nothing remained on him except his sheepskin\nshoes, shirt and hose, and take the water. Now here the river runs\nmightily, and he must cross full thirty fathoms of the swirling water\nbefore he can reach Sheep-saddle, and woe to him if his foot slip on\nthe boulders, for certainly he must be swept over the brink.\n\nEric rested the staff against the stony bottom and, leaning his weight\non it, took the stream, and he was so strong that it could not prevail\nagainst him till at length he was rather more than half-way across and\nthe water swept above his shoulders. Now he was lifted from his feet\nand, letting the staff float, he swam for his life, and with such\nmighty strokes that he felt little of that icy cold. Down he was\nswept\u2014now the lip of the fall was but three fathoms away on his left,\nand already the green water boiled beneath him. A fathom from him was\nthe corner of Sheep-saddle. If he may grasp it, all is well; if not, he\ndies.\n\nThree great strokes and he held it. His feet were swept out over the\nbrink of the fall, but he clung on grimly, and by the strength of his\narms drew himself on to the rock and rested a while. Presently he stood\nup, for the cold began to nip him, and the people below became aware\nthat he had swum the river above the fall and raised a shout, for the\ndeed was great. Now Eric must begin to clamber down Sheep-saddle, and\nthis was no easy task, for the rock is almost sheer, and slippery with\nice, and on either side the waters rushed and thundered, throwing their\nblinding spray about him as they leapt to the depths beneath. He looked\ndown, studying the rock; then, feeling that he grew afraid, made an end\nof doubt and, grasping a point with both hands, swung himself down his\nown length and more. Now for many minutes he climbed down Sheep-saddle,\nand the task was hard, for he was bewildered with the booming of the\nwaters that bent out on either side of him like the arc of a bow, and\nthe rock was very steep and slippery. Still, he came down all those\nfifteen fathoms and fell not, though twice he was near to falling, and\nthe watchers below marvelled greatly at his hardihood.\n\n\u201cHe will be dashed to pieces where the waters meet,\u201d said Ospakar, \u201che\ncan never gain Wolf\u2019s Fang crag beneath; and, if so it be that he come\nthere and leaps to the pool, the weight of water will drive him down\nand drown him.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is certainly so,\u201d quoth Asmund, \u201cand it grieves me much; for it was\nmy jest that drove him to this perilous adventure, and we cannot spare\nsuch a man as Eric Brighteyes.\u201d\n\nNow Swanhild turned white as death; but Gudruda said: \u201cIf great heart\nand strength and skill may avail at all, then Eric shall come safely\ndown the waters.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou fool!\u201d whispered Swanhild in her ear, \u201chow can these help him? No\ntroll could live in yonder cauldron. Dead is Eric, and thou art the\nbait that lured him to his death!\u201d\n\n\u201cSpare thy words,\u201d she answered; \u201cas the Norns have ordered so it shall\nbe.\u201d\n\nNow Eric stood at the foot of Sheep-saddle, and within an arm\u2019s length\nthe mighty waters met, tossing their yellow waves and seething\nfuriously as they leapt to the mist-hid gulf beneath. He bent over and\nlooked through the spray. Three fathoms under him the rock Wolf\u2019s Fang\nsplit the waters, and thence, if he can come thither, he may leap sheer\ninto the pool below. Now he unwound the rope that was about his middle,\nand made one end fast to a knob of rock\u2014and this was difficult, for his\nhands were stiff with cold\u2014and the other end he passed through his\nleathern girdle. Then Eric looked again, and his heart sank within him.\nHow might he give himself to this boiling flood and not be shattered?\nBut as he looked, lo! a rainbow grew upon the face of the water, and\none end of it lit upon him, and the other, like a glory from the Gods,\nfell full upon Gudruda as she stood a little way apart, watching at the\nfoot of Golden Falls.\n\n\u201cSeest thou that,\u201d said Asmund to Groa, who was at his side, \u201cthe Gods\nbuild their Bifrost bridge between these two. Who now shall keep them\nasunder?\u201d\n\n\u201cRead the portent thus,\u201d she answered: \u201cthey shall be united, but not\nhere. Yon is a Spirit bridge, and, see: the waters of Death foam and\nfall between them!\u201d\n\nEric, too, saw the omen and it seemed good to him, and all fear left\nhis heart. Round about him the waters thundered, but amidst their roar\nhe dreamed that he heard a voice calling:\n\n\u201cBe of good cheer, Eric Brighteyes; for thou shalt live to do mightier\ndeeds than this, and in guerdon thou shalt win Gudruda.\u201d\n\nSo he paused no longer, but, shortening up the rope, pulled on it with\nall his strength, and then leapt out upon the arch of waters. They\nstruck him and he was dashed out like a stone from a sling; again he\nfell against them and again was dashed away, so that his girdle burst.\nEric felt it go and clung wildly to the rope and lo! with the inward\nswing, he fell on Wolf\u2019s Fang, where never a man has stood before and\nnever a man shall stand again. Eric lay a little while on the rock till\nhis breath came back to him, and he listened to the roar of the waters.\nThen, rising on his hands and knees, he crept to its point, for he\ncould scarcely stand because of the trembling of the stone beneath the\nshock of the fall; and when the people below saw that he was not dead,\nthey raised a great shout, and the sound of their voices came to him\nthrough the noise of the waters.\n\nNow, twelve fathoms beneath him was the surface of the pool; but he\ncould not see it because of the wreaths of spray. Nevertheless, he must\nleap and that swiftly, for he grew cold. So of a sudden Eric stood up\nto his full height, and, with a loud cry and a mighty spring, bounded\nout from the point of Wolf\u2019s Fang far into the air, beyond the reach of\nthe falling flood, and rushed headlong towards the gulf beneath. Now\nall men watching held their breath as his body travelled, and so great\nis the place and so high the leap that through the mist Eric seemed but\nas a big white stone hurled down the face of the arching waters.\n\nHe was gone, and the watchers rushed down to the foot of the pool, for\nthere, if he rose at all, he must pass to the shallows. Swanhild could\nlook no more, but sank upon the ground. The face of Gudruda was set\nlike a stone with doubt and anguish. Ospakar saw and read the meaning,\nand he said to himself: \u201cNow Odin grant that this youngling rise not\nagain! for the maid loves him dearly, and he is too much a man to be\nlightly swept aside.\u201d\n\nEric struck the pool. Down he sank, and down and down\u2014for the water\nfalling from so far must almost reach the bottom of the pool before it\ncan rise again\u2014and he with it. Now he touched the bottom, but very\ngently, and slowly began to rise, and, as he rose, was carried along by\nthe stream. But it was long before he could breathe, and it seemed to\nhim that his lungs would burst. Still, he struggled up, striking great\nstrokes with his legs.\n\n\u201cFarewell to Eric,\u201d said Asmund, \u201che will rise no more now.\u201d\n\nBut just as he spoke Gudruda pointed to something that gleamed, white\nand golden, beneath the surface of the current, and lo! the bright hair\nof Eric rose from the water, and he drew a great breath, shaking his\nhead like a seal, and, though but feebly, struck out for the shallows\nthat are at the foot of the pool. Now he found footing, but was swept\nover by the fierce current, and cut his forehead, and he carried that\nscar till his death. Again he rose, and with a rush gained the bank\nunaided and fell upon the snow.\n\nNow people gathered about him in silence and wondering, for none had\nknown so great a deed. And presently Eric opened his eyes and looked\nup, and found the eyes of Gudruda fixed on his, and there was that in\nthem which made him glad he had dared the path of Golden Falls.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\nHOW ERIC WON THE SWORD WHITEFIRE\n\n\nNow Asmund the priest bent down, and Eric saw him and spoke:\n\n\u201cThou badest me to thy Yule-feast, lord, by yonder slippery road and I\nhave come. Dost thou welcome me well?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo man better,\u201d quoth Asmund. \u201cThou art a gallant man, though\nfoolhardy; and thou hast done a deed that shall be told of while skalds\nsing and men live in Iceland.\u201d\n\n\u201cMake place, my father,\u201d said Gudruda, \u201cfor Eric bleeds.\u201d And she\nloosed the kerchief from her neck and bound it about his wounded brow,\nand, taking the rich cloak from her body, threw it on his shoulders,\nand no man said her nay.\n\nThen they led him to the hall, where Eric clothed himself and rested,\nand he sent back the thrall Jon to Coldback, bidding him tell Saevuna,\nEric\u2019s mother, that he was safe. But he was somewhat weak all that day,\nand the sound of waters roared in his ears.\n\nNow Ospakar and Groa were ill pleased at the turn things had taken; but\nall the others rejoiced much, for Eric was well loved of men and they\nhad grieved if the waters had prevailed against his might. But Swanhild\nbrooded bitterly, for Eric never turned to look on her.\n\nThe hour of the feast drew on and, according to custom, it was held in\nthe Temple, and thither went all men. When they were seated in the nave\nof the Hof, the fat ox that had been made ready for sacrifice was led\nin and dragged before the altar on which the holy fire burned. Now\nAsmund the Priest slew it, amid silence, before the figures of the\nGods, and, catching its blood in the blood-bowl, sprinkled the altar\nand all the worshippers with the blood-twigs. Then the ox was cut up,\nand the figures of the almighty Gods were anointed with its molten fat\nand wiped with fair linen. Next the flesh was boiled in the cauldrons\nthat were hung over fires lighted all down the nave, and the feast\nbegan.\n\nNow men ate, and drank much ale and mead, and all were merry. But\nOspakar Blacktooth grew not glad, though he drank much, for he saw that\nthe eyes of Gudruda ever watched Eric\u2019s face and that they smiled on\neach other. He was wroth at this, for he knew that the bait must be\ngood and the line strong that should win this fair fish to his angle,\nand as he sat, unknowingly his fingers loosed the peace-strings of his\nsword Whitefire, and he half drew it, so that its brightness flamed in\nthe firelight.\n\n\u201cThou hast a wondrous blade there, Ospakar!\u201d said Asmund, \u201cthough this\nis no place to draw it. Whence came it? Methinks no such swords are\nfashioned now.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, Asmund, a wondrous blade indeed. There is no other such in the\nworld, for the dwarfs forged it of old, and he shall be unconquered who\nholds it aloft. This was King Odin\u2019s sword, and it is named Whitefire.\nRalph the Red took it from King Eric\u2019s cairn in Norway, and he strove\nlong with the Barrow-Dweller[*] before he wrenched it from his grasp.\nBut my father won it and slew Ralph, though he had never done this had\nWhitefire been aloft against him. But Ralph the Red, being in drink\nwhen the ships met in battle, fought with an axe, and was slain by my\nfather, and since then Whitefire has been the last light that many a\nchief\u2019s eyes have seen. Look at it, Asmund.\u201d\n\n[*] The ghost in the cairn.\n\n\nNow he drew the great sword, and men were astonished as it flashed\naloft. Its hilt was of gold, and blue stones were set therein. It\nmeasured two ells and a half from crossbar to point, and so bright was\nthe broad blade that no one could look on it for long, and all down its\nlength ran runes.\n\n\u201cA wondrous weapon, truly!\u201d said Asmund. \u201cHow read the runes?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know not, nor any man\u2014they are ancient.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me look at them,\u201d said Groa, \u201cI am skilled in runes.\u201d Now she took\nthe sword, and heaved it up, and looked at the runes and said, \u201cA\nstrange writing truly.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow runs it, housekeeper?\u201d said Asmund.\n\n\u201cThus, lord, if my skill is not at fault:\u2014\n\n\u201cWhitefire is my name\u2014\nDwarf-folk forged me\u2014\nOdin\u2019s sword was I\u2014\nEric\u2019s sword was I\u2014\nEric\u2019s sword shall I be\u2014\nAnd where I fall there he must follow me.\u201d\n\n\nNow Gudruda looked at Eric Brighteyes wonderingly, and Ospakar saw it\nand became very angry.\n\n\u201cLook not so, maiden,\u201d he said, \u201cfor it shall be another Eric than yon\nflapper-duck who holds Whitefire aloft, though it may very well chance\nthat he shall feel its edge.\u201d\n\nNow Gudruda bit her lip, and Eric burned red to the brow and spoke:\n\n\u201cIt is ill, lord, to throw taunts like an angry woman. Thou art great\nand strong, yet I may dare a deed with thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cPeace, boy! Thou canst climb a waterfall well, I gainsay it not; but\nbeware ere thou settest up thyself against my strength. Say now, what\ngame wilt thou play with Ospakar?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will go on holmgang with thee, byrnie-clad or baresark,[*] and fight\nthee with axe or sword, or I will wrestle with thee, and Whitefire\nyonder shall be the winner\u2019s prize.\u201d\n\n[*] To a duel, usually fought, in mail or without it, on an\nisland\u2014\u201cholm\u201d\u2014within a circle of hazel-twigs.\n\n\n\u201cNay, I will have no bloodshed here at Middalhof,\u201d said Asmund sternly.\n\u201cMake play with fists, or wrestle if ye will, for that were great sport\nto see; but weapons shall not be drawn.\u201d\n\nNow Ospakar grew mad with anger and drink\u2014and he grinned like a dog,\ntill men saw the red gums beneath his lips.\n\n\u201cThou wilt wrestle with me, youngling\u2014with _me_ whom no man has ever so\nmuch as lifted from my feet? Good! I will lay thee on thy face and whip\nthee, and Whitefire shall be the stake\u2014I swear it on the holy\naltar-ring; but what hast thou to set against the precious sword? Thy\npoor hovel and its lot of land shall be all too little.\u201d\n\n\u201cI set my life on it; if I lose Whitefire let Whitefire slay me,\u201d said\nEric.\n\n\u201cNay, that I will not have, and I am master here in this Temple,\u201d said\nAsmund. \u201cBethink thee of some other stake, Ospakar, or let the game be\noff.\u201d\n\nNow Ospakar gnawed his lip with his black fang and thought. Then he\nlaughed aloud and spoke:\n\n\u201cBright is Whitefire and thou art named Brighteyes. See now: I set the\ngreat sword against thy right eye, and, if I win the match, it shall be\nmine to tear it out. Wilt thou play this game with me? If thy heart\nfails thee, let it go; but I will set no other stake against my good\nsword.\u201d\n\n\u201cEyes and limbs are a poor man\u2019s wealth,\u201d said Eric: \u201cso be it. I stake\nmy right eye against the sword Whitefire, and we will try the match\nto-morrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd to-morrow night thou shalt be called Eric One-eye,\u201d said\nOspakar\u2014at which some few of his thralls laughed.\n\nBut most of the men did not laugh, for they thought this an ill game\nand a worse jest.\n\nNow the feast went on, and Asmund rose from his high seat in the centre\nof the nave, on the left hand looking down from the altar, and gave out\nthe holy toasts. First men drank a full horn to Odin, praying for\ntriumph on their foes. Then they drank to Frey, asking for plenty; to\nThor, for strength in battle; to Freya, Goddess of Love (and to her\nEric drank heartily); to the memory of the dead; and, last of all, to\nBragi, God of all delight. When this cup was drunk, Asmund rose again,\naccording to custom, and asked if none had an oath to swear as to some\ndeed that should be done.\n\nFor a while there was no answer, but presently Eric Brighteyes stood\nup.\n\n\u201cLord,\u201d he said, \u201cI would swear an oath.\u201d\n\n\u201cSet forth the matter, then,\u201d said Asmund.\n\n\u201cIt is this,\u201d quoth Eric. \u201cOn Mosfell mountain, over by Hecla, dwells a\nBaresark of whom all men have ill knowledge, for there are few whom he\nhas not harmed. His name is Skallagrim; he is a mighty man and he has\nwrought much mischief in the south country, and brought many to their\ndeaths and robbed more of their goods: for none can prevail against\nhim. Still, I swear this, that, when the days lengthen, I will go up\nalone against him and challenge him to battle, and conquer him or\nfall.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen, thou yellow-headed puppy-dog, thou shalt go with one eye against\na Baresark with two,\u201d growled Ospakar.\n\nMen took no heed of his words, but shouted aloud, for Skallagrim had\nplagued them long, and there were none who dared to fight with him any\nmore. Only Gudruda looked askance, for it seemed to her that Eric swore\ntoo fast. Nevertheless he went up to the altar, and, taking hold of the\nholy ring, he set his foot on the holy stone and swore his oath, while\nthe feasters applauded, striking their cups upon the board.\n\nAnd after that the feast went merrily, till all men were drunk, except\nAsmund and Eric.\n\nNow Eric went to rest, but first he rubbed his limbs with the fat of\nseals, for he was still sore with the beating of the waters, and they\nmust needs be supple on the morrow if he would keep his eye. Then he\nslept sound, and rose strong and well, and going to the stream behind\nthe stead, bathed, and anointed his limbs afresh. But Ospakar did not\nsleep well, because of the ale that he had drunk. Now as Eric came back\nfrom bathing, in the dark of the morning, he met Gudruda, who watched\nfor his coming, and, there being none to see, he kissed her often; but\nshe chided him because of the match that he had made with Ospakar and\nthe oath that he had sworn.\n\n\u201cSurely,\u201d she said, \u201cthou wilt lose thine eye, for this Ospakar is a\ngiant, and strong as a troll; also he is merciless. Still, thou art a\nmighty man, and I shall love thee as well with one eye as with two. Oh!\nEric, methought I should have died yesterday when thou didst leap from\nWolf\u2019s Fang! My heart seemed to stop within me.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet I came safely to shore, sweetheart, and well does this kiss pay\nfor all I did. And as for Ospakar, if but once I get these arms about\nhim, I fear him little, or any man, and I covet that sword of his\ngreatly. But we can talk more certainly of these things to-morrow.\u201d\n\nNow Gudruda clung to him and told him all that had befallen, and of the\ndoings and words of Swanhild.\n\n\u201cShe honours me beyond my worth,\u201d he said, \u201cwho am in no way set on\nher, but on thee only, Gudruda.\u201d\n\n\u201cArt thou so sure of that, Eric? Swanhild is fair and wise.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy and evil. When I love Swanhild, then thou mayest love Ospakar.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a bargain,\u201d she said, laughing. \u201cGood luck go with thee in the\nwrestling,\u201d and with a kiss she left him, fearing lest she should be\nseen.\n\nEric went back to the hall, and sat down by the centre hearth, for all\nmen slept, being still heavy with drink, and presently Swanhild glided\nup to him, and greeted him.\n\n\u201cThou art greedy of deeds, Eric,\u201d she said. \u201cYesterday thou camest here\nby a path that no man has travelled, to-day thou dost wrestle with a\ngiant for thine eye, and presently thou goest up against Skallagrim!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt seems that this is true,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cNow all this thou doest for a woman who is the betrothed of another\nman.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll this I do for fame\u2019s sake, Swanhild. Moreover, Gudruda is\nbetrothed to none.\u201d\n\n\u201cBefore another Yule-feast is spread, Gudruda shall be the wife of\nOspakar.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is yet to be seen, Swanhild.\u201d\n\nNow Swanhild stood silent for a while and then spoke: \u201cThou art a fool,\nEric\u2014yes, drunk with folly. Nothing but evil shall come to thee from\nthis madness of thine. Forget it and pluck that which lies to thine\nhand,\u201d and she looked sweetly at him.\n\n\u201cThey call thee Swanhild the Fatherless,\u201d he answered, \u201cbut I think\nthat Loki, the God of Guile, was thy father, for there is none to match\nthee in craft and evil-doing, and in beauty one only. I know thy plots\nwell and all the sorrow that thou hast brought upon us. Still, each\nseeks honour after his own manner, so seek thou as thou wilt; but thou\nshalt find bitterness and empty days, and thy plots shall come back on\nthine own head\u2014yes, even though they bring Gudruda and me to sorrow and\ndeath.\u201d\n\nSwanhild laughed. \u201cA day shall dawn, Eric, when thou who dost hate me\nshalt hold me dear, and this I promise thee. Another thing I promise\nthee also: that Gudruda shall never call thee husband.\u201d\n\nBut Eric did not answer, fearing lest in his anger he should say words\nthat were better unspoken.\n\nNow men rose and sat down to meat, and all talked of the wrestling that\nshould be. But in the morning Ospakar repented of the match, for it is\ntruly said that _ale is another man_, and men do not like that in the\nmorning which seemed well enough on yester eve. He remembered that he\nheld Whitefire dear above all things, and that Eric\u2019s eye had no worth\nto him, except that the loss of it would spoil his beauty, so that\nperhaps Gudruda would turn from him. It would be very ill if he should\nchance to lose the play\u2014though of this he had no fear, for he was held\nthe strongest man in Iceland and the most skilled in all feats of\nstrength\u2014and, at the best, no fame is to be won from the overthrow of a\ndeedless man, and the plucking out of his eye. Thus it came to pass\nthat when he saw Eric he called to him in a big voice:\n\n\u201cHearken, thou Eric.\u201d\n\n\u201cI hear thee, thou Ospakar,\u201d said Eric, mocking him, and people\nlaughed; while Ospakar grinned angrily and said, \u201cThou must learn\nmanners, puppy. Still, I shall find no honour in teaching thee in this\nwise. Last night we made a match in our cups, and I staked my sword\nWhitefire and thou thine eye. It would be bad that either of us should\nlose sword or eye; therefore, what sayest thou, shall we let it pass?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, Blacktooth, if thou fearest; but first pay thou forfeit of the\nsword.\u201d\n\nNow Ospakar grew very mad and shouted, \u201cThou wilt indeed stand against\nme in the ring! I will break thy back anon, youngster, and afterwards\ntear out thine eye before thou diest.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt may so befall,\u201d answered Eric, \u201cbut big words do not make big\ndeeds.\u201d\n\nPresently the light came and thralls went out with spades and cleared\naway the snow in a circle two rods across, and brought dry sand and\nsprinkled it on the frozen turf, so that the wrestlers should not slip.\nAnd they piled the snow in a wall around the ring.\n\nBut Groa came up to Ospakar and spoke to him apart.\n\n\u201cKnowest thou, lord,\u201d she said, \u201cthat my heart bodes ill of this match?\nEric is a mighty man, and, great though thou art, I think that thou\nshalt lout low before him.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be a bad business if I am overthrown by an untried man,\u201d said\nOspakar, and was troubled in his mind, \u201cand it would be evil moreover\nto lose the sword. For no price would I have it so.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat wilt thou give me, lord, if I bring thee victory?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will give thee two hundred in silver.\u201d\n\n\u201cAsk no questions and it shall be so,\u201d said Groa.\n\nNow Eric was without, taking note of the ground in the ring, and\npresently Groa called to her the thrall Koll the Half-witted, whom she\nhad sent to Swinefell.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d she said, \u201cyonder by the wall stand the wrestling shoes of Eric\nBrighteyes. Haste thee now and take grease, and rub the soles with it,\nthen hold them in the heat of the fire, so that the fat sinks in. Do\nthis swiftly and secretly, and I will give thee three pennies.\u201d\n\nKoll grinned, and did as he was bid, setting back the shoes just as\nthey were before. Scarcely was the deed done when Eric came in, and\nmade himself ready for the game, binding the greased shoes upon his\nfeet, for he feared no trick.\n\nNow everybody went out to the ring, and Ospakar and Eric stripped for\nwrestling. They were clad in tight woollen jerkins and hose, and\nsheep-skin shoes were on their feet.\n\nThey named Asmund master of the game, and his word must be law to both\nof them. Eric claimed that Asmund should hold the sword Whitefire that\nwas at stake, but Ospakar gainsaid him, saying that if he gave\nWhitefire into Asmund\u2019s keeping, Eric must also give his eye\u2014and about\nthis they debated hotly. Now the matter was brought before Asmund as\numpire, and he gave judgment for Eric, \u201cfor,\u201d he said, \u201cif Eric yield\nup his eye into my hand, I can return it to his head no more if he\nshould win; but if Ospakar gives me the good sword and conquers, it is\neasy for me to pass it back to him unharmed.\u201d\n\nMen said that this was a good judgment.\n\nThus then was the arm-game set. Ospakar and Eric must wrestle thrice,\nand between each bout there would be a space while men could count a\nthousand. They might strike no blow at one another with hand, or head,\nor elbow, foot or knee; and it should be counted no fall if the haunch\nand the head of the fallen were not on the ground at the self-same\ntime. He who suffered two falls should be adjudged conquered and lose\nhis stake.\n\nAsmund called these rules aloud in the presence of witnesses, and\nOspakar and Eric said that should bind them. Ospakar drew a small knife\nand gave it to his son Gizur to hold.\n\n\u201cThou shalt soon know, youngling, how steel tastes in the eyeball,\u201d he\nsaid.\n\n\u201cWe shall soon know many things,\u201d Eric answered.\n\nNow they drew off their cloaks and stood in the ring. Ospakar was great\nbeyond the bigness of men and his arms were clothed with black hair\nlike the limbs of a goat. Beneath the shoulder joint they were almost\nas thick as a girl\u2019s thigh. His legs also were mighty, and the muscles\nstood out upon him in knotty lumps. He seemed a very giant, and fierce\nas a Baresark, but still somewhat round about the body and heavy in\nmovement.\n\nFrom him men looked at Eric.\n\n\u201cLo! Baldur and the Troll!\u201d said Swanhild, and everybody laughed, since\nso it was indeed; for, if Ospakar was black and hideous as a troll,\nEric was beautiful as Baldur, the loveliest of the Gods. He was taller\nthan Ospakar by the half of a hand and as broad in the chest. Still, he\nwas not yet come to his greatest strength, and, though his limbs were\nwell knit, they seemed but as a child\u2019s against the limbs of Ospakar.\nBut he was quick as a cat and lithe, his neck and arms were white as\nwhey, and beneath his golden hair his bright eyes shone like spears.\n\nNow they stood face to face, with arms outstretched, waiting the word\nof Asmund. He gave it and they circled round each other with arms held\nlow. Presently Ospakar made a rush and, seizing Eric about the middle,\ntried to lift him, but with no avail. Thrice he strove and failed, then\nEric moved his foot and lo! it slipped upon the sanded turf. Again Eric\nmoved and again he slipped, a third time and he slipped a third time,\nand before he could recover himself he was full on his back and fairly\nthrown.\n\nGudruda saw and was sad at heart, and those around her said that it was\neasy to know how the game would end.\n\n\u201cWhat said I?\u201d quoth Swanhild, \u201cthat it would go badly with Eric were\nOspakar\u2019s arms about him.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll is not done yet,\u201d answered Gudruda. \u201cMethinks Eric\u2019s feet slipped\nmost strangely, as though he stood on ice.\u201d\n\nBut Eric was very sore at heart and could make nothing of this\nmatter\u2014for he was not overthrown by strength.\n\nHe sat on the snow and Ospakar and his sons mocked him. But Gudruda\ndrew near and whispered to him to be of good cheer, for fortune might\nyet change.\n\n\u201cI think that I am bewitched,\u201d said Eric sadly: \u201cmy feet have no hold\nof the ground.\u201d\n\nGudruda covered her eyes with her hand and thought. Presently she\nlooked up quickly. \u201cI seem to see guile here,\u201d she said. \u201cNow look\nnarrowly on thy shoes.\u201d\n\nHe heard, and, loosening his shoe-string, drew a shoe from his foot and\nlooked at the sole. The cold of the snow had hardened the fat, and\nthere it was, all white upon the leather.\n\nNow Eric rose in wrath. \u201cMethought,\u201d he cried, \u201cthat I dealt with men\nof honourable mind, not with cheating tricksters. See now! it is little\nwonder that I slipped, for grease has been set upon my shoes\u2014and, by\nThor! I will cleave the man who did it to the chin,\u201d and as he said it\nhis eyes blazed so dreadfully that folk fell back from him. Asmund took\nthe shoes and looked at them. Then he spoke:\n\n\u201cBrighteyes tells the truth, and we have a sorry knave among us.\nOspakar, canst thou clear thyself of this ill deed?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will swear on the holy ring that I know nothing of it, and if any\nman in my company has had a hand therein he shall die,\u201d said Ospakar.\n\n\u201cThat we will swear also,\u201d cried his sons Gizur and Mord.\n\n\u201cThis is more like a woman\u2019s work,\u201d said Gudruda, and she looked at\nSwanhild.\n\n\u201cIt is no work of mine,\u201d quoth Swanhild.\n\n\u201cThen go and ask thy mother of it,\u201d answered Gudruda.\n\nNow all men cried aloud that this was the greatest shame, and that the\nmatch must be set afresh; only Ospakar bethought him of that two\nhundred in silver which he had promised to Groa, and looked around, but\nshe was not there. Still, he gainsaid Eric in the matter of the match\nbeing set afresh.\n\nThen Eric cried out in his anger that he would let the game stand as it\nwas, since Ospakar swore himself free of the shameful deed. Men thought\nthis a mad saying, but Asmund said it should be so. Still, he swore in\nhis heart that, even if he were worsted, Eric should not lose his\neye\u2014no not if swords were held aloft to take it. For of all tricks this\nseemed to him the very worst.\n\nNow Ospakar and Eric faced each other again in the ring, but this time\nthe feet of Eric were bare.\n\nOspakar rushed to get the upper hold, but Eric was too swift for him\nand sprang aside. Again he rushed, but Eric dropped and gripped him\nround the middle. Now they were face to face, hugging each other like\nbears, but moving little. For a time things went thus, while Ospakar\nstrove to lift Eric, but in nowise could he stir him. Then of a sudden\nEric put out his strength, and they staggered round the ring, tearing\nat each other till their jerkins were rent from them, leaving them\nalmost bare to the waist. Suddenly, Eric seemed to give, and Ospakar\nput out his foot to trip him. But Brighteyes was watching. He caught\nthe foot in the crook of his left leg, and threw his weight forward on\nthe chest of Blacktooth. Backward he went, falling with the thud of a\ntree on snow, and there he lay on the ground, and Eric over him.\n\nThen men shouted \u201cA fall! a fair fall!\u201d and were very glad, for the\nfight seemed most uneven to them, and the wrestlers rolled asunder,\nbreathing heavily.\n\nGudruda threw a cloak over Eric\u2019s naked shoulders.\n\n\u201cThat was well done, Brighteyes,\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cThe game is still to play, sweet,\u201d he gasped, \u201cand Ospakar is a mighty\nman. I threw him by skill, not by strength. Next time it must be by\nstrength or not at all.\u201d\n\nNow breathing-time was done, and once more the two were face to face.\nThrice Ospakar rushed, and thrice did Eric slip away, for he would\nwaste Blacktooth\u2019s strength. Again Ospakar rushed, roaring like a bear,\nand fire seemed to come from his eyes, and the steam went up from him\nand hung upon the frosty air like the steam of a horse. This time Eric\ncould not get away, but was swept up into that great grip, for Ospakar\nhad the lower hold.\n\n\u201cNow there is an end of Eric,\u201d said Swanhild.\n\n\u201cThe arrow is yet on the bow,\u201d answered Gudruda.\n\nBlacktooth put out his might and reeled round and round the ring,\ndragging Eric with him. This way and that he twisted, and time on time\nEric\u2019s leg was lifted from the ground, but so he might not be thrown.\nNow they stood almost still, while men shouted madly, for no such\nwrestling had been known in the southlands. Grimly they hugged and\nstrove: forsooth it was a mighty sight to see. Grimly they hugged, and\ntheir muscles strained and cracked, but they could stir each other no\ninch.\n\nOspakar grew fearful, for he could make no play with this youngling.\nBlack rage swelled in his heart. He ground his fangs, and thought on\nguile. By his foot gleamed the naked foot of Eric. Suddenly he stamped\non it so fiercely that the skin burst.\n\n\u201cIll done! ill done!\u201d folk cried; but in his pain Eric moved his foot.\n\nLo! he was down, but not altogether down, for he did but sit upon his\nhaunches, and still he clung to Blacktooth\u2019s thighs, and twined his\nlegs about his ankles. Now with all his strength Ospakar strove to\nforce the head of Brighteyes to the ground, but still he could not, for\nEric clung to him like a creeper to a tree.\n\n\u201cA losing game for Eric,\u201d said Asmund, and as he spoke Brighteyes was\npressed back till his yellow hair almost swept the sand.\n\nThen the folk of Ospakar shouted in triumph, but Gudruda cried aloud:\n\n\u201cBe not overthrown, Eric; loose thee and spring aside.\u201d\n\nEric heard, and of a sudden loosed all his grip. He fell on his\noutspread hand, then, with a swing sideways and a bound, once more he\nstood upon his feet. Ospakar came at him like a bull made mad with\ngoading, but he could no longer roar aloud. They closed and this time\nEric had the better hold. For a while they struggled round and round\ntill their feet tore the frozen turf, then once more they stood face to\nface. Now the two were almost spent; yet Blacktooth gathered up his\nstrength and swung Eric from his feet, but he found them again. He grew\nmad with rage, and hugged him till Brighteyes was nearly pressed to\ndeath, and black bruises sprang upon the whiteness of his flesh.\nOspakar grew mad, and madder yet, till at length in his fury he fixed\nhis fangs in Eric\u2019s shoulder and bit till the blood spurted.\n\n\u201cIll kissed, thou rat!\u201d gasped Eric, and with the pain and rush of\nblood, his strength came back to him. He shifted his grip swiftly, now\nhis right hand was beneath the fork of Blacktooth\u2019s thigh and his left\non the hollow of Blacktooth\u2019s back. Twice he lifted\u2014twice the bulk of\nOspakar rose from the ground\u2014a third mighty lift\u2014so mighty that the\nwrapping on Eric\u2019s forehead burst, and the blood streamed down his\nface\u2014and lo! great Blacktooth flew in air. Up he flew, and backward he\nfell into the bank of snow, and was buried there almost to the knees.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\nHOW ASMUND THE PRIEST WAS BETROTHED TO UNNA\n\n\nFor a moment there was silence, for all that company was wonderstruck\nat the greatness of the deed. Then they cheered and cheered again, and\nto Eric it seemed that he slept, and the sound of shouting reached him\nbut faintly, as though he heard through snow. Suddenly he woke and saw\na man rush at him with axe aloft. It was Mord, Ospakar\u2019s son, mad at\nhis father\u2019s overthrow. Eric sprang aside, or the blow had been his\nbane, and, as he sprang, smote with his fist, and it struck heavily on\nthe head of Mord above the ear, so that the axe flew from his hand, and\nhe fell senseless on his father in the snow.\n\nNow swords flashed out, and men ringed round Eric to guard him, and it\ncame near to the spilling of blood, for the people of Ospakar gnashed\ntheir teeth to see so great a hero overthrown by a youngling, while the\nsouthern folk of Middalhof and Ran River rejoiced loudly, for Eric was\ndear to their hearts.\n\n\u201cDown swords,\u201d cried Asmund the priest, \u201cand haul yon carcass from the\nsnow.\u201d\n\nThis then they did, and Ospakar sat up, breathing in great gasps, the\nblood running from his mouth and ears, and he was an evil sight to see,\nfor what with blood and snow and rage his face was like the face of the\nSwinefell Goblin.\n\nBut Swanhild spoke in the ear of Gudruda:\n\n\u201cHere,\u201d she said, looking at Eric, \u201cwe two have a man worth loving,\nfoster-sister.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d answered Gudruda, \u201cworth and well worth!\u201d\n\nNow Asmund drew near and before all men kissed Eric Brighteyes on the\nbrow.\n\n\u201cIn sooth,\u201d he said, \u201cthou art a mighty man, Eric, and the glory of the\nsouth. This I prophesy of thee: that thou shalt do deeds such as have\nnot been done in Iceland. Thou hast ill been served, for a knave\nunknown greased thy shoes. Yon swarthy Ospakar, the most mighty of all\nmen in Iceland, could not overthrow thee, though, like a wolf, he\nfastened his fangs in thee, and, like a coward, stamped upon thy naked\nfoot. Take thou the great sword that thou hast won and wear it\nworthily.\u201d\n\nNow Eric took snow and wiped the blood from his brow. Then he grasped\nWhitefire and drew it from the scabbard, and high aloft flashed the\nwar-blade. Thrice he wheeled it round his head, then sang aloud:\n\n\u201cFast, yestermorn, down Golden Falls,\nFared young Eric to thy feast,\nAsmund, father of Gudruda\u2014\nMaid whom much he longs to clasp.\nBut to-day on Giant Blacktooth\nHath he done a needful deed:\nHurling him in heaped-up snowdrift;\nWinning Whitefire for his wage.\u201d\n\n\nAnd again he sang:\n\n\u201cLord, if in very truth thou thinkest\nBrighteyes is a man midst men,\nSwear to him, the stalwart suitor,\nHandsel of thy sweet maid\u2019s hand:\nWhom, long loved, to win, down Goldfoss\nSwift he sped through frost and foam;\nWhom, to win, to troll-like Ogre,\nHe, \u2018gainst Whitefire, waged his eye.\u201d\n\n\nMen thought this well sung, and turned to hear Asmund\u2019s answer, nor\nmust they wait long.\n\n\u201cEric,\u201d he said, \u201cI will promise thee this, that if thou goest on as\nthou hast begun, I will give Gudruda in marriage to no other man.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is good tidings, lord,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cThis I say further: in a year I will give thee full answer according\nas to how thou dost bear thyself between now and then, for this is no\nlight gift thou askest; also that, if ye will it, you twain may now\nplight troth, for the blame shall be yours if it is broken, and not\nmine, and I give thee my hand on it.\u201d\n\nEric took his hand, and Gudruda heard her father\u2019s words and happiness\nshone in her dark eyes, and she grew faint for very joy. And now Eric\nturned to her, all torn and bloody from the fray, the great sword in\nhis hand, and he spoke thus:\n\n\u201cThou hast heard thy father\u2019s words, Gudruda? Now it seems that there\nis no great need of troth-plighting between us two. Still, here before\nall men I ask thee, if thou dost love me and art willing to take me to\nhusband?\u201d\n\nGudruda looked up into his face, and answered in a sweet, clear voice\nthat could be heard by all:\n\n\u201cEric, I say to thee now, what I have said before, that I love thee\nalone of all men, and, if it be my father\u2019s wish, I will wed no other\nwhilst thou dost remain true to me and hold me dear.\u201d\n\n\u201cThose are good words,\u201d said Eric. \u201cNow, in pledge of them, swear this\ntroth of thine upon my sword that I have won.\u201d\n\nGudruda smiled, and, taking great Whitefire in her hand, she said the\nwords again, and, in pledge of them, kissed the bright blade.\n\nThen Eric took back the war-sword and spoke thus: \u201cI swear that I will\nlove thee, and thee only, Gudruda the Fair, Asmund\u2019s daughter, whom I\nhave desired all my days; and, if I fail of this my oath, then our\ntroth is at an end, and thou mayst wed whom thou wilt,\u201d and in turn he\nput his lips upon the sword, while Swanhild watched them do the oath.\n\nNow Ospakar was recovered from the fight, and he sat there upon the\nsnow, with bowed head, for he knew well that he had won the greatest\nshame, and had lost both wife and sword. Black rage filled his heart as\nhe listened, and he sprang to his feet.\n\n\u201cI came hither, Asmund,\u201d he said, \u201cto ask this maid of thine in\nmarriage, and methinks that had been a good match for her and thee. But\nI have been overthrown by witchcraft of this man in a wrestling-bout,\nand thereby lost my good sword; and now I must seem to hear him\nbetrothed to the maid before me.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou hast heard aright, Ospakar,\u201d said Asmund, \u201cand thy wooing is soon\nsped. Get thee back whence thou camest and seek a wife in thine own\nquarter, for thou art unfit in age and aspect to have so sweet a maid.\nMoreover, here in the south we hold men of small account, however great\nand rich they be, who do not shame to seek to overcome a foe by foul\nmeans. With my own eyes I saw thee stamp on the naked foot of Eric,\nThorgrimur\u2019s son; with my own eyes I saw thee, like a wolf, fasten that\nblack fang of thine upon him\u2014there is the mark of it; and, as for the\nmatter of the greased shoes, thou knowest best what hand thou hadst in\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cI had no hand. If any did this thing, it was Groa the Witch, thy\nFinnish bedmate. For the rest, I was mad and know not what I did. But\nhearken, Asmund: ill shall befall thee and thy house, and I will ever\nbe thy foe. Moreover, I will yet wed this maid of thine. And now, thou\nEric, hearken also: I will have another game with thee. This one was\nbut the sport of boys; when we meet again\u2014and the time shall not be\nlong\u2014swords shall be aloft, and thou shalt learn the play of men. I\ntell thee that I will slay thee, and tear Gudruda, shrieking, from thy\narms to be my wife! I tell thee that, with yonder good sword Whitefire,\nI will yet hew off thy head!\u201d\u2014and he choked and stopped.\n\n\u201cThou art much foam and little water,\u201d said Eric. \u201cThese things are\neasily put to proof. If thou willest it, to-morrow I will come with\nthee to a holmgang, and there we may set the twigs and finish what we\nhave begun to-day.\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot do that, for thou hast my sword; and, till I am suited with\nanother weapon, I may fight no holmgang. Still, fear not: we shall soon\nmeet with weapons aloft and byrnie on breast.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever too soon can the hour come, Blacktooth,\u201d said Eric, and turning\non his heel, he limped to the hall to clothe himself afresh. On the\nthreshold of the men\u2019s door he met Groa the Witch.\n\n\u201cThou didst put grease upon my shoes, carline and witch-hag that thou\nart,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cIt is not true, Brighteyes.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere thou liest, and for all this I will repay thee. Thou art not yet\nthe wife of Asmund, nor shalt be, for a plan comes into my head about\nit.\u201d\n\nGroa looked at him strangely. \u201cIf thou speakest so, take heed to thy\nmeat and drink,\u201d she said. \u201cI was not born among the Finns for nothing;\nand know, I am still minded to wed Asmund. For thy shoes, I would to\nthe Gods that they were Hell-shoon, and that I was now binding them on\nthy dead feet.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! the cat begins to spit,\u201d said Eric. \u201cBut know this: thou mayest\ngrease my shoes\u2014fit work for a carline!\u2014but thou mayest never bind them\non. Thou art a witch, and wilt come to the end of witches; and what thy\ndaughter is, that I will not say,\u201d and he pushed past her and entered\nthe hall.\n\nPresently Asmund came to seek Eric there, and prayed him to be gone to\nhis stead on Ran River. The horses of Ospakar had strayed, and he must\nstop at Middalhof till they were found; but, if these two should abide\nunder the same roof, bloodshed would come of it, and that Asmund knew.\n\nEric said yea to this, and, when he had rested a while, he kissed\nGudruda, and, taking a horse, rode away to Coldback, bearing the sword\nWhitefire with him, and for a time he saw no more of Ospakar.\n\nWhen he came there, his mother Saevuna greeted him as one risen from\nthe dead, and hung about his neck. Then he told her all that had come\nto pass, and she thought it a marvellous story, and sorrowed that\nThorgrimur, her husband, was not alive to know it. But Eric mused a\nwhile, and spoke.\n\n\u201cMother,\u201d he said, \u201cnow my uncle Thorod of Greenfell is dead, and his\ndaughter, my cousin Unna, has no home. She is a fair woman and skilled\nin all things. It comes into my mind that we should bid her here to\ndwell with us.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, I thought thou wast betrothed to Gudruda the Fair,\u201d said Saevuna.\n\u201cWherefore, then, wouldst thou bring Unna hither?\u201d\n\n\u201cFor this cause,\u201d said Eric; \u201cbecause it seems that Asmund the Priest\nwearies of Groa the Witch, and would take another wife, and I wish to\ndraw the bands between us tighter, if it may befall so.\u201d\n\n\u201cGroa will take it ill,\u201d said Saevuna.\n\n\u201cThings cannot be worse between us than they are now, therefore I do\nnot fear Groa,\u201d he answered.\n\n\u201cIt shall be as thou wilt, son; to-morrow we will send to Unna and bid\nher here, if it pleases her to come.\u201d\n\nNow Ospakar stayed three more days at Middalhof, till his horses were\nfound, and he was fit to travel, for Eric had shaken him sorely. But he\nhad no words with Gudruda and few with Asmund. Still, he saw Swanhild,\nand she bid him to be of good cheer, for he should yet have Gudruda.\nFor now that the maid had passed from him the mind of Ospakar was set\nin winning her. Bj\u00f6rn also, Asmund\u2019s son, spoke words of good comfort\nto him, for he envied Eric his great fame, and he thought the match\nwith Blacktooth would be good. And so at length Ospakar rode away to\nSwinefell with all his company; but Gizur, his son, left his heart\nbehind.\n\nFor Swanhild had not been idle this while. Her heart was sore, but she\nmust follow her ill-nature, and so she had put out her woman\u2019s strength\nand beguiled Gizur into loving her. But she did not love him at all,\nand the temper of Asmund the Priest was so angry that Gizur dared not\nask her in marriage. So nothing was said of the matter.\n\nNow Unna came to Coldback, to dwell with Saevuna, Eric\u2019s mother, and\nshe was a fair and buxom woman. She had been once wedded, but within a\nmonth of her marriage her husband was lost at sea, this two years gone.\nAt first Gudruda was somewhat jealous of this coming of Unna to\nColdback; but Eric showed her what was in his mind, and she fell into\nthe plan, for she hated and feared Groa greatly, and desired to be rid\nof her.\n\nSince this matter of the greasing of Eric\u2019s wrestling-shoes great\nloathing of Groa had come into Asmund\u2019s mind, and he bethought him\noften of those words that his wife Gudruda the Gentle spoke as she lay\ndying, and grieved that the oath which he swore then had in part been\nbroken. He would have no more to do with Groa now, but he could not be\nrid of her; and, notwithstanding her evil doings, he still loved\nSwanhild. But Groa grew thin with spite and rage, and wandered about\nthe place glaring with her great black eyes, and people hated her more\nand more.\n\nNow Asmund went to visit at Coldback, and there he saw Unna, and was\npleased with her, for she was a blithe woman and a bonny. The end of it\nwas that he asked her in marriage of Eric; at which Brighteyes was\nglad, but said that he must know Unna\u2019s mind. Unna hearkened, and did\nnot say no, for though Asmund was somewhat gone in years, still he was\nan upstanding man, wealthy in lands, goods, and moneys out at interest,\nand having many friends. So they plighted troth, and the wedding-feast\nwas to be in the autumn after hay-harvest. Now Asmund rode back to\nMiddalhof somewhat troubled at heart, for these tidings must be told to\nGroa, and he feared her and her witchcraft. In the hall he found her,\nstanding alone.\n\n\u201cWhere hast thou been, lord?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cAt Coldback,\u201d he answered.\n\n\u201cTo see Unna, Eric\u2019s cousin, perchance?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is so.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is Unna to thee, then, lord?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis much, that after hay-harvest she will be my wife, and that is ill\nnews for thee, Groa.\u201d\n\nNow Groa turned and grasped fiercely at the air with her thin hands.\nHer eyes started out, foam was on her lips, and she shook in her fury\nlike a birch-tree in the wind, looking so evil that Asmund drew back a\nlittle way, saying:\n\n\u201cNow a veil is lifted from thee and I see thee as thou art. Thou hast\ncast a glamour over me these many years, Groa, and it is gone.\u201d\n\n\u201cMayhap, Asmund Asmundson\u2014mayhap, thou knowest me; but I tell thee that\nthou shalt see me in a worse guise before thou weddest Unna. What! have\nI borne the greatest shame, lying by thy side these many years, and\nshall I live to see a rival, young and fair, creep into my place with\nhonour? That I will not while runes have power and spells can conjure\nthe evil thing upon thee. I call down ruin on thee and thine\u2014yea and on\nBrighteyes also, for he has brought this thing to pass. Death take ye\nall! May thy blood no longer run in mortal veins anywhere on the earth!\nGo down to Hela, Asmund, and be forgotten!\u201d and she began to mutter\nrunes swiftly.\n\nNow Asmund turned white with wrath. \u201cCease thy evil talk,\u201d he said, \u201cor\nthou shalt be hurled as a witch into Goldfoss pool.\u201d\n\n\u201cInto Goldfoss pool?\u2014yea, there I may lie. I see it!\u2014I seem to see this\nshape of mine rolling where the waters boil fiercest\u2014but thine eyes\nshall never see it! _Thy_ eyes are shut, and shut are the eyes of Unna,\nfor ye have gone before!\u2014I do but follow after,\u201d and thrice Groa\nshrieked aloud, throwing up her arms, then fell foaming on the sanded\nfloor.\n\n\u201cAn evil woman and a fey!\u201d said Asmund as he called people to her. \u201cIt\nhad been better for me if I had never seen her dark face.\u201d\n\nNow it is to be told that Groa lay beside herself for ten full days,\nand Swanhild nursed her. Then she found her sense again, and craved to\nsee Asmund, and spoke thus to him:\n\n\u201cIt seems to me, lord, if indeed it be aught but a vision of my dreams,\nthat before this sickness struck me I spoke mad and angry words against\nthee, because thou hast plighted troth to Unna, Thorod\u2019s daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is so, in truth,\u201d said Asmund.\n\n\u201cI have to say this, then, lord: that most humbly I crave thy pardon\nfor my ill words, and ask thee to put them away from thy mind. Sore\nheart makes sour speech, and thou knowest well that, howsoever great my\nfaults, at least I have always loved thee and laboured for thee, and\nmethinks that in some fashion thy fortunes are the debtor to my wisdom.\nTherefore when my ears heard that thou hadst of a truth put me away,\nand that another woman comes an honoured wife to rule in Middalhof, my\ntongue forgot its courtesy, and I spoke words that are of all words the\nfarthest from my mind. For I know well that I grow old, and have put\noff that beauty with which I was adorned of yore, and that held thee to\nme. \u2018_Carline_\u2019 Eric Brighteyes named me, and \u2018carline\u2019 I am\u2014an old\nhag, no more! Now, forgive me, and, in memory of all that has been\nbetween us, let me creep to my place in the ingle and still watch and\nserve thee and thine till my service is outworn. Out of Ran\u2019s net I\ncame to thee, and, if thou drivest me hence, I tell thee that I will\nlie down and die upon thy threshold, and when thou sinkest into eld\nsurely the memory of it shall grieve thee.\u201d\n\nThus she spoke and wept much, till Asmund\u2019s heart softened in him, and,\nthough with a doubting mind, he said it should be as she willed.\n\nSo Groa stayed on at Middalhof, and was lowly in her bearing and soft\nof speech.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\nHOW ERIC WENT UP MOSFELL AGAINST SKALLAGRIM THE BARESARK\n\n\nNow Atli the Good, earl of the Orkneys, comes into the story.\n\nIt chanced that Atli had sailed to Iceland in the autumn on a business\nabout certain lands that had fallen to him in right of his mother\nHelga, who was an Icelander, and he had wintered west of Reyjanes.\nSpring being come, he wished to sail home, and, when his ship was\nbound, he put to sea full early in the year. But it chanced that bad\nweather came up from the south-east, with mist and rain, so he must\nneeds beach his ship in a creek under shelter of the Westman Islands.\n\nNow Atli asked what people dwelt in these parts, and, when he heard the\nname of Asmund Asmundson the Priest, he was glad, for in old days he\nand Asmund had gone many a viking cruise together.\n\n\u201cWe will leave the ship here,\u201d he said, \u201ctill the weather clears, and\ngo up to Middalhof to stay with Asmund.\u201d\n\nSo they made the ship snug, and left men to watch her; but two of the\ncompany, with Earl Atli, rode up to Middalhof.\n\nIt must be told of Atli that he was the best of the earls who lived in\nthose days, and he ruled the Orkneys so well that men gave him a\nby-name and called him Atli the Good. It was said of him that he had\nnever turned a poor man away unsuccoured, nor bowed his head before a\nstrong man, nor drawn his sword without cause, nor refused peace to him\nwho prayed it. He was sixty years old, but age had left few marks on\nhim, except that of his long white beard. He was keen-eyed, and\nwell-fashioned of form and face, a great warrior and the strongest of\nmen. His wife was dead, leaving him no children, and this was a sorrow\nto him; but as yet he had taken no other wife, for he would say: \u201cLove\nmakes an old man blind,\u201d and \u201cWhen age runs with youth, both shall\nfall,\u201d and again, \u201cMix grey locks and golden and spoil two heads.\u201d For\nthis earl was a man of many wise sayings.\n\nNow Atli came to Middalhof just as men sat down to meat and, hearing\nthe clatter of arms, all sprang to their feet, thinking that perhaps\nOspakar had come again as he had promised. But when Asmund saw Atli he\nknew him at once, though they had not met for nearly thirty years, and\nhe greeted him lovingly, and put him in the high seat, and gave place\nto his men upon the cross-benches. Atli told all his story, and Asmund\nbade him rest a while at Middalhof till the weather grew clearer.\n\nNow the Earl saw Swanhild and thought the maid wondrous fair, and so\nindeed she was, as she moved scornfully to and fro in her kirtle of\nwhite. Soft was her curling hair and deep were her dark blue eyes, and\nbent were her red lips as is a bow above her dimpled chin, and her\nteeth shone like pearls.\n\n\u201cIs that fair maid thy daughter, Asmund,\u201d asked Atli.\n\n\u201cShe is named Swanhild the Fatherless,\u201d he answered, turning his face\naway.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Atli, looking sharply on him, \u201cwere the maid sprung from\nme, she would not long be called the \u2018Fatherless,\u2019 for few have such a\ndaughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe is fair enough,\u201d said Asmund, \u201cin all save temper, and that is bad\nto cross.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn every sword a flaw,\u201d answers Atli; \u201cbut what has an old man to do\nwith young maids and their beauty?\u201d and he sighed.\n\n\u201cI have known younger men who would seem less brisk at bridals,\u201d said\nAsmund, and for that time they talked no more of the matter.\n\nNow, Swanhild heard something of this speech, and she guessed more; and\nit came into her mind that it would be the best of sport to make this\nold man love her, and then to mock him and say him nay. So she set\nherself to the task, as it ever was her wont, and she found it easy.\nFor all day long, with downcast eyes and gentle looks, she waited upon\nthe Earl, and now, at his bidding, she sang to him in a voice soft and\nlow, and now she talked so wisely well that Atli thought no such maid\nhad trod the earth before. But he checked himself with many learned\nsaws, and on a day when the weather had grown fair, and they sat alone,\nhe told her that his ship was bound for Orkney Isles.\n\nThen, as though by chance, Swanhild laid her white hand in his, and on\na sudden looked deep into his eyes, and said with trembling lips, \u201cAh,\ngo not yet, lord!\u2014I pray thee, go not yet!\u201d\u2014and, turning, she fled\naway.\n\nBut Atli was much moved, and he said to himself: \u201cNow a strange thing\nis come to pass: a fair maid loves an old man; and yet, methinks, he\nwho looks into those eyes sees deep waters,\u201d and he beat his brow and\nthought.\n\nBut Swanhild in her chamber laughed till the tears ran from those same\neyes, for she saw that the great fish was hooked and now the time had\ncome to play him.\n\nFor she did not know that it was otherwise fated.\n\nGudruda, too, saw all these things and knew not how to read them, for\nshe was of an honest mind, and could not understand how a woman may\nlove a man as Swanhild loved Eric and yet make such play with other\nmen, and that of her free will. For she guessed little of Swanhild\u2019s\nguilefulness, nor of the coldness of her heart to all save Eric; nor of\nhow this was the only joy left to her: to make a sport of men and put\nthem to grief and shame. Atli said to himself that he would watch this\nmaid well before he uttered a word to Asmund, and he deemed himself\nvery cunning, for he was wondrous cautious after the fashion of those\nabout to fall. So he set himself to watching, and Swanhild set herself\nto smiling, and he told her tales of warfare and of daring, and she\nclasped her hands and said:\n\n\u201cWas there ever such a man since Odin trod the earth?\u201d And so it went\non, till the serving-women laughed at the old man in love and the wit\nof her that mocked him.\n\nNow upon a day, Eric having made an end of sowing his corn, bethought\nhimself of his vow to go up alone against Skallagrim the Baresark in\nhis den on Mosfell over by Hecla. Now, this was a heavy task: for\nSkallagrim was held so mighty among men that none went up against him\nany more; and at times Eric thought of Gudruda, and sighed, for it was\nlikely that she would be a widow before she was made a wife. Still, his\noath must be fulfilled, and, moreover, of late Skallagrim having heard\nthat a youngling named Eric Brighteyes had vowed to slay him\nsingle-handed, had made a mock of him in this fashion. For Skallagrim\nrode down to Coldback on Ran River and at night-time took a lamb from\nthe fold. Holding the lamb beneath his arm, he drew near to the house\nand smote thrice on the door with his battle-axe, and they were\nthundering knocks. Then he leapt on to his horse and rode off a space\nand waited. Presently Eric came out, but half clad, a shield in one\nhand and Whitefire in the other, and, looking, by the bright moonlight\nhe saw a huge black-bearded man seated on a horse, having a great axe\nin one hand and the lamb beneath his arm.\n\n\u201cWho art thou?\u201d roared Eric.\n\n\u201cI am called Skallagrim, youngling,\u201d answered the man on the horse.\n\u201cMany men have seen me once, none have wished to see me twice, and some\nfew have never seen aught again. Now, it has been echoed in my ears\nthat thou hast vowed a vow to go up Mosfell against Skallagrim the\nBaresark, and I am come hither to say that I will make thee right\nwelcome. See,\u201d and with his axe he cut off the lamb\u2019s tail on the\npommel of his saddle: \u201cof the flesh of this lamb of thine I will brew\nbroth and of his skin I will make me a vest. Take thou this tail, and\nwhen thou fittest it on to the skin again, Skallagrim will own a lord,\u201d\nand he hurled the tail towards him.\n\n\u201cBide thou there till I can come to thee,\u201d shouted Eric; \u201cit will spare\nme a ride to Mosfell.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, nay. It is good for lads to take the mountain air,\u201d and\nSkallagrim turned his horse away, laughing.\n\nEric watched Skallagrim vanish over the knoll, and then, though he was\nvery angry, laughed also and went in. But first he picked up the tail,\nand on the morrow he skinned it.\n\nNow the time was come when the matter must be tried, and Eric bade\nfarewell to Saevuna his mother, and Unna his cousin, and girt Whitefire\nround him and set upon his head a golden helm with wings on it. Then he\nfound the byrnie which his father Thorgrimur had stripped, together\nwith the helm, from that Baresark who cut off his leg\u2014and this was a\ngood piece, forged of the Welshmen\u2014and he put it on his breast, and\ntaking a stout shield of bull\u2019s hide studded with nails, rode away with\none thrall, the strong carle named Jon.\n\nBut the women misdoubted them much of this venture; nevertheless Eric\nmight not be gainsayed.\n\nNow, the road to Mosfell runs past Middalhof and thither he came. Atli,\nstanding at the men\u2019s door, saw him and cried aloud: \u201cHo! a mighty man\ncomes here.\u201d\n\nSwanhild looked out and saw Eric, and he was a goodly sight in his\nwar-gear. For now, week by week, he seemed to grow more fair and great,\nas the full strength of his manhood rose in him, like sap in the spring\ngrass, and Gudruda was very proud of her lover. That night Eric stayed\nat Middalhof, and sat hand in hand with Gudruda and talked with Earl\nAtli. Now the heart of the old viking went out to Eric, and he took\ngreat delight in him and in his strength and deeds, and he longed much\nthat the Gods had given him such a son.\n\n\u201cI prophesy this of thee, Brighteyes,\u201d he cried: \u201cthat it shall go ill\nwith this Baresark thou seekest\u2014yes, and with all men who come within\nsweep of that great sword of thine. But remember this, lad: guard thy\nhead with thy buckler, cut low beneath his shield, if he carries one,\nand mow the legs from him: for ever a Baresark rushes on, shield up.\u201d\n\nEric thanked him for his good words and went to rest. But, before it\nwas light, he rose, and Gudruda rose also and came into the hall, and\nbuckled his harness on him with her own hands.\n\n\u201cThis is a sad task for me, Eric!\u201d she sighed, \u201cfor how do I know that\nBaresark\u2019s hands shall not loose this helm of thine?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is as it may be, sweet,\u201d he said; \u201cbut I fear not the Baresark or\nany man. How goes it with Swanhild now?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know not. She makes herself sweet to that old Earl and he is fain of\nher, and that is beyond my sight.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have seen as much,\u201d said Eric. \u201cIt will be well for us if he should\nwed her.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, and ill for him; but it is to be doubted if that is in her mind.\u201d\n\nNow Eric kissed her soft and sweet, and went away, bidding her look for\nhis return on the day after the morrow.\n\nGudruda bore up bravely against her fears till he was gone, but then\nshe wept a little.\n\nNow it is to be told that Eric and his thrall Jon rode hard up\nStonefell and across the mountains and over the black sand, till, two\nhours before sunset, they came to the foot of Mosfell, having Hecla on\ntheir right. It is a grim mountain, grey with moss, standing alone in\nthe desert plain; but between it and Hecla there is good grassland.\n\n\u201cHere is the fox\u2019s earth. Now to start him,\u201d said Eric.\n\nHe knows something of the path by which this fortress can be climbed\nfrom the south, and horses may be ridden up it for a space. So on they\ngo, till at length they come to a flat place where water runs down the\nblack rocks, and here Eric drank of the water, ate food, and washed his\nface and hands. This done, he bid Jon tend the horses\u2014for hereabouts\nthere is a little grass\u2014and be watchful till he returned, since he must\ngo up against Skallagrim alone. And there with a doubtful heart Jon\nstayed all that night. For of all that came to pass he saw but one\nthing, and that was the light of Whitefire as it flashed out high above\nhim on the brow of the mountain when first Brighteyes smote at foe.\n\nEric went warily up the Baresark path, for he would keep his breath in\nhim, and the light shone redly on his golden helm. High he went, till\nat length he came to a pass narrow and dark and hedged on either side\nwith sheer cliffs, such as two armed men might hold against a score. He\npeered down this path, but he saw no Baresark, though it was worn by\nBaresark feet. He crept along its length, moving like a sunbeam through\nthe darkness of the pass, for the light gathered on his helm and sword,\ntill suddenly the path turned and he was on the brink of a gulf that\nseemed to have no bottom, and, looking across and down, he could see\nJon and the horses more than a hundred fathoms beneath. Now Eric must\nstop, for this path leads but into the black gulf. Also he was\nperplexed to know where Skallagrim had his lair. He crept to the brink\nand gazed. Then he saw that a point of rock jutted from the sheer face\nof the cliff and that the point was worn with the mark of feet.\n\n\u201cWhere Baresark passes, there may yeoman follow,\u201d said Eric and,\nsheathing Whitefire, without more ado, though he liked the task little,\nhe grasped the overhanging rock and stepped down on to the point below.\nNow he was perched like an eagle over the dizzy gulf and his brain\nswam. Backward he feared to go, and forward he might not, for there was\nnothing but air. Beside him, growing from the face of the cliff, was a\nbirch-bush. He grasped it to steady himself. It bent beneath his\nclutch, and then he saw, behind it, a hole in the rock through which a\nman could creep, and down this hole ran footmarks.\n\n\u201cFirst through air like a bird; now through earth like a fox,\u201d said\nEric and entered the hole. Doubling his body till his helm almost\ntouched his knee he took three paces and lo! he stood on a great\nplatform of rock, so large that a hall might be built on it, which,\ncurving inwards, cannot be seen from the narrow pass. This platform,\nthat is backed by the sheer cliff, looks straight to the south, and\nfrom it he could search the plain and the path that he had travelled,\nand there once more he saw Jon and the horses far below him.\n\n\u201cA strong place, truly, and well chosen,\u201d said Eric and looked around.\nOn the floor of the rock and some paces from him a turf fire still\nsmouldered, and by it were sheep\u2019s bones, and beyond, in the face of\nthe overhanging precipice, was the mouth of a cave.\n\n\u201cThe wolf is at home, or was but lately,\u201d said Eric; \u201cnow for his\nlair;\u201d and with that he walked warily to the mouth of the cave and\npeered in. He could see nothing yet a while, but surely he heard a\nsound of snoring?\n\nThen he crept in, and, presently, by the red light of the burning\nembers, he saw a great black-bearded man stretched at length upon a rug\nof sheepskins, and by his side an axe.\n\n\u201cNow it would be easy to make an end of this cave-dweller,\u201d thought\nEric; \u201cbut that is a deed I will not do\u2014no, not even to a Baresark\u2014to\nslay him in his sleep,\u201d and therewith he stepped lightly to the side of\nSkallagrim, and was about to prick him with the point of Whitefire,\nwhen! as he did so, another man sat up behind Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cBy Thor! for two I did not bargain,\u201d said Eric, and sprang from the\ncave.\n\nThen, with a grunt of rage, that Baresark who was behind Skallagrim\ncame out like a she-bear robbed of her whelps, and ran straight at\nEric, sword aloft. Eric gives before him right to the edge of the\ncliff. Then the Baresark smites at him and Brighteyes catches the blow\non his shield, and smites at him in turn so well and truly, that the\nhead of the Baresark flies from his shoulders and spins along the\nground, but his body, with outstretched arms yet gripping at the air,\nfalls over the edge of the gulf sheer into the water, a hundred fathoms\ndown. It was the flash that Whitefire made as it circled ere it smote\nthat Jon saw while he waited in the dell upon the mountain side. But of\nthe Baresark he saw nothing, for he passed down into the great\nfire-riven cleft and was never seen more, save once only, in a strange\nfashion that shall be told. This was the first man whom Brighteyes\nslew.\n\nNow the old tale tells that Eric cried aloud: \u201cLittle chance had this\none,\u201d and that then a wonderful thing came to pass. For the head on the\nrock opened its eyes and answered:\n\n\u201cLittle chance indeed against thee, Eric Brighteyes. Still, I tell thee\nthis: that where my body fell there thou shalt fall, and where it lies\nthere thou shalt lie also.\u201d\n\nNow Eric was afraid, for he thought it a strange thing that a severed\nhead should speak to him.\n\n\u201cHere it seems I have to deal with trolls,\u201d he said; \u201cbut at the least,\nthough he speak, this one shall strike no more,\u201d and he looked at the\nhead, but it answered nothing.\n\nNow Skallagrim slept through it all and the light grew so dim that Eric\nthought it time to make an end this way or that. Therefore, he took the\nhead of the slain man, though he feared to touch it, and rolled it\nswiftly into the cave, saying, \u201cNow, being so glib of speech, go tell\nthy mate that Eric Brighteyes knocks at his door.\u201d\n\nThen came sounds as of a man rising, and presently Skallagrim rushed\nforth with axe aloft and his fellow\u2019s head in his left hand. He was\nclothed in nothing but a shirt and the skin of Eric\u2019s lamb was bound to\nhis chest.\n\n\u201cWhere now is my mate?\u201d he said. Then he saw Eric leaning on Whitefire,\nhis golden helm ablaze with the glory of the passing sun.\n\n\u201cIt seems that thou holdest somewhat of him in thine hand, Skallagrim,\nand for the rest, go seek it in yonder rift.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho art thou?\u201d roared Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cThou mayest know me by this token,\u201d said Eric, and he threw towards\nhim the skin of that lamb\u2019s tail which Skallagrim had lifted from\nColdback.\n\nNow Skallagrim knew him and the Baresark fit came on. His eyes rolled,\nfoam flew to his lips, his mouth grinned, and he was awesome to see. He\nlet fall the head, and, swinging the great axe aloft, rushed at Eric.\nBut Brighteyes is too swift for him. It would not be well to let that\nstroke fall, and it must go hard with aught it struck. He springs\nforward, he louts low and sweeps upwards with Whitefire. Skallagrim\nsees the sword flare and drops almost to his knee, guarding his head\nwith the axe; but Whitefire strikes on the iron half of the axe and\nshears it in two, so that the axe-head falls to earth. Now the Baresark\nis weaponless but unharmed, and it would be an easy task to slay him as\nhe rushes by. But it came into Eric\u2019s mind that it is an unworthy deed\nto slay a swordless man, and this came into his mind also, that he\ndesired to match his naked might against a Baresark in his rage. So, in\nthe hardihood of his youth and strength, he cast Whitefire aside, and\ncrying \u201cCome, try a fall with me, Baresark,\u201d rushed on Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cThou art mad,\u201d yells the Baresark, and they are at it hard. Now they\ngrip and rend and tear. Ospakar was strong, but the Baresark strength\nof Skallagrim is more than the strength of Ospakar, and soon Brighteyes\nthinks longingly on Whitefire that he has cast aside. Eric is mighty\nbeyond the might of men, but he can scarcely hold his own against this\nmad man, and very soon he knows that only one chance is left to him,\nand that is to cling to Skallagrim till the Baresark fit be passed and\nhe is once more like other men. But this is easier to tell of than to\ndo, and presently, strive as he will, Eric is on his back, and\nSkallagrim on him. But still he holds the Baresark as with bands of\niron, and Skallagrim may not free his arms, though he strive furiously.\nNow they roll over and over on the rock, and the gloom gathers fast\nabout them till presently Eric sees that they draw near to the brink of\nthat mighty rift down which the severed head of the cave-dweller has\nforetold his fall.\n\n\u201cThen we go together,\u201d says Eric, but the Baresark does not heed. Now\nthey are on the very brink, and here as it chances, or as the Norns\ndecree, a little rock juts up and this keeps them from falling. Eric is\nuppermost, and, strive as he will, Skallagrim may not turn him on his\nback again. Still, Brighteyes\u2019 strength may not endure very long, for\nhe grows faint, and his legs slip slowly over the side of the rift till\nnow he clings, as it were, by his ribs and shoulder-blades alone, that\nrub against the little rock. The light dies away, and Eric thinks on\nsweet Gudruda and makes ready to die also, when suddenly a last ray\nfrom the sun falls on the fierce face of Skallagrim, and lo! Brighteyes\nsees it change, for the madness goes out of it, and in a moment the\nBaresark becomes but as a child in his mighty grip.\n\n\u201cHold!\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cI crave peace,\u201d and he loosed his clasp.\n\n\u201cNot too soon, then,\u201d gasped Eric as, drawing his legs from over the\nbrink of the rift, he gained his feet and, staggering to his sword,\ngrasped it very thankfully.\n\n\u201cI am fordone!\u201d said Skallagrim; \u201ccome, drag me from this place, for I\nfall; or, if thou wilt, hew off my head.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not serve thee thus,\u201d said Eric. \u201cThou art a gallant foe,\u201d and\nhe put out his hand and drew him into safety.\n\nFor a while Skallagrim lay panting, then he gained his hands and knees\nand crawled to where Eric leaned against the rock.\n\n\u201cLord,\u201d he said, \u201cgive me thy hand.\u201d\n\nEric stretched forth his left hand, wondering, and Skallagrim took it.\nHe did not stretch out his right, for, fearing guile, he gripped\nWhitefire in it.\n\n\u201cLord,\u201d Skallagrim said again, \u201cof all men who ever were, thou art the\nmightiest. Five other men had not stood before me in my rage, but,\nscorning thy weapon, thou didst overcome me in the noblest fashion, and\nby thy naked strength alone. Now hearken. Thou hast given me my life,\nand it is thine from this hour to the end. Here I swear fealty to thee.\nSlay me if thou wilt, or use me if thou wilt, but I think it will be\nbetter for thee to do this rather than that, for there is but one who\nhas mastered me, and thou art he, and it is borne in upon my mind that\nthou wilt have need of my strength, and that shortly.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat may well be, Skallagrim,\u201d said Eric, \u201cyet I put little trust in\noutlaws and cave-dwellers. How do I know, if I take thee to me, that\nthou wilt not murder me in my sleep, as it would have been easy for me\nto do by thee but now?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is it that runs from thy arm,\u201d asked Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cBlood,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cStretch out thine arm, lord.\u201d\n\nEric did so, and the Baresark put his lips to the scratch and sucked\nthe blood, then said:\n\n\u201cIn this blood of thine I pledge thee, Eric Brighteyes! May Valhalla\nrefuse me and Hela take me; may I be hunted like a fox from earth to\nearth; may trolls torment me and wizards sport with me o\u2019 night; may my\nlimbs shrivel and my heart turn to water; may my foes overtake me, and\nmy bones be crushed across the doom-stone\u2014if I fail in one jot from\nthis my oath that I have sworn! I will guard thy back, I will smite thy\nenemies, thy hearthstone shall be my temple, thy honour my honour.\nThrall am I of thine, and thrall I will be, and whiles thou wilt we\nwill live one life, and, in the end, we will die one death.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt seems that in going to seek a foe I have found a friend,\u201d said\nEric, \u201cand it is likely enough that I shall need one. Skallagrim,\nBaresark and outlaw as thou art, I take thee at thy word. Henceforth,\nwe are master and man and we will do many a deed side by side, and in\ntoken of it I lengthen thy name and call thee Skallagrim Lambstail.\nNow, if thou hast it, give me food and drink, for I am faint from that\nhug of thine, old bear.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\nHOW OSPAKAR BLACKTOOTH FOUND ERIC BRIGHTEYES AND SKALLAGRIM LAMBSTAIL\nON HORSE-HEAD HEIGHTS\n\n\nNow Skallagrim led Eric to his cave and fed the fire and gave him flesh\nto eat and ale to drink. When he had eaten his fill Eric looked at the\nBaresark. He had black hair streaked with grey that hung down upon his\nshoulders. His nose was hooked like an eagle\u2019s beak, his beard was wild\nand his sunken eyes were keen as a hawk\u2019s. He was somewhat bent and not\nover tall, but of a mighty make, for his shoulders must pass many a\ndoor sideways.\n\n\u201cThou art a great man,\u201d said Eric, \u201cand it is something to have\novercome thee. Now tell me what turned thee Baresark.\u201d\n\n\u201cA shameful deed that was done against me, lord. Ten years ago I was a\nyeoman of small wealth in the north. I had but one good thing, and that\nwas the fairest housewife in those parts\u2014Thorunna by name\u2014and I loved\nher much, but we had no children. Now, not far from my stead is a place\ncalled Swinefell, and there dwells a mighty chief named Ospakar\nBlacktooth; he is an evil man and strong\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\nEric started at the name and then bade Skallagrim take up the tale.\n\n\u201cIt chanced that Ospakar saw my wife Thorunna and would take her, but\nat first she did not listen. Then he promised her wealth and all good\nthings, and she was weary of our hard way of life and hearkened. Still,\nshe would not go away openly, for that had brought shame on her, but\nplotted with Ospakar that he should come and take her as though by\nforce. So it came about, as I lay heavily asleep one night at\nThorunna\u2019s side, having drunk somewhat too deeply of the autumn ale,\nthat armed men seized me, bound me, and haled me from my bed. There\nwere eight of them, and with them was Ospakar. Then Blacktooth bid\nThorunna rise, clothe herself and come to be his May, and she made\npretence to weep at this, but fell to it readily enough. Now she bound\nher girdle round her and to it a knife hung.\n\n\u201c\u2018Kill thyself, sweet,\u2019 I cried: \u2018death is better than shame.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Not so, husband,\u2019 she answered. \u2018It is true that I love but thee; yet\na woman may find another love, but not another life,\u2019 and I saw her\nlaugh through her mock tears. Now Ospakar rode in hot haste away to\nSwinefell and with him went Thorunna, but his men stayed a while and\ndrank my ale, and, as they drank, they mocked me who was bound before\nthem, and little by little all the truth was told of the doings of\nOspakar and Thorunna my housewife, and I learned that it was she who\nhad planned this sport. Then my eyes grew dark and I drew near to death\nfrom very shame and bitterness. But of a sudden something leaped up in\nmy heart, fire raged before my eyes and voices in my ears called on to\nwar and vengeance. I was Baresark\u2014and like hay bands I burst my cords.\nMy axe hung on the wainscot. I snatched it thence, and of what befell I\nknow this alone, that, when the madness passed, eight men lay stretched\nout before me, and all the place was but a gore of blood.\n\n\u201c\u2018Then I drew the dead together and piled drinking tables over them,\nand benches, and turf, and anything else that would burn, and put cod\u2019s\noil on the pile, and fired the stead above them, so that the tale went\nabroad that all these men were burned in their cups, and I with them.\n\n\u201c\u2018But I took the name of Skallagrim and swore an oath against all men,\nay, and women too, and away I went to the wood-folk and worked much\nmischief, for I spared few, and so on to Mosfell. Here I have stayed\nthese five years, awaiting the time when I shall find Ospakar and\nThorunna the harlot, and I have fought many men, but, till thou camest\nup against me, none could stand before my might.\u201d\n\n\u201cA strange tale, truly,\u201d said Eric; \u201cbut now hearken thou to a\nstranger, for of a truth it seems that we have not come together by\nchance,\u201d and he told him of Gudruda and the wrestling and of the\noverthrow of Blacktooth, and showed him Whitefire which he won out of\nthe hand of Ospakar.\n\nSkallagrim listened and laughed aloud. \u201cSurely,\u201d he said, \u201cthis is the\nwork of the Norns. See, lord, thou and I will yet smite this Ospakar.\nHe has taken my wife and he would take thy betrothed. Let it be! Let it\nbe! Ah, would that I had been there to see the wrestling\u2014Ospakar had\nnever risen from his snow-bed. But there is time left to us, and I\nshall yet see his head roll along the dust. Thou hast his goodly sword\nand with it thou shalt sweep Blacktooth\u2019s head from his shoulders\u2014or\nperchance that shall be my lot,\u201d and with this Skallagrim sprang up,\ngnashing his teeth and clutching at the air.\n\n\u201cPeace,\u201d said Eric. \u201cBlacktooth is not here. Save thy rage until it can\nrun along thy sword and strike him.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, not here, nor yet so far off, lord. Hearken: I know this Ospakar.\nIf he has set eyes of longing on Gudruda, Asmund\u2019s daughter, he will\nnot rest one hour till he have her or is slain; and if he has set eyes\nof hate on thee\u2014then take heed to thy going and spy down every path\nbefore thy feet tread it. Soon shall the matter come on for judgment\nand even now Odin\u2019s Valkyries[*] choose their own.\u201d\n\n[*] The \u201ccorse-choosing sisters\u201d who were bidden by Odin to single out\nthose warriors whose hour had come to die in battle and win Valhalla.\n\n\n\u201cIt is well, then,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cYea, lord, it is well, for we two have little to fear from any six\nmen, if so be that they fall on us in fair fight. But I do not\naltogether like thy tale. Too many women are mixed up in it, and women\nstab in the back. A man may deal with swords aloft, but not with\ntricks, and lies, and false women\u2019s witchery. It was a woman who\ngreased thy wrestling soles; mayhap it will be a woman that binds on\nthy Hell-shoes when all is done\u2014ay! and who makes them ready for thy\nfeet.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf women, as of men,\u201d answered Eric, \u201cthere is this to be said, that\nsome are good and some evil.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, lord, and this also, that the evil ones plot the ill of their\nevil, but the good do it of their blind foolishness. Forswear women and\nso shalt thou live happy and die in honour\u2014cherish them and live in\nwretchedness and die an outcast.\u201d\n\n\u201cThy talk is foolish,\u201d said Eric. \u201cBirds must to the air, the sea to\nthe shore, and man must to woman. As things are so let them be, for\nthey will soon seem as though they had never been. I had rather kiss my\ndear and die, if so it pleases me to do, than kiss her not and live,\nfor at the last the end will be one end, and kisses are sweet!\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a good saying,\u201d said Skallagrim, and they fell asleep side by\nside and Eric had no fear.\n\nNow they awoke and the light was already full, for they were weary and\ntheir sleep had been heavy.\n\nHard by the mouth of the cave is a little well of water that gathers\nthere from the rocks above and in this Eric washed himself. Then\nSkallagrim showed him the cave and the goodly store of arms that he had\nwon from those whom he had slain and robbed.\n\n\u201cA wondrous place, truly,\u201d said Eric, \u201cand well fitted to the uses of\nsuch a chapman[*] as thou art; but, say, how didst thou find it?\u201d\n\n[*] Merchant.\n\n\n\u201cI followed him who was here before me and gave him choice\u2014to go, or to\nfight for the stronghold. But he needs must fight and that was his\nbane, for I slew him.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho was that, then,\u201d asked Eric, \u201cwhose head lies yonder?\u201d\n\n\u201cA cave-dweller, lord, whom I took to me because of the lonesomeness of\nthe winter tide. He was an evil man, for though it is good to be\nBaresark from time to time, yet to dwell with one who is always\nBaresark is not good, and thou didst a needful deed in smiting his head\nfrom him\u2014and now let it go to find its trunk,\u201d and he rolled it over\nthe edge of the great rift.\n\n\u201cKnowest thou, Skallagrim, that this head spoke to me after it had left\nthe man\u2019s shoulders, saying that where its body fell there I should\nfall, and where it lay there I should lie also?\u201d\n\n\u201cThen, lord, that is likely to be thy doom, for this man was\nforesighted, and, but the night before last, as we rode out to seek\nsheep, he felt his head, and said that, before the sun sank again, a\nhundred fathoms of air should link it to his shoulders.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt may be so,\u201d answered Eric. \u201cI thought as I lay in thy grip yonder\nthat the fate was near. And now arm thyself, and take such goods as\nthou needest, and let us hence, for that thrall of mine who waits me\nyonder will think thou hast been too mighty for me.\u201d\n\nSkallagrim went to the edge of the rift and searched the plain with his\nhawk eyes.\n\n\u201cNo need to hasten, lord,\u201d he said. \u201cSee yonder rides thy thrall across\nthe black sand, and with him goes thy horse. Surely he thought thou\ncamest no more down the path by which thou wentest up, and it is not\nthrall\u2019s work to seek Skallagrim in his lair and ask for tidings.\u201d\n\n\u201cWolves take him for a fool!\u201d said Eric in anger. \u201cHe will ride to\nMiddalhof and sing my death-song, and that will sound sadly in some\nears.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is pleasant, lord,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cwhen good tidings dog the\nheels of bad, and womenfolk can spare some tears and be little poorer.\nI have horses in a secret dell that I will show thee, and on them we\nwill ride hence to Middalhof\u2014and there thou must claim peace for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well,\u201d said Eric; \u201cnow arm thyself, for if thou goest with me\nthou must make an end of thy Baresark ways, or keep them for the hour\nof battle.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will do thy bidding, lord,\u201d said Skallagrim. Then he entered the\ncave and set a plain black steel helm upon his black locks, and a black\nchain byrnie about his breast. He took the great axe-head also and\nfitted to it the half of another axe that lay among the weapons. Then\nhe drew out a purse of money and a store of golden rings, and set them\nin a bag of otter skin, and buckled it about him. But the other goods\nhe wrapped up in skins and hid behind some stones which were at the\nbottom of the cave\u2014purposing to come another time and fetch them.\n\nThen they went forth by that same perilous path which Eric had trod,\nand Skallagrim showed him how he might pass the rock in safety.\n\n\u201cA rough road this,\u201d said Eric as he gained the deep cleft.\n\n\u201cYea, lord, and, till thou camest, one that none but wood-folk have\ntrodden.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would tread it no more,\u201d said Eric again, \u201cand yet that fellow thief\nof thine said that I should die here,\u201d and for a while his heart was\nheavy.\n\nNow Skallagrim Lambstail led him by secret paths to a dell rich in\ngrass, that is hid in the round of the mountain, and here three good\nhorses were at feed. Then, going to a certain rock, he brought out bits\nand saddles, and they caught the horses, and, mounting them, rode away\nfrom Mosfell.\n\nNow Eric and his henchman Skallagrim the Baresark rode four hours and\nsaw nobody, till at length they came to the brow of a hill that is\nnamed Horse-Head Heights, and, crossing it, found themselves almost in\nthe midst of a score of armed men who were about to mount their horses.\n\n\u201cNow we have company,\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cYes, and bad company,\u201d answered Eric, \u201cfor yonder I spy Ospakar\nBlacktooth, and Gizur and Mord his sons, ay and others. Down, and back\nto back, for they will show us little gentleness.\u201d\n\nThen they sprang to earth and took their stand upon a mound of rising\nground\u2014and the men rode towards them.\n\n\u201cI shall soon know what thy fellowship is worth,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cFear not, lord,\u201d answered Skallagrim. \u201cHold thou thy head and I will\nhold thy back. We are met in a good hour.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood or ill, it is likely to be a short one. Hearken thou: if thou\nmust turn Baresark when swords begin to flash, at the least stand and\nbe Baresark where thou art, for if thou rushest on the foe, my back\nwill be naked and I must soon be sped.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be as thou sayest, lord.\u201d\n\nNow men rode round them, but at first they did not know Eric, because\nof the golden helm that hid his face in shadow.\n\n\u201cWho are ye?\u201d called Ospakar.\n\n\u201cI think that thou shouldst know me, Blacktooth,\u201d Eric answered, \u201cfor I\nset thee heels up in the snow but lately\u2014or, at the least, thou wilt\nknow this,\u201d and he drew great Whitefire.\n\n\u201cThou mayest know me also, Ospakar,\u201d cried the Baresark. \u201cSkallagrim,\nmen called me, Lambstail, Eric Brighteyes calls me, but once thou didst\ncall me Ounound. Say, lord, what tidings of Thorunna?\u201d\n\nNow Ospakar shook his sword, laughing. \u201cI came out to seek one foe, and\nI have found two,\u201d he cried. \u201cHearken, Eric: when thou art slain I go\nhence to burn and kill at Middalhof. Shall I bear thy head as keepsake\nfrom thee to Gudruda? For thee, Ounound, I thought thee dead; but,\nbeing yet alive, Thorunna, my sweet love, sends thee this,\u201d and he\nhurled a spear at him with all his might.\n\nBut Skallagrim catches the spear as it flies and hurls it back. It\nstrikes right on the shield of Ospakar and pierces it, ay and the\nbyrnie, and the shoulder that is beneath the byrnie, so that Blacktooth\nwas made unmeet for fight, and howled with pain and rage.\n\n\u201cGo, bid Thorunna draw that splinter forth,\u201d says Skallagrim, \u201cand heal\nthe hole with kisses.\u201d\n\nNow Ospakar, writhing with his hurt, shouts to his men to slay the two\nof them, and then the fight begins.\n\nOne rushes at Eric and smites at him with an axe. The blow falls on his\nshield, and shears off the side of it, then strikes the byrnie beneath,\nbut lightly. In answer Eric sweeps low at him with Whitefire, and cuts\nhis leg from under him between knee and thigh, and he falls and dies.\n\nAnother rushes in. Down flashes Whitefire before he can smite, and the\ncarle\u2019s shield is cloven through. Then he chooses to draw back and\nfights no more that day.\n\nSkallagrim slays a man, and wounds another sore. A tall chief with a\nred scar on his face comes at Brighteyes. Twice he feints at the head\nwhile Eric watches, then lowers the sword beneath the cover of his\nshield, and sweeps suddenly at Eric\u2019s legs. Brighteyes leaps high into\nthe air, smiting downward with Whitefire as he leaps, and presently\nthat chief is dead, shorn through shoulder to breast.\n\nNow Skallagrim slays another man, and grows Baresark. He looks so\nfierce that men fall back from him.\n\nTwo rush on Eric, one from either side. The sword of him on the right\nfalls on his shield and sinks in, but Brighteyes twists the shorn\nshield so strongly that the sword is wrenched from the smiter\u2019s hand.\nNow the other sword is aloft above him, and that had been Eric\u2019s bane,\nbut Skallagrim glances round and sees it about to fall. He has no time\nto turn, but dashes the hammer of his axe backward. It falls full on\nthe swordsman\u2019s head, and the head is shattered.\n\n\u201cThat was well done,\u201d says Eric as the sword goes down.\n\n\u201cNot so ill but it might be worse,\u201d growls Skallagrim.\n\nPresently all men drew back from those two, for they have had enough of\nWhitefire and the Baresark\u2019s axe.\n\nOspakar sits on his horse, his shield pinned to his shoulder and curses\naloud.\n\n\u201cClose in, you cowards!\u201d he yells, \u201cclose in and cut them down!\u201d but no\nman stirs.\n\nThen Eric mocks them. \u201cThere are but two of us,\u201d he says, \u201cwill no man\ntry a game with me? Let it not be sung that twenty were overcome of\ntwo.\u201d\n\nNow Ospakar\u2019s son Mord hears, and he grows mad with rage. He holds his\nshield aloft and rushes on. But Gizur the Lawman does not come, for\nGizur was a coward.\n\nSkallagrim turns to meet Mord, but Eric says:\u2014\n\n\u201cThis one for me, comrade,\u201d and steps forward.\n\nMord strikes a mighty blow. Eric\u2019s shield is all shattered and cannot\nstay it. It crashes through and falls full on the golden helm, beating\nBrighteyes to his knee. Now he is up again and blows fall thick and\nfast. Mord is a strong man, unwearied, and skilled in war, and Eric\u2019s\narms grow faint and his strength sinks low. Mord smites again and\nwounds him somewhat on the shoulder.\n\nEric throws aside his cloven shield and, shouting, plies Whitefire with\nboth arms. Mord gives before him, then rushes and smites; Eric leaps\naside. Again he rushes and lo! Brighteyes has dropped his point, and it\nstands a full span through the back of Mord, and instantly that was his\nbane.\n\nNow men rush to their horses, mount in hot haste and ride away, crying\nthat these are trolls whom they have to do with here, not men.\nSkallagrim sees, and the Baresark fit takes him sore. With axe aloft he\ncharges after them, screaming as he comes. There is one man, the same\nwhom he had wounded. He cannot mount easily, and when the Baresark\ncomes he still lies on the neck of his horse. The great axe wheels on\nhigh and falls, and it is told of this stroke that it was so mighty\nthat man and horse sank dead beneath it, cloven through and through.\nThen the fit leaves Skallagrim and he walks back, and they are alone\nwith the dead and dying.\n\nEric leans on Whitefire and speaks:\n\n\u201cGet thee gone, Skallagrim Lambstail!\u201d he said; \u201cget thee gone!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be as thou wilt, lord,\u201d answered the Baresark; \u201cbut I have\nnot befriended thee so ill that thou shouldst fear for blows to come.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will keep no man with me who puts my word aside, Skallagrim. What\ndid I bid thee? Was it not that thou shouldst have done with the\nBaresark ways, and where thou stoodest there thou shouldst bide? and\nsee: thou didst forget my word swiftly! Now get thee gone!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is true, lord,\u201d he said. \u201cHe who serves must serve wholly,\u201d and\nSkallagrim turned to seek his horse.\n\n\u201cStay,\u201d said Eric; \u201cthou art a gallant man and I forgive thee: but\ncross my will no more. We have slain several men and Ospakar goes hence\nwounded. We have got honour, and they loss and the greatest shame.\nNevertheless, ill shall come of this to me, for Ospakar has many\nfriends and will set a law-suit on foot against me at the Althing,[*]\nand thou didst draw the first blood.\u201d\n\n[*] The annual assembly of free men which, in Iceland, performed the\nfunctions of a Parliament and Supreme Court of Law.\n\n\n\u201cWould that the spear had gone more home,\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cOspakar\u2019s time is not yet,\u201d answered Eric; \u201cstill, he has something by\nwhich to bear us in mind.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\nHOW SWANHILD DEALT WITH GUDRUDA\n\n\nNow Jon, Eric\u2019s thrall, watched all night on Mosfell, but saw nothing\nexcept the light of Whitefire as it smote the Baresark\u2019s head from his\nshoulders. He stayed there till daylight, much afraid; then, making\nsure that Eric was slain, Jon rode hard and fast for Middalhof, whither\nhe came at evening.\n\nGudruda was watching by the women\u2019s door. She strained her eyes towards\nMosfell to catch the light gleaming on Eric\u2019s golden helm, and\npresently it gleamed indeed, white not red.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d said Swanhild at her side, \u201cEric comes!\u201d\n\n\u201cNot Eric, but his thrall,\u201d answered Gudruda, \u201cto tell us that Eric is\nsped.\u201d\n\nThey waited in silence while Jon galloped towards them.\n\n\u201cWhat news of Brighteyes?\u201d cried Swanhild.\n\n\u201cLittle need to ask,\u201d said Gudruda, \u201clook at his face.\u201d\n\nNow Jon told his tale and Gudruda listened, clinging to the door post.\nBut Swanhild cursed him for a coward, so that he shrank before her\neyes.\n\nGudruda turned and walked into the hall and her face was like the face\nof death. Men saw her, and Asmund asked why she wore so strange a mien.\nThen Gudruda sang this song:\n\n\u201cUp to Mosfell, battle eager,\nRode helmed Brighteyen to the fray.\nBack from Mosfell, battle shunning,\nSlunk yon coward thrall I ween.\nNow shall maid Gudruda never\nKnow a husband\u2019s dear embrace;\nWidowed is she\u2014sunk in sorrow,\nEric treads Valhalla\u2019s halls!\u201d\n\n\nAnd with this she walked from the stead, looking neither to the right\nnor to the left.\n\n\u201cLet the maid be,\u201d said Atli the Earl. \u201cGrief fares best alone. But my\nheart is sore for Eric. It should go ill with that Baresark if I might\nget a grip of him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I will have before summer is gone,\u201d said Asmund, for the death of\nEric seemed to him the worst of sorrows.\n\nGudruda walked far, and, crossing Lax\u00e0 by the stepping stones, climbed\nStonefell till she came to the head of Golden Falls, for, like a\nstricken thing, she desired to be alone in her grief. But Swanhild saw\nher and followed, coming on her as she sat watching the water thunder\ndown the mighty cleft. Presently Swanhild\u2019s shadow fell athwart her,\nand Gudruda looked up.\n\n\u201cWhat wouldst thou with me, Swanhild?\u201d she asked. \u201cArt thou come to\nmock my grief?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, foster-sister, for then I must mock my own. I come to mix my\ntears with thine. See, we loved Eric, thou and I, and Eric is dead. Let\nour hate be buried in his grave, whence neither may draw him back.\u201d\n\nGudruda looked upon her coldly, for nothing could stir her now.\n\n\u201cGet thee gone,\u201d she said. \u201cWeep thine own tears and leave me to weep\nmine. Not with thee will I mourn Eric.\u201d\n\nSwanhild frowned and bit her lip. \u201cI will not come to thee with words\nof peace a second time, my rival,\u201d she said. \u201cEric is dead, but my hate\nthat was born of Eric\u2019s love for thee lives on and grows, and its\nflower shall be thy death, Gudruda!\u201d\n\n\u201cNow that Brighteyes is dead, I would fain follow on his path: so, if\nthou listest, throw the gates wide,\u201d Gudruda answered, and heeded her\nno more.\n\nSwanhild went, but not far. On the further side of a knoll of grass she\nflung herself to earth and grieved as her fierce heart might. She shed\nno tears, but sat silently, looking with empty eyes adown the past, and\nonward to the future, and finding no good therein.\n\nBut Gudruda wept as the weight of her loss pressed in upon her\u2014wept\nheavy silent tears and cried in her heart to Eric who was gone\u2014cried to\ndeath to come upon her and bring her sleep or Eric.\n\nSo she sat and so she grieved till, quite outworn with sorrow, sleep\nstole upon her and she dreamed. Gudruda dreamed that she was dead and\nthat she sat nigh to the golden door that is in Odin\u2019s house at\nValhalla, by which the warriors pass and repass for ever. There she sat\nfrom age to age, listening to the thunder of ten thousand thousand\ntramping feet, and watching the fierce faces of the chosen as they\nmarched out in armies to do battle in the meads. And as she sat, at\nlength a one-eyed man, clad in gleaming garments, drew near and spoke\nto her. He was glorious to look on, and old, and she knew him for Odin\nthe Allfather.\n\n\u201cWhom seekest thou, maid Gudruda?\u201d he asked, and the voice he spoke\nwith was the voice of waters.\n\n\u201cI seek Eric Brighteyes,\u201d she answered, \u201cwho passed hither a thousand\nyears ago, and for love of whom I am heart-broken.\u201d\n\n\u201cEric Brighteyes, Thorgrimur\u2019s son?\u201d quoth Odin. \u201cI know him well; no\nbrisker warrior enters at Valhalla\u2019s doors, and none shall do more\nservice at the coming of grey wolf Fenrir.[*] Pass on and leave him to\nhis glory and his God.\u201d\n\n[*] The foe destined to bring destruction on the Norse gods.\n\n\nThen, in her dream, she wept sore, and prayed of Odin by the name of\nFreya that he would give Eric to her for a little space.\n\n\u201cWhat wilt thou pay, then, maid Gudruda?\u201d said Odin.\n\n\u201cMy life,\u201d she answered.\n\n\u201cGood,\u201d he said; \u201cfor a night Eric shall be thine. Then die, and let\nthy death be his cause of death.\u201d And Odin sang this song:\n\n\u201cNow, corse-choosing Daughters, hearken\nTo the dread Allfather\u2019s word:\nWhen the gale of spears\u2019 breath gathers\nCount not Eric midst the slain,\nTill Brighteyen once hath slumbered,\nWedded, at Gudruda\u2019s side\u2014\nThen, Maidens, scream your battle call;\nWhelmed with foes, let Eric fall!\u201d\n\n\nAnd Gudruda awoke, but in her ears the mighty waters still seemed to\nspeak with Odin\u2019s voice, saying:\n\n\u201cThen, Maidens, scream your battle call;\nWhelmed with foes, let Eric fall!\u201d\n\n\nShe awoke from that fey sleep, and looked upwards, and lo! before her,\nwith shattered shield and all besmeared with war\u2019s red rain, stood\ngold-helmed Eric. There he stood, great and beautiful to see, and she\nlooked on him trembling and amazed.\n\n\u201cIs it indeed thou, Eric, or is it yet my dream?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cI am no dream, surely,\u201d said Eric; \u201cbut why lookest thou thus on me,\nGudruda?\u201d\n\nShe rose slowly. \u201cMethought,\u201d she said, \u201cmethought that thou wast dead\nat the hand of Skallagrim.\u201d And with a great cry she fell into his arms\nand lay there sobbing.\n\nIt was a sweet sight thus to see Gudruda the Fair, her head of gold\npillowed on Eric\u2019s war-stained byrnie, her dark eyes afloat with tears\nof joy; but not so thought Swanhild, watching. She shook in jealous\nrage, then crept away, and hid herself where she could see no more,\nlest she should be smitten with madness.\n\n\u201cWhence camest thou? ah! whence camest thou?\u201d said Gudruda. \u201cI thought\nthee dead, my love; but now I dreamed that I prayed Odin, and he spared\nthee to me for a little.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, and that he hath, though hardly,\u201d and he told her all that had\nhappened, and how, as he rode with Skallagrim, who yet sat yonder on\nhis horse, he caught sight of a woman seated on the grass and knew the\ncolour of the cloak.\n\nThen Gudruda kissed him for very joy, and they were happy each with\neach\u2014for of all things that are sweet on earth, there is nothing more\nsweet than this: to find him we loved, and thought dead and cold, alive\nand at our side.\n\nAnd so they talked and were very glad with the gladness of youth and\nlove, till Eric said he must on to Middalhof before the light failed,\nfor he could not come on horseback the way that Gudruda took, but must\nride round the shoulder of the hill; and, moreover, he was spent with\ntoil and hunger, and Skallagrim grew weary of waiting.\n\n\u201cGo!\u201d said Gudruda; \u201cI will be there presently!\u201d\n\nSo he kissed her and went, and Swanhild saw the kiss and saw him go.\n\n\u201cWell, lord,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201chast thou had thy fill of kissing?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot altogether,\u201d answered Eric.\n\nThey rode a while in silence.\n\n\u201cI thought the maid seemed very fair!\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cThere are women less favoured, Skallagrim.\u201d\n\n\u201cRich bait for mighty fish!\u201d said Skallagrim. \u201cThis I tell thee: that,\nstrive as thou mayest against thy fate, that maid will be thy bane and\nmine also.\u201d\n\n\u201cThings foredoomed will happen,\u201d said Eric; \u201cbut if thou fearest a\nmaid, the cure is easy: depart from my company.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho was the other?\u201d asked the Baresark\u2014\u201cshe who crept and peered,\nlistened, then crept back again, hid her face in her hands, and talked\nwith a grey wolf that came to her like a dog?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat must have been Swanhild,\u201d said Eric, \u201cbut I did not see her. Ever\ndoes she hide like a rat in the thatch, and as for the wolf, he must be\nher Familiar; for, like Groa, her mother, Swanhild plays much with\nwitchcraft. Now I will away back to Gudruda, for my heart misdoubts me\nof this matter. Stay thou here till I come, Lambstail!\u201d And Eric turns\nand gallops back to the head of Goldfoss.\n\nWhen Eric left her, Gudruda drew yet nearer to the edge of the mighty\nfalls, and seated herself on their very brink. Her breast was full of\njoy, and there she sat and let the splendour of the night and the\ngreatness of the rushing sounds sink into her heart. Yonder shone the\nsetting sun, poised, as it were, on Westman\u2019s distant peaks, and here\nsped the waters, and by that path Eric had come back to her. Yea, and\nthere on Sheep-saddle was the road that he had trod down Goldfoss; and\nbut now he had slain one Baresark and won another to be his thrall, and\nthey two alone had smitten the company of Ospakar, and come thence with\nhonour and but little harmed. Surely no such man as Eric had ever\nlived\u2014none so fair and strong and tender; and she was right happy in\nhis love! She stretched out her arms towards him whom but an hour gone\nshe had thought dead, but who had lived to come back to her with\nhonour, and blessed his beloved name, and laughed aloud in her\njoyousness of heart, calling:\n\n\u201c_Eric! Eric!_\u201d\n\nBut Swanhild, creeping behind her, did not laugh. She heard Gudruda\u2019s\nvoice and guessed Gudruda\u2019s gladness, and jealousy arose within her and\nrent her. Should this fair rival live to take her joy from her?\n\n\u201c_Grey Wolf, Grey Wolf! what sayest thou?_\u201d\n\nSee, now, if Gudruda were gone, if she rolled a corpse into those\nboiling waters, Eric might yet be hers; or, if he was not hers, yet\nGudruda\u2019s he could never be.\n\n\u201c_Grey Wolf, Grey Wolf! what is thy counsel?_\u201d\n\nRight on the brink of the great gulf sat Gudruda. One stroke and all\nwould be ended. Eric had gone; there was no eye to see\u2014none save the\nGrey Wolf\u2019s; there was no tongue to tell the deed that might be done.\nWho could call her to account? The Gods! Who were the Gods? What were\nthe Gods? Were they not dreams? There were no Gods save the Gods of\nEvil\u2014the Gods she knew and communed with.\n\n\u201c_Grey Wolf, Grey Wolf! what is thy rede?_\u201d\n\nThere sat Gudruda, laughing in the triumph of her joy, with the\nsunset-glow shining on her beauty, and there, behind her, Swanhild\ncrept\u2014crept like a fox upon his sleeping prey.\n\nNow she is there\u2014\n\n\u201c_I hear thee, Grey Wolf! Back to my breast, Grey Wolf!_\u201d\n\nSurely Gudruda heard something? She half turned her head, then again\nfell to calling aloud to the waters:\n\n\u201cEric! beloved Eric!\u2014ah! is there ever a light like the light of thine\neyes\u2014is there ever a joy like the joy of thy kiss?\u201d\n\nSwanhild heard, and her springs of mercy froze. Hate and fury entered\ninto her. She rose upon her knees and gathered up her strength:\n\n\u201cSeek, then, thy joy in Goldfoss,\u201d she cried aloud, and with all her\nforce she thrust.\n\nGudruda fell a fathom or more, then, with a cry, she clutched wildly at\na little ledge of rock, and hung there, her feet resting on the\nshelving bank. Thirty fathoms down swirled and poured and rolled the\nwaters of the Golden Falls. A fathom above, red in the red light of\nevening, lowered the pitiless face of Swanhild. Gudruda looked beneath\nher and saw. Pale with agony she looked up and saw, but she said\nnaught.\n\n\u201cLet go, my rival; let go!\u201d cried Swanhild: \u201cthere is none to help\nthee, and none to tell thy tale. Let go, I say, and seek thy\nmarriage-bed in Goldfoss!\u201d\n\nBut Gudruda clung on and gazed upwards with white face and piteous\neyes.\n\n\u201cWhat! art thou so fain of a moment\u2019s life?\u201d said Swanhild. \u201cThen I\nwill save thee from thyself, for it must be ill to suffer thus!\u201d and\nshe ran to seek a rock. Now she finds one and, staggering beneath its\nweight to the brink of the gulf, peers over. Still Gudruda hangs. Space\nyawns beneath her, the waters roar in her ears, the red sky glows\nabove. She sees Swanhild come and shrieks aloud.\n\nEric is there, though Swanhild hears him not, for the sound of his\nhorse\u2019s galloping feet is lost in the roar of waters. But that cry\ncomes to his ears, he sees the poised rock, and all grows clear to him.\nHe leaps from his horse, and even as she looses the stone, clutches\nSwanhild\u2019s kirtle and hurls her back. The rock bounds sideways and\npresently is lost in the waters.\n\nEric looks over. He sees Gudruda\u2019s white face gleaming in the gloom.\nDown he leaps upon the ledge, though this is no easy thing.\n\n\u201cHold fast! I come; hold fast!\u201d he cries.\n\n\u201cI can no more,\u201d gasps Gudruda, and one hand slips.\n\nEric grasps the rock and, stretching downward, grips her wrist; just as\nher hold loosens he grips it, and she swings loose, her weight hanging\non his arm.\n\nNow he must needs lift her up and that with one hand, for the ledge is\nnarrow and he dare not loose his hold of the rock above. She swings\nover the great gulf and she is senseless as one dead. He gathers all\nhis mighty strength and lifts. His feet slip a little, then catch, and\nonce more Gudruda swings. The sweat bursts out upon his forehead and\nhis blood drums through him. Now it must be, or not at all. Again he\nlifts and his muscles strain and crack, and she lies beside him on the\nnarrow ledge!\n\nAll is not yet done. The brink of the cleft is the height of a man\nabove him. There he must lay her, for he may not leave her to find aid,\nlest she should wake and roll into the chasm. Loosing his hold of the\ncliff, he turns, facing the rock, and, bending over Gudruda, twists his\nhands in her kirtle below the breast and above the knee. Then once more\nEric puts out his might and draws her up to the level of his breast,\nand rests. Again with all his force he lifts her above the crest of his\nhelm and throws her forward, so that now she lies upon the brink of the\ngreat cliff. He almost falls backward at the effort, but, clutching the\nrock, he saves himself, and with a struggle gains her side, and lies\nthere, panting like a wearied hound of chase.\n\nOf all trials of strength that ever were put upon his might, Eric was\nwont to say, this lifting of Gudruda was the greatest; for she was no\nlight woman, and there was little to stand on and almost nothing to\ncling to.\n\nPresently Brighteyes rose and peered at Gudruda through the gloom. She\nstill swooned. Then he gazed about him\u2014but Swanhild, the witchgirl, was\ngone.\n\nThen he took Gudruda in his arms, and, leading the horse, stumbled\nthrough the darkness, calling on Skallagrim. The Baresark answered, and\npresently his large form was seen looming in the gloom.\n\nEric told his tale in few words.\n\n\u201cThe ways of womankind are evil,\u201d said Skallagrim; \u201cbut of all the\ndeeds that I have known done at their hands, this is the worst. It had\nbeen well to hurl the wolf-witch from the cliff.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, well,\u201d said Eric; \u201cbut that song must yet be sung.\u201d\n\nNow dimly lighted of the rising moon by turns they bore Gudruda down\nthe mountain side, till at length, utterly fordone, they saw the fires\nof Middalhof.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\nHOW ASMUND SPOKE WITH SWANHILD\n\n\nNow as the days went, though Atli\u2019s ship was bound for sea, she did not\nsail, and it came about that the Earl sank ever deeper in the toils of\nSwanhild. He called to mind many wise saws, but these availed him\nlittle: for when Love rises like the sun, wisdom melts like the mists.\nSo at length it came to this, that on the day of Eric\u2019s coming back,\nAtli went to Asmund the Priest, and asked him for the hand of Swanhild\nthe Fatherless in marriage. Asmund heard and was glad, for he knew well\nthat things went badly between Swanhild and Gudruda, and it seemed good\nto him that seas should be set between them. Nevertheless, he thought\nit honest to warn the Earl that Swanhild was apart from other women.\n\n\u201cThou dost great honour, earl, to my foster-daughter and my house,\u201d he\nsaid. \u201cStill, it behoves me to move gently in this matter. Swanhild is\nfair, and she shall not go hence a wife undowered. But I must tell thee\nthis: that her ways are dark and secret, and strange and fiery are her\nmoods, and I think that she will bring evil on the man who weds her.\nNow, I love thee, Atli, were it only for our youth\u2019s sake, and thou art\nnot altogether fit to mate with such a maid, for age has met thee on\nthy way. For, as thou wouldst say, youth draws to youth as the tide to\nthe shore, and falls away from eld as the wave from the rock. Think,\nthen: is it well that thou shouldst take her, Atli?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have thought much and overmuch,\u201d answered the Earl, stroking his\ngrey beard; \u201cbut ships old and new drive before a gale.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, Atli, and the new ship rides, where the old one founders.\u201d\n\n\u201cA true rede, a heavy rede, Asmund; yet I am minded to sail this sea,\nand, if it sink me\u2014well, I have known fair weather! Great longing has\ngot hold of me, and I think the maid looks gently on me, and that\nthings may yet go well between us. I have many things to give such as\nwomen love. At the least, if thou givest me thy good word, I will risk\nit, Asmund: for the bold thrower sometimes wins the stake. Only I say\nthis, that, if Swanhild is unwilling, let there be an end of my wooing,\nfor I do not wish to take a bride who turns from my grey hairs.\u201d\n\nAsmund said that it should be so, and they made an end of talking just\nas the light faded.\n\nNow Asmund went out seeking Swanhild, and presently he met her near the\nstead. He could not see her face, and that was well, for it was not\ngood to look on, but her mien was wondrous wild.\n\n\u201cWhere hast thou been, Swanhild?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cMourning Eric Brighteyes,\u201d she made answer.\n\n\u201cIt is meeter for Gudruda to mourn over Eric than for thee, for her\nloss is heavy,\u201d Asmund said sternly. \u201cWhat hast thou to do with Eric?\u201d\n\n\u201cLittle, or much; or all\u2014read it as thou wilt, foster-father. Still,\nall wept for are not lost, nor all who are lost wept for.\u201d\n\n\u201cLittle do I know of thy dark redes,\u201d said Asmund. \u201cWhere is Gudruda\nnow?\u201d\n\n\u201cHigh is she or low, sleeping or perchance awakened: naught reck I. She\nalso mourned for Eric, and we went nigh to mingling tears\u2014near together\nwere brown curls and golden,\u201d and she laughed aloud.\n\n\u201cThou art surely fey, thou evil girl!\u201d said Asmund.\n\n\u201cAy, foster-father, fey: yet is this but the first of my feydom. Here\nstarts the road that I must travel, and my feet shall be red ere the\njourney\u2019s done.\u201d\n\n\u201cLeave thy dark talk,\u201d said Asmund, \u201cfor to me it is as the wind\u2019s\nsong, and listen: a good thing has befallen thee\u2014ay, good beyond thy\ndeserving.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it so? Well, I stand greatly in need of good. What is thy tidings,\nfoster-father?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis: Atli the Earl asks thee in marriage, and he is a mighty man,\nwell honoured in his own land, and set higher, moreover, than I had\nlooked for thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d answered Swanhild, \u201cset like the snow above the fells, set in the\nyears that long are dead. Nay, foster-father, this white-bearded dotard\nis no mate for me. What! shall I mix my fire with his frost, my\nbreathing youth with the creeping palsy of his age? Never! If Swanhild\nweds she weds not so, for it is better to go maiden to the grave than\nthus to shrink and wither at the touch of eld. Now is Atli\u2019s wooing\nsped, and there\u2019s an end.\u201d\n\nAsmund heard and grew wroth, for the matter seemed strange to him; nor\nare maidens wont thus to put aside the word of those set over them.\n\n\u201cThere is no end,\u201d he said; \u201cI will not be answered thus by a girl who\nlives upon my bounty. It is my rede that thou weddest Atli, or else\nthou goest hence. I have loved thee, and for that love\u2019s sake I have\nborne thy wickedness, thy dark secret ways, and evil words; but I will\nbe crossed no more by thee, Swanhild.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou wouldst drive me hence with Groa my mother, though perchance thou\nhast yet more reason to hold me dear, foster-father. Fear not: I will\ngo\u2014perhaps further than thou thinkest,\u201d and once more Swanhild laughed,\nand passed from him into the darkness.\n\nBut Asmund stood looking after her. \u201cTruly,\u201d he said in his heart, \u201cill\ndeeds are arrows that pierce him who shot them. I have sowed evilly,\nand now I reap the harvest. What means she with her talk of Gudruda and\nthe rest?\u201d\n\nNow as he thought, he saw men and horses draw near, and one man, whose\nhelm gleamed in the moonlight, bore something in his arms.\n\n\u201cWho passes?\u201d he called.\n\n\u201cEric Brighteyes, Skallagrim Lambstail, and Gudruda, Asmund\u2019s\ndaughter,\u201d answered a voice; \u201cwho art thou?\u201d\n\nThen Asmund the Priest sprang forward, most glad at heart, for he never\nthought to see Eric again.\n\n\u201cWelcome, and thrice welcome art thou, Eric,\u201d he cried; \u201cfor, know, we\ndeemed thee dead.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have lately gone near to death, lord,\u201d said Eric, for he knew the\nvoice; \u201cbut I am hale and whole, though somewhat weary.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat has come to pass, then?\u201d asked Asmund, \u201cand why holdest thou\nGudruda in thy arms? Is the maid dead?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, she does but swoon. See, even now she stirs,\u201d and as he spake\nGudruda awoke, shuddering, and with a little cry threw her arms about\nthe neck of Eric.\n\nHe set her down and comforted her, then once more turned to Asmund:\n\n\u201cThree things have come about,\u201d he said. \u201cFirst, I have slain one\nBaresark, and won another to be my thrall, and for him I crave thy\npeace, for he has served me well. Next, we two were set upon by Ospakar\nBlacktooth and his fellowship, and, fighting for our hands, have\nwounded Ospakar, slain Mord his son, and six other men of his\nfollowing.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is good news and bad,\u201d said Asmund, \u201csince Ospakar will ask a\ngreat weregild[*] for these men, and thou wilt be outlawed, Eric.\u201d\n\n[*] The penalty for manslaying.\n\n\n\u201cThat may happen, lord. There is time enough to think of it. Now there\nare other tidings to tell. Coming to the head of Goldfoss I found\nGudruda, my betrothed, mourning my death, and spoke with her.\nAfterwards I left her, and presently returned again, to see her hanging\nover the gulf, and Swanhild hurling rocks upon her to crush her.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese are tidings in truth,\u201d said Asmund\u2014\u201csuch tidings as my heart\nfeared! Is this true, Gudruda?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is true, my father,\u201d answered Gudruda, trembling. \u201cAs I sat on the\nbrink of Goldfoss, Swanhild crept behind me and thrust me into the\ngulf. There I clung above the waters, and she brought a rock to hurl\nupon me, when suddenly I saw Eric\u2019s face, and after that my mind left\nme and I can tell no more.\u201d\n\nNow Asmund grew as one mad. He plucked at his beard and stamped on the\nground. \u201cMaid though she be,\u201d he cried, \u201cyet shall Swanhild\u2019s back be\nbroken on the Stone of Doom for a witch and a murderess, and her body\nhurled into the pool of faithless women, and the earth will be well rid\nof her!\u201d\n\nNow Gudruda looked up and smiled: \u201cIt would be ill to wreak such a\nvengeance on her, father,\u201d she said; \u201cand this would also bring the\ngreatest shame on thee, and all our house. I am saved, by the mercy of\nthe Gods and the might of Eric\u2019s arm, and this is my counsel: that\nnothing be told of this tale, but that Swanhild be sent away where she\ncan harm us no more.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe must be sent to the grave, then,\u201d said Asmund, and fell to\nthinking. Presently he spoke again: \u201cBid yon man fall back, I would\nspeak with you twain,\u201d and Skallagrim went grumbling.\n\n\u201cHearken now, Eric and Gudruda: only an hour ago hath Atli the Good\nasked Swanhild of me in marriage. But now I met Swanhild here, and her\nmien was wild. Still, I spoke of the matter to her, and she would have\nnone of it. Now, this is my counsel: that choice be given to Swanhild,\neither that she go hence Atli\u2019s wife, or take her trial in the\nDoom-ring.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will be bad for the Earl then,\u201d said Eric. \u201cMethinks he is too\ngood a man to be played on thus.\u201d\n\n\u201c_Bairn first, then friend_,\u201d answered Asmund.\n\n\u201cNow I will tell thee something that, till this hour, I have hidden\nfrom all, for it is my shame. This Swanhild is my daughter, and\ntherefore I have loved her and put away her evil deeds, and she is\nhalf-sister to thee, Gudruda. See, then, how sore is my straight, who\nmust avenge daughter upon daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cKnows thy son Bj\u00f6rn of this?\u201d asked Eric.\n\n\u201cNone knew it till this hour, except Groa and I.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet I have feared it long, father,\u201d said Gudruda, \u201cand therefore I\nhave also borne with Swanhild, though she hates me much and has striven\nhard to draw my betrothed from me. Now thou canst only take one\ncounsel, and it is: to give choice to Swanhild of these two things,\nthough it is unworthy that Atli should be deceived, and at the best\nlittle good can come of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet it must be done, for honour is often slain of heavy need,\u201d said\nAsmund. \u201cBut we must first swear this Baresark thrall of thine, though\nlittle faith lives in Baresark\u2019s breast.\u201d\n\nNow Eric called to Skallagrim and charged him strictly that he should\ntell nothing of Swanhild, and of the wolf that he saw by her, and of\nhow Gudruda was found hanging over the gulf.\n\n\u201cFear not,\u201d growled the Baresark, \u201cmy tongue is now my master\u2019s. What\nis it to me if women do their wickedness one on another? Let them work\nmagic, hate and slay by stealth, so shall evil be lessened in the\nworld.\u201d\n\n\u201cPeace!\u201d said Eric; \u201cif anything of this passes thy lips thou art no\nlonger a thrall of mine, and I give thee up to the men of thy quarter.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I cleave that wolf\u2019s head of thine down to thy hawk\u2019s eyes; but,\notherwise, I give thee peace, and will hold thee from harm,\nwood-dweller as thou art,\u201d said Asmund.\n\nThe Baresark laughed: \u201cMy hands will hold my head against ten such\nmannikins as thou art, Priest. There was never but one man who might\novercome me in fair fight and there he stands, and his bidding is my\nlaw. So waste no words and make not niddering threats against greater\nfolk,\u201d and he slouched back to his horse.\n\n\u201cA mighty man and a rough,\u201d said Asmund, looking after him; \u201cI like his\nlooks little.\u201d\n\n\u201cNatheless a strong in battle,\u201d quoth Eric; \u201chad he not been at my back\nsome six hours gone, by now the ravens had torn out these eyes of mine.\nTherefore, for my sake, bear with him.\u201d\n\nAsmund said it should be so, and then they passed on to the stead.\n\nHere Eric stripped off his harness, washed, and bound up his wounds.\nThen, followed by Skallagrim, axe in hand, he came into the hall as men\nmade ready to sit at meat. Now the tale of the mighty deeds that he had\ndone, except that of the saving of Gudruda, had gone abroad, and as\nBrighteyes came all men rose and with one voice shouted till the roof\nof the great hall rocked:\n\n\u201c_Welcome, Eric Brighteyes, thou glory of the south!_\u201d\n\nOnly Bj\u00f6rn, Asmund\u2019s son, bit his hand, and did not shout, for he hated\nEric because of the fame that he had won.\n\nBrighteyes stood still till the clamour died, then said:\n\n\u201cMuch noise for little deeds, brethren. It is true that I overthrew the\nMosfell Baresarks. See, here is one,\u201d and he turned to Skallagrim; \u201cI\nstrangled him in my arms on Mosfell\u2019s brink, and that was something of\na deed. Then he swore fealty to me, and we are blood-brethren now, and\ntherefore I ask peace for him, comrades\u2014even from those whom he has\nwronged or whose kin he has slain. I know this, that when thereafter we\nstood back to back and met the company of Ospakar Blacktooth, who came\nto slay us\u2014ay, and Asmund also, and bear away Gudruda to be his wife\u2014he\nwarred right gallantly, till seven of their band lay stiff on\nHorse-Head Heights, overthrown of us, and among them Mord, Blacktooth\u2019s\nson; and Ospakar himself went thence sore smitten of this Skallagrim.\nTherefore, for my sake, do no harm to this man who was Baresark, but\nnow is my thrall; and, moreover, I beg the aid and friendship of all\nmen of this quarter in those suits that will be laid against me at the\nAlthing for these slayings, which I hereby give out as done by my hand,\nand by the hand of Skallagrim Lambstail, the Baresark.\u201d\n\nAt these words all men shouted again; but Atli the Earl sprang from the\nhigh seat where Asmund had placed him, and, coming to Eric, kissed him,\nand, drawing a gold chain from his neck, flung it about the neck of\nEric, crying:\n\n\u201cThou art a glorious man, Eric Brighteyes. I thought the world had no\nmore of such a breed. Listen to my bidding: come thou to the earldom in\nOrkneys and be a son to me, and I will give thee all good gifts, and,\nwhen I die, thou shalt sit in my seat after me.\u201d\n\nBut Eric thought of Swanhild, who must go from Iceland as wife to Atli,\nand answered:\n\n\u201cThou doest me great honour, Earl, but this may not be. Where the fir\nis planted, there it must grow and fall. Iceland I love, and I will\nstay here among my own people till I am driven away.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat may well happen, then,\u201d said Atli, \u201cfor be sure Ospakar and his\nkin will not let the matter of these slayings rest, and I think that it\nwill not avail thee much that thou smotest for thine own hand. Then,\ncome thou and be my man.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere the Norns lead there I must follow,\u201d said Eric, and sat down to\nmeat. Skallagrim sat down also at the side-bench; but men shrank from\nhim, and he glowered on them in answer.\n\nPresently Gudruda entered, and she seemed pale and faint.\n\nWhen he had done eating, Eric drew Gudruda on to his knee, and she sat\nthere, resting her golden head upon his breast. But Swanhild did not\ncome into the hall, though ever Earl Atli sought her dark face and\nlovely eyes of blue, and he wondered greatly how his wooing had sped.\nStill, at this time he spoke no more of it to Asmund.\n\nNow Skallagrim drank much ale, and glared about him fiercely; for he\nhad this fault, that at times he was drunken. In front of him were two\nthralls of Asmund\u2019s; they were brothers, and large-made men, and they\nwatched Asmund\u2019s sheep upon the fells in winter. These two also grew\ndrunk and jeered at Skallagrim, asking him what atonement he would make\nfor those ewes of Asmund\u2019s that he had stolen last Yule, and how it\ncame to pass that he, a Baresark, had been overthrown of an unarmed\nman.\n\nSkallagrim bore their gibes for a space as he drank on, but suddenly he\nrose and rushed at them, and, seizing a man\u2019s throat in either hand,\nthrust them to the ground beneath him and nearly choked them there.\n\nThen Eric ran down the hall, and, putting out his strength, tore the\nBaresark from them.\n\n\u201cThis then is thy peacefulness, thou wolf!\u201d Eric cried. \u201cThou art\ndrunk!\u201d\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d growled Skallagrim, \u201cale is many a man\u2019s doom.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave a care that it is not thine and mine, then!\u201d said Eric. \u201cGo,\nsleep; and know that, if I see thee thus once more, I see thee not\nagain.\u201d\n\nBut after this men jeered no more at Skallagrim Lambstail, Eric\u2019s\nthrall.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\nHOW SWANHILD BID FAREWELL TO ERIC\n\n\nNow all this while Asmund sat deep in thought; but when, at length, men\nwere sunk in sleep, he took a candle of fat and passed to the shut bed\nwhere Swanhild slept alone. She lay on her bed, and her curling hair\nwas all about her. She was awake, for the light gleamed in her blue\neyes, and on a naked knife that was on the bed beside her, half hidden\nby her hair.\n\n\u201cWhat wouldst thou, foster-father?\u201d she asked, rising in the couch.\nAsmund closed the curtains, then looked at her sternly and spoke in a\nlow voice:\n\n\u201cThou art fair to be so vile a thing, Swanhild,\u201d he said. \u201cWho now\nwould have dreamed that heart of thine could talk with goblins and with\nwere-wolves\u2014that those eyes of thine could bear to look on murder and\nthose white hands find strength to do the sin?\u201d\n\nShe held up her shapely arms and, looking on them, laughed. \u201cWould that\nthey had been fashioned in a stronger mould,\u201d she said. \u201cMay they\nwither in their woman\u2019s weakness! else had the deed been done outright.\nNow my crime is as heavy upon me and nothing gained by it. Say what\nfate for me, foster-father\u2014the Stone of Doom and the pool where\nfaithless women lie? Ah, then might Gudruda laugh indeed, and I will\nnot live to hear that laugh. See,\u201d and she gripped the dagger at her\nside: \u201calong this bright edge runs the path to peace and freedom, and,\nif need be, I will tread it.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe silent,\u201d said Asmund. \u201cThis Gudruda, my daughter, whom thou wouldst\nhave foully done to death, is thine own sister, and it is she who,\npitying thee, hath pleaded for thy life.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will naught of her pity who have no pity,\u201d she answered; \u201cand this I\nsay to thee who art my father: shame be on thee who hast not dared to\nown thy child!\u201d\n\n\u201cHadst thou not been my child, Swanhild, and had I not loved thee\nsecretly as my child, be sure of this, I had long since driven thee\nhence; for my eyes have been open to much that I have not seemed to\nsee. But at length thy wickedness has overcome my love, and I will see\nthy face no more. Listen: none have heard of this shameful deed of\nthine save those who saw it, and their tongues are sealed. Now I give\nthee choice: wed Atli and go, or stand in the Doom-ring and take thy\nfate.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave I not said, father, while death may be sought otherwise, that I\nwill never do this last? Nor will I do the first. I am not all of the\ntame breed of you Iceland folk\u2014other and quicker blood runs in my\nveins; nor will I be sold in marriage to a dotard as a mare is sold at\na market. I have answered.\u201d\n\n\u201cFool! think again, for I go not back upon my word. Wed Atli or die\u2014by\nthy own hand, if thou wilt\u2014there I will not gainsay thee; or, if thou\nfearest this, then anon in the Doom-ring.\u201d\n\nNow Swanhild covered her eyes with her hands and shook the long hair\nabout her face, and she seemed wondrous fair to Asmund the Priest who\nwatched. And as she sat thus, it came into her mind that marriage is\nnot the end of a young maid\u2019s life\u2014that old husbands have been known to\ndie, and that she might rule this Atli and his earldom and become a\nrich and honoured woman, setting her sails in such fashion that when\nthe wind turned it would fill them. Otherwise she must die\u2014ay, die\nshamed and leave Gudruda with her love.\n\nSuddenly she slipped from the bed to the floor of the chamber, and,\nclasping the knees of Asmund, looked up through the meshes of her hair,\nwhile tears streamed from her beautiful eyes:\n\n\u201cI have sinned,\u201d she sobbed\u2014\u201cI have sinned greatly against thee and my\nsister. Hearken: I was mad with love of Eric, whom from a child I have\nturned to, and Gudruda is fairer than I and she took him from me. Most\nof all was I mad this night when I wrought the deed of shame, for ill\nthings counselled me\u2014things that I did not call; and oh, I thank the\nGods\u2014if there are Gods\u2014that Gudruda died not at my hand. See now,\nfather, I put this evil from me and tear Eric from my heart,\u201d and she\nmade as though she rent her bosom\u2014\u201cI will wed Atli, and be a good\nhousewife to him, and I crave but this of Gudruda: that she forgive me\nher wrong; for it was not done of my will, but of my madness, and of\nthe driving of those whom my mother taught me to know.\u201d\n\nAsmund listened and the springs of his love thawed within him. \u201cNow\nthou dost take good counsel,\u201d he said, \u201cand of this be sure, that so\nlong as thou art in that mood none shall harm thee; and for Gudruda,\nshe is the most gentle of women, and it may well be that she will put\naway thy sin. So weep no more, and have no more dealings with thy\nFinnish witchcraft, but sleep; and to-morrow I will bear thy word to\nAtli, for his ship is bound and thou must swiftly be made a wife.\u201d\n\nHe went out, bearing the light with him; but Swanhild rose from the\nground and sat on the edge of the bed, staring into the darkness and\nshuddering from time to time.\n\n\u201cI shall soon be made his wife,\u201d she murmured, \u201cwho would be but one\nman\u2019s wife\u2014and methinks I shall soon be made a widow also. Thou wilt\nhave me, dotard\u2014take me and thy fate! Well, well; better to wed an Earl\nthan to be shamed and stretched across the Doom-stone. Oh, weak arms\nthat failed me at my need, no more will I put trust in you! When next I\nwound, it shall be with the tongue; when next I strive to slay, it\nshall be by another\u2019s hand. Curses on thee, thou ill counseller of\ndarkness, who didst betray me at the last! Is it for this that I\nworshipped thee and swore the oath?\u201d\n\nThe morning came, and at the first light Asmund sought the Earl. His\nheart was heavy because of the guile that his tongue must practise, and\nhis face was dark as a winter dawn.\n\n\u201cWhat news, Asmund?\u201d asked Atli. \u201c_Early tidings are bad tidings_, so\nruns the saw, and thy looks give weight to it.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot altogether bad, Earl. Swanhild gives herself to thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf her own will, Asmund?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, of her own will. But I have warned thee of her temper.\u201d\n\n\u201cHer temper! Little hangs to a maid\u2019s temper. Once a wife and it will\nmelt in softness like the snow when summer comes. These are glad\ntidings, comrade, and methinks I grow young again beneath the breath of\nthem. Why art thou so glum then?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is something that must yet be told of Swanhild,\u201d said Asmund.\n\u201cShe is called the Fatherless, but, if thou wilt have the truth, why\nhere it is for thee\u2014she is my daughter, born out of wedlock, and I know\nnot how that will please thee.\u201d\n\nAtli laughed aloud, and his bright eyes shone in his wrinkled face. \u201cIt\npleases me well, Asmund, for then the maid is sprung from a sound\nstock. The name of the Priest of Middalhof is famous far south of\nIceland; and never that Iceland bred a comelier girl. Is that all?\u201d\n\n\u201cOne more thing, Earl. This I charge thee: watch thy wife, and hold her\nback from witchcraft and from dealings with evil things and trolls of\ndarkness. She is of Finnish blood and the women of the Finns are much\ngiven to such wicked work.\u201d\n\n\u201cI set little store by witchwork, goblins and their kin,\u201d said Atli. \u201cI\ndoubt me much of their power, and I shall soon wean Swanhild from such\nways, if indeed she practise them.\u201d\n\nThen they fell to talking of Swanhild\u2019s dower, and that was not small.\nAfterwards Asmund sought Eric and Gudruda, and told them what had come\nto pass, and they were glad at the news, though they grieved for Atli\nthe Earl. And when Swanhild met Gudruda, she came to her humbly, and\nhumbly kissed her hand, and with tears craved pardon of her evil doing,\nsaying that she had been mad; nor did Gudruda withhold it, for of all\nwomen she was the gentlest and most forgiving. But to Eric, Swanhild\nsaid nothing.\n\nThe wedding-feast must be held on the third day from this, for Atli\nwould sail on that same day, since his people wearied of waiting and\nhis ship might lie bound no longer. Blithe was Atli the Earl, and\nSwanhild was all changed, for now she seemed the gentlest of maids,\nand, as befitted one about to be made a wife, moved through the house\nwith soft words and downcast eyes. But Skallagrim, watching her,\nbethought him of the grey wolf that he had seen by Goldfoss, and this\nseemed not well to him.\n\n\u201cIt would be bad now,\u201d he said to Eric, as they rode to Coldback, \u201cto\nstand in yon old earl\u2019s shoes. This woman\u2019s weather has changed too\nfast, and after such a calm there\u2019ll come a storm indeed. I am now\nminded of Thorunna, for she went just so the day before she gave\nherself to Ospakar, and me to shame and bonds.\u201d\n\n\u201cTalk not of the raven till you hear his croak,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cHe is on the wing, lord,\u201d answered Skallagrim.\n\nNow Eric came to Coldback in the Marsh, and Saevuna his mother and\nUnna, Thorod\u2019s daughter, the betrothed of Asmund, were glad to welcome\nhim; for the tidings of his mighty deeds and of the overthrow of\nOspakar and the slaying of Mord were noised far and wide. But at\nSkallagrim Lambstail they looked askance. Still, when they heard of\nthose things that he had wrought on Horse-Head Heights, they welcomed\nhim for his deed\u2019s sake.\n\nEric sat two nights at Coldback, and on the second day Saevuna his\nmother and Unna rode thence with their servants to the wedding-feast of\nSwanhild the Fatherless. But Eric stopped at Coldback that night,\nsaying that he would be at Middalhof within two hours of sunrise, for\nhe must talk with a shepherd who came from the fells.\n\nSaevuna and her company came to Middalhof and was asked, first by\nGudruda, then by Swanhild, why Brighteyes tarried. She answered that he\nwould be there early on the morrow. Next morning, before it was light,\nEric girded on Whitefire, took horse and rode from Coldback alone, for\nhe would not bring Skallagrim, fearing lest he should get drunk at the\nfeast and shed some man\u2019s blood.\n\nIt was Swanhild\u2019s wedding-day; but she greeted it with little\nlightsomeness of heart, and her eyes knew no sleep that night, though\nthey were heavy with tears.\n\nAt the first light she rose, and, gliding from the house, walked\nthrough the heavy dew down the path by which Eric must draw near, for\nshe desired to speak with him. Gudruda also rose a while after, though\nshe did not know this, and followed on the same path, for she would\ngreet her lover at his coming.\n\nNow three furlongs or more from the stead stood a vetch stack, and\nSwanhild waited on the further side of this stack. Presently she heard\na sound of singing come from behind the shoulder of the fell and of the\ntramp of a horse\u2019s hoofs. Then she saw the golden wings of Eric\u2019s helm\nall ablaze with the sunlight as he rode merrily along, and great\nbitterness laid hold of her that Eric could be of such a joyous mood on\nthe day when she who loved him must be made the wife of another man.\n\nPresently he was before her, and Swanhild stepped from the shadow of\nthe stack and laid her hand upon his horse\u2019s bridle.\n\n\u201cEric,\u201d she said humbly and with bowed head, \u201cGudruda sleeps yet. Canst\nthou, then, find time to hearken to my words?\u201d\n\nHe frowned and said: \u201cMethinks, Swanhild, it would be better if thou\ngavest thy words to him who is thy lord.\u201d\n\nShe let the bridle-rein drop from her hands. \u201cI am answered,\u201d she said;\n\u201cride on.\u201d\n\nNow pity stirred in Eric\u2019s heart, for Swanhild\u2019s mien was most heavy,\nand he leaped down from his horse. \u201cNay,\u201d he said, \u201cspeak on, if thou\nhast anything to tell me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have this to tell thee, Eric; that now, before we part for ever, I\nam come to ask thy pardon for my ill-doing\u2014ay, and to wish all joy to\nthee and thy fair love,\u201d and she sobbed and choked.\n\n\u201cSpeak no more of it, Swanhild,\u201d he said, \u201cbut let thy good deeds cover\nup the ill, which are not small; so thou shalt be happy.\u201d\n\nShe looked at him strangely, and her face was white with pain.\n\n\u201cHow then are we so differently fashioned that thou, Eric, canst prate\nto me of happiness when my heart is racked with grief? Oh, Eric, I\nblame thee not, for thou hast not wrought this evil on me willingly;\nbut I say this: that my heart is dead, as I would that I were dead. See\nthose flowers: they smell sweet\u2014for me they have no odour. Look on the\nlight leaping from Coldback to the sea, from the sea to Westman Isles,\nand from the Westman crown of rocks far into the wide heavens above. It\nis beautiful, is it not? Yet I tell thee, Eric, that now to my eyes\nhowling winter darkness is every whit as fair. Joy is dead within me,\nmusic\u2019s but a jangled madness in my ears, food hath no savour on my\ntongue, my youth is sped ere my dawn is day. Nothing is left to me,\nEric, save this fair body that thou didst scorn, and the dreams which I\nmay gather from my hours of scanty sleep, and such shame as befalls a\nloveless bride.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpeak not so, Swanhild,\u201d he said, and clasped her by the hand, for,\nthough he loathed her wickedness, being soft-hearted and but young, it\ngrieved him to hear her words and see the anguish of her mind. For it\nis so with men, that they are easily moved by the pleading of a fair\nwoman who loves them, even though they love her not.\n\n\u201cYea, I will speak out all my mind before I seal it up for ever. See,\nEric, this is my state and thou hast set this crown of sorrow on my\nbrows: and thou comest singing down the fell, and I go weeping o\u2019er the\nsea! I am not all so ill at heart. It was love of thee that drove me\ndown to sin, as love of thee might otherwise have lifted me to\nholiness. But, loving thee as thou seest, this day I wed a dotard, and\ngo his chattel and his bride across the sea, and leave thee singing on\nthe fell, and by thy side her who is my foe. Thou hast done great\ndeeds, Brighteyes, and still greater shalt thou do; yet but as echoes\nthey shall reach my ears. Thou wilt be to me as one dead, for it is\nGudruda\u2019s to bind the byrnie on thy breast when thou goest forth to\nwar, and hers to loose the winged helm from thy brow when thou\nreturnest, battle-worn and conquering.\u201d\n\nNow Swanhild ceased, and choked with grief; then spoke again:\n\n\u201cSo now farewell; doubtless I weary thee, and\u2014Gudruda waits. Nay, look\nnot on my foolish tears: they are the heritage of woman, of naught else\nis she sure! While I live, Eric, morn by morn the thought of thee shall\ncome to wake me as the sun wakes yon snowy peak, and night by night thy\nmemory shall pass as at eve he passes from the valleys, but to dawn\nagain in dreams. For, Eric, \u2018tis thee I wed to-day\u2014at heart I am thy\nbride, thine and thine only; and when shalt thou find a wife who holds\nthee so dear as that Swanhild whom once thou knewest? So now farewell!\nYes, this time thou shalt kiss away my tears; then let them stream for\never. Thus, Eric! and thus! and thus! do I take farewell of thee.\u201d\n\nAnd now she clung about his neck, gazing on him with great dewy eyes\ntill things grew strange and dim, and he must kiss her if only for her\nlove and tender beauty\u2019s sake. And so he kissed, and it chanced that as\nthey clung thus, Gudruda, passing by this path to give her betrothed\ngreeting, came upon them and stood astonished. Then she turned and,\nputting her hands to her head, fled back swiftly to the stead, and\nwaited there, great anger burning in her heart; for Gudruda had this\nfault, that she was very jealous.\n\nNow Eric and Swanhild did not see her, and presently they parted, and\nSwanhild wiped her eyes and glided thence.\n\nAs she drew near the stead she found Gudruda watching.\n\n\u201cWhere hast thou been, Swanhild?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cTo bid farewell to Brighteyes, Gudruda.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen thou art foolish, for doubtless he thrust thee from him.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, Gudruda, he drew me to him. Hearken, I say, thou sister. Vex me\nnot, for I go my ways and thou goest thine. Thou art strong and fair,\nand hitherto thou hast overcome me. But I am also fair, and, if I find\nspace to strike in, I also have a show of strength. Pray thou that I\nfind not space, Gudruda. Now is Eric thine. Perchance one day he may be\nmine. It lies in the lap of the Norns.\u201d\n\n\u201cFair words from Atli\u2019s bride,\u201d mocked Gudruda.\n\n\u201cAy, Atli\u2019s bride, but never Atli\u2019s love!\u201d said Swanhild, and swept on.\n\nA while after Eric rode up. He was shamefaced and vexed at heart,\nbecause he had yielded thus to Swanhild\u2019s beauty, and been melted by\nher tender words and kissed her. Then he saw Gudruda, and at the sight\nof her all thought of Swanhild passed from him, for he loved Gudruda\nand her alone. He leapt down from his horse and ran to her. But, drawn\nto her full height, she stood with dark flashing eyes and fair face set\nin anger.\n\nStill, he would have greeted her loverwise; but she lifted her hand and\nwaved him back, and fear took hold of him.\n\n\u201cWhat now, Gudruda?\u201d he asked, faltering.\n\n\u201cWhat now, Eric?\u201d she answered, faltering not. \u201cHast seen Swanhild?\u201d\n\n\u201cYea, I have seen Swanhild. She came to bid farewell to me. What of\nit?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat of it? Why \u2018_thus! and thus! and thus!_\u2019 didst thou bid farewell\nto Atli\u2019s bride. Ay, \u2018thus and thus,\u2019 with clinging lips and twined\narms. Warm and soft was thy farewell kiss to her who would have slain\nme, Brighteyes!\u201d\n\n\u201cGudruda, thou speakest truth, though how thou sawest I know not. Think\nno ill of it, and scourge me not with words, for, sooth to say, I was\nmelted by her grief and the music of her talk.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is shame to thee so to speak of her whom but now thou heldest in\nthine arms. By the grief and the music of the talk of her who would\nhave murdered me thou wast melted into kisses, Eric!\u2014for I saw it with\nthese eyes. Knowest thou what I am minded to say to thee? It is this:\n\u2018Go hence and see me no more;\u2019 for I have little wish to cleave to such\na feather-man, to one so blown about by the first breath of woman\u2019s\ntempting.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet, methinks, Gudruda, I have withstood some such winds. I tell thee\nthat, hadst thou been in my place, thyself hadst yielded to Swanhild\nand kissed her in farewell, for she was more than woman in that hour.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, Eric, I am no weak man to be led astray thus. Yet she is more\nthan woman\u2014troll is she also, that I know; but less than man art thou,\nEric, thus to fall before her who hates me. Time may come when she\nshall woo thee after a stronger sort, and what wilt thou say to her\nthen, thou who art so ready with thy kisses?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will withstand her, Gudruda, for I love thee only, and this is well\nknown to thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly I know thou lovest me, Eric; but tell me of what worth is this\nlove of man that eyes of beauty and tongue of craft may so readily\nbewray? I doubt me of thee, Eric!\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, doubt me not, Gudruda. I love thee alone, but I grew soft as wax\nbeneath her pleading. My heart consented not, yet I did consent. I have\nno more to say.\u201d\n\nNow Gudruda looked on him long and steadfastly. \u201cThy plight is sorry,\nEric,\u201d she said, \u201cand this once I forgive thee. Look to it that thou\ngivest me no more cause to doubt thee, for then I shall remember how\nthou didst bid farewell to Swanhild.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will give none,\u201d he answered, and would have embraced her; but this\nshe would not suffer then, nor for many days after, for she was angry\nwith him. But with Swanhild she was still more angry, though she said\nnothing of it. That Swanhild had tried to murder her, Gudruda could\nforgive, for there she had failed; but not that she had won Eric to\nkiss her, for in this she had succeeded well.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\nHOW ERIC WAS OUTLAWED AND SAILED A-VIKING\n\n\nNow the marriage-feast went on, and Swanhild, draped in white and girt\nabout with gold, sat by Atli\u2019s side upon the high seat. He was fain of\nher and drew her to him, but she looked at him with cold calm eyes in\nwhich hate lurked. The feast was done, and all the company rode to the\nsea strand, where the Earl\u2019s ship lay at anchor. They came there, and\nSwanhild kissed Asmund, and talked a while with Groa, her mother, and\nbade farewell to all men. But she bade no farewell to Eric and to\nGudruda.\n\n\u201cWhy sayest thou no word to these two?\u201d asked Atli, her husband.\n\n\u201cFor this reason, Earl,\u201d she answered, \u201cbecause ere long we three shall\nmeet again; but I shall see Asmund, my father, and Groa, my mother, no\nmore.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is an ill saying, wife,\u201d said Atli. \u201cMethinks thou dost foretell\ntheir doom.\u201d\n\n\u201cMayhap! And now I will add to my redes, for I foretell _thy_ doom\nalso: it is not yet, but it draws on.\u201d\n\nThen Atli bethought him of many wise saws, but spoke no more, for it\nseemed to him this was a strange bride that he had wed.\n\nThey hauled the anchor home, shook out the great sail, and passed away\ninto the evening night. But while land could still be seen, Swanhild\nstood near the helm, gazing with her blue eyes upon the lessening\ncoast. Then she passed to the hold, and shut herself in alone, and\nthere she stayed, saying that she was sick, till at length, after a\nfair voyage of twenty days, they made the Orkney Islands.\n\nBut all this pleased Atli wondrous ill, yet he dared not cross her\nmood.\n\nNow, in Iceland the time drew on when men must ride to the Althing, and\nnotice was given to Eric Brighteyes of many suits that were laid\nagainst him, in that he had brought Mord, Ospakar\u2019s son, to his death,\ndealing him a brain or a body or a marrow wound, and others of that\ncompany. But no suits were laid against Skallagrim, for he was already\noutlaw. Therefore he must go in hiding, for men were out to slay him,\nand this he did unwillingly, at Eric\u2019s bidding. Asmund took up Eric\u2019s\ncase, for he was the most famous of all lawmen in that day, and when\nthirteen full weeks of summer were done, they two rode to the Thing,\nand with them a great company of men of their quarter.\n\nNow, men go up to the L\u00f6gberg, and there came Ospakar, though he was\nnot yet healed of his wound, and all his company, and laid their suits\nagainst Eric by the mouth of Gizur the Lawman, Ospakar\u2019s son. The\npleadings were long and cunning on either side; but the end of it was\nthat Ospakar brought it about, by the help of his friends\u2014and of these\nhe had many\u2014that Eric must go into outlawry for three years. But no\nweregild was to be paid to Ospakar and his men for those who had been\nkilled, and no atonement for the great wound that Skallagrim Lambstail\ngave him, or for the death of Mord, his son, inasmuch as Eric fought\nfor his own hand to save his life.\n\nThe party of Ospakar were ill pleased at this finding, and Eric was not\nover glad, for it was little to his mind that he should sail a-warring\nacross the seas, while Gudruda sat at home in Iceland. Still, there was\nno help for the matter.\n\nNow Ospakar spoke with his company, and the end of it was that he\ncalled on them to take their weapons and avenge themselves by their own\nmight. Asmund and Eric, seeing this, mustered their army of freemen and\nthralls. There were one hundred and five of them, all stout men; but\nOspakar Blacktooth\u2019s band numbered a hundred and thirty-three, and they\nstood with their backs to the Raven\u2019s Rift.\n\n\u201cNow I would that Skallagrim was here to guard my back,\u201d said Eric,\n\u201cfor before this fight is done few will be left standing to tell its\ntale.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a sad thing,\u201d said Asmund, \u201cthat so many men must die because\nsome men are now dead.\u201d\n\n\u201cA very sad thing,\u201d said Eric, and took this counsel. He stalked alone\ntowards the ranks of Ospakar and called in a loud voice, saying:\n\n\u201cIt would be grievous that so many warriors should fall in such a\nmatter. Now hearken, you company of Ospakar Blacktooth! If there be any\ntwo among you who will dare to match their might against my single\nsword in holmgang, here I, Eric Brighteyes, stand and wait them. It is\nbetter that one man, or perchance three men, should fall, than that\nanon so many should roll in the dust. What say ye?\u201d\n\nNow all those who watched called out that this was a good offer and a\nmanly one, though it might turn out ill for Eric; but Ospakar answered:\n\n\u201cWere I but well of my wound I alone would cut that golden comb of\nthine, thou braggart; as it is, be sure that two shall be found.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is the braggart?\u201d answered Eric. \u201cHe who twice has learned the\nweight of this arm and yet boasts his strength, or I who stand craving\nthat two should come against me? Get thee hence, Ospakar; get thee home\nand bid Thorunna, thy leman, whom thou didst beguile from that Ounound\nwho now is named Skallagrim Lambstail the Baresark, nurse thee whole of\nthe wound her husband gave thee. Be sure we shall yet stand face to\nface, and that combs shall be cut then, combs black or golden. Nurse\nthee! nurse thee! cease thy prating\u2014get thee home, and bid Thorunna\nnurse thee; but first name thou the two who shall stand against me in\nholmgang in Oxar\u00e0\u2019s stream.\u201d\n\nFolk laughed aloud while Eric mocked, but Ospakar gnashed his teeth\nwith rage. Still, he named the two mightiest men in his company,\nbidding them take up their swords against Brighteyes. This, indeed,\nthey were loth to do; still, because of the shame that they must get if\nthey hung back, and for fear of the wrath of Ospakar, they made ready\nto obey his bidding.\n\nThen all men passed down to the bank of Oxar\u00e0, and, on the other side,\npeople came from their booths and sat upon the slope of All Man\u2019s Raft,\nfor it was a new thing that one man should fight two in holmgang.\n\nNow Eric crossed to the island where holmgangs are fought to this day,\nand after him came the two chosen, flourishing their swords bravely,\nand taking counsel how one should rush at his face, while the other\npassed behind his back and spitted him, as woodfolk spit a lamb. Eric\ndrew Whitefire and leaned on it, waiting for the word, and all the\nwomen held him to be wondrous fair as, clad in his byrnie and his\ngolden helm, he leaned thus on Whitefire. Presently the word was given,\nand Eric, standing not to defend himself as they deemed he surely\nwould, whirled Whitefire round his helm and rushed headlong on his\nfoes, shield aloft.\n\nThe great carles saw the light that played on Whitefire\u2019s edge and the\nother light that burned in Eric\u2019s eyes, and terror got hold of them.\nNow he was almost come, and Whitefire sprang aloft like a tongue of\nflame. Then they stayed no more, but, running one this way and one\nthat, cast themselves into the flood and swam for the river-edge. Now\nfrom either bank rose up a roar of laughter, that grew and grew, till\nit echoed against the lava rifts and scared the ravens from their\nnests.\n\nEric, too, stopped his charge and laughed aloud; then walked back to\nwhere Asmund stood, unarmed, to second him in the holmgang.\n\n\u201cI can get little honour from such champions as these,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d answered Asmund, \u201cthou hast got the greatest honour, and they,\nand Ospakar, such shame as may not be wiped out.\u201d\n\nNow when Blacktooth saw what had come to pass, he well-nigh choked, and\nfell from his horse in fury. Still, he could find no stomach for\nfighting, but, mustering his company, rode straightway from the Thing\nhome again to Swinefell. But he caused those two whom he had put up to\ndo battle with Eric to be set upon with staves and driven from his\nfollowing, and the end of it was that they might stay no more in\nIceland, but took ship and sailed south, and now they are out of the\nstory.\n\nOn the next day, Asmund, and with him Eric and all their men, rode back\nto Middalhof. Gudruda greeted Eric well, and for the first time since\nSwanhild went away she kissed him. Moreover, she wept bitterly when she\nlearned that he must go into outlawry, while she must bide at home.\n\n\u201cHow shall the days pass by, Eric?\u201d she said, \u201cwhen thou art far, and I\nknow not where thou art, nor how it goes with thee, nor if thou livest\nor art already dead?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn sooth I cannot say, sweet,\u201d he answered; \u201cbut of this I am sure\nthat, wheresoever I am, yet more weary shall be my hours.\u201d\n\n\u201cThree years,\u201d she went on\u2014\u201cthree long, cold years, and no sight of\nthee, and perchance no tidings from thee, till mayhap I learn that thou\nart in that land whence tidings cannot come. Oh, it would be better to\ndie than to part thus.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell I wot that it is better to die than to live, and better never to\nhave been born than to live and die,\u201d answered Eric sadly. \u201cHere, it\nwould seem, is nothing but hate and strife, weariness and bitter envy\nto fret away our strength, and at last, if we come so far, sorrowful\nage and death, and thereafter we know not what. Little of good do we\nfind to our hands, and much of evil; nor know I for what ill-doing\nthese burdens are laid upon us. Yet must we needs breathe such an air\nas is blown about us, Gudruda, clasping at this happiness which is\ngiven, though we may not hold it. At the worst, the game will soon be\nplayed, and others will stand where we have stood, and strive as we\nhave striven, and fail as we have failed, and so on, till man has\nworked out his doom, and the Gods cease from their wrath, or Ragnarr\u00f6k\ncome upon them, and they too are lost in the jaws of grey wolf Fenrir.\u201d\n\n\u201cMen may win one good thing, and that is fame, Eric.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, Gudruda, what is it to win fame? Is it not to raise up foes, as\nit were, from the very soil, who, made with secret hate, seek to stab\nus in the back? Is it not to lose peace, and toil on from height to\nheight only to be hurled down at last? Happy, then, is the man whom\nfame flies from, for hers is a deadly gift.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet there is one thing left that thou hast not numbered, Eric, and it\nis love\u2014for love is to our life what the sun is to the world, and,\nthough it seems to set in death, yet it may rise again. We are happy,\nthen, in our love, for there are many who live their lives and do not\nfind it.\u201d\n\nSo these two, Eric Brighteyes and Gudruda the Fair, talked sadly, for\ntheir hearts were heavy, and on them lay the shadow of sorrows that\nwere to come.\n\n\u201cSay, sweet,\u201d said Eric at length, \u201cwilt thou that I go not into\nbanishment? Then I must fall into outlawry, and my life will be in the\nhands of him who may take it; yet I think that my foes will find it\nhard to come by while my strength remains, and at the worst I do but\nturn to meet the fate that dogs me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, that I will not suffer, Brighteyes. Now we will go to my father,\nand he shall give thee his dragon of war\u2014she is a good vessel\u2014and thou\nshalt man her with the briskest men of our quarter: for there are many\nwho will be glad to fare abroad with thee, Eric. Soon she shall be\nbound and thou shalt sail at once, Eric: for the sooner thou art gone\nthe sooner the three years will be sped, and thou shalt come back to\nme. But, oh! that I might go with thee.\u201d\n\nNow Gudruda and Eric went to Asmund and spoke of this matter.\n\n\u201cI desired,\u201d he answered, \u201cthat thou, Eric, shouldst bide here in\nIceland till after harvest, for it is then that I would take Unna,\nThorod\u2019s daughter, to wife, and it was meet that thou shouldst sit at\nthe wedding-feast and give her to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, father, let Eric go,\u201d said Gudruda, \u201cfor well begun is, surely,\nhalf done. He must remain three years in outlawry: add thou no day to\nthem, for, if he stays here for long, I know this: that I shall find no\nheart to let him go, and, if go he must, then I shall go with him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat may never be,\u201d said Asmund; \u201cthou art too young and fair to sail\na-viking down the sea-path. Hearken, Eric: I give thee the good ship,\nand now we will go about to find stout men to man her.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a good gift,\u201d said Eric; and afterwards they rode to the\nseashore and overhauled the vessel as she lay in her shed. She was a\ngreat dragon of war, long and slender, and standing high at stem and\nprow. She was fashioned of oak, all bolted together with iron, and at\nher prow was a gilded dragon most wonderfully carved.\n\nEric looked on her and his eyes brightened.\n\n\u201cHere rests a wave-horse that shall bear a viking well,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d answered Asmund, \u201cof all the things I own this ship is the very\nbest. She is so swift that none may catch her, and she can almost go\nabout in her own length. That gale must be heavy that shall fill her,\nwith thee to steer; yet I give her to thee freely, Eric, and thou shalt\ndo great deeds with this my gift, and, if things go well, she shall\ncome back to this shore at last, and thou in her.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow I will name this war-gift with a new name,\u201d said Eric. \u201c\u2018Gudruda,\u2019\nI name her: for, as Gudruda here is the fairest of all women, so is\nthis the fairest of all war-dragons.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it,\u201d said Asmund.\n\nThen they rode back to Middalhof, and now Eric Brighteyes let it be\nknown that he needed men to sail the seas with him. Nor did he ask in\nvain, for, when it was told that Eric went a-viking, so great was his\nfame grown, that many a stout yeoman and many a great-limbed carle\nreached down sword and shield and came up to Middalhof to put their\nhands in his. For mate, he took a certain man named Hall of Lithdale,\nand this because Bj\u00f6rn asked it, for Hall was a friend to Bj\u00f6rn, and he\nhad, moreover, great skill in all manner of seamanship, and had often\nsailed the Northern Seas\u2014ay, and round England to the coast of France.\n\nBut when Gudruda saw this man, she did not like him, because of his\nsharp face, uncanny eyes, and smooth tongue, and she prayed Eric to\nhave nothing to do with him.\n\n\u201cIt is too late now to talk of that,\u201d said Eric. \u201cHall is a\nwell-skilled man, and, for the rest, fear not: I will watch him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen evil will come of it,\u201d said Gudruda.\n\nSkallagrim also liked Hall little, nor did Hall love Skallagrim and his\ngreat axe.\n\nAt length all were gathered; they were fifty in number and it is said\nthat no such band of men ever took ship from Iceland.\n\nNow the great dragon was bound and her faring goods were aboard of her,\nfor Eric must sail on the morrow, if the wind should be fair. All day\nlong he stalked to and fro among his men; he would trust nothing to\nothers, and there was no sword or shield in his company but he himself\nhad proved it. All day long he stalked, and at his back went Skallagrim\nLambstail, axe on shoulder, for he would never leave Eric if he had his\nwill, and they were a mighty pair.\n\nAt length all was ready and men sat down to the faring-feast in the\nhall at Middalhof, and that was a great feast. Eric\u2019s folk were\ngathered on the side-benches, and by the high seat at Asmund\u2019s side sat\nBrighteyes, and near to him were Bj\u00f6rn, Asmund\u2019s son, Gudruda, Unna,\nAsmund\u2019s betrothed, and Saevuna, Eric\u2019s mother. For this had been\nsettled between Asmund and Eric, that his mother Saevuna, who was now\nsomewhat sunk in age, should flit from Coldback and come with Unna to\ndwell at Middalhof. But Eric set a trusty grieve to dwell at Coldback\nand mind the farm.\n\nWhen the faring-toasts had been drunk, Eric spoke to Asmund and said:\n\u201cI fear one thing, lord, and it is that when I am gone Ospakar will\ntrouble thee. Now, I pray you all to beware of Blacktooth, for, though\nthe hound is whipped, he can still bite, and it seems that he has not\nyet put Gudruda from his mind.\u201d\n\nNow Bj\u00f6rn had sat silently, thinking much and drinking more, for he\nloved Eric less than ever on this day when he saw how all men did him\nhonour and mourned his going, and his father not the least of them.\n\n\u201cMethinks it is thou, Eric,\u201d he said, \u201cwhom Ospakar hates, and thee on\nwhom he would work his vengeance, and that for no light cause.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen bad fortune sits in thy neighbour\u2019s house, she knocks upon thy\ndoor, Bj\u00f6rn. Gudruda, thy sister, is my betrothed, and thou art a party\nto this feud,\u201d said Eric. \u201cTherefore it becomes thee better to hold her\nhonour and thy own against this Northlander, than to gird at me for\nthat in which I have no blame.\u201d\n\nBj\u00f6rn grew wroth at these words. \u201cPrate not to me,\u201d he said. \u201cThou art\nan upstart who wouldst teach their duty to thy betters\u2014ay, puffed up\nwith light-won fame, like a feather on the breeze. But I say this: the\nbreeze shall fail, and thou shalt fall upon the goose\u2019s back once more.\nAnd I say this also, that, had I my will, Gudruda should wed Ospakar:\nfor he is a mighty chief, and not a long-legged carle, outlawed for\nman-slaying.\u201d\n\nNow Eric sprang from his seat and laid hand upon the hilt of Whitefire,\nwhile men murmured in the hall, for they held this an ill speech of\nBj\u00f6rn\u2019s.\n\n\u201cIn thee, it seems, I have no friend,\u201d said Eric, \u201cand hadst thou been\nany other man than Gudruda\u2019s brother, forsooth thou shouldst answer for\nthy mocking words. This I tell thee, Bj\u00f6rn, that, wert thou twice her\nbrother, if thou plottest with Ospakar when I am gone, thou shalt pay\ndearly for it when I come back again. I know thy heart well: it is\ncunning and greedy of gain, and filled with envy as a cask with ale;\nyet, if thou lovest to feel it beating in thy breast, strive not to\nwork me mischief and to put Gudruda from me.\u201d\n\nNow Bj\u00f6rn sprang up also and drew his sword, for he was white with\nrage; but Asmund his father cried, \u201cPeace!\u201d in a great voice.\n\n\u201cPeace!\u201d he said. \u201cBe seated, Eric, and take no heed of this foolish\ntalk. And for thee, Bj\u00f6rn, art thou the Priest of Middalhof, and\nGudruda\u2019s father, or am I? It has pleased me to betroth Brighteyes to\nGudruda, and it pleased me not to betroth her to Ospakar, and that is\nenough for thee. For the rest, Ospakar would have slain Eric, not he\nOspakar, therefore Eric\u2019s hands are clean. Though thou art my son, I\nsay this, that, if thou workest ill to Eric when he is over sea, thou\nshalt rightly learn the weight of Whitefire: it is a niddering deed to\nplot against an absent man.\u201d\n\nEric sat down, but Bj\u00f6rn strode scowling from the hall, and, taking\nhorse, rode south; nor did he and Eric meet again till three years had\ncome and gone, and then they met but once.\n\n\u201cMaggots shall be bred of that fly, nor shall they lack flesh to feed\non,\u201d said Skallagrim in Eric\u2019s ears as he watched Bj\u00f6rn pass. But Eric\nbade him be silent, and turned to Gudruda.\n\n\u201cLook not so sad, sweet,\u201d he said, \u201cfor hasty words rise like the foam\non mead and pass as soon. It vexes Bj\u00f6rn that thy father has given me\nthe good ship: but his anger will soon pass, or, at the very worst, I\nfear him not while thou art true to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen thou hast little to fear, Eric,\u201d she answered. \u201cLook now on thy\nhair: it grows long as a woman\u2019s, and that is ill, for at sea the salt\nwill hang to it. Say, shall I cut it for thee?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, Gudruda.\u201d\n\nSo she cut his yellow locks, and one of them lay upon her heart for\nmany a day.\n\n\u201cNow thou shalt swear to me,\u201d she whispered in his ear, \u201cthat no other\nman or woman shall cut thy hair till thou comest back to me and I clip\nit again.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I swear, and readily,\u201d he answered. \u201cI will go long-haired like a\ngirl for thy sake, Gudruda.\u201d\n\nHe spoke low, but Koll the Half-witted, Groa\u2019s thrall, heard this oath\nand kept it in his mind.\n\nVery early on the morrow all men rose, and, taking horse, rode once\nmore to the seaside, till they came to that shed where the Gudruda lay.\n\nThen, when the tide was high, Eric\u2019s company took hold of the black\nship\u2019s thwarts, and at his word dragged her with might and main. She\nran down the greased blocks and sped on quivering to the sea, and as\nher dragon-prow dipped in the water people cheered aloud.\n\nNow Eric must bid farewell to all, and this he did with a brave heart\ntill at the last he came to Saevuna, his mother, and Gudruda, his dear\nlove.\n\n\u201cFarewell, son,\u201d said the old dame; \u201cI have little hope that these eyes\nshall look again upon that bonny face of thine, yet I am well paid for\nmy birth-pains, for few have borne such a man as thou. Think of me at\ntimes, for without me thou hadst never been. Be not led astray of\nwomen, nor lead them astray, or ill shall overtake thee. Be not\nquarrelsome because of thy great might, for there is a stronger than\nthe strongest. Spare a fallen foe, and take not a poor man\u2019s goods or a\nbrave man\u2019s sword; but, when thou smitest, smite home. So shalt thou\nwin honour, and, at the last, peace, that is more than honour.\u201d\n\nEric thanked her for her counsel, and kissed her, then turned to\nGudruda, who stood, white and still, plucking at her golden girdle.\n\n\u201cWhat can I say to thee?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cSay nothing, but go,\u201d she answered: \u201cgo before I weep.\u201d\n\n\u201cWeep not, Gudruda, or thou wilt unman me. Say, thou wilt think on me?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, Eric, by day and by night.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd thou wilt be true to me?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, till death and after, for so long as thou cleavest to me I will\ncleave to thee. I will first die rather than betray thee. But of thee I\nam not so sure. Perchance thou mayest find Swanhild in thy journeyings\nand crave more kisses of her?\u201d\n\n\u201cAnger me not, Gudruda! thou knowest well that I hate Swanhild more\nthan any other woman. When I kiss her again, then thou mayst wed\nOspakar.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpeak not so rashly, Eric,\u201d she said, and as she spoke Skallagrim drew\nnear.\n\n\u201cIf thou lingerest here, lord, the tide will serve us little round\nWestmans,\u201d he said, eyeing Gudruda as it were with jealousy.\n\n\u201cI come,\u201d said Eric. \u201cGudruda, fare thee well!\u201d\n\nShe kissed him and clung to him, but did not answer, for she could not\nspeak.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\nHOW HALL THE MATE CUT THE GRAPNEL CHAIN\n\n\nGudruda bent her head like a drooping flower, and presently sank to\nearth, for her knees would bear her weight no more; but Eric marched to\nthe lip of the sea, his head held high and laughing merrily to hide his\npain of heart. Here stood Asmund, who gripped him by both hands, and\nkissed him on the brow, bidding him good luck.\n\n\u201cI know not whether we shall meet again,\u201d he said; \u201cbut, if my hours be\nsped before thou returnest, this I charge thee: that thou mindest\nGudruda well, for she is the sweetest of all women that I have known,\nand I hold her the most dear.\u201d\n\n\u201cFear not for that, lord,\u201d said Eric; \u201cand I pray thee this, that, if I\ncome back no more, as well may happen, do not force Gudruda into\nmarriage, if she wills it not, and I think she will have little leaning\nthat way. And I say this also: do not count overmuch on Bj\u00f6rn thy son,\nfor he has no loyal heart; and beware of Groa, who was thy housekeeper,\nfor she loves not that Unna should take her place and more. And now I\nthank thee for many good things, and farewell.\u201d\n\n\u201cFarewell, my son,\u201d said Asmund, \u201cfor in this hour thou seemest as a\nson to me.\u201d\n\nEric turned to enter the sea and wade to the vessel, but Skallagrim\ncaught him in his arms as though he were but a child, and, wading into\nthe surf till the water covered his waistbelt, bore him to the vessel\nand lifted him up so that Eric reached the bulwarks with his hands.\n\nThen they loosed the cable and got out the oars and soon were dancing\nover the sea. Presently the breeze caught them, and they set the great\nsail and sped away like a gull towards the Westman Isles. But Gudruda\nsat on the shore watching till, at length, the light faded from Eric\u2019s\ngolden helm as he stood upon the poop, and the world grew dark to her.\n\nNow Ospakar Blacktooth had news of this sailing and took counsel of\nGizur his son, and the end of it was that they made ready two great\nships, dragons of war, and, placing sixty fighting men in each of them,\nsailed round the Iceland coast to the Westmans and waited there to\nwaylay Eric. They had spies on the land, and from them they learned of\nBrighteyes\u2019 coming, and sailed out to meet him in the channel between\nthe greater and the lesser islands, where they knew that he must pass.\n\nNow it drew towards evening when Eric rowed down this channel, for the\nwind had fallen and he desired to be clear at sea. Presently, as the\nGudruda came near to the mouth of the channel, that had high cliffs on\neither hand, Eric saw two long dragons of war\u2014for their bulwarks were\nshield-hung\u2014glide from the cover of the island and take their station\nside by side between him and the open sea.\n\n\u201cNow here are vikings,\u201d said Eric to Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cNow here is Ospakar Blacktooth,\u201d answered Skallagrim, \u201cfor well I know\nthat raven banner of his. This is a good voyage, for we must seek but a\nlittle while before we come to fighting.\u201d\n\nEric bade the men lay on their oars, and spoke:\n\n\u201cBefore us is Ospakar Blacktooth in two great dragons, and he is here\nto cut us off. Now two choices are left to us: one is to bout ship and\nrun before him, and the other to row on and give him battle. What say\nye, comrades?\u201d\n\nHall of Lithdale, the mate, answered, saying:\n\n\u201cLet us go back, lest we die. The odds are too great, Eric.\u201d\n\nBut a man among the crew cried out, \u201cWhen thou didst go on holmgang at\nThingvalla, Eric, Ospakar\u2019s two chosen champions stood before thee, yet\nat Whitefire\u2019s flash they skurried through the water like startled\nducks. It was an omen, for so shall his great ships fly when we swoop\non them.\u201d Then the others shouted:\n\n\u201cAy, ay! Never let it be said that we fled from Ospakar\u2014fie on thy\nwoman\u2019s talk, Hall!\u201d\n\n\u201cThen we are all of one mind, save Hall only,\u201d said Eric. \u201cLet us put\nOspakar to the proof.\u201d And while men shouted \u201cYea!\u201d he turned to speak\nwith Skallagrim. The Baresark was gone, for, wasting no breath in\nwords, already he was fixing the long shields on the bulwark rail.\n\nThe men busked on their harness and made them fit for fight, and, when\nall was ready, Eric mounted the poop, and with him Skallagrim, and bade\nthe rowers give way. The Gudruda leapt forward and rushed on towards\nOspakar\u2019s ships. Now they saw that these were bound together with a\ncable and yet they must go betwixt them.\n\nEric ran forward to the prow, and with him Skallagrim, and called aloud\nto a great man who stood upon the ship to starboard, wearing a black\nhelm with raven\u2019s wings:\n\n\u201cWho art thou that bars the sea against me?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am named Ospakar Blacktooth,\u201d answered the great man.\n\n\u201cAnd what must we lose at thy hands, Ospakar?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut one thing\u2014your lives!\u201d answered Blacktooth.\n\n\u201cThrice have we stood face to face, Ospakar,\u201d said Eric, \u201cand it seems\nthat hitherto thou hast won no great glory. Now it shall be proved if\nthy luck has bettered.\u201d\n\n\u201cArt yet healed, lord, of that prick in the shoulder which thou camest\nby on Horse-Head Heights?\u201d roared Skallagrim.\n\nFor answer, Ospakar seized a spear and hurled it straight at Eric, and\nit had been his death had he not caught it in his hand as it flew. Then\nhe cast it back, and that so mightily that it sped right through the\nshield of Ospakar and was the bane of a man who stood beside him.\n\n\u201cA gift for a gift!\u201d laughed Eric. On rushed the Gudruda, but now the\ncable was strained six fathoms from her bow that held together the\nships of Ospakar and it was too strong for breaking. Eric looked and\nsaw. Then he drew Whitefire, and while all men wondered, leaped over\nthe prow of the ship and, clasping the golden dragon\u2019s head with his\narm, set his feet upon its claws and waited. On sped the ship and\nspears flew thick and fast about him, but there Brighteyes hung. Now\nthe Gudruda\u2019s bow caught the great rope and strained it taut and, as it\nrose beneath her weight, Eric smote swift and strong with Whitefire and\nclove it in two, so that the severed ends fell with a splash into the\nquiet water.\n\nEric sprang back to deck while stones and spears hissed about him.\n\n\u201cThat was well done, lord,\u201d said Skallagrim; \u201cnow we shall be snugly\nberthed.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn oars and out grappling-irons,\u201d shouted Eric.\n\nUp rose the rowers, and their war-gear rattled as they rose. They drew\nin the long oars, and not before it was time, for now the Gudruda\nforced her way between the two dragons of Ospakar and lay with her bow\nto their sterns. Then with a shout Eric\u2019s men cast the irons and soon\nthe ships were locked fast and the fight began. The spears flew thick,\nand on either side some got their death before them. Then the men of\nthat vessel, named the Raven, which was to larboard of the Gudruda,\nmade ready to board. On they came with a rush, and were driven back,\nthough hardly, for they were many, and those who stood against them\nfew. Again they came, scrambling over the bulwarks, and this time a\nscore of them leapt aboard. Eric turned from the fight against the\ndragon of Ospakar and saw it. Then, with Skallagrim, he rushed to meet\nthe boarders as they swarmed along the hold, and naught might they\nwithstand the axe and sword.\n\nThrough and through them swept the mighty pair, now Whitefire flashed,\nand now the great axe fell, and at every stroke a man lay dead or\nwounded. Six of the boarders turned to fly, but just then the\ngrappling-iron broke and their ship drifted out with the tide towards\nthe open sea, and presently no man of that twenty was left alive.\n\nNow the men of the ship of Ospakar and of the Gudruda pressed each\nother hard. Thrice did Ospakar strive to come aboard and thrice he was\npushed back. Eric was ever where he was most needed, and with him\nSkallagrim, for these two threw themselves from side to side, and were\nnow here and now there, so that it seemed as though there were not one\ngolden helm and one black, but rather four on board the Gudruda.\n\nEric looked and saw that the other ship was drawing round, though\nsomewhat slowly, to come alongside of them once more.\n\n\u201cNow we must make an end of Ospakar, else our hands will be overfull,\u201d\nhe said, and therewith sprang up upon the bulwarks and after him many\nmen. Once they were driven back, but came on again, and now they thrust\nall Ospakar\u2019s men before them and passed up his ship on both boards. By\nthe mast stood Ospakar and with him Gizur his son, and Eric strove to\ncome to him. But many men were between them, and he could not do this.\n\nPresently, while the fight yet went on hotly and men fell fast,\nBrighteyes felt the dragon of Ospakar strike, and, looking, saw that\nthey had drifted with the send of the tide on to the rocks of the\nisland. There was a great hole in the hull amidships and the water\nrushed in fast.\n\n\u201cBack! men; back!\u201d he cried, and all his folk that were unhurt, ran,\nand leapt on board the Gudruda; but Ospakar and his men sprang into the\nsea and swam for the shore. Then Skallagrim cut loose the\ngrappling-irons with his axe, and that not too soon, for, scarcely had\nthey pushed clear with great toil when the long warship slipped from\nthe rock and foundered, taking many dead and wounded men with her.\n\nNow Ospakar and some of his people stood safe upon the rocks, and Eric\ncalled to him in mockery, bidding him come aboard the Gudruda.\n\nOspakar made no answer, but stood gnawing his hand, while the water ran\nfrom him. Only Gizur his son cursed them aloud.\n\nEric was greatly minded to follow them, and land and fight them there;\nbut he might not do this, because of the rocks and of the other dragon,\nthat hung about them, fearing to come on and yet not willing to go\nback.\n\n\u201cWe will have her, at the least,\u201d said Eric, and bade the rowers get\nout their oars.\n\nNow, when the men on board the other ship saw the Gudruda drawing on,\nthey took to their oars at once and rowed swiftly for the sea, and at\nthis a great roar of laughter went down Eric\u2019s ship.\n\n\u201cThey shall not slip from us so easily,\u201d said Eric; \u201cgive way,\ncomrades, and after them.\u201d\n\nBut the men were much wearied with fighting, and the decks were all\ncumbered with dead and wounded, so that by the time that the Gudruda\nhad put about, and come to the mouth of the waterway, Ospakar\u2019s vessel\nhad shaken out her sails and caught the wind, that now blew strong off\nshore, and sped away six furlongs or more from Eric\u2019s prow.\n\n\u201cNow we shall see how the Gudruda sails,\u201d said Eric, and they spread\ntheir canvas and gave chase.\n\nThen Eric bade men clear the decks of the dead, and tend the wounded.\nHe had lost seven men slain outright, and three were wounded, one to\ndeath. But on board the ship there lay of Ospakar\u2019s force twenty and\nthree dead men.\n\nWhen all were cast into the sea, men ate and rested.\n\n\u201cWe have not done so badly,\u201d said Eric to Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cWe shall do better yet,\u201d said Skallagrim to Eric; \u201crather had I seen\nOspakar\u2019s head lying in the scuppers than those of all his carles; for\nhe may get more men, but never another head!\u201d\n\nNow the wind freshened till by midnight it blew strongly. The mate Hall\ncame to Eric and said:\n\n\u201cThe Gudruda dips her nose deep in Ran\u2019s cup. Say, Eric, shall we\nshorten sail?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d answered Eric, \u201ckeep her full and bail. Where yonder Raven\nflies, my Sea-stag must follow,\u201d and he pointed to the warship that\nrode the waves before them.\n\nAfter midnight clouds came up, with rain, and hid the face of the\nnight-sun and the ship they sought. The wind blew ever harder, till at\nlength, when the rain had passed and the clouds lifted, there was much\nwater in the hold and the bailers could hardly stand at their work.\n\nMen murmured, and Hall the mate murmured most of all; but still Eric\nheld on, for there, not two furlongs ahead of them, rode the dragon of\nOspakar. But now, being afraid of the wind and sea, she had lowered her\nsail somewhat, and made as though she would put about and run for\nIceland.\n\n\u201cThat she may not do,\u201d called Eric to Skallagrim, \u201cif once she rolls\nside on to those seas Ran has her, for she must fill and sink.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo they hold, lord,\u201d answered Skallagrim; \u201csee, once more she runs!\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, but we run faster\u2014she is outsailed. Up, men, up: for presently the\nfight begins.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is bad to join battle in such a sea,\u201d quoth Hall.\n\n\u201cGood or bad,\u201d growled Skallagrim, \u201cdo thou thy lord\u2019s bidding,\u201d and he\nhalf lifted up his axe.\n\nThe mate said no more, for he misdoubted him of Skallagrim Lambstail\nand his axe.\n\nThen men made ready for the fray as best they might, and stood, sword\nin hand and drenched with foam, clinging to the bulwarks of the Gudruda\nas she wallowed through the seas.\n\nEric went aft to the helm and seized it. Now but a length ahead\nOspakar\u2019s ship laboured on beneath her small sail, but the Gudruda\nrushed towards her with all canvas set and at every leap plunged her\ngolden dragon beneath the surf and shook the water from her foredeck.\n\n\u201cMake ready the grapnel!\u201d shouted Eric through the storm. Skallagrim\nseized the iron and stood by. Now the Gudruda rushed alongside the\nRaven, and Eric steered so skilfully that there was a fathom space, and\nno more, between the ships.\n\nSkallagrim cast the iron well and truly, so that it hooked and held. On\nsped the Gudruda and the cable tautened\u2014now her stern kissed the bow of\nOspakar\u2019s ship, as though she was towing her, and thus for a space they\ntravelled through the seas.\n\nEric\u2019s folk shouted and strove to cast spears; but they did this but\nill, because of the rocking of the vessel. As for Ospakar\u2019s men, they\nclung to their bulwarks and did nothing, for all the heart was out of\nthem between fear of Eric and terror of the sea. Eric called to a man\nto hold the helm, and Skallagrim crept aft to where he stood.\n\n\u201cWhat counsel shall we take now?\u201d said Eric, and as he spoke a sea\nbroke over them\u2014for the gale was strong.\n\n\u201cBoard them and make an end,\u201d answered Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cRough work; still, we will try it,\u201d said Eric, \u201cfor we may not lie\nthus for long, and I am loath to leave them.\u201d\n\nThen Eric called for men to follow him, and many answered, creeping as\nbest they might to where he stood.\n\n\u201cThou art mad, Eric,\u201d said Hall the mate; \u201ccut loose and let us drive,\nelse we shall both founder, and that is a poor tale to tell.\u201d\n\nEric took no heed, but, watching his chance, leapt on to the bows of\nthe Raven, and after him leapt Skallagrim. Even as he did so, a great\nsea came and swept past and over them, so that half the ship was hid\nfor foam. Now, Hall the mate stood near to the grapnel cable, and,\nfearing lest they should sink, out of the cowardice of his heart, he\nlet his axe fall upon the chain, and severed it so swiftly that no man\nsaw him, except Skallagrim only. Forward sprang the Gudruda, freed from\nher burden, and rushed away before the wind, leaving Eric and\nSkallagrim alone upon the Raven\u2019s prow.\n\n\u201cNow we are in an evil plight,\u201d said Eric, \u201cthe cable has parted!\u201d\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d answered Skallagrim, \u201cand that losel Hall hath parted it! I saw\nhis axe fall.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\nHOW ERIC DREAMED A DREAM\n\n\nNow, when the men of Ospakar, who were gathered on the poop of the\nRaven, saw what had come about, they shouted aloud and made ready to\nslay the pair. But Eric and Skallagrim clambered to the mast and got\ntheir backs against it, and swiftly made themselves fast with a rope,\nso that they might not fall with the rolling of the ship. Then the\npeople of Ospakar came on to cut them down.\n\nBut this was no easy task, for they might scarcely stand, and they\ncould not shoot with the bow. Moreover, Eric and Skallagrim, being\nbound to the mast, had the use of both hands and were minded to die\nhard. Therefore Ospakar\u2019s folks got but one thing by their onslaught,\nand that was death, for three of their number fell beneath the long\nsweep of Whitefire, and one bowed before the axe of Skallagrim. Then\nthey drew back and strove to throw spears at these two, but they flew\nwide because of the rolling of the vessel. One spear struck the mast\nnear the head of Skallagrim. He drew it out, and, waiting till the ship\nsteadied herself in the trough of the sea, hurled it at a knot of\nOspakar\u2019s thralls, and a man got his death from it. After that they\nthrew no more spears.\n\nThence once more the crew came on with swords and axes, but\nfaint-heartedly, and the end of it was that they lost some more men\ndead and wounded and fell back again.\n\nSkallagrim mocked at them with bitter words, and one of them, made mad\nby his scoffing, cast a heavy ballast-stone at him. It fell upon his\nshoulder and numbed him.\n\n\u201cNow I am unmeet for fight, lord,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cfor my right arm\nis dead and I can scarcely hold my axe.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is ill, then,\u201d said Eric, \u201cfor we have little help, except from\neach other, and I, too, am well-nigh spent. Well, we have done a great\ndeed and now it is time to rest.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy left arm is yet whole, lord, and I can make shift for a while with\nit. Cut loose the cord before they bait us to death, and let us rush\nupon these wolves and fall fighting.\u201d\n\n\u201cA good counsel,\u201d said Eric, \u201cand a quick end; but stay a while: what\nplan have they now?\u201d\n\nNow the men of Ospakar, having little heart left in them for such work\nas this, had taken thought together.\n\n\u201cWe have got great hurt, and little honour,\u201d said the mate. \u201cThere are\nbut nineteen of us left alive, and that is scarcely enough to work the\nship, and it seems that we shall be fewer before Eric Brighteyes and\nSkallagrim Lambstail lie quiet by yonder mast. They are mighty men,\nindeed, and it would be better, methinks, to deal with them by craft,\nrather than by force.\u201d\n\nThe sailors said that this was a good word, for they were weary of the\nsight of Whitefire as he flamed on high and the sound of the axe of\nSkallagrim as it crashed through helm and byrnie; and as fear crept in\nvalour fled out.\n\n\u201cThis is my rede, then,\u201d said the mate: \u201cthat we go to them and give\nthem peace, and lay them in bonds, swearing that we will put them\nashore when we are come back to Iceland. But when we have them fast, as\nthey sleep at night, we will creep on them and hurl them into the sea,\nand afterwards we will say that we slew them fighting.\u201d\n\n\u201cA shameful deed!\u201d said a man.\n\n\u201cThen go thou up against them,\u201d answered the mate. \u201cIf we slay them\nnot, then shall this tale be told against us throughout Iceland: that a\nship\u2019s company were worsted by two men, and we may not live beneath\nthat dishonour.\u201d\n\nThe man held his peace, and the mate, laying down his arms, crept\nforward alone, towards the mast, just as Eric and Skallagrim were about\nto cut themselves loose and rush on them.\n\n\u201cWhat wouldest thou?\u201d shouted Eric. \u201cHas it gone so well with you with\narms that ye are minded to come up against us bearing none?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt has gone ill, Eric,\u201d said the mate, \u201cfor ye twain are too mighty\nfor us. We have lost many men, and we shall lose more ere ye are laid\nlow. Therefore we make you this offer: that you lay down your weapons\nand suffer yourselves to be bound till such time as we touch land,\nwhere we will set you ashore, and give you your arms again. Meanwhile,\nwe will deal with you in friendly fashion, giving you of the best we\nhave; nor will we set foot any suit against you for those of our number\nwhom ye two have slain.\u201d\n\n\u201cWherefore then should we be bound?\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cFor this reason only: that we dare not leave you free within our ship.\nNow choose, and, if ye will, take peace, which we swear by all the Gods\nwe will keep towards you, and, if ye will not, then we will bear you\ndown with beams and sails and stones, and slay you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat thinkest thou, Skallagrim?\u201d said Eric beneath his breath.\n\n\u201cI think that I find little faith in yon carle\u2019s face,\u201d answered\nSkallagrim. \u201cStill, I am unfit to fight, and thy strength is spent, so\nit seems that we must lie low if we would rise again. They can scarcely\nbe so base as to do murder having handselled peace to us.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not so sure of that,\u201d said Eric; \u201cstill, starving beggars must\neat bones. Hearken thou: we take the terms, trusting to your honour;\nand I say this: that ye shall get shame and death if ye depart from\nthem to harm us.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave no fear, lord,\u201d said the mate, \u201cwe are true men.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat we shall look to your deeds to learn,\u201d said Eric, laying down his\nsword and shield.\n\nSkallagrim did likewise, though with no good grace. Then men came with\nstrong cords and bound them fast hand and foot, handling them\nfearsomely as men handle a live bear in a net. Then they led them\nforward to the prow.\n\nAs they went Eric looked up. Yonder, twenty furlongs and more away,\nsailed the Gudruda.\n\n\u201cThis is good fellowship,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cthus to leave us in the\ntrap.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d answered Eric. \u201cThey cannot put about in such a sea, and\ndoubtless also they think us dead. Nevertheless, if ever it comes about\nthat Hall and I stand face to face again, there will be need for me to\nthink of gentleness.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall think little thereon,\u201d growled Skallagrim.\n\nNow they were come to the prow, and there was a half deck under which\nthey were set, out of reach of the wind and water. In the deck was a\nstout iron ring, and the men made them fast with ropes to it, so that\nthey might move but little, and they set their helms and weapons behind\nthem in such fashion that they could not come at them. Then they flung\ncloaks about them, and brought them food and drink, of which they stood\nmuch in need, and treated them well in every way. But for all this\nSkallagrim trusted them no more.\n\n\u201cWe are new-hooked, lord,\u201d he said, \u201cand they give us line. Presently\nthey will haul us in.\u201d\n\n\u201cEvil comes soon enough,\u201d answered Eric, \u201cno need to run to greet it,\u201d\nand he fell to thinking of Gudruda, and of the day\u2019s deeds, till\npresently he dropped asleep, for he was very weary.\n\nNow it chanced that as Eric slept he dreamed a dream so strong and\nstrange that it seemed to live within him. He dreamed that he slept\nthere beneath the Raven\u2019s deck, and that a rat came and whispered\nspells into his ear. Then he dreamed that Swanhild glided towards him,\nwalking on the stormy seas. He saw her afar, and she came swiftly, and\never the sea grew smooth before her feet, nor did the wind so much as\nstir her hair. Presently she stood by him in the ship, and, bending\nover him, touched him on the shoulder, saying:\n\n\u201cAwake, Eric Brighteyes! Awake! awake!\u201d\n\nIt seemed to him that he awoke and said \u201cWhat tidings, Swanhild?\u201d and\nthat she answered:\n\n\u201cIll tidings, Eric\u2014so ill that I am come hither from Straumey[*] to\ntell of them\u2014ay, come walking on the seas. Had Gudruda done so much,\nthinkest thou?\u201d\n\n[*] Stroma, the southernmost of the Orkneys.\n\n\n\u201cGudruda is no witch,\u201d he said in his dream.\n\n\u201cNay, but I am a witch, and it is well for thee, Eric. Ay, I am a\nwitch. Now do I seem to sleep at Atli\u2019s side, and lo! here I stand by\nthine, and I must journey back again many a league before another day\nbe born\u2014ay, many a league, and all for love of thee, Eric! Hearken, for\nnot long may the spell endure. I have seen this by my magic: that these\nmen who bound thee come even now to take thee, sleeping, and cast thee\nand thy thrall into the deep, there to drown.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf it is fated it will befall,\u201d he said in his dream.\n\n\u201cNay, it shall not befall. Put forth all thy might and burst thy bonds.\nThen fetch Whitefire; cut away the bonds of Skallagrim, and give him\nhis axe and shield. This done, cover yourselves with your cloaks, and\nwait till ye hear the murderers come. Then rise and rush upon them, the\ntwo of you, and they shall melt before your might. I have journeyed\nover the great deep to tell thee this, Eric! Had Gudruda done as much,\nthinkest thou?\u201d\n\nAnd it seemed to him that the wraith of Swanhild kissed him on the\nbrow, sighed and vanished, bearing the rat in her bosom.\n\nEric awoke suddenly, just as though he had never slept, and looked\naround. He knew by the lowness of the sun that it was far into the\nnight, and that he had slept for many hours. They were alone beneath\nthe deck, and far aft, beyond the mast, as the vessel rose upon the\nwaves\u2014for the sea was still rough, though the wind had fallen\u2014Eric saw\nthe mate of the Raven talking earnestly with some men of his crew.\nSkallagrim snored beside him.\n\n\u201cAwake!\u201d Eric said in his ear, \u201cawake and listen!\u201d\n\nHe yawned and roused himself. \u201cWhat now, lord?\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cThis,\u201d said Eric, and he told him the dream that he had dreamed.\n\n\u201cThat was a fey dream,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cand now we must do as the\nwraith bade thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cEasy to say, but hard to do,\u201d quoth Eric; \u201cthis is a great rope that\nholds us, and a strong.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, it is great and strong; still, we must burst it.\u201d\n\nNow Eric and Skallagrim were made fast in this fashion: their hands\nwere bound behind them, and their legs were lashed above the feet and\nabove the knee. Moreover, a thick cord was fixed about the waist of\neach, and this cord was passed through the iron ring and knotted there.\nBut it chanced that beneath the hollows of their knees ran an oaken\nbeam, which held the forepart of the dragon together.\n\n\u201cWe may try this,\u201d said Eric: \u201cto set our feet against the beam and\nstrain with all our strength upon the rope; though I think that no two\nmen can part it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe shall know that presently,\u201d said Skallagrim, gathering up his legs.\n\nThen they set their feet against the beam and pulled till it groaned;\nbut, though the rope gave somewhat, it would not break. They rested a\nwhile, then strained again till the sweat burst out upon them and the\nrope cut into their flesh, but still it would not part.\n\n\u201cWe have found our match,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cThat is not altogether proved yet,\u201d answered the Baresark. \u201cMany a\nshield is riven at the third stroke.\u201d\n\nSo once again they set their feet against the beam, and put out all\ntheir strength.\n\n\u201cThe ring bends,\u201d gasped Eric. \u201cNow, when the roll of the ship throws\nour weight to leeward, in the name of Thor pull!\u201d\n\nThey waited, then put out their might, and lo! though the rope did not\nbreak, the iron ring burst asunder and they rolled upon the deck.\n\n\u201cWell pulled, truly,\u201d said Skallagrim as he struggled to his haunches:\n\u201cI am marked about the middle with rope-twists for many a day to come,\nthat I will swear. What next, lord?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhitefire,\u201d answered Eric.\n\nNow, their arms were piled a fathom or more from where they sat, and\nright in the prow of the ship. Hither, then, they must crawl upon their\nknees, and this was weary work, for ever as the ship rolled they fell,\nand could in no wise save themselves from hurt. Eric was bleeding at\nthe brow, and bloody was the hooked nose of Skallagrim, before they\ncame to where Whitefire was. At length they reached the sword, and\npushed aside the bucklers that were over it with their heads. The great\nwar-blade was sheathed, and Eric must needs lie upon his breast and\ndraw the weapon somewhat with his teeth.\n\n\u201cThis is an ill razor to shave with,\u201d he said, rising, for the keen\nblade had cut his chin.\n\n\u201cSo some have thought and perchance more shall think,\u201d answered\nSkallagrim. \u201cNow set the rope on the edge and rub.\u201d\n\nThis they did, and presently the thick cord that bound them was in two.\nThen Eric knelt upon the deck and pressed the bonds that bound his legs\nupon the blade, and after him Skallagrim. They were free now, except\nfor their hands, and it was no easy thing to cut away the bonds upon\ntheir wrists. It was done thus: Skallagrim sat upon the deck, and Eric\npushed the sword between his fingers with his feet. Then the Baresark\nrose, holding the sword, and Eric, turning back to back with him,\nfretted the cords upon his wrists against the blade. Twice he cut\nhimself, but the third time the cord parted and he was free. He\nstretched his arms, for they were stiff; then took Whitefire and cut\naway the bonds of Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cHow goes it with that hurt of thine?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cBetter than I had thought,\u201d answered Skallagrim; \u201cthe soreness has\ncome out with the bruise.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is good news,\u201d said Eric, \u201cfor methinks, unless Swanhild walked\nthe seas for nothing, thou wilt soon need thine arms.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey have never failed me yet,\u201d said Skallagrim and took his axe and\nshield. \u201cWhat counsel now?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis, Skallagrim: that we lie down as we were, and put the cloaks\nabout us as though we were yet in bonds. Then, if these knaves come, we\ncan take them unawares as they think to take us.\u201d\n\nSo they went again to where they had been bound, and lay down upon\ntheir shields and weapons, drawing cloaks over them. Scarcely had they\ndone this and rested a while, when they saw the mate and all the crew\ncoming along both boards towards them. They bore no weapons in their\nhands.\n\n\u201cNone too soon did Swanhild walk,\u201d said Eric; \u201cnow we shall learn their\npurpose. Be thou ready to leap forth when I give the word.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, lord,\u201d answered Skallagrim as he worked his stiff arms to and fro.\n\u201cIn such matters few have thought me backward.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat news, friends?\u201d cried Eric as the men drew near.\n\n\u201cBad news for thee, Brighteyes,\u201d answered the mate, \u201cand that Baresark\nthrall of thine, for we must loose your bands.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is good news, then,\u201d said Eric, \u201cfor our limbs are numb and dead\nbecause of the nipping of the cords. Is land in sight?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, nor will be for thee, Eric.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow now, friend? how now? Sure, having handselled peace to us, ye mean\nno harm towards two unarmed men?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe swore to do you no harm, nor will we, Eric; this only will we do:\ndeliver you, bound, to Ran, and leave her to deal with you as she may.\u201d\n\n\u201cBethink you, sirs,\u201d said Eric: \u201cthis is a cruel deed and most unmanly.\nWe yielded to you in faith\u2014will ye break your troth?\u201d\n\n\u201cWar has no troth,\u201d he answered, \u201cye are too great to let slip between\nour fingers. Shall it be said of us that two men overcame us all?\u201d\n\n\u201cMayhap!\u201d murmured Skallagrim beneath his breath.\n\n\u201cOh, sirs, I beseech you,\u201d said Eric; \u201cI am young, and there is a maid\nwho waits me out in Iceland, and it is hard to die,\u201d and he made as\nthough he wept, while Skallagrim laughed within his sleeve, for it was\nstrange to see Eric feigning fear.\n\nBut the men mocked aloud.\n\n\u201cThis is the great man,\u201d they cried, \u201cthis is that Eric of whose deeds\nfolk sing! Look! he weeps like a child when he sees the water. Drag him\nforth and away with him into the sea!\u201d\n\n\u201cLittle need for that,\u201d cried Eric, and lo! the cloaks about him and\nSkallagrim flew aside. Out they came with a roar; they came out as a\nshe-bear from her cave, and high above Brighteyes\u2019 golden curls\nWhitefire shone in the pale light, and nigh to it shone the axe of\nSkallagrim. Whitefire flared aloft, then down he fell and sought the\nfalse heart of the mate. The great axe of Skallagrim shone and was lost\nin the breast of the carle who stood before him.\n\n\u201cTrolls!\u201d shrieked one. \u201cHere are trolls!\u201d and turned to fly. But again\nWhitefire was up and that man flew not far\u2014one pace, and no more. Then\nthey fled screaming and after them came axe and sword. They fled, they\nfell, they leaped into the sea, till none were left to fall and leap,\nfor they had no time or heart to find or draw their weapons, and\npresently Eric Brighteyes and Skallagrim Lambstail stood alone upon the\ndeck\u2014alone with the dead.\n\n\u201cSwanhild is a wise witch,\u201d gasped Eric, \u201cand, whatever ill she has\ndone, I will remember this to her honour.\u201d\n\n\u201cLittle good comes of witchcraft,\u201d answered Skallagrim, wiping his\nbrow: \u201cto-day it works for our hands, to-morrow it shall work against\nthem.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the helm,\u201d said Eric; \u201cthe ship yaws and comes side on to the\nseas.\u201d\n\nSkallagrim sprang to the tiller and put his strength on it, and but\njust in time, for one big sea came aboard them and left much water in\nthe hold.\n\n\u201cWe owe this to thy Baresark ways,\u201d said Eric. \u201cHadst thou not slain\nthe steersman we had not filled with water.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue, lord,\u201d answered Skallagrim; \u201cbut when once my axe is aloft, it\nseems to fly of itself, till nothing is left before it. What course\nnow?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe same on which the Gudruda was laid. Perhaps, if we may endure till\nwe come to the Farey Isles,[*] we shall find her in harbour there.\u201d\n\n[*] The Faroes.\n\n\n\u201cThere is not much chance of that,\u201d said Skallagrim; \u201cstill, the wind\nis fair, and we fly fast before it.\u201d\n\nThen they lashed the tiller and set to bailing. They bailed long, and\nit was heavy work, but they rid the ship of much water. After that they\nate food, for it was now morning, and it came on to blow yet more\nstrongly.\n\nFor three days and three nights it blew thus, and the Raven sped along\nbefore the gale. All this time, turn and turn about, Eric and\nSkallagrim stood at the helm and tended the sails. They had little time\nto eat, and none to sleep. They were so hard pressed also, and must\nharbour their strength so closely, that the bodies of the dead men yet\ncumbered the hold. Thus they grew very weary and like to fall from\nfaintness, but still they held the Raven on her course. In the\nbeginning of the fourth night a great sea struck the good ship so that\nshe quivered from stem to stern.\n\n\u201cMethinks I hear water bubbling up,\u201d said Skallagrim in a hoarse voice.\n\nEric climbed down into the well and lifted the bottom planks, and there\nbeneath them was a leak through which the water spouted in a thin\nstream. He stopped up the rent as best he might with garments from the\ndead men, and placed ballast stones upon them, then clambered on to the\ndeck again.\n\n\u201cOur hours are short now,\u201d he said, \u201cthe water rushes in apace.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, it is time to rest,\u201d said Skallagrim; \u201cbut see, lord!\u201d and he\npointed ahead. \u201cWhat land is that?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt must be the Fareys,\u201d answered Eric; \u201cnow, if we can but keep afloat\nfor three hours more, we may yet die ashore.\u201d\n\nAfter this the wind began to fall, but still there was enough to drive\nthe Raven on swiftly.\n\nAnd ever the water gained in the hold.\n\nNow they were not far from land, for ahead of them the bleak hills\ntowered up, shining in the faint midnight light, and between the hills\nwas a cleft that seemed to be a fjord. Another hour passed, and they\nwere no more than ten furlongs from the mouth of the fjord, when\nsuddenly the wind fell, and they were in calm water under shelter of\nthe land. They went amidships and looked. The hold was half full of\nwater, and in it floated the bodies of Ospakar\u2019s men.\n\n\u201cShe has not long to live,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cbut we may still be saved\nif the boat is not broken.\u201d\n\nNow aft, near the tiller, a small boat was bound on the half deck of\nthe Raven. They went to it and looked; it was whole, with oars lashed\nin it, but half full of water, which they must bail out. This they did\nas swiftly as they might; then they cut the little boat loose, and,\nhaving made it fast with a rope, lifted it over the side-rail and let\nit fall into the sea, and that was no great way, for the Raven had sunk\ndeep. It fell on an even keel, and Eric let himself down the rope into\nit and called to Skallagrim to follow.\n\n\u201cBide a while, lord,\u201d he answered; \u201cthere is that which I would bring\nwith me.\u201d\n\nFor a space Eric waited and then called aloud, \u201cSwift! thou fool;\nswift! the ship sinks!\u201d\n\nAnd as he called, Skallagrim came, and his arms were full of swords and\nbyrnies, and red rings of gold that he had found time to gather from\nthe dead and out of the cabin.\n\n\u201cThrow all aside and come,\u201d said Eric, laying on to the oars, for the\nRaven wallowed before she sank.\n\n\u201cThere is yet time, lord, and the gear is good,\u201d answered Skallagrim,\nand one by one he threw pieces down into the boat. As the last fell the\nRaven sank to her bulwarks. Then Skallagrim stepped from the sinking\ndeck into the boat, and cut the cord, not too soon.\n\nEric gave way with all his strength, and, as he pulled, when he was no\nmore than five fathoms from her, the Raven vanished with a huge swirl.\n\n\u201cHold still,\u201d he said, \u201cor we shall follow.\u201d\n\nRound spun the boat in the eddy, she was sucked down till the water\ntrickled over her gunwale, and for a moment they knew not if they were\nlost or saved. Eric held his breath and watched, then slowly the boat\nlifted her nose, and they were safe from the whirlpool of the lost\ndragon.\n\n\u201cGreed is many a man\u2019s bane,\u201d said Eric, \u201cand it was nearly thine and\nmine, Skallagrim.\u201d\n\n\u201cI had no heart to leave the good gear,\u201d he answered; \u201cand thou seest,\nlord, it is safe and we with it.\u201d\n\nThen they got the boat\u2019s head round slowly into the mouth of the fjord,\npausing now and again to rest, for their strength was spent. For two\nhours they rowed down a gulf, as it were, and on either side of them\nwere barren hills. At length the water-way opened out into a great\nbasin, and there, on the further side of the basin, they saw green\nslopes running down to the water\u2019s edge, strewn with white stock-fish\nset to dry in the wind and sun, and above the slopes a large hall, and\nabout it booths. Moreover, they saw a long dragon of war at anchor near\nthe shore. For a while they rowed on, easing now and again. Then Eric\nspoke to Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cWhat thinkest thou of yonder ship, Lambstail?\u201d\n\n\u201cI think this, lord: that she is fashioned wondrous like to the\nGudruda.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is in my mind also,\u201d said Eric, \u201cand our fortune is good if it is\nshe.\u201d\n\nThey rowed on again, and presently a ray from the sun came over the\nhills\u2014for now it was three hours past midnight\u2014and, the ship having\nswung a little with the tide, lit upon her prow, and lo! there gleamed\nthe golden dragon of the Gudruda.\n\n\u201cThis is a strange thing,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cAy, lord, a strange and a merry, for now I shall talk with Hall the\nmate,\u201d and the Baresark smiled grimly.\n\n\u201cThou shalt do no hurt to Hall,\u201d said Eric. \u201cI am lord here, and I must\njudge.\u201d\n\n\u201cThy will is my will,\u201d said Skallagrim; \u201cbut if my will were thine, he\nwould hang on the mast till sea-birds nested amidst his bones.\u201d\n\nNow they were close to the ship, but they could see no man. Skallagrim\nwould have called aloud, but Eric bade him hold his peace.\n\n\u201cEither they are dead, and thy calling cannot wake them, or perchance\nthey sleep and will wake of themselves. We will row under the stern,\nand, having made fast, climb aboard and see with our own eyes.\u201d\n\nThis, then, they did as silently as might be, and saw that the Gudruda\nhad not been handled gently by the winds and waves, for her shield rail\nwas washed away. This they found also, that all men lay deep in sleep.\nNow, amidships a fire still burned, and by it was food. They came there\nand ate of the food, of which they had great need. Then they took two\ncloaks that lay on the deck, and, throwing them about them, warmed\nthemselves over the fire: for they were cold and wet, ay, and utterly\noutworn.\n\nAs they sat thus warming themselves, a man of the crew awoke and saw\nthem, and being amazed, at once called to his fellows, saying that two\ngiants were aboard, warming themselves at the fire. Now men sprang up,\nand, seizing their weapons, ran towards them, and among them was Hall\nthe mate.\n\nThen suddenly Eric Brighteyes and Skallagrim Lambstail threw aside the\ncloaks and stood up. They were gaunt and grim to see. Their cheeks were\nhollow and their eyes stared wide with want of sleep. Thick was their\nharness with brine, and open wounds gaped upon their faces and their\nhands. Men saw and fell back in fear, for they held them to be wizards\nrisen from the sea in the shapes of Eric and the Baresark.\n\nThen Eric sang this song:\n\n\u201cSwift and sure across the Swan\u2019s Bath\nSped Sea-stag on Raven\u2019s track,\nHeav\u2019d Ran\u2019s breast in raging billows,\nStream\u2019d gale-banners through the sky!\nYet did Eric the war-eager\nLeap with Baresark-mate aboard,\nFierce their onset on the foemen!\nWherefore brake the grapnel-chain?\u201d\n\n\nHall heard and slunk back, for now he saw that these were indeed Eric\nand Skallagrim come up alive from the sea, and that they knew his\nbaseness.\n\nEric looked at him and sang again:\n\n\u201cSwift away sped ship Gudruda,\nLeft her lord in foeman\u2019s ring;\nBrighteyes back to back with Baresark\nHeld his head \u2018gainst mighty odds.\nDown amidst the ballast tumbling,\nOspakar\u2019s shield-carles were rolled.\nHoly peace at length they handselled,\nEric must in bonds be laid!\n\n\u201cCame the Grey Rat, came the Earl\u2019s wife,\nCame the witch-word from afar;\nCag\u2019d wolves roused them, and with struggling\nTore their fetter from its hold.\nNow they watch upon their weapons;\nNow they weep and pray for life;\nNow they leap forth like a torrent\u2014\nSwept away is foeman\u2019s strength!\n\n\u201cThen alone upon the Raven\nThree long days they steer and sail,\nTill the waters, welling upwards,\nWash dead men about their feet.\nFails the gale and sinks the dragon,\nBarely may they win the boat:\nSafe they stand on ship Gudruda\u2014\nSay, who cut the grapnel-chain?\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\nHOW ERIC DWELT IN LONDON TOWN\n\n\nMen stood astonished, but Hall the mate slunk back.\n\n\u201cHold, comrade,\u201d said Eric, \u201cI have something to say that songs cannot\ncarry. Hearken, my shield-mates: we swore to be true to each other,\neven to death: is it not so? What then shall be said of that man who\ncut loose the Gudruda and left us two to die at the foeman\u2019s hand?\u201d\n\n\u201cWho was the man?\u201d asked a voice.\n\n\u201cThat man was Hall of Lithdale,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cIt is false!\u201d said Hall, gathering up his courage; \u201cthe cable parted\nbeneath the straining of the ship, and afterwards we could not put\nabout because of the great sea.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou art false!\u201d roared Skallagrim. \u201cWith my eyes I saw thee let thine\naxe fall upon the cable. Liar art thou and dastard! Thou art jealous\nalso of Brighteyes thy lord, and this was in thy mind: to let him die\nupon the Raven and then to bind his shoes upon thy cowardly feet.\nThough none else saw, I saw; and I say this: that if I may have my\nwill, I will string thee, living, to the prow in that same cable till\ngulls tear out thy fox-heart!\u201d\n\nNow Hall grew very white and his knees trembled beneath him. \u201cIt is\ntrue,\u201d he said, \u201cthat I cut the chain, but not from any thought of\nevil. Had I not cut it the vessel must have sunk and all been lost.\u201d\n\n\u201cDid we not swear, Hall,\u201d said Eric sternly, \u201ctogether to fight and\ntogether to fall\u2014together to fare and, if need be, together to cease\nfrom faring, and dost thou read the oath thus? Say, mates, what reward\nshall be paid to this man for his good fellowship to us and his\ntenderness for your lives?\u201d\n\nAs with one voice the men answered \u201c_Death!_\u201d\n\n\u201cThou hearest, Hall?\u201d said Eric. \u201cYet I would deal more gently with one\nto whom I swore fellowship so lately. Get thee gone from our company,\nand let us see thy cur\u2019s face no more. Get thee gone, I say, before I\nrepent of my mercy.\u201d\n\nThen amidst a loud hooting, Hall took his weapons and without a word\nslunk into the boat of the Raven that lay astern, and rowed ashore; nor\ndid Eric see his face for many months.\n\n\u201cThou hast done foolishly, lord, to let that weasel go,\u201d said\nSkallagrim, \u201cfor he will live to nip thy hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor good or evil, he is gone,\u201d said Eric, \u201cand now I am worn out and\ndesire to sleep.\u201d\n\nAfter this Eric and Skallagrim rested three full days, and they were so\nweary that they were awake for little of this time. But on the third\nday they rose up, strong and well, except for their hurts and soreness.\nThen they told the men of that which had come to pass, and all wondered\nat their might and hardihood. To them indeed Eric seemed as a God, for\nfew such deeds as his had been told of since the God-kind were on\nearth.\n\nBut Brighteyes thought little of his deeds, and much of Gudruda. At\ntimes also he thought of Swanhild, and of that witch-dream she sent\nhim: for it was wonderful to him that she should have saved him thus\nfrom Ran\u2019s net.\n\nEric was heartily welcomed by the Earl of the Farey Isles, for, when he\nheard his deeds, he made a feast in his honour, and set him in the high\nseat. It was a great feast, but Skallagrim became drunk at it and ran\ndown the chamber, axe aloft, roaring for Hall of Lithdale.\n\nThis angered Eric much and he would scarcely speak to Skallagrim for\nmany days, though the great Baresark slunk about after him like his\nshadow, or a whipped hound at its master\u2019s heel, and at length humbled\nhis pride so far as to ask pardon for his fault.\n\n\u201cI grant it for thy deeds\u2019 sake,\u201d said Eric shortly; \u201cbut this is upon\nmy mind: that thou wilt err thus again, and it shall be my cause of\ndeath\u2014ay, and that of many more.\u201d\n\n\u201cFirst may my bones be white,\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cThey shall be white thereafter,\u201d answered Eric.\n\nAt Fareys Eric shipped twelve good men and true, to take the seats of\nthose who had been slain by Ospakar\u2019s folk. Afterwards, when the\nwounded were well of their hurts (except one man who died), and the\nGudruda was made fit to take the sea again, Brighteyes bade farewell to\nthe Earl of those Isles, who gave him a good cloak and a gold ring at\nparting, and sailed away.\n\nNow it were too long to tell of all the deeds that Eric and his men\ndid. Never, so scalds sing, was there a viking like him for strength\nand skill and hardihood, and, in those days, no such war-dragon as the\nGudruda had been known upon the sea. Wherever Eric joined battle, and\nthat was in many places, he conquered, for none prevailed against him,\ntill at last foes would fly before the terror of his name, and earls\nand kings would send from far craving the aid of his hands. Withal he\nwas the best and gentlest of men. It is said of Eric that in all his\ndays he did no base deed, nor hurt the weak, nor refused peace to him\nwho prayed it, nor lifted sword against prisoner or wounded foe. From\ntraders he would take a toll of their merchandise only and let them go,\nand whatever gains he won he would share equally, asking no larger part\nthan the meanest of his band. All men loved Eric, and even his foes\ngave him honour and spoke well of him. Now that Hall of Lithdale was\ngone, there was no man among his mates who would not have passed to\ndeath for him, for they held him dearer than their lives. Women, too,\nloved him much; but his heart was set upon Gudruda, and he seldom\nturned to look on them.\n\nThe first summer of his outlawry Eric warred along the coast of\nIreland, but in the winter he came to Dublin, and for a while served in\nthe body-guard of the king of that town, who held him in honour, and\nwould have had him stay there. But Eric would not bide there, and next\nspring, the Gudruda being ready for sea, he sailed for the shores of\nEngland. There he gave battle to two vikings\u2019 ships of war, and took\nthem after a hard fight. It was in this fight that Skallagrim Lambstail\nwas wounded almost to death. For when, having taken one ship, Eric\nboarded the other with but few men, he was driven back and fell over a\nbeam, and would have been slain, had not Skallagrim thrown himself\nacross his body, taking on his own back that blow of a battle-axe which\nwas aimed at Eric\u2019s head. This was a great wound, for the axe shore\nthrough the steel of the byrnie and sank into the flesh. But when\nEric\u2019s men saw their lord down, and Skallagrim, as they deemed, dead\nathwart him, they made so fierce a rush that the foemen fell before\nthem like leaves before a winter gale, and the end of it was that the\nvikings prayed peace of Eric. Skallagrim lay sick for many days, but he\nwas hard to kill, and Eric nursed him back to life. After this these\ntwo loved each other as brother loves twin brother, and they could\nscarcely bear to be apart. But other people did not love Skallagrim,\nnor he them.\n\nEric sailed on up the Thames to London, bringing the viking ships with\nhim, and he delivered their captains bound to Edmund, Edward\u2019s son, the\nking who was called Edmund the Magnificent. These captains the King\nhung, for they had wrought damage to his ships.\n\nEric found much favour with the King, and, indeed, his fame had gone\nbefore him. So when he came into the court, bravely clad, with\nSkallagrim at his back, who was now almost recovered of his wound, the\nKing called out to him to draw near, saying that he desired to look on\nthe bravest viking and most beauteous man who sailed the seas, and on\nthat fierce Baresark whom men called \u201cEric\u2019s Death-shadow.\u201d\n\nSo Eric came forward up the long hall that was adorned with things more\nsplendid than ever his eyes had seen, and stood before the King. With\nhim came Skallagrim, driving the two captive viking chiefs before him\nwith his axe, as a flesher drives lambs. Now, during these many months\nBrighteyes had grown yet more great in girth and glorious to look on\nthan he was before. Moreover, his hair was now so long that it flowed\nlike a flood of gold down towards his girdle, for since Gudruda trimmed\nit no shears had come near his head, and his locks grew fast as a\nwoman\u2019s. The King looked at him and was astonished.\n\n\u201cOf a truth,\u201d he said, \u201cmen have not lied about thee, Icelander, nor\nconcerning that great wolf-hound of thine,\u201d and he pointed at\nSkallagrim with his sword of state. \u201cNever saw I such a man;\u201d and he\nbade all the mightiest men of his body-guard stand forward that he\nmight measure them against Eric. But Brighteyes was an inch taller than\nthe tallest, and measured half a span more round the chest than the\nbiggest.\n\n\u201cWhat wouldest thou of me, Icelander?\u201d asked the King.\n\n\u201cThis, lord,\u201d said Eric: \u201cto serve thee a while, and all my men with\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is an offer that few would turn from,\u201d answered the King. \u201cThou\nshalt go into my body-guard, and, if I have my will, thou shalt be near\nme in battle, and thy wolf-dog also.\u201d\n\nEric said that he asked no better, and thereafter he went up with\nEdmund the King to make war on the Danes of Mercia, and he and\nSkallagrim did great deeds before the eyes of the Englishmen.\n\nThat winter Eric and his company came back to London, and abode with\nthe King in much state and honour. Now, there was a certain lady of the\ncourt named Elfrida. She was both fair and wealthy, the sweetest of\nwomen, and of royal blood by her mother\u2019s side. So soon as her eyes\nfell on Eric she loved him, and no one thing did she desire more than\nto be his wife. But Brighteyes kept aloof from her, for he loved\nGudruda alone; and so the winter wore away, and in the spring he went\naway warring, nor did he come back till autumn was at hand.\n\nThe Lady Elfrida sat at a window when Eric rode through London Town in\nthe King\u2019s following, and as he passed she threw him a wreath of\nflowers. The King saw it and laughed.\n\n\u201cMy cold kinswoman seems to melt before those bright eyes of thine,\nIcelander,\u201d he said, \u201cas my foes melt before Whitefire\u2019s flame. Well, I\ncould wish her a worse mate,\u201d and he looked on him strangely.\n\nEric bowed, but made no answer.\n\nThat night, as they sat at meat in the palace, the Lady Elfrida, being\nbidden in jest of Edmund the King to fill the cup of the bravest,\npassed down the board, and, before all men, poured wine into Eric\u2019s\ncup, and, as she did so, welcomed him back with short sweet words.\n\nEric grew red as dawn, and thanked her graciously; but after the feast\nhe spoke with Skallagrim, asking him of the Gudruda, and when she could\nbe ready to take the sea.\n\n\u201cIn ten days, lord,\u201d said Skallagrim; \u201cbut stay we not here with the\nKing this winter? It is late to sail.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said Eric, \u201cwe bide not here. I would winter this year in\nFareys, for they are the nighest place to Iceland that I may reach.\nNext summer my three years of outlawry are over, and I would fare back\nhomewards.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, I see the shadow of a woman\u2019s hand,\u201d said Skallagrim. \u201cIt is very\nlate to face the northern seas, and we may sail to Iceland from London\nin the spring.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is my will that we should sail,\u201d answered Eric.\n\n\u201cPast Orkneys runs the road to Fareys,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cand in\nOrkneys sits a hawk to whom the Lady Elfrida is but a dove. In faring\nfrom ill we may hap on worse.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is my will that we sail,\u201d said Eric stubbornly.\n\n\u201cAs thou wilt, and as the King wills,\u201d answered Skallagrim.\n\nOn the morrow Eric went in before the King, and craved a boon.\n\n\u201cThere is little that thou canst ask, Brighteyes,\u201d said the King, \u201cthat\nI will not give thee, for, by my troth, I hold thee dear.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am come back to seek no great thing, lord,\u201d answered Eric, \u201cbut this\nonly: leave to bid thee farewell. I would wend homeward.\u201d\n\n\u201cSay, Eric,\u201d said the King, \u201chave I not dealt well with thee?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, and overwell, lord.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, then, wouldst thou leave me? I have this in my mind\u2014to bring thee\nto great honour. See, now, there is a fair lady in this court, and in\nher veins runs blood that even an Iceland viking might be proud to mate\nwith. She has great lands, and, mayhap, she shall have more. Canst thou\nnot find a home on them, thinkest thou, Brighteyes?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn Iceland only I am at home, lord,\u201d said Eric.\n\nThen the King was wroth, and bade him begone when it pleased him, and\nEric bowed before him and went out.\n\nTwo days afterwards, while Eric was walking in the Palace gardens he\nmet the Lady Elfrida face to face. She held white flowers in her hand,\nand she was fair to see and pale as the flowers she bore.\n\nHe greeted her, and, after a while, she spoke to him in a gentle voice:\n\u201cThey say that thou goest from England, Brighteyes?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cYes, lady; I go,\u201d he answered.\n\nShe looked on him once and twice and then burst out weeping. \u201cWhy goest\nthou hence to that cold land of thine?\u201d she sobbed\u2014\u201cthat hateful land\nof snow and ice! Is not England good enough for thee?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am at home there, lady, and there my mother waits me.\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018There thy mother waits thee,\u2019 Eric?\u2014say, does a maid called Gudruda\nthe Fair wait thee there also?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is such a maid in Iceland,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cYes; I know it\u2014I know it all,\u201d she answered, drying her tears, and of\na sudden growing cold and proud; \u201cEric, thou art betrothed to this\nGudruda; and, for thy welfare, somewhat overfaithful to thy troth. For\nhearken, Eric Brighteyes. I know this: that little luck shall come to\nthee from the maid Gudruda. It would become me ill to say more;\nnevertheless, this is true\u2014that here, in England, good fortune waits\nthy hand, and there in Iceland such fortune as men mete to their foes.\nKnowest thou this?\u201d\n\nEric looked at her and answered: \u201cLady,\u201d he said, \u201cmen are not born of\ntheir own will, they live and do little that they will, they do and go,\nperchance, whither they would not. Yet it may happen to a man that one\nmeets him whose hand he fain would hold, if it be but for an hour\u2019s\ntravel over icy ways; and it is better to hold that hand for this short\nhour than to wend his life through at a stranger\u2019s side.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps there is wisdom in thy folly,\u201d said the Lady Elfrida. \u201cStill,\nI tell thee this: that no good luck waits thee there in Iceland.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt well may be,\u201d said Eric: \u201cmy days have been stormy, and the gale is\nstill brewing. But it is a poor heart that fears the storm. Better to\nsink; for, coward or hero, all must sink at last.\u201d\n\n\u201cSay, Eric,\u201d said the lady, \u201cif that hand thou dost desire to hold is\nlost to thee, what then?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf that hand is cold in death, then henceforth I wend my ways alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd if it be held of another hand than thine?\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I will journey back to England, lady, and here in this fair\ngarden I may crave speech of thee again.\u201d\n\nThey looked one on another. \u201cFare thee well, Eric!\u201d said the Lady\nElfrida. \u201cHere in this garden we may talk again; and, if we talk no\nmore\u2014why, fare thee well! Days come and go; the swallow takes flight at\nwinter, and lo! at spring it twitters round the eaves. And if it come\nnot again, then farewell to that swallow. The world is a great house,\nEric, and there is room for many swallows. But alas! for her who is\nleft desolate\u2014alas, alas!\u201d And she turned and went.\n\nIt is told of this lady Elfrida that she became very wealthy and was\nmuch honoured for her gentleness and wisdom, and that, when she was\nold, she built a great church and named it Ericskirk. It is also told\nthat, though many sought her in marriage, she wedded none.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI\nHOW SWANHILD WALKED THE SEAS\n\n\nWithin two days afterwards, the Gudruda being bound for sea, Eric went\nup to bid farewell to the King. But Edmund was so angry with him\nbecause of his going that he would not see him. Thereon Eric took horse\nand rode down sadly from the Palace to the river-bank where the Gudruda\nlay. But when he was about to give the word to get out the oars, the\nKing himself rode up, and with him men bearing costly gifts. Eric went\nashore to speak with him.\n\n\u201cI am angry with thee, Brighteyes,\u201d said Edmund, \u201cyet it is not in my\nheart to let thee go without words and gifts of farewell. This only I\nask of thee now, that, if things go not well with thee there, out in\nIceland, thou wilt come back to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will\u2014that I promise thee, King,\u201d said Eric, \u201cfor I shall never find\na better lord.\u201d\n\n\u201cNor I a braver servant,\u201d said the King. Then he gave him the gifts and\nkissed him before all men. To Skallagrim also he gave a good byrnie of\nWelsh steel coloured black.\n\nThen Eric went aboard again and dropped down the river with the tide.\n\nFor five days all went well with them, the sea being calm and the winds\nlight and favourable. But on the fifth night, as they sailed slowly\nalong the coasts of East Anglia over against Yarmouth sands, the moon\nrose red and ringed and the sea fell dead calm.\n\n\u201cYonder hangs a storm-lamp, lord,\u201d said Skallagrim, pointing to the\nangry moon. \u201cWe shall soon be bailing, for the autumn gales draw near.\u201d\n\n\u201cWait till they come, then speak,\u201d said Eric. \u201cThou croakest ever like\na raven.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd ravens croak before foul weather,\u201d answered Skallagrim, and just\nas he spoke a sudden gust of wind came up from the south-east and laid\nthe Gudruda over. After this it came on to blow, and so fiercely that\nfor whole days and nights their clothes were scarcely dry. They ran\nnorthwards before the storm and still northward, sighting no land and\nseeing no stars. And ever as they scudded on the gale grew fiercer,\ntill at length the men were worn out with bailing and starved with wet\nand cold. Three of their number also were washed away by the seas, and\nall were in sorry plight.\n\nIt was the fourth night of the gale. Eric stood at the helm, and by him\nSkallagrim. They were alone, for their comrades were spent and lay\nbeneath decks, waiting for death. The ship was half full of water, but\nthey had no more strength to bail. Eric seemed grim and gaunt in the\nwhite light of the moon, and his long hair streamed about him wildly.\nGrimmer yet was Skallagrim as he clung to the shield-rail and stared\nacross the deep.\n\n\u201cShe rolls heavily, lord,\u201d he shouted, \u201cand the water gains fast.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan the men bail no more?\u201d asked Eric.\n\n\u201cNay, they are outworn and wait for death.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey need not wait long,\u201d said Eric. \u201cWhat do they say of me?\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing.\u201d\n\nThen Eric groaned aloud. \u201cIt was my stubbornness that brought us to\nthis pass,\u201d he said; \u201cI care little for myself, but it is ill that all\nshould die for one man\u2019s folly.\u201d\n\n\u201cGrieve not, lord,\u201d answered Skallagrim, \u201cthat is the world\u2019s way, and\nthere are worse things than to drown. Listen! methinks I hear the roar\nof breakers yonder,\u201d and he pointed to the left.\n\n\u201cBreakers they surely are,\u201d said Eric. \u201cNow the end is near. But see,\nis not that land looming up on the right, or is it cloud?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is land,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cand I am sure of this, that we run into\na firth. Look, the seas boil like a hot spring. Hold on thy course,\nlord, perchance we may yet steer between rocks and land. Already the\nwind falls and the current lessens the seas.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d said Eric, \u201calready the fog and rain come up,\u201d and he pointed\nahead where dense clouds gathered in the shape of a giant, whose head\nreached to the skies and moved towards them, hiding the moon.\n\nSkallagrim looked, then spoke: \u201cNow here, it seems, is witchwork. Say,\nlord, hast thou ever seen mist travel against wind as it travels now?\u201d\n\n\u201cNever before,\u201d said Eric, and as he spoke the light of the moon went\nout.\n\nSwanhild, Atli\u2019s wife, sat in beauty in her bower on Straumey Isle and\nlooked with wide eyes towards the sea. It was midnight. None stirred in\nAtli\u2019s hall, but still Swanhild looked out towards the sea.\n\nNow she turned and spoke into the darkness, for there was no light in\nthe bower save the light of her great eyes.\n\n\u201cArt thou there?\u201d she said. \u201cI have summoned thee thrice in the words\nthou knowest. Say, Toad, art there?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, Swanhild the Fatherless! Swanhild, Groa\u2019s daughter! Witch-mother\u2019s\nwitch-child! I am here. What is thy will with me?\u201d piped a thin voice\nlike the voice of a dying babe.\n\nSwanhild shuddered a little and her eyes grew brighter\u2014as bright as the\neyes of a cat.\n\n\u201cThis first,\u201d she said: \u201cthat thou show thyself. Hideous as thou art, I\nhad rather see thee, than speak with thee seeing thee not.\u201d\n\n\u201cMock not my form, lady,\u201d answered the thin voice, \u201cfor it is as thou\ndost fashion it in thy thought. To the good I am fair as day; to the\nevil, foul as their heart. _Toad_ thou didst call me: look, now I come\nas a toad!\u201d\n\nSwanhild looked, and behold! a ring of the darkness grew white with\nlight, and in it crouched a thing hideous to see. It was shaped as a\ngreat spotted toad, and on it was set a hag\u2019s face, with white locks\nhanging down on either side. Its eyes were blood-red and sunken, black\nwere its fangs, and its skin was dead yellow. It grinned horribly as\nSwanhild shrank from it, then spoke again:\n\n\u201c_Grey Wolf_ thou didst call me once, Swanhild, when thou wouldst have\nthrust Gudruda down Goldfoss gulf, and as a grey wolf I came, and gave\nthee counsel that thou tookest but ill. _Rat_ didst thou call me once,\nwhen thou wouldst save Brighteyes from the carles of Ospakar, and as a\nrat I came and in thy shape I walked the seas. _Toad_ thou callest me\nnow, and as a toad I creep about thy feet. Name thy will, Swanhild, and\nI will name my price. But be swift, for there are other fair ladies\nwhose wish I must do ere dawn.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou art hideous to look on!\u201d said Swanhild, placing her hand before\nher eyes.\n\n\u201cSay not so, lady; say not so. Look at this face of mine. Knowest thou\nit not? It is thy mother\u2019s\u2014dead Groa lent it me. I took it from where\nshe lies; and my toad\u2019s skin I drew from thy spotted heart, Swanhild,\nand more hideous than I am shalt thou be in a day to come, as once I\nwas more fair than thou art to-day.\u201d\n\nSwanhild opened her lips to shriek, but no sound came.\n\n\u201cTroll,\u201d she whispered, \u201cmock me not with lies, but hearken to my\nbidding: where sails Eric now?\u201d\n\n\u201cLook out into the night, lady, and thou shalt see.\u201d\n\nSwanhild looked, and the ways of the darkness opened before her\nwitch-sight. There at the mouth of Pentland Firth the Gudruda laboured\nheavily in the great seas, and by the tiller stood Eric, and with him\nSkallagrim.\n\n\u201cSeest thou thy love?\u201d asked the Familiar.\n\n\u201cYea,\u201d she answered, \u201cfull clearly; he is worn with wind and sea, but\nmore glorious than aforetime, and his hair is long. Say, what shall\nbefall him if thou aidest not?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis, that he shall safely pass the Firth, for the gale falls, and\ncome safely to Fareys, and from Fareys isles to Gudruda\u2019s arms.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what canst thou do, Goblin?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis: I can lure Eric\u2019s ship to wreck, and give his comrades, all save\nSkallagrim, to Ran\u2019s net, and bring him to thy arms, Swanhild,\nwitch-mother\u2019s witch-child!\u201d\n\nShe hearkened. Her breast heaved and her eyes flashed.\n\n\u201cAnd thy price, Toad?\u201d\n\n\u201c_Thou_ art the price, lady,\u201d piped the goblin. \u201cThou shalt give\nthyself to me when thy day is done, and merrily will we sisters dwell\nin Hela\u2019s halls, and merrily for ever will we fare about the earth o\u2019\nnights, doing such tasks as this task of thine, Swanhild, and working\nwicked woe till the last woe is worked on us. Art thou content?\u201d\n\nSwanhild thought. Twice her breath went from her lips in great sighs.\nThen she stood, pale and silent.\n\n\u201cSafely shall he sail the Firth,\u201d piped the thin voice. \u201cSafely shall\nhe sit in Fareys. Safely shall he lie in white Gudruda\u2019s arms\u2014_hee!\nhee!_ Think of it, lady!\u201d\n\nThen Swanhild shook like a birth-tree in the gale, and her face grew\nashen.\n\n\u201cI am content,\u201d she said.\n\n\u201c_Hee! hee!_ Brave lady! She is content! Ah, we sisters shall be merry.\nHearken: if I aid thee thus I may do no more. Thrice has the night-owl\ncome at thy call\u2014now it must wing away. Yet things will be as I have\nsaid; thine own wisdom shall guide the rest. Ere morn Brighteyes shall\nstand in Atli\u2019s hall, ere spring he will be thy love, and ere autumn\nGudruda shall sit on the high seat in the hall of Middalhof the bride\nof Ospakar. Draw nigh, give me thine arm, sister, that blood may seal\nour bargain.\u201d\n\nSwanhild drew near the toad, and, shuddering, stretched out her arm,\nand then and there the red blood ran, and there they sealed their\nsisterhood. And as the nameless deed was wrought, it seemed to Swanhild\nas though fire shot through her veins, and fire surged before her eyes,\nand in the fire a shape passed up weeping.\n\n\u201cIt is done, Blood-sister,\u201d piped the voice; \u201cnow I must away in thy\nform to be about thy tasks. Seat thee here before me\u2014so. Now lay thy\nbrow upon my brow\u2014fear not, it was thy mother\u2019s\u2014life on death! curling\nlocks on corpse hair! See, so we change\u2014we change. Now thou art the\nDeath-toad and I am Swanhild, Atli\u2019s wife, who shall be Eric\u2019s love.\u201d\n\nThen Swanhild knew that her beauty had entered into the foulness of the\ntoad, and the foulness of the toad into her beauty, for there before\nher stood her own shape and here she crouched a toad upon the floor.\n\n\u201cAway to work, away!\u201d said a soft low voice, her own voice speaking\nfrom her own body that stood before her, and lo! it was gone.\n\nBut Swanhild crouched, in the shape of a hag-headed toad, upon the\nground in her bower of Atli\u2019s hall, and felt wickedness and evil\nlongings and hate boil and seethe within her heart. She looked out\nthrough her sunken horny eyes and she seemed to see strange sights. She\nsaw Atli, her lord, dead upon the grass. She saw a woman asleep, and\nabove her flashed a sword. She saw the hall of Middalhof red with\nblood. She saw a great gulf in a mountain\u2019s heart, and men fell down\nit. And, last, she saw a war-ship sailing fast out on the sea, afire,\nand vanish there.\n\nNow the witch-hag who wore Swanhild\u2019s loveliness stood upon the cliffs\nof Straumey and tossed her white arms towards the north.\n\n\u201cCome, fog! come, sleet!\u201d she cried. \u201cCome, fog! come, sleet! Put out\nthe moon and blind the eyes of Eric!\u201d And as she called, the fog rose\nup like a giant and stretched his arms from shore to shore.\n\n\u201cMove, fog! beat, rain!\u201d she cried. \u201cMove and beat against the gale,\nand blind the eyes of Eric!\u201d\n\nAnd the fog moved on against the wind, and with it sleet and rain.\n\n\u201cNow I am afeared,\u201d said Eric to Skallagrim, as they stood in darkness\nupon the ship: \u201cthe gale blows from behind us, and yet the mist drives\nfast in our faces. What comes now?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is witch-work, lord,\u201d answered Skallagrim, \u201cand in such things no\ncounsel can avail. Hold the tiller straight and drive on, say I.\nMethinks the gale lessens more and more.\u201d\n\nSo they did for a little while, and all around them sounded the roar of\nbreakers. Darker grew the sky and darker yet, till at the last, though\nthey stood side by side, they could not see each other\u2019s shapes.\n\n\u201cThis is strange sailing,\u201d said Eric. \u201cI hear the roar of breakers as\nit were beneath the prow.\u201d\n\n\u201cLash the helm, lord, and let us go forward. If there are breakers,\nperhaps we shall see their foam through the blackness,\u201d said\nSkallagrim.\n\nEric did so, and they crept forward on the starboard board right to the\nprow of the ship, and there Skallagrim peered into the fog and sleet.\n\n\u201cLord,\u201d he whispered presently, and his voice shook strangely, \u201cwhat is\nthat yonder on the waters? Seest thou aught?\u201d\n\nEric stared and said, \u201cBy Odin! I see a shape of light like to the\nshape of a woman; it walks upon the waters towards us and the mist\nmelts before it, and the sea grows calm beneath its feet.\u201d\n\n\u201cI see that also!\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cShe comes nigh!\u201d gasped Eric. \u201cSee how swift she comes! By the dead,\nit is Swanhild\u2019s shape! Look, Skallagrim! look how her eyes flame!\u2014look\nhow her hair streams upon the wind!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is Swanhild, and we are fey!\u201d quoth Skallagrim, and they ran back\nto the helm, where Skallagrim sank upon the deck in fear.\n\n\u201cSee, Skallagrim, she glides before the Gudruda\u2019s beak! she glides\nbackwards and she points yonder\u2014there to the right! Shall I put the\nhelm down and follow her?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, lord, nay; set no faith in witchcraft or evil will befall us.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke a great gust of wind shook the ship, the music of the\nbreakers roared in their ears, and the gleaming shape upon the waters\ntossed its arms wildly and pointed to the right.\n\n\u201cThe breakers call ahead,\u201d said Eric. \u201cThe shape points yonder, where I\nhear no sound of sea. Once before, thou mindest, Swanhild walked the\nwaves to warn us and thereby saved us from the men of Ospakar. Ever she\nswore she loved me; now she is surely come in love to save us and all\nour comrades. Say, shall I put about? Look: once more she waves her\narms and points,\u201d and as he spoke he gripped the helm.\n\n\u201cI have no rede, lord,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cand I love not witch-work. We\ncan die but once, and death is all around; be it as thou wilt.\u201d\n\nEric put down the helm with all his might. The good ship answered, and\nher timbers groaned loudly, as though in woe, when the strain of the\nsea struck her abeam. Then once more she flew fast across the waters,\nand fast before her glided the wraith of Swanhild. Now it pointed here\nand now there, and as it pointed so Eric shaped his course. For a while\nthe noise of breakers lessened, but now again came a thunder, like the\nthunder of waves smiting on a cliff, and about the sides of the Gudruda\nthe waves hissed like snakes.\n\nSuddenly the Shape threw up its arms and seemed to sink beneath the\nwaves, while a sound like the sound of a great laugh went up from sea\nto sky.\n\n\u201cNow here is the end,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cand we are lured to doom.\u201d\n\nEre ever the words had passed his lips the ship struck, and so fiercely\nthat they were rolled upon the deck. Suddenly the sky grew clear, the\nmoon shone out, and before them were cliffs and rocks, and behind them\na great wave rushed on. From the hold of the ship there came a cry, for\nnow their comrades were awake and they knew that death was here.\n\nEric gripped Skallagrim round the middle and looked aft. On rushed the\nwave, no such wave had he ever seen. Now it struck and the Gudruda\nburst asunder beneath the blow.\n\nBut Eric Brighteyes and Skallagrim Lambstail were lifted on its crest\nand knew no more.\n\nSwanhild, crouching in hideous guise upon the ground in the bower of\nAtli\u2019s hall, looked upon the visions that passed before her. Suddenly a\nwoman\u2019s shape, her own shape, was there.\n\n\u201cIt is done, Blood-sister,\u201d said a voice, her own voice. \u201cMerrily I\nwalked the waves, and oh, merry was the cry of Eric\u2019s folk when Ran\ncaught them in her net! Be thyself, again, Blood-sister\u2014be fair as thou\nart foul; then arise, wake Atli thy lord, and go down to the sea\u2019s lip\nby the southern cliffs and see what thou shalt find. We shall meet no\nmore till all this game is played and another game is set,\u201d and the\nshape of Swanhild crouched upon the floor before the hag-headed toad\nmuttering \u201cPass! pass!\u201d\n\nThen Swanhild felt her flesh come back to her, and as it grew upon her\nso the shape of the Death-headed toad faded away.\n\n\u201cFarewell, Blood-sister!\u201d piped a voice; \u201cmake merry as thou mayest,\nbut merrier shall be our nights when thou hast gone a-sailing with Eric\non the sea. Farewell! farewell! _Were-wolf_ thou didst call me once,\nand as a wolf I came. _Rat_ thou didst call me once, and as a rat I\ncame. _Toad_ didst thou call me once, and as a toad I came. Say, at the\nlast, what wilt thou call me and in what shape shall I come,\nBlood-sister? Till then farewell!\u201d\n\nAnd all was gone and all was still.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII\nHOW ASMUND THE PRIEST WEDDED UNNA, THOROD\u2019S DAUGHTER\n\n\nNow the story goes back to Iceland.\n\nWhen Brighteyes was gone, for a while Gudruda the Fair moved sadly\nabout the stead, like one new-widowed. Then came tidings. Men told how\nOspakar Blacktooth had waylaid Eric on the seas with two long ships,\ndragons of war, and how Eric had given him battle and sunk one dragon\nwith great loss to Ospakar. They told also how Blacktooth\u2019s other\ndragon, the Raven, had sailed away before the wind, and Eric had sailed\nafter it in a rising gale. But of what befell these ships no news came\nfor many a month, and it was rumoured that this had befallen them\u2014that\nboth had sunk in the gale, and that Eric was dead.\n\nBut Gudruda would not believe this. When Asmund the Priest, her father,\nasked her why she did not believe it, she answered that, had Eric been\ndead, her heart would surely have spoken to her of it. To this Asmund\nsaid that it might be so.\n\nHay-harvest being done, Asmund made ready for his wedding with Unna,\nThorod\u2019s daughter and Eric\u2019s cousin.\n\nNow it was agreed that the marriage-feast should be held at Middalhof;\nfor Asmund wished to ask a great company to the wedding, and there was\nno place at Coldback to hold so many. Also some of the kin of Thorod,\nUnna\u2019s father, were bidden to the feast from the east and north. At\nlength all was prepared and the guests came in great companies, for no\nsuch feast had been made in this quarter for many years.\n\nOn the eve of the marriage Asmund spoke with Groa. The witch-wife had\nborne herself humbly since she was recovered from her sickness. She\npassed about the stead like a rat at night, speaking few words and with\ndowncast eyes. She was busy also making all things ready for the\nfeasting.\n\nNow as Asmund went up the hall seeing that everything was in order,\nGroa drew near to him and touched him gently on the shoulder.\n\n\u201cAre things to thy mind, lord?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cYes, Groa,\u201d he answered, \u201cmore to my mind than to thine I fear.\u201d\n\n\u201cFear not, lord; thy will is my will.\u201d\n\n\u201cSay, Groa, is it thy wish to bide here in Middalhof when Unna is my\nhousewife?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is my wish to serve thee as aforetime,\u201d she answered softly, \u201cif so\nbe that Unna wills it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is her desire,\u201d said Asmund and went his ways.\n\nBut Groa stood looking after him and her face was fierce and evil.\n\n\u201cWhile bane has virtue, while runes have power, and while hand has\ncunning, never, Unna, shalt thou take my place at Asmund\u2019s side! Out of\nthe water I came to thee, Asmund; into the water I go again. Unquiet\nshall I lie there\u2014unquiet shall I wend through Hela\u2019s halls; but Unna\nshall rest at Asmund\u2019s side\u2014in Asmund\u2019s cairn!\u201d\n\nThen again she moved about the hall, making all things ready for the\nfeast. But at midnight, when the light was low and folk slept, Groa\nrose, and, veiled in a black robe, with a basket in her hand, passed\nlike a shadow through the hall out upon the meads. Thence she glided\ninto the mists that hang about the river\u2019s edge, and in silence, always\nlooking behind her, like one who fears a hidden foe, culled flowers of\nnoisome plants that grow in the marsh. Her basket being filled, she\npassed round the stead to a hidden dell upon the mountain side. Here a\nman stood waiting, and near him burned a fire of turf. In his hand he\nheld an iron-pot. It was Koll the Half-witted, Groa\u2019s thrall.\n\n\u201cAre all things ready, Koll?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d he answered; \u201cbut I like not these tasks of thine, mistress. Say\nnow, what wouldst thou do with the fire and the pot?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis, then, Koll. I would brew a love-potion for Asmund the Priest as\nhe has bidden me to do.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have done many an ill deed for thee, mistress, but of all of them I\nlove this the least,\u201d said the thrall, doubtfully.\n\n\u201cI have done many a good deed for thee, Koll. It was I who saved thee\nfrom the Doom-stone, seeming to prove thee innocent\u2014ay, even when thy\nback was stretched on it, because thou hadst slain a man in his sleep.\nIs it not so?\u201d\n\n\u201cYea, mistress.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd yet thou wast guilty, Koll. And I have given thee many good gifts,\nis it not so?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, it is so.\u201d\n\n\u201cListen then: serve me this once and I will give thee one last gift\u2014thy\nfreedom, and with it two hundred in silver.\u201d\n\nKoll\u2019s eyes glistened. \u201cWhat must I do, mistress?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo-day at the wedding-feast it will be thy part to pour the cups while\nAsmund calls the toasts. Last of all, when men are merry, thou wilt mix\nthat cup in which Asmund shall pledge Unna his wife and Unna must\npledge Asmund. Now, when thou hast poured, thou shalt pass the cup to\nme, as I stand at the foot of the high seat, waiting to give the bride\ngreeting on behalf of the serving-women of the household. Thou shalt\nhand the cup to me as though in error, and that is but a little thing\nto ask of thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cA little thing indeed,\u201d said Koll, staring at her, and pulling with\nhis hand at his red hair, \u201cyet I like it not. What if I say no,\nmistress?\u201d\n\n\u201cSay no or speak of this and I will promise thee one thing only, thou\nknave, and it is, before winter comes, that the crows shall pick thy\nbones! Now, brave me, if thou darest,\u201d and straightway Groa began to\nmutter some witch-words.\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said Koll, holding up his hand as though to ward away a blow.\n\u201cCurse me not: I will do as thou wilt. But when shall I touch the two\nhundred in silver?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will give thee half before the feast begins, and half when it is\nended, and with it freedom to go where thou wilt. And now leave me, and\non thy life see that thou fail me not.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have never failed thee yet,\u201d said Koll, and went his ways.\n\nNow Groa set the pot upon the fire, and, placing in it the herbs that\nshe had gathered, poured water on them. Presently they began to boil\nand as they boiled she stirred them with a peeled stick and muttered\nspells over them. For long she sat in that dim and lonely place\nstirring the pot and muttering spells, till at length the brew was\ndone.\n\nShe lifted the pot from the fire and smelt at it. Then drawing a phial\nfrom her robe she poured out the liquor and held it to the sky. The\nwitch-water was white as milk, but presently it grew clear. She looked\nat it, then smiled evilly.\n\n\u201cHere is a love-draught for a queen\u2014ah, a love-draught for a queen!\u201d\nshe said, and, still smiling, she placed the phial in her breast.\n\nThen, having scattered the fire with her foot, Groa took the pot and\nthrew it into a deep pool of water, where it could not be found\nreadily, and crept back to the stead before men were awake.\n\nNow the day wore on and all the company were gathered at the\nmarriage-feast to the number of nearly two hundred. Unna sat in the\nhigh seat, and men thought her a bonny bride, and by her side sat\nAsmund the Priest. He was a hale, strong man to look on, though he had\nseen some three-score winters; but his mien was sad, and his heart\nheavy. He drank cup after cup to cheer him, but all without avail. For\nhis thought sped back across the years and once more he seemed to see\nthe face of Gudruda the Gentle as she lay dying, and to hear her voice\nwhen she foretold evil to him if he had aught to do with Groa the\nWitch-wife. And now it seemed to him that the evil was at hand, though\nwhence it should come he knew not. He looked up. There Groa moved along\nthe hall, ministering to the guests; but he saw as she moved that her\neyes were always fixed, now on him and now on Unna. He remembered that\ncurse also which Groa had called down upon him when he had told her\nthat he was betrothed to Unna, and his heart grew cold with fear. \u201cNow\nI will change my counsel,\u201d Asmund said to himself: \u201cGroa shall not stay\nhere in this stead, for I will look no longer on that dark face of\nhers. She goes hence to-morrow.\u201d\n\nNot far from Asmund sat Bj\u00f6rn, his son. As Gudruda the Fair, his\nsister, brought him mead he caught her by the sleeve, whispering in her\near. \u201cMethinks our father is sad. What weighs upon his heart?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know not,\u201d said Gudruda, but as she spoke she looked first on\nAsmund, then at Groa.\n\n\u201cIt is ill that Groa should stop here,\u201d whispered Bj\u00f6rn again.\n\n\u201cIt is ill,\u201d answered Gudruda, and glided away.\n\nAsmund saw their talk and guessed its purport. Rousing himself he\nlaughed aloud and called to Koll the Half-witted to pour the cups that\nhe might name the toasts.\n\nKoll filled, and, as Asmund called the toasts one by one, Koll handed\nthe cups to him. Asmund drank deep of each, till at length his sorrow\npassed from him, and, together with all who sat there, he grew merry.\n\nLast of all came the toast of the bride\u2019s cup. But before Asmund called\nit, the women of the household drew near the high seat to welcome Unna,\nwhen she should have drunk. Gudruda stood foremost, and Groa was next\nto her.\n\nNow Koll filled as before, and it was a great cup of gold that he\nfilled.\n\nAsmund rose to call the toast, and with him all who were in the hall.\nKoll brought up the cup, and handed it, not to Asmund, but to Groa; but\nthere were few who noted this, for all were listening to Asmund\u2019s toast\nand most of the guests were somewhat drunken.\n\n\u201cThe cup,\u201d cried Asmund\u2014\u201cgive me the cup that I may drink.\u201d\n\nThen Groa started forward, and as she did so she seemed to stumble, so\nthat for a moment her robe covered up the great bride-cup. Then she\ngathered herself together slowly, and, smiling, passed up the cup.\n\nAsmund lifted it to his lips and drank deep. Then he turned and gave it\nto Unna his wife, but before she drank he kissed her on the lips.\n\nNow while all men shouted such a welcome that the hall shook, and as\nUnna, smiling, drank from the cup, the eyes of Asmund fell upon Groa\nwho stood beneath him, and lo! her eyes seemed to flame and her face\nwas hideous as the face of a troll.\n\nAsmund grew white and put his hand to his head, as though to think,\nthen cried aloud:\n\n\u201cDrink not, Unna! the draught is drugged!\u201d and he struck at the vessel\nwith his hand.\n\nHe smote it indeed, and so hard that it flew from her hand far down the\nhall.\n\nBut Unna had already drunk deep.\n\n\u201cThe draught is drugged!\u201d Asmund cried, and pointed to Groa, while all\nmen stood silent, not knowing what to do.\n\n\u201cThe draught is drugged!\u201d he cried a third time, \u201cand that witch has\ndrugged it!\u201d And he began to tear at his breast.\n\nThen Groa laughed so shrilly that men trembled to hear her.\n\n\u201cYes, lord,\u201d she screamed, \u201cthe draught is drugged, and Groa the\nWitch-wife hath drugged it! Ay, tear thy heart out, Asmund, and Unna,\ngrow thou white as snow\u2014soon, if my medicine has virtue, thou shalt be\nwhiter yet! Hearken all men. Asmund the Priest is Swanhild\u2019s father,\nand for many a year I have been Asmund\u2019s mate. What did I tell thee,\nlord?\u2014that I would see the two of you dead ere Unna should take my\nplace!\u2014ay, and on Gudruda the Fair, thy daughter, and Bj\u00f6rn thy son,\nand Eric Brighteyes, Gudruda\u2019s love, and many another man\u2014on them too\nshall my curse fall! Tear thy heart out, Asmund! Unna, grow thou white\nas snow! The draught is drugged and Groa, Ran\u2019s gift! Groa the\nWitch-Wife! Groa, Asmund\u2019s love! hath drugged it!\u201d\n\nAnd ere ever a man might lift a hand to stay her Groa glided past the\nhigh seat and was gone.\n\nFor a space all stood silent. Asmund ceased clutching at his breast.\nRising he spoke heavily:\n\n\u201cNow I learn that sin is a stone to smite him who hurled it. Gudruda\nthe Gentle spoke sooth when she warned me against this woman. _New wed,\nnew dead!_ Unna, fare thee well!\u201d\n\nAnd straightway Asmund fell down and died there by the high seat in his\nown hall.\n\nUnna gazed at him with ashen face. Then, plucking at her bosom she\nsprang from the dais and rushed along the hall, screaming. Men made way\nfor her, and at the door she also fell dead.\n\nThis then was the end of Asmund Asmundson the Priest, and Unna,\nThorod\u2019s daughter, Eric\u2019s cousin, his new-made wife.\n\nFor a moment there was silence in the hall. But before the echoes of\nUnna\u2019s screams had died away, Bj\u00f6rn cried aloud:\n\n\u201cThe witch! where is the witch?\u201d\n\nThen with a yell of rage, men leaped to their feet, seizing their\nweapons, and rushed from the stead. Out they ran. There, on the\nhill-side far above them, a black shape climbed and leapt swiftly. They\ngave tongue like dogs set upon a wolf and sped up the hill.\n\nThey gained the crest of the hill, and now they were at Goldfoss brink.\nLo! the witch-wife had crossed the bed of the torrent, for little rain\nhad fallen and the river was low. She stood on Sheep-saddle, the water\nrunning from her robes. On Sheep-saddle she stood and cursed them.\n\nBj\u00f6rn took a bow and set a shaft upon the string. He drew it and the\narrow sung through the air and smote her, speeding through her heart.\nWith a cry Groa threw up her arms.\n\nThen down she plunged. She fell on Wolf\u2019s Fang, where Eric once had\nstood and, bouncing thence, rushed to the boiling deeps below and was\nno more seen for ever.\n\nThus, then, did Asmund the Priest wed Unna, Thorod\u2019s daughter, and this\nwas the end of the feasting.\n\nThereafter Bj\u00f6rn, Asmund\u2019s son, ruled at Middalhof, and was Priest in\nhis place. He sought for Koll the Half-witted to kill him, but Koll\ntook the fells, and after many months he found passage in a ship that\nwas bound for Scotland.\n\nNow Bj\u00f6rn was a hard man and a greedy. He was no friend to Eric\nBrighteyes, and always pressed it on Gudruda that she should wed\nOspakar Blacktooth. But to this counsel Gudruda would not listen, for\nday and night she thought upon her love. Next summer there came tidings\nthat Eric was safe in Ireland, and men spoke of his deeds, and of how\nhe and Skallagrim had swept the ship of Ospakar single-handed. Now\nafter these tidings, for a while Gudruda walked singing through the\nmeads, and no flower that grew in them was half so fair as she.\n\nThat summer also Ospakar Blacktooth met Bj\u00f6rn, Asmund\u2019s son, at the\nThing, and they talked much together in secret.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII\nHOW EARL ATLI FOUND ERIC AND SKALLAGRIM ON THE SOUTHERN ROCKS OF\nSTRAUMEY ISLE\n\n\nSwanhild, robed in white, as though new risen from sleep, stood, candle\nin hand, by the bed of Atli the Earl, her lord, crying \u201cAwake!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat passes now?\u201d said Atli, lifting himself upon his arm. \u201cWhat\npasses, Swanhild, and why dost thou ever wander alone at nights,\nlooking so strangely? I love not thy dark witch-ways, Swanhild, and I\nwas wed to thee in an ill hour, wife who art no wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn an ill hour indeed, Earl Atli,\u201d she answered, \u201can ill hour for thee\nand me, for, as thou hast said, eld and youth are strange yokefellows\nand pull different paths. Arise now, Earl, for I have dreamed a dream.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell it to me on the morrow, then,\u201d quoth Atli; \u201cthere is small\njoyousness in thy dreams, that always point to evil, and I must bear\nenough evil of late.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, lord, my rede may not be put aside so. Listen now: I have dreamed\nthat a great dragon of war has been cast away upon Straumey\u2019s\nsouth-western rocks. The cries of those who drowned rang in my ears.\nBut I thought that some came living to the shore, and lie there\nsenseless, to perish of the cold. Arise, therefore, take men and go\ndown to the rocks.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will go at daybreak,\u201d said Atli, letting his head fall upon the\npillow. \u201cI have little faith in such visions, and it is too late for\nships of war to try the passage of the Firth.\u201d\n\n\u201cArise, I say,\u201d answered Swanhild sternly, \u201cand do my bidding, else I\nwill myself go to search the rocks.\u201d\n\nThen Atli rose grumbling, and shook the heavy sleep from his eyes: for\nof all living folk he most feared Swanhild his wife. He donned his\ngarments, threw a thick cloak about him, and, going to the hall where\nmen snored around the dying fires, for the night was bitter, he awoke\nsome of them. Now among those men whom he called was Hall of Lithdale,\nHall the mate who had cut the grapnel-chain. For this Hall, fearing to\nreturn to Iceland, had come hither saying that he had been wounded off\nFareys, in the great fight between Eric and Ospakar\u2019s men, and left\nthere to grow well of his hurt or die. Then Atli, not knowing that the\ncarle lied, had bid him welcome for Eric\u2019s sake, for he still loved\nEric above all men.\n\nBut Hall loved not labour and nightfarings to search for shipwrecked\nmen of whom the Lady Swanhild had chanced to dream. So he turned\nhimself upon his side and slept again. Still, certain of Atli\u2019s folk\nrose at his bidding, and they went together down to the south-western\nrocks.\n\nBut Swanhild, a cloak thrown over her night-gear, sat herself in the\nhigh seat of the hall and fixing her eyes, now upon the dying fires and\nnow upon the blood-marks in her arm, waited in silence. The night was\ncold and windy, but the moon shone bright, and by its light Atli and\nhis people made their way to the south-western rocks, on which the sea\nbeat madly.\n\n\u201cWhat lies yonder?\u201d said Atli, pointing to some black things that lay\nbeneath them upon the rock, cast there by the waves. A man climbed down\nthe cliff\u2019s side that is here as though it were cut in steps, and then\ncried aloud:\n\n\u201cA ship\u2019s mast, new broken, lord.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt seems that Swanhild dreams true,\u201d muttered Atli; \u201cbut I am sure of\nthis: that none have come ashore alive in such a sea.\u201d\n\nPresently the man who searched the rocks below cried aloud again:\n\n\u201cHere lie two great men, locked in each other\u2019s arms. They seem to be\ndead.\u201d\n\nNow all the men climb down the slippery rocks as best they may, though\nthe spray wets them, and with them goes Atli. The Earl is a brisk man,\nthough old in years, and he comes first to where the two lie. He who\nwas undermost lay upon his back, but his face is hid by the thick\ngolden hair that flowed across it.\n\n\u201cMan\u2019s body indeed, but woman\u2019s locks,\u201d said Atli as he put out his\nhand and drew the hair away, so that the light of the moon fell on the\nface beneath.\n\nHe looked, then staggered back against the rock.\n\n\u201cBy Thor!\u201d he cried, \u201chere lies the corpse of Eric Brighteyes!\u201d and\nAtli wrung his hands and wept, for he loved Eric much.\n\n\u201cBe not so sure that the men are dead, Earl,\u201d said one, \u201cI thought I\nsaw yon great carle move but now.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is Skallagrim Lambstail, Eric\u2019s Death-shadow,\u201d said Atli again. \u201cUp\nwith them, lads\u2014see, yonder lies a plank\u2014and away to the hall. I will\ngive twenty in silver to each of you if Eric lives,\u201d and he unclasped\nhis cloak and threw it over both of them.\n\nThen with much labour they loosed the grip of the two men one from the\nother, and they set Skallagrim on the plank. But eight men bore Eric up\nthe cliff between them, and the task was not light, though the Earl\nheld his head, from which the golden hair hung like seaweed from a\nrock.\n\nAt length they came to the hall and carried them in. Swanhild, seeing\nthem come, moved down from the high seat.\n\n\u201cBring lamps, and pile up the fires,\u201d cried Atli. \u201cA strange thing has\ncome to pass, Swanhild, and thou dost dream wisely, indeed, for here we\nhave Eric Brighteyes and Skallagrim Lambstail. They were locked like\nlovers in each other\u2019s arms, but I know not if they are dead or\nliving.\u201d\n\nNow Swanhild started and came on swiftly. Had the Familiar tricked her\nand had she paid the price for nothing? Was Eric taken from Gudruda and\ngiven to her indeed\u2014but given dead? She bent over him, gazing keenly on\nhis face. Then she spoke.\n\n\u201cHe is not dead but senseless. Bring dry clothes, and make water hot,\u201d\nand, kneeling down, she loosed Eric\u2019s helm and harness and ungirded\nWhitefire from his side.\n\nFor long Swanhild and Atli tended Eric at one fire, and the serving\nwomen tended Skallagrim at the other. Presently there came a cry that\nSkallagrim stirred, and Atli with others ran to see. At this moment\nalso the eyes of Eric were unsealed, and Swanhild saw them looking at\nher dimly from beneath. Moved to it by her passion and her joy that he\nyet lived, Swanhild let her face fall till his was hidden in her\nunbound hair, and kissed him upon the lips. Eric shut his eyes again,\nsighing heavily, and presently he was asleep. They bore him to a bed\nand heaped warm wrappings upon him. At daybreak he woke, and Atli, who\nsat watching at his side, gave him hot mead to drink.\n\n\u201cDo I dream?\u201d said Eric, \u201cor is it Earl Atli who tends me, and did I\nbut now see the face of Swanhild bending over me?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is no dream, Eric, but the truth. Thou hast been cast away here on\nmy isle of Straumey.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd Skallagrim\u2014where is Skallagrim?\u201d\n\n\u201cSkallagrim lives\u2014fear not!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd my comrades, how went it with them?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut ill, Eric. Ran has them all. Now sleep!\u201d\n\nEric groaned aloud. \u201cI had rather died also than live to hear such\nheavy tidings,\u201d he said. \u201cWitch-work! witch-work! and that fair\nwitch-face wrought it.\u201d And once again he slept, nor did he wake till\nthe sun was high. But Atli could make nothing of his words.\n\nWhen Swanhild left the side of Eric she met Hall of Lithdale face to\nface and his looks were troubled.\n\n\u201cSay, lady,\u201d he asked, \u201cwill Brighteyes live?\u201d\n\n\u201cGrieve not, Hall,\u201d she answered, \u201cEric will surely live and he will be\nglad to find a messmate here to greet him, having left so many yonder,\u201d\nand she pointed to the sea.\n\n\u201cI shall not be glad,\u201d said Hall, letting his eyes fall.\n\n\u201cWhy not, Hall? Fearest thou Skallagrim? or hast thou done ill by\nEric?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, lady, I fear Skallagrim, for he swore to slay me, and that kind of\npromise he ever keeps. Also, if the truth must out, I have not dealt\naltogether well with Eric, and of all men I least wish to talk with\nhim.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpeak on,\u201d she said.\n\nThen, being forced to it, Hall told her something of the tale of the\ncutting of the cable, being careful to put another colour on it.\n\n\u201cNow it seems that thou art a coward, Hall,\u201d Swanhild said when he had\ndone, \u201cand I scarcely looked for that in thee,\u201d for she had not been\ndeceived by the glozing of his speech. \u201cIt will be bad for thee to meet\nEric and Skallagrim, and this is my counsel: that thou goest hence\nbefore they wake, for they will sit this winter here in Atli\u2019s hall.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd whither shall I go, lady?\u201d\n\nSwanhild gazed on him, and as she did so a dark thought came into her\nheart: here was a knave who might serve her ends.\n\n\u201cHall,\u201d she said, \u201cthou art an Icelander, and I have known of thee from\na child, and therefore I wish to serve thee in thy strait, though thou\ndeservest it little. See now, Atli the Earl has a farm on the mainland\nnot two hours\u2019 ride from the sea. Thither thou shalt go, if thou art\nwise, and thou shalt sit there this winter and be hidden from Eric and\nSkallagrim. Nay, thank me not, but listen: it may chance that I shall\nhave a service for thee to do before spring is come.\u201d\n\n\u201cLady, I shall wait upon thy word,\u201d said Hall.\n\n\u201cGood. Now, so soon as it is light, I will find a man to sail with thee\nacross the Firth, for the sea falls, and bear my message to the steward\nat Atli\u2019s farm. Also if thou needest faring-money thou shalt have it.\nFarewell.\u201d\n\nThus then did Hall fly before Eric and Skallagrim.\n\nOn the morrow Eric and Skallagrim arose, sick and bruised indeed, but\nnot at all harmed, and went down to the shore. There they found many\ndead men of their company, but never a one in whom the breath of life\nremained.\n\nSkallagrim looked at Eric and spoke: \u201cLast night the mist came up\nagainst the wind: last night we saw Swanhild\u2019s wraith upon the waves,\nand there is the path it showed, and there\u201d\u2014and he pointed to the dead\nmen\u2014\u201cis the witch-seed\u2019s flower. Now to-day we sit in Atli\u2019s hall and\nhere we must stay this winter at Swanhild\u2019s side, and in all this there\nlies a riddle that I cannot read.\u201d\n\nBut Eric shook his head, making no answer. Then, leaving Skallagrim\nwith the dead, he turned, and striding back alone towards the hall, sat\ndown on a rock in the home meadows and, covering his face with his\nhands, wept for his comrades.\n\nAs he wept Swanhild came to him, for she had seen him from afar, and\ntouched him gently on the arm.\n\n\u201cWhy weepest thou, Eric?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cI weep for the dead, Swanhild,\u201d he answered.\n\n\u201cWeep not for the dead\u2014they are at peace; if thou must weep, weep for\nthe living. Nay, weep not at all; rejoice rather that thou art here to\nmourn. Hast thou no word of greeting for me who have not heard thy\nvoice these many months?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow shall I greet thee, Swanhild, who would never have seen thy face\nagain if I might have had my will? Knowest thou that yesternight, as we\nlaboured in yonder Firth, we saw a shape walking the waters to lead us\nto our doom? How shall I greet thee, Swanhild, who art a witch and\nevil?\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd knowest thou, Eric, that yesternight I woke from sleep, having\ndreamed that thou didst lie upon the shore, and thus I saved thee\nalive, as perchance I have saved thee aforetime? If thou didst see a\nshape walking the waters it was that shape which led thee here. Hadst\nthou sailed on, not only those thou mournest, but Skallagrim and thou\nthyself had now been numbered with the lost.\u201d\n\n\u201cBetter so than thus,\u201d said Brighteyes. \u201cKnowest thou also, Swanhild,\nthat when last night my life came back again in Atli\u2019s hall, methought\nthat Atli\u2019s wife leaned over me and kissed me on the lips? That was an\nill dream, Swanhild.\u201d\n\n\u201cSome had found it none so ill, Eric,\u201d she made answer, looking on him\nstrangely. \u201cStill, it was but a dream. Thou didst dream that Atli\u2019s\nwife breathed back the breath of life into thy pale lips\u2014be sure of it\nthou didst but dream. Ah, Eric, fear me no more; forget the evil that I\nhave wrought in the blindness and folly of my youth. Now things are\notherwise with me. Now I am a wedded wife and faithful hearted to my\nlord. Now, if I still love thee, it is with a sister\u2019s love. Therefore\nforget my sins, remember only that as children we played upon the\nIceland fells. Remember that, as boy and girl, we rode along the\nmarshes, while the sea-mews clamoured round our heads. The world is\ncold, Eric, and few are the friends we find in it; many are already\ngone, and soon the friendless dark draws near. So put me not away, my\nbrother and my friend; but, for a little space, whilst thou art here in\nAtli\u2019s hall, let us walk hand in hand as we walked long years ago in\nIceland, gathering up the fifa-bloom, and watching the midnight shadows\ncreep up the icy j\u00f6kul\u2019s crest.\u201d\n\nThus Swanhild spoke to him most sweetly, in a low voice of music, while\nthe tears gathered in her eyes, talking ever of Iceland that he loved,\nand of days long dead, till Eric\u2019s heart softened in him.\n\n\u201cAlmost do I believe thee, Swanhild,\u201d he said, stretching out his hand;\n\u201cbut I know thus: that thou art never twice in the same mood, and that\nis beyond my measuring. Thou hast done much evil and thou hast striven\nto do more; also I love not those who seem to walk the seas o\u2019 nights.\nStill, hold thou to this last saying of thine and there shall be peace\nbetween us while I bide here.\u201d\n\nShe touched his hand humbly and turned to go. But as she went Eric\nspoke again: \u201cSay, Swanhild, hast thou tidings from Iceland yonder? I\nhave heard no word of Asmund or of Gudruda for two long years and\nmore.\u201d\n\nShe stood still, and a dark shadow that he could not see flitted across\nher face.\n\n\u201cI have few tidings, Eric,\u201d she said, turning, \u201cand those few, if I may\ntrust them, bad enough. For this is the rumour that I have heard: that\nAsmund the Priest, my father, is dead; that Groa, my mother, is\ndead\u2014how, I know not; and, lastly, that Gudruda the Fair, thy love, is\nbetrothed to Ospakar Blacktooth and weds him in the spring.\u201d\n\nNow Eric sprang up with an oath and grasped the hilt of Whitefire. Then\nhe sat down again upon the stone and covered his face with his hands.\n\n\u201cGrieve not, Eric,\u201d she said gently; \u201cI put no faith in this news, for\nrumour, like the black-backed gull, often changes colour in its flight\nacross the seas. Also I had it but at fifth hand. I am sure of this, at\nleast, that Gudruda will never forsake thee without a cause.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall go ill with Ospakar if this be true,\u201d said Eric, smiling\ngrimly, \u201cfor Whitefire is yet left me and with it one true friend.\u201d\n\n\u201cRun not to meet the evil, Eric. Thou shalt come to Iceland with the\nsummer flowers and find Gudruda faithful and yet fairer than of yore.\nKnowest thou that Hall of Lithdale, who was thy mate, has sat here\nthese two months? He is gone but this morning, I know not whither,\nleaving a message that he returns no more.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe did well to go,\u201d said Eric, and he told her how Hall had cut the\ncable.\n\n\u201cAy, well indeed,\u201d answered Swanhild. \u201cHad Atli known this he would\nhave scourged Hall hence with rods of seaweed. And now, Eric, I desire\nto ask thee one more thing: why wearest thou thy hair long like a\nwoman\u2019s? Indeed, few women have such hair as thine is now.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor this cause, Swanhild: I swore to Gudruda that none should cut my\nhair till she cut it once more. It is a great burden to me surely, for\nnever did hair grow so fast and strong as mine, and once in a fray I\nwas held fast by it and went near to the losing of my life. Still, I\nwill keep the oath even if it grows on to my feet,\u201d and he laughed a\nlittle and shook back his golden locks.\n\nSwanhild smiled also and, turning, went. But when her face was hidden\nfrom him she smiled no more.\n\n\u201cAs I live,\u201d she said in her heart, \u201cbefore spring rains fall I again\nwill cause thee to break this oath, Eric. Ay, I will cut a lock of that\nbright hair of thine and send it for a love-token to Gudruda.\u201d\n\nBut Eric still sat upon the rock thinking. Swanhild had set an evil\nseed of doubt in his heart, and already it put forth roots. What if the\ntale were true? What if Gudruda had given herself to Ospakar? Well, if\nso\u2014she should soon be a widow, that he swore.\n\nThen he rose, and stalked grimly towards the hall.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX\nHOW KOLL THE HALF-WITTED BROUGHT TIDINGS FROM ICELAND\n\n\nPresently as Eric walked he met Atli the Earl seeking him. Atli greeted\nhim.\n\n\u201cI have seen strange things, Eric,\u201d he said, \u201cbut none more strange\nthan this coming of thine and the manner of it. Swanhild is\nforesighted, and that was a doom-dream of hers.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think her foresighted also,\u201d said Eric. \u201cAnd now, Earl, knowest thou\nthis: that little good can come to thee at the hands of one whom thou\nhast saved from the sea.\u201d\n\n\u201cI set no faith in such old wives\u2019 tales,\u201d answered Atli. \u201cHere thou\nart come, and it is my will that thou shouldest sit here. At the least,\nI will give thee no help to go hence.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen we must bide in Straumey, it seems,\u201d said Eric: \u201cfor of all my\ngoods and gear this alone is left me,\u201d and he looked at Whitefire.\n\n\u201cThou hast still a gold ring or two upon thy arm,\u201d answered the Earl,\nlaughing. \u201cBut surely, Eric, thou wouldst not begone?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know not, Earl. Listen: it is well that I should be plain with thee.\nOnce, before thou didst wed Swanhild, she had another mind.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have heard something of that, and I have guessed more, Brighteyes;\nbut methinks Swanhild is little given to gadding now. She is as cold as\nice, and no good wife for any man,\u201d and Atli sighed, \u201c\u2018Snow melts not\nif sun shines not,\u2019 so runs the saw. Thou art an honest man, Eric, and\nno whisperer in the ears of others\u2019 wives.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not minded indeed to do thee such harm, Earl, but this thou\nknowest: that woman\u2019s guile and beauty are swords few shields can\nbrook. Now I have spoken\u2014and they are hard words to speak\u2014be it as thou\nwilt.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is my will that thou shouldest sit here this winter, Eric. Had I my\nway, indeed, never wouldest thou sit elsewhere. Listen: things have not\ngone well with me of late. Age hath a grip of me, and foes rise up\nagainst one who has no sons. That was an ill marriage, too, which I\nmade with Swanhild yonder: for she loves me not, and I have found no\nluck since first I saw her face. Moreover, it is in my mind that my\ndays are almost sped. Swanhild has already foretold my death, and, as\nthou knowest well, she is foresighted. So I pray thee, Eric, bide thou\nhere while thou mayest, for I would have thee at my side.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be as thou wilt, Earl,\u201d said Eric.\n\nSo Eric Brighteyes and Skallagrim Lambstail sat that winter in the hall\nof Atli the Earl at Straumey. For many weeks all things went well and\nEric forgot his fears. Swanhild was gentle to him and kindly. She loved\nmuch to talk with him, even of Gudruda her rival; but no word of love\npassed her lips. Nevertheless, she did but bide her time, for when she\nstruck she determined to strike home. Atli and Eric were ever side by\nside, and Eric gave the Earl much good counsel. He promised to do this\nalso, for now, being simple-minded, his doubts had passed and he had no\nmore fear of Swanhild. On the mainland lived a certain chief who had\nseized large lands of Atli\u2019s, and held them for a year or more. Now\nEric gave his word that, before he sailed for Iceland in the early\nsummer, he would go up against this man and drive him from the lands,\nif he could. For Brighteyes might not come to Iceland till hard upon\nmidsummer, when his three years of outlawry were spent.\n\nThe winter wore away and the spring came. Then Atli gathered his men\nand went with Eric in boats to where the chief dwelt who held his\nlands. There they fell on him and there was a fierce fight. But in the\nend the man was slain by Skallagrim, and Eric did great deeds, as was\nhis wont. Now in this fray Eric was wounded in the foot by a spear, so\nthat he must be borne back to Straumey, and he lay there in the hall\nfor many days. Swanhild nursed him, and most days he sat talking with\nher in her bower.\n\nWhen Eric was nearly healed of his hurt, the Earl went with all his\npeople to a certain island of the Orkneys to gather scat[*] that was\nunpaid, and Skallagrim went with him. But Eric did not go, because of\nhis hurt, fearing lest the wound should open if he walked overmuch.\nThus it came to pass that, except for some women, he was left almost\nalone with Swanhild.\n\n[*] Tribute.\n\n\nNow, when Atli had been gone three days, it chanced on an afternoon\nthat Swanhild heard how a man from Iceland sought speech with her. She\nbade them bring him in to where she was alone in her bower, for Eric\nwas not there, having gone down to the sea to fish.\n\nThe man came and she knew him at once for Koll the Half-witted, who had\nbeen her mother Groa\u2019s thrall. On his shoulders was the cloak that\nOspakar Blacktooth had given him; it was much torn now, and he had a\nworn and hungry look.\n\n\u201cWhence comest thou, Koll?\u201d she asked, \u201cand what are thy tidings?\u201d\n\n\u201cFrom Scotland last, lady, where I sat this winter; before that, from\nIceland. As for my tidings, they are heavy, if thou hast not heard\nthem. Asmund the Priest is dead, and dead is Unna his wife, poisoned by\nthy mother, Groa, at their marriage-feast. Dead, too, is thy mother,\nGroa. Bj\u00f6rn, Asmund\u2019s son, shot her with an arrow, and she lies in\nGoldfoss pool.\u201d\n\nNow Swanhild hid her face for a while in her hands. Then she lifted it\nand it was white to see. \u201cSpeakest thou truth, fox? If thou liest, this\nI swear to thee\u2014thy tongue shall be dragged from thee by the roots!\u201d\n\n\u201cI speak the truth, lady,\u201d he answered. But still he spoke not all the\ntruth, for he said nothing of the part which he had played in the\ndeaths of Asmund and Unna. Then he told her of the manner of their end.\n\nSwanhild listened silently\u2014then said:\n\n\u201cWhat news of Gudruda, Asmund\u2019s daughter? Is she wed?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, lady. Folk spoke of her and Ospakar, that was all.\u201d\n\n\u201cHearken, Koll,\u201d said Swanhild, \u201cbearing such heavy tidings, canst thou\nnot weight the ship a little more? Eric Brighteyes is here. Canst thou\nnot swear to him that, when thou didst leave Iceland it was said\nwithout question that Gudruda had betrothed herself to Ospakar, and\nthat the wedding-feast was set for this last Yule? Thou hast a hungry\nlook, Koll, and methinks that things have not gone altogether well with\nthee of late. Now, if thou canst so charge thy memory, thou shalt lose\nlittle by it. But, if thou canst not, then thou goest hence from\nStraumey with never a luck-penny in thy purse, and never a sup to stay\nthy stomach with.\u201d\n\nNow of all things Koll least desired to be sent from Straumey; for,\nthough Swanhild did not know it, he was sought for on the mainland as a\nthief.\n\n\u201cThat I may do, lady,\u201d he said, looking at her cunningly. \u201cNow I\nremember that Gudruda the Fair charged me with a certain message for\nEric Brighteyes, if I should chance to see him as I journeyed.\u201d\n\nThen Swanhild, Atli\u2019s wife, and Koll the Half-witted talked long and\nearnestly together.\n\nAt nightfall Eric came in from his fishing. His heart was light, for\nthe time drew near when he should sail for home, and he did not think\non evil. For now he feared Swanhild no longer, and, no fresh tidings\nhaving come from Iceland about Ospakar and Gudruda, he had almost put\nthe matter from his mind. On he walked to the hall, limping somewhat\nfrom his wound, but singing as he came, and bearing his fish slung upon\na pole.\n\nAt the men\u2019s door of the hall a woman stood waiting. She told Eric that\nthe lady Swanhild would speak with him in her bower. Thither he went\nand knocked. Getting no answer he knocked again, then entered.\n\nSwanhild sat on a couch. She was weeping, and her hair fell about her\nface.\n\n\u201cWhat now, Swanhild?\u201d he said.\n\nShe looked up heavily. \u201cIll news for thee and me, Eric. Koll, who was\nmy mother\u2019s thrall, has come hither from Iceland, and these are his\ntidings: that Asmund is dead, and Unna, thy cousin, Thorod of\nGreenfell\u2019s daughter, is dead, and my mother Groa is dead also.\u201d\n\n\u201cHeavy tidings, truly!\u201d said Eric; \u201cand what of Gudruda, is she also\ndead?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, Eric she is wed\u2014wed to Ospakar.\u201d\n\nNow Eric reeled against the wall, clutching it, and for a space all\nthings swam round him. \u201cWhere is this Koll?\u201d he gasped. \u201cSend me Koll\nhither.\u201d\n\nPresently he came, and Eric questioned him coldly and calmly. But Koll\ncould lie full well. It is said that in his day there was no one in\nIceland who could lie so well as Koll the Half-witted. He told Eric how\nit was said that Gudruda was plighted to Ospakar, and how the match had\nbeen agreed on at the Althing in the summer that was gone (and indeed\nthere had been some such talk), and how that the feast was to be at\nMiddalhof on last Yule Day.\n\n\u201cIs that all thy tidings?\u201d said Eric. \u201cIf so, I give no heed to them:\nfor ever, Koll, I have known thee for a liar!\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, Eric, it is not all,\u201d answered Koll. \u201cAs it chanced, two days\nbefore the ship in which I sailed was bound, I saw Gudruda the Fair.\nThen she asked me whither I was going, and I told her that I would\njourney to London, where men said thou wert, and asked her if she would\nsend a message. Then she alighted from her horse, Blackmane, and spoke\nwith me apart. \u2018Koll,\u2019 she said, \u2018it well may happen that thou wilt see\nEric Brighteyes in London town. Now, if thou seest him, I charge thee\nstraightly tell him this. Tell him that my father is dead, and my\nbrother Bj\u00f6rn, who rules in his place, is a hard man, and has ever\nurged me on to wed Ospakar, till at last, having no choice, I have\nconsented to it. And say to Eric that I grieve much and sorely, and\nthat, though we twain should never meet more, yet I shall always hold\nhis memory dear.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is not like Gudruda to speak thus,\u201d said Eric: \u201cshe had ever a\nstout heart and these are craven words. Koll, I hold that thou liest;\nand, if indeed I find it so, I\u2019ll wring the head from off thee!\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, Eric, I lie not. Wherefore should I lie? Hearken: thou hast not\nheard all my tale. When the lady Gudruda had made an end of speaking\nshe drew something from her breast and gave it me, saying: \u2018Give this\nto Eric, in witness of my words.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cShow me the token,\u201d said Eric.\n\nNow, many years ago, when they were yet boy and girl, it chanced that\nEric had given to Gudruda the half of an ancient gold piece that he had\nfound upon the shore. He had given her half, and half he had kept,\nwearing it next his heart. But he knew not this, for she feared to tell\nhim, that Gudruda had lost her half. Nor indeed had she lost it, for\nSwanhild had taken the love-token and hidden it away. Now she brought\nit forth for Koll to build his lies upon.\n\nThen Koll drew out the half-piece from a leather purse and passed it to\nhim. Eric plunged his hand into his breast and found his half. He\nplaced the two side by side, while Swanhild watched him. Lo! they\nfitted well.\n\nThen Eric laughed aloud, a hard and bitter laugh. \u201cThere will be\nslaying,\u201d he cried, \u201cbefore all this tale is told. Take thy fee and\nbegone, thou messenger of ill,\u201d and he cast the broken piece at Koll.\n\u201cFor once thou hast spoken the truth.\u201d\n\nKoll stooped, found the gold and went, leaving Brighteyes and Swanhild\nface to face.\n\nHe hid his brow in his arms and groaned aloud. Softly Swanhild crept up\nto him\u2014softly she drew his hands away, holding them between her own.\n\n\u201cHeavy tidings, Eric,\u201d she said, \u201cheavy tidings for thee and me! She is\na murderess who gave me birth and she has slain my own father\u2014my father\nand thy cousin Unna also. Gudruda is a traitress, a traitress fair and\nfalse. I did ill to be born of such a woman; thou didst ill to put thy\nfaith in such a woman. Together let us weep, for our woe is equal.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, let us weep together,\u201d Eric answered. \u201cNay, why should we weep?\nTogether let us be merry, for we know the worst. All words are said\u2014all\nhopes are sped! Let us be merry, then, for now we have no more tidings\nto fear.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d Swanhild answered, looking on him darkly, \u201cwe will be merry and\nlaugh our sorrows down. Ah! thou foolish Eric, under what unlucky star\nwast thou born that thou knewest not true from false?\u201d and she called\nthe serving-women, bidding them bring food and wine.\n\nNow Eric sat alone with Swanhild in her bower and made pretence to eat.\nBut he could eat little, though he drank deep of the southern wine.\nClose beside him sat Swanhild, filling his cup. She was wondrous fair\nthat night, and it seemed to Eric that her eyes gleamed like stars.\nSweetly she spoke also and wisely. She told strange tales and she sang\nstrange songs, and ever her eyes shone more and more, and ever she\ncrept closer to him. Eric\u2019s brain was afire, though his heart was cold\nand dead. He laughed loud and mightily, he told great tales of deeds\nthat he had done, growing boastful in his folly, and still Swanhild\u2019s\neyes shone more and more, and still she crept closer, wooing him in\nmany ways.\n\nNow of a sudden Eric thought of his friend, Earl Atli, and his mind\ngrew clear.\n\n\u201cThis may not be, Swanhild,\u201d he said. \u201cYet I would that I had loved\nthee from the first, and not the false Gudruda: for, with all thy dark\nways, at least thou art better than she.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou speakest wisely, Eric,\u201d Swanhild answered, though she meant not\nthat he should go. \u201cThe Norns have appointed us an evil fate, giving me\nas wife to an old man whom I do not love, and thee for a lover to a\nwoman who has betrayed thee. Ah, Eric Brighteyes, thou foolish Eric!\nwhy knewest thou not the false from the true while yet there was time?\nNow are all words said and all things done\u2014nor can they be undone. Go\nhence, Eric, ere ill come of it; but, before thou goest, drink one cup\nof parting, and then farewell.\u201d\n\nAnd she slipped from him and filled the cup, mixing in it a certain\nlove-portion that she had made ready.\n\n\u201cGive it me that I may swear an oath on it,\u201d said Eric.\n\nSwanhild gave him the cup and stood before him, watching him.\n\n\u201cHearken,\u201d he said: \u201cI swear this, that before snow falls again in\nIceland I will see Ospakar dead at my feet or lie dead at the feet of\nOspakar.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell spoken, Eric,\u201d Swanhild answered. \u201cNow, before thou drinkest,\ngrant me one little boon. It is but a woman\u2019s fancy, and thou canst\nscarce deny me. The years will be long when thou art gone, for from\nthis night it is best that we should meet no more, and I would keep\nsomething of thee to call back thy memory and the memories of our youth\nwhen thou hast passed away and I grow old.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat wouldst have then, Swanhild? I have nothing left to give, except\nWhitefire alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not ask Whitefire, Eric, though Whitefire shall kiss the gift. I\nask nothing but one tress of that golden hair of thine.\u201d\n\n\u201cOnce I swore that none should touch my hair again except Gudruda\u2019s\nself.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will grow long, then, Eric, for now Gudruda tends black locks and\nthinks little on golden. Broken are all oaths.\u201d\n\nEric groaned. \u201cAll oaths are broken in sooth,\u201d he said. \u201cHave then thy\nwill;\u201d and, loosing the peace-strings, he drew Whitefire from its\nsheath and gave her the great war-sword.\n\nSwanhild took it by the hilt, and, lifting a tress of Eric\u2019s yellow\nhair, she shore through it deftly with Whitefire\u2019s razor-edge, smiling\nas she shore. With the same war-blade on which Eric and Gudruda had\npledged their troth, did Swanhild cut the locks that Eric had sworn no\nhand should clip except Gudruda\u2019s.\n\nHe took back the sword and sheathed it, and, knotting the long tress,\nSwanhild hid it in her bosom.\n\n\u201cNow drink the cup, Eric,\u201d she said\u2014\u201cpledge me and go.\u201d\n\nEric drank to the dregs and cast the cup down, and lo! all things\nchanged to him, for his blood was afire, and seas seemed to roll within\nhis brain. Only before him stood Swanhild like a shape of light and\nglory, and he thought that she sang softly over him, always drawing\nnearer, and that with her came a scent of flowers like the scent of the\nIceland meads in May.\n\n\u201cAll oaths are broken, Eric,\u201d she murmured, \u201call oaths are broken\nindeed, and now must new oaths be sworn. For cut is thy golden hair,\nBrighteyes, and not by Gudruda\u2019s hand!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX\nHOW ERIC WAS NAMED ANEW\n\n\nEric dreamed. He dreamed that Gudruda stood by him looking at him with\nsoft, sad eyes, while with her hand she pointed to his hair, and spake.\n\n\u201cThou hast done ill, Eric,\u201d she seemed to say. \u201cThou hast done ill to\ndoubt me; and now thou art for ever shamed, for thou hast betrayed\nAtli, thy friend. Thou hast broken thy oath, and therefore hast thou\nfallen into this pit; for when Swanhild shore that lock of thine, my\nwatching Spirit passed, leaving thee to Swanhild and thy fate. Now, I\ntell thee this: that shame shall lead to shame, and many lives shall\npay forfeit for thy sin, Eric.\u201d\n\nEric awoke, thinking that this was indeed an evil dream which he had\ndreamed. He woke, and lo! by him was Swanhild, Atli\u2019s wife. He looked\nupon her beauty, and fear and shame crept into his heart, for now he\nknew that it was no dream, but he was lost indeed. He looked again at\nSwanhild, and hatred and loathing of her shook him. She had overcome\nhim by her arts; that cup was drugged which he had drunk, and he was\nmad with grief. Yes, she had played upon his woe like a harper on a\nharp, and now he was ashamed\u2014now he had betrayed his friend who loved\nhim! Had Whitefire been to his hand at that moment, Eric had surely\nslain himself. But the great sword was not there, for it hung in\nSwanhild\u2019s bower. Eric groaned aloud, and Swanhild turned at the sound.\nBut he sprang away and stood over her, cursing her.\n\n\u201cThou witch!\u201d he cried, \u201cwhat hast thou done? What didst thou mix in\nthat cup yestre\u2019en? Thou hast brought me to this that I have betrayed\nAtli, my friend\u2014Atli, thy lord, who left thee in my keeping!\u201d\n\nHe seemed so terrible in his woe and rage that Swanhild shrank from\nhim, and, throwing her hair about her face, peeped at him through its\nmeshes as once she had peeped at Asmund.\n\n\u201cIt is like a man,\u201d she said, gathering up her courage and her wit;\n\u201c\u2018tis like a man, having won my love, now to turn upon me and upbraid\nme. Fie upon thee, Eric! thou hast dealt ill with me to bring me to\nthis.\u201d\n\nNow Eric ceased his raving, and spoke more calmly.\n\n\u201cWell thou knowest the truth, Swanhild,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cHearken, Eric,\u201d she answered. \u201cLet this be secret between us. Atli is\nold, and methinks that not for long shall he bide here in Straumey.\nSoon he will die; it is upon my mind that he soon will die, and, being\nchildless, his lands and goods pass to me. Then, Eric, thou shalt sit\nin Atli\u2019s hall, and in all honour shall Atli\u2019s wife become thy bride.\u201d\n\nEric listened coldly. \u201cI can well believe,\u201d he said, \u201cthat thou hast it\nin mind to slay thy lord, for all evil is in thy heart, Swanhild. Now\nknow this: that if in honour or dishonour my lips touch that fair face\nof thine again, may the limbs rot from my trunk, and may I lie a log\nfor ever in the halls of Hela! If ever my eyes of their own will look\nagain upon thy beauty, may I go blind and beg my meat from homestead to\nhomestead! If ever my tongue whisper word of love into thy ears, may\ndumbness seize it, and may it wither to the root!\u201d\n\nSwanhild heard and sank upon the ground before him, her head bowed\nalmost to her feet.\n\n\u201cNow, Swanhild, fare thee well,\u201d said Eric. \u201cLiving or dead, may I\nnever see thy face again!\u201d\n\nShe gazed up through her falling hair; her face was wild and white, and\nher eyes glowed in it as live embers glow in the ashes of burnt wood.\n\n\u201cWe are not so easily parted, Eric,\u201d she said. \u201cNot for this came I to\nwitchcraft and to sin. Thou fool! hast thou never heard that, of all\nthe foes a man may have, none is so terrible as the woman he has\nscorned? Thou shalt learn this lesson, Eric Brighteyes, Thorgrimur\u2019s\nson: for here we have but the beginning of the tale. For its end, I\nwill write it in runes of blood.\u201d\n\n\u201cWrite on,\u201d said Eric. \u201cThou canst do no worse than thou hast done,\u201d\nand he passed thence.\n\nFor a while Swanhild crouched upon the ground, brooding in silence.\nThen she rose, and, throwing up her arms, wept aloud.\n\n\u201cIs it for this that I have sold my soul to the Hell-hag?\u201d she cried.\n\u201cIs it for this that I have become a witch, and sunk so low as I sank\nlast night\u2014to be scorned, to be hated, to be betrayed? Now Eric will go\nto Atli and tell this tale. Nay, there I will be beforehand with him,\nand with another story\u2014an ancient wile of women truly, but one that\nnever yet has failed them, nor ever will. And then for vengeance! I\nwill see thee dead, Eric, and dead will I see Gudruda at thy side!\nAfterwards let darkness come\u2014ay, though the horror rides it! Swift!\u2014I\nmust be swift!\u201d\n\nEric passed into Swanhild\u2019s bower, and, finding Whitefire, bore it\nthence. On the table was food. He took it. Then, going to the place\nwhere he was wont to sleep, he armed himself, girding his byrnie on his\nbreast and his golden helm upon his head, and taking shield and spear\nin his hand. Then he passed out. By the men\u2019s door he found some women\nspreading fish in the sun. Eric greeted them, saying that when the Earl\ncame back, for he was to come on that morning, he would find him on the\nsouth-western rocks nigh to where the Gudruda sank. This he begged of\nthem to tell Atli, for he desired speech with him.\n\nThe women wondered that Brighteyes should go forth thus and fully\narmed, but, holding that he had some deed to do, they said nothing.\n\nEric came to the rocks, and there he sat all day long looking on the\nsea, and grieving so bitterly that he thought his heart would burst\nwithin him. For of all the days of Eric\u2019s life this was the heaviest,\nexcept one other only.\n\nBut Swanhild, going to her bower, caused Koll the Half-witted to be\nsummoned. To him she spoke long and earnestly, and they made a shameful\nplot together. Then she bade Koll watch for Atli\u2019s coming and, when he\nsaw the Earl leave his boats, to run to him and say that she would\nspeak with him.\n\nAfter this Swanhild sent a man across the firth to the stead where Hall\nof Lithdale sat, bidding him to come to her at speed.\n\nWhen the afternoon grew towards the evening, Koll, watching, saw the\nboats of Atli draw to the landing-place. Then he went down, and, going\nto the Earl, bowed before him:\n\n\u201cWhat wouldst thou, fellow, and who art thou?\u201d asked Atli.\n\n\u201cI am a man from Iceland; perchance, lord, thou sawest me in Asmund\u2019s\nhall at Middalhof. I am sent here by the Lady Swanhild to say that she\ndesires speech with thee, and that at once.\u201d Then, seeing Skallagrim,\nKoll fled back to the house, for he feared Skallagrim.\n\nNow Atli was uneasy in his mind, and, saying nothing, he hurried up to\nthe hall, and through it into Swanhild\u2019s bower.\n\nThere she sat on a couch, her eyes red with weeping, and her curling\nhair unbound.\n\n\u201cWhat now, Swanhild?\u201d he asked. \u201cWhy lookest thou thus?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy look I thus, my lord?\u201d she answered heavily. \u201cBecause I have to\ntell thee that which I cannot find words to fit,\u201d and she ceased.\n\n\u201cSpeak on,\u201d he said. \u201cIs aught wrong with Eric?\u201d\n\nThen Swanhild drew near and told him a false tale.\n\nWhen it was done for a moment or so Atli stood still, and grew white\nbeneath his ruddy skin, white as his beard. Then he staggered back\nagainst the wainscoting of the bower.\n\n\u201cWoman, thou liest!\u201d he said. \u201cNever will I believe so vile a thing of\nEric Brighteyes, whom I have loved.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould that I could not believe it!\u201d she answered. \u201cWould that I could\nthink it was but an evil dream! But alas! Nay, I will prove it. Suffer\nthat I summon Koll, the Icelander, who was my mother\u2019s thrall\u2014Groa who\nnow is dead, for I have that tidings also. He saw something of this\nthing, and he will bear me witness.\u201d\n\n\u201cCall the man,\u201d said Atli sternly.\n\nSo Koll was summoned, and told his lies with a bold face. He was so\nwell taught, and so closely did his story tally with that of Swanhild,\nthat Atli could find no flaw in it.\n\n\u201cNow I am sure, Swanhild, that thou speakest truth,\u201d said the Earl when\nKoll had gone. \u201cAnd now also I have somewhat to say to this Eric. For\nthee, rest thyself; that which cannot be mended must be borne,\u201d and he\nwent out.\n\nNow, when Skallagrim came to the house he asked for Eric. The women\ntold him that Brighteyes had gone down to the sea, fully armed, in the\nmorning, and had not returned.\n\n\u201cThen there must be fighting toward, and that I am loth to miss,\u201d said\nSkallagrim, and, axe aloft, he started for the south-western rocks at a\nrun. Skallagrim came to the rocks. There he found Eric, sitting in his\nharness, looking out across the sea. The evening was wet and windy; the\nrain beat upon him as he sat, but Eric took no heed.\n\n\u201cWhat seekest thou, lord?\u201d asked the Baresark.\n\n\u201cRest,\u201d said Eric, \u201cand I find none.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou seekest rest helm on head and sword in hand? This is a strange\nthing, truly!\u201d\n\n\u201cStranger things have been, Skallagrim. Wouldst thou hear a tale?\u201d and\nhe told him all.\n\n\u201cWhat said I?\u201d asked Skallagrim. \u201cWe had fared better in London town.\nFlying from the dove thou hast found the falcon.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have found the falcon, comrade, and she has pecked out my eyes. Now\nI would speak with Atli, and then I go hence.\u201d\n\n\u201cHence go the twain of us, lord. The Earl will be here presently and\nrough words will fly in this rough weather. Is Whitefire sharp,\nBrighteyes?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhitefire was sharp enough to shear my hair, Skallagrim; but if Atli\nwould strike let him lay on. Whitefire will not be aloft for him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat we shall see,\u201d said Skallagrim. \u201cAt least, if thou art harmed\nbecause of this loose quean, my axe will be aloft.\u201d\n\n\u201cKeep thou thine axe in its place,\u201d said Eric, and as he spoke Atli\ncame, and with him many men.\n\nEric rose and turned to meet the Earl, looking on him with sad eyes.\nFor Atli, his face was as the face of a trapped wolf, for he was mad\nwith rage at the shame that had been put upon him and the ill tale that\nSwanhild had told of Eric\u2019s dealings with her.\n\n\u201cIt seems that the Earl has heard of these tidings,\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cThen I shall be spared the telling of them,\u201d answered Eric.\n\nNow they stood face to face; Atli leaned upon his drawn sword, and his\nwrath was so fierce that for a while he could not speak. At length he\nfound words.\n\n\u201cSee ye that man, comrades?\u201d he said, pointing at Eric with the sword.\n\u201cHe has been my guest these many months. He has sat in my hall and\neaten of my bread, and I have loved him as a son. And wot ye how he has\nrepaid me? He has put me to the greatest shame, me and my wife the Lady\nSwanhild, whom I left in his guard\u2014to such shame, indeed, that I cannot\nspeak it.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue words, Earl,\u201d said Eric, while folk murmured and handled their\nswords.\n\n\u201cTrue, but not all the truth,\u201d growled Skallagrim. \u201cMethinks the Earl\nhas heard a garbled tale.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue words, thyself thou sayest it,\u201d went on Atli, \u201cthou hound that I\nsaved from the sea! \u2018Ran\u2019s gift, Hela\u2019s gift,\u2019 so runs the saw, and now\nfrom Ran to Hela thou shalt go, thou mishandler of defenceless women!\u201d\n\n\u201cHere is somewhat of which I know nothing,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cAnd here is something of which thou shalt know,\u201d answered Atli, and he\nshook his sword before Eric\u2019s eyes. \u201cGuard thyself!\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, Earl; thou art old, and I have done the wrong\u2014I may not fight\nwith thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cArt thou a coward also?\u201d said the Earl.\n\n\u201cSome have deemed otherwise,\u201d said Eric, \u201cbut it is true that heavy\nheart makes weak hand. Nevertheless this is my rede. With thee are ten\nmen. Stand thou aside and let them fall on me till I am slain.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe odds are too heavy even for thee,\u201d said Skallagrim. \u201cBack to back,\nlord, as we have stood aforetime, and let us play this game together.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so,\u201d cried Atli, \u201cthis shame is mine, and I have sworn to Swanhild\nthat I will wipe it out in Eric\u2019s blood. Stand thou before me and\ndraw!\u201d\n\nThen Eric drew Whitefire and raised his shield. Atli the Earl rushed at\nhim and smote a great two-handed blow. Eric caught it on his shield and\nsuffered no harm; but he would not smite back.\n\nAtli dropped his point. \u201cNiddering art thou, and coward to the last!\u201d\nhe cried. \u201cSee, men, Eric Brighteyes fears to fight. I am not come to\nthis that I will cut down a man who is too faint-hearted to give blow\nfor blow. This is my word: take ye your spear-shafts and push this\ncoward to the shore. Then put him in a boat and drive him hence.\u201d\n\nNow Eric grew red as the red light of sunset, for his manhood might not\nbear this.\n\n\u201cTake shield,\u201d he said, \u201cand, Earl, on thine own head be thy blood, for\nnone shall live to call Eric niddering and coward.\u201d\n\nAtli laughed in his folly and his rage. He took a shield, and, once\nmore springing on Brighteyes, struck a great blow.\n\nEric parried, then whirled Whitefire on high and smote\u2014once and once\nonly! Down rushed the bright blade like a star through the night. Sword\nand shield did Atli lift to catch the blow. Through shield it sheared,\nand arm that held the shield, through byrnie mail and deep into Earl\nAtli\u2019s side. He fell prone to earth, while men held their breath,\nwondering at the greatness of that stroke.\n\nBut Eric leaned on Whitefire and looked at the old Earl upon the rock.\n\n\u201cNow, Atli, thou hast had thy way,\u201d he said, \u201cand methinks things are\nworse than they were before. But I will say this: would that I lay\nthere and thou stoodest to watch me die, for as lief would I have slain\nmy father as thee, Earl Atli. There lies Swanhild\u2019s work!\u201d\n\nAtli gazed upwards into Eric\u2019s sad eyes and, while he gazed so, his\nrage left him, and of a sudden a light brake upon his mind, as even\nthen the light of the setting sun brake through the driving mist.\n\n\u201cEric,\u201d he said, \u201cdraw near and speak with me ere I am sped. Methinks\nthat I have been beguiled and that thou didst not do this thing that\nSwanhild said and Koll bore witness to.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat did Swanhild say, then, Earl Atli?\u201d\n\nThe Earl told him.\n\n\u201cIt was to be looked for from her,\u201d said Eric, \u201cthough I never thought\nof it. Now hearken!\u201d and he told him all.\n\nAtli groaned aloud. \u201cI know this now, Eric,\u201d he said: \u201cthat thou\nspeakest truth, and once more I have been deceived. Eric, I forgive\nthee all, for no man may fight against woman\u2019s witchcraft, and witch\u2019s\nwine. Swanhild is evil to the heart. Yet, Eric, I lay this doom upon\nthee\u2014I do not lay it of my own will, for I would not harm thee, whom I\nlove, but because of the words that the Norns put in my mouth, for now\nI am fey in this the hour of my death. Thou hast sinned, and that thou\ndidst sin against thy will shall avail thee nothing, for of thy sin\nfate shall fashion a handle to the spear which pierces thee. Henceforth\nthou art accursed. For I tell thee that this wicked woman Swanhild\nshall drag thee down to death, and worse than death, and with thee\nthose thou lovest. By witchcraft she brought thee to Straumey, by lies\nshe laid me here before thee. Now by hate and might and cruel deeds\nshall she bring thee to lie more low than I do. For, Eric, thou art\nbound to her, and thou shalt never loose the bond!\u201d\n\nAtli ceased a while, then spoke again more faintly:\n\n\u201cHearken, comrades,\u201d he cried; \u201cmy strength is well-nigh spent. Ye\nshall swear four things to me\u2014that ye will give Eric Brighteyes and\nSkallagrim Lambstail safe passage from Straumey. That ye will tell\nSwanhild the Fatherless, Groa\u2019s daughter and Atli\u2019s wife, that, at\nlast, I know her for what she is\u2014a murderess, a harlot, a witch and a\nliar; and that I forgive Eric whom she tricked, but that her I hate and\nspit upon. That ye will slay Koll the Half-witted, Groa\u2019s thrall, who\ncame hither about two days gone, since by his lies he hath set an edge\nupon this sword of falsehood. That ye will raise no blood-feud against\nEric for this my slaying, for I goaded him to the deed. Do ye swear?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe swear,\u201d said the men.\n\n\u201cThen farewell! And to thee farewell, also, Eric Brighteyes! Now take\nmy hand and hold it while I die. Behold! I give thee a new name, and by\nthat name thou shalt be called in story. I name thee _Eric the\nUnlucky_. Of all tales that are told, thine shall be the greatest. A\nmighty stroke that was of thine\u2014a mighty stroke! Farewell!\u201d\n\nThen his head fell back upon the rock and Earl Atli died. And as he\ndied the last rays of light went out of the sky.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI\nHOW HALL OF LITHDALE TOOK TIDINGS TO ICELAND\n\n\nNow on the same night that Atli died at the hand of Eric, Swanhild\nspake with Hall of Lithdale, whom she had summoned from the mainland.\nShe bade him do this: take passage in a certain ship that should sail\nfor Iceland on the morrow from the island that is called Westra, and\nthere tell all these tidings of the ill-doings of Eric and of the\nslaying of Atli by his hand.\n\n\u201cThou shalt say this,\u201d she went on, \u201cthat Eric had been my love for\nlong, but that at length the matter came to the ears of Atli, the Earl.\nThen, holding this the greatest shame, he went on holmgang with Eric\nand was slain by him. This shalt thou add to thy tale also, that\npresently Eric and I will wed, and that Eric shall rule as Earl in\nOrkneys. Now these tidings must soon come to the ears of Gudruda the\nFair, and she will send for thee, and question thee straightly\nconcerning them, and thou shalt tell her the tale as thou toldest it at\nfirst. Then thou shalt give Gudruda this packet, which I send her as a\ngift, saying, that I bade her remember a certain oath which Eric took\nas to the cutting of his hair. And when she sees that which is within\nthe packet is somewhat stained, tell her that is but the blood of Atli\nthat is upon it, as his blood is upon Eric\u2019s hands. Now remember thou\nthis, Hall, that if thou fail in the errand thy life shall pay forfeit,\nfor presently I will also come to Iceland and hear how thou hast sped.\u201d\n\nThen Swanhild gave him faring-money and gifts of wadmal and gold rings,\npromising that he should have so much again when she came to Iceland.\n\nHall said that he would do all these things, and went at once; nor did\nhe fail in his tasks.\n\nAtli being dead, Eric loosed his hand and called to the men to take up\nhis body and bear it to the hall. This they did. Eric stood and watched\nthem till they were lost in the darkness.\n\n\u201cWhither now, lord?\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cIt matters little,\u201d said Eric. \u201cWhat is thy counsel?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is my counsel. That we take ship and sail back to the King in\nLondon. There we will tell all this tale. It is a far cry from Straumey\nto London town, and there we shall sit in peace, for the King will\nthink little of the slaying of an Orkney Earl in a brawl about a woman.\nMayhap, too, the Lady Elfrida will not set great store by it.\nTherefore, I say, let us fare back to London.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn but one place am I at home, and that is Iceland,\u201d said Eric.\n\u201cThither I will go, Skallagrim, though it be but to miss friend from\nstead and bride from bed. At the least I shall find Ospakar there.\u201d\n\n\u201cListen, lord!\u201d said Skallagrim. \u201cWas it not my rede that we should\nbide this winter through in London? Thou wouldst none of it, and what\ncame about? Our ship is sunk, gone are our comrades, thine honour is\ntarnished, and dead is thy host at thine own hand. Yet I say all is not\nlost. Let us hence south, and see no more of Swanhild, of Gudruda, of\nBj\u00f6rn and Ospakar. So shall we break the spell. But if thou goest to\nIceland, I am sure of this: that the evil fate which Atli foretold will\nfall on thee, and the days to come shall be even more unlucky than the\ndays that have been.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt may be so,\u201d said Eric. \u201cMethinks, indeed, it will be so. Henceforth\nI am Eric the Unlucky. I will go back to Iceland and there play out the\ngame. I care little if I live or am slain\u2014I have no more joy in my\nlife. I stand alone, like a fir upon a mountain-top, and every wind\nfrom heaven and every storm of hail and snow beats upon my head. But I\nsay to thee, Skallagrim: go thy road, and leave a luckless man to his\nill fate. Otherwise it shall be thine also. Good friend hast thou been\nto me; now let us part and wend south and north. The King will be glad\nto greet thee yonder in London, Lambstail.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut one severing shall we know, lord,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cand that\nshall be sword\u2019s work, nor will it be for long. It is ill to speak such\nwords as these of the parting of lord and thrall. Bethink thee of the\noath I swore on Mosfell. Let us go north, since it is thy will: in\nfifty years it will count for little which way we wended from the\nIsles.\u201d\n\nSo they went together down to the shore, and, finding a boat and men\nwho as yet knew nothing of what had chanced to Atli, they sailed across\nthe firth at the rising of the moon.\n\nTwo days afterwards they found a ship at Wick that was bound for\nFareys, and sailed in her, Eric buying a passage with the half of a\ngold ring that the King had given him in London.\n\nHere at Fareys they sat a month or more; but not in the Earl\u2019s hall as\nwhen Eric came with honour in the Gudruda, but in a farmer\u2019s stead. For\nthe tale of Eric\u2019s dealings with Atli and Atli\u2019s wife had reached\nFareys, and the Earl there had been a friend of Atli\u2019s. Moreover, Eric\nwas now a poor man, having neither ship nor goods, nor friends.\nTherefore all looked coldly on him, though they wondered at his beauty\nand his might. Still, they dared not to speak ill or make a mock of\nhim; for, two men having done so, were nearly slain of Skallagrim, who\nseized the twain by the throat, one in either hand, and dashed their\nheads together. After that men said little.\n\nThey sat there a month, till at length a chapman put in at Fareys,\nbound for Iceland, and they took passage with him, Eric paying the\nother half of his gold ring for ship-room. The chapman was not willing\nto give them place at first, for he, too, had heard the tale; but\nSkallagrim offered him choice, either to do so or to go on holmgang\nwith him. Then the chapman gave them passage.\n\nNow it is told that when his thralls and house-carles bore the corpse\nof Atli the Earl to his hall in Straumey, Swanhild met it and wept over\nit. And when the spokesman among them stood forward and told her those\nwords that Atli had bidden them to say to her, sparing none, she spoke\nthus:\n\n\u201cMy lord was distraught and weak with loss of blood when he spoke thus.\nThe tale I told him was true, and now Eric has added to his sin by\nshedding the blood of him whom he wronged so sorely.\u201d\n\nAnd thereafter she spoke so sweetly and with so much gentleness, craft,\nand wisdom that, though they still doubted them, all men held her words\nweighty. For Swanhild had this art, that she could make the false sound\ntrue in the ears of men and the true sound false.\n\nStill, being mindful of their oath, they hunted for Koll and found him.\nAnd when the thrall knew that they would slay him he ran thence\nscreaming. Nor did Swanhild lift a hand to save his life, for she\ndesired that Koll should die, lest he should bear witness against her.\nAway he ran towards the cliffs, and after him sped Atli\u2019s house-carles,\ntill he came to the great cliffs that edge in the sea. Now they were\nclose upon him and their swords were aloft. Then, sooner than know the\nkiss of steel, the liar leapt from the cliffs and was crushed, dying\nmiserably on the rocks below. This was the end of Koll the Half-witted,\nGroa\u2019s thrall.\n\nSwanhild sat in Straumey for a while, and took all Atli\u2019s heritage into\nher keeping, for he had no male kin; nor did any say her nay. Also she\ncalled in the moneys that he had out at interest, and that was a great\nsum, for Atli was a careful and a wealthy man. Then Swanhild made ready\nto go to Iceland. Atli had a great dragon of war, and she manned that\nship and filled it with stores and all things needful. This done, she\nset stewards and grieves over the Orkney lands and farms, and, when the\nEarl was six weeks dead, she sailed for Iceland, giving out that she\nwent thither to set a blood-suit on foot against Eric for the death of\nAtli, her lord. There she came in safety just as folk rode to the\nThing.\n\nNow Hall of Lithdale came to Iceland and told his tale of the doings of\nEric and the death of Atli. Oft and loud he told it, and soon people\ngossiped of it in field and fair and stead. Bj\u00f6rn, Asmund\u2019s son, heard\nthis talk and sent for Hall. To him also Hall told the tale.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Bj\u00f6rn, \u201cwe will go to my sister Gudruda the Fair, and learn\nhow she takes these tidings.\u201d\n\nSo they went in to where Gudruda sat spinning in the hall, singing as\nshe span.\n\n\u201cGreeting, Gudruda,\u201d said Bj\u00f6rn; \u201csay, hast thou tidings of Eric\nBrighteyes, thy betrothed?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have no tidings,\u201d said Gudruda.\n\n\u201cThen here is one who brings them.\u201d\n\nNow for the first time Gudruda the Fair saw Hall of Lithdale. Up she\nsprang. \u201cThou hast tidings of Eric, Hall? Ah! thou art welcome, for no\ntidings have come of him for many a month. Speak on,\u201d and she pressed\nher hand against her heart and leaned towards him.\n\n\u201cMy tidings are ill, lady.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs Eric dead? Say not that my love is dead!\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is worse than dead,\u201d said Hall. \u201cHe is shamed.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere thou liest, Hall,\u201d she answered. \u201cShame and Eric are things\napart.\u201d\n\n\u201cMayst thou think so when thou hast heard my tale, lady,\u201d said Hall,\n\u201cfor I am sad at heart to speak it of one who was my mate.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpeak on, I say,\u201d answered Gudruda, in such a voice that Hall shrank\nfrom her. \u201cSpeak on; but of this I warn thee: that if in one word thou\nliest, that shall be thy death when Eric comes.\u201d\n\nNow Hall was afraid, thinking of the axe of Skallagrim. Still, he might\nnot go back upon his word. So he began at the beginning, telling the\nstory of how he was wounded in the fight with Ospakar\u2019s ships and left\nFarey isles, and how he came thence to Scotland and sat in Atli\u2019s hall\non Orkneys. Then he told how the Gudruda was wrecked on Straumey, and,\nof all aboard, Eric and Skallagrim alone were saved because of\nSwanhild\u2019s dream.\n\n\u201cHerein I see witch-work,\u201d said Gudruda.\n\nThen Hall told that Eric became Swanhild\u2019s love, but of the other tale\nwhich Swanhild had whispered to Atli he said nothing. For he knew that\nGudruda would not believe this, and, moreover, if it were so, Swanhild\nhad not sent the token which he should give.\n\n\u201cIt may well be,\u201d said Gudruda, proudly; \u201cSwanhild is fair and light of\nmind. Perchance she led Brighteyes into this snare.\u201d But, though she\nspoke thus, bitter jealousy and anger burned in her breast and she\nremembered the sight which she had seen when Eric and Swanhild met on\nthe morn of Atli\u2019s wedding.\n\nThen Hall told of the slaying of Atli the Good by Eric, but he said\nnothing of the Earl\u2019s dying words, nor of how he goaded Brighteyes with\nhis bitter words.\n\n\u201cIt was an ill deed in sooth,\u201d said Gudruda, \u201cfor Eric to slay an old\nman whom he had wronged. Still, it may chance that he was driven to it\nfor his own life\u2019s sake.\u201d\n\nThen Hall said that he had seen Swanhild after Atli\u2019s slaying, and that\nshe had told him that she and Eric should wed shortly, and that Eric\nwould rule in Orkneys by her side.\n\nGudruda asked if that was all his tale.\n\n\u201cYes, lady,\u201d answered Hall, \u201cthat is all my tale, for after that I\nsailed and know not what happened. But I am charged to give something\nto thee, and that by the Lady Swanhild. She bade me say this also:\nthat, when thou lookest on the gift, thou shouldst think on a certain\noath which Eric took as to the cutting of his hair.\u201d And he drew a\nlinen packet from his breast and gave it to her.\n\nThrice Gudruda looked on it, fearing to open it. Then, seeing the smile\nof mockery on Bj\u00f6rn\u2019s cold face, she took the shears that hung at her\nside and cut the thread with them. And as she cut, a lock of golden\nhair rose from the packet, untwisting itself like a living snake. The\nlock was long, and its end was caked with gore.\n\n\u201cWhose hair is this?\u201d said Gudruda, though she knew the hair well.\n\n\u201cEric\u2019s hair,\u201d said Hall, \u201cthat Swanhild cut from his head with Eric\u2019s\nsword.\u201d\n\nNow Gudruda put her hand to her bosom. She drew out a satchel, and from\nthe satchel a lock of yellow hair. Side by side she placed the locks,\nlooking first at one and then at the other.\n\n\u201cThis is Eric\u2019s hair in sooth,\u201d she said\u2014\u201cEric\u2019s hair that he swore\nnone but I should cut! Eric\u2019s hair that Swanhild shore with Whitefire\nfrom Eric\u2019s head\u2014Whitefire whereon we plighted troth! Say now, whose\nblood is this that stains the hair of Eric?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is Atli\u2019s blood, whom Eric first dishonoured and then slew with his\nown hand,\u201d answered Hall.\n\nNow there burned a fire on the hearth, for the day was cold. Gudruda\nthe Fair stood over the fire and with either hand she let the two locks\nof Eric\u2019s hair fall upon the embers. Slowly they twisted up and burned.\nShe watched them burn, then she threw up her hands and with a great cry\nfled from the hall.\n\nBj\u00f6rn and Hall of Lithdale looked on each other.\n\n\u201cThou hadst best go hence!\u201d said Bj\u00f6rn; \u201cand of this I warn thee, Hall,\nthough I hold thy tidings good, that, if thou hast spoken one false\nword, that will be thy death. For then it would be better for thee to\nface all the wolves in Iceland than to stand before Eric in his rage.\u201d\n\nAgain Hall bethought himself of the axe of Skallagrim, and he went out\nheavily.\n\nThat day a messenger came from Gudruda to Bj\u00f6rn, saying that she would\nspeak with him. He went to where she sat alone upon her bed. Her face\nwas white as death, and her dark eyes glowed.\n\n\u201cEric has dealt badly with thee, sister, to bring thee to this sorrow,\u201d\nsaid Bj\u00f6rn.\n\n\u201cSpeak no evil of Eric to me,\u201d Gudruda answered. \u201cThe evil that he has\ndone will be paid back to him; there is little need for thee to heap\nwords upon his head. Hearken, Bj\u00f6rn my brother: is it yet thy will that\nI should wed Ospakar Blacktooth?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is my will, surely. There is no match in Iceland as this Ospakar,\nand I should win many friends by it.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo this then, Bj\u00f6rn. Send messengers to Swinefell and say to Ospakar\nthat if he would still wed Gudruda the Fair, Asmund\u2019s daughter, let him\ncome to Middalhof when folk ride from the Thing and he shall not go\nhence alone. Nay, I have done. Now, I pray thee speak no more to me of\nEric or of Ospakar. Of the one I have seen and heard enough, and of the\nother I shall hear and see enough in the years that are to come.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII\nHOW ERIC CAME HOME AGAIN\n\n\nSwanhild made a good passage from the Orkneys, and was in Iceland\nthirty-five days before Eric and Skallagrim set foot there. But she did\nnot land by Westman Isles, for she had no wish to face Gudruda at that\ntime, but by Reyjaness. Now she rode thence with her company to\nThingvalla, for here all men were gathered for the Thing. At first\npeople hung aloof from her, notwithstanding her wealth and beauty; but\nSwanhild knew well how to win the hearts of men. For now she told the\nsame story of Eric that she had told to Atli, and there were none to\nsay her nay. So it came to pass that she was believed, and Eric\nBrighteyes held to be shamed indeed. Now, too, she set a suit on foot\nagainst Eric for the death of Atli at his hand, claiming that sentence\nof the greater outlawry should be passed against him, and that his\nlands at Coldback in the Marsh on Ran River should be given, half to\nher in atonement for the Earl\u2019s death, and half to the men of Eric\u2019s\nquarter.\n\nOn the day of the opening of the Thing Ospakar Blacktooth came from the\nnorth, and with him his son Gizur and a great company of men. Ospakar\nwas blithe, for from the Thing he should ride to Middalhof, there to\nwed Gudruda the Fair. Then Swanhild clad herself in beautiful attire,\nand, taking men with her, went to the booth of Ospakar.\n\nBlacktooth sat in his booth and by him sat Gizur his son the Lawman.\nWhen he saw a beauteous lady, very richly clad, enter the booth he did\nnot know who it might be. But Gizur knew her well, for he could never\nput Swanhild from his mind.\n\n\u201cLo! here comes Swanhild the Fatherless, Atli\u2019s widow,\u201d said Gizur,\nflushing red with joy at the sight of her.\n\nThen Ospakar greeted her heartily, and made place for her by him at the\ntop of the booth.\n\n\u201cOspakar Blacktooth,\u201d she said, \u201cI am come to ask this of thee: that\nthou shalt befriend me in the suit which I have against Eric Brighteyes\nfor the slaying of Earl Atli, my husband.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou couldst have come to no man who is more willing,\u201d said Ospakar,\n\u201cfor, if thou hast something against Eric, I have yet more.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would ask this, too, Ospakar: that thy son Gizur should take up my\nsuit and plead it; for I know well that he is the most skilful of all\nlawmen.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will do that,\u201d said Gizur, his eyes yet fixed upon her face.\n\n\u201cI looked for no less from thee,\u201d said Swanhild, \u201cand be sure of this,\nthat thou shalt not plead for nothing,\u201d and she glanced at him\nmeaningly. Then she set out her case with a lying tongue, and\nafterwards went back to her booth, glad at heart. For now she learned\nthat Hall had not failed in his errand, seeing that Gudruda was about\nto wed Ospakar.\n\nGizur gave warning of the blood-suit, and the end of it was that,\nthough he had no notice and was not there to answer to the charge,\nagainst all right and custom Eric was declared outlaw and his lands\nwere given, half to Swanhild and half to the men of his quarter. For\nnow all held that Swanhild\u2019s was a true tale, and Eric the most\nshameful of men, and therefore they were willing to stretch the law\nagainst him. Also, being absent, he had few friends, and those men of\nsmall account; whereas Ospakar, who backed Swanhild\u2019s suit, was the\nmost powerful of the northern chiefs, as Gizur was the most skilled\nlawman in Iceland. Moreover, Bj\u00f6rn the Priest, Asmund\u2019s son, was among\nthe judges, and, though Swanhild\u2019s tale seemed strange to him after\nthat which he had heard from Hall of Lithdale, he loved Eric little. He\nfeared also that if Eric came a free man to Iceland before Gudruda was\nwed to Ospakar, her love would conquer her anger, for he could see well\nthat she still loved Brighteyes. Therefore he strove with might and\nmain that Eric should be brought in guilty, nor did he fail in this.\n\nSo the end of it was that Eric Brighteyes was outlawed, his lands\ndeclared forfeit, and his head a wolf\u2019s head, to be taken by him who\nmight, should he set foot in Iceland.\n\nThereafter, the Althing being ended, Bj\u00f6rn, Gizur, and Ospakar, with\nall their company, rode away to Middalhof to sit at the marriage-feast.\nBut Swanhild and her folk went by sea in the long war-ship to Westmans.\nFor this was her plan: to seize on Coldback and to sit there for a\nwhile, till she saw if Eric came out to Iceland. Also she desired to\nsee the wedding of Ospakar and Gudruda, for she had been bidden to it\nby Bj\u00f6rn, her half-brother.\n\nNow Ospakar came to Middalhof, and found Gudruda waiting his coming.\n\nShe stood in the great hall, pale and cold as April snow, and greeted\nhim courteously. But when he would have kissed her, she shrank from\nhim, for now he was more hideous in her sight than he had ever been,\nand she loathed him in her heart.\n\nThat night there was feasting in the hall, and at the feast Gudruda\nheard that Eric had been made outlaw. Then she spoke:\n\n\u201cThis is an ill deed, thus to judge an absent man.\u201d\n\n\u201cSay, Gudruda,\u201d said Bj\u00f6rn in her ear, \u201chast thou not also judged Eric\nwho is absent?\u201d\n\nShe turned her head and spoke no more of Eric; but Bj\u00f6rn\u2019s words fixed\nthemselves in her heart like arrows. The tale was strange to her, for\nit seemed that Eric had been made outlaw at Swanhild\u2019s suit, and yet\nEric was Swanhild\u2019s love: for Swanhild\u2019s self had sent the lock of\nBrighteyes\u2019 hair by Hall, saying that he was her love and soon would\nwed her. How, then, did Swanhild bring a suit against him who should be\nher husband? Moreover, she heard that Swanhild sailed down to Coldback,\nand was bidden to the marriage-feast, that should be on the third day\nfrom now. Could it be, then, when all was said and done, that Eric was\nless faithless than she deemed? Gudruda\u2019s heart stood still and the\nblood rushed to her brow when she thought on it. Also, even if it were\nso, it was now too late. And surely it was not so, for had not Eric\nbeen made outlaw? Men were not made outlaw for a little thing. Nay, she\nwould meet her fate, and ask no more of Eric and his doings.\n\nOn the morrow, as Gudruda sat in her chamber, it was told her that\nSaevuna, Thorgrimur\u2019s widow and Eric\u2019s mother, had come from Coldback\nto speak with her. For, after the death of Asmund and of Unna, Saevuna\nhad moved back to Coldback on the Marsh.\n\n\u201cNay, how can this be?\u201d said Gudruda astonished, for she knew well that\nSaevuna was now both blind and bed-ridden.\n\n\u201cShe has been borne here in a chair,\u201d said the woman who told her, \u201cand\nthat is a strange sight to see.\u201d\n\nAt first Gudruda was minded to say her nay; but her heart softened, and\nshe bade them bring Saevuna in. Presently she came, being set in a\nchair upon the shoulders of four men. She was white to see, for\nsickness had aged her much, and she stared about her with sightless\neyes. But she was still tall and straight, and her face was stern to\nlook on. To Gudruda it seemed like that of Eric when he was angered.\n\n\u201cAm I nigh to Gudruda the Fair, Asmund\u2019s daughter?\u201d asked Saevuna.\n\u201cMethinks I hear her breathe.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am here, mother,\u201d said Gudruda. \u201cWhat is thy will with me?\u201d\n\n\u201cSet down, carles, and begone!\u201d quoth Saevuna; \u201cthat which I have to\nsay I would say alone. When I summon you, come.\u201d\n\nThe carles set down the chair upon the floor and went.\n\n\u201cGudruda,\u201d said the dame, \u201cI am risen from my deathbed, and I have\ncaused myself to be borne on my last journey here across the meads,\nthat I may speak with thee and warn thee. I hear that thou hast put\naway my son, Eric Brighteyes, to whom thou art sworn in marriage, and\nart about to give thyself to Ospakar Blacktooth. I hear also that thou\nhast done this deed because a certain man, Hall of Lithdale\u2014whom from\nhis youth up I have known for a liar and a knave, and whom thou thyself\ndidst mistrust in years gone by\u2014has come hither to Iceland from\nOrkneys, bearing a tale of Eric\u2019s dealings with thy half-sister\nSwanhild. This I hear, further: that Swanhild, Atli\u2019s widow, hath come\nout to Iceland and laid a suit against Eric for the slaying of Atli the\nEarl, her husband, and that Eric has been outlawed and his lands at\nColdback are forfeit. Tell me now, Gudruda, Asmund\u2019s daughter, if these\ntales be true?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe tales are true, mother,\u201d said Gudruda.\n\n\u201cThen hearken to me, girl. Eric sprang from my womb, who of all living\nmen is the best and first, as he is the bravest and most strong. I have\nreared this Eric from a babe and I know his heart well. Now I tell thee\nthis, that, whatever Eric has done or left undone, naught of dishonour\nis on his hands. Mayhap Swanhild has deceived him\u2014thou art a woman, and\nthou knowest well the arts which women have, and the strength that\nFreya gives them. Well thou knowest, also, of what breed this Swanhild\ncame; and perchance thou canst remember how she dealt with thee, and\nwith what mind she looked on Eric. Perchance thou canst remember how\nshe plotted against thee and Eric\u2014ay, how she thrust thee from Goldfoss\nbrink. Say, then, wilt thou take her word? Wilt thou take the word of\nthis witch-daughter of a witch? Wilt thou not think on Groa, her\nmother, and of Groa\u2019s dealings with thy father, and with Unna my\nkinswoman? As the mother is, so shall the daughter be. Wilt thou cast\nEric aside, and that unheard?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is no more room for doubt, mother,\u201d said Gudruda. \u201cI have proof\nof this: that Eric has forsaken me.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo thou thinkest, child; but I tell thee that thou art wrong! Eric\nloves thee now as he loved thee aforetime, and will love thee always.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould that I could believe it!\u201d said Gudruda. \u201cIf I could believe that\nEric still loved me\u2014ay, even though he had been faithless to me\u2014I would\ndie ere I wed Ospakar!\u201d\n\n\u201cThou art foolish, Gudruda, and thou shalt rue thy folly bitterly. I am\noutworn, and death draws near to me\u2014far from me now are hates and\nloves, hopes and fears; but I know this: that woman is mad who, loving\na man, weds where she loves not. Shame shall be her portion and\nbitterness her bread. Unhappy shall she live, and when she comes to\ndie, but as a wilderness\u2014but as the desolate winter snow, shall be the\nrecord of her days!\u201d\n\nNow Gudruda wept aloud. \u201cWhat is done is done,\u201d she cried; \u201cthe\nbridegroom sits within the hall\u2014the bride awaits him in the bower. What\nis done is done\u2014I may hope no more to be saved from Ospakar.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is done is done, yet it can be brought to nothing; but soon that\nshall be done which may never be undone! Gudruda, fare thee well! Never\nshall I listen to thy voice again. I hold thee shameless, thou\nunfaithful woman, who in thy foolish jealousy art ready to sell thyself\nto the arms of one thou hatest! Ho! carles; come hither. Bear me\nhence!\u201d\n\nNow the men came in and took up Saevuna\u2019s chair. Gudruda watched them\nbear her forth. Then suddenly she sprang from her seat and ran after\nher into the hall, weeping bitterly.\n\nNow as Saevuna, Eric\u2019s mother, was carried out she was met by Ospakar\nand Bj\u00f6rn.\n\n\u201cStay,\u201d said Bj\u00f6rn. \u201cWhat does this carline here?\u2014and why weeps\nGudruda, my sister?\u201d\n\nThe men halted. \u201cWho calls me \u2018carline\u2019?\u201d said Saevuna. \u201cIs the voice I\nhear the voice of Bj\u00f6rn, Asmund\u2019s son?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is my voice, truly,\u201d said Bj\u00f6rn, \u201cand I would know this\u2014and this\nwould Ospakar, who stands at my side, know also\u2014why thou comest here,\ncarline? and why Gudruda weeps?\u201d\n\n\u201cGudruda weeps because she has good cause to weep, Bj\u00f6rn. She weeps\nbecause she has betrayed her love, Eric Brighteyes, my son, and is\nabout to be sold in marriage\u2014to be sold to thee, Ospakar Blacktooth,\nlike a heifer at a fair.\u201d\n\nThen Bj\u00f6rn grew angry and cursed Saevuna, nor did Ospakar spare to add\nhis ill words. But the old dame sat in her chair, listening silently\ntill all their curses were spent.\n\n\u201cYe are evil, the twain of you,\u201d she said, \u201cand ye have told lies of\nEric, my son; and ye have taken his bride for lust and greed, playing\non the jealous folly of a maid like harpers on a harp. Now I tell you\nthis, Bj\u00f6rn and Ospakar! My blind eyes are opened and I see this hall\nof Middalhof, and lo! it is but a gore of blood! Blood flows upon the\nboard\u2014blood streams along the floor, and ye\u2014ye twain!\u2014lie dead thereon,\nand about your shapes are shrouds, and on her feet are Hell-shoon! Eric\ncomes and Whitefire is aloft, and no more shall ye stand before him\nwhom ye have slandered than stands the birch before the lightning\nstroke! Eric comes! I see his angry eyes\u2014I see his helm flash in the\ndoor-place! Red was that marriage-feast at which sat Unna, my\nkinswoman, and Asmund, thy father\u2014redder shall be the feast where sit\nGudruda, thy sister, and Ospakar! The wolf howls at thy door, Bj\u00f6rn!\nthe grave-worm opens his mouth! trolls run to and fro upon thy\nthreshold, and the ghosts of men speed Hellwards! Ill were the deeds of\nGroa\u2014worse shall be the deeds of Groa\u2019s daughter! Red is thy hall with\nblood, Bj\u00f6rn!\u2014for Whitefire is aloft and\u2014_I tell thee Eric comes!_\u201d\u2014and\nwith one great cry she fell back\u2014dead.\n\nNow they stood amazed, and trembling in their fear.\n\n\u201cSaevuna hath spoken strange words,\u201d said Bj\u00f6rn.\n\n\u201cShall we be frightened by a dead hag?\u201d quoth Ospakar, drawing his\nbreath again. \u201cFellows, bear this carrion forth, or we fling it to the\ndogs.\u201d\n\nThen the men tied the body of Saevuna, Thorgrimur\u2019s widow, Eric\u2019s\nmother, fast in the chair, and bore it thence. But when at length they\ncame to Coldback, they found that Swanhild was there with all her\nfollowing, and had driven Eric\u2019s grieve and his folk to the fells. But\none old carline, who had been nurse to Eric, was left there, and she\nsat wailing in an outhouse, being too weak to move.\n\nThen the men set down the corpse of Saevuna in the outhouse, and,\nhaving told all their tale to the carline, they fled also.\n\nThat night passed, and passed the morrow; but on the next day at dawn\nEric Brighteyes and Skallagrim Lambstail landed near Westman Isles.\nThey had made a bad passage from Fareys, having been beat about by\ncontrary winds; but at length they came safe and well to land.\n\nNow this was the day of the marriage-feast of Gudruda the Fair and\nOspakar; but Eric knew nothing of these tidings.\n\n\u201cWhere to now, lord?\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cTo Coldback first, to see my mother, if she yet lives, and to learn\ntidings of Gudruda. Then as it may chance.\u201d\n\nNear to the beach was a yeoman\u2019s house. Thither they went to hire\nhorses; but none were in the house, for all had gone to Gudruda\u2019s\nmarriage-feast. In the home meadow ran two good horses, and in the\nouthouses were saddles and bridles. They caught the horses, saddled\nthem and rode for Coldback. When they had ridden for something over an\nhour they came to the crest of a height whence they could see Coldback\nin the Marsh.\n\nEric drew rein and looked, and his heart swelled within him at the\nsight of the place where he was born. But as he looked he saw a great\ntrain of people ride away from Coldback towards Middalhof\u2014and in the\ncompany a woman wearing a purple cloak.\n\n\u201cNow what may this mean?\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cRide on and we shall learn,\u201d answered Skallagrim.\n\nSo they rode on, and as they rode Eric\u2019s breast grew heavy with fear.\nNow they passed up the banked way through the home meadows of the\nhouse, but they could see no one; and now they were at the door. Down\nsprang Eric and walked into the hall. But none were there to greet him,\nthough a fire yet burned upon the earth. Only a gaunt hound wandered\nabout the hall, and, seeing him, sprang towards him, growling. Eric\nknew him for his old wolf-hound, and called him by his name. The dog\nlistened, then ran up and smelt his hands, and straightway howled with\njoy and leapt upon him. For a while he leapt thus, while Eric stared\naround him wondering and sad at heart. Then the dog ran to the door and\nstopped, whining. Eric followed after him. The hound passed through the\nentrance, and across the yard till he came to an outhouse. Here the dog\nstopped and scratched at the door, still whining. Eric thrust it open.\nLo! there before him sat Saevuna, his mother, dead in a chair, and at\nher feet crouched the carline\u2014she who had been Eric\u2019s nurse.\n\nNow he grasped the door-posts to steady himself, and his shadow fell\nupon the white face of his mother and the old carline at her feet.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII\nHOW ERIC WAS A GUEST AT THE WEDDING-FEAST OF GUDRUDA THE FAIR\n\n\nEric looked, but said nothing.\n\n\u201cWho art thou?\u201d whined the carline, gazing up at him with tear-blinded\neyes. But Eric\u2019s face was in the shadow, and she only saw the glint of\nhis golden hair and the flash of the golden helm. For Eric could not\nspeak yet a while.\n\n\u201cArt thou one of the Swanhild\u2019s folk, come to drive me hence with the\nrest? Good sir, I cannot go to the fells, my limbs are too weak. Slay\nme, if thou wilt, but drive me not from this,\u201d and she pointed to the\ncorpse. \u201cSay now, will thou not help me to give it burial? It is unmeet\nthat she who in her time had husband, and goods, and son, should lie\nunburied like a dead cow on the fells. I have still a hundred in\nsilver, if I might but come at it. It is hidden, sir, and I will pay\nthee if thou wilt help me to bury her. These old hands are too feeble\nto dig a grave, nor could I bear her there alone if it were dug. Thou\nwilt not help me?\u2014then may thine own mother\u2019s bones lie uncovered, and\nbe picked of gulls and ravens. Oh, that Eric Brighteyes would come home\nagain! Oh, that Eric was here! there is work to do and never a man to\ndo it.\u201d\n\nNow Eric gave a great sob and cried, \u201cNurse, nurse! knowest thou me\nnot! _I_ am Eric Brighteyes.\u201d\n\nShe uttered a loud cry, and, clasping him by the knees, looked up into\nhis face.\n\n\u201cThanks be to Odin! Thou art Eric\u2014Eric come home again! But alas, thou\nhast come too late!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat has happened, then?\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cWhat has happened? All evil things. Thou art outlawed, Eric, at the\nsuit of Swanhild for the slaying of Atli the Earl. Swanhild sits here\nin Coldback, for she hath seized thy lands. Saevuna, thy mother, died\ntwo days ago in the hall of Middalhof, whither she went to speak with\nGudruda.\u201d\n\n\u201cGudruda! what of Gudruda?\u201d cried Eric.\n\n\u201cThis, Brighteyes: to-day she weds Ospakar Blacktooth.\u201d\n\nEric covered his face with his hand. Presently he lifted it.\n\n\u201cThou art rich in evil tidings, nurse, though, it would seem, poor in\nall besides. Tell me at what hour is the wedding-feast?\u201d\n\n\u201cAn hour after noon, Eric; but now Swanhild has ridden thither with her\ncompany.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen room must be found at Middalhof for one more guest,\u201d said Eric,\nand laughed aloud. \u201cGo on!\u2014pour out thy evil news and spare me not!\u2014for\nnothing has any more power to harm me now! Come hither, Skallagrim, and\nsee and hearken.\u201d\n\nSkallagrim came and looked on the face of dead Saevuna.\n\n\u201cI am outlawed at Swanhild\u2019s suit, Lambstail. My life lies in thy hand,\nif so be thou wouldst take it! Hew off my head, if thou wilt, and bear\nit to Gudruda the Fair\u2014she will thank thee for the gift. Lay on,\nLambstail; lay on with that axe of thine.\u201d\n\n\u201cChild\u2019s talk!\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cChild\u2019s talk, but man\u2019s work! Thou hast not heard the tale out.\nSwanhild hath seized my lands and sits here at Coldback! And\u2014what\nthinkest thou, Skallagrim?\u2014but now she has ridden a-guesting to the\nmarriage-feast of Ospakar Blacktooth with Gudruda the Fair! Swanhild at\nGudruda\u2019s wedding!\u2014the eagle in the wild swan\u2019s nest! But there will be\nanother guest,\u201d and again he laughed aloud.\n\n\u201c_Two_ other guests,\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cMore of thy tale, old nurse!\u2014more of thy tale!\u201d quoth Eric. \u201cNo better\ndidst thou ever tell me when, as a lad, I sat by thee, in the ingle o\u2019\nwinter nights\u2014and the company is fitting to the tale!\u201d and he pointed\nto dead Saevuna.\n\nThen the carline told on. She told how Hall of Lithdale had come out to\nIceland, and of the story that he bore to Gudruda, and of the giving of\nthe lock of hair.\n\n\u201cWhat did I say, lord?\u201d broke in Skallagrim\u2014\u201cthat in Hall thou hadst\nlet a weasel go who would live to nip thee?\u201d\n\n\u201cHim I will surely live to shorten by a head,\u201d quoth Eric.\n\n\u201cNay, lord, this one for me\u2014Ospakar for thee, Hall for me!\u201d\n\n\u201cAs thou wilt, Baresark. Among so many there is room to pick and\nchoose. Tell on, nurse!\u201d\n\nThen she told how Swanhild came out to Iceland, and, having won Ospakar\nBlacktooth and Gizur to her side, had laid a suit against Eric at the\nThing, and there bore false witness against him, so that Brighteyes was\ndeclared outlaw, being absent. She told, too, how Gudruda had betrothed\nherself to Ospakar, and how Swanhild had moved down to Coldback and\nseized the lands. Lastly she told of the rising of Saevuna from her\ndeathbed, of her going to Middalhof, of the words she spoke to Bj\u00f6rn\nand Ospakar, and of her death in the hall at Middalhof.\n\nWhen all was told, Eric stooped and kissed the cold brow of his mother.\n\n\u201cThere is little time to bury thee now, my mother,\u201d he said, \u201cand\nperchance before six hours are sped there will be one to bury at thy\nside. Nevertheless, thou shalt sit in a better place than this.\u201d\n\nThen he cut loose the cords that bound the body of Saevuna to the\nchair, and, lifting it in his arms, bore it to the hall. There he set\nthe corpse in the high seat of the hall.\n\n\u201cWe need not start yet a while, Skallagrim,\u201d said Eric, \u201cif indeed thou\nwouldst go a-guesting with me to Middalhof. Therefore let us eat and\ndrink, for there are deeds to do this day.\u201d\n\nSo they found meat and mead and ate and drank. Then Eric washed\nhimself, combed out his golden locks, and looked well to his harness\nand to Whitefire\u2019s edge. Skallagrim also ground his great axe upon the\nwhetstone in the yard, singing as he ground. When all was ready, the\nhorses were caught, and Eric spoke to the carline:\n\n\u201cHearken, nurse. If it may be that thou canst find any of our folk\u2014and\nperchance now that they see that Swanhild has ridden to Middalhof some\none of them will come down to spy\u2014thou shalt say this to them. Thou\nshalt say that, if Eric Brighteyes yet lives, he will be at the foot of\nMosfell to-morrow before midday, and if, for the sake of old days and\nfellowship, they are minded to befriend a friendless man, let them come\nthither with food, for by then food will be needed, and I will speak\nwith them. And now farewell,\u201d and Eric kissed her and went, leaving her\nweeping.\n\nAs it chanced, before another hour was sped, Jon, Eric\u2019s thrall, who\nhad stayed at home in Iceland, seeing Coldback empty, crept down from\nthe fells and looked in. The carline saw him, and told him these\ntidings. Then he went thence to find the other men. Having found them\nhe told them Eric\u2019s words, and a great gladness came upon them when\nthey learned that Brighteyes still lived, and was in Iceland. Then they\ngathered food and gear, and rode away to the foot of Mosfell that is\nnow called Ericsfell.\n\nOspakar sat in the hall at Middalhof, near to the high seat. He was\nfully armed, and a black helm with a raven\u2019s crest was on his head.\nFor, though he said nothing of it, not a little did he fear that\nSaevuna spoke sooth\u2014that her words would come true, and, before this\nday was done, he and Eric should once more stand face to face. At his\nside sat Gudruda the Fair, robed in white, a worked head-dress on her\nhead, golden clasps upon her breast and golden rings about her arms.\nNever had she been more beautiful to see; but her face was whiter than\nher robes. She looked with loathing on Blacktooth at her side, rough\nlike a bear, and hideous as a troll. But he looked on her with longing,\nand laughed from side to side of his great mouth when he thought that\nat last he had got her for his own.\n\n\u201cAh, if Eric would but come, faithless though he be!\u2014if Eric would but\ncome!\u201d thought Gudruda; but no Eric came to save her. The guests\ngathered fast, and presently Swanhild swept in with all her company,\nwrapped about in her purple cloak. She came up to the high seat where\nGudruda sat, and bent the knee before her, looking on her with lovely\nmocking face and hate in her blue eyes.\n\n\u201cGreeting, Gudruda, my sister!\u201d she said. \u201cWhen last we met I sat,\nAtli\u2019s bride, where to-day thou sittest the bride of Ospakar. Then Eric\nBrighteyes held thy hand, and little thou didst think of wedding\nOspakar. Now Eric is afar\u2014so strangely do things come about\u2014and\nBlacktooth, Brighteyes\u2019 foe, holds that fair hand of thine.\u201d\n\nGudruda looked on her and turned whiter yet in her pain, but she\nanswered never a word.\n\n\u201cWhat! no word for me, sister?\u201d said Swanhild. \u201cAnd yet it is through\nme that thou comest to this glad hour. It is through me that thou art\nrid of Eric, and it is I who have given thee to the arms of mighty\nOspakar. No word of thanks for so great a service!\u2014fie on thee,\nGudruda! fie!\u201d\n\nThen Gudruda spoke: \u201cStrange tales are told of thee and Eric, Groa\u2019s\ndaughter! I have done with Eric, but I have done with thee also. Thou\nhast thrust thyself here against my will and, if I may, I would see thy\nface no more.\u201d\n\n\u201cWouldst thou see Eric\u2019s face, Gudruda?\u2014say, wouldst see Eric\u2019s face? I\ntell thee it is fair!\u201d\n\nBut Gudruda answered nothing, and Swanhild fell back, laughing.\n\nNow the feast began, and men waxed merry. But ever Gudruda\u2019s heart grew\nheavier, for in it echoed those words that Saevuna had spoken. Her eyes\nwere dim, and she seemed to see naught but the face of Eric as it had\nlooked when he came back to her that day on the brink of Goldfoss Falls\nand she had thought him dead. Oh! what if he still loved her and were\nyet true at heart? Swanhild mocked her!\u2014what if this was a plot of\nSwanhild\u2019s? Had not Swanhild plotted aforetime, and could a wolf cease\nfrom ravening or a witch from witch-work? Nay, she had seen Eric\u2019s\nhair\u2014that he had sworn none save she should touch! Perchance he had\nbeen drugged, and the hair shorn from him in his sleep? Too late to\nthink! Of what use was thought?\u2014beside her sat Ospakar, in one short\nhour she would be his. Ah! that she could see him dead\u2014the troll who\nhad trafficked her to shame, the foe she had summoned in her wrath and\njealousy! She had done ill\u2014she had fallen into Swanhild\u2019s snare, and\nnow Swanhild came to mock her!\n\nThe feast went on\u2014cup followed cup. Now they poured the bride-cup!\nBefore her heart beat two hundred times she would be the wife of\nOspakar!\n\nBlacktooth took the cup\u2014pledged her in it, and drank deep. Then he\nturned and strove to kiss her. But Gudruda shrank from him with horror\nin her eyes, and all men wondered. Still she must drink the bridal cup.\nShe took it. Dimly she saw the upturned faces, faintly she heard the\nmurmur of a hundred voices.\n\nWhat was that voice she caught above them all\u2014there\u2014without the hall?\n\nHolding the cup in her hand, Gudruda bent forward, staring down the\nskali. Then she cried aloud, pointing to the door, and the cup fell\nclattering from her hand and rolled along the ground.\n\nMen turned and looked. They saw this: there on the threshold stood a\nman, glorious to look at, and from his winged helm of gold the rays of\nlight flashed through the dusky hall. The man was great and beautiful\nto see. He had long yellow hair bound in about his girdle, and in his\nleft hand he held a pointed shield, in his right a spear, and at his\nthigh there hung a mighty sword. Nor was he alone, for by his side, a\nbroad axe on his shoulder and shield in hand, stood another man, clad\nin black-hued mail\u2014a man well-nigh as broad and big, with hawk\u2019s eyes,\neagle beak, and black hair streaked with grey.\n\nFor a moment there was silence. Then a voice spoke:\n\n\u201cLo! here be the Gods Baldur and Thor!\u2014come from Valhalla to grace the\nmarriage-feast!\u201d\n\nThen the man with golden hair cried aloud in a voice that made the\nrafters ring:\n\n\u201cHere are Eric Brighteyes and Skallagrim Lambstail, his thrall, come\nfrom over sea to grace the feast, indeed!\u201d\n\n\u201cI could have looked for no worse guests,\u201d said Bj\u00f6rn, beneath his\nbreath, and rose to bid men thrust them out. But before he could speak,\nlo! gold-helmed Eric and black-helmed Skallagrim were stalking up the\nlength of that great hall. Side by side they stalked, with faces fierce\nand cold; nor stayed they till they stood before the high seat. Eric\nlooked up and round, and the light of his eyes was as the light of a\nsword. Men marvelled at his greatness and his wonderful beauty, and to\nGudruda he seemed like a God.\n\n\u201cHere I see faces that are known to me,\u201d said Eric. \u201cGreetings,\ncomrades!\u201d\n\n\u201cGreetings, Brighteyes!\u201d shouted the Middalhof folk and the company of\nSwanhild; but the carles of Ospakar laid hand on sword\u2014they too knew\nEric. For still all men loved Eric, and the people of his quarter were\nproud of the deeds he had done oversea.\n\n\u201cGreeting, Bj\u00f6rn, Asmund\u2019s son!\u201d quoth Eric. \u201cGreeting, Ospakar\nBlacktooth! Greeting, Swanhild the Fatherless, Atli\u2019s witch-wife\u2014Groa\u2019s\nwitch-bairn! Greeting, Hall of Lithdale, Hall the liar\u2014Hall who cut the\ngrapnel-chain! And to thee, sweet Bride, to thee Gudruda the Fair,\ngreeting!\u201d\n\nNow Bj\u00f6rn spoke: \u201cI will take no greeting from a shamed and outlawed\nman. Get thee gone, Eric Brighteyes, and take thy wolf-hound with thee,\nlest thou bidest here stiff and cold.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpeak not so loud, rat, lest hound\u2019s fang worry thee!\u201d growled\nSkallagrim.\n\nBut Eric laughed aloud and cried\u2014\n\n\u201cWords must be said, and perchance men shall die, ere ever I leave this\nhall, Bj\u00f6rn!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV\nHOW THE FEAST WENT\n\n\n\u201cHearken all men!\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cThrust him out!\u201d quoth Bj\u00f6rn.\n\n\u201cNay, cut him down!\u201d said Ospakar, \u201che is an outlawed man.\u201d\n\n\u201cWords first, then deeds,\u201d answered Skallagrim. \u201cThou shalt have thy\nfill of both, Blacktooth, before day is done.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet Eric say his say,\u201d said Gudruda, lifting her head. \u201cHe has been\ndoomed unheard, and it is my will that he shall say his say.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat hast thou to do with Eric?\u201d snarled Ospakar.\n\n\u201cThe bride-cup is not yet drunk, lord,\u201d she answered.\n\n\u201cTo thee, then, I will speak, lady,\u201d quoth Eric. \u201cHow comes it that,\nbeing betrothed to me, thou dost sit there the bride of Ospakar?\u201d\n\n\u201cAsk of Swanhild,\u201d said Gudruda in a low voice. \u201cAsk also of Hall of\nLithdale yonder, who brought me Swanhild\u2019s gift from Straumey.\u201d\n\n\u201cI must ask much of Hall and he must answer much,\u201d said Eric. \u201cWhat\ntale, then, did he bring thee from Straumey?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe said this, Eric,\u201d Gudruda answered: \u201cthat thou wast Swanhild\u2019s\nlove; that for Swanhild\u2019s sake thou hadst basely killed Atli the Good,\nand that thou wast about to wed Swanhild\u2019s self and take the Earl\u2019s\nseat in Orkneys.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd for what cause was I made outlaw at the Althing?\u201d\n\n\u201cFor this cause, Eric,\u201d said Bj\u00f6rn, \u201cthat thou hadst dealt evilly with\nSwanhild, bringing her to shame against her will, and thereafter that\nthou hadst slain the Earl, her husband.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhich, then, of these tales is true? for both cannot be true,\u201d said\nBrighteyes. \u201cSpeak, Swanhild.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou knowest well that the last is true,\u201d said Swanhild boldly.\n\n\u201cHow then comes it that thou didst charge Hall with that message to\nGudruda? How then comes it that thou didst send her the lock of hair\nwhich thou didst cozen me to give thee?\u201d\n\n\u201cI charged Hall with no message, and I sent no lock of hair,\u201d Swanhild\nanswered.\n\n\u201cStand thou forward, Hall!\u201d said Eric, \u201cand liar and coward though thou\nart, dare not to speak other than the truth! Nay, look not at the door:\nfor, if thou stirrest, this spear shall find thee before thou hast gone\na pace!\u201d\n\nNow Hall stood forward, trembling with fear, for he saw the eye of\nSkallagrim watching him close, and while Lambstail watched, his fingers\ntoyed with the handle of his axe.\n\n\u201cIt is true, lord, that Swanhild charged me with that message which I\ngave to the Lady Gudruda. Also she bade me give the lock of hair.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd for this service thou didst take money, Hall?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, lord, she gave me money for my faring.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd all the while thou knewest the tidings false?\u201d\n\nHall made no reply.\n\n\u201cAnswer!\u201d thundered Eric\u2014\u201canswer the truth, knave, or by every God that\npasses the hundred gates I will not spare thee twice!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is so, lord,\u201d said Hall.\n\n\u201cThou liest, fox!\u201d cried Swanhild, white with wrath and casting a\nfierce look upon Hall. But men took no heed of Swanhild\u2019s words, for\nall eyes were bent on Eric.\n\n\u201cIs it now your pleasure, comrades, that I should tell you the truth?\u201d\nsaid Brighteyes.\n\nThe most part of the company shouted \u201cYea!\u201d but the men of Ospakar\nstood silent.\n\n\u201cSpeak on, Eric,\u201d quoth Gudruda.\n\n\u201cThis is the truth, then: Swanhild the Fatherless, Atli\u2019s wife, has\nalways sought my love, and she has ever hated Gudruda whom I loved.\nFrom a child she has striven to work mischief between us. Ay, and she\ndid this, though till now it has been hidden: she strove to murder\nGudruda; it was on the day that Skallagrim and I overcame Ospakar and\nhis band on Horse-Head Heights. She thrust Gudruda from the brink of\nGolden Falls while she sat looking on the waters, and as she hung there\nI dragged her back. Is it not so, Gudruda?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is so,\u201d said Gudruda.\n\nNow men murmured and looked at Swanhild. But she shrank back, plucking\nat her purple cloak.\n\n\u201cIt was for this cause,\u201d said Eric, \u201cthat Asmund, Swanhild\u2019s father,\ngave her choice to wed Atli the Earl and pass over sea or to take her\ntrial in the Doom-Ring. She wedded Atli and went away. Afterwards, by\nwitchcraft, she brought my ship to wreck on Straumey\u2019s Isle\u2014ay, she\nwalked the waters like a shape of light and lured us on to ruin, so\nthat all were drowned except Skallagrim and myself. Is it not so,\nSkallagrim?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is so, lord. I saw her with my eyes.\u201d\n\nAgain folk murmured.\n\n\u201cThen we must sit in Atli\u2019s hall,\u201d said Eric, \u201cand there we dwelt last\nwinter. For a while Swanhild did no harm, till I feared her no more.\nBut some three months ago, I was left with her: and a man called Koll,\nGroa\u2019s thrall, of whom ye know, came out from Iceland, bringing news of\nthe death of Asmund the priest, of Unna my cousin, and of Groa the\nwitch. To these ill-tidings Swanhild bribed him to add something. She\nbribed him to add this: that thou, Gudruda, wast betrothed to Ospakar,\nand wouldst wed him on last Yule Day. Moreover, he gave me a certain\nmessage from thee, Gudruda, and, in token of its truth, the half of\nthat coin which I broke with thee long years ago. Say now, lady, didst\nthou send the coin?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, never!\u201d cried Gudruda; \u201cmany years ago I lost the half thou\ngavest me, though I feared to tell thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerchance one stands there who found it,\u201d said Eric, pointing with his\nspear at Swanhild. \u201cAt the least I was deceived by it. Now the tale is\nshort. Swanhild mourned with me, and in my sorrow I mourned bitterly.\nThen it was she asked a boon, that lock of mine, Gudruda, and, thinking\nthee faithless, I gave it, holding all oaths broken. Then too, when I\nwould have left her, she drugged me with a witch-draught\u2014ay, she\ndrugged me, and I woke to find myself false to my oath, false to Atli,\nand false to thee, Gudruda. I cursed her and I left her, waiting for\nthe Earl, to tell him all. But Swanhild outwitted me. She told him that\nother tale of shame that ye have heard, and brought Koll to him as\nwitness of the tale. Atli was deceived by her, and not until I had cut\nhim down in anger at the bitter words he spoke, calling me coward and\nniddering, did he know the truth. But before he died he knew it; and he\ndied, holding my hand and bidding those about him find Koll and slay\nhim. Is it not so, ye who were Atli\u2019s men?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is so, Eric!\u201d they cried; \u201cwe heard it with our own ears, and we\nslew Koll. But afterwards Swanhild brought us to believe that Earl Atli\nwas distraught when he spoke thus, and that things were indeed as she\nhad said.\u201d\n\nAgain men murmured, and a strange light shone in Gudruda\u2019s eyes.\n\n\u201cNow, Gudruda, thou hast heard all my story,\u201d said Eric. \u201cSay, dost\nthou believe me?\u201d\n\n\u201cI believe thee, Eric.\u201d\n\n\u201cSay then, wilt thou still wed yon Ospakar?\u201d\n\nGudruda looked on Blacktooth, then she looked at golden Eric and opened\nher lips to speak. But before a word could pass them Ospakar rose in\nwrath, laying his hand upon his sword.\n\n\u201cThinkest thou thus to lure away my dove, outlaw? First I will see thee\nfood for crows.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell spoken, Blacktooth,\u201d laughed Eric. \u201cI waited for such words from\nthee. Thrice have we striven together\u2014once out yonder in the snow, once\non Horse-Head Heights, and once by Westman Isles\u2014and still we live to\ntell the tale. Come down, Ospakar: come down from that soft seat of\nthine and here and now let us put it to the proof who is the better\nman. When we met before, the stake was Whitefire set against my eye.\nNow the stake is our lives and fair Gudruda\u2019s hand. Talk no more,\nOspakar, but fall to it.\u201d\n\n\u201cGudruda shall never wed thee, while I live!\u201d said Bj\u00f6rn; \u201cthou art a\nlandless loon, a brawler, and an outlaw. Get thee gone, Eric, with thy\nwolf-hound!\u201d\n\n\u201cSqueak not so loud, rat\u2014squeak not so loud, lest hound\u2019s fang worry\nthee!\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cWhether I wed Gudruda or whether I wed her not is a matter that shall\nbe known in its season,\u201d said Eric. \u201cFor thy words, I say this: that it\nis risky to hurl names at such as I am, Bj\u00f6rn, lest perchance I answer\nthem with spear-thrusts. Thy answer, Ospakar! What need to wait? Thy\nanswer!\u201d\n\nNow Ospakar looked at Brighteyes and grew afraid. He was a mighty man,\nbut he knew the weight of Eric\u2019s arm.\n\n\u201cI will not fight with thee, carle,\u201d he said, \u201cwho hast naught to\nlose.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen thou art coward and niddering!\u201d said Eric. \u201cOspakar _Niddering_ I\nname thee here before all men! What! thou couldst plot against me\u2014thou\ncouldst waylay me, ten to one and two ships to one, but face to face\nwith me alone thou dost not dare to stand? Comrades, look on your\nlord!\u2014look at Ospakar the _Niddering!_\u201d\n\nNow the swarthy brow of Blacktooth grew red with rage, and his breath\ncame in great gasps. \u201cHo, men!\u201d he cried, \u201cdrive this knave away. Strip\nhis harness off him and whip him hence with rods.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet but a man stir towards me and this spear flies through thy heart,\nNiddering,\u201d cried Eric. \u201cGudruda, what thinkest thou of thy lord?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know this,\u201d said Gudruda, \u201cthat I will not wed a man who is named\n\u2018Niddering\u2019 in the face of all and lifts no sword.\u201d\n\nGudruda spoke thus, because she was mad with love and fear and shame,\nand she desired that Eric should stand face to face with Ospakar\nBlacktooth, for thus, alone, she might perhaps be rid of Ospakar.\n\n\u201cSuch words do not come well from gentle lips,\u201d said Bj\u00f6rn.\n\n\u201cIs it to be borne, brother,\u201d answered Gudruda, \u201cthat the man who would\ncall me wife should be named Ospakar the Niddering? When that shame is\nwashed away, and then only, can I think on marriage. I will never be\nNiddering\u2019s bride!\u201d\n\n\u201cThou hearest, Ospakar Niddering?\u201d said Eric. Then he gave the spear in\nhis hand to Skallagrim, and, gripping Whitefire\u2019s hilt, he burst the\npeace-strings, and tore it from the scabbard.\n\nNow the great sword shone on high like lightning leaping from a cloud,\nand as it shone men shouted, \u201c_Ospakar! Ospakar Niddering!_ Come, win\nback Whitefire from Eric\u2019s hand, or be for ever shamed!\u201d\n\nBlacktooth could endure this no more. He snatched sword and shield,\nand, like a bear from a cave, like a wolf from his lair, rushed roaring\nfrom his seat. On he came, and the ground shook beneath his bulk.\n\n\u201cAt last, Niddering!\u201d cried Eric, and sprang to meet him.\n\n\u201cBack! all men, back!\u201d shouted Skallagrim, \u201cnow we shall see blows.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke the great swords flashed aloft and clanged upon the iron\nshields. So heavy were the blows that fire leapt out from them. Ospakar\nreeled back beneath the shock, and Eric was beaten to his knee. Now he\nwas up, but as he rushed, Ospakar struck again and swept away half of\nBrighteyen\u2019s pointed shield so that it fell upon the floor. Eric smote\nalso, but Ospakar dropped his knee to earth and the sword hissed over\nhim. Blacktooth cut at Eric\u2019s legs; but Brighteyes sprang from the\nground and took no harm.\n\nNow some cried, \u201c_Eric! Eric!_\u201d and some cried \u201c_Ospakar! Ospakar!_\u201d\nfor no one knew how the fight would go.\n\nGudruda sat watching in the high seat, and as blows fell her colour\ncame and went.\n\nSwanhild drew near, watching also, and she desired in her fierce heart\nto see Eric brought to shame and death, for, should he win, then\nGudruda would be rid of Ospakar. Now by her side stood Gizur, Ospakar\u2019s\nson, and near to her was Bj\u00f6rn. These two held their breath, for, if\nEric conquered, all their plans were brought to nothing.\n\nEven as he sprang into the air, Eric smote down with all his strength.\nThe blow fell on Ospakar\u2019s shield. It shore through the shield and\nstruck on the shoulder beneath. But Blacktooth\u2019s byrnie was good, nor\ndid the sword bite into it. Still the stroke was so heavy that Ospakar\nstaggered back four paces beneath it, then fell upon the ground.\n\nNow folk raised a shout of \u201c_Eric! Eric!_\u201d for it seemed that Ospakar\nwas sped. Brighteyes, too, cried aloud, then rushed forward. Now, as he\ncame, Swanhild whispered an eager word into the ear of Bj\u00f6rn. By\nBj\u00f6rn\u2019s foot lay that half of Eric\u2019s shield which had been shorn away\nby the sword of Ospakar. Gudruda, watching, saw Bj\u00f6rn push it with his\nshoe so that it slid before the feet of Brighteyes. His right foot\ncaught on it, he stumbled heavily\u2014stumbled again, then fell prone on\nhis face, and, as he fell, stretched out his sword hand to save\nhimself, so that Whitefire flew from his grasp. The blade struck its\nhilt against the ground, then circled in the air and fixed itself,\npoint downwards, in the clay of the flooring. The hand of Ospakar\nrising from the ground smote against the hilt of Whitefire. He saw it,\nwith a shout he cast his own sword away and clasped Whitefire.\n\nAway circled the sword of Ospakar; and of that cast this strange thing\nis told, false or true. Far in the corner of the hall lurked Thorunna,\nshe who had betrayed Skallagrim when he was named Ounound. She had come\nwith a heavy heart to Middalhof in the company of Ospakar; but when she\nsaw Skallagrim, her husband\u2014whom she had betrayed, and who had turned\nBaresark because of her wickedness\u2014shame smote her, and she crept away\nand hid herself behind the hangings of the hall. The sword sped along\npoint first, it rushed like a spear through the air. It fell on the\nhangings, piercing them, piercing the heart of Thorunna, who cowered\nbehind them, so that with one cry she sank dead to earth, slain by her\nlover\u2019s hand.\n\nNow when men saw that Ospakar once more held Whitefire in his\nhand\u2014Whitefire that Brighteyes had won from him\u2014they called aloud that\nit was an omen. The sword of Blacktooth had come back to Blacktooth and\nnow Eric would surely be slain of it!\n\nEric sprang from the ground. He heard the shouts and saw Whitefire\nblazing in Ospakar\u2019s hand.\n\n\u201cNow thou art weaponless, fly! Brighteyes; fly!\u201d cried some.\n\nGudruda\u2019s cheek grew white with fear, and for a moment Eric\u2019s heart\nfailed him.\n\n\u201cFly not!\u201d roared Skallagrim. \u201cBj\u00f6rn tripped thee. Yet hast thou half a\nshield!\u201d\n\nOspakar rushed on, and Whitefire flickered over Eric\u2019s helm. Down it\ncame and shore one wing from the helm. Again it shone and fell, but\nBrighteyes caught the blow on his broken shield.\n\nThen, while men waited to see him slain, Eric gave a great war-shout\nand sprang forward.\n\n\u201cThou art mad!\u201d shouted the folk.\n\n\u201cYe shall see! Ye shall see!\u201d screamed Skallagrim.\n\nAgain Ospakar smote and again Eric caught the blow; and behold! he\nstruck back, thrusting with the point of the shorn shield straight at\nthe face of Ospakar.\n\n\u201c_Peck! Eagle; peck!_\u201d cried Skallagrim.\n\nOnce more Whitefire shone above him. Eric rushed in beneath the sword,\nand with all his mighty strength thrust the buckler-point at\nBlacktooth\u2019s face. It struck fair and full, and lo! the helm of Ospakar\nburst asunder. He threw wide his giant arms, then fell as a pine falls\nupon the mountain edge. He fell back, and he lay still.\n\nBut Eric, stooping over him, took Whitefire from his hand.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV\nHOW THE FEAST ENDED\n\n\nFor a moment there was silence in the hall, for men had known no such\nfight as this.\n\n\u201cWhy, then, do ye gape?\u201d laughed Skallagrim, pointing with the spear.\n\u201cDead is Ospakar!\u2014slain by the swordless man! Eric Brighteyes hath\nslain Ospakar Blacktooth!\u201d\n\nThen there went up such a shout as never was heard in the hall of\nMiddalhof.\n\nNow when Gudruda knew that Ospakar was sped, she looked at Eric as he\nrested, leaning on his sword, and her heart was filled with awe and\nlove. She sprang from her seat, and, coming to where Brighteyes stood,\nshe greeted him.\n\n\u201cWelcome to Iceland, Eric!\u201d she said. \u201cWelcome, thou glory of the\nsouth!\u201d\n\nNow Swanhild grew wild, for she saw that Eric was about to take Gudruda\nin his arms and kiss her before all men.\n\n\u201cSay, Bj\u00f6rn,\u201d she cried; \u201cwilt thou suffer that this outlaw, having\nslain Ospakar, should lead Gudruda hence as wife?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe shall never do so while I live,\u201d cried Bj\u00f6rn, nearly mad with rage.\n\u201cThis is my command, sister: that thou dost see Eric no more.\u201d\n\n\u201cSay, Bj\u00f6rn,\u201d answered Gudruda, \u201cdid I dream, or did I indeed see thee\nthrust the broken buckler before Eric\u2019s feet, so that he stumbled on it\nand fell?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat thou sawest, lady,\u201d said Skallagrim; \u201cfor I saw it also.\u201d\n\nNow Bj\u00f6rn grew white in his anger. He did not answer Gudruda, but\ncalled aloud to his men to slay Eric and Skallagrim. Gizur called also\nto the folk of Ospakar, and Swanhild to those who came with her.\n\nThen Gudruda fled back to her seat.\n\nBut Eric cried aloud also: \u201cYe who love me, cleave to me. Suffer it not\nthat Brighteyes be cut down of northerners and outland men. Hear me,\nAtli\u2019s folk; hear me, carles of Coldback and of Middalhof!\u201d\n\nAnd so greatly did many love Eric that half of the thralls of Bj\u00f6rn,\nand almost all of the company of Swanhild who had been Atli\u2019s\nshield-men and Brighteyes\u2019 comrades, drew swords, shouting \u201cEric!\nEric!\u201d But the carles of Ospakar came on to make an end of him.\n\nBj\u00f6rn saw, and, drawing sword, smote at Brighteyes, taking him\nunawares. But Skallagrim caught the blow upon his axe, and before Bj\u00f6rn\ncould smite again Whitefire was aloft and down fell Bj\u00f6rn, dead!\n\nThat was the end of Bj\u00f6rn, Asmund\u2019s son.\n\n\u201cThou hast squeaked thy last, rat! What did I tell thee?\u201d cried\nSkallagrim. \u201cTake Bj\u00f6rn\u2019s shield and back to back, lord, for here come\nfoes.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere goes one,\u201d answered Eric, pointing to the door.\n\nNow Hall of Lithdale slunk through the doorway\u2014Hall, the liar, who cut\nthe grapnel-chain\u2014for he wished to see the last of Skallagrim. But the\nBaresark still held Eric\u2019s spear in his hand. He whirled it aloft, and\nit hissed through the air. The aim was good, for, as he crept away, the\nspear struck Hall between neck and shoulder, pinning him to the\ndoorpost, and there the liar died.\n\n\u201cNow the weasel is nailed to the beam,\u201d said Skallagrim. \u201cHall of\nLithdale, what did I promise thee?\u201d\n\n\u201cGuard thy head and my back,\u201d quoth Eric; \u201cblows fall!\u201d\n\nNow men smote at Eric and Skallagrim, nor did they spare to smite in\nturn. And as foes fell before him, Eric stepped one pace forward\ntowards the door, and Skallagrim, who, back to back with him, held off\nthose who pressed behind, took one step rearwards. Thus, a foe for\nevery step, they won their way down the long hall. Fierce raged the\nfray around them, for, mad with hate and drink and the lust of fight,\nSwanhild\u2019s folk\u2014Eric\u2019s friends\u2014remembering the words of Atli, fell on\nOspakar\u2019s; and the people of Bj\u00f6rn fell on each other, brother on\nbrother, and father on son\u2014nor might the fray be stayed. The boards\nwere overthrown, dead men lay among the meats and mead, and the blood\nof freeman, lord and thrall ran adown the floor. Everywhere through the\ndusky hall glittered the sheen of flashing swords and rose the clang of\nwar. Darts clove the air like tongues of flame, and the clamour of\nbattle beat against the roof.\n\nBlinded of the Norns who brought these things to pass, men sought no\nmercy and they gave none, but smote and slew till few were left to\nslay.\n\nAnd still Gudruda sat in her bride-seat, and, with eyes fixed in\nhorror, watched the waxing of the war. Near to her stood Swanhild,\nmarking all things with a fierce-set face, and calling down curses on\nher folk, who one and all cried \u201cEric! Eric!\u201d and swept the thralls of\nOspakar as corn is swept of the sickle.\n\nAnd there, nigh to the door, pale of face and beautiful to see, golden\nEric clove his way, and with him went black Skallagrim. Terrible was\nthe flare of Whitefire as he flicked aloft like the levin in the cloud.\nTerrible was the flare of Whitefire; but more terrible was the light of\nEric\u2019s eyes, for they seemed to flame in his head, and wherever that\nfire fell it lighted men the way to death. Whitefire sung and\nflickered, and crashed the axe of Skallagrim, and still through the\npress of war they won their way. Now Gizur stands before them, spear\naloft, and Whitefire leaps up to meet him. Lo! he turns and flies. The\ncoward son of Ospakar does not seek the fate of Ospakar!\n\nThe door is won. They stand without but little harmed, while women wail\naloud.\n\n\u201cTo horse!\u201d cried Skallagrim; \u201cto horse, ere our luck fail us!\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is no luck in this,\u201d gasped Eric; \u201cfor I have slain many men,\nand among them is Bj\u00f6rn, the brother of her whom I would make my\nbride.\u201d\n\n\u201cBetter one such fight than many brides,\u201d said Skallagrim, shaking his\nred axe. \u201cWe have won great glory this day, Brighteyes, and Ospakar is\ndead\u2014slain by a swordless man!\u201d\n\nNow Eric and Skallagrim ran to their horses, none hindering them, and,\nmounting, rode towards Mosfell.\n\nAll that evening and all the night they rode, and at morning they came\nacross the black sand to Mosfell slopes that are by the Hecla. Here\nthey rested, and, taking off their armour, washed themselves in the\nstream: for they were very weary and foul with blood and wounds. When\nthey had finished washing and had buckled on their harness again,\nSkallagrim, peering across the plain with his hawk\u2019s eyes, saw men\nriding fast towards them.\n\n\u201cFoes are soon afoot, lord,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought we had stayed their\nhunger for a while.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould that I might stay mine,\u201d quoth Eric. \u201cI am weary, and unfit for\nfight.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have still strength for one or two,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cand then\ngood-night! But these are no foes. They are of the Coldback folk. The\ncarline has kept her word.\u201d\n\nThen Eric was glad, and presently six men, headed by Jon his thrall,\nthe same man who had watched on Mosfell when Eric went up to slay the\nBaresark, rode to them and greeted them. \u201cBeggar women,\u201d said Jon,\n\u201cwhom they met at Ran River, had told them of the death of Ospakar, and\nof the great slaying at Middalhof, and they would know if the tidings\nwere true.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is true, Jon,\u201d said Eric; \u201cbut first give us food, if ye have it,\nfor we are hungered and spent. When we have eaten we will speak.\u201d\n\nSo they led up a pack-horse and from it took stockfish and smoked meat,\nof which Eric and Skallagrim ate heartily, till their strength came\nback to them.\n\nThen Eric spoke. \u201cComrades,\u201d he said, \u201cI am an outlawed man, and,\nthough I have not sought it, much blood is on my head. Atli is dead at\nmy hand; Ospakar is dead at my hand; Bj\u00f6rn the Priest, Asmund\u2019s son, is\ndead at my hand, and with them many another man. Nor may the matter\nstay here, for Gizur, Blacktooth\u2019s son, yet lives, and Bj\u00f6rn has kin in\nthe south, and Swanhild will buy friends with gold, and all of these\nwill set on me to slay me, so that at the last I die by the sword.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo need for that,\u201d said Skallagrim. \u201cOur vengeance is wrought, and\nnow, as before, the sea is open, and I think that a welcome awaits us\nin London.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow Gudruda is widowed before she was fully wed,\u201d said Eric,\n\u201ctherefore I bide an outlawed man here in Iceland. I go hence no more,\nthough it be death to stay, unless indeed Gudruda the Fair goes with\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be death, then,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cand the swords are forged\nthat we shall feel. The odds are too heavy, lord.\u201d\n\n\u201cMayhap,\u201d answered Eric. \u201cNo man may flee his fate, and I shall not\naltogether grieve when mine finds me. Hearken, comrades: I go up to\nMosfell height, and there I stay, till those be found who can drag me\nfrom my hole. But this is my counsel to you: that ye leave me to my\ndoom, for I am an unlucky man who always chooses the wrong road.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will not I,\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cNor we,\u201d said Eric\u2019s folk; \u201cSwanhild holds Coldback, and we are driven\nto the fells. To the fells then we will go with thee, Eric Brighteyes,\nand become cave-dwellers and outlaws for thy sake. Fear not, thou shalt\nstill find many friends.\u201d\n\n\u201cI did not look for such a thing at your hands,\u201d said Eric; \u201cbut stormy\nwaters show how the boat is built. May no bad luck come to you from\nyour good fellowship. And now let us to our nest.\u201d\n\nThen they caught the horses, and rode with Brighteyes up the steep side\nof Mosfell, till at length they came to that secret dell which\nSkallagrim had once shown to Eric. Here they turned the horses loose to\nfeed, and, going forward on foot, reached the dark and narrow pass that\nBrighteyes had trod when he sought for the Baresark foe. Skallagrim led\nthe way along it, then came Eric and the rest. One by one they stepped\non to the giddy point of rock, and, catching at the birch-bush, entered\nthe hole. So they gained the platform and the great cave beyond; and\nthey found that no man had set foot there since the day when Eric had\nstriven with Skallagrim. For there on the rock, rotten with the\nweather, lay that haft of wood which Brighteyes had hewed from the axe\nof Skallagrim, and in the cave were many things beside as the Baresark\nhad left them.\n\nSo they took up their dwelling in the cave, Eric, Skallagrim, and the\nsix Coldback men, and there they dwelt many months. But Eric sent out\nhis men, one at a time, and got together food and a store of\nsheepskins, and other needful things. For he knew this well: that Gizur\nand Swanhild would before long come up against them, and, if they could\nnot take them by force, would set themselves to watch the mountain-path\nand starve them out.\n\nWhen Eric and Skallagrim rode away from Middalhof the fight still raged\nfiercely in the hall, and nothing but death might stay it. The minds of\nmen were mad, and they smote one another, and slew each other, till at\nlength of all that marriage company few were left unharmed, except\nGizur, Swanhild, and Gudruda. For the serving thralls and womenfolk had\nfled the hall, and with them some peaceful men.\n\nThen Gudruda spoke as one in a dream.\n\n\u201cSaevuna\u2019s prophecy was true,\u201d she said, \u201cred was the marriage-feast of\nAsmund my father, redder has been the marriage-feast of Ospakar! She\nsaw the hall of Middalhof one gore of blood, and lo! it is so; look\nupon thy work, Swanhild,\u201d and she pointed to the piled-up dead\u2014\u201clook\nupon thy work, witch-sister, and grow fearful: for all this death is on\nthy head!\u201d\n\nSwanhild laughed aloud. \u201cI think it a merry sight,\u201d she cried. \u201cThe\nmarriage-feast of Asmund our father was red, and thy marriage-feast,\nGudruda, has been redder. Would that thy blood and the blood of Eric\nran with the blood of Bj\u00f6rn and Ospakar! That tale must yet be told,\nGudruda. There shall be binding on of Hell-shoes at Middalhof, but I\nbind them not. My task is still to come: for I will live to fasten the\nHell-shoes on the feet of Eric, and on thy feet, Gudruda! At the least,\nI have brought about this much, that thou canst scarcely wed Eric the\noutlaw: for with his own hand he slew Bj\u00f6rn our brother, and because of\nthis I count all that death as nothing. Thou canst not mate with\nBrighteyes, lest the wide wounds of Bj\u00f6rn thy brother should take\ntongues and cry thy shame from sea to sea!\u201d\n\nGudruda made no answer, but sat as one carved in stone. Then Swanhild\nspoke again:\n\n\u201cLet us away to the north, Gizur; there to gather strength to make an\nend of Eric. Say, wilt thou help us, Gudruda? The blood-feud for the\ndeath of Bj\u00f6rn is thine.\u201d\n\n\u201cYe are enough to bring about the fall of one unfriended man,\u201d Gudruda\nsaid. \u201cGo, and leave me with my sorrow and the dead. Nay! before thou\ngoest, listen, Swanhild, for there is that in my heart which tells me I\nshall never look again upon thy face. From evil to evil thou hast ever\ngone, Swanhild, and from evil to evil thou wilt go. It may well chance\nthat thy wickedness will win. It may well chance that thou wilt crown\nthy crimes with my slaying and the slaying of the man who loves me. But\nI tell thee this, traitress\u2014murderess, as thou art\u2014that here the tale\nends not. Not by death, Swanhild, shalt thou escape the deeds of life!\n_There_ they shall rise up against thee, and _there_ every shame that\nthou hast worked, every sin that thou hast sinned, and every soul that\nthou hast brought to Hela\u2019s halls, shall come to haunt thee and to\ndrive thee on from age to age! That witchcraft which thou lovest shall\nmesh thee. Shadows shall bewilder thee; from the bowl of empty longings\nthou shalt drink and drink, and not be satisfied. Yea! lusts shall mock\nand madden thee. Thou shalt ride the winds, thou shalt sail the seas,\nbut thou shalt find no harbour, and never shalt thou set foot upon a\nshore of peace.\n\n\u201cGo on, Swanhild\u2014dye those hands in blood\u2014wade through the river of\nshame! Seek thy desire, and finding, lose! Work thy evil, and winning,\nfail! I yet shall triumph\u2014I yet shall trample thee; and, in a place to\ncome, with Eric at my side, I shall make a mock of Swanhild the\nmurderess! Swanhild the liar, and the wanton, and the witch! Now get\nthee gone!\u201d\n\nSwanhild heard. She looked up at Gudruda\u2019s face and it was alight as\nwith a fire. She strove to answer, but no words came. Then Groa\u2019s\ndaughter turned and went, and with her went Gizur.\n\nNow women and thralls came in and drew out the wounded and those who\nstill breathed from among the dead, taking them to the temple. They\nbore away the body of Ospakar also, but they left the rest.\n\nAll night long Gudruda sat in the bride\u2019s seat. There she sat in the\nsilver summer midnight, looking on the slain who were strewn about the\ngreat hall. All night she sat alone in the bride\u2019s seat thinking\u2014ever\nthinking.\n\nHow, then, would it end? There her brother Bj\u00f6rn lay a-cold\u2014Bj\u00f6rn the\njustly slain of Brighteyes; yet how could she wed the man who slew her\nbrother? From Ospakar she was divorced by death; from Eric she was\ndivorced by the blood of Bj\u00f6rn her brother! How might she unravel this\ntangled skein and float to weal upon this sea of death? All things went\namiss! The doom was on her! She had lived to an ill purpose\u2014her love\nhad wrought evil! What availed it to have been born to be fair among\nwomen and to have desired that which might not be? And she herself had\nbrought these things to pass\u2014she had loosed the rock which crushed her!\nWhy had she hearkened to that false tale?\n\nGudruda sat on high in the bride\u2019s seat, asking wisdom of the piled-up\ndead, while the cold blue shadows of the nightless night gathered over\nher and them\u2014gathered, and waned, and grew at last to the glare of day.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI\nHOW ERIC VENTURED DOWN TO MIDDALHOF AND WHAT HE FOUND\n\n\nGizur went north to Swinefell, and Swanhild went with him. For now that\nOspakar was dead at Eric\u2019s hand, Gizur ruled in his place at Swinefell,\nand was the greatest lord in all the north. He loved Swanhild, and\ndesired to make her his wife; but she played with him, talking darkly\nof what might be. Swanhild was not minded to be the wife of any man,\nexcept of Eric; to all others she was cold as the winter earth. Still,\nshe fooled Gizur as she had fooled Atli the Good, and he grew blind\nwith love of her. For still the beauty of Swanhild waxed as the moon\nwaxes in the sky, and her wicked eyes shone as the stars shine when the\nmoon has set.\n\nNow they came to Swinefell, and there Gizur buried Ospakar Blacktooth,\nhis father, with much state. He set him in a chamber of rock and\ntimbers on a mountain-top, whence he might see all the lands that once\nwere his, and built up a great mound of earth above him. To this day\npeople tell that here on Yule night black Ospakar bursts out, and\ngolden Eric rides down the blast to meet him. Then come the clang of\nswords, and groans, and the sound of riven helms, till presently\nBrighteyes passes southward on the wind, bearing in his hand the half\nof a cloven shield.\n\nSo Gizur bound the Hell-shoes on his father, and swore that he would\nneither rest nor stay till Eric Brighteyes was dead and dead was\nSkallagrim Lambstail. Then he gathered a great force of men and rode\nsouth to Coldback, to the slaying of Eric, and with him went Swanhild.\n\nGudruda sat alone in the haunted hall of Middalhof and brooded on her\nlove and on her fate. Eric, too, sat in Mosfell cave and brooded on his\nevil chance. His heart was sick with sorrow, and there was little that\nhe could do except think about the past. He would not go to foray,\nafter the fashion of outlaws, and there was no need of this. For the\ntalk of his mighty deeds spread through the land, so that the people\nspoke of little else. And the men of his quarter were so proud of these\ndeeds of Eric\u2019s that, though some of their kind had fallen at his hands\nin the great fight of Middalhof and some at the hands of Skallagrim,\nyet they spoke of him as men speak of a God. Moreover they brought him\ngifts of food and clothing and arms, as many as his people could carry\naway, and laid them in a booth that is on the plain near the foot of\nMosfell, which thenceforth was named Ericsfell. Further, they bade his\nthralls tell him that, if he wished it, they would find him a good ship\nof war to take him from Iceland\u2014ay, and man it with loyal men and true.\n\nEric thanked them through Jon his thrall, but answered that he wished\nto die here in Iceland.\n\nNow, when Eric had sat two months and more in Mosfell cave and autumn\nwas coming, he learned that Gizur and Swanhild had moved down to\nColdback, and with them a great company of men who were sworn to slay\nhim. He asked if Gudruda the Fair had also gathered men for his\nslaying. They told him no; that Gudruda stayed with her thralls and\nwomen at Middalhof, mourning for Bj\u00f6rn her brother. From these tidings\nEric took some heart of hope: at the least Gudruda laid no blood-feud\nagainst him. For he waited, thinking, if indeed she yet loved him, that\nGudruda would send him some word or token of her love. But no word\ncame, since between them ran the blood of Bj\u00f6rn. On the morrow of these\ntidings Skallagrim spoke to Eric.\n\n\u201cThis is my counsel, lord,\u201d he said, \u201cthat we ride out by night and\nfall on the folk of Gizur at Coldback, and burn the stead over them,\nputting them to the sword. I am weary of sitting here like an eagle in\na cage.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuch is no counsel of mine, Skallagrim,\u201d answered Brighteyes. \u201cI am\nweary of sitting here, indeed; but I am yet more weary of bringing men\nto their death. I will shed no more blood, unless it is to save my own\nhead. When the people of Gizur come to seek me on Mosfell, they shall\nfind me here; but I will not go to them.\u201d\n\n\u201cThy heart is out of thee, lord,\u201d said Skallagrim; \u201cthou wast not wont\nto speak thus.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, Skallagrim,\u201d said Eric, \u201cthe heart is out of me. Yet I ride from\nMosfell to-day.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhither, lord?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo Middalhof, to have speech with Gudruda the Fair.\u201d\n\n\u201cLike enough, then, thou wilt be silent thereafter.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt well may be,\u201d said Eric. \u201cYet I will ride. I can bear this doubt no\nlonger.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I shall come with thee,\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cAs thou wilt,\u201d answered Eric.\n\nSo at midday Eric and Skallagrim rode away from Mosfell in a storm of\nrain. The rain was so heavy that those of Gizur\u2019s spies who watched the\nmountain did not see them. All that day they rode and all the night,\ntill by morning they came to Middalhof. Eric told Skallagrim to stay\nwith the horses and let them feed, while he went on foot to see if by\nchance he might get speech with Gudruda. This the Baresark did, though\nhe grumbled at the task, fearing lest Eric should be done to death, and\nhe not there to die with him.\n\nNow Eric walked to within two bowshots of the house, then sat down in a\ndell by the river, from the edge of which he could see those who passed\nin and out. Presently his heart gave a leap, for there came out from\nthe woman\u2019s door a lady tall and beautiful to see, and with golden hair\nthat flowed about her breast. It was Gudruda, and he saw that she bore\na napkin in her hand. Then Eric knew, according to her custom on the\nwarm mornings, that she came alone to bathe in the river, as she had\nalways done from a child. It was her habit to bathe here in this place:\nfor at the bottom of the dell was a spot where reeds and bushes grew\nthick, and the water lay in a basin of rock and was clear and still.\nFor at this spot a hot spring ran into the river.\n\nEric went down the dell, hid himself close in the bushes and waited,\nfor he feared to speak with Gudruda in the open field. A while passed,\nand presently the shadow of the lady crept over the edge of the dell,\nthen she came herself in that beauty which since her day has not been\nknown in Iceland. Her face was sad and sweet, her dark and lovely eyes\nwere sad. On she came, till she stood within a spear\u2019s length of where\nEric lay, crouched in the bush, and looking at her through the hedge of\nreeds. Here a flat rock overhung the water, and Gudruda sat herself on\nthis rock, and, shaking off her shoes, dipped her white feet in the\nwater. Then suddenly she threw aside her cloak, baring her arms, and,\ngazing upon the shadow of her beauty in the mirror of the water, sighed\nand sighed again, while Eric looked at her with a bursting heart, for\nas yet he could find no words to say.\n\nNow she spoke aloud. \u201cOf what use to be so fair?\u201d she said. \u201cOh,\nwherefore was I born so fair to bring death to many and sorrow on\nmyself and him I love?\u201d And she shook her golden hair about her arms of\nsnow, and, holding the napkin to her eyes, wept softly. But it seemed\nto Eric that between her sobs she called upon his name.\n\nNow Eric could no longer bear the sight of Gudruda weeping. While she\nwept, hiding her eyes, he rose from behind the screen of reeds and\nstood beside her in such fashion that his shadow fell upon her. She\nfelt the sunlight pass and looked up. Lo! it was no cloud, but the\nshape of Eric, and the sun glittered on his golden helm and hair.\n\n\u201cEric!\u201d Gudruda cried; \u201cEric!\u201d Then, remembering how she was attired,\nsnatching her cloak, she threw it about her arms and thrust her wet\nfeet into her shoes. \u201cOut upon thee!\u201d she said; \u201cis it not enough,\nthen, that thou shouldst break thy troth for Swanhild\u2019s sake, that thou\nshouldst slay my brother and turn my hall to shambles? Wouldst now\nsteal upon me thus!\u201d\n\n\u201cMethought that thou didst weep and call upon my name, Gudruda,\u201d he\nsaid humbly.\n\n\u201cBy what right art thou here to hearken to my words?\u201d she answered. \u201cIs\nit, then, strange that I should speak the name of him who slew my\nbrother? Is it strange that I should weep over that brother whom thou\ndidst slay? Get thee gone, Brighteyes, before I call my folk to kill\nthee!\u201d\n\n\u201cCall on, Gudruda. I set little price upon my life. I laid it in the\nhands of chance when I came from Mosfell to speak with thee, and now I\nwill pay it down if so it pleases thee. Fear not, thy thralls shall\nhave an easy task: for I shall scarcely care to hold my own. Say, shall\nI call for thee?\u201d\n\n\u201cHush! Speak not so loud! Folk may hear thee, Eric, and then thou wilt\nbe in danger\u2014I would say that, then shall ill things be told of me,\nbecause I am found with him who slew my brother?\u201d\n\n\u201cI slew Ospakar too, Gudruda. Surely the death of him by whose side\nthou didst sit as wife is more to thee than the death of Bj\u00f6rn?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe bride-cup was not yet drunk, Eric; therefore I have no blood-feud\nfor Ospakar.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it, then, thy will that I should go, lady?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, go!\u2014go! Never let me see thy face again!\u201d\n\nBrighteyes turned without a word. He took three paces and Gudruda\nwatched him as he went.\n\n\u201cEric!\u201d she called. \u201cEric! thou mayest not go yet: for at this hour the\nthralls bring down the kine to milk, and they will see thee. Liest thou\nhid here. I\u2014I will go. For though, indeed, thou dost deserve to die, I\nam not willing to bring thee to thy end\u2014because of old friendship I am\nnot willing!\u201d\n\n\u201cIf thou goest, I will go also,\u201d said Eric. \u201cThralls or no thralls, I\nwill go, Gudruda.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou art cruel to drive me to such a choice, and I have a mind to give\nthee to thy fate.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs thou wilt,\u201d said Eric; but she made as though she did not hear his\nwords.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d she said, \u201cif we must stay here, it is better that we hide where\nthou didst hide, lest some come upon thee.\u201d And she passed through the\nscreen of rushes and sat down in a grassy place beyond, and spoke\nagain.\n\n\u201cNay, sit not near me; sit yonder. I would not touch thee, nor look\nupon thee, who wast Swanhild\u2019s love, and didst slay Bj\u00f6rn my brother.\u201d\n\n\u201cSay, Gudruda,\u201d said Eric, \u201cdid I not tell thee of the magic arts of\nSwanhild? Did I not tell thee before all men yonder in the hall, and\ndidst thou not say that thou didst believe my words? Speak.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is true,\u201d said Gudruda.\n\n\u201cWherefore, then, dost thou taunt me with being Swanhild\u2019s love\u2014with\nbeing the love of her whom of all alive I hate the most\u2014and whose\nwicked guile has brought these sorrows on us?\u201d\n\nBut Gudruda did not answer.\n\n\u201cAnd for this matter of the death of Bj\u00f6rn at my hands, think, Gudruda:\nwas I to blame in it? Did not Bj\u00f6rn thrust the cloven shield before my\nfeet, and thus give me into the hand of Ospakar? Did he not afterwards\nsmite at me from behind, and would he not have slain me if Skallagrim\nhad not caught the blow? Was I, then, to blame if I smote back and if\nthe sword flew home? Wilt thou let the needful deed rise up against our\nlove? Speak, Gudruda!\u201d\n\n\u201cTalk no more of love to me, Eric,\u201d she answered; \u201cthe blood of Bj\u00f6rn\nhas blotted out our love: it cries to me for vengeance. How may I speak\nof love with him who slew my brother? Listen!\u201d she went on, looking on\nhim sidelong, as one who wished to look and yet not seem to see: \u201chere\nthou must hide an hour, and, since thou wilt not sit in silence, speak\nno tender words to me, for it is not fitting; but tell me of those\ndeeds thou didst in the south lands over sea, before thou wentest to\nwoo Swanhild and camest hither to kill my brother. For till then thou\nwast mine\u2014till then I loved thee\u2014who now love thee not. Therefore I\nwould hear of the deeds of that Eric whom once I loved, before he\nbecame as one dead to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cHeavy words, lady,\u201d said Eric\u2014\u201cwords to make death easy.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpeak not so,\u201d she said; \u201cit is unmanly thus to work upon my fears.\nTell me those tidings of which I ask.\u201d\n\nSo Eric told her all his deeds, though he showed small boastfulness\nabout them. He told her how he had smitten the war-dragons of Ospakar,\nhow he had boarded the Raven and with Skallagrim slain those who sailed\nin her. He told her also of his deeds in Ireland, and of how he took\nthe viking ships and came to London town.\n\nAnd as he told, Gudruda listened as one who hung upon her lover\u2019s dying\nwords, and there was but one light in the world for her, the light of\nEric\u2019s eyes, and there was but one music, the music of his voice. Now\nshe looked upon him sidelong no longer, but with open eyes and parted\nlips she drank in his words, and always, though she knew it not\nherself, she crept closer to his side.\n\nThen he told her how he had been greatly honoured of the King of\nEngland, and of the battles he had fought in at his side. Lastly, Eric\ntold her how the King would have given him a certain great lady of\nroyal blood in marriage, and how Edmund had been angered because he\nwould not stay in England.\n\n\u201cTell me of this lady,\u201d said Gudruda, quickly. \u201cIs she fair, and how is\nshe named?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe is fair, and her name is Elfrida,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cAnd didst thou have speech with her on this matter?\u201d\n\n\u201cSomewhat.\u201d\n\nNow Gudruda drew herself away from Eric\u2019s side.\n\n\u201cWhat was the purport of thy speech?\u201d she said, looking down. \u201cSpeak\ntruly, Eric.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt came to little,\u201d he answered. \u201cI told her that there was one in\nIceland to whom I was betrothed, and to Iceland I must go.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what said this Elfrida, then?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe said that I should get little luck at the hands of Gudruda the\nFair. Moreover, she asked, should my betrothed be faithless to me, or\nput me from her, if I should come again to England.\u201d\n\nNow Gudruda looked him in the face and spoke. \u201cSay, Eric, is it in thy\nmind to sail for England in the spring, if thou canst escape thy foes\nso long?\u201d\n\nNow Eric took counsel with himself, and in his love and doubt grew\nguileful as he had never been before. For he knew well that Gudruda had\nthis weakness\u2014she was a jealous woman.\n\n\u201cSince thou dost put me from thee, that is in my mind, lady,\u201d he\nanswered.\n\nGudruda heard. She thought on the great and beauteous Lady Elfrida, far\naway in England, and of Eric walking at her side, and sorrow took hold\nof her. She said no word, but fixed her dark eyes on Brighteyes\u2019 face,\nand lo! they filled with tears.\n\nEric might not bear this sight, for his heart beat within him as though\nit would burst the byrnie over it. Suddenly he stretched out his arms\nand swept her to his breast. Soft and sweet he kissed her, again and\nyet again, and she struggled not, though she wept a little.\n\n\u201cIt is small blame to me,\u201d she whispered, \u201cif thou dost hold me on thy\nbreast and kiss me, for thou art more strong than I. Bj\u00f6rn must know\nthis if his dead eyes see aught. Yet for thee, Eric, it is the greatest\nshame of all thy shames.\u201d\n\n\u201cTalk not, my sweet; talk not,\u201d said Eric, \u201cbut kiss thou me: for thou\nknowest well that thou lovest me yet as I love thee.\u201d\n\nNow the end of it was that Gudruda yielded and kissed him whom she had\nnot kissed for many years.\n\n\u201cLoose me, Eric,\u201d she said; \u201cI would speak with thee,\u201d and he loosed\nher, though unwillingly.\n\n\u201cHearken,\u201d she went on, hiding her fair face in her hands: \u201cit is true\nthat for life and death I love thee now as ever\u2014how much thou mayest\nnever know. Though Bj\u00f6rn be dead at thy hands, yet I love thee; but how\nI may wed thee and not win the greatest shame, that I know not. I am\nsure of one thing, that we may not bide here in Iceland. Now if,\nindeed, thou lovest me, listen to my rede. Get thee back to Mosfell,\nEric, and sit there in safety through this winter, for they may not\ncome at thee yonder on Mosfell. Then, if thou art willing, in the\nspring I will make ready a ship, for I have no ship now, and, moreover,\nit is too late to sail. Then, perchance, leaving all my lands and\ngoods, I will take thy hand, Eric, and we will fare together to\nEngland, seeking such fortune as the Norns may give us. What sayest\nthou?\u201d\n\n\u201cI say it is a good rede, and would that the spring were come.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, Eric, would that the spring were come. Our lot has been hard, and\nI doubt much if things will go well with us at the last. And now thou\nmust hence, for presently the serving-women will come to seek me. Guard\nthyself, Eric, as thou lovest me\u2014guard thyself, and beware of\nSwanhild!\u201d Then once more they kissed soft and long, and Eric went.\n\nBut Gudruda sat a while behind the screen of reeds, and was very happy\nfor a space. For it was as though the winter were past and summer shone\nupon her heart again.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII\nHOW GUDRUDA WENT UP TO MOSFELL\n\n\nEric walked warily till he came to the dell where he had left\nSkallagrim and the horses. It was the same dell in which Groa had\nbrewed the poison-draught for Asmund the Priest and Unna, Thorod\u2019s\ndaughter.\n\n\u201cWhat news, lord?\u201d said Skallagrim. \u201cThou wast gone so long that I\nthought of seeking thee. Hast thou seen Gudruda?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d said Eric, \u201cand this is the upshot of it, that in the spring we\nsail for England and bid farewell to Iceland and our ill luck.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould, then, that it were spring,\u201d said Skallagrim, speaking\nBrighteyes\u2019 own words. \u201cWhy not sail now and make an end?\u201d\n\n\u201cGudruda has no ship and it is late to take the sea. Also I think that\nshe would let a time go by because of the blood-feud which she has\nagainst me for the death of Bj\u00f6rn.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would rather risk these things than stay the winter through in\nIceland,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cit is long from now to spring, and yon\nwolf\u2019s den is cold-lying in the dark months, as I know well.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is light beyond the darkness,\u201d said Eric, and they rode away.\nEverything went well with them till late at night they came to the\nslopes of Mosfell. They were half asleep on their horses, being weary\nwith much riding, and the horses were weary also. Suddenly, Skallagrim,\nlooking up, caught the faint gleam of light from swords hidden behind\nsome stones.\n\n\u201cAwake, lord!\u201d he cried, \u201chere are foes ahead.\u201d\n\nGizur\u2019s folk behind the stones heard his voice and came out from their\nambush. There were six of them, and they formed in line before the\npair. They were watching the mountain, for a rumour had reached them\nthat Eric was abroad, and, seeing him, they had hidden hastily behind\nthe stones.\n\n\u201cNow what counsel shall we take?\u201d said Eric, drawing Whitefire.\n\n\u201cWe have often stood against men more than six, and sometimes we have\nleft more men than six to mark where we stood,\u201d answered Skallagrim.\n\u201cIt is my counsel that we ride at them!\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it,\u201d said Eric, and he spurred his weary horse with his heels.\nNow when the six saw Eric and Skallagrim charge on them boldly, they\nwavered, and the end of it was that they broke and fled to either side\nbefore a blow was struck. For it had come to this pass, so great was\nthe terror of the names of Eric Brighteyes and Skallagrim Lambstail,\nthat no six men dared to stand before them in open fight.\n\nSo the path being clear they rode on up the slope. But when they had\ngone a little way, Skallagrim turned his horse, and mocked those who\nhad lain in ambush, saying:\n\n\u201cYe fight well, ye carles of Gizur, Ospakar\u2019s son! Ye are heroes,\nsurely! Say now, mighty men, will ye stand there if I come down alone\nagainst you?\u201d\n\nAt these words the men grew mad with wrath, and flung their spears.\nSkallagrim caught one on his shield and it fell to the earth, but\nanother passed over his head and struck Eric on the left shoulder, near\nthe neck, making a deep wound. Feeling the spear fast in him, Eric\ngrasped it with his right hand, drew it forth, and turning, hurled it\nso hard, that the man before it got his death from the blow, for his\nshield did not serve to stay it. Then the rest fled.\n\nSkallagrim bound up Eric\u2019s wound as well as he could, and they went on\nto the cave. But when Eric\u2019s folk, watching above, saw the fight they\nran down and met him. Now the hurt was bad and Eric bled much; still,\nwithin ten days it healed up for the time.\n\nBut a little while after Eric\u2019s wound was skinned over, the snows set\nin on Mosfell, and the days grew short and the nights long. Once\nGizur\u2019s men to the number of fifty came half way up the mountain to\ntake it; but, when they saw how strong the place was, they feared, and\nwent back, and after that returned no more, though they always watched\nthe fell.\n\nIt was very dark and lonesome there upon the fell. For a while Eric\nkept in good heart, but as the days went by he grew troubled. For since\nhe was wounded this had come upon him, that he feared the dark, and the\ndeath of Atli at his hand and Atli\u2019s words weighed more and more upon\nhis mind. They had no candles on the fell, yet, rather than stay in the\nblackness of the cave, Eric would wrap sheepskins about him and sit by\nthe edge of that gulf down which the head of the Baresark had foretold\nhis fall, and look out at the wide plains and fells and ice-mountains,\ngleaming in the silver shine of the Northern lights or in the white\nbeams of the stars.\n\nIt chanced that Eric had bidden the men who stayed with him to build a\nstone hut upon the flat space of rock before the cave, and to roof it\nwith turves. He had done this that work might keep them in heart, also\nthat they might have a place to store such goods as they had gathered.\nNow there was one stone lying near that no two men of their number\ncould move, except Skallagrim and one other. One day, while it was\nlight, Eric watched these two rolling the stone along to where it must\nstand, and it was slow work. Presently they stayed to rest. Then Eric\ncame and putting his hands beneath the stone, lifted, and while men\nwondered, he rolled the mass alone, to where it should be set as the\ncorner stone of the hut.\n\n\u201cYe are all children,\u201d he said, and laughed merrily.\n\n\u201cAy, when we set our strength against thine, lord,\u201d answered\nSkallagrim; \u201cbut look: the blood runs from thy neck\u2014the spear-wound has\nbroken out afresh.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo it is, surely,\u201d said Eric. Then he washed the wound and bound it\nup, thinking little of the matter.\n\nBut that night, according to his custom, Eric sat on the edge of the\ngulf and looked at the winter lights as they played over Hecla\u2019s snows.\nHe was sad and heavy at heart, for he thought of Gudruda and wondered\nmuch if they should live to wed. Remembering Atli\u2019s words, he had\nlittle faith in his good luck. Now as Eric sat and thought, the bandage\non his neck slipped, so that the hurt bled, and the frost got hold of\nthe wound and froze it, and froze his long hair to it also, in such\nfashion that when he went to the cave where all men slept, he could not\nloose his hair from the sore, but lay down with it frozen to him. On\nthe morrow the hair was caked so fast about his neck that it could only\nbe freed by shearing it. But this Eric would not suffer. None, he said,\nshould shear his hair, except Gudruda. Thus he had sworn, and when he\nbroke the oath misfortune had come of it. He would break that vow no\nmore, if it cost him his life. For sorrow and his ill luck had taken so\ngreat a hold of Eric\u2019s mind that in some ways he was scarcely himself.\n\nSo it came to pass that he fell more and more sick, till at length he\ncould not rise from his bed in the cave, but lay there all day and\nnight, staring at the little light which pierced the gloom. Still, he\nwould not suffer that anyone should touch his hair. And when one stole\nupon him sleeping, thinking so to cut it before he woke, and come at\nthe wound, suddenly he sat up and dealt the man such a buffet on the\nhead that he went near to death from it.\n\nThen Skallagrim spoke.\n\n\u201cOn this matter,\u201d he said, \u201cit seems that Brighteyes is mad. He will\nnot suffer that any touch his hair, except Gudruda, and yet, if his\nhair is not shorn, he must die, for the wound will fester under it. Nor\nmay we cut it by strength, for then he will kill himself in struggling.\nIt is come to this then: either Gudruda must be brought hither or Eric\nwill shortly die.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat may not be,\u201d they answered. \u201cHow can the lady Gudruda come here\nacross the snows, even if she will come?\u201d\n\n\u201cCome she can, if she has the heart,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cthough I put\nlittle trust in women\u2019s hearts. Still, I ride down to Middalhof, and\nthou, Jon, shalt go with me. For the rest, I charge you watch your\nlord; for, if I come back and find anything amiss, that shall be the\ndeath of some, and if I do not come back but perish on the road, yet I\nwill haunt you.\u201d\n\nNow Jon liked not this task; still, for love of Eric and fear of\nSkallagrim, he set out with the Baresark. They had a hard journey\nthrough the snow-drifts and the dark, but on the third day they came to\nMiddalhof, knocked upon the door and entered.\n\nNow it was supper-time, and people, sitting at meat, saw a great black\nman, covered with snow and rime, stalk up the hall, and after him\nanother smaller man, who groaned with the cold, and they wondered at\nthe sight. Gudruda sat on the high seat and the firelight beat upon her\nface.\n\n\u201cWho comes here?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cOne who would speak with thee, lady,\u201d answered Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cHere is Skallagrim the Baresark,\u201d said a man. \u201cHe is an outlaw, let us\nkill him!\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, it is Skallagrim,\u201d he answered, \u201cand if there is killing to be\ndone, why here\u2019s that which shall do it,\u201d and he drew out his axe and\nsmiled grimly.\n\nThen all held their peace, for they feared the axe of Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cLady,\u201d he said, \u201cI do not come for slaying or such child\u2019s play, I\ncome to speak a word in thine ear\u2014but first I ask a cup of mead and a\nmorsel of food, for we have spent three days in the snows.\u201d\n\nSo they ate and drank. Then Gudruda bade the Baresark draw near and\ntell her his tale.\n\n\u201cLady,\u201d said he, \u201cEric, my lord, lies dying on Mosfell.\u201d\n\nGudruda turned white as the snow.\n\n\u201cDying?\u2014Eric lies dying?\u201d she said. \u201cWhy, then, art thou here?\u201d\n\n\u201cFor this cause, lady: I think that thou canst save him, if he is not\nalready sped.\u201d And he told her all the tale.\n\nNow Gudruda thought a while.\n\n\u201cThis is a hard journey,\u201d she said, \u201cand it does not become a maid to\nvisit outlaws in their caves. Yet I am come to this, that I will die\nbefore I shrink from anything that may save the life of Eric. When must\nwe ride, Skallagrim?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis night,\u201d said the Baresark. \u201cThis night while the men sleep, for\nnow night and day are almost the same. The snow is deep and we have no\ntime to lose if we would find Brighteyes living.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen we will ride to-night,\u201d answered Gudruda.\n\nAfterwards, when people slept, Gudruda the Fair summoned her women, and\nbade them say to all who asked for her that she lay sick in bed. But\nshe called three trusty thralls, bidding them bring two pack-horses\nladen with hay, food, drugs, candles made of sheep\u2019s fat, and other\ngoods, and ride with her. Then, all being ready, they rode away\nsecretly up Stonefell, Gudruda on her horse Blackmane, and the others\non good geldings that had been hay-fed in the yard, and by daylight\nthey passed up Horse-Head Heights. They slept two nights in the snow,\nand on the second night almost perished there, for much soft snow fell.\nBut afterwards came frost and a bitter northerly wind and they passed\non. Gudruda was a strong woman and great of heart and will, and so it\ncame about that on the third day she reached Mosfell, weary but little\nharmed, though the fingers of her left hand were frostbitten. They\nclimbed the mountain, and when they came to the dell where the horses\nwere kept, certain of Eric\u2019s men met them and their faces were sad.\n\n\u201cHow goes it now with Brighteyes?\u201d said Skallagrim, for Gudruda could\nscarcely speak because of doubt and cold. \u201cIs he dead, then?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d they answered, \u201cbut like to die, for he is beside himself and\nraves wildly.\u201d\n\n\u201cPush on,\u201d quoth Gudruda; \u201cpush on, lest it be too late.\u201d\n\nSo they climbed the mountain on foot, won the pass and came to that\ngiddy point of rock where he must tread who would reach the platform\nthat is before the cave. Now since she had hung by her hands over\nGoldfoss gulf, Gudruda had feared to tread upon a height with nothing\nto hold to. Skallagrim went first, then called to her to follow. Thrice\nshe looked, and turned away, trembling, for the place was awful and the\nfall bottomless. Then she spoke aloud to herself:\n\n\u201cEric did not fear to risk his life to save me when I hung over Golden\nFalls; less, then, should I fear to risk mine to save him,\u201d and she\nstepped boldly down upon the point. But when she stood there, over the\ngiddy height, shivers ran along her body, and her mind grew dark. She\nclutched at the rock, gave one low cry and began to fall. Indeed she\nwould have fallen and been lost, had not Skallagrim, lying on his\nbreast in the narrow hole, stretched out his arms, caught her by the\ncloak and kirtle and dragged her to him. Presently her senses came\nback.\n\n\u201cI am safe!\u201d she gasped, \u201cbut by a very little. Methinks that here in\nthis place I must live and die, for I can never tread yonder rock\nagain.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou shalt pass it safe enough, lady, with a rope round thee,\u201d said\nSkallagrim, and led the way to the cave.\n\nGudruda entered, forgetting all things in her love of Eric. A great\nfire of turf burned in the mouth of the cave to temper the bitter wind\nand frost, and by its light Gudruda saw her love through the\nsmoke-reek. He lay upon a bed of skins at the far end of the cave and\nhis bright grey eyes were wild, his wan face was white, and now of a\nsudden it grew red with fever, and then was white again. He had thrown\nthe sheepskins from his mighty chest, the bones of which stood out\ngrimly. His long arms were thrust through the locks of his golden hair,\nand on one side of his neck the hair clung to him and it was but a\nblack mass.\n\nHe raved loudly in his madness. \u201cTouch me not, carles, touch me not; ye\nthink me spent and weak, but, by Thor! if ye touch my hair, I will\nloosen the knees of some. Gudruda alone shall shear my hair: I have\nsworn and I will keep the oath that I once broke. Give me snow! snow!\nmy throat burns! Heap snow on my head, I bid you. Ye will not? Ye mock\nme, thinking me weak! Where, then, is Whitefire?\u2014I have yet a deed to\ndo! Who comes yonder? Is it a woman\u2019s shape or is it but a\nsmoke-wraith? \u2018Tis Swanhild the Fatherless who walks the waters.\nBegone, Swanhild, thou witch! thou hast worked evil enough upon me.\nNay, it is not Swanhild, it is Elfrida; lady, here in England I may not\nstay. In Iceland I am at home. Yea, yea, things go crossly; perchance\nin this garden we may speak again!\u201d\n\nNow Gudruda could bear his words no longer, bur ran to him and knelt\nbeside him.\n\n\u201cPeace, Eric!\u201d she whispered. \u201cPeace! It is I, thy love. It is Gudruda,\nwho am come to thee.\u201d\n\nHe turned his head and looked upon her strangely.\n\n\u201cNo, no,\u201d he said, \u201cit is not Gudruda the Fair. She will have little to\ndo with outlaws, and this is too rough a place for her to come to. It\nis dark also and Atli speaks in the darkness. If thou art Gudruda, give\nme a sign. Why comest thou here and where is Skallagrim? Ah! that was a\ngood fight\u2014\n\nDown among the ballast tumbling\nOspakar\u2019s shield-carles were rolled.\n\n\nBut he should never have slain the steersman. The axe goes first and\nSkallagrim follows after. Ha, ha! Ay, Swanhild, we\u2019ll mingle tears.\nGive me the cup. Why, what is this? Thou art afire, a glory glows about\nthee, and from thee floats a scent like the scent of the Iceland meads\nin May.\u201d\n\n\u201cEric! Eric!\u201d cried Gudruda, \u201cI am come to shear thy hair, as thou\ndidst swear that I alone should do.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow I know that thou art Gudruda,\u201d said the crazed man. \u201cCut, cut; but\nlet not those knaves touch my head, lest I should slay them.\u201d\n\nThen Gudruda drew out her shears, and without more ado shore off\nBrighteyes\u2019 golden locks. It was no easy task, for they were thick as a\nhorse\u2019s mane, and glued to the wound. Yet when she had cut them, she\nloosened the hair from the flesh with water which she heated upon the\nfire. The wound was in a bad state and blue, still Eric never winced\nwhile she dragged the hair from it. Then she washed the sore clean, and\nput sweet ointment on it and covered it with napkins.\n\nThis done, she gave Eric broth and he drank. Then, laying her hand upon\nhis head, she looked into his eyes and bade him sleep. And presently he\nslept\u2014which he had scarcely done for many days\u2014slept like a little\nchild.\n\nEric slept for a day and a night. But at that same hour of the evening,\nwhen he had fallen asleep, Gudruda, watching him by the light of a\ntaper that was set upon a rock, saw him smile in his dreams. Presently\nhe opened his eyes and stared at the fire which glowed in the mouth of\nthe cave, and the great shadows that fell upon the rocks.\n\n\u201cStrange!\u201d she heard him murmur, \u201cit is very strange! but I dreamed I\nslept, and that Gudruda the Fair leaned over me as I slept. Where,\nthen, is Skallagrim? Perhaps I am dead and that is Hela\u2019s fire,\u201d and he\ntried to lift himself upon his arm, but fell back from faintness, for\nhe was very weak. Then Gudruda took his hand, and, leaning over him,\nspoke:\n\n\u201cHush, Eric!\u201d she said; \u201cthat was no dream, for I am here. Thou hast\nbeen sick to death, Eric; but now, if thou wilt rest, things shall go\nwell with thee.\u201d\n\n\u201c_Thou_ art here?\u201d said Eric, turning his white face towards her. \u201cDo I\nstill dream, or how comest thou here to Mosfell, Gudruda?\u201d\n\n\u201cI came through the snows, Eric, to cut thy hair, which clung to the\nfestering wound, for in thy madness thou wouldst not suffer anyone to\ntouch it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou camest through the snows\u2014over the snows\u2014to nurse me, Gudruda?\nThou must love me much then,\u201d and he was so weak that, as he spoke, the\ntears rolled down Eric\u2019s cheeks.\n\nThen Gudruda kissed him, weeping also, and, laying her face by his,\nbade him be at peace, for she was there to watch him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII\nHOW SWANHILD WON TIDINGS OF ERIC\n\n\nNow Eric\u2019s strength came back to him and his heart opened in the light\nof Gudruda\u2019s eyes like a flower in the sunshine. For all day long she\nsat at his side, holding his hand and talking to him, and they found\nmuch to say.\n\nBut on the fifth day from the day of his awakening she spoke thus:\n\n\u201cEric, now I must go back to Middalhof. Thou art safe and it is not\nwell that I should stay here.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot yet, Gudruda,\u201d he said; \u201cleave me not yet.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, love, I must leave thee. The moon is bright, the sky has cleared,\nand the snow is hard with frost and fit for the hoofs of horses. I must\ngo before more storms come. Listen now: in the second week of spring,\nif all is well, I will send thee a messenger with words of token, then\nshalt thou come down secretly to Middalhof, and there, Eric, we will be\nwed. Then, on the next day, we will sail for England in a trading-ship\nthat I shall get ready, to seek our fortune there.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be a good fortune if thou art by my side,\u201d said Eric, \u201cso good\nthat I doubt greatly if I may find it, for I am Eric the Unlucky.\nSwanhild must yet be reckoned with, Gudruda. Yes, thou art right: thou\nmust go hence, Gudruda, and swiftly, though it grieves me much to part\nwith thee.\u201d\n\nThen Eric called Skallagrim and bade him make things ready to ride down\nto Middalhof with the Lady Gudruda.\n\nThis Skallagrim did swiftly, and afterwards Eric and Gudruda kissed and\nparted, and they were sad at heart to part.\n\nNow on the fifth day after the going of Gudruda, Skallagrim came back\nto Mosfell somewhat cold and weary. And he told Eric, who could now\nwalk and grew strong again, that he and Jon had ridden with Gudruda the\nFair to Horse-Head Heights, seeing no man, and had left her there to go\non with her thralls. He had come back also seeing no one, for the\nweather was too cold for the men of Gizur to watch the fell in the\nsnows.\n\nNow Gudruda came safely to Middalhof, having been eleven days gone, and\nfound that few had visited the house, and that these had been told that\nshe lay sick abed. Her secret had been well kept, and, though Swanhild\nhad no lack of spies, many days went by before she learned that Gudruda\nhad gone up to Mosfell to nurse Eric.\n\nAfter this Gudruda began to make ready for her flight from Iceland. She\ncalled in the moneys that she had out at interest, and with them bought\nfrom a certain chapman a good trading-ship which lay in its shed under\nthe shelter of Westman Isles. This ship she began to make ready for sea\nso soon as the heart of the winter was broken, putting it about that\nshe intended to send her on a trading voyage to Scotland in the spring.\nAnd also to give colour to this tale she bought many pelts and other\ngoods, such as chapmen deal in.\n\nThus the days passed on\u2014not so badly for Gudruda, who strove to fill\ntheir emptiness in making ready for the full and happy time; but for\nEric in his cave they were very heavy, for he could find nothing to do\nexcept to sleep and eat, and think of Gudruda, whom he might not see.\n\nFor Swanhild also, sitting at Coldback, the days did not go well. She\nwas weary of the courting of Gizur, whom she played with as a cat plays\nwith a rat, and her heart was sick with love, hate, and jealousy. For\nshe well knew that Gudruda and Eric still clung to each other and found\nmeans of greeting, if not of speech. At that time she wished to kill\nEric if she could, though she would rather kill Gudruda if she dared.\nStill, she could not come at Eric, for her men feared to try the narrow\nway of Mosfell, and when they met him in the open they fled before him.\n\nPresently it came to her ears that Gudruda made a ship ready to sail to\nScotland on a trading voyage, and she was perplexed by this tale, for\nshe knew that Gudruda had no love of trading and never thought of gain.\nSo she set spies to watch the ship. Still, the slow days drew on, and\nat length the air grew soft with spring, and flowers showed through the\nsnow.\n\nEric sat in his mountain nest waiting for tidings, and watched the\nnesting eagles wheel about the cliffs. At length news came. For one\nmorning, as he rose, Skallagrim told him that a man wanted to speak\nwith him. He had come to the mountain in the darkness, and had lain in\na dell till the breaking of the light, for, now that the snows were\nmelting, the men of Gizur and Swanhild watched the ways.\n\nEric bade them bring the man to him. When he saw him he knew that he\nwas a thrall of Gudruda\u2019s and welcomed him heartily.\n\n\u201cWhat tidings?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cThis, lord,\u201d said the thrall: \u201cGudruda the Fair bids me say that she\nis well and that the snows melt on the roof of Middalhof.\u201d\n\nNow this was the signal word that had been agreed upon between Eric and\nGudruda, that she should send him when all was ready.\n\n\u201cGood,\u201d said Eric, \u201cride back to Gudruda the Fair and say that Eric\nBrighteyes is well, but on Hecla the snows melt not.\u201d\n\nBy this answer he meant that he would be with her presently, though the\nthrall could make nothing of it. Then Skallagrim asked tidings of the\nman, and learned that Swanhild was still at Middalhof, and with her\nGizur, and that they gave out that they wished to make an end of\nwaiting and slay Eric.\n\n\u201cFirst snare your bird, then wring his neck,\u201d laughed Skallagrim.\n\nThen Eric did this: among his men were some who he knew were not\nwilling to sail from Iceland, and Jon, his thrall, was of them, for Jon\ndid not love the angry sea. He bade these bide a while on Mosfell and\nmake fires nightly on the platform of rock which is in front of the\ncave, that the spies of Gizur and Swanhild might be deceived by them,\nand think that Eric was still on the fell. Then, when they heard that\nhe had sailed, they were to come down and hide themselves with friends\ntill Gizur and his following rode north. But he told two of the men who\nwould sail with him to make ready.\n\nThat night before the moon rose Eric said farewell to Jon and the\nothers who stayed on Mosfell, and rode away with Skallagrim and the two\nwho went with him. They passed the plain of black sand in safety, and\nso on to Horse-Head Heights. Now at length, as the afternoon drew on to\nevening, from Stonefell\u2019s crest they saw the Hall of Middalhof before\nthem, and Eric\u2019s heart swelled in his breast. Yet they must wait till\ndarkness fell before they dared enter the place, lest they should be\nseen and notice of their coming should be carried to Gizur and\nSwanhild. And this came into the mind of Eric, that of all the hours of\nhis life that hour of waiting was the longest. Scarcely, indeed, could\nSkallagrim hold him back from going down the mountain side, he was so\nset on coming to Gudruda whom he should wed that night.\n\nAt length the darkness fell, and they went on. Eric rode swiftly down\nthe rough mountain path, while Skallagrim and the two men followed\ngrumbling, for they feared that their horses would fall. At length they\ncame to the place, and riding into the yard, Eric sprang from his horse\nand strode to the women\u2019s door. Now Gudruda stood in the porch,\nlistening; and while he was yet some way off, she heard the clang of\nBrighteyen\u2019s harness, and the colour came and went upon her cheek. Then\nshe turned and fled to the high seat of the hall, and sat down there.\nOnly two women were left in Middalhof with her, and some thralls who\ntended the kine and horses. But these slept, not in the hall, but in an\nouthouse. Gudruda had sent the rest of her people down to the ship to\nhelp in the lading, for it was given out that the vessel sailed on the\nmorrow. She had done this that there might be no talk of the coming of\nEric to Middalhof.\n\nNow Brighteyes came to the porch, and, finding the door wide, walked\nin. But Skallagrim and the men stayed without a while, and tended the\nhorses. A fire burned upon the centre hearth in the hall, and threw\nshadows on the panelling. Eric walked on by its light, looking to left\nand right, but seeing neither man nor woman. Then a great fear took him\nlest Gudruda should be gone, or perhaps slain of Swanhild, Groa\u2019s\ndaughter, and he trembled at the thought. He stood by the fire, and\nGudruda, watching from the shadow of the high seat, saw the dull light\nglow upon his golden helm, and a sigh of joy broke from her lips. Eric\nheard the sigh and looked, and as he looked a stick of pitchy driftwood\nfell into the fire and flared up fiercely. Then he saw. There, in the\ncarved high seat, robed all in bridal white, sat Gudruda the Fair, his\nlove. Her golden hair flowed about her breast, her white arms were\nstretched towards him, and on her sweet face shone such a look of love\nas he had never seen.\n\n\u201c_Eric!_\u201d she whispered softly, and the breath of her voice ran down\nthe empty panelled hall, that from all sides seemed to answer,\n\u201c_Eric._\u201d\n\nSlowly he drew near to her. He saw nothing but the glory of Gudruda\u2019s\nface and the light shining on Gudruda\u2019s hair; he heard nothing save the\nsighing of her breath; he knew nothing except that before him sat his\nfair bride, won after many years.\n\nNow he had climbed the high seat, and now, wrapped in each other\u2019s\narms, they sat and gazed into each other\u2019s eyes, and lo! the air of the\ngreat hall rolled round them a sea of glory, and sweet voices whispered\nin their ears. Now Freya smiled upon them and led them through her\ngates of love, and they were glad that they had been born.\n\nThus then they were wed.\n\nNow the story tells that Swanhild spoke with Gizur, Ospakar\u2019s son, in\nthe house at Coldback.\n\n\u201cI tire of this slow play,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have tarried here for many\nweeks, and Atli\u2019s blood yet cries out for vengeance, and cries for\nvengeance the blood of black Ospakar, thy father, and the blood of many\nanother, dead at great Eric\u2019s hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cI tire also,\u201d said Gizur, \u201cand I am much needed in the north. I say\nthis to thee, Swanhild, that, hadst thou not so strictly laid it on me\nthat Eric must die ere thou weddest me, I had flitted back to Swinefell\nbefore now, and there bided my time to bring Brighteyes to his end.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will never wed thee, Gizur, till Eric is dead,\u201d said Swanhild\nfiercely.\n\n\u201cHow shall we come at him then?\u201d he answered. \u201cWe may not go up that\nmountain path, for two men can hold it against all our strength, and\nfolk do not love to meet Eric and Skallagrim in a narrow way.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe place has been badly watched,\u201d said Swanhild. \u201cI am sure of this,\nthat Eric has been down to Middalhof and seen Gudruda, my half-sister.\nShe is shameless, who still holds commune with him who slew her brother\nand my husband. Death should be her reward, and I am minded to slay her\nbecause of the shame that she has brought upon our blood.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a deed which thou wilt do alone, then,\u201d said Gizur, \u201cfor I\nwill have no hand in the murder of that fair maid\u2014no, nor will any who\nlive in Iceland!\u201d\n\nSwanhild glanced at him strangely. \u201cHearken, Gizur!\u201d she said: \u201cGudruda\nmakes a ship ready to sail with goods to Scotland and bring a cargo\nthence before winter comes again. Now I find this strange, for never\nbefore did I know Gudruda turn her thoughts to trading. I think that\nshe has it in her mind to sail from Iceland with this outlaw Eric, and\nseek a home over seas, and that I will not bear.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt may be,\u201d said Gizur, \u201cand I should not be sorry to see the last of\nBrighteyes, for I think that more men will die at his hand before he\nstiffens in his barrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou art cowardly-hearted, thou son of Ospakar!\u201d Swanhild said. \u201cThou\nsayest thou lovest me and wouldest win me to wife: I tell thee that\nthere is but one road to my arms, and it leads over the corpse of Eric.\nNow this is my counsel: that we send the most of our men to watch that\nship of Gudruda\u2019s, and, when she lifts anchor, to board her and search,\nfor she is already bound for sea. Also among the people here I have a\ncarle who was born near Hecla, and he swears this to me, that, when he\nwas a lad, searching for an eagle\u2019s eyrie, he found a path by which\nMosfell might be climbed from the north, and that in the end he came to\na large flat place, and, looking over, saw that platform where Eric\ndwells with his thralls. But he could not see the cave, because of the\noverhanging brow of the rock. Now we will do this: thou and I, and the\ncarle alone\u2014no more, for I do not wish that our search should be noised\nabroad\u2014to-morrow at the dawn we will ride away for Mosfell, and,\npassing under Hecla, come round the mountain and see if this path may\nstill be scaled. For, if so, we will return with men and make an end of\nBrighteyes.\u201d\n\nThis plan pleased Gizur, and he said that it should be so.\n\nSo very early on the following morning Swanhild, having sent many men\nto watch Gudruda\u2019s ship, rode away secretly with Gizur and the thrall,\nand before it was again dawn they were on the northern slopes of\nMosfell. It was on this same night that Eric went down from the\nmountain to wed Gudruda.\n\nFor a while the climbing was easy, but at length they came to a great\nwall of rock, a hundred fathoms high, on which no fox might find a\nfoothold, nor anything that had not wings.\n\n\u201cHere now is an end of our journey,\u201d said Gizur, \u201cand I only pray this,\nthat Eric may not ride round the mountain before we are down again.\u201d\nFor he did not know that Brighteyes already rode hard for Middalhof.\n\n\u201cNot so,\u201d said the thrall, \u201cif only I can find the place by which, some\nthirty summers ago, I won yonder rift, and through it the crest of the\nfell,\u201d and he pointed to a narrow cleft in the face of the rock high\nabove their heads, that was clothed with grey moss.\n\nThen he moved to the right and searched, peering behind stones and\nbirch-bushes, till presently he held up his hand and whistled. They\npassed along the slope and found him standing by a little stream of\nwater which welled from beneath a great rock.\n\n\u201cHere is the place,\u201d the man said.\n\n\u201cI see no place,\u201d answered Swanhild.\n\n\u201cStill, it is there, lady,\u201d and he climbed on to the rock, drawing her\nafter him. At the back of it was a hole, almost overgrown with moss.\n\u201cHere is the path,\u201d he said again.\n\n\u201cThen it is one that I have no mind to follow,\u201d answered Swanhild.\n\u201cGizur, go thou with the man and see if his tale is true. I will stay\nhere till ye come back.\u201d\n\nThen the thrall let himself down into the hole and Gizur went after\nhim. But Swanhild sat there in the shadow of the rock, her chin resting\non her hand, and waited. Presently, as she sat, she saw two men ride\nround the base of the fell, and strike off to the right towards a\nturf-booth which stood the half of an hour\u2019s ride away. Now Swanhild\nwas the keenest-sighted of all women of her day in Iceland, and when\nshe looked at these two men she knew one of them for Jon, Eric\u2019s\nthrall, and she knew the horse also\u2014it was a white horse with black\npatches, that Jon had ridden for many years. She watched them go till\nthey came to the booth, and it seemed to her that they left their\nhorses and entered.\n\nSwanhild waited upon the side of the fell for nearly two hours in all.\nThen, hearing a noise above her, she looked up, and there, black with\ndirt and wet with water, was Gizur, and with him was the thrall.\n\n\u201cWhat luck, Gizur?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cThis, Swanhild: Eric may hold Mosfell no more, for we have found a way\nto bolt the fox.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is good news, then,\u201d said Swanhild. \u201cSay on.\u201d\n\n\u201cYonder hole, Swanhild, leads to the cleft above, having been cut\nthrough the cliff by fire, or perhaps by water. Now up that cleft a man\nmay climb, though hardly, as by a difficult stair, till he comes to the\nflat crest of the fell. Then, crossing the crest, on the further side,\nperhaps six fathoms below him, he sees that space of rock where is\nEric\u2019s cave; but he cannot see the cave itself, because the brow of the\ncliff hangs over. And so it is that, if any come from the cave on to\nthe space of rock, it will be an easy matter to roll stones upon them\nfrom above and crush them.\u201d\n\nNow when Swanhild heard this she laughed aloud.\n\n\u201cEric shall mock us no more,\u201d she said, \u201cand his might can avail\nnothing against rocks rolled on him from above. Let us go back to\nColdback and summon men to make an end of Brighteyes.\u201d\n\nSo they went on down the mountain till they came to the place where\nthey had hidden their horses. Then Swanhild remembered Jon and the\nother man whom she had seen riding to the booth, and she told Gizur of\nthem.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d she said, \u201cwe will snare these birds, and perchance they will\ntwitter tidings when we squeeze them.\u201d\n\nSo they turned and rode for the booth, and drawing near, they saw two\nhorses grazing without. Now they got off their horses, and creeping up\nto the booth, looked in through the door which was ajar. And they saw\nthis, that one man sat on the ground with his back to the door, eating\nstock-fish, while Jon made bundles of fish and meal ready to tie on the\nhorses. For it was here that those of his quarter who loved Eric\nbrought food to be carried by his men to the cave on Mosfell.\n\nNow Swanhild touched Gizur on the arm, pointing first to the man who\nsat eating the fish and then to the spear in Gizur\u2019s hand. Gizur\nthought a while, for he shrank from this deed.\n\nThen Swanhild whispered in his ear, \u201cSlay the man and seize the other;\nI would learn tidings from him.\u201d\n\nSo Gizur cast the spear, and it passed through the man\u2019s heart, and he\nwas dead at once. Then he and the thrall leapt into the booth and threw\nthemselves on Jon, hurling him to the ground, and holding swords over\nhim. Now Jon was a man of small heart, and when he saw his plight and\nhis fellow dead he was afraid, and prayed for mercy.\n\n\u201cIf I spare thee, knave,\u201d said Swanhild, \u201cthou shalt do this: thou\nshalt lead me up Mosfell to speak with Eric.\u201d\n\n\u201cI may not do that, lady,\u201d groaned Jon; \u201cfor Eric is not on Mosfell.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is he, then?\u201d asked Swanhild.\n\nNow Jon saw that he had said an unlucky thing, and answered:\n\n\u201cNay, I know not. Last night he rode from Mosfell with Skallagrim\nLambstail.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou liest, knave,\u201d said Swanhild. \u201cSpeak, or thou shalt be slain.\u201d\n\n\u201cSlay on,\u201d groaned Jon, glancing at the swords above him, and shutting\nhis eyes. For, though he feared much to die, he had no will to make\nknown Eric\u2019s plans.\n\n\u201cLook not at the swords; thou shalt not die so easily. Hearken: speak,\nand speak truly, or thou shalt seek Hela\u2019s lap after this fashion,\u201d\nand, bending down, she whispered in his ear, then laughed aloud.\n\nNow Jon grew faint with fear; his lips turned blue, and his teeth\nchattered at the thought of how he should be made to die. Still, he\nwould say nothing.\n\nThen Swanhild spoke to Gizur and the thrall, and bade them bind him\nwith a rope, tear the garments from him, and bring snow. They did this,\nand pushed the matter to the drawing of knives. But when he saw the\nsteel Jon cried aloud that he would tell all.\n\n\u201cNow thou takest good counsel,\u201d said Swanhild.\n\nThen in his fear Jon told how Eric had gone down to Middalhof to wed\nGudruda, and thence to fly with her to England.\n\nNow Swanhild was mad with wrath, for she had sooner died than that this\nshould come about.\n\n\u201cLet us away,\u201d she said to Gizur. \u201cBut first kill this man.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said Gizur, \u201cI will not do that. He has told his tidings; let\nhim go free.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou art chicken-hearted,\u201d said Swanhild, who, after the fashion of\nwitches, had no mercy in her. \u201cAt the least, he shall not go hence to\nwarn Eric and Gudruda of our coming. If thou wilt not kill him, then\nbind him and leave him.\u201d\n\nSo Jon was bound, and there in the booth he sat two days before anyone\ncame to loose him.\n\n\u201cWhither away?\u201d said Gizur to Swanhild.\n\n\u201cTo Middalhof first,\u201d Swanhild answered.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX\nHOW WENT THE BRIDAL NIGHT\n\n\nNow Eric and Gudruda sat silent in the high seat of the hall at\nMiddalhof till they heard Skallagrim enter by the women\u2019s door. Then\nthey came down from the high seat, and stood hand in hand by the fire\non the hearth. Skallagrim greeted Gudruda, looking at her askance, for\nSkallagrim stood in fear of women alone.\n\n\u201cWhat counsel now, lord?\u201d said the Baresark.\n\n\u201cTell us thy plans, Gudruda,\u201d said Eric, for as yet no word had passed\nbetween them of what they should do.\n\n\u201cThis is my plan, Eric,\u201d she answered. \u201cFirst, that we eat; then that\nthy men take horse and ride hence through the night to where the ship\nlies, bearing word that we will be there at dawn when the tide serves,\nand bidding the mate make everything ready for sailing. But thou and I\nand Skallagrim will stay here till to-morrow is three hours old, and\nthis because I have tidings that Gizur\u2019s folk will search the ship\nto-night. Now, when they search and do not find us, they will go away.\nThen, at the dawning, thou and I and Skallagrim will row on board the\nship as she lies at anchor, and, slipping the cable, put to sea before\nthey know we are there, and so bid farewell to Swanhild and our woes.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet it is a risk for us to sleep here alone,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cThere is little danger,\u201d said Gudruda. \u201cNearly all of Gizur\u2019s men\nwatch the ship; and I have learned this from a spy, that, two days ago,\nGizur, Swanhild, and one thrall rode from Coldback towards Mosfell, and\nthey have not come back yet. Moreover, the place is strong, and thou\nand Skallagrim are here to guard it.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it, then,\u201d answered Eric, for indeed he had little thought left\nfor anything, except Gudruda.\n\nAfter this the women came in and set meat on the board, and all ate.\n\nNow, when they had eaten, Eric bade Skallagrim fill a cup, and bring it\nto him as he sat on the high seat with Gudruda. Skallagrim did so; and\nthen, looking deep into each other\u2019s eyes, Eric Brighteyes and Gudruda\nthe Fair, Asmund\u2019s daughter, drank the bride\u2019s cup.\n\n\u201cThere are few guests to grace our marriage-feast, husband,\u201d said\nGudruda.\n\n\u201cYet shall our vows hold true, wife,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cAy, Brighteyes,\u201d she answered, \u201cin life and in death, now and for\never!\u201d and they kissed.\n\n\u201cIt is time for us to be going, methinks,\u201d growled Skallagrim to those\nabout him. \u201cWe are not wanted here.\u201d\n\nThen the men who were to go on to the ship rose, fetched their horses,\nand rode away. Also they caught the horses of Skallagrim, Eric, and\nGudruda, saddled them and, slipping their bridles, made them fast in a\nshed in the yard, giving them hay to eat. Afterwards Skallagrim barred\nthe men\u2019s door and the women\u2019s door, and, going to Gudruda, asked where\nhe should stay the night till it was time to ride for the sea.\n\n\u201cIn the store-chamber,\u201d she answered, \u201cfor there is a shutter of which\nthe latch has gone. See that thou watch it well, Skallagrim; though I\nthink none will come to trouble thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know the place. It shall go badly with the head that looks through\nyonder hole,\u201d said Skallagrim, glancing at his axe.\n\nNow Gudruda forgot this, that in the store-chamber were casks of strong\nale.\n\nThen Gudruda told him to wake them when the morrow was two hours old,\nfor Eric had neither eyes nor words except for Gudruda alone, and\nSkallagrim went.\n\nThe women went also to their shut bed at the end of the hall, leaving\nBrighteyes and Gudruda alone. Eric looked at her.\n\n\u201cWhere do I sleep to-night?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cThou sleepest with me, husband,\u201d she answered soft, \u201cfor nothing,\nexcept Death, shall come between us any more.\u201d\n\nNow Skallagrim went to the store-room, and sat down with his back\nagainst a cask. His heart was heavy in him, for he boded no good of\nthis marriage. Moreover, he was jealous. Skallagrim loved but one thing\nin the world truly, and that was Eric Brighteyes, his lord. Now he knew\nthat henceforth he must take a second place, and that for one thought\nwhich Eric gave to him, he would give ten to Gudruda. Therefore\nSkallagrim was very sad at heart.\n\n\u201cA pest upon the women!\u201d he said to himself, \u201cfor from them comes all\nevil. Brighteyes owes his ill luck to Swanhild and this fair wife of\nhis, and that is scarcely done with yet. Well, well, \u2018tis nature; but\nwould that we were safe at sea! Had I my will, we had not slept here\nto-night. But they are newly wed, and\u2014well, \u2018tis nature! Better the\nbride loves to lie abed than to ride the cold wolds and seek the common\ndeck.\u201d\n\nNow, as Skallagrim grumbled, fear gathered in his heart, he knew not of\nwhat. He began to think on trolls and goblins. It was dark in the\nstore-room, except for a little line of light that crept through the\ncrack of the shutter. At length he could bear the darkness and his\nthoughts no longer, but, rising, threw the shutter wide and let the\nbright moonlight pour into the chamber, whence he could see the\nhillside behind, and watch the shadows of the clouds as they floated\nacross it. Again Skallagrim sat down against his cask, and as he sat it\nmoved, and he heard the wash of ale inside it.\n\n\u201cThat is a good sound,\u201d said Skallagrim, and he turned and smelt at the\ncask; \u201caye, and a good smell, too! We tasted little ale yonder on\nMosfell, and we shall find less at sea.\u201d Again he looked at the cask.\nThere was a spigot in it, and lo! on the shelf stood horn cups.\n\n\u201cIt surely is on draught,\u201d he said; \u201cand now it will stand till it goes\nsour. \u2018Tis a pity; but I will not drink. I fear ale\u2014ale is another man!\nNo, I will not drink,\u201d and all the while his hand went up to the cups\nupon the shelf. \u201cEric is better lain yonder in Gudruda\u2019s chamber than I\nam here alone with evil thoughts and trolls,\u201d he said. \u201cWhy, what fish\nwas that we ate at supper? My throat is cracked with thirst! If there\nwere water now I\u2019d drink it, but I see none. Well, one cup to wish them\njoy! There is no harm in a cup of ale,\u201d and he drew the spigot from the\ncask and watched the brown drink flow into the cup. Then he lifted it\nto his lips and drank, saying \u201cSkoll! skoll!\u201d[*] nor did he cease till\nthe horn was drained. \u201cThis is wondrous good ale,\u201d said Skallagrim as\nhe wiped his grizzled beard. \u201cOne more cup, and evil thoughts shall\ncease to haunt me.\u201d\n\n[*] \u201cHealth! health!\u201d\n\n\nAgain he filled, drank, sat down, and for a while was merry. But\npresently the black thoughts came back into his mind. He rose, looked\nthrough the shutter-hole to the hillside. He could see nothing on it\nexcept the shadows of the clouds.\n\n\u201cTrolls walk the winds to-night,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel them pulling at my\nbeard. One more cup to frighten them.\u201d\n\nHe drank another draught of ale and grew merry. Then ale called for\nale, and Skallagrim drained cup on cup, singing as he drained, till at\nlast heavy sleep overcame him, and he sank drunken on the ground there\nby the barrel, while the brown ale trickled round him.\n\nNow Eric Brighteyes and Gudruda the Fair slept side by side, locked in\neach other\u2019s arms. Presently Gudruda was wide awake.\n\n\u201cRouse thee, Eric,\u201d she said, \u201cI have dreamed an evil dream.\u201d\n\nHe awoke and kissed her.\n\n\u201cWhat, then, was thy dream, sweet?\u201d he said. \u201cThis is no hour for bad\ndreams.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo hour for bad dreams, truly, husband; yet dreams do not weigh the\nhour of their coming. I dreamed this: that I lay dead beside thee and\nthou knewest it not, while Swanhild looked at thee and mocked.\u201d\n\n\u201cAn evil dream, truly,\u201d said Eric; \u201cbut see, thou art not dead. Thou\nhast thought too much on Swanhild of late.\u201d\n\nNow they slept once more, till presently Eric was wide awake.\n\n\u201cRouse thee, Gudruda,\u201d he said, \u201cI too have dreamed a dream, and it is\nfull of evil.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat, then, was thy dream, husband?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cI dreamed that Atli the Earl, whom I slew, stood by the bed. His face\nwas white, and white as snow was his beard, and blood from his great\nwound ran down his byrnie. \u2018Eric Brighteyes,\u2019 he said, \u2018I am he whom\nthou didst slay, and I come to tell thee this: that before the moon is\nyoung again thou shalt lie stiff, with Hell-shoes on thy feet. Thou art\nEric the Unlucky! Take thy joy and say thy say to her who lies at thy\nside, for wet and cold is the bed that waits thee and soon shall thy\nwhite lips be dumb.\u2019 Then he was gone, and lo! in his place stood\nAsmund, thy father, and he also spoke to me, saying, \u2018Thou who dost lie\nin my bed and at my daughter\u2019s side, know this: the words of Atli are\ntrue; but I add these to them: ye shall die, yet is death but the gate\nof life and love and rest,\u2019 and he was gone.\u201d\n\nNow Gudruda shivered with fear, and crept closer to Eric\u2019s side.\n\n\u201cWe are surely fey, for the Norns speak with the voices of Atli and of\nAsmund,\u201d she said. \u201cOh, Eric! Eric! whither go we when we die? Will\nValhalla take thee, being so mighty a man, and must I away to Hela\u2019s\nhalls, where thou art not? Oh! that would be death indeed! Say, Eric,\nwhither do we go?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat said the voice of Asmund?\u201d answered Brighteyes. \u201cThat death is\nbut the gate of life and love and rest. Hearken, Gudruda, my May! Odin\ndoes not reign over all the world, for when I sat out yonder in\nEngland, a certain holy man taught me of another God\u2014a God who loves\nnot slaughter, a God who died that men might live for ever in peace\nwith those they love.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow is this God named, Eric?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey name Him the White Christ, and there are many who cling to Him.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould that I knew this Christ, Eric. I am weary of death and blood and\nevil deeds, such as are pleasing to our Gods. Oh, Eric, if I am taken\nfrom thee, swear this to me: that thou wilt slay no more, save for thy\nlife\u2019s sake only.\u201d\n\n\u201cI swear that, sweet,\u201d he made answer. \u201cFor I too am weary of death and\nblood, and desire peace most of all things. The world is sad, and sad\nhave been our days. Yet it is well to have lived, for through many\nheavy days we have wandered to this happy night.\u201d\n\n\u201cYea, Eric, it is well to have lived; though I think that death draws\non. Now this is my counsel: that we rise, and that thou dost put on thy\nharness and summon Skallagrim, so that, if evil comes, thou mayst meet\nit armed. Surely I thought I heard a sound\u2014yonder in the hall!\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is little use in that,\u201d said Eric, \u201cfor things will befall as\nthey are fated. We may do nothing of our own will, I am sure of this,\nand it is no good to struggle with the Norns. Yet I will rise.\u201d\n\nSo he kissed her, and made ready to leave the bed, when suddenly, as he\nlingered, a great heaviness seized him.\n\n\u201cGudruda,\u201d he said, \u201cI am pressed down with sleep.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I am also, Eric,\u201d she said. \u201cMy eyes shut of themselves and I can\nscarcely stir my limbs. Ah, Eric, we are fey indeed, and this is\u2014death\nthat comes!\u201d\n\n\u201cPerchance!\u201d he said, speaking heavily.\n\n\u201cEric!\u2014wake, Eric! Thou canst not move? Yet hearken to me\u2014ah! this\nweight of sleep! Thou lovest me, Eric!\u2014is it not so?\u201d\n\n\u201cYea,\u201d he answered.\n\n\u201cNow and for ever thou lovest me\u2014and wilt cleave to me always wherever\nwe go?\u201d\n\n\u201cSurely, sweet. Oh, sweet, farewell!\u201d he said, and his voice sounded\nlike the voice of one who speaks across the water.\n\n\u201cFarewell, Eric Brighteyes!\u2014my love\u2014my love, farewell!\u201d she answered\nvery slowly, and together they sank into a sleep that was heavy as\ndeath.\n\nNow Gizur, Ospakar\u2019s son, and Swanhild, Atli\u2019s widow, rode fast and\nhard from Mosfell, giving no rest to their horses, and with them rode\nthat thrall who had showed the secret path to Gizur. They stayed a\nwhile on Horse-Head Heights till the moon rose. Now one path led hence\nto the shore that is against the Westmans, where Gudruda\u2019s ship lay\nbound. Then Swanhild turned to the thrall. Her beautiful face was\nfierce and she had said few words all this while, but in her heart\nraged a fire of hate and jealousy which shone through her blue eyes.\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d she said to the thrall. \u201cThou shalt ride hence to the bay\nwhere the ship of Gudruda the Fair lies at anchor. Thou knowest where\nour folk are in hiding. Thou shalt speak thus to them. Before it is\ndawn they must take boats and board Gudruda\u2019s ship and search her. And,\nif they find Eric, the outlaw, aboard, they shall slay him, if they\nmay.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will be no easy task,\u201d said the thrall.\n\n\u201cAnd if they find Gudruda they shall keep her prisoner. But if they\nfind neither the one nor the other, they shall do this: they shall\ndrive the crew ashore, killing as few as may be, and burn the ship.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is an ill deed thus to burn another\u2019s ship,\u201d said Gizur.\n\n\u201cGood or ill, it shall be done,\u201d answered Swanhild fiercely. \u201cThou art\na lawman, and well canst thou meet the suit; moreover Gudruda has\nwedded an outlaw and shall suffer for her sin. Now go, and see thou\ntarry not, or thy back shall pay the price.\u201d\n\nThe man rode away swiftly. Then Gizur turned to Swanhild, asking:\n\u201cWhither, then, go we?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have said to Middalhof.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is into the wolf\u2019s den, if Eric and Skallagrim are there,\u201d he\nanswered: \u201cI have little chance against the two of them.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, nor against the one, Gizur. Why, if Eric\u2019s right hand were hewn\nfrom him, and he stood unarmed, he would still slay thee with his left,\nas, swordless, he slew Ospakar thy father. Yet I shall find a way to\ncome at him, if he is there.\u201d\n\nThen they rode on, and Gizur\u2019s heart was heavy for fear of Eric and\nSkallagrim the Baresark. So fiercely did they ride that, within one\nhour after midnight, they were at the stead of Middalhof.\n\n\u201cWe will leave the horses here in the field,\u201d said Swanhild.\n\nSo they leaped to earth and, tying the reins of the horses together,\nleft them to feed on the growing grass. Then they crept into the yard\nand listened. Presently there came a sound of horses stamping in the\nfar corner of the yard. They went thither, and there they found a horse\nand two geldings saddled, but with the bits slipped, and on the horse\nwas such a saddle as women use.\n\n\u201cEric Brighteyes, Skallagrim Lambstail, and Gudruda the Fair,\u201d\nwhispered Swanhild, naming the horses and laughing evilly\u2014\u201cthe birds\nare within! Now to snare them.\u201d\n\n\u201cWere it not best to meet them by the ship?\u201d asked Gizur.\n\n\u201cNay, thou fool; if once Eric and Skallagrim are back to back, and\nWhitefire is aloft, how many shall be dead before they are down,\nthinkest thou? We shall not find them sleeping twice.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is shameful to slay sleeping men,\u201d said Gizur.\n\n\u201cThey are outlaws,\u201d she answered. \u201cHearken, Ospakar\u2019s son. Thou sayest\nthou dost love me and wouldst wed me: know this, that if thou dost fail\nme now, I will never look upon thy face again, but will name thee\nNiddering in all men\u2019s ears.\u201d\n\nNow Gizur loved Swanhild much, for she had thrown her glamour on him as\nonce she did on Atli, and he thought of her day and night. For there\nwas this strange thing about Swanhild that, though she was a witch and\nwicked, being both fair and gentle she could lead all men, except Eric,\nto love her.\n\nBut of men she loved Eric alone.\n\nThen Gizur held his peace; but Swanhild spoke again:\n\n\u201cIt will be of no use to try the doors, for they are strong. Yet when I\nwas a child before now I have passed in and out the house at night by\nthe store-room casement. Follow me, Gizur.\u201d Then she crept along the\nshadow of the wall, for she knew it every stone, till she came to the\nstore-room, and lo! the shutter stood open, and through it the\nmoonlight poured into the chamber. Swanhild lifted her head above the\nsill and looked, then started back.\n\n\u201cHush!\u201d she said, \u201cSkallagrim lies asleep within.\u201d\n\n\u201cPray the Gods he wake not!\u201d said Gizur beneath his breath, and turned\nto go. But Swanhild caught him by the arm; then gently raised her head\nand looked again, long and steadily. Presently she turned and laughed\nsoftly.\n\n\u201cThings go well for us,\u201d she said; \u201cthe sot lies drunk. We have nothing\nto fear from him. He lies drunk in a pool of ale.\u201d\n\nThen Gizur looked. The moonlight poured into the little room, and by it\nhe saw the great shape of Skallagrim. His head was thrown back, his\nmouth was wide. He snored loudly in his drunken sleep, and all about\nhim ran the brown ale, for the spigot of the cask lay upon the floor.\nIn his left hand was a horn cup, but in his right he still grasped his\naxe.\n\n\u201cNow we must enter,\u201d said Swanhild. Gizur hung back, but she sprang\nupon the sill lightly as a fox, and slid thence into the store-room.\nThen Gizur must follow, and presently he stood beside her in the room,\nand at their feet lay drunken Skallagrim. Gizur looked first at his\nsword, then on the Baresark, and lastly at Swanhild.\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d she whispered, \u201ctouch him not. Perchance he would cry out\u2014and we\nseek higher game. He has that within him which will hold him fast for a\nwhile. Follow where I shall lead.\u201d\n\nShe took his hand and, gliding through the doorway, passed along the\npassage till she came to the great hall. Swanhild could see well in the\ndark, and moreover she knew the road. Presently they stood in the empty\nhall. The fire had burnt down, but two embers yet glowed upon the\nhearth, like red and angry eyes.\n\nFor a while Swanhild stood still listening, but there was nothing to\nhear. Then she drew near to the shut bed where Gudruda slept, and, with\nher ear to the curtain, listened once more. Gizur came with her, and as\nhe came his foot struck against a bench and stirred it. Now Swanhild\nheard murmured words and the sound of kisses. She started back, and\nfury filled her heart. Gizur also heard the voice of Eric, saying: \u201cI\nwill rise.\u201d Then he would have fled, but Swanhild caught him by the\narm.\n\n\u201cFear not,\u201d she whispered, \u201cthey shall soon sleep sound.\u201d\n\nHe felt her stretch out her arms and presently he saw this wonderful\nthing: the eyes of Swanhild glowing in the darkness as the embers\nglowed upon the hearth. Now they glowed brightly, so brightly that he\ncould see the outstretched arms and the hard white face beneath them,\nand now they grew dim, of a sudden to shine bright again. And all the\nwhile she hissed words through her clenched teeth.\n\nThus she hissed, fierce and low:\n\n\u201cGudruda, Sister mine, hearken and sleep!\nBy the bond of blood I bid thee sleep!\u2014\nBy the strength that is in me I bid thee sleep!\u2014\n    Sleep! sleep sound!\n\n\u201cEric Brighteyes, hearken and sleep!\nBy the bond of sin I charge thee sleep!\u2014\nBy the blood of Atli I charge thee, sleep!\u2014\n    Sleep! sleep sound!\u201d\n\n\nThen thrice she tossed her hands aloft, saying:\n\n\u201cFrom love to sleep!\nFrom sleep to death!\nFrom death to Hela!\nSay, lovers, where shall ye kiss again?\u201d\n\n\nThen the light went out of her eyes and she laughed low. And ever as\nshe whispered, the spoken words of the two in the shut bed grew fainter\nand more faint, till at length they died away, and a silence fell upon\nthe place.\n\n\u201cThou hast no cause to fear the sword of Eric, Gizur,\u201d she said.\n\u201cNothing will wake him now till daylight comes.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou art awesome!\u201d answered Gizur, for he shook with fear. \u201cLook not\non me with those flaming eyes, I pray thee!\u201d\n\n\u201cFear not,\u201d she said, \u201cthe fire is out. Now to the work.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat must we do, then?\u201d\n\n\u201c_Thou_ must do this. Thou must enter and slay Eric.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I can not\u2014that I will not!\u201d said Gizur.\n\nShe turned and looked at him, and lo! her eyes began to flame\nagain\u2014upon his eyes they seemed to burn.\n\n\u201cThou wilt do as I bid thee,\u201d she said. \u201cWith Eric\u2019s sword thou shalt\nslay Eric, else I will curse thee where thou art, and bring such evil\non thee as thou knowest not of.\u201d\n\n\u201cLook not so, Swanhild,\u201d he said. \u201cLead on\u2014I come.\u201d\n\nNow they creep into the shut chamber of Gudruda. It is so dark that\nthey can see nothing, and nothing can they hear except the heavy\nbreathing of the sleepers.\n\nThis is to be told, that at this time Swanhild had it in her mind to\nkill, not Eric but Gudruda, for thus she would smite the heart of\nBrighteyes. Moreover, she loved Eric, and while he lived she might yet\nwin him; but Eric dead must be Eric lost. But on Gudruda she would be\nbitterly avenged\u2014Gudruda, who, for all her scheming, had yet been a\nwife to Eric!\n\nNow they stand by the bed. Swanhild puts out her hand, draws down the\nclothes, and feels the breast of Gudruda beneath, for Gudruda slept on\nthe outside of the bed.\n\nThen she searches by the head of the bed and finds Whitefire which hung\nthere, and draws the sword.\n\n\u201cHere lies Eric, on the outside,\u201d she says to Gizur, \u201cand here is\nWhitefire. Strike and strike home, leaving Whitefire in the wound.\u201d\n\nGizur takes the sword and lifts it. He is sore at heart that he must do\nsuch a coward deed; but the spell of Swanhild is upon him, and he may\nnot flinch from it. Then a thought takes him and he also puts down his\nhand to feel. It lights upon Gudruda\u2019s golden hair, that hangs about\nher breast and falls from the bed to the ground.\n\n\u201cHere is woman\u2019s hair,\u201d he whispers.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d Swanhild answers, \u201cit is Eric\u2019s hair. The hair of Eric is long,\nas thou hast seen.\u201d\n\nNow neither of them knows that Gudruda cut Eric\u2019s locks when he lay\nsick on Mosfell, though Swanhild knows well that it is not Brighteyes\nwhom she bids Gizur slay.\n\nThen Gizur, Ospakar\u2019s son, lifts the sword, and the faint starlight\nstruggling into the chamber gathers and gleams upon the blade. Thrice\nhe lifts it, and thrice he draws it back. Then with an oath he\nstrikes\u2014and drives it home with all his strength!\n\nFrom the bed beneath there comes one long sigh and a sound as of limbs\ntrembling against the bed-gear. Then all is still.\n\n\u201cIt is done!\u201d he says faintly.\n\nSwanhild puts down her hand once more. Lo! it is wet and warm. Then she\nbends herself and looks, and behold! the dead eyes of Gudruda glare up\ninto her eyes. She can see them plainly, but none know what she read\nthere. At the least it was something that she loved not, for she reels\nback against the panelling, then falls upon the floor.\n\nPresently, while Gizur stands as one in a dream, she rises, saying: \u201cI\nam avenged of the death of Atli. Let us hence!\u2014ah! let us hence\nswiftly! Give me thy hand, Gizur, for I am faint!\u201d\n\nSo Gizur gives her his hand and they pass thence. Presently they stand\nin the store-room, and there lies Skallagrim, still plunged in his\ndrunken sleep.\n\n\u201cMust I do more murder?\u201d asks Gizur hoarsely.\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d Swanhild says. \u201cI am sick with blood. Leave the knave.\u201d\n\nThey pass out by the casement into the yard and so on till they find\ntheir horses.\n\n\u201cLift me, Gizur; I can no more,\u201d says Swanhild.\n\nHe lifts her to the saddle.\n\n\u201cWhither away?\u201d he asks.\n\n\u201cTo Coldback, Gizur, and thence to cold Death.\u201d\n\nThus did Gudruda, Eric\u2019s bride and Asmund\u2019s daughter, the fairest woman\nwho ever lived in Iceland, die on her marriage night by the hand of\nGizur, Ospakar\u2019s son, and through the hate and witchcraft of Swanhild\nthe Fatherless, her half-sister.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX\nHOW THE DAWN CAME\n\n\nThe dawn broke over Middalhof. Slowly the light gathered in the empty\nhall, it crept slowly into the little chamber where Eric slept, and\nGudruda slept also with a deeper sleep.\n\nNow the two women came from their chamber at the far end of the hall,\nand drew near the hearth, shivering, for the air was cold. They knelt\nby the fire, blowing at the embers till the sticks they cast upon them\ncrackled to a blaze.\n\n\u201cIt seems that Gudruda is not yet gone,\u201d said one to the other. \u201cI\nthought she should ride away with Eric before the dawn.\u201d\n\n\u201cNewly wed lie long abed!\u201d laughed the other.\n\n\u201cI am glad to see the blessed light,\u201d said the first woman, \u201cfor last\nnight I dreamed that once again this hall ran red with blood, as at the\nmarriage-feast of Ospakar.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d answered the other, \u201cit will be well for the south when Eric\nBrighteyes and Gudruda are gone over sea, for their loves have brought\nmuch bloodshed upon the land.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, indeed!\u201d sighed the first. \u201cHad Asmund the Priest never found\nGroa, Ran\u2019s gift, singing by the sea, Valhalla had not been so full\nto-day. Mindest thou the day he brought her here?\u201d\n\n\u201cI remember it well,\u201d she answered, \u201cthough I was but a girl at the\ntime. Still, when I saw those dark eyes of hers\u2014just such eyes as\nSwanhild\u2019s!\u2014I knew her for a witch, as all Finn women are. It is an\nevil world: my husband is dead by the sword; dead are both my sons,\nfighting for Eric; dead is Unna, Thorod\u2019s daughter; Asmund, my lord, is\ndead, and dead is Bj\u00f6rn; and now Gudruda the Fair, whom I have rocked\nto sleep, leaves us to go over sea. I may not go with her, for my\ndaughter\u2019s sake; yet I almost wish that I too were dead.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will come soon enough,\u201d said the other, who was young and fair.\n\nNow the witch-sleep began to roll from Eric\u2019s heart, though his eyes\nwere not yet open. But the talk of the women echoed in his ears, and\nthe words \u201c_dead!_\u201d \u201c_dead!_\u201d \u201c_dead!_\u201d fell heavily on his slumbering\nsense. At length he opened his eyes, only to shut them again, because\nof a bright gleam of light that ran up and down something at his side.\nHeavily he wondered what this might be, that shone so keen and\nbright\u2014that shone like a naked sword.\n\nNow he looked again. Yes, it was a sword which stood by him upon the\nbed, and the golden hilt was like the hilt of Whitefire. He lifted up\nhis hand to touch it, thinking that he dreamed. Lo! his hand and arm\nwere red!\n\nThen he remembered, and the thought of Gudruda flashed through his\nheart. He sat up, gazing down into the shadow at his side.\n\nPresently the women at the fire heard a sound as of a great man falling\nto earth.\n\n\u201cWhat is that noise?\u201d said one.\n\n\u201cEric leaping from his bed,\u201d answered the other. \u201cHe has slept too\nlong, as we have also.\u201d\n\nAs they spoke the curtain of the shut bed was pushed away, and through\nit staggered Eric in his night-gear, and lo! the left side of it was\nred. His eyes were wide with horror, his mouth was open, and his face\nwas white as ice.\n\nHe stopped, looking at them, made as though to speak, and could not.\nThen, while they shrank from him in terror, he turned, and, walking\nlike a drunken man, staggered from the hall down that passage which led\nto the store-chamber. The door stood wide, the shutter was wide, and on\nthe floor, soaked in the dregs of ale, Skallagrim yet lay snoring, his\naxe in one hand and a cup in the other.\n\nEric looked and understood.\n\n\u201cAwake, drunkard!\u201d he cried, in so terrible a voice that the room\nshook. \u201cAwake, and look upon thy work!\u201d\n\nSkallagrim sat up, yawning.\n\n\u201cForsooth, my head swims,\u201d he said. \u201cGive me ale, I am thirsty.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever wilt thou look on ale again, Skallagrim, when thou hast seen\nthat which I have to show!\u201d said Eric, in the same dread voice.\n\nThen Skallagrim rose to his feet and gaped upon him.\n\n\u201cWhat means this, lord? Is it time to ride? and say! why is thy shirt\nred with blood?\u201d\n\n\u201cFollow me, drunkard, and look upon thy work!\u201d Eric said again.\n\nThen Skallagrim grew altogether sober, and grasping his axe, followed\nafter Brighteyes, sore afraid of what he might see.\n\nThey went down the passage, past the high seat of the hall, till they\ncame to the curtain of the shut bed; and after them followed the women.\nEric seized the curtain in his hand, rent it from its fastenings, and\ncast it on the ground. Now the light flowed in and struck upon the bed.\nIt fell upon the bed, it fell upon Whitefire\u2019s hilt and ran along the\nblade, it gleamed on a woman\u2019s snowy breast and golden hair, and shone\nin her staring eyes\u2014a woman who lay stiff and cold upon the bed, the\ngreat sword fixed within her heart!\n\n\u201cLook upon thy work, drunkard!\u201d Eric cried again, while the women who\npeeped behind sent their long wail of woe echoing down the panelled\nhall.\n\n\u201cHearken!\u201d said Eric: \u201cwhile thou didst lie wallowing in thy swine\u2019s\nsleep, foes crept across thy carcase, and this is their\nhandiwork:\u2014yonder she lies who was my bride!\u2014now is Gudruda the Fair a\ndeath-wife who last night was my bride! This is thy work, drunkard! and\nnow what meed for thee?\u201d\n\nSkallagrim looked. Then he spoke in a hoarse slow voice:\n\n\u201cWhat meed, lord? But one\u2014death!\u201d\n\nThen with one hand he covered his eyes and with the other held out his\naxe to Eric Brighteyes.\n\nEric took the axe, and while the women ran thence screaming, he whirled\nit thrice about his head. Then he smote down towards the skull of\nSkallagrim, but as he smote it seemed to him that a voice whispered in\nhis ear: \u201c_Thy oath!_\u201d\u2014and he remembered that he had sworn to slay no\nmore, save for his own life\u2019s sake.\n\nThe mighty blow was falling and he might only do this\u2014loose the axe\nbefore it clove Skallagrim in twain. He loosed and away the great axe\nflew. It passed over the head of Skallagrim, and sped like light across\nthe wide hall, till it crashed through the panelling on the further\nside, and buried itself to the haft in the wall beyond.\n\n\u201cIt is not for me to kill thee, drunkard! Go, die in thy drink!\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I will kill myself!\u201d cried the Baresark, and, rushing across the\nhall he tore the great axe from its bed.\n\n\u201cHold!\u201d said Eric; \u201cperhaps there is yet a deed for thee to do. Then\nthou mayest die, if it pleases thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d said Skallagrim coming back, \u201cperchance there is still a deed to\ndo!\u201d\n\nAnd, flinging down the axe, Skallagrim Lambstail the Baresark fell upon\nthe floor and wept.\n\nBut Eric did not weep. Only he drew Whitefire from the heart of Gudruda\nand looked at it.\n\n\u201cThou art a strange sword, Whitefire,\u201d he said, \u201cwho slayest both\nfriend and foe! Shame on thee, Whitefire! We swore our oath on thee,\nWhitefire, and thou hast cut its chain! Now I am minded to shatter\nthee.\u201d And as Eric looked on the great blade, lo! it hummed strangely\nin answer.\n\n\u201c\u2018First must thou be the death of some,\u2019 thou sayest? Well, maybe,\nWhitefire! But never yet didst thou drink so sweet a life as hers who\nnow lies dead, nor ever shalt again.\u201d\n\nThen he sheathed the sword, but neither then nor afterwards did he wipe\nthe blood of Gudruda from its blade.\n\n\u201cLast night a-marrying\u2014to-day a-burying,\u201d said Eric, and he called to\nthe women to bring spades. Then, having clothed himself, he went to the\ncentre of the hall, and, brushing away the sand, broke the hard\nclay-flooring, dealing great blows on it with an axe. Now Skallagrim,\nseeing his purpose, came to him and took one of the spades, and\ntogether they laboured in silence till they had dug a grave a fathom\ndeep.\n\n\u201cHere,\u201d said Eric, \u201chere, in thine own hall where thou wast born and\nlived, Gudruda the Fair, thou shalt sleep at the last. And of Middalhof\nI say this: that none shall live there henceforth. It shall be haunted\nand accursed till the rafters rot and the walls fall in, making thy\nbarrow, Gudruda.\u201d\n\nNow this indeed came to pass, for none have lived in Middalhof since\nthe days of Gudruda the Fair, Asmund\u2019s daughter. It has been ruined\nthese many years, and now it is but a pile of stones.\n\nWhen the grave was dug, Eric washed himself and ate some food. Then he\nwent in to where Gudruda lay dead, and bade the women make her ready\nfor burial. This they did. When she was washed and clad in a clean\nwhite robe, Eric came to her, and with his own hand bound the\nHell-shoes on her feet and closed her eyes.\n\nIt was just then that a man came who said that the people of Gizur and\nof Swanhild had burned Gudruda\u2019s ship, driving the crew ashore.\n\n\u201cIt is well,\u201d said Eric. \u201cWe need the ship no more; now hath she whom\nit should bear wings with which to fly.\u201d Then he went in and sat down\non the bed by the body of Gudruda, while Skallagrim crouched on the\nground without, tearing at his beard and muttering. For the fierce\nheart of Skallagrim was broken because of that evil which his\ndrunkenness had brought about.\n\nAll day Eric sat thus, looking on his dead love\u2019s face, till the hour\ncame round when he and Gudruda had drunk the bride-cup. Then he rose\nand kissed dead Gudruda on the lips, saying:\n\n\u201cI did not look to part with thee thus, sweet! It is sad that thou\nshouldst have gone and left me here. Natheless, I shall soon follow on\nthy path.\u201d\n\nThen he called aloud:\n\n\u201cArt sober, drunkard?\u201d\n\nSkallagrim came and stood before him, saying nothing.\n\n\u201cTake thou the feet of her whom thou didst bring to death, and I will\ntake her head.\u201d\n\nSo they lifted up Gudruda and bore her to the grave. Then Eric stood\nnear the grave, and, taking dead Gudruda in his arms, looked upon her\nface by the light of the fire and of the candles that were set about.\n\nHe looked thrice, then sang aloud:\n\n\u201cLong ago, when swept the snow-blast,\nClose we clung and plighted troth.\nMany a year, through storm and sword-song,\nSore I strove to win thee, sweet!\nBut last night I held thee, Fairest,\nLock\u2019d, a wife, in lover\u2019s arms.\nNow, Gudruda, in thy death-rest,\nSleep thou soft till Eric come!\n\n\u201cHence I go to wreak thy murder.\nHissing fire of flaming stead,\nGroan of spear-carles, wail of women,\nSoon shall startle through the night.\nThen on Mosfell, Kirtle-Wearer,\nEric waits the face of Death.\nFreed from weary life and sorrow,\nSoon we\u2019ll kiss in Hela\u2019s halls!\u201d\n\n\nThen he laid her in the grave, and, having shrouded a sheet over her,\nthey filled it in together, hiding Gudruda the Fair from the sight of\nmen for ever.\n\nAfterwards Eric armed himself, and this Skallagrim did also. Then he\nstrode from the hall, and Skallagrim followed him. In the yard those\nhorses were still tied that should have carried them to the ship, and\non one was the saddle of Gudruda. She had ridden on this horse for many\nyears, and loved it much, for it would follow her like a dog. Eric\nlooked at him, then said aloud:\n\n\u201cGudruda may need thee where she is, Blackmane,\u201d for so the horse was\nnamed. \u201cAt the least, none shall ride thee more!\u201d And he snatched the\naxe from the hand of Skallagrim and slew the horse at a blow.\n\nThen they rode away, heading for Coldback. The night was wild and\nwindy, and the sky dark with scudding clouds, through which the moon\npeeped out at times. Eric looked up, then spoke to Skallagrim:\n\n\u201cA good night for burning, drunkard!\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, lord; the flames will fly briskly,\u201d answered Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cHow many, thinkest thou, walked over thee, drunkard, when thou didst\nlie yonder in the ale?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know not,\u201d groaned Skallagrim; \u201cbut I found this in the soft earth\nwithout: the print of a man\u2019s and a woman\u2019s feet; and this on the hill\nside: the track of two horses ridden hard.\u201d\n\n\u201cGizur and Swanhild, drunkard,\u201d said Eric. \u201cSwanhild cast us into deep\nsleep by witchcraft, and Gizur dealt the blow. Better for him that he\nhad never been born than that he has lived to deal that coward\u2019s blow!\u201d\n\nThen they rode on, and when midnight was a little while gone they came\nto the stead at Coldback. Now this house was roofed with turves, and\nthe windows were barred so that none could pass through them. Also in\nthe yard were faggots of birch and a stack of hay.\n\nEric and Skallagrim tied their horses in a dell that is to the north of\nthe stead and crept up to the house. All was still; but a fire burnt in\nthe hall, and, looking through a crack, Eric could see many men\nsleeping about it. Then he made signs to Skallagrim and together, very\nsilently, they fetched hay and faggots, piling them against the north\ndoor of the house, for the wind blew from the north. Now Eric spoke to\nSkallagrim, bidding him stand, axe in hand, by the south door, and slay\nthose who came out when the reek began to smart them: but he went\nhimself to fire the pile.\n\nWhen Brighteyes had made all things ready for the burning, it came into\nhis mind that, perhaps, Gizur and Swanhild were not in the house. But\nhe would not hold his hand for this, for he was mad with grief and\nrage. So once more he prepared for the deed, when again he heard a\nvoice in his ear\u2014the voice of Gudruda, and it seemed to say:\n\n\u201c_Thine oath, Eric! remember thine oath!_\u201d\n\nThen he turned and the rage went out of his heart.\n\n\u201cLet them seek me on Mosfell,\u201d he said, \u201cI will not slay them secretly\nand by reek, the innocent and the guilty together.\u201d And he strode round\nthe house to where Skallagrim stood at the south door, axe aloft and\nwatching.\n\n\u201cDoes the fire burn, lord? I see no smoke,\u201d whispered Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cNay, I have made none. I will shed no more blood, except to save my\nlife. I leave vengeance to the Norns.\u201d\n\nNow Skallagrim thought that Brighteyes was mad, but he dared say\nnothing. So they went to their horses, and when they found them, Eric\nrode back to the house. Presently they drew near, and Eric told\nSkallagrim to stay where he was, and riding on to the house, smote\nheavy blows upon the door, just as Skallagrim once had smitten, before\nEric went up to Mosfell.\n\nNow Swanhild lay in her shut bed; but she could not sleep, because of\nwhat she saw in the eyes of Gudruda. Little may she ever sleep again,\nfor when she shuts her eyes once more she sees that which was written\nin the dead eyes of Gudruda. So, as she lay, she heard the blows upon\nthe door, and sprang frightened from her bed. Now there was tumult in\nthe hall, for every man rose to his feet in fear, searching for his\nweapons. Again the loud knocks came.\n\n\u201cIt is the ghost of Eric!\u201d cried one, for Gizur had given out that Eric\nwas dead at his hand in fair fight.\n\n\u201cOpen!\u201d said Gizur, and they opened, and there, a little way from the\ndoor, sat Brighteyes on a horse, great and shadowy to see, and behind\nhim was Skallagrim the Baresark.\n\n\u201cIt is the ghost of Eric!\u201d they cried again.\n\n\u201cI am no ghost,\u201d said Brighteyes. \u201cI am no ghost, ye men of Swanhild.\nTell me: is Gizur, the son of Ospakar, among you?\u201d\n\n\u201cGizur is here,\u201d said a voice; \u201cbut he swore he slew thee last night.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen he lied,\u201d quoth Eric. \u201cGizur did not slay me\u2014he murdered Gudruda\nthe Fair as she lay asleep at my side. See!\u201d and he drew Whitefire from\nits scabbard and held it in the rays of the moon that now shone out\nbetween the cloud rifts. \u201cWhitefire is red with Gudruda\u2019s blood\u2014Gudruda\nslaughtered in her sleep by Gizur\u2019s coward hand!\u201d\n\nNow men murmured, for this seemed to them the most shameful of all\ndeeds. But Gizur, hearing, shrank back aghast.\n\n\u201cListen again!\u201d said Eric. \u201cI was minded but now to burn you all as ye\nslept\u2014ay, the firing is piled against the door. Still, I held my hand,\nfor I have sworn to slay no more, except to save my life. Now I ride\nhence to Mosfell. Thither let Gizur come, Gizur the murderer, and\nSwanhild the witch, and with them all who will. There I will give them\ngreeting, and wipe away the blood of Gudruda from Whitefire\u2019s blade.\u201d\n\n\u201cFear not, Eric,\u201d cried Swanhild, \u201cI will come, and there thou mayst\nkill me, if thou canst.\u201d\n\n\u201cAgainst thee, Swanhild,\u201d said Eric, \u201cI lift no hand. Do thy worst, I\nleave thee to thy fate and the vengeance of the Norns. I am no\nwoman-slayer. But to Gizur the murderer I say, come.\u201d\n\nThen he turned and went, and Skallagrim went with him.\n\n\u201cUp, men, and cut Eric down!\u201d cried Gizur, seeking to cover his shame.\n\nBut no man stirred.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI\nHOW ERIC SENT AWAY HIS MEN FROM MOSFELL\n\n\nNow Eric and Skallagrim came to Mosfell in safety, and during all that\nride Brighteyes spoke no word. He rode in silence, and in silence\nSkallagrim rode after him. The heart of Skallagrim was broken because\nof the sorrow which his drunkenness had brought about, and the heart of\nEric was buried in Gudruda\u2019s grave.\n\nOn Mosfell Eric found four of his own men, two of whom had been among\nthose that the people of Gizur and Swanhild had driven from Gudruda\u2019s\nship before they fired her. For no fight had been made on the ship.\nThere also he found Jon, who had been loosed from his bands in the\nbooth by one who heard his cries as he rode past. Now when Jon saw\nBrighteyes, he told him all, and fell at Eric\u2019s feet and wept because\nhe had betrayed him in his fear.\n\nBut Eric spoke no angry word to him. Stooping down he raised him,\nsaying, \u201cThou wast never overstout of heart, Jon, and thou art scarcely\nto be blamed because thou didst speak rather than die in torment,\nthough perhaps some had chosen so to die and not to speak. Now I am a\nluckless man, and all things happen as they are fated, and the words of\nAtli come true, as was to be looked for. The Norns, against whom none\nmay stand, did but work their will through thy mouth, Jon; so grieve no\nmore for that which cannot be undone.\u201d\n\nThen he turned away, but Jon wept long and loudly.\n\nThat night Eric slept well and dreamed no dreams. But on the morrow he\nwoke at dawn, and clothed himself and ate. Then he called his men\ntogether, and with them Skallagrim. They came and stood before him, and\nEric, drawing Whitefire, leaned upon it and spoke:\n\n\u201cHearken, mates,\u201d he said: \u201cI know this, that my hours are short and\ndeath draws on. My years have been few and evil, and I cannot read the\npurpose of my life. She whom I loved has been slain by the witchcraft\nof Swanhild and the coward hand of Gizur the murderer, and I go to seek\nher where she waits. I am very glad to go, for now I have no more joy\nin life, being but a luckless man; it is an ill world, friends, and all\nthe ways are red with blood. I have shed much blood, though but one\nlife haunts me now at the last, and that is the life of Atli the Earl,\nfor he was no match for my might and he is dead because of my sin. With\nmy own blood I will wash away the blood of Atli, and then I seek\nanother place, leaving nothing but a tale to be told in the ingle when\nfall the winter snows. For to this end we all come at the last, and it\nmatters little if it find us at midday or at nightfall. We live in\nsorrow, we die in pain and darkness: for this is the curse that the\nGods have laid upon men and each must taste it in his season. But I\nhave sworn that no more men shall die for me. I will fight the last\ngreat fight alone; for I know this: I shall not easily be overcome, and\nwith my fallen foes I will tread on Bifrost Bridge. Therefore,\nfarewell! When the bones of Eric Brighteyes lie in their barrow, or are\npicked by ravens on the mountain side, Gizur will not trouble to hunt\nout those who clung to him, if indeed Gizur shall live to tell the\ntale. Nor need ye fear the hate of Swanhild, for she aims her spears at\nme alone. Go, therefore, and when I am dead, do not forget me, and do\nnot seek to avenge me, for Death the avenger of all will find them\nalso.\u201d\n\nNow Eric\u2019s men heard and groaned aloud, saying that they would die with\nhim, for they loved Eric one and all. Only Skallagrim said nothing.\n\nThen Brighteyes spoke again: \u201cHear me, comrades. If ye will not go, my\nblood will be on your heads, for I will ride out alone, and meet the\nmen of Gizur in the plain and fall there fighting.\u201d\n\nThen one by one they crept away to seek their horses in the dell. And\neach man as he went came to Eric and kissed his hand, then passed\nthence weeping. Jon was the last to go, except Skallagrim only, and he\nwas so moved that he could not speak at all.\n\nIt was this Jon who, in after years, when he was grown very old,\nwandered from stead to stead telling the deeds of Eric Brighteyes, and\nalways finding a welcome because of his tale, till at length, as he\njourneyed, he was overtaken by a snowstorm and buried in a drift. For\nJon, who lacked much, had this gift: he had a skald\u2019s tongue. Men have\nalways held that it was to the honour of Jon that he told the tale\nthus, hiding nothing, seeing that some of it is against himself.\n\nNow when all had gone, Eric looked at Skallagrim, who still stood near\nhim, axe in hand.\n\n\u201cWherefore goest thou not, drunkard?\u201d he said. \u201cSurely thou wilt find\nale and mead in the vales or oversea. Here there is none. Hasten! I\nwould be alone!\u201d\n\nNow the great body of Skallagrim shook with grief and shame, and the\nred blood poured up beneath his dark sin. Then he spoke in a thick\nvoice:\n\n\u201cI did not think to live to hear such words from the lips of Eric\nBrighteyes. They are well earned, yet it is unmanly of thee, lord, thus\nto taunt one who loves thee. I would sooner die as Swanhild said yonder\nthrall should die than live to listen to such words. I have sinned\nagainst thee, indeed, and because of my sin my heart is broken. Hast\nthou, then, never sinned that thou wouldst tear it living from my\nbreast as eagles tear a foundered horse? Think on thine own sins, Eric,\nand pity mine! Taunt me thus once more or bid me go once more and I\nwill go indeed! I will go thus\u2014on the edge of yonder gulf thou didst\novercome me by thy naked might, and there I swore fealty to thee, Eric\nBrighteyes. Many a year have we wandered side by side, and, standing\nback to back, have struck many a blow. I am minded to do this: to stand\nby thee in the last great fight that draws on and to die there with\nthee. I have loved no other man save thee, and I am too old to seek new\nlords. Yet, if still thou biddest me, I will go thus. Where I swore my\noath to thee, there I will end it. For I will lay me down on the brink\nof yonder gulf, as once I lay when thy hand was at my throat, and call\nout that thou art no more my lord and I am no more thy thrall. Then I\nwill roll into the depths beneath, and by this death of shame thou\nshalt be freed of me, Eric Brighteyes.\u201d\n\nEric looked at the great man\u2014he looked long and sadly. Then he spoke:\n\n\u201cSkallagrim Lambstail, thou hast a true heart. I too have sinned, and\nnow I put away thy sin, although Gudruda is dead through thee and I\nmust die because of thee. Stay by me if thou wilt and let us fall\ntogether.\u201d\n\nThen Skallagrim came to Eric, and, kneeling before him, took his hands\nand kissed them.\n\n\u201cNow I am once more a man,\u201d he said, \u201cand I know this: we two shall die\nsuch a great death that it will be well to have lived to die it!\u201d and\nhe arose and shouted:\n\n\u201cA! hai! A! hai! I see foes pass in pride!\nA! hai! A! hai! Valkyries ride the wind!\nHear the song of the sword!\nWhitefire is aloft\u2014aloft!\nBare is the axe of the Baresark!\nCroak, ye nesting ravens;\nFlap your wings, ye eagles,\nFor bright is Mosfell\u2019s cave with blood!\nLap! lap! thou Grey Wolf,\nLaugh aloud, Odin!\n\n\u201cLaugh till shake the golden doors;\nHeroes\u2019 feet are set on Bifrost,\nOpen, ye hundred gates!\nA! hai! A! hai! red runs the fray!\nA! hai! A! hai! Valkyries ride the wind!\u201d\n\n\nThen Skallagrim turned and went to clean his harness and the golden\nhelm of Eric.\n\nNow at Coldback Gizur spoke with Swanhild.\n\n\u201cThou hast brought the greatest shame upon me,\u201d he said, \u201cfor thou hast\ncaused me to slay a sleeping woman. Knowest thou that my own men will\nscarcely speak with me? I have come to this evil pass, through love of\nthee, that I have slain a sleeping woman!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was not my fault that thou didst kill Gudruda,\u201d answered Swanhild;\n\u201csurely I thought it was Eric whom thy sword pierced! I have not sought\nthy love, Gizur, and I say this to thee: go, if thou wilt, and leave me\nalone!\u201d\n\nNow Gizur looked at her, and was minded to go; but, as Swanhild knew\nwell, she held him too fast in the net of her witcheries.\n\n\u201cI would go, if I might go!\u201d answered Gizur; \u201cbut I am bound to thee\nfor good or evil, since it is fated that I shall wed thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou wilt never wed me while Eric lives,\u201d said Swanhild.\n\nNow she spoke thus truthfully, and by chance, as it were, not as\ndriving Gizur on to slay Eric\u2014for, now that Gudruda was dead, she was\nin two minds as to this matter, since, if she might, she still desired\nto take Eric to herself\u2014but meaning that while Eric lived she would wed\nno other man. But Gizur took it otherwise.\n\n\u201cEric shall certainly die if I may bring it about,\u201d he answered, and\nwent to speak with his men.\n\nNow all were gathered in the yard at Coldback, and that was a great\ncompany. But their looks were heavy because of the shame that Gizur,\nOspakar\u2019s son, had brought upon them by the murder of Gudruda in her\nsleep.\n\n\u201cHearken, comrades!\u201d said Gizur: \u201cgreat shame is come upon me because\nof a deed that I have done unwittingly, for I aimed at the eagle Eric\nand I have slain the swan Gudruda.\u201d\n\nThen a certain old viking in the company, named Ketel, whom Gizur had\nhired for the slaying of Eric, spoke:\n\n\u201cMan or woman, it is a niddering deed to kill folk in their sleep,\nGizur! It is murder, and no less, and small luck can be hoped for from\nthe stroke.\u201d\n\nNow Gizur felt that his people looked on him askance and heavily, and\nknew that it would be hard to show them that he was driven to this deed\nagainst his will, and by the witchcraft of Swanhild. So, as was his\nnature, he turned to guile for shelter, like a fox to his hole, and\nspoke to them with the tongue of a lawman; for Gizur had great skill in\nspeech.\n\n\u201cThat tale was not all true which Eric Brighteyes told you,\u201d he said.\n\u201cHe was mad with grief, and moreover it seems that he slept, and only\nwoke to find Gudruda dead. It came about thus: I stood with the lady\nSwanhild, and was about to call aloud on Eric to arm himself and come\nforth and meet me face to face\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cThen, lord, methinks thou hadst never met another foe,\u201d quoth the\nviking Ketel who had spoken first.\n\n\u201cWhen of a sudden,\u201d went on Gizur, taking no note of Ketel\u2019s words,\n\u201cone clothed in white sprang from the bed and rushed on me. Then I,\nthinking that it was Eric, lifted sword, not to smite, but to ward him\naway; but the linen-wearer met the sword and fell down dead. Then I\nfled, fearing lest men should wake and trap us, and that is all the\ntale. It was no fault of mine if Gudruda died upon the sword.\u201d\n\nThus he spoke, but still men looked doubtfully upon him, for his eye\nwas the eye of a liar\u2014and Eric, as they knew, did not lie.\n\n\u201cIt is hard to find the truth between lawman\u2019s brain and tongue,\u201d said\nthe old viking Ketel. \u201cEric is no lawman, but a true man, and he sang\nanother song. I would slay Eric indeed, for between him and me there is\na blood-feud, since my brother died at his hand when, with Whitefire\nfor a crook, Brighteyes drove armed men like sheep down the hall of\nMiddalhof\u2014ay and swordless, slew Ospakar. Yet I say that Eric is a true\nman, and, whether or no thou art true, Gizur the Lawman, that thou\nknowest best\u2014thou and Swanhild the Fatherless, Groa\u2019s daughter. If thou\ndidst slay Gudruda as thou tellest, say, how came Gudruda\u2019s blood on\nWhitefire\u2019s blade? How did it chance, Gizur, that thou heldest\nWhitefire in thy hand and not thine own sword? Now I tell thee this:\neither thou shalt go up against Eric and clear thyself by blows, or I\nleave thee; and methinks there are others among this company who will\ndo the same, for we have no wish to be partners with murderers and\ntheir wickedness.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, a good word!\u201d said many who stood by. \u201cLet Gizur go up with us to\nMosfell, and there stand face to face with Eric and clear himself by\nblows.\u201d\n\n\u201cI ask no more,\u201d said Gizur; \u201cwe will ride to-night.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut much more shalt thou get, liar,\u201d quoth Ketel to himself, \u201cfor that\nhour when thou lookest once again on Whitefire shall be thy last!\u201d\n\nSo Gizur and Swanhild made ready to go up against Eric. That day they\nrode away with a great company, a hundred and one in all, and this was\ntheir plan. They sent six men with that thrall who had shown them the\nsecret path, bidding him guide them to the mountain-top. Then, when\nthey were come thither, and heard the shouts of those who sought to\ngain the platform from the south, they were to watch till Eric and his\nfolk came out from the cave, and shoot them with arrows from above or\ncrush them with stones. But if perchance Eric left the platform and\ncame to meet his foes in the narrow pass, then they must let themselves\ndown with ropes from the height above, and, creeping after him round\nthe rock, must smite him in the back. Moreover, in secret, Gizur\npromised a great reward of ten hundreds in silver to him who should\nkill Eric, for he did not long to stand face to face with him alone.\nSwanhild also in secret made promise of reward to those who should\nbring Eric to her, bound, but living; and she bade them do this\u2014to bear\nhim down with shields and tie him with ropes.\n\nSo they rode away, the seven who should climb the mountain from behind\ngoing first, and on the morrow morning they crossed the sand and came\nto Mosfell.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXII\nHOW ERIC AND SKALLAGRIM GREW FEY\n\n\nNow the night came down upon Mosfell, and of all nights this was the\nstrangest. The air was quiet and heavy, yet no rain fell. It was so\nsilent, moreover, that, did a stone slip upon the mountain side or a\nhorse neigh far off on the plains, the sound of it crept up the fell\nand was echoed from the crags.\n\nEric and Skallagrim sat together on the open space of rock that is\nbefore the cave, and great heaviness and fear came into their hearts,\nso that they had no desire to sleep.\n\n\u201cMethinks the night is ghost-ridden,\u201d said Eric, \u201cand I am fey, for I\ngrow cold, and it seems to me that one strokes my hair.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is ghost-ridden, lord,\u201d answered Skallagrim. \u201cTrolls are abroad,\nand the God-kind gather to see Eric die.\u201d\n\nFor a while they sat in silence, then suddenly the mountain heaved up\ngently beneath them. Thrice it seemed to heave like a woman\u2019s breast,\nand left them frightened.\n\n\u201cNow the dwarf-folk come from their caves,\u201d quoth Skallagrim, \u201cand\ngreat deeds may be looked for, since they are not drawn to the upper\nearth by a little thing.\u201d\n\nThen once more they sat silent; and thick darkness came down upon the\nmountain, hiding the stars.\n\n\u201cLook,\u201d said Eric of a sudden, and he pointed to Hecla.\n\nSkallagrim looked, and lo! the snowy dome of Hecla was aglow with a\nrosy flame like the light of dawn.\n\n\u201cWinter lights,\u201d said Lambstail, shuddering.\n\n\u201cDeath lights!\u201d answered Eric. \u201cLook again!\u201d\n\nThey looked, and behold! in the rosy glow there sat three giant forms\nof fire, and their shapes were the shapes of women. Before them was a\nloom of blackness that stretched from earth to sky, and they wove at it\nwith threads of flame. They were splendid and terrible to see. Their\nhair streamed behind them like meteor flames, their eyes shone like\nlightning, and their breasts gleamed like the polished bucklers of the\ngods. They wove fiercely at the loom of blackness, and as they wove\nthey sang. The voice of the one was as the wind whistling through the\npines; the voice of the other was as the sound of rain hissing on deep\nwaters; and the voice of the third was as the moan of the sea. They\nwove fearfully and they sang loudly, but what they sang might not be\nknown. Now the web grew and the woof grew, and a picture came upon the\nloom\u2014a great picture written in fire.\n\nBehold! it was the semblance of a storm-awakened sea, and a giant ship\nfled before the gale\u2014a dragon of war, and in the ship were piled the\ncorses of men, and on these lay another corse, as one lies upon a bed.\nThey looked, and the face of the corse grew bright. It was the face of\nEric, and his head rested upon the dead heart of Skallagrim.\n\nClinging to each other, Eric and Skallagrim saw the sight of fear that\nwas written on the loom of the Norns. They saw it for a breath. Then,\nwith a laugh like the wail of wolves, the shapes of fire sprang up and\nrent the web asunder. Then the first passed upward to the sky, the\nsecond southward towards Middalhof, but the third swept over Mosfell,\nso that the brightness of her flaming form shone on the rock where they\nsat by the cave, and the lightning of her eyes was mirrored in the\nbyrnie of Skallagrim and on Eric\u2019s golden helm. She swept past,\npointing downwards as she went, and lo! she was gone, and once more\ndarkness and silence lay upon the earth.\n\nNow this sight was seen of Jon the thrall also, and he told it in his\nstory of the deeds of Eric. For Jon lay hid in a secret place on\nMosfell, waiting for tidings of what came to pass.\n\nFor a while Eric and Skallagrim clung to each other. Then Skallagrim\nspoke.\n\n\u201cWe have seen the Valkyries,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d answered Eric, \u201cwe have seen the Norns\u2014who are come to warn us\nof our doom! We shall die to-morrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cAt the least,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cwe shall not die alone: we had a\ngoodly bed on yonder goblin ship, and all of our own slaying methinks.\nIt is not so ill to die thus, lord!\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so ill!\u201d said Eric; \u201cand yet I am weary of blood and war, of glory\nand of my strength. Now I desire rest alone. Light fire\u2014I can bear this\ndarkness no longer; the marrow freezes in my bones.\u201d\n\n\u201cFire can be seen of foes,\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cIt matters little now,\u201d said Eric, \u201cwe are feyfolk.\u201d\n\nSo Skallagrim lighted the fire, piling much brushwood and dry turf over\nit, till presently it burnt up brightly, throwing light on all the\nspace of rock, and heavy shadows against the cliff behind. They sat\nthus a while in the light of the flames, looking towards the deep gulf,\ntill suddenly there came a sound as of one who climbed the gulf.\n\n\u201cWho comes now, climbing where no man may pass?\u201d cried Eric, seizing\nWhitefire and springing to his feet. Presently he sank down again with\nwhite face and staring eyes, and pointed at the edge of the cliff. And\nas he pointed, the neck of a man rose in the shadow above the brink,\nand the hands of a man grasped the rock. But there was no head on the\nneck. The shape of the headless man drew itself slowly over the brink,\nit walked slowly into the light towards the fire, then sat itself down\nin the glare of the flames, which shrank away from it as from a draught\nof wind. Pale with terror, Eric and Skallagrim looked on the headless\nthing and knew it. It was the wraith of the Baresark that Brighteyes\nhad slain\u2014the first of all the men he slew.\n\n\u201cIt is my mate, Eric, whom thou didst kill years ago and whose severed\nhead spoke with thee!\u201d gasped Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cIt is he, sure enough!\u201d said Eric; \u201cbut where may his head be?\u201d\n\n\u201cPerchance the head will come,\u201d answered Skallagrim. \u201cHe is an evil\nsight to see, surely. Say, lord, shall I fall upon him, though I love\nnot the task?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, Skallagrim, let him bide; he does but come to warn us of our\nfate. Moreover, ghosts can only be laid in one way\u2014by the hewing off of\nthe head and the laying of it at the thigh. But this one has no head to\nhew.\u201d\n\nNow as he spoke the headless man turned his neck as though to look.\nOnce more there came the sound of feet and lo! men marched in from the\ndarkness on either side. Eric and Skallagrim looked up and knew them.\nThey were those of Ospakar\u2019s folk whom they had slain on Horse-Head\nHeights; all their wounds were on them and in front of them marched\nMord, Ospakar\u2019s son. The ghosts gazed upon Eric and Skallagrim with\ncold dead eyes, then they too sat down by the fire. Now once more there\ncame the sound of feet, and from every side men poured in who had died\nat the hands of Eric and Skallagrim. First came those who fell on that\nship of Ospakar\u2019s which Eric sank by Westmans; then the crew of the\nRaven who had perished upon the sea-path. Even as the man died, so did\neach ghost come. Some had been drowned and their harness dripped water!\nSome had died of spear-thrusts and the spears were yet fixed in their\nbreasts! Some had fallen beneath the flash of Whitefire and the weight\nof the axe of Skallagrim, and there they sat, looking on their wide\nwounds!\n\nThen came more and more. There were those whom Eric and Skallagrim had\nslain upon the seas, those who had fallen before them in the English\nwars, and all that company who had been drowned in the waters of the\nPentland Firth when the witchcraft of Swanhild had brought the Gudruda\nto her wreck.\n\n\u201cNow here we have a goodly crew,\u201d said Eric at length. \u201cIs it done,\nthinkest thou, or will Mosfell send forth more dead?\u201d\n\nAs he spoke the wraith of a grey-headed man drew near. He had but one\narm, for the other was hewn from him, and the byrnie on his left side\nwas red with blood.\n\n\u201cWelcome, Earl Atli!\u201d cried Eric. \u201cSit thou over against me, who\nto-morrow shall be with thee.\u201d\n\nThe ghost of the Earl seated itself and looked on Eric with sad eyes,\nbut it spake never a word.\n\nThen came another company, and at their head stalked black Ospakar.\n\n\u201cThese be they who died at Middalhof,\u201d cried Eric. \u201cWelcome, Ospakar!\nthat marriage-feast of thine went ill!\u201d\n\n\u201cNow methinks we are overdone with trolls,\u201d said Skallagrim; \u201cbut see!\nhere come more.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke, Hall of Lithdale came, and with him Koll the Half-witted,\nand others. And so it went on till all the men whom Eric and Skallagrim\nhad slain, or who had died because of them, or at their side, were\ngathered in deep ranks before them.\n\n\u201cNow it is surely done,\u201d said Eric.\n\n\u201cThere is yet a space,\u201d said Skallagrim, pointing to the other side of\nthe fire, \u201cand Hell holds many dead.\u201d\n\nEven as the words left his lips there came a noise of the galloping of\nhorse\u2019s hoofs, and one clad in white rode up. It was a woman, for her\ngolden hair flowed down about her white arms. Then she slid from the\nhorse and stood in the light of the fire, and behold! her white robe\nwas red with blood, a great sword was set in her heart, and the face\nand eyes were the face and eyes of Gudruda the Fair, and the horse she\nrode was Blackmane, that Eric had slain.\n\nNow when Brighteyes saw her he gave a great cry.\n\n\u201cGreeting, sweet!\u201d he said. \u201cI am no longer afraid, since thou comest\nto bear me company. Thou art dear to my sight\u2014ay even in yon\ndeath-sheet. Greeting, sweet, my May! I laid thee stiff and cold in the\nearth at Middalhof, but, like a loving wife, thou hast burst thy bonds,\nand art come to save me from the grip of trolls. Thou art welcome,\nGudruda, Asmund\u2019s daughter! Come, wife, sit thou at my side.\u201d\n\nThe ghost of Gudruda spake no word. She walked through the fire towards\nhim, and the flames went out beneath her feet, to burn up again when\nshe had passed. Then she sat down over against Eric and looked on him\nwith wide and tender eyes. Thrice he stretched out his arms to clasp\nher, but thrice their strength left them and they fell back to his\nside. It was as though they struck a wall of ice and were numbed by the\nbitter cold.\n\n\u201cLook, here are more,\u201d groaned Skallagrim.\n\nThen Eric looked, and lo! the empty space to the left of the fire was\nfilled with shadowy shapes like shapes of mist. Amongst them was Gizur,\nOspakar\u2019s son, and many a man of his company. There, too, was Swanhild,\nGroa\u2019s daughter, and a toad nestled in her breast. She looked with wide\neyes upon the eyes of dead Gudruda\u2019s ghost, that seemed not to see her,\nand a stare of fear was set on her lovely face. Nor was this all; for\nthere, before that shadowy throng, stood two great shapes clad in their\nharness, and one was the shape of Eric and one the shape of Skallagrim.\n\nThus, being yet alive, did these two look upon their own wraiths!\n\nThen Eric and Skallagrim cried out aloud and their brains swam and\ntheir senses left them, so that they swooned.\n\nWhen they opened their eyes and life came back to them the fire was\ndead, and it was day. Nor was there any sign of that company which had\nbeen gathered on the rock before them.\n\n\u201cSkallagrim,\u201d quoth Eric, \u201cit seems that I have dreamed a strange\ndream\u2014a most strange dream of Norns and trolls!\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me thy dream, lord,\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\nSo Eric told all the vision, and the Baresark listened in silence.\n\n\u201cIt was no dream, lord,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cfor I myself have seen the\nsame things. Now this is in my mind, that yonder sun is the last that\nwe shall see, for we have beheld the death-shadows. All those who were\ngathered here last night wait to welcome us on Bifrost Bridge. And the\nmist-shapes who sat there, amongst whom our wraiths were numbered, are\nthe shapes of those who shall die in the great fight to-day. For days\nare fled and we are sped!\u201d\n\n\u201cI would not have it otherwise,\u201d said Eric. \u201cWe have been greatly\nhonoured of the Gods, and of the ghost-kind that are around us and\nabove us. Now let us make ready to die as becomes men who have never\nturned back to blow, for the end of the story should fit the beginning,\nand of us there is a tale to tell.\u201d\n\n\u201cA good word, lord,\u201d answered Skallagrim: \u201cI have struck few strokes to\nbe shamed of, and I do not fear to tread Bifrost Bridge in thy company.\nNow we will wash ourselves and eat, so that our strength may be whole\nin us.\u201d\n\nSo they washed themselves with water, and ate merrily, and for the\nfirst time for many months Eric was merry. For now that the end was at\nhand his heart grew light within him. And when they had put the desire\nof food from them, and buckled on their harness, they looked out from\ntheir mountain height, and saw a cloud of dust rise in the desert plain\nof black sand beneath, and through it the sheen of spears.\n\n\u201cHere come those of whom, if there is truth in visions, some few shall\nnever go back again,\u201d said Eric. \u201cNow, what counsel hast thou,\nSkallagrim? Where shall we meet them? Here on the space of rock, or\nyonder in the deep way of the cliff?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy counsel is that we meet them here,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cand cut them\ndown one by one as they try to turn the rock. They can scarcely come at\nus to slay us here so long as our arms have strength to smite.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet they will come, though I know not how,\u201d answered Eric, \u201cfor I am\nsure of this, that our death lies before us. Here, then, we will meet\nthem.\u201d\n\nNow the cloud of dust drew nearer, and they saw that this was a great\ncompany which came up against them. At the foot of the fell the men\nstayed and rested a while, and it was not till afternoon that they\nbegan to climb the mountain.\n\n\u201cNight will be at hand before the game is played,\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\u201cSee, they climb slowly, saving their strength, and yonder among them\nis Swanhild in a purple cloak.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, night will be at hand, Skallagrim\u2014a last long night! A hundred to\ntwo\u2014the odds are heavy; yet some shall wish them heavier. Now let us\nbind on our helms.\u201d\n\nMeanwhile Gizur and his folk crept up the paths from below. Now that\nthrall who knew the secret way had gone on with six chosen men, and\nalready they climbed the watercourse and drew near to the flat crest of\nthe fell. But Eric and Skallagrim knew nothing of this. So they sat\ndown by the turning place that is over the gulf and waited, singing of\nthe taking of the Raven and of the slaying in the stead at Middalhof,\nand telling tales of deeds that they had done. And the thrall and his\nsix men climbed on till at length they gained the crest of the fell,\nand, looking over, saw Eric and Skallagrim beneath them.\n\n\u201cThe birds are in the snare, and hark! they sing,\u201d said the thrall;\n\u201cnow bring rocks and be silent.\u201d\n\nBut Gizur and his people, having learned that Eric and Skallagrim were\nalone upon the mountain, pushed on.\n\n\u201cWe have not much to fear from two men,\u201d said Gizur.\n\n\u201cThat we shall learn presently,\u201d answered Swanhild. \u201cI tell thee this,\nthat I saw strange sights last night, though I did not sleep. I may\nsleep little now that Gudruda is dead, for that which I saw in her eyes\nhaunts me.\u201d\n\nThen they went on, and the face of Gizur grew white with fear.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII\nHOW ERIC AND SKALLAGRIM FOUGHT THEIR LAST GREAT FIGHT\n\n\nNow the thrall and those with him on the crest of the fell heard the\nmurmur of the company of Gizur and Swanhild as they won the mountain\nside, though they could not see them because of the rocks.\n\n\u201cNow it is time to begin and knock these birds from their perch,\u201d said\nthe thrall, \u201cfor that is an awkward corner for our folk to turn with\nWhitefire and the axe of Skallagrim waiting on the farther side.\u201d\n\nSo he balanced a great stone, as heavy as three men could lift, on the\nbrow of the rock, and aimed it. Then he pushed and let it go. It smote\nthe platform beneath with a crash, two fathoms behind the spot where\nEric and Skallagrim sat. Then it flew into the air, and, just as\nBrighteyes turned at the sound, it struck the wings of his helm, and,\nbursting the straps, tore the golden helm-piece from his head and\ncarried it away into the gulf beneath.\n\nSkallagrim looked up and saw what had come about.\n\n\u201cThey have gained the crest of the fell,\u201d he cried. \u201cNow we must fly\ninto the cave or down the narrow way and hold it.\u201d\n\n\u201cDown the narrow way, then,\u201d said Eric, and while rocks, spears and\narrows rushed between and around them, they stepped on to the stone and\nwon the path beyond. It was clear, for Gizur\u2019s folk had not yet come,\nand they ran nearly to the mouth of it, where there was a bend in the\nway, and stood there side by side.\n\n\u201cThou wast at death\u2019s door then, lord!\u201d said Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cHead-piece is not head,\u201d answered Eric; \u201cbut I wonder how they won the\ncrest of the fell. I have never heard tell of any path by which it\nmight be gained.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere they are at the least,\u201d said Skallagrim. \u201cNow this is my will,\nthat thou shouldst take my helm. I am Baresark and put little trust in\nharness, but rather in my axe and strength alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not do that,\u201d said Eric. \u201cListen: I hear them come.\u201d\n\nPresently the tumult of voices and the tramp of feet grew clearer, and\nafter a while Gizur, Swanhild, and the men of their following turned\nthe corner of the narrow way, and lo! there before them\u2014ay within three\npaces of them\u2014stood Eric and Skallagrim shoulder to shoulder, and the\nlight poured down upon them from above.\n\nThey were terrible to see, and the light shone brightly on Eric\u2019s\ngolden hair and Whitefire\u2019s flashing blade, and the shadows lay dark on\nthe black helm of Skallagrim and in the fierce black eyes beneath.\n\nBack surged Gizur and those with him. Skallagrim would have sprung upon\nthem, but Eric caught him by the arm, saying: \u201cA truce to thy Baresark\nways. Rush not and move not! Let us stand here till they overwhelm us.\u201d\n\nNow those behind Gizur cried out to know what ailed them that they\npushed back.\n\n\u201cOnly this,\u201d said Gizur, \u201cthat Eric Brighteyes and Skallagrim Lambstail\nstand like two grey wolves and hold the narrow way.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow we shall have fighting worth the telling of,\u201d quoth Ketel the\nviking. \u201cOn, Gizur, Ospakar\u2019s son, and cut them down!\u201d\n\n\u201cHold!\u201d said Swanhild; \u201cI will speak with Eric first,\u201d and, together\nwith Gizur and Ketel, she passed round the corner of the path and came\nface to face with those who stood at bay there.\n\n\u201cNow yield, Eric,\u201d she cried. \u201cFoes are behind and before thee. Thou\nart trapped, and hast little chance of life. Yield thee, I say, with\nthy black wolf-hound, so perchance thou mayest find mercy even at the\nhands of her whose husband thou didst wrong and slay.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is not my way to yield, lady,\u201d answered Eric, \u201cand still less\nperchance is it the way of Skallagrim. Least of all will we yield to\nthee who, after working many ills, didst throw me in a witch-sleep, and\nto him who slew the wife sleeping at my side. Hearken, Swanhild: here\nwe stand, awaiting death, nor will we take mercy from thy hand. For\nknow this, we shall not die alone. Last night as we sat on Mosfell we\nsaw the Norns weave our web of fate upon their loom of darkness. They\nsat on Helca\u2019s dome and wove their pictures in living flame, then rent\nthe web and flew upward and southward and westward, crying our doom to\nsky and earth and sea. Last night as we sat by the fire on Mosfell all\nthe company of the dead were gathered round us\u2014ay! and all the company\nof those who shall die to-day. Thou wast there, Gizur the murderer,\nOspakar\u2019s son! thou wast there, Swanhild the witch, Groa\u2019s daughter!\nthou wast there, Ketel Viking! with many another man; and there were we\ntwo also. Valkyries have kissed us and death draws near. Therefore,\ntalk no more, but come and make an end. Greeting, Gizur, thou\nwoman-murderer! Draw nigh! draw nigh! Out sword! up shield! and on,\nthou son of Ospakar!\u201d\n\nSwanhild spoke no more, and Gizur had no word.\n\n\u201cOn, Gizur! Eric calls thee,\u201d quoth Ketel Viking; but Gizur slunk back,\nnot forward.\n\nThen Ketel grew mad with rage and shame. He called to the men, and they\ndrew near, as many as might, and looked doubtfully at the pair who\nstood before them like rocks upon a plain. Eric laughed aloud and\nSkallagrim gnawed the edge of his shield. Eric laughed aloud and the\nsound of his laughter ran up the rocks.\n\n\u201cWe are but two,\u201d he cried, \u201cand ye are many! Is there never a pair\namong you will stand face to face with a Baresark and a helmless man?\u201d\nand he tossed Whitefire high into the air and caught it by the hilt.\n\nThen Ketel and another man of his following sprang forward with an\noath, and their axes thundered loud on the shields of Eric and of\nSkallagrim. But Whitefire flickered up and the axe of Skallagrim\ncrashed, and at once their knees were loosened, so that they sank down\ndead.\n\n\u201cMore men! more men!\u201d cried Eric. \u201cThese were brave, but their might\nwas little. More men for the Grey Wolf\u2019s maw!\u201d\n\nThen Swanhild lashed the folk with bitter words, and two of them sprang\non. They sprang on like hounds upon a deer at bay, and they rolled back\nas gored hounds roll from the deer\u2019s horns.\n\n\u201cMore men! more men!\u201d cried Eric. \u201cHere lie but four and a hundred\npress behind. Now he shall win great honour who lays Brighteyes low and\nbrings down the helm of Skallagrim.\u201d\n\nAgain two came on, but they found no luck, for presently they also were\ndown upon the bodies of those who went before. Now none could be found\nto come up against the pair, for they fought like Baldur and Thor, and\nnone could touch them, and no harness might withstand the weight of\ntheir blows that shore through shield and helm and byrnie, deep to the\nbone beneath. Then Eric and Skallagrim leaned upon their weapons and\nmocked their foes, while these cursed and tore their beards with rage\nand shame.\n\nNow it is to be told that when the thrall and those with him saw Eric\nand Skallagrim had escaped their rocks and spears, they took counsel,\nand the end of it was that they slid down a rope to the platform that\nis under the crest of the fell. Thence, though they could see nothing,\nthey could hear the clang of blows and the shouts of those who fought\nand fell\u2014ay! and the mocking of Eric and of Skallagrim.\n\n\u201cNow it goes thus,\u201d said the thrall, who was a cunning man: \u201cEric and\nSkallagrim hold the narrow way and none can stand against them. This,\nthen, is my rede: that we turn the rock and take them in the back.\u201d\n\nHis fellows thought this a good saying, and one by one they stood upon\nthe little rock and won the narrow way. They crept along this till they\nwere near to Eric and Skallagrim. Now Swanhild, looking up, saw them\nand started. Skallagrim noted this and glanced over his shoulder, and\nthat not too soon, for, as he looked, the thrall lifted sword to smite\nthe head of Eric.\n\nWith a shout of \u201cBack to back!\u201d the Baresark swung round and ere ever\nthe sword might fall his axe was buried deep in the thrall\u2019s breast.\n\n\u201cNow we must cut our path through them,\u201d said Skallagrim, \u201cand, if it\nmay be, win the space that is before the cave. Keep them off in front,\nand I will mind these mannikins.\u201d\n\nNow Gizur\u2019s folk, seeing what had come about, took heart and fell upon\nEric with a rush, and those who were with the dead thrall rushed at\nSkallagrim, and there began such a fight as has not been known in\nIceland. But the way was so narrow that scarce more than one man could\ncome to each of them at a time. And so fierce and true were the blows\nof Eric and Skallagrim that of those who came on few went back. Down\nthey fell, and where they fell they died, and for every man who died\nEric and Skallagrim won a pace towards the point of rock. Whitefire\nflamed so swift and swept so wide that it seemed to Swanhild, watching,\nas though three swords were aloft at once, and the axe of Skallagrim\nthundered down like the axe of a woodman against a tree, and those\ngroaned on whom it fell as groans a falling tree. Now the shields of\nthese twain were hewn through and through, and cast away, and their\nblood ran from many wounds. Still, their life was whole in them and\nthey plied axe and sword with both hands. And ever men fell, and ever,\nfighting hard, they drew nearer to the point of rock.\n\nNow it was won, and now all the company that came with the thrall from\nover the mountain brow were dead or sorely wounded at the hands of\nblack Skallagrim. Lo! one springs on Eric, and Gizur creeps behind him.\nWhitefire leaps to meet the man and does not leap in vain; but Gizur\nsmites a coward blow at Eric\u2019s uncovered head, and wounds him sorely,\nso that he falls to his knee.\n\n\u201cNow I am smitten to the death, Skallagrim,\u201d cries Eric. \u201cWin the rock\nand leave me.\u201d Yet he rises from his knee.\n\nThen Skallagrim turns, red with blood and terrible to see.\n\n\u201c\u2018Tis but a scratch. Climb thou the rock\u2014I follow,\u201d he says, and,\nscreaming like a horse, with weapon aloft he leaps alone upon the foe.\nThey break before the Baresark rush; they break, they fall\u2014they are\ncloven by Baresark axe and trodden of Baresark feet! They roll back,\nleaving the way clear\u2014save for the dead. Then Skallagrim follows\nBrighteyes to the rock.\n\nNow Eric wipes the gore from his eyes and sees. Then, slowly, and with\na reeling brain, he steps down upon the giddy point. He goes near to\nfalling, yet does not fall, for now he lies upon the open space, and\ncreeps on hands and knees to the rock-wall that is by the cave, and\nsits resting his back against it, Whitefire on his knee.\n\nBefore he is there, Skallagrim staggers to his side with a rush.\n\n\u201cNow we have time to breathe, lord,\u201d he gasps. \u201cSee, here is water,\u201d\nand he takes a pitcher that stands by, and gives Eric to drink from the\npool, then drinks himself and pours the rest of the water on Eric\u2019s\nwound. Then new life comes to them, and they both stand on their feet\nand win back their breath.\n\n\u201cWe have not done so badly!\u201d says Skallagrim, \u201cand we are still a match\nfor one or two. See, they come! Say, where shall we meet them, lord?\u201d\n\n\u201cHere,\u201d quoth Eric; \u201cI cannot stand well upon my legs without the help\nof the rock. Now I am all unmeet for fight.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet shall this last stand of thine be sung of!\u201d says Skallagrim.\n\nNow finding none to stay them, the men of Gizur climb one by one upon\nthe rock and win the space that is beyond. Swanhild goes first of all,\nbecause she knows well that Eric will not harm her, and after her come\nGizur and the others. But many do not come, for they will lift sword no\nmore.\n\nNow Swanhild draws near and looks on Eric and mocks him in the\nfierceness of her heart and the rage of her wolf-love.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d she says, \u201cnow are Brighteyes dim eyes! What! weepest thou,\nEric?\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, Swanhild,\u201d he answered, \u201cI weep tears of blood for those whom thou\nhast brought to doom.\u201d\n\nShe draws nearer and speaks low to him: \u201cHearken, Eric. Yield thee!\nThou hast done enough for honour, and thou art not smitten to the death\nof yonder cowardly hound. Yield and I will nurse thee back to health\nand bear thee hence, and together we will forget our hates and woes.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot twice may a man lie in a witch\u2019s bed,\u201d said Eric, \u201cand my troth is\nplighted to other than thee, Swanhild.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe is dead,\u201d says Swanhild.\n\n\u201cYes, she is dead, Swanhild; and I go to seek her amongst the dead\u2014I go\nto seek her and to find her!\u201d\n\nBut the face of Swanhild grew fierce as the winter sea.\n\n\u201cThou hast put me away for the last time, Eric! Now thou shalt die, as\nI have promised thee and as I promised Gudruda the Fair!\u201d\n\n\u201cSo shall I the more quickly find Gudruda and lose sight of thy evil\nface, Swanhild the harlot! Swanhild the murderess! Swanhild the witch!\nFor I know this: thou shalt not escape!\u2014thy doom draws on also!\u2014and\nhaunted and accursed shalt thou be for ever! Fare thee well, Swanhild;\nwe shall meet no more, and the hour comes when thou shalt grieve that\nthou wast ever born!\u201d\n\nNow Swanhild turned and called to the folk: \u201cCome, cut down these\noutlaw rogues and make an end. Come, cut them down, for night draws\non.\u201d\n\nThen once more the men of Gizur closed in upon them. Eric smote thrice\nand thrice the blow went home, then he could smite no more, for his\nstrength was spent with toil and wounds, and he sank upon the ground.\nFor a while Skallagrim stood over him like a she-bear o\u2019er her young\nand held the mob at bay. Then Gizur, watching, cast a spear at Eric. It\nentered his side through a cleft in his byrnie and pierced him deep.\n\n\u201cI am sped, Skallagrim Lambstail,\u201d cried Eric in a loud voice, and all\nmen drew back to see giant Brighteyes die. Now his head fell against\nthe rock and his eyes closed.\n\nThen Skallagrim, stooping, drew out the spear and kissed Eric on the\nforehead.\n\n\u201cFarewell, Eric Brighteyes!\u201d he said. \u201cIceland shall never see such\nanother man, and few have died so great a death. Tarry a while, lord;\ntarry a while\u2014I come\u2014I come!\u201d\n\nThen crying \u201c_Eric! Eric!_\u201d the Baresark fit took him, and once more\nand for the last time Skallagrim rushed screaming upon the foe, and\nonce more they rolled to earth before him. To and fro he rushed,\ndealing great blows, and ever as he went they stabbed and cut and\nthrust at his side and back, for they dared not stand before him, till\nhe bled from a hundred wounds. Now, having slain three more men, and\nwounded two others, Skallagrim might no more. He stood a moment swaying\nto and fro, then let his axe drop, threw his arms high above him, and\nwith one loud cry of \u201c_Eric!_\u201d fell as a rock falls\u2014dead upon the dead.\n\nBut Eric was not yet gone. He opened his eyes and saw the death of\nSkallagrim and smiled.\n\n\u201cWell ended, Lambstail!\u201d he said in a faint voice.\n\n\u201cLo!\u201d cried Gizur, \u201cyon outlawed hound still lives! Now I will do a\nneedful task and make an end of him, and so shall Ospakar\u2019s sword come\nback to Ospakar\u2019s son.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou art wondrous brave now that the bear lies dying!\u201d said Swanhild.\n\nNow it seemed that Eric heard the words, for suddenly his might came\nback to him, and he staggered to his knees and thence to his feet.\nThen, as folk fall from him, with all his strength he whirls Whitefire\nround his head till it shines like a wheel of fire. \u201cThy service is\ndone and thou art clean of Gudruda\u2019s blood\u2014go back to those who forged\nthee!\u201d Brighteyes cries, and casts Whitefire from him towards the gulf.\n\nAway speeds the great blade, flashing like lightning through the rays\nof the setting sun, and behold! as men watch it is gone\u2014gone in\nmid-air!\n\nSince that day no such sword as Whitefire has been known in Iceland.\n\n\u201cNow slay thou me, Gizur,\u201d says the dying Eric.\n\nGizur comes on with little eagerness, and Eric cries aloud:\n\n\u201cSwordless I slew thy father!\u2014swordless, shieldless, and wounded to the\ndeath I will yet slay _thee_, Gizur the Murderer!\u201d and with a loud cry\nhe staggered towards him.\n\nGizur smites him with his sword, but Eric does not stay, and while men\nwait and wonder, Brighteyes sweeps him into his great arms\u2014ay, sweeps\nhim up, lifts him from the ground and reels on.\n\nEric reels on to the brink of the gulf. Gizur sees his purpose,\nstruggles and shrieks aloud. But the strength of the dying Eric is more\nthan the strength of Gizur. Now Brighteyes stands on the dizzy edge and\nthe light of the passing sun flames about his head. And now, bearing\nGizur with him, he hurls himself out into the gulf, and lo! the sun\nsinks!\n\nMen stand wondering, but Swanhild cries aloud:\n\n\u201cNobly done, Eric! nobly done! So I would have seen thee die who of all\nmen wast the first!\u201d\n\nThis then was the end of Eric Brighteyes the Unlucky, who of all\nwarriors that have lived in Iceland was the mightiest, the goodliest,\nand the best beloved of women and of those who clung to him.\n\nNow, on the morrow, Swanhild caused the body of Eric to be searched for\nin the cleft, and there they found it, floating in water and with the\ndead Gizur yet clasped in its bear-grip. Then she cleansed it and\nclothed it again in its rent armour, and bound on the Hell-shoes, and\nit was carried on horses to the sea-side, and with it were borne the\nbodies of Skallagrim Lambstail the Baresark, Eric\u2019s thrall, and of all\nthose men whom they had slain in the last great fight on Mosfell, that\nis now named Ericsfell.\n\nThen Swanhild drew her long dragon of war, in which she had come from\nOrkneys, from its shed over against Westman Isles, and in the centre of\nthe ship, she piled the bodies of the slain in the shape of a bed, and\nlashed them fast. And on this bed she laid the corpse of Eric\nBrighteyes, and the breast of black Skallagrim the Baresark was his\npillow, and the breast of Gizur, Ospakar\u2019s son, was his foot-rest.\n\nThen she caused the sails to be hoisted, and went alone aboard the long\nship, the rails of which were hung with the shields of the dead men.\n\nAnd when at evening the breeze freshened to a gale that blew from the\nland, she cut the cable with her own hand, and the ship leapt forward\nlike a thing alive, and rushed out in the red light of the sunset\ntowards the open sea.\n\nNow ever the gale freshened and folk, standing on Westman Heights, saw\nthe long ship plunge past, dipping her prow beneath the waves and\nsending the water in a rain of spray over the living Swanhild, over the\ndead Eric and those he lay upon.\n\nAnd by the head of Eric Brighteyes, her hair streaming on the wind,\nstood Swanhild the Witch, clad in her purple cloak, and with rings of\ngold about her throat and arms. She stood by Eric\u2019s head, swaying with\nthe rush of the ship, and singing so sweet and wild a song that men\ngrew weak who heard it.\n\nNow, as the people watched, two white swans came down from the clouds\nand sped on wide wings side by side over the vessel\u2019s mast.\n\nThe ship rushed on through the glow of sunset into the gathering night.\nOn sped the ship, but still Swanhild sung, and still the swans flew\nover her.\n\nThe gale grew fierce, and fiercer yet. The darkness gathered deep upon\nthe raging sea.\n\nNow that ship was seen no more, and the death-song of Swanhild as she\npassed to doom was never heard again.\n\nFor swans and ship, and Swanhild, and dead Eric and his dead foes, were\nlost in the wind and the night.\n\nBut far out on the sea a great flame of fire leapt up towards the sky.\n\nNow this is the tale of Eric Brighteyes, Thorgrimur\u2019s son; of Gudruda\nthe Fair, Asmund\u2019s daughter; of Swanhild the Fatherless, Atli\u2019s wife,\nand of Ounound, named Skallagrim Lambstail, the Baresark, Eric\u2019s\nthrall, all of whom lived and died before Thangbrand, Wilibald\u2019s son,\npreached the White Christ in Iceland.","title":"Eric Brighteyes","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":108081}