I trow thou canst; how else didst thou lure Sigurd to thee?
Dagny.
Thy speech is shameful; let me go!
Hiördis.
[Holding her back.] Because I jest! Nay, hear me to the end! Think, Dagny, what it is to sit by the window in the eventide and hear the kelpie[[12]] wailing in the boat-house; to sit waiting and listening for the dead men’s ride to Valhal; for their way lies past us here in the north. They are the brave men that fell in fight, the strong women that did not drag out their lives tamely, like thee and me; they sweep through the air in cloud-rack and storm, on their black horses, with jangling bells! [Embraces Dagny, and presses her wildly in her arms.] Ha, Dagny! think of riding the last ride on so rare a steed!
Dagny.
[Struggling to escape.] Hiördis, Hiördis! Let me go! I will not hear thee!
Hiördis.
[Laughing.] Weak art thou of heart, and easily affrighted.
Gunnar enters from the back, with Sigurd and Thorolf.