Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 23, 2025
Ufeigh Grettir had to wife Asny, the daughter of Vestar Haengson; and Asmund the Beardless and Asbiorn were the sons of Ufeigh Grettir, but his daughters were these, Aldis, and Asa, and Asvor. Ufeigh had fled away west over the Sea before Harald the king, and so had Thormod Shaft his kinsman, and had with them their kith and kin; and they harried in Scotland, and far and wide west beyond the sea.
Aye, I have a feud here, and with all who dwell at ease. I am Heidrek the Seafarer." He turned away, and left us with some sign to his men; but Asbiorn stood still and spoke again to us. "You bear a Scottish name," he said. "Have you no Scottish kin besides Melbrigda?" I shook my head, whereon Dalfin spoke for me.
Said Asbiorn; "Geirbald, knowest thou right well the ways through the wood and on the other side thereof, to the place where Thiodolf abideth? for ye see that night is at hand." "Nay, not over well," said Geirbald. Said Asbiorn: "Then I rede thee take Viglund with thee; for he knoweth them yard by yard, and where they be hard and where they be soft.
Then he told us how they had searched for us much in the way which we had thought likely, and so at last had heard of a wreck when they reached the river Bann. "Asbiorn," I said, "did you know that there was a lady on board this ship which was to be burnt?" "No, on my word," he said, starting somewhat. "So that is where the young queen was hidden, after all?
"They will blame me, and that matters not at all. But it must have been a mere chance that the terrible splashing our comrade made was not seen by Asbiorn; for he went aft, and looked long toward the boat. I heard him say that she had gone adrift, and that some lubber must have made fast the painter carelessly.
I had ever heard that one who died as did Arnkel was the quarry of Odin's hunters for evermore, and the sounds scared me. The clamour of that wild hunt died away, and we breathed more freely. Soon the wild lights burned up across the north again, and then Bertric spoke. "Sink yonder thing in the fjord, Asbiorn. Gerda should not see it thus."
We could see the timber slipway, which still had been left where it was made for that last beaching, and we could see, too, that here and there the land was turned up into heaps, where the place for the mound had been prepared. There was a little village also, and a hut or two had been burnt. "Our doing," said Asbiorn. "Forgive us, Queen Gerda."
Now they were rounding that headland whence they had come, and were altering their course. Asbiorn said that they were making for the river mouth, and half an hour thereafter we opened it out and saw that Heidrek was far within it, heading landward. The beacon fires blazed up afresh as the watchers knew that he had returned, and presently each fire had a second alongside it.
These three had some slight hurts, and a man set about caring for them, roughly but skilfully enough. But what I chiefly noticed as we were led aft, was that the ale was passing freely, and, as I should have thought, too often for good seamanship. That, however, was not my business, if it did seem to explain why Asbiorn separated us.
For a moment I could not tell what might come, and my hand was on my sword hilt, though I would not draw the weapon yet. Then came Gerda's clear voice again. "To me, Gerda's men," she cried, and her sword flashed out. "He lies, and you know it." Three men led a rush down the hall to us, and one was lame. They were my Caithness men who had escaped from Asbiorn here.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking