"Where hast thou been, lord?" she asked.
"At Coldback," he answered.
"To see Unna, Eric's cousin, perchance?"
"That is so."
"What is Unna to thee, then, lord?"
"This much, that after hay-harvest she will be my wife, and that is illnews for thee, Groa."
Now Groa turned and grasped fiercely at the air with her thin hands. Hereyes started out, foam was on her lips, and she shook in her fury likea birch-tree in the wind, looking so evil that Asmund drew back a littleway, saying:
"Now a veil is lifted from thee and I see thee as thou art. Thou hastcast a glamour over me these many years, Groa, and it is gone."
"Mayhap, Asmund Asmundson--mayhap, thou knowest me; but I tell thee thatthou shalt see me in a worse guise before thou weddest Unna. What! haveI borne the greatest shame, lying by thy side these many years, andshall I live to see a rival, young and fair, creep into my place withhonour? That I will not while runes have power and spells can conjurethe evil thing upon thee. I call down ruin on thee and thine--yea andon Brighteyes also, for he has brought this thing to pass. Death take yeall! May thy blood no longer run in mortal veins anywhere on the earth!Go down to Hela, Asmund, and be forgotten!" and she began to mutterrunes swiftly.
Now Asmund turned white with wrath. "Cease thy evil talk," he said, "orthou shalt be hurled as a witch into Goldfoss pool."
"Into Goldfoss pool?--yea, there I may lie. I see it!--I seem to seethis shape of mine rolling where the waters boil fiercest--but thineeyes shall never see it! _Thy_ eyes are shut, and shut are the eyes ofUnna, for ye have gone before!--I do but follow after," and thrice Groashrieked aloud, throwing up her arms, then fell foaming on the sandedfloor.
"An evil woman and a fey!" said Asmund as he called people to her. "Ithad been better for me if I had never seen her dark face."
Now it is to be told that Groa lay beside herself for ten full days, andSwanhild nursed her. Then she found her sense again, and craved to seeAsmund, and spoke thus to him:
"It seems to me, lord, if indeed it be aught but a vision of my dreams,that before this sickness struck me I spoke mad and angry words againstthee, because thou hast plighted troth to Unna, Thorod's daughter."
"That is so, in truth," said Asmund.
"I have to say this, then, lord: that most humbly I crave thy pardon formy ill words, and ask thee to put them away from thy mind. Sore heartmakes sour speech, and thou knowest well that, howsoever great myfaults, at least I have always loved thee and laboured for thee, andmethinks that in some fashion thy fortunes are the debtor to my wisdom.Therefore when my ears heard that thou hadst of a truth put me away,and that another woman comes an honoured wife to rule in Middalhof, mytongue forgot its courtesy, and I spoke words that are of all words thefarthest from my mind. For I know well that I grow old, and have put offthat beauty with which I was adorned of yore, and that held thee to me.'_Carline_' Eric Brighteyes named me, and 'carline' I am--an old hag, nomore! Now, forgive me, and, in memory of all that has been between us,let me creep to my place in the ingle and still watch and serve thee andthine till my service is outworn. Out of Ran's net I came to thee, and,if thou drivest me hence, I tell thee that I will lie down and die uponthy threshold, and when thou sinkest into eld surely the memory of itshall grieve thee."
Thus she spoke and wept much, till Asmund's heart softened in him, and,though with a doubting mind, he said it should be as she willed.
So Groa stayed on at Middalhof, and was lowly in her bearing and soft ofspeech.
VII
HOW ERIC WENT UP MOSFELL AGAINST SKALLAGRIM THE BARESARK
Now Atli the Good, earl of the Orkneys, comes into the story.
It chanced that Atli had sailed to Iceland in the autumn on a businessabout certain lands that had fallen to him in right of his mother Helga,who was an Icelander, and he had wintered west of Reyjanes. Spring beingcome, he wished to sail home, and, when his ship was bound, he put tosea full early in the year. But it chanced that bad weather came up fromthe south-east, with mist and rain, so he must needs beach his ship in acreek under shelter of the Westman Islands.
Now Atli asked what people dwelt in these parts, and, when he heard thename of Asmund Asmundson the Priest, he was glad, for in old days he andAsmund had gone many a viking cruise together.
"We will leave the ship here," he said, "till the weather clears, and goup to Middalhof to stay with Asmund."
So they made the ship snug, and left men to watch her; but two of thecompany, with Earl Atli, rode up to Middalhof.
It must be told of Atli that he was the best of the earls who lived inthose days, and he ruled the Orkneys so well that men gave him a by-nameand called him Atli the Good. It was said of him that he had neverturned a poor man away unsuccoured, nor bowed his head before a strongman, nor drawn his sword without cause, nor refused peace to him whoprayed it. He was sixty years old, but age had left few marks onhim, except that of his long white beard. He was keen-eyed, andwell-fashioned of form and face, a great warrior and the strongest ofmen. His wife was dead, leaving him no children, and this was a sorrowto him; but as yet he had taken no other wife, for he would say: "Lovemakes an old man blind," and "When age runs with youth, both shallfall," and again, "Mix grey locks and golden and spoil two heads." Forthis earl was a man of many wise sayings.
Now Atli came to Middalhof just as men sat down to meat and, hearing theclatter of arms, all sprang to their feet, thinking that perhaps Ospakarhad come again as he had promised. But when Asmund saw Atli he knew himat once, though they had not met for nearly thirty years, and he greetedhim lovingly, and put him in the high seat, and gave place to his menupon the cross-benches. Atli told all his story, and Asmund bade himrest a while at Middalhof till the weather grew clearer.
Now the Earl saw Swanhild and thought the maid wondrous fair, and soindeed she was, as she moved scornfully to and fro in her kirtle ofwhite. Soft was her curling hair and deep were her dark blue eyes, andbent were her red lips as is a bow above her dimpled chin, and her teethshone like pearls.
"Is that fair maid thy daughter, Asmund," asked Atli.
"She is named Swanhild the Fatherless," he answered, turning his faceaway.
"Well," said Atli, looking sharply on him, "were the maid sprung fromme, she would not long be called the 'Fatherless,' for few have such adaughter."
"She is fair enough," said Asmund, "in all save temper, and that is badto cross."
"In every sword a flaw," answers Atli; "but what has an old man to dowith young maids and their beauty?" and he sighed.
"I have known younger men who would seem less brisk at bridals," saidAsmund, and for that time they talked no more of the matter.
Now, Swanhild heard something of this speech, and she guessed more; andit came into her mind that it would be the best of sport to make thisold man love her, and then to mock him and say him nay. So she setherself to the task, as it ever was her wont, and she found it easy. Forall day long, with downcast eyes and gentle looks, she waited upon theEarl, and now, at his bidding, she sang to him in a voice soft and low,and now she talked so wisely well that Atli thought no such maid hadtrod the earth before. But he checked himself with many learned saws,and on a day when the weather had grown fair, and they sat alone, hetold her that his ship was bound for Orkney Isles.
Then, as though by chance, Swanhild laid her white hand in his, and on asudden looked deep into his eyes, and said with trembling lips, "Ah, gonot yet, lord!--I pray thee, go not yet!"--and, turning, she fled away.
But Atli was much moved, and he said to himself: "Now a strange thingis come to pass: a fair maid loves an old man; and yet, methinks, hewho looks into those eyes sees deep waters," and he beat his brow andthought.
But Swanhild in her chamber laughed till the tears ran from those sameeyes, for she saw that the great fish was hooked and now the time hadcome to play him.
For she did not know that it was otherwise fated.
Gudruda, too, saw all these th
ings and knew not how to read them, forshe was of an honest mind, and could not understand how a woman may lovea man as Swanhild loved Eric and yet make such play with other men,and that of her free will. For she guessed little of Swanhild'sguilefulness, nor of the coldness of her heart to all save Eric; nor ofhow this was the only joy left to her: to make a sport of men and putthem to grief and shame. Atli said to himself that he would watch thismaid well before he uttered a word to Asmund, and he deemed himself verycunning, for he was wondrous cautious after the fashion of those aboutto fall. So he set himself to watching, and Swanhild set herself tosmiling, and he told her tales of warfare and of daring, and she claspedher hands and said:
"Was there ever such a man since Odin trod the earth?" And so it wenton, till the serving-women laughed at the old man in love and the wit ofher that mocked him.
Now upon a day, Eric having made an end of sowing his corn, bethoughthimself of his vow to go up alone against Skallagrim the Baresark in hisden on Mosfell over by Hecla. Now, this was a heavy task: for Skallagrimwas held so mighty among men that none went up against him any more; andat times Eric thought of Gudruda, and sighed, for it was likely thatshe would be a widow before she was made a wife. Still, his oath mustbe fulfilled, and, moreover, of late Skallagrim having heard that ayoungling named Eric Brighteyes had vowed to slay him single-handed,had made a mock of him in this fashion. For Skallagrim rode downto Coldback on Ran River and at night-time took a lamb from the fold.Holding the lamb beneath his arm, he drew near to the house and smotethrice on the door with his battle-axe, and they were thundering knocks.Then he leapt on to his horse and rode off a space and waited. PresentlyEric came out, but half clad, a shield in one hand and Whitefire in theother, and, looking, by the bright moonlight he saw a huge black-beardedman seated on a horse, having a great axe in one hand and the lambbeneath his arm.
"Who art thou?" roared Eric.
"I am called Skallagrim, youngling," answered the man on the horse."Many men have seen me once, none have wished to see me twice, and somefew have never seen aught again. Now, it has been echoed in my ears thatthou hast vowed a vow to go up Mosfell against Skallagrim the Baresark,and I am come hither to say that I will make thee right welcome. See,"and with his axe he cut off the lamb's tail on the pommel of his saddle:"of the flesh of this lamb of thine I will brew broth and of his skin Iwill make me a vest. Take thou this tail, and when thou fittest it onto the skin again, Skallagrim will own a lord," and he hurled the tailtowards him.
"Bide thou there till I can come to thee," shouted Eric; "it will spareme a ride to Mosfell."
"Nay, nay. It is good for lads to take the mountain air," and Skallagrimturned his horse away, laughing.
Eric watched Skallagrim vanish over the knoll, and then, though he wasvery angry, laughed also and went in. But first he picked up the tail,and on the morrow he skinned it.
Now the time was come when the matter must be tried, and Eric badefarewell to Saevuna his mother, and Unna his cousin, and girt Whitefireround him and set upon his head a golden helm with wings on it. Then hefound the byrnie which his father Thorgrimur had stripped, together withthe helm, from that Baresark who cut off his leg--and this was a goodpiece, forged of the Welshmen--and he put it on his breast, and takinga stout shield of bull's hide studded with nails, rode away with onethrall, the strong carle named Jon.
But the women misdoubted them much of this venture; nevertheless Ericmight not be gainsayed.
Now, the road to Mosfell runs past Middalhof and thither he came. Atli,standing at the men's door, saw him and cried aloud: "Ho! a mighty mancomes here."
Swanhild looked out and saw Eric, and he was a goodly sight in hiswar-gear. For now, week by week, he seemed to grow more fair and great,as the full strength of his manhood rose in him, like sap in the springgrass, and Gudruda was very proud of her lover. That night Eric stayedat Middalhof, and sat hand in hand with Gudruda and talked with EarlAtli. Now the heart of the old viking went out to Eric, and he tookgreat delight in him and in his strength and deeds, and he longed muchthat the Gods had given him such a son.
"I prophesy this of thee, Brighteyes," he cried: "that it shall go illwith this Baresark thou seekest--yes, and with all men who come withinsweep of that great sword of thine. But remember this, lad: guard thyhead with thy buckler, cut low beneath his shield, if he carries one,and mow the legs from him: for ever a Baresark rushes on, shield up."
Eric thanked him for his good words and went to rest. But, before itwas light, he rose, and Gudruda rose also and came into the hall, andbuckled his harness on him with her own hands.
"This is a sad task for me, Eric!" she sighed, "for how do I know thatBaresark's hands shall not loose this helm of thine?"
"That is as it may be, sweet," he said; "but I fear not the Baresark orany man. How goes it with Swanhild now?"
"I know not. She makes herself sweet to that old Earl and he is fain ofher, and that is beyond my sight."
"I have seen as much," said Eric. "It will be well for us if he shouldwed her."
"Ay, and ill for him; but it is to be doubted if that is in her mind."
Now Eric kissed her soft and sweet, and went away, bidding her look forhis return on the day after the morrow.
Gudruda bore up bravely against her fears till he was gone, but then shewept a little.
Now it is to be told that Eric and his thrall Jon rode hard up Stonefelland across the mountains and over the black sand, till, two hours beforesunset, they came to the foot of Mosfell, having Hecla on their right.It is a grim mountain, grey with moss, standing alone in the desertplain; but between it and Hecla there is good grassland.
"Here is the fox's earth. Now to start him," said Eric.
He knows something of the path by which this fortress can be climbedfrom the south, and horses may be ridden up it for a space. So on theygo, till at length they come to a flat place where water runs down theblack rocks, and here Eric drank of the water, ate food, and washed hisface and hands. This done, he bid Jon tend the horses--for hereaboutsthere is a little grass--and be watchful till he returned, since hemust go up against Skallagrim alone. And there with a doubtful heartJon stayed all that night. For of all that came to pass he saw but onething, and that was the light of Whitefire as it flashed out high abovehim on the brow of the mountain when first Brighteyes smote at foe.
Eric went warily up the Baresark path, for he would keep his breath inhim, and the light shone redly on his golden helm. High he went, till atlength he came to a pass narrow and dark and hedged on either sidewith sheer cliffs, such as two armed men might hold against a score.He peered down this path, but he saw no Baresark, though it was worn byBaresark feet. He crept along its length, moving like a sunbeam throughthe darkness of the pass, for the light gathered on his helm and sword,till suddenly the path turned and he was on the brink of a gulf thatseemed to have no bottom, and, looking across and down, he could see Jonand the horses more than a hundred fathoms beneath. Now Eric must stop,for this path leads but into the black gulf. Also he was perplexed toknow where Skallagrim had his lair. He crept to the brink and gazed.Then he saw that a point of rock jutted from the sheer face of the cliffand that the point was worn with the mark of feet.
"Where Baresark passes, there may yeoman follow," said Eric and,sheathing Whitefire, without more ado, though he liked the task little,he grasped the overhanging rock and stepped down on to the point below.Now he was perched like an eagle over the dizzy gulf and his brainswam. Backward he feared to go, and forward he might not, for there wasnothing but air. Beside him, growing from the face of the cliff, was abirch-bush. He grasped it to steady himself. It bent beneath his clutch,and then he saw, behind it, a hole in the rock through which a man couldcreep, and down this hole ran footmarks.
"First through air like a bird; now through earth like a fox," said Ericand entered the hole. Doubling his body till his helm almost touched hisknee he took three paces and lo! he stood on a great platform of rock,so large that a hall might be built on it,
which, curving inwards,cannot be seen from the narrow pass. This platform, that is backedby the sheer cliff, looks straight to the south, and from it he couldsearch the plain and the path that he had travelled, and there once morehe saw Jon and the horses far below him.
"A strong place, truly, and well chosen," said Eric and looked around.On the floor of the rock and some paces from him a turf fire stillsmouldered, and by it were sheep's bones, and beyond, in the face of theoverhanging precipice, was the mouth of a cave.
"The wolf is at home, or was but lately," said Eric; "now for his lair;"and with that he walked warily to the mouth of the cave and peeredin. He could see nothing yet a while, but surely he heard a sound ofsnoring?
Then he crept in, and, presently, by the red light of the burningembers, he saw a great black-bearded man stretched at length upon a rugof sheepskins, and by his side an axe.
"Now it would be easy to make an end of this cave-dweller," thoughtEric; "but that is a deed I will not do--no, not even to a Baresark--toslay him in his sleep," and therewith he stepped lightly to the sideof Skallagrim, and was about to prick him with the point of Whitefire,when! as he did so, another man sat up behind Skallagrim.