Now when Thiodolf came back to the camp the signs of dawn were plain in
the sky, the moon was low and sinking behind the trees, and he saw at
once that the men were stirring and getting ready for departure. He
looked gladly and blithely at the men he fell in with, and they at him,
and scarce could they refrain a shout when they beheld his face and the
brightness of it. He went straight up to where the Hall-Sun was yet
sitting under her namesake, with Arinbiorn standing before her amidst of
a ring of leaders of hundreds and scores: but old Sorli sat by her side
clad in all his war-gear.
When Thiodolf first came into that ring of men they looked doubtfully at
him, as if they dreaded somewhat, but when they had well beheld him their
faces cleared, and they became joyous.
He went straight up to Arinbiorn and kissed the old warrior, and said to
him, "I give thee good morrow, O leader of the Bearings! Here now is
come the War-duke! and meseems that we should get to work as speedily as
may be, for lo the dawning!"
"Hail to thine hand, War-duke!" said Arinbiorn joyously; "there is no
more to do but to take thy word concerning the order wherein we shall
wend; for all men are armed and ready."
Said Thiodolf; "Lo ye, I lack war-gear and weapons! Is there a good
sword hereby, a helm, a byrny and a shield? For hard will be the battle,
and we must fence ourselves all we may."
"Hard by," said Arinbiorn, "is the war-gear of Ivar of our House, who is
dead in the night of his hurts gotten in yesterday's battle: thou and he
are alike in stature, and with a good will doth he give them to thee, and
they are goodly things, for he comes of smithying blood. Yet is it a
pity of Throng-plough that he lieth on the field of the slain."
But Thiodolf smiled and said: "Nay, Ivar's blade shall serve my turn to-
day; and thereafter shall it be seen to, for then will be time for many
things."
So they went to fetch him the weapons; but he said to Arinbiorn, "Hast
thou numbered the host? What are the gleanings of the Roman sword?"
Said Arinbiorn: "Here have we more than three thousand three hundred
warriors of the host fit for battle: and besides this here are gathered
eighteen hundred of the Wolfings and the Bearings, and of the other
Houses, mostly from over the water, and of these nigh upon seven hundred
may bear sword or shoot shaft; neither shall ye hinder them from so doing
if the battle be joined."
Then said Thiodolf: "We shall order us into three battles; the Wolfings
and the Bearings to lead the first, for this is our business; but others
of the smaller Houses this side the water to be with us; and the Elkings
and Galtings and the other Houses of the Mid-mark on the further side of
the water to be in the second, and with them the more part of the Nether-
mark; but the men of Up-mark to be in the third, and the stay-at-homes to
follow on with them: and this third battle to let the wood cover them
till they be needed, which may not be till the day of fight draws to an
end, when all shall be needed: for no Roman man must be left alive or
untaken by this even, or else must we all go to the Gods together.
Hearken, Arinbiorn. I am not called fore-sighted, and yet meseems I see
somewhat how this day shall go; and it is not to be hidden that I shall
not see another battle until the last of all battles is at hand. But be
of good cheer, for I shall not die till the end of the fight, and once
more I shall be a man's help unto you. Now the first of the Romans we
meet shall not be able to stand before us, for they shall be unready, and
when their men are gotten ready and are fighting with us grimly, ye of
the second battle shall hear the war-token, and shall fall on, and they
shall be dismayed when they see so many fresh men come into the fight;
yet shall they stand stoutly; for they are valiant men, and shall not all
be taken unawares. Then, if they withstand us long enough, shall the
third battle come forth from the wood, and fall on either flank of them,
and the day shall be won. But I think not that they shall withstand us
so long, but that the men of Up-mark and the stay-at-homes shall have the
chasing of them. Now get me my war-gear, and let the first battle get
them to the outgate of the garth."
So they brought him his arms; and meanwhile the Hall-Sun spake to one of
the Captains, and he turned and went away a little space, and then came
back, having with him three strong warriors of the Wolfings, and he
brought them before the Hall-Sun, who said to them:
"Ye three, Steinulf, Athalulf, and Grani the Grey, I have sent for you
because ye are men both mighty in battle and deft wood-wrights and house-
smiths; ye shall follow Thiodolf closely, when he winneth into the Roman
garth, yet shall ye fight wisely, so that ye be not slain, or at least
not all; ye shall enter the Hall with Thiodolf, and when ye are therein,
if need be, ye shall run down the Hall at your swiftest, and mount up
into the loft betwixt the Middle-hearth and the Women's-Chamber, and
there shall ye find good store of water in vats and tubs, and this ye
shall use for quenching the fire of the Hall if the foemen fire it, as is
not unlike to be."
Then Grani spoke for the others and said he would pay all heed to her
words, and they departed to join their company.
Now was Thiodolf armed; and Arinbiorn, turning about before he went to
his place, beheld him and knit his brow, and said: "What is this,
Thiodolf? Didst thou not swear to the Gods not to bear helm or shield in
the battles of this strife? yet hast thou Ivar's helm on thine head and
his shield ready beside thee: wilt thou forswear thyself? so doing shalt
thou bring woe upon the House."
"Arinbiorn," said Thiodolf, "where didst thou hear tell of me that I had
made myself the thrall of the Gods? The oath that I sware was sworn when
mine heart was not whole towards our people; and now will I break it that
I may keep what of good intent there was in it, and cast away the rest.
Long is the story; but if we journey together to-night I will tell it
thee. Likewise I will tell it to the Gods if they look sourly upon me
when I see them, and all shall be well."
He smiled as he spoke, and Arinbiorn smiled on him in turn and went his
ways to array the host. But when he was gone Thiodolf was alone in that
place with the Hall-Sun, and he turned to her, and kissed her, and
caressed her fondly, and spake and said:
"So fare we, O my daughter, to the sundering of the ways;
Short is my journey henceforth to the door that ends my days,
And long the road that lieth as yet before thy feet.
How fain were I that thy journey from day to day were sweet
With peace to thee and pleasure; that a noble warrior's hand
In its early days might lead thee adown the flowery land,
And thy children in its noon-tide cling round about thy gown,
And the wise that thy womb has carried when the sun is going down,
Be thy happy fellow-farers to tell the tale of Earth,
But I wot that for no such sweetness did we bring thee unto birth,
But to be the soul of the Wolfings till the other days should come,
And the fruit of the kindreds' harvest with thee is garnered home.
Yet if for no blithe faring thy life-day is ordained,
Yet peace that long endureth maybe thy soul hath gained;
And thy sorrow of this even thy latest grief shall be,
The grief wherewith thou singest the death-song over me."
She looked up at him and smiled, though the tears were on her face; then
she said:
"Though to-day the grief beginneth yet the bitterness is done.
Though my body wendeth barren 'neath the beams of the quickening sun,
Yet remembrance still abideth, and long after the days of my life
Shall I live in the tale of the morning, when they tell of the ending
of strife;
And the deeds of this little hand, and the thought conceived in my
heart,
And never again henceforward from the folk shall I fare apart.
And if of the Earth, my father, thou hast tidings in thy place
Thou shalt hear how they call me the Ransom and the Mother of happy
days."
Then she wept outright for a brief space, and thereafter she said:
"Keep this in thine heart, O father, that I shall remember all
Since thou liftedst the she-wolf's nursling in the oak-tree's leafy
hall.
Yea, every time I remember when hand in hand we went
Amidst the shafts of the beech-trees, and down to the youngling bent
The Folk-wolf in his glory when the eve of fight drew nigh;
And every time I remember when we wandered joyfully
Adown the sunny meadow and lived a while of life
'Midst the herbs and the beasts and the waters so free from fear and
strife,
That thy years and thy might and thy wisdom, I had no part therein;
But thou wert as the twin-born brother of the maiden slim and thin,
The maiden shy in the feast-hall and blithe in wood and field.
Thus have we fared, my father; and e'en now when thou bearest shield,
On the last of thy days of mid-earth, twixt us 'tis even so
That the heart of my like-aged brother is the heart of thee that I
know."
Then the bitterness of tears stayed her speech, and he spake no word
more, but took her in his arms a while and soothed her and fondled her,
and then they parted, and he went with great strides towards the outgoing
of the Thing-stead.
There he found the warriors of his House and of the Bearings and the
lesser Houses of Mid-mark, all duly ordered for wending through the wood.
The dawn was coming on apace, but the wood was yet dark. But whereas the
Wolfings led, and each man of them knew the wood like his own hand, there
was no straying or disarray, and in less than a half-hour's space
Thiodolf and the first battle were come to the wood behind the
hazel-trees at the back of the hall, and before them was the dawning
round about the Roof of the Kindred; the eastern heavens were
brightening, and they could see all things clear without the wood.