d Haarfager's face!"

Glumm sat down with the prompt decision of a man who has thoroughly
delivered himself of all that he intends to say; and many in the
assembly testified their approval of his sentiments.

At this point Ivor the Old arose and gave it as his opinion that the
sooner the King should be brought off his high horse the better;
whereupon Finn the One-eyed suggested, with a laugh, that the old hermit
should be sent with his bow and arrow to teach him due submission to the
laws. Then there was a good deal of confused, and not a little
passionate discussion, which waxed louder and more vehement until
Guttorm Stoutheart stood up, and, although not a dalesman, requested the
attention of the assembly for a few minutes.

"It is obvious," he said in the hearty tones of a man who knows that he
is sure of carrying a large portion of his audience along with him--"it
is obvious that you are all pretty much of one mind as to the principle
on which we should act at this time; and my good friend Haldor the
Fierce (who seems of late to have changed his nature, and should,
methinks, in future, be styled Haldor the Mild) is evidently on the
losing side. The only thing that concerns us, it seems to me, is the
manner in which we shall convey our opinion to the King--how we shall
best, as the scald says:--

"`Whisper in the King's unwilling ear
That which is wholesome but unsweet to hear.'

"Now, to the quick-witted among you various methods will doubtless have
already been suggested; and I am perchance only echoing the sentiments
of many here, when I say that it would be worthy of the men of
Horlingdal that they should fight the King at once, and put a stop to
the burnings, hangings, torturings, jarl-makings, and subduings of which
he has been so guilty of late, and which I confess is so unlike his
free, generous, manly character, that I have found it hard to believe
the reports which have reached my ears, and which, after all, can only
be accounted for by the fact that he is at present led by the nose by
that worst of all creatures, a proud imperious girl, who has the
passions of a warrior and the brains of a bairn! Another method, which
would signify at least our contempt for Harald's principles, would be
the sending of a thrall to him with a reaping-hook, and a request that
he would cut off his own head and give it to us in token that, having
ceased to be a king, he is resolved no longer to continue to be a
dis