Part 20 (2/2)
”I desired,” he answered, ”that thou, Eric, shouldst bide here in Iceland till after harvest, for it is then that I would take Unna, Thorod's daughter, to wife, and it was ive her to o,” said Gudruda, ”for well begun is, surely, half done He must remain three years in outlawry: add thou no day to the, I know this: that I shall find no heart to let hio with him”
”Thatand fair to sail a-viking down the sea-path Hearken, Eric: I give thee the good shi+p, and noill go about to find stout ift,” said Eric; and afterwards they rode to the seashore and overhauled the vessel as she lay in her shed She was a great dragon of war, long and slender, and standing high at steether with iron, and at her proas a gilded dragon most wonderfully carved
Eric looked on her and his eyes brightened
”Here rests a wave-horse that shall bear a viking well,” he said
”Ay,” answered Ass I own this shi+p is the very best She is so swift that none th That gale ive her to thee freely, Eric, and thou shalt do great deeds with this o well, she shall come back to this shore at last, and thou in her”
”Noill naift with a new name,” said Eric ”'Gudruda,'
I name her: for, as Gudruda here is the fairest of all woons”
”So be it,” said Asmund
Then they rode back to Middalhof, and now Eric Brighteyes let it be known that he needed men to sail the seas with him Nor did he ask in vain, for, when it was told that Eric went a-viking, so great was his fareat-limbed carle reached doord and shi+eld and came up to Middalhof to put their hands in his For mate, he took a certain man named Hall of Lithdale, and this because Bjorn asked it, for Hall was a friend to Bjorn, and he had, reat skill in all manner of seamanshi+p, and had often sailed the Northern Seas--ay, and round England to the coast of France
But when Gudruda saw this man, she did not like hiue, and she prayed Eric to have nothing to do with him
”It is too late now to talk of that,” said Eric ”Hall is a well-skilled man, and, for the rest, fear not: I atch him”
”Then evil will coririathered; they were fifty in number and it is said that no such band of on was bound and her faring goods were aboard of her, for Eric must sail on thehe stalked to and fro a to others, and there was no sword or shi+eld in his co he stalked, and at his back went Skallagrim Lambstail, axe on shoulder, for he would never leave Eric if he had his will, and they were a th all was ready and -feast in the hall at Middalhof, and that was a great feast Eric's folk were gathered on the side-benches, and by the high seat at Ashteyes, and near to him where Bjorn, Asmund's son, Gudruda, Unna, Asmund's betrothed, and Saevuna, Eric's mother For this had been settled between Asmund and Eric, that his e, should flit from Coldback and come with Unna to dwell at Middalhof
But Eric set a trusty grieve to dwell at Coldback and -toasts had been drunk, Eric spoke to As, lord, and it is that when I aone Ospakar will trouble thee Now, I pray you all to beware of Blacktooth, for, though the hound is whipped, he can still bite, and it seems that he has not yet put Gudruda fromore, for he loved Eric less than ever on this day when he sa all , and his father not the least of them
”Methinks it is thou, Eric,” he said, ”whoeance, and that for no light cause”
”When bad fortune sits in thy neighbour's house, she knocks upon thy door, Bjorn Gudruda, thy sister, is my betrothed, and thou art a party to this feud,” said Eric ”Therefore it becoainst this Northlander, than to gird at reroth at these words ”Prate not to me,” he said ”Thou art an upstart ouldst teach their duty to thy betters--ay, puffed up with light-won fame, like a feather on the breeze But I say this: the breeze shall fail, and thou shalt fall upon the goose's back once more
And I say this also, that, had I hty chief, and not a long-legged carle, outlawed forfrom his seat and laid hand upon the hilt of Whitefire, while men murmured in the hall, for they held this an ill speech of Bjorn's
”In thee, it seems, I have no friend,” said Eric, ”and hadst thou been any other man than Gudruda's brother, forsooth thou shouldst answer for thywords This I tell thee, Bjorn, that, wert thou twice her brother, if thou plottest with Ospakar when I aain I know thy heart well: it is cunning and greedy of gain, and filled with envy as a cask with ale; yet, if thou lovest to feel it beating in thy breast, strive not to work me mischief and to put Gudruda from me”