The Vikings of Helgeland Part 13

HIORDIS. Thou hast egged him on to great deeds, followed him in war- weed, and joyed to be where the strife raged hottest--hast thou not?

DAGNY (deeply moved). No, no!

HIORDIS. Hast thou, then, been faint of heart, so that Sigurd has been put to shame?

DAGNY (overpowered). Hiordis, Hiordis!

HIORDIS (smiling scornfully). Yet thy lot has been a happy one all these years;--think'st thou that Sigurd can say the same?

DAGNY. Torture me not. Woe is me! thou hast made me see myself too clearly.

HIORDIS. A jesting word, and at once thou art in tears! Think no more of it. Look what I have done to-day. (Takes some arrows from the table.) Are they not keen and biting--feel! I know well how to sharpen arrows, do I not?

DAGNY. And to use them too; thou strikest surely, Hiordis! All that thou hast said to me--I have never thought of before. (More vehemently.) But that Sigurd----! That for all these years I should have made his life heavy and unhonoured;--no, no, it cannot be true!

HIORDIS. Nay now, comfort thee, Dagny; indeed it is not true. Were Sigurd of the same mind as in former days, it might be true enough; for then was his whole soul bent on being the foremost man in the land;--now he is content with a lowlier lot.

DAGNY. No, Hiordis; Sigurd is high-minded now as ever; I see it well, I am not the right mate for him. He has hidden it from me; but it shall be so no longer.

HIORDIS. What wilt thou do?

DAGNY. I will no longer hang like a clog upon his feet; I will be a hindrance to him no longer.

HIORDIS. Then thou wilt----?

DAGNY. Peace; some one comes!

(A House-carl enters from the back.)

THE CARL. Sigurd Viking is coming to the hall.

HIORDIS. Sigurd! Then call Gunnar hither.

THE CARL. Gunnar has ridden forth to gather his neighbours together; for Kare the Peasant would----

HIORDIS. Good, good, I know it; go! (The Carl goes. To DAGNY, who is also going.) Whither wilt thou?

DAGNY. I will not meet Sigurd. Too well I feel that we must part; but to meet him now--no, no, I cannot!

(Goes out to the left.)

HIORDIS (looks after her in silence for a moment). And it was she I would have---- (completes her thought by a glance at the bow-string).

That would have been a poor revenge;--nay, I have cut deeper now! Hm; it is hard to die, but sometimes it is harder still to live!

(SIGURD enters from the back.)

HIORDIS. Doubtless thou seekest Gunnar; be seated, he will be here even now.

(Is going.)

SIGURD. Nay, stay; it is thee I seek, rather than him.

HIORDIS. Me?

SIGURD. And 'tis well I find thee alone.

HIORDIS. If thou comest to mock me, it would sure be no hindrance to thee though the hall were full of men and women.

SIGURD. Ay, ay, well I know what thoughts thou hast of me.

HIORDIS (bitterly). I do thee wrong mayhap! Nay, nay, Sigurd, thou hast been as a poison to all my days. Bethink thee who it was that wrought that shameful guile; who it was that lay by my side in the bower, feigning love with the laugh of cunning in his heart; who it was that flung me forth to Gunnar, since for him I was good enough, forsooth--and then sailed away with the woman he held dear!

SIGURD. Man's will can do this and that; but fate rules in the deeds that shape our lives--so has it gone with us twain.

HIORDIS. True enough; evil Norns hold sway over the world; but their might is little if they find not helpers in our own heart. Happy is he who has strength to battle with the Norn--and it is that I have now in hand.

SIGURD. What mean'st thou?

HIORDIS. I will essay a trial of strength against those--those who are over me. But let us not talk more of this; I have much to do to- day. (She seats herself at the table.)

SIGURD (after a pause). Thou makest good weapons for Gunnar.

HIORDIS (with a quiet smile). Not for Gunnar, but against thee.

SIGURD. Most like it is the same thing.

HIORDIS. Ay, most like it is; for if I be a match for the Norn, then sooner or later shalt thou and Gunnar---- (breaks off, leans backwards against the table, and says with an altered ring in her voice:) Hm; knowest thou what I sometimes dream? I have often made it my pastime to limn pleasant pictures in my mind; I sit and close my eyes and think: Now comes Sigurd the Strong to the isle;--he will burn us in our house, me and my husband. All Gunnar's men have fallen; only he and I are left; they set light to the roof from without:--"A bow-shot," cries Gunnar, "one bow-shot may save us;"-- then the bow-string breaks--"Hiordis, cut a tress of thy hair and make a bow-string of it,--our life is at stake." But then I laugh-- "Let it burn, let it burn--to me, life is not worth a handful of hair!"

SIGURD. There is a strange might in all thy speech. (Approaches her.)

HIORDIS (looks coldly at him). Wouldst sit beside me?

SIGURD. Thou deemest my heart is bitter towards thee. Hiordis, this is the last time we shall have speech together; there is something that gnaws me like a sore sickness, and thus I cannot part from thee; thou must know me better.

HIORDIS. What wouldst thou?

SIGURD. Tell thee a saga.

HIORDIS. Is it sad?

SIGURD. Sad, as life itself.

HIORDIS (bitterly). What knowest thou of the sadness of life?

SIGURD. Judge when my saga is over.

HIORDIS. Then tell it me; I shall work the while.