The sorceress uttered a loud cry, which, despite his courage and his natural strong sense, thrilled through the Earl’s heart to his marrow and bones, so appalling was it with wrath and terror; and while she gazed aghast on the blazing letters, she burst forth:
“No warrior art thou,
And no child of the tomb;
I know thee, and shudder,
Great Asa of Doom.
Thou constrainest my lips
And thou crushest my spell;
Bright Son of the Giant
Dark Father of Hell!” [183]
The whole form of the Morthwyrtha then became convulsed and agitated, as if with the tempest of frenzy; the foam gathered to her lips, and her voice rang forth like a shriek:
“In the Iron Wood rages
The Weaver of Harm,
The giant Blood-drinker
Hag-born MANAGARM. [184]
A keel nears the shoal;
From the slime and the mud
Crawl the newt and the adder,
The spawn the of flood.
Thou stand’st on the rock
Where the dreamer beheld thee.
O soul, spread thy wings,
Ere the glamour hath spell’d thee.
O, dread is the tempter,
And strong the control;
But conquer’d the tempter,
If firm be the soul”
The Vala paused; and though it was evident that in her frenzy she was still unconscious of Harold’s presence, and seemed but to be the compelled and passive voice to some Power, real or imaginary, beyond her own existence, the proud man approached, and said:
“Firm shall be my soul, nor of the dangers which beset it would I ask the dead or the living. If plain answers to mortal sense can come from these airy shadows or these mystic charms, reply, O interpreter of fate; reply but to the questions I demand. If I go to the court of the Norman, shall I return unscathed?”
The Vala stood rigid as a shape of stone while Harold thus spoke; and her voice came so low and strange as if forced from her scarce-moving lips:
“Thou shalt return unscathed.”
“Shall the hostages of Godwin, my father, be released”
“The hostages of Godwin shall be released,” answered the same voice; “the hostages of Harold be retained.”