For their counselling straightway she rose in the midst of them all, and she said:
‘Friends, now, an ye will, good store of gifts to the men give we,
Even such as is meet that the farers a-shipboard should bear oversea,
Even meats and the sweet strong wine, that without our towers so
They may bide, nor for need’s sake passing amidst of us to and fro {660}
May know of us all too well, and our evil report shall go
Afar, for a terrible deed have we wrought, and in no wise, I trow,
Good in their sight shall it seem, if they haply shall hear the tale.
Lo, this is our counsel, and this, meseemeth, best shall avail.
But if any amidst you hath counsel that better shall serve our need