gerish Kolbein himself is equaled in ruthless
pursuit of his own ends, but not in good fortune, by Broddi. As foils to
these larger characters stand out the mean, vengeful Einar, the brutal
Alf, the insolent but brave Thorolf. In Jorun we fancy we see the
living strength of Christian virtue and devotion opposed to the heathen
fierceness and self-seeking of Helga. Between the two parties the
bishop, whose motives and intentions are, however, not brought out with
sufficient clearness. Like the proverbial fifth wheel of a wagon he
seems out of place and embarrassing, whenever he appears--a predicament,
to be sure, which he shares with the Church itself in those times,
whenever not guided by a born ruler.

Both in poetic value and technically--excepting for the staginess of the
three meetings in the cave--the second act is the most successful of the
drama. It is, in fact, a little masterpiece. The action is impetuous,
strong, and telling. The dramatic germs potentially present in the
situation are developed here with a fine consistency. Thorolf's death
is made the central fact on which hinges the whole action of the play,
while by Brand's fatal vacillations and the insults offered to Helga by
his henchmen important tributary impulses are given toward the following
development. Unfortunately, the third act, dramatically considered, is
concerned chiefly with details. It suffers, even more than the first
act, from a certain prolixity which is not wholly made good by its
theatrically effective ending. However bright and skillfully wrought in
the incident of the fraudulent miracle, it might well be spared, with a
view for the whole. And the same is true of a considerable part of the
dialogue.

There is small doubt that the fifth act offered the greatest
difficulties to be overcome, because here the poet is face to face with
the essentially epic nature of his subject matter and was certainly
put to it to overcome this handicap. This is the state of affairs: The
enraged chieftain is prevented by his implacable wife from yielding. The
allies do all in their power to obtain peace. If Old Norse conceptions
are adhered to there is a deadlock. Now, nothing prevents the epic art
of the saga from telling, at this juncture, that forth stepped Bishop
Botolf and with threat of excommunication brought about a satisfactory
conclusion. It is different in the drama. In it the intervention of the
bishop as _deus ex machina_ is a quasi-external