fullgrown man. She had a great gold ring on her arm, and a
wimple on her head; he strips her of her wimple, and takes the
gold ring from off her. Then he sees Thor’s car, and takes from
him a second gold ring; a third he took from Irpa; and then
dragged them all out, and spoiled them of all their gear.
After that he laid fire to the shrine, and burnt it down, and
then he goes away just as it began to dawn. He walks across a
ploughed field, and there six men sprang up with weapons, and
fall upon him at once; but he made a stout defence, and the end
of the business was that he slays three men, but wounds Thrand to
the death, and drives two to the woods, so that they could bear
no news to the earl. He then went up to Thrand and said, “It is
now in my power to slay thee if I will, but I will not do that;
and now I will set more store by the ties that are between us
than ye have shown to me.”
Now Hrapp means to turn back to the wood, but now he sees that
men have come between him and the wood, so he dares not venture
to turn thither, but lays him down in a thicket, and so lies
there a while.
Earl Hacon and Gudbrand went that morning early to the shrine and
found it burnt down; but the three gods were outside, stripped of
all their bravery.
Then Gudbrand began to speak, and said, “Much might is given to
our gods, when here they have walked of themselves out of the
fire!”
“The gods can have naught to do with it,” says the earl; “a man
must have burnt the shrine, and borne the gods out; but the gods
do not avenge everything on the spot. That man who has done this
will no doubt be driven away out of Valhalla, and never come in
thither.”
Just then up ran four of the earl’s men, and told them ill
tidings for they said they had found three men slain in the
field, and Thrand wounded to the death.
“Who can have done this?” says the earl.
“Killing-Hrapp,” they say.
“Then he must have burnt down the shrine,” says the earl.
They said they thought he was like enough to have done it.
“And where may he be now?” says the earl.
They said that Thrand had told them that he had lain down in a
thicket.
The earl goes thither to look for him, but Hrapp was off and
away. Then the earl set his men to search for him, but still
they could not find him. So the earl was in the hue and cry
himself, but first he bade them rest a while.
Then the earl went aside by himself, away from other men, and
bade that no man should follow him, and so he stays a while. He
fell down on both his knees, and held his hands before his eyes;
after that he went back to them, and then he said to them, “Come
with me.”
