THE SWORN
BROTHERS
The
Sworn Brothers
A TALE OF THE EARLY DAYS OF ICELAND
TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH OF
GUNNAR GUNNARSSON
By C. FIELD AND W. EMMÉ
NEW YORK
ALFRED · A · KNOPF
1921
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY
GUNNAR GUNNARSSON
COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY
ALFRED A. KNOPF, Inc.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| Book I | 3 |
| Book II | 109 |
| Book III | 221 |
I
In the red light of the fire in the midst of the hall, the age-brownedpillars of the high-seat stood forth strongly lit in the middle ofthe main wall, against the background of smoky darkness which spreadbehind. The bright glow threw into relief the carved images of thegods, weird and grotesque shapes which kept changing as the fire blazedup or sank in its embers.
Upon the broad seat between the pillars of the high-seat, with thedragon-ornaments and gaping beast-heads of its back towering above andbehind, sat Orn, a broad, grey-haired warrior, leaning forward over thetable, his strong, coarse fingers buried in his thick, white beard.Upon the table at his side stood a great carved drinking horn. Orn satin silence. It was seldom that he drank much in the evening.
One step below, and opposite him, on the other side of the fire,was the table round which his men-servants sat. Only now and then alow-voiced exchange of words between man and man broke the silenceof the hall. Otherwise there reigned an oppressive stillness. Oftenthey glanced towards him, but each time looked uneasily at one anotherafterwards. For he sat very still, with a[Pg 4] fixed, absent look in hiseyes. A shiver passed through them as they thought that perhaps he sawsomething which they could not see. It was not comfortable in the hallthat evening. All the more swift was the circulation of the beer-mugs.But they were not set down on the tables with a bang, as was the rulewhen they were empty, but cautiously placed on one side.
On a dais at the end of the hall, farthest removed from the entrancedoor, sat women at work, spinning and carding wool in silence. For oncesilence prevailed on the women's dais. Only a faint rustle was heardnow and then when one of them rose to help another or to fetch morewool.
The only one who did not feel depressed by the silence in the hallwas a fourteen-year-old boy, seated at the table right opposite thehigh-seat on the other side of the fire. He was content to make holidayby sitti