Sølvi. I don't know how wise she is, but I do know of people who go through life as if they were blind. They may have been living in the same place all their lives, and yet they have never seen the landscape they live with—neither its beauty nor its peculiar character.
Sveinungi. They haven't? (Points toward the "hraun.") I have been out there in a snowstorm so heavy that I could scarcely see a hand before me, and shall I tell you how I found my way? I knew where I was by feeling before me with my hands. (Laughs.) No, I have never seen the hraun!
Sølvi. I did not say that you were among the blind, and I am sure you are human enough not to force your daughter to marry against her will. It would not give you much joy to feel that you had made her unhappy for her whole life. If you think you do not know me well enough, you can find out all you wish from myself or from others.
Sveinungi. I have no desire to learn anything about you, and you need not worry about my daughter. She will stay here with me.
Sølvi. Ljot is not a child any longer. She can decide for herself.
Sveinungi. Perhaps you think she can't live without you. (To Ljot.) If you care as much for him as he imagines, I will let you prove it. I will let you choose between him and me. If you choose him, then I have no daughter any more.
Ljot. You don't mean to force me to such a choice!
Sveinungi. Can you for a single moment be in doubt about whom to choose of us two—him or your old father?
Ljot (kneeling). He is so unutterably dear to me.
Sveinungi. Get up! I don't want to see you lying like a dog at my feet.