Hrut stayed with the king that winter in good cheer, but when
spring came he grew very silent. Gunnhillda finds that out, and
said to him when they two were alone together, "Art thou sick at
heart?"
"So it is," said Hrut, "as the saying runs -- `Ill goes it with
those who are born on a barren land.'"
"Wilt thou to Iceland?" she asks.
"Yes," he answered.
"Hast thou a wife out there?" she asked; and he answers, "No."
"But I am sure that is true," she says; and so they ceased
talking about the matter.
Shortly after Hrut went before the king and bade him Good-day;
and the king said, "What dost thou want now, Hrut?"
"I am come to ask, lord, that you give me leave to go to
Iceland."
"Will thine honour be greater there than here?" asks the king.
"No, it will not," said Hrut; "but every one must win the work
that is set before him."
"It is pulling a rope against a strong man," said Gunnhillda, "so
give him leave to go as best suits him."
There was a bad harvest that year in the land, yet Gunnhillda
gave Hrut as much meal as he chose to have; and now he busks him
to sail out to Iceland, and Auzur with him; and when they were
"all-boun," Hrut went to find the king and Gunnhillda. She led
him aside to talk alone, and said to him, "Here is a gold ring
which I will give thee;" and with that she clasped it round his
wrist.
"Many good gifts have I had from thee," said Hrut.
Then she put her hands round his neck and kissed him, and said,
"If I have as much power over thee as I think, I lay this spell
on thee that thou mayst never have any pleasure in living with
that woman on whom thy heart is set in Iceland, but with other
women thou mayst get on well enough, and now it is like to go
well with neither of us; but thou hast not believed what I have
been saying."
Hrut laughed when he heard that, and went away; after that he
came before the king and thanked him; and the king spoke kindly
to him, and bade him "farewell." Hrut went straight to his ship,
and they had a fair wind all the way until they ran into
Borgarfirth.
As soon as the ship was made fast to the land, Hrut rode west
home, but Auzur stayed by the ship to unload her and lay her up.
Hrut rode straight to Hauskuldstede, and Hauskuld gave him a
hearty welcome, and Hrut told him all about his travels. After
that they send men east across the rivers to tell Fiddle Mord to
make ready for the bridal feast; but the two brothers rode to the
ship, and on the way Hauskuld told Hrut how his money-matters
stood, and his goods had gained much since he was away. Then
Hrut said, "The reward is less worth than it ought to be, but I
will give thee as much meal as thou needst for thy household next
winter."
Then they drew the ship on land on rollers, and made her snug in
her shed, but all the wares on board her they carried away into
the Dales westward. Hrut stayed at home at Hrutstede till winter
was six weeks off, and then the brothers made ready and Auzur
with them, to ride to Hrut's wedding. Sixty men ride with them,
and they rode east till they came to Rangriver plains. There
they found a crowd of guests, and the men took their seats on
benches down the length of the hall, but the women were seated on
the cross-benches on the dais, and the bride was rather downcast.
So they drank out the feast and it went off well. Mord pays down
his daughter's portion, and she rides west with her husband and
his train. So they ride till they reach home. Hrut gave over
everything into her hands inside the house, and all were pleased
at that; but for all that she and Hrut did not pull well together
as man and wife, and so things went on till spring, and when
spring came Hrut had a journey to make to the Westfirths, to get
in the money for which he had sold his wares; but before he set
off his wife says to him, "Dost thou mean to be back before men
ride to the Thing?"
"Why dost thou ask?" said Hrut.
"I will ride to the Thing," she said, "to meet my father."
"So it shall be," said he, "and I will ride to the Thing along
with thee."
"Well and good," she says.
After that Hrut rode from home west to the Firths, got in all his
money, and laid it out anew, and rode home again. When he came
home he busked him to ride to the Thing, and made all his
neighbours ride with him. His brother Hauskuld rode among the
rest. Then Hrut said to his wife, "If thou hast as much mind now
to go to the Thing as thou saidst a while ago, busk thyself and
ride along with me."
She was not slow in getting herself ready, and then they all
rode to the Thing. Unna went to her father's booth, and he gave
her a hearty welcome, but she seemed somewhat heavy-hearted, and
when he saw that he said to her, "I have seen thee with a merrier
face. Hast thou anything on thy mind?"
She began to weep, and answered nothing. Then he said to her
again. "Why didst thou ride to the Thing, if thou wilt not tell
me thy secret? Dost thou dislike living away there in the west?"
Then she answered him, "I would give all I own in the world that
I had never gone thither."
"Well!" said Mord, "I'll soon get to the bottom of this." Then
he sends men to fetch Hauskuld and Hrut, and they came
straightway; and when they came in to see Mord, he rose up to
meet them and gave them a hearty welcome, and asked them to sit
down. Then they talked a long time in a friendly way, and at
last Mord said to Hauskuld, "Why does my daughter think so ill of
life in the west yonder?"
"Let her speak out," said Hrut, "if she has anything to lay to my
charge."
But she brought no charge against him. Then Hrut made them ask
his neighbours and household how he treated her, and all bore him
good witness, saying that she did just as she pleased in the
house.
Then Mord said, "Home thou shalt go, and be content with thy lot;
for all the witness goes better for him than for thee."
After that Hrut rode home from the Thing, and his wife with him,
and all went smoothly between them that summer; but when spring
came it was the old story over again, and things grew worse and
worse as the spring went on. Hrut had again a journey to make
west to the Firths, and gave out that he would not ride to the
Althing, but Unna his wife said little about it. So Hrut went
away west to the Firths.