ould I not do likewise? (_Leads him out_.) Wait here in that corner; I
shall spare you.

_Asbjorn_ (_comes in hurriedly_).--Are you in danger, lady?

_Helga_.--No. A man's life was given me which I did not wish to take,
though.

_Asbjorn_.--I feared it might be some attack by Broddi and his men.

_Helga_.--Broddi will soon become peacefully inclined. (_Enter_ KOLBEIN
THE YOUNG, BISHOP BOTOLF _in his pontifical robes_, HAF, _and_ SALVOR,
_bearing two big, stout tapers which are lit. The hall becomes half
filled with armed men_.)

_Botolf_.--Pax tecum, filia!

_Helga_ (_bows before the bishop and leads him to the higher seat of
honor_).--Be seated on this higher seat of honor this evening, my
lord. To-morrow an army of my husband's will accompany you to Holar
and re-establish you in your see, as soon as we shall have driven from
thence Broddi's and Brand's troop of rebels.

_Botolf_.--A captive bishop is content to be seated on the lower high
seat, my daughter!

_Helga_.--As you wish, my lord. (_Leads him to the lower seat of honor,
where he is seated_. SALVOR _moves the table to the lower high seat and
puts the tapers upon it. Most of the men are sitting; drink-horns and
ale are brought in_.)

_Kolbein_ (_is given a drinking-horn_, BOTOLF _another, from whom they
are passed on from man to man_. KOLBEIN _seats himself on the higher
seat of honor_).--There is courage in our men; they all are minded to do
battle in order to be rid of that horde of rebels.

_Botolf_.--You take much power upon yourself, Kolbein, to begin war and
kill so many men without law and its decrees.

_Kolbein_.--Why do you speak thus, my lord? You freed the slayers of
Thorolf from the interdict; and yet they slew him without the law and
its decrees.

_Botolf_.--It is a labor of love for the Holy Church to pardon the
guilty. We do it for God's sake.

_Kolbein_.--And it is the task of chieftains to administer the laws
themselves, and to begin hostilities in order to make others submit to
their will.

(_The horns pass around until_ HAF _has finished reciting his lay_.)

_Botolf_.--An ill task and a disastrous one. To me it seems that
parliament ought to administer the laws and pronounce judgment according
to them.

_Kolbein_.--We chieftains have all power over law and decrees in
parliament. It would only delay sentence to seek a decision there.

_Botolf_.--It has come to my ears that Brand Kolbeinsson owns by rights
the greater par