CHAPTER IX. HOWARD GOETH TO EATHSTEAD.

NOW weareth certain days, until Biargey thought she might look for Thorbiorn's return from the west ; then on a day she went to Howard's bed, and asked him if he slept : he sat up thereon, and sang :

Never sleep besetteth Mine eyelids since that morning Grief driveth the ship-dweller To din of steel a-meeting Never since the sword-stems Wrought that brunt of bucklers ; E'en those that slew my Olaf Utterly unguilty.

" Full surely," said she, " that is a huge lie, that thou hast not slept for three years long : but now is it time to arise, and make thee as valiant as may be, if thou wouldst avenge Olaf thy son ; for never will he be avenged in thy lifetime but if that be tonight."

So when he heard her words he leapt up from his bed and forth on to the floor, and sang :

Once more amid my old age I ask for quiet hearing, Although the speech of song-era? 1 Scarce in my heart abideth

Howard the Halt. 31

Since then when first I wotted Of weapon-god downfallen. O son, how surely wert thou The strength of all my welfare !

And now was Howard as brisk as might Jae, and halt no longer : he went to a big chest that was full of weapons, and unlocked it, and set a helm on his head, and did on him a strong byrny : then he looked up, and saw a mew flying across the window, and therewith he sang a stave :

High-screaming, hail-besmitten,

Lo here the bird of slaughter,

Who coming to the corpse-sea

Craveth his meal of morning !

E'en so in old days bygone

From the old tree croaked the raven

When the sworn hawks of the slaughter

The warrior's mead went seeking.

He armed himself speedily and deftly, and arrayed Thorhall also with goodly weapons : and so when they were ready he turned to Biargey and kissed her, saying it was not all so sure when they should meet again.

So she bade him farewell : " No need to egg thee on to the avenging of Olaf our son, for I wot that in thee might and a hardy heart are fellows."

So they parted : but those twain went down to the sea, and ran out a six-oared boat, and took the oars, and made no stay till they came off the stead of Valbrand : there a long tongue of the ere runneth out into the sea, and there they laid their boat : then Howard bade Thorhall watch the boat while he went up to the stead ; and he had a spear in his hand, a noble weapon : but when he came up on to

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the home- mead there were the father and sons : the brethren were stripped and raking up the hay, and had taken off their shoes, and had laid them down in the meadow beside them ; and they were high shoes.

So Valbrand went to meet Howard, and greeted him well, bidding him abide: he said it might not be :

" For I am come to fetch the seal-nets that thou didst lend to my wife, thy sister/'

Then went Valbrand to his sons, and said to them : " Hither is come Howard your kinsman, and he is so arrayed as if he had some mighty deed on hand."

But when they heard that, they cast by their rakes and ran to their clothes, and when they came to take their shoes, lo ! they were shrunken with the sun : nevertheless they thrust their feet into them at their speediest, so that they tore the skin off their heels, and when they came home their shoes were full of blood.

Valbrand gave his sons good weapons, and said : "Follow Howard well, and think more on your vengeance than on what may come after/'

Then they went their ways to Thorbrandstead, and there also were Odd and Thorir speedily arrayed. Thence fared they till they came to Asbrandstead, and there Howard claimed his turfcutter, whereon Hallgrim his kinsman arrayed himself to go with him, in whose company also went one An, a homeman of Asbrand, who did housecarle's service, and was fosterer of Hallgrim.

Howard the Halt. 33

So when they were ready they went to where the boat lay, and Thorhall greeted them well. They were now eight in company, and each more warriorlike than the other. Now spake Hallgrim to Howard his kinsman, saying : "Why wentest thou from home, kinsman, lacking both sword and axe ?"

He answered : " Maybe we shall fall in with Thorbiorn Thiodrekson, and then after our parting thou shalt speak another word, for most like I shall have the sword Warflame, the best of weapons/'

Then they rejoiced, blessing the word of his mouth : " For much lies upon it that we fall to work in manly wise."

The day was now far spent, and so they ran out the boat, and leapt into her, and fell a-rowing : and even therewith they saw a great flock of ravens flying on before them over the tongue of the ere that lay ahead : then sang Howard this stave :

A sign I deem yon blood-fowl Over the ere a-sweeping ; Since even now fat-feeding To Odin's fowl I promised. All we shall have to hearken, O Hallgrim, to Hild's uproar. And well are we, O fellows, Whom happy hour awaiteth.

They fared over the sound, and out in the firth it blew hard, whereby they shipped many a sea forward : but they fell to work in manly wise, and made no stay till they came off Bathstead ; thereat was a place good to lay a craft in, for Thorbiorn had let make a goodly haven there, and had had all cleaned and cleared out right up to land : the shore went down steep into the sea, and a cutter

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might lie there, or a craft bigger yet, if need were : great whale-ribs also were laid down there for slips, and the ends of them made fast with big stones : nor needed any man be wet going off board or on, were the ship bigger or lesser.

But above this haven ran a ridge of shingle, above which stood a great boat-house well found in all wise ; and on the other hand above the ridge on one side was a big pool ; from the boat-house one might not see the foreshore, but from the shingle-ridge both boat-house and foreshore were in sight.

So when they came to land they leapt from the boat, and Howard spake, saying : " We will bear the boat up over the ridge unto the pool, and we ourselves also will be up the other side of the ridge, so that they may not see us at once ; neither will we be over hasty in our hunting: let none leap up before I give the word." And now was it quite dusk.