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"May the ill-gotten treasure that you have seized tonight be your bane, and the bane of all to whom it may come, whether by fair means or by foul! And the ring which you have torn from my hand, may it entail upon the one who wears it sorrow and untold ills, the loss of friends, and a violent death! The Norns have spoken, and thus it must be."
Then he looked to the west, and nothing met his sight but a wilderness of rolling, restless waters, save, in the far distance, a green island half hidden by sullen mists and clouds. And Siegfried sighed, and said, "The world is so wide, and the life of man so short!" "The world is all before thee," answered Gripir. "Take what the Norns have allotted thee.
Hail, Slagfid, Eigil, and Wayland, sang the maidens. Swanvite, Alvilda, and Alruna are sent by the Norns, To bring joy to the princes of Finland. Then the tongues of the young men were unloosed, and Slagfid married Swanvite, Eigil Alruna, and Wayland Alvilda.
The mighty ash tree Ygdrasill was supposed to support the whole universe. By the side of each of these roots is a spring, from which it is watered. The root that extends into Asgard is carefully tended by the three Norns, goddesses, who are regarded as the dispensers of fate. Four harts run across the branches of the tree and bite the buds; they represent the four winds.
Said Fafnir, "Few things wilt thou do after my counsel; but take heed that thou shalt be drowned if thou farest unwarily over the sea; so bide thou rather on the dry land, for the coming of the calm tide." Then said Sigurd, "Speak, Fafnir, and say, if thou art so exceeding wise, who are the Norns who rule the lot of all mothers' sons."
"Behold these two great Cloud Rivers, Körmt and Ermt. Canst thou wade through them? They are cold and suffocating, but they will bring thee to Urda's Well, where sit the three holy Norns." Thor looked out on the two great rolling rivers of cloud. It was a bad way for one to go, cold and suffocating.
Wherefrom we all thought that the flitting was by the will of the Norns, and likely to turn out well. But in no way could we lift Thor himself. It was as if he were rooted, and maybe he was so. Therefore we left him, but sadly.
The little that the Norns add to it is repeated an hour later by Valtrauta. How far all this repetition is tolerable is a matter of individual taste. A good story will bear repetition; and if it has woven into it such pretty tunes as the Rhine maidens' yodel, Mimmy's tinkling anvil beat, the note of the forest bird, the call of Siegfried's horn, and so on, it will bear a good deal of rehearing.
Now I am a luckless man, and all things happen as they are fated, and the words of Atli come true, as was to be looked for. The Norns, against whom none may stand, did but work their will through thy mouth, Jon; so grieve no more for that which cannot be undone." Then he turned away, but Jon wept long and loudly. That night Eric slept well and dreamed no dreams.
Strive not against the will of Odin, nor against the Norns. The words caused Slagfid to pause for a moment, then the figure of Swanvite danced before him and beckoned to him again, and his mother was forgotten. There were rivers to swim, precipices to climb, chasms to leap, but he passed them all gladly till at last he noticed that the higher he got the less the figure seemed like Swanvite.
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