down. Then they talked a long time in a friendly way, and at
last Mord said to Hauskuld, “Why does my daughter think so ill of
life in the west yonder?”
“Let her speak out,” said Hrut, “if she has anything to lay to my
charge.”
But she brought no charge against him. Then Hrut made them ask
his neighbours and household how he treated her, and all bore him
good witness, saying that she did just as she pleased in the
house.
Then Mord said, “Home thou shalt go, and be content with thy lot;
for all the witness goes better for him than for thee.”
After that Hrut rode home from the Thing, and his wife with him,
and all went smoothly between them that summer; but when spring
came it was the old story over again, and things grew worse and
worse as the spring went on. Hrut had again a journey to make
west to the Firths, and gave out that he would not ride to the
Althing, but Unna his wife said little about it. So Hrut went
away west to the Firths.
7. UNNA SEPARATES FROM HRUT
Now the time for the Thing was coming on. Unna spoke to Sigmund,
Auzur’s son, and asked if he would ride to the Thing with her; he
said he could not ride if his kinsman Hrut set his face against
it.
“Well!” says she, “I spoke to thee because I have better right to
ask this from thee than from any one else.”
He answered, “I will make a bargain with thee: thou must promise
to ride back west with me, and to have no underhand dealings
against Hrut or myself.”
So she promised that, and then they rode to the Thing. Her
father Mord was at the Thing, and was very glad to see her, and
asked her to stay in his booth while the Thing lasted, and she
did so.
“Now,” said Mord, “what hast thou to tell me of thy mate, Hrut?”
Then she sung him a song, in which she praised Hrut’s liberality,
but said he was not master of himself. She herself was ashamed
to speak out.
Mord was silent a short time, and then said, “Thou hast now that
on thy mind I see, daughter, which thou dost not wish that any
one should know save myself, and thou wilt trust to me rather
than any one else to help thee out of thy trouble.”
Then they went aside to talk, to a place where none could
overhear what they said; and then Mord said to his daughter,
“Now, tell me all that is between you two, and don’t make more of
the matter than it is worth.”
“So it shall be,” she answered, and sang two songs, in which she
revealed the cause of their misunderstanding; and when Mord
pressed her to speak out, she told him how she and Hrut could not
live together, because he was spellbound, and that she wished to
leave him.
“Thou didst right to tell me all this,” said Mord., “and now I
