HIORDIS. Thou hast egged him on to great deeds, followed him in war-
weed, and joyed to be where the strife raged hottest--hast thou not?
DAGNY (deeply moved). No, no!
HIORDIS. Hast thou, then, been faint of heart, so that Sigurd has
been put to shame?
DAGNY (overpowered). Hiordis, Hiordis!
HIORDIS (smiling scornfully). Yet thy lot has been a happy one all
these years;--think'st thou that Sigurd can say the same?
DAGNY. Torture me not. Woe is me! thou hast made me see myself
too clearly.
HIORDIS. A jesting word, and at once thou art in tears! Think no
more of it. Look what I have done to-day. (Takes some arrows from
the table.) Are they not keen and biting--feel! I know well how to
sharpen arrows, do I not?
DAGNY. And to use them too; thou strikest surely, Hiordis! All
that thou hast said to me--I have never thought of before. (More
vehemently.) But that Sigurd----! That for all these years I should
have made his life heavy and unhonoured;--no, no, it cannot be true!
HIORDIS. Nay now, comfort thee, Dagny; indeed it is not true. Were
Sigurd of the same mind as in former days, it might be true enough;
for then was his whole soul bent on being the foremost man in the
land;--now he is content with a lowlier lot.
DAGNY. No, Hiordis; Sigurd is high-minded now as ever; I see it
well, I am not the right mate for him. He has hidden it from me;
but it shall be so no longer.
HIORDIS. What wilt thou do?
DAGNY. I will no longer hang like a clog upon his feet; I will be
a hindrance to him no longer.
HIORDIS. Then thou wilt----?
DAGNY. Peace; some one comes!
(A House-carl enters from the back.)
THE CARL. Sigurd Viking is coming to the hall.
HIORDIS. Sigurd! Then call Gunnar hither.
THE CARL. Gunnar has ridden forth to gather his neighbours
together; for Kare the Peasant would----
HIORDIS. Good, good, I know it; go! (The Carl goes. To DAGNY, who
is also going.) Whither wilt thou?
DAGNY. I will not meet Sigurd. Too well I feel that we must part;
but to meet him now--no, no, I cannot!
(Goes out to the left.)
HIORDIS (looks after her in silence for a moment). And it was she
I would have---- (completes her thought by a glance at the bow-string).
That would have been a poor revenge;--nay, I have cut deeper now! Hm;
it is hard to die, but sometimes it is harder still to live!
(SIGURD enters from the back.)
HIORDIS. Doubtless thou seekest Gunnar; be seated, he will be here
even now.
(Is going.)
SIGURD. Nay, stay; it is thee I seek, rather than him.
HIORDIS. Me?
SIGURD. And 'tis well I find thee alone.
HIORDIS. If thou comest to mock me, it would sure be no hindrance
to thee though the hall were full of men and women.
SIGURD. Ay, ay, well I know what thoughts thou hast of me.
HIORDIS (bitterly). I do thee wrong mayhap! Nay, nay, Sigurd, thou
hast been as a poison to all my days. Bethink thee who it was that
wrought that shameful guile; who it was that lay by my side in the
bower, feigning love with the laugh of cunning in his heart; who it
was that flung me forth to Gunnar, since for him I was good enough,
forsooth--and then sailed away with the woman he held dear!
SIGURD. Man's will can do this and that; but fate rules in the deeds
that shape our lives--so has it gone with us twain.
HIORDIS. True enough; evil Norns hold sway over the world; but their
might is little if they find not helpers in our own heart. Happy is
he who has strength to battle with the Norn--and it is that I have
now in hand.
SIGURD. What mean'st thou?
HIORDIS. I will essay a trial of strength against those--those who
are over me. But let us not talk more of this; I have much to do to-
day. (She seats herself at the table.)
SIGURD (after a pause). Thou makest good weapons for Gunnar.
HIORDIS (with a quiet smile). Not for Gunnar, but against thee.
SIGURD. Most like it is the same thing.
HIORDIS. Ay, most like it is; for if I be a match for the Norn,
then sooner or later shalt thou and Gunnar---- (breaks off, leans
backwards against the table, and says with an altered ring in her
voice:) Hm; knowest thou what I sometimes dream? I have often made
it my pastime to limn pleasant pictures in my mind; I sit and close
my eyes and think: Now comes Sigurd the Strong to the isle;--he will
burn us in our house, me and my husband. All Gunnar's men have
fallen; only he and I are left; they set light to the roof from
without:--"A bow-shot," cries Gunnar, "one bow-shot may save us;"--
then the bow-string breaks--"Hiordis, cut a tress of thy hair and
make a bow-string of it,--our life is at stake." But then I laugh--
"Let it burn, let it burn--to me, life is not worth a handful of hair!"