ry of his visit
to the mountain and the loss of his followers. 'It would be a small
punishment to put him to death,' he said, 'for to so wretched a
cripple death would be welcome. He may use the gold that is left, but
henceforth he shall only have one eye to work with,' and the Princess
came forward and carried out the cruel sentence herself. And Wayland
bore it all, saying nothing, but praying the gods to grant him
vengeance.

One night Wayland sat filled with grief and despair at his window,
looking out over the sea, when he caught sight of two red lights,
bobbing in his direction. He watched them curiously till they vanished
beneath the tower; and soon the key of the outer door turned, and two
men, whom he knew to be the King's sons, Gram and Skule, talked softly
together. He kept very still, so that they might think he was asleep,
and he heard Skule say: 'Let us first get the golden key from him, and
when we have taken from the chest as much as we can carry we will put
him to death, lest he should betray us to our father.' Then Wayland
took a large sword which lay by his side and hid it behind his seat,
and he had scarcely done so when the princes entered the prison. 'Good
greeting to you,' said Gram. 'Nidud our father has gone a journey into
the country, and as he is so greedy of wealth that he will give us
none, we have come here to get it for ourselves. Hand us the key and
swear not to tell our father, or you shall die.'

'My good lords,' answered Wayland, 'your request is reasonable, and I
am not so foolish as to refuse it. Here is the key, and in the name of
the gods I will swear not to betray you.'

The brothers took the key, and opened the chest that stood by Wayland,
which was still half full of gold. It dazzled their eyes, and they
both stooped down so as to see it better. This was what Wayland had
waited for, and, seizing his sword, he cut off their heads, which fell
into the chest. He then shut down the lid, and dug a grave for the
bodies in the floor of his dungeon. Afterwards he dried the skulls in
the sun, and made them into two drinking cups wrought with gold. The
eyes he set with precious stones and fashioned into armlets, while the
teeth he filed till they were shaped like pearls, and strung like a
necklace.

As soon as the King came back from his journey he paid a visit to
Wayland, who produced the drinking cups, which he said were made of
some curious shells washed up in a gale close to his w