Part 36 (2/2)
Of all tales that are told, thine shall be the greatest A hty stroke! Farewell!”
Then his head fell back upon the rock and Earl Atli died And as he died the last rays of light went out of the sky
XXI
HOW HALL OF LITHDALE TOOK TIDINGS TO ICELAND
Now on the saht that Atli died at the hand of Eric, Swanhild spake with Hall of Lithdale, whom she had sue in a certain shi+p that should sail for Iceland on the morrow from the island that is called Westra, and there tell all these tidings of the ill-doings of Eric and of the slaying of Atli by his hand
”Thou shalt say this,” she went on, ”that Eric had been th thethis the greatest sha with Eric and was slain by him This shalt thou add to thy tale also, that presently Eric and I ed, and that Eric shall rule as Earl in Orkneys Now these tidings must soon come to the ears of Gudruda the Fair, and she will send for thee, and question thee straightly concerning them, and thou shalt tell her the tale as thou toldest it at first Then thou shalt give Gudruda this packet, which I send her as a gift, saying, that I bade her re of his hair And when she sees that which is within the packet is somewhat stained, tell her that is but the blood of Atli that is upon it, as his blood is upon Eric's hands Now remember thou this, Hall, that if thou fail in the errand thy life shall pay forfeit, for presently I will also come to Iceland and hear how thou hast sped”
Then Swanhild gave hi that he should have so ain when she came to Iceland
Hall said that he would do all these things, and went at once; nor did he fail in his tasks
Atli being dead, Eric loosed his hand and called to the men to take up his body and bear it to the hall This they did Eric stood and watched them till they were lost in the darkness
”Whither now, lord?” said Skallagrim
”It matters little,” said Eric ”What is thy counsel?”
”This isin London There ill tell all this tale It is a far cry from Straumey to London town, and there we shall sit in peace, for the King will think little of the slaying of an Orkney Earl in a brawl about a woreat store by it Therefore, I say, let us fare back to London”
”In but one place am I at hoo, Skallagrih it be but to miss friend from stead and bride from bed At the least I shall find Ospakar there”
”Listen, lord!” said Skallagrih in London? Thou wouldst none of it, and what caone are our comrades, thine honour is tarnished, and dead is thy host at thine own hand Yet I say all is not lost Let us hence south, and see no more of Swanhild, of Gudruda, of Bjorn and Ospakar So shall we break the spell But if thou goest to Iceland, I am sure of this: that the evil fate which Atli foretold will fall on thee, and the days to come shall be even more unlucky than the days that have been”
”It may be so,” said Eric ”Methinks, indeed, it will be so Henceforth I ao back to Iceland and there play out the game I care little if I live or am slain--I have no more joy in my life I stand alone, like a fir upon a mountain-top, and every wind from heaven and every storm of hail and snow beats upon o thy road, and leave a luckless man to his ill fate
Otherwise it shall be thine also Good friend hast thou been towill be glad to greet thee yonder in London, La shall we know, lord,” said Skallagri It is ill to speak such words as these of the parting of lord and thrall Bethink thee of the oath I swore on Mosfell Let us go north, since it is thy will: in fifty years it will count for little which ended froether down to the shore, and, finding a boat andof what had chanced to Atli, they sailed across the firth at the rising of the moon
Two days afterwards they found a shi+p at Wick that was bound for Fareys, and sailed in her, Eric buying a passage with the half of a gold ring that the King had given him in London
Here at Fareys they sat a month or more; but not in the Earl's hall as when Eric came with honour in the Gudruda, but in a fars with Atli and Atli's wife had reached Fareys, and the Earl there had been a friend of Atli's Moreover, Eric was now a poor oods, nor friends
Therefore all looked coldly on hiht Still, they dared not to speak ill ordone so, were nearly slain of Skallagrim, who seized the twain by the throat, one in either hand, and dashed their heads together After that th a chapman put in at Fareys, bound for Iceland, and they took passage with hi for shi+p-rooive theri with hie