THE LAY OF HARBARD
Thor.
13. It seems to me a foul annoyance to wade across the strait to thee, and wet my garments: but I will pay thee, mannikin! for thy sharp speeches, if o'er the sound I come.
Harbard.
14. Here will I stand, and here await thee. Thou wilt have found no stouter one since Hrungnir's death.
Thor.
15. Thou now remindest me how I with Hrungnir fought, that stout-hearted Jotun, whose head was all of stone; yet I made him fall, and sink before me. What meanwhile didst thou, Harbard?
Harbard.
16. I was with Fiolvari five winters through, in the isle which Algron hight. There we could fight, and slaughter make, many perils prove, indulge in love.
Thor.
17. How did your women prove towards you?
Harbard.
18. Sprightly women we had, had they but been meek; shrewd ones we had, had they but been kind. Of sand a rope they twisted, and from the deep valley dug the earth: to them all I alone was superior in cunning. I rested with the sisters seven, and their love and pleasures shared. What meanwhile didst thou, Thor?
65
