GUNNAR
And I've not yet used up (thrusting again) all my hands.
(As he thrusts another man rises a little farther back, and leaps past him into the loft. Others follow, and GUNNAR is soon surrounded by many armed men, so that only the rising and falling of his bill is seen.)
The threshing-floor is full…. Up, up, brain-biter!
We work too late to-night—up, open the husks.
Oh, smite and pulse
On their anvil heads:
The smithy is full,
There are shoes to be made
For the hoofs of the steeds
Of the Valkyr girls….
FIRST MAN
Hack through the shaft….
SECOND MAN
Receive the blade
In the breast of a shield,
And wrench it round….
GUNNAR
For the hoofs of the steeds
Of the Valkyr girls
Who race up the night
To be first at our feast,
First in the play
With immortal spears
In deadly holes….
THIRD MAN
Try at his back….
MANY VOICES (shouting in confusion)
Have him down…. Heels on the bill…. Ahui, ahui….
(The bill does not rise.)
HROALD (with the breaking voice of a young man, high over all)
Father…. It is my blow…. It is I who kill him.