the time has now come when we must bid you farewell, for
we are not allowed to stay with you any longer. We are Norns--or, as
some call us, Valkyrie. Nine years of joy are granted to us, but these
are paid for by nine years during which we hover round the combatants
on every field of battle. But bear your souls in patience, for on
earth all things have an end, and in nine years we will return to be
your wives as before.'

'But we shall be getting old then,' answered the brothers, 'and you
will have forgotten us. Stay now, we pray you, for we love you well.'

'_We_ are not mortals to grow old,' said the Norns, 'and true love
does not grow old either. Still, we do not wish you to fall sick with
grieving, so we leave you these three keys, with which you may open
the mountain, and busy yourselves by digging out the treasures it
contains. By the time the nine years are over you will have become
rich men, and men of renown.' So they laid down the keys and vanished.

For a long while the young men only left their houses to seek for
food, so dreary had the Valley of Wolves become. At last Slagfid and
Eigil could bear it no longer, and declared they would travel through
the whole world till they found their wives; but Wayland, the
youngest, determined to stay at home.

'You would do much better to remain where you are,' said he. 'You do
not know in which direction to look for them, and it is useless to
seek on earth for those who fly through the air. You will only lose
yourselves, and starve, and when the nine years are ended who can tell
where you may be?'

But his words fell on deaf ears; for Slagfid and Eigil merely filled
their wallets with food and their horns with drink, and prepared to
take leave of their brother. Wayland embraced them weeping, for he
feared that he would never more see them, and once again he implored
them to give up their quest. Slagfid and Eigil only shook their heads.
'We have no rest, night or day, without them,' they said, and they
begged him to look after their property till they came back again.

Wayland saw that more words would be wasted, so he walked with them to
the edge of the forest, where their ways would part. Then Slagfid
said, 'Our fathers, when they went a journey, left behind them a token
by which it might be known whether they were dead or alive, and I will
do so also.' So he stamped heavily on the soft ground, and added, 'As
long as this footmark remains sharp and clear, I sha