Part 2 (1/2)
Now, Coldback is but an hour's ride frorimur went up to Middalhof, to keep the Yule feast and worshi+p in the Teing the boy Eric with him There also was Groa with Swanhild, for now she dwelt at Middalhof; and the three fair children were set together in the hall to play, and reat sport to see them Now, Gudruda had a horse of wood and would ride it while Eric pushed the horse along But Swanhild smote her from the horse and called to Eric to make it move; but he cory and lisped out:
”Push thou must, if I will it, Eric”
Then he pushed sideways and with such good will that Swanhild fell al up, she snatched a brand and threw it at Gudruda, firing her clothes Men laughed at this; but Groa, standing apart, frowned and muttered witch-words
”Why lookest thou so darkly, housekeeper?” said Ash of heart”
”Ah, he is bonny as no child is, and he shall be bonny all his life-days Nevertheless, she shall not stand against his ill luck This I prophesy of hi him to his end, and he shall die a hero's death, but not at the hand of his foes”
And now the years went by peacefully Groa dith her daughter Swanhild up at Middalhof and was the love of Asot his oath thus far, yet he would never take her to wife
The as angered at this, and she sche it about that Ash in all things else she led hione by since Gudruda the Gentle was laid in earth; and now Gudruda the Fair and Swanhild the Fatherless omen too Eric, too, was a man of five-and-twenty years, and no such reat of stature, his hair was yellow as gold, and his grey eyes shone with the light of swords He was gentle and loving as a woth of two men; and there were none in all the quarter who could leap or swihteyes Men held hih as yet he had done no deeds, but lived at horimur Iron-Toe, his father, was dead But women loved him much, and that was his bane--for of all wohter He loved her from a child, and her alone till his day of death, and she, too, loved him and him only For now Gudruda was a maid of maids, most beautiful to see and sweet to hear Her hair, like the hair of Eric, was golden, and she hite as the snow on Hecla; but her eyes were large and dark, and black lashes drooped above the and comely, merry of face, yet tender, and the most witty of women
Swanhild also was very fair; she was slender, s eyes blue as the deep sea, and brown curling hair, enough to veil her to the knees, and a h she was open in her talk, her thoughts were dark and secret This was her joy: to draw the hearts of uiled irl in matters of love, and she kneell the arts of wo Nevertheless she was cold at heart, and desired power and wealth greatly, and she studied ic much, of which her mother Groa also had a store But Swanhild, too, loved a man, and that was the joint in her harness by which the shaft of Fate entered her heart, for that hteyes, who loved her not But she desired him so sorely that, without him, all the world was dark to her, and her soul but as a shi+p driven rudderless upon a winter night Therefore she put out all her strength to win him, and bent her witcheries upon him, and they were not few nor small Nevertheless they went by him like the wind, for he dreah as yet they spoke no word of love one to the other
But Swanhild in her wrath took counsel with herbetween thehed aloud:
”Dost think irl?” she said; ”all of this I have seen, yea and foreseen, and I tell thee thou art o and I will find thee finer fowl to fly at”
”Nay, that I will not,” quoth Swanhild: ”for I love this man alone, and I would win him; and Gudruda I hate, and I would overthrow her Give s must be as they are fated This now is my rede: Asmund would turn Gudruda's beauty to account, and that ets her to wife, and in this matter the mind of Bjorn is as the ood time chances, ill bear tales of Gudruda to Asmund and to her brother Bjorn, and swear that she oversteps her modesty with Eric Then shall Asmund be wroth and drive Eric from Gudruda's side
Meanwhile, I will do this: In the north there dwells a s and blown up with pride He is named Ospakar Blacktooth His wife is but lately dead, and he has given out that he ed the fairest maid in Iceland Now, it is in ave to reat talker and very clever, for in his half-wits isthan in the brains of most; and he shall so bepraise Gudruda's beauty that Ospakar will coe; and in this fashi+on, if things go well, thou shalt be rid of thy rival, and I of one who looks scornfully upon me But, if this fail, then there are two roads left on which strong feet may travel to their end; and of these, one is that thou shouldest win Eric aith thine own beauty, and that is not little All ht that will make the heart as wax; but yet the other path is surer”
”And what is that path, h blood to blackness By thy side is a knife and in Gudruda's bosom beats a heart Dead women are unmeet for love!”
Swanhild tossed her head and looked upon the dark face of Groa her mother
”Methinks, with such an end to win, I should not fear to tread that path, if there be need, hter Happiness is to the bold To each it comes in uncertain shape Some love power, some wealth, and some--a man Take that which thou lovest--I say, cut thy path to it and take it; else shall thy life be but a weariness: for what does it serve to win the wealth and pohen thou lovest a old and the pride of place? This is wisdoe creeps on apace and beyond is darkness Therefore, if thou seekest this irl--by witchcraft or by steel--and take hiet that thine own are red But first let us try the easier plan Daughter, I too hate this proud girl, who scorns ht head of hers dull with the dust of death, or, at the least, those proud eyes weeping tears of shame as the man she hates leads her hence as a bride Were it not for her I should be Asone, with thy help--for he loves thee much and has cause to love thee--this I o hand in hand and ainst her innocence”
Now, Koll the Half-witted went upon his errand, and the time passed till it lacked but a month to Yule, and men sat indoors, for the season was dark and th ca fro in the hall, went to the wo out, saw that the snoas hard, and a great longing came upon her to breathe the fresh air, for there was still an hour of daylight So she threw a cloak about her and walked forth, taking the road towards Coldback in the Marsh that is by Ran River But Swanhild watched her till she was over the hill Then she also took a cloak and followed on that path, for she alatched Gudruda
Gudruda walked on for the half of an hour or so, when she becaathered in the sky, and that the air was heavy with snow to co this she turned homewards, and Swanhild hid herself to let her pass Now flakes floated down as big and soft as fifa flowers Quicker and more quick they cah it Gudruda walked on, and after her crept Swanhild, like a shadow And now the darkness gathered and the snow fell thick and fast, covering up the track of her footsteps and she wandered fro loath to show herself For an hour or more Gudruda wandered and then she called aloud and her voice fell heavily against the cloak of snow At the last she greeary and frightened, and sat down upon a shelving rock whence the snow had slipped away Now, a little way behind was another rock and there Swanhild sat, for she wished to be unseen of Gudruda So soh with sleep, when of a sudden aloomed upon the snowy darkness Then Gudruda leapt to her feet and called A man's voice answered:
”Who passes there?”
”I, Gudruda, Ashter”
The for of a horse, and now a hteyes
”Is it thou indeed, Gudruda!” he said with a laugh, and his great shape showed darkly on the snow mist
”Oh, is it thou, Eric?” she answered ”I was never ood hour A little while and I had seen thee no row heavy with the death-sleep”