By the nine gods it swore
That Elfrida of Arden
Should be shut up no more.
By the nine gods it swore it
And named a convenient time, no doubt,
And bade its messengers ride forth
East and West, South and North,
To let Elfrida out.’”
But when she said it aloud nothing happened. “I wonder,” said Elfrida, “whether it’s because we quarrelled, or because it just says he let me out and doesn’t ask him to, or because I had to say Elfrida, to make it sound right, or because it’s such dreadful nonsense. I’ll try again.”
She tried again. This time she got—