thou must be a coward,” she says.
“I will go,” he says, “with thy husband, and neither of us two
shall come back.”
After that he went to Thorgrim his messmate, and said, “Take thou
now the keys of my chests; for I shall never unlock them again.
I bid thee take for thine own whatever of our goods thou wilt;
but sail away from Iceland, and do not think of revenge for me.
But if thou dost not leave the land, it will be thy death.”
So the Easterling joined himself to their band.
61. GUNNAR’S DREAM
Now we must go back and say that Gunnar rides east over Thurso
water, but when he had gone a little way from the river, he grew
very drowsy, and bade them lie down and rest there.
They did so. He fell fast asleep, and struggled much as he
slumbered.
Then Kolskegg said, “Gunnar dreams now.” But Hjort said, “I
would like to wake him.”
“That shall not be,” said Kolskegg, “but he shall dream his
dream out.”
Gunnar lay, a very long while, and threw off his shield from him,
and he grew very warm. Kolskegg said, “What hast thou dreamt,
kinsman?”
“That have I dreamt,” says Gunnar, “which if I had dreamt it
there, I would never have ridden with so few men from Tongue.”
“Tell us thy dream,” says Kolskegg.
Then Gunnar sang a song:
“Chief, that chargest foes in fight!
Now I fear that I have ridden
Short of men from Tongue, this harvest;
Raven’s fast I sure shall break.
Lord, that scatters Ocean’s fire! (1)
This, at least, I long to say,
Kite with wolf shall fight for marrow
Ill I dreamt with wandering thought.”
“I dreamt, methought, that I was riding on by Knafaholes, and
there I thought I saw many wolves, and they all made at me; but I
turned away from them straight towards Rangriver, and then
methought they pressed hard on me on all sides, but I kept them
at bay, and shot all those that were foremost, till they came so
close to me that I could not use my bow against them. Then I
took my sword, and I smote with it with one hand, but thrust at
them with my bill with the other. Shield myself then I did not,
and methought then I knew not what shielded me. Then I slew many
wolves, and thou, too, Kolskegg; but Hjort methought they pulled
down, and tore open his breast, and one methought had his heart
in his maw; but I grew so wroth that I hewed that wolf asunder
just below the brisket, and after that methought the wolves
turned and fled. Now my counsel is, brother Hjort, that thou
ridest back west to Tongue.”
