another stave —
“Once I ween I heard the rumour,
How the Lord of rings (1) bereft thee;
From thine arms earth’s offspring (2) tearing,
Trickfull he and trustful thou.
Then the men, the buckler-bearers,
Begged the mighty gold-begetter,
Sharp sword oft of old he reddened,
Not to stand in strife with thee.”
So they went on, till Hrut, in answer told him how the suit must
be taken up, and recited the summons. Hedinn repeated it all
wrong, and Hrut burst out laughing, and had no mistrust. Then he
said, Hrut must summon once more, and Hrut did so. Then Hedinn
repeated the summons a second time, and this time right, and
called his companions to witness how he summoned Hrut in a suit
which Unna, Mord’s daughter, had made over to him with her
plighted hand. At night he went to sleep like other men, but as
soon as ever Hrut was sound asleep, they took their clothes and
arms, and went out and came to their horses, and rode off across
the river, and so up along the bank by Hiardarholt till the dale
broke off among the hills, and so there they are upon the fells
between Laxriverdale and Hawkdale, having got to a spot where no
one could find them unless he had fallen on them by chance.
Hauskuld wakes up that night at Hauskuldstede, and roused all his
household. “I will tell you my dream,” he said. “I thought I
saw a great bear go out of this house, and I knew at once this
beast’s match was not to be found; two cubs followed him, wishing
well to the bear, and they all made for Hrutstede and went into
the house there. After that I woke. Now I wish to ask if any of
you saw aught about yon tall man.”
Then one man answered him, “I saw how a golden fringe and a bit
of scarlet cloth peeped out at his arm, and on his right arm he
had a ring of gold.”
Hauskuld said, “This beast is no man’s fetch, but Gunnar’s of
Lithend, and now methinks I see all about it. Up! let us ride
to Hrutstede,” And they did so. Hrut lay in his locked bed, and
asks who have come there? Hauskuld tells who he is, and asked
what guests might be there in the house?
“Only Huckster Hedinn is here,” says Hrut.
“A broader man across the back, it will be, I fear,” says
Hauskuld, “I guess here must have been Gunnar of Lithend.”
“Then there has been a pretty trial of cunning,” says Hrut.
“What has happened?” says Hauskuld.
“I told him how to take up Unna’s suit, and I summoned myself and
he summoned after, and now he can use this first step in the
suit, and it is right in law.”
“There has, indeed, been a great falling off of wit on one side,”
said Hauskuld, “and Gunnar cannot have planned it all by himself;
Njal must be at the bottom of this plot, for there is not his
match for wit in all the land.”
