GUNNAR. Dark are the ways of the Mighty Ones;—neither thou nor I
know aught of them.
HIORDIS. Yet one thing I know surely: that to both of us must
Sigurd's life be baleful.
(A pause; GUNNAR stands lost in thought.)
HIORDIS (who has been silently watching him). Of what thinkest thou?
GUNNAR. Of a dream I had of late. Methought I had done the deed thou cravest; Sigurd lay slain on the earth; thou didst stand beside him, and thy face was wondrous pale. Then said I: "Art thou glad, now that I have done thy will?" But thou didst laugh and answer: "Blither were I didst thou, Gunnar, lie there in Sigurd's stead."
HIORDIS (with forced laughter). Ill must thou know me if such a senseless dream can make thee hold thy hand.
GUNNAR. Hm!—Tell me, Hiordis, what thinkest thou of this hall?
HIORDIS. To speak truly, Gunnar,—it sometimes seems to me to be straitened.
GUNNAR. Ay, ay, so I have thought; we are one too many.
HIORDIS. Two, mayhap.