Frida. What if the earth should open up right here where we are sitting?
Rannveig. It won't. Who told you that it might?
Frida. Jakobina said so.
Rannveig. You must not listen to all she says; she talks so much.
Jakobina. I say nothing but what is true. At the time of the last great earthquake the ground cracked and made a fissure many miles long; I saw it myself. The earth opened her mouth to breathe.
Einar (to Frida). Don't be afraid. I have a black lamb—do you remember it?—with white feet. When I get it home in the fall, I will give it to you.
Jakobina (facing the "hraun"). Not one of you knows the hraun as I do. Can you tell me why the hollows out there are never filled with snow? Have you ever seen the snow falling fast enough to cover even the rims around them? It's the earth blowing her breath against it. The earth sets traps for men; the earth is a man-eater.
Jorunn (to Jakobina). You must not frighten the child.
(Silence.)
Sveinungi. Wasn't it you, Jakobina, who said that sometimes blood comes on the window-panes? It bodes ill, they say.