then the women bethought them, and they spake a word or two together, and then they sundered and went one this way and one that, to gather together the warriors of the raven who were a-field, or on the way, nigh unto the house, that they might follow hallblithe down to the sea-shore and help him; after a while they came back again by one and two and three, bringing with them the wrathful young men; and when there was upward of a score gathered in the garth armed and horsed, they rode their ways to the sea, being minded to thrust a long-ship of the ravens out over the rollers into the sea, and follow the strong-thieves of the waters and bring a-back the hostage, so that they might end the sorrow at once, and establish joy once more in the house of the raven and the house of the rose. but they had with them three lads of fifteen winters or thereabouts to lead their horses back home again, when they should have gone up on to the horse of the brine.

thus then they departed, and the maidens stood in the garth-gate till they lost sight of them behind the sandhills, and then turned back sorrowfully into the house, and sat there talking low of their sorrow. and many a time they had to tell their tale anew, as folk came into the hall one after another from field and fell. but the young men came down to the sea, and found hallblithe’s black horse straying about amongst the tamarisk-bushes above the beach; and they looked thence over the sand, and saw neither hallblithe nor any man: and they gazed out seaward, and saw neither ship nor sail on the barren brine. then they went down on to the sand, and sundered their fellowship, and went half one way, half the other, betwixt the sandhills and the surf, where now the tide was flowing, till the nesses of the east and the west, the horns of the bay, stayed them. then they met together again by the rollers, when the sun was within an hour of setting. there and then they laid hand to that ship which is called the seamew, and they ran her down over the rollers into the waves, and leapt aboard and hoisted sail, and ran out the oars and put to sea; and a little wind was blowing seaward from the gates of the mountains behind them.

so they quartered the sea-plain, as the kestrel doth the water-meadows, till the night fell on them, and was cloudy, though whiles the wading moon shone out; and they had seen nothing, neither sail nor ship, nor aught else on the barren brine, save the washing of waves and the hovering of sea-fowl. so they lay-to outside the horns of the bay and awaited the dawning. and when morning was come they made way again, and searched the sea, and sailed to the out-skerries, and searched them with care; then they sailed into the main and fared hither and thither and up and down: and this they did for eight days, and in all that time they saw no ship nor sail, save three barks of the fish-biters nigh to the skerry which is called mew-stone.

so they fared home to the raven bay, and laid their keel on the rollers, and so went their ways sadly, home to the house of the raven: and they deemed that for this time they could do no more in seeking their valiant kinsman and his fair damsel. and they were very sorry; for these two were well-beloved of all men. but since they might not amend it, they abode in peace, awaiting what the change of days might bring them.

chapter iv: now hallblithe taketh the sea

now must it be told of hallblithe that he rode fiercely down to the sea-shore, and from the top of the beach he gazed about him, and there below him was the ship-stead and rollers of his kindred, whereon lay the three long-ships, the seamew, and the osprey and the erne. heavy and huge they seemed to him as they lay there, black-sided, icy-cold with the washing of the march waves, their golden dragon-heads looking seaward wistfully. but first had he looked out into the offing, and it was only when he had let his eyes come back from where the sea and sky met, and they had beheld nothing but the waste of waters, that he beheld the ship-stead closely; and therewith he saw where a little to the west of it lay a skiff, which the low wave of the tide lifted and let fall from time to time. it had a mast, and a black sail hoisted thereon and flapping with slackened sheet. a man sat in the boat clad in black raiment, and the sun smote a gleam from the helm on his head. then hallblithe leapt off his horse, and strode down the sands shouldering his spear; and when he came near to the man in the boat he poised his spear and shook it and cried out: “man, art thou friend or foe?”

said the man: “thou art a fair young man: but there is grief in thy voice along with wrath. cast not till thou hast heard me, and mayst deem whether i may do aught to heal thy grief.”

“what mayst thou do?” said hallblithe; “art thou not a robber of the sea, a harrier of the folks that dwell in peace?”

the man laughed: “yea,” said he, “my craft is thieving and carrying off the daughters of folk, so that we may have a ransom for them. wilt thou come over the waters with me?”

hallblithe said wrathfully:

“nay, rather, come thou ashore here! thou seemest a big man, and belike shall be good of thine hands. come and fight with me; and then he of us who is vanquished, if he be unslain, shall serve the other for a year, and then shalt thou do my business in the ransoming.”

the man in the boat laughed again, and that so scornfully that he angered hallblithe beyond measure: then he arose in the boat and stood on his feet swaying from side to side as he laughed. he was passing big, long-armed and big-headed, and long hair came from under his helm like the tail of a red horse; his eyes were grey and gleaming, and his mouth wide.

in a while he stayed his laughter and said: “o warrior of the raven, this were a simple game for thee to play; though it is not far from my mind, for fighting when i needs must win is no dull work. look you, if i slay or vanquish thee, then all is said; and if by some chance stroke thou slayest me, then is thine only helper in this matter gone from thee. now to be short, i bid thee come aboard to me if thou wouldst ever hear another word of thy damsel betrothed. and moreover this need not hinder thee to fight with me if thou hast a mind to it thereafter; for we shall soon come to a land big enough for two to stand on. or if thou listest to fight in a boat rocking on the waves, i see not but there may be manhood in that also.”

now was the hot wrath somewhat run off hallblithe, nor durst he lose any chance to hear a word of his beloved; so he said: “big man, i will come aboard. but look thou to it, if thou hast a mind to bewray me; for the sons of the raven die hard.”

“well,” said the big man, “i have heard that their minstrels are of many words, and think that they have tales to tell. come aboard and loiter not.” then hallblithe waded the surf and lightly strode over the gunwale of the skiff and sat him down. the big man thrust out into the deep and haled home the sheet; but there was but little wind.

then said hallblithe: “wilt thou have me row, for i wot not whitherward to steer?”

said the red carle: “maybe thou art not in a hurry; i am not: do as thou wilt.” so hallblithe took the oars and rowed mightily, while the alien steered, and they went swiftly and lightly over the sea, and the waves were little.