The Story of the Volsungs

CHAPTER XXXV. The Dreams of the Wives of the Giukings.

So when men had drunk their fill, they fared to sleep; then falls Kost­bera to be­hold­ing the runes, and spelling over the let­ters, and sees that be­neath were oth­er things cut, and that the runes are guile­ful, yet be­cause of her wis­dom she had skill to read them aright. So then she goes to bed by her hus­band; but when they awoke, she spake un­to Hog­ni –

“Thou art mind­ed to wend away from home — ill-​coun­selled is that; abide till an­oth­er time! Scarce a keen read­er of runes art thou, if thou deemest thou hast be­held in them the bid­ding of thy sis­ter to this jour­ney: lo, I read them the runes, and had mar­vel of so wise a wom­an as Gu­drun is, that she should have mis­cut them; but that which li­eth un­der­neath beareth your bane with it, — yea, ei­ther she lacked a let­ter, or oth­ers have dealt guile­ful­ly with the runes.

“And now hear­ken to my dream; for there­in methought there fell in up­on us here a riv­er ex­ceed­ing strong, and brake up the tim­bers of the hall.”

He an­swered, “Full oft are ye evil of mind, ye wom­en, but for me, I was not made in such wise as to meet men with evil who de­serve no evil; be­like he will give us good wel­come.”

She an­swered, “Well, the thing must ye your­selves prove, but no friend­ship fol­lows this bid­ding: — but yet again I dreamed that an­oth­er riv­er fell in here with a great and grim­ly rush, and tore up the dais of the hall, and brake the legs of both you brethren; sure­ly that be­to­keneth some­what.”

He an­swers, “Mead­ows along our way, where­as thou didst dream of the riv­er; for when we go through the mead­ows, plen­ti­ful­ly doth the seeds of the hay hang about our legs.”

“Again I dreamed,” she says, “that thy cloak was afire, and that the flame blazed up above the hall.”

Says he, “Well, I wot what that shall be­to­ken; here li­eth my fair-​dyed rai­ment, and it shall burn and blaze, where­as thou dreamedst of the cloak.”

“Methought a bear came in,” she says, “and brake up the king’s high-​seat, and shook his paws in such a wise that we were all adrad there­at, and he gat us all to­geth­er in­to the mouth of him, so that we might avail us naught, and there­of fell great hor­ror on us.”

He an­swered, “Some great storm will be­fall, where­as thou hadst a white bear in thy mind.”

“An erne methought came in,” she says, “and swept ad­own the hall, and drenched me and all of us with blood, and ill shall that be­to­ken, for methought it was the dou­ble of King Atli.”

He an­swered, “Full oft do we slaugh­ter beasts freely, and smite down great neat for our cheer, and the dream of the erne has but to do with ox­en; yea, Atli is heart-​whole to­ward us.”

And there­with­al they cease this talk.