The Life and Death of Cormac the Skald [17]
When the fight was over, the brothers had got the victory, and the nine men had fallen before them; for which they won great praise from the king, and many honours beside.
But while they were ever with the king in his warfarings, Thorgils was aware that Cormac was used to sleep but little; and he asked why this might be. This was the song Cormac made in answer: --
(55) "Surf on a rock-bound shore of the sea-king's blue domain -- Look how it lashes the crags, hark how it thunders again! But all the din of the isles that the Delver heaves in foam In the draught of the undertow glides out to the sea-gods' home. Now, which of us two should test? Is it thou, with thy heart at ease, Or I that am surf on the shore in the tumult of angry seas? -- Drawn, if I sleep, to her that shines with the ocean- gleam, -- Dashed, when I wake, to woe, for the want of my glittering dream."
"And now let me tell you this, brother," he went on. "Hereby I give out that I am going back to Iceland."
Said Thorgils, "There is many a snare set for thy feet, brother, to drag thee down, I know not whither."
But when the king heard of his longing to begone, he sent for Cormac, and said that he did unwisely, and would hinder him from his journey. But all this availed nothing, and aboard ship he went.
At the outset they met with foul winds, so that they shipped great seas, and the yard broke. Then Cormac sang: --
(56) "I take it not ill, like the Tinker If a trickster had foundered his muck-sled; For he loves not rough travelling, the losel, And loath would he be of this uproar. I flinch not, -- nay, hear it, ye fearless Who flee not when arrows are raining, -- Though the steeds of the ocean be storm-bound And stayed in the harbour of Solund."
So they pushed out to sea, and hard weather they tholed. Once on a time when the waves broke over the deck and drenched them all, Cormac made this song: --
(57) "O the Tinker's a lout and a lubber, And the life of a sailor he dares not, When the snow-crested surges caress us And sweep us away with their kisses, He bides in a berth that is warmer, Embraced in the arms of his lady; And lightly she lulls him to slumber, -- But long she has reft me of rest!"
They had a very rough voyage, but landed at last in Midfiord, and anchored off shore. Looking landward they beheld where a lady was riding by; and Cormac knew at once that it was Steingerd. He bade his men launch a boat, and rowed ashore. He went quickly from the boat, and got a horse, and rode to meet her. When they met, he leapt from horseback and helped her to alight, making a seat for her beside him on the ground.
Their horses wandered away: the day passed on, and it began to grow dark. At last Steingerd said, "It is time to look for our horses."
Little search would be needed, said Cormac; but when he looked about, they were nowhere in sight. As it happened, they were hidden in a gill not far from where the two were sitting.
So, as night was hard at hand, they set out to walk, and came to a little farm, where they were taken in and treated well, even as they needed. That night they slept each on either side of the carven wainscot that parted bed from bed: and Cormac made this song: --
(58) "We rest, O my beauty, my brightest, But a barrier lies ever between us. So fierce are the fates and so mighty -- I feel it -- that rule to their rede. Ah, nearer I would be, and nigher, Till nought should be left to dispart us, -- The wielder of Skofnung the wonder, And the wearer of sheen from the deep."
"It was better thus," said Steingerd: but he sang: --
(59) "We have slept 'neath one roof-tree -- slept softly,
But while they were ever with the king in his warfarings, Thorgils was aware that Cormac was used to sleep but little; and he asked why this might be. This was the song Cormac made in answer: --
(55) "Surf on a rock-bound shore of the sea-king's blue domain -- Look how it lashes the crags, hark how it thunders again! But all the din of the isles that the Delver heaves in foam In the draught of the undertow glides out to the sea-gods' home. Now, which of us two should test? Is it thou, with thy heart at ease, Or I that am surf on the shore in the tumult of angry seas? -- Drawn, if I sleep, to her that shines with the ocean- gleam, -- Dashed, when I wake, to woe, for the want of my glittering dream."
"And now let me tell you this, brother," he went on. "Hereby I give out that I am going back to Iceland."
Said Thorgils, "There is many a snare set for thy feet, brother, to drag thee down, I know not whither."
But when the king heard of his longing to begone, he sent for Cormac, and said that he did unwisely, and would hinder him from his journey. But all this availed nothing, and aboard ship he went.
At the outset they met with foul winds, so that they shipped great seas, and the yard broke. Then Cormac sang: --
(56) "I take it not ill, like the Tinker If a trickster had foundered his muck-sled; For he loves not rough travelling, the losel, And loath would he be of this uproar. I flinch not, -- nay, hear it, ye fearless Who flee not when arrows are raining, -- Though the steeds of the ocean be storm-bound And stayed in the harbour of Solund."
So they pushed out to sea, and hard weather they tholed. Once on a time when the waves broke over the deck and drenched them all, Cormac made this song: --
(57) "O the Tinker's a lout and a lubber, And the life of a sailor he dares not, When the snow-crested surges caress us And sweep us away with their kisses, He bides in a berth that is warmer, Embraced in the arms of his lady; And lightly she lulls him to slumber, -- But long she has reft me of rest!"
They had a very rough voyage, but landed at last in Midfiord, and anchored off shore. Looking landward they beheld where a lady was riding by; and Cormac knew at once that it was Steingerd. He bade his men launch a boat, and rowed ashore. He went quickly from the boat, and got a horse, and rode to meet her. When they met, he leapt from horseback and helped her to alight, making a seat for her beside him on the ground.
Their horses wandered away: the day passed on, and it began to grow dark. At last Steingerd said, "It is time to look for our horses."
Little search would be needed, said Cormac; but when he looked about, they were nowhere in sight. As it happened, they were hidden in a gill not far from where the two were sitting.
So, as night was hard at hand, they set out to walk, and came to a little farm, where they were taken in and treated well, even as they needed. That night they slept each on either side of the carven wainscot that parted bed from bed: and Cormac made this song: --
(58) "We rest, O my beauty, my brightest, But a barrier lies ever between us. So fierce are the fates and so mighty -- I feel it -- that rule to their rede. Ah, nearer I would be, and nigher, Till nought should be left to dispart us, -- The wielder of Skofnung the wonder, And the wearer of sheen from the deep."
"It was better thus," said Steingerd: but he sang: --
(59) "We have slept 'neath one roof-tree -- slept softly,