Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen (52 page)

Dagny
[deeply moved]
. No, no!

Hiördis. Hast thou, then, been faint of heart, so that Sigurd has been put to shame?

Dagny
[overpowered]
. Hiördis, Hiördis!

Hiördis
[smiling scornfully]
. Yet thy lot has been a happy one all these years; — think’st thou that Sigurd can say the same?

Dagny. Torture me not. Woe is me! thou hast made me see myself too clearly.

Hiördis. A jesting word, and at once thou art in tears! Think no more of it. Look what I have done today.
[Takes some arrows from the table.]
Are they not keen and biting — feel! I know well how to sharpen arrows, do I not?

Dagny. And to use them too; thou strikest surely, Hiördis! All that thou hast said to me — I have never thought of before.
[More vehemently.]
But that Sigurd —— ! That for all these years I should have made his life heavy and unhonoured; — no, no, it cannot be true!

Hiördis. Nay now, comfort thee, Dagny; indeed it is not true. Were Sigurd of the same mind as in former days, it might be true enough; for then was his whole soul bent on being the foremost man in the land; — now he is content with a lowlier lot.

Dagny. No, Hiördis; Sigurd is high-minded now as ever; I see it well, I am not the right mate for him. He has hidden it from me; but it shall be so no longer.

Hiördis. What wilt thou do?

Dagny. I will no longer hang like a clog upon his feet; I will be a hindrance to him no longer.

Hiördis. Then thou wilt —— ?

Dagny. Peace; some one comes!

[A House-carl enters from the back.]

The Carl. Sigurd Viking is coming to the hall.

Hiördis. Sigurd! Then call Gunnar hither.

The Carl. Gunnar has ridden forth to gather his neighbours together; for Kåre the Peasant would ——

Hiördis. Good, good, I know it; go!
[The Carl goes. To Dagny, who is also going.]
Whither wilt thou?

Dagny. I will not meet Sigurd. Too well I feel that we must part; but to meet him now — no, no, I cannot!

[Goes out to the left.]

Hiördis
[looks after her in silence for a moment]
. And it was she I would have ——
[completes her thought by a glance at the bow-string]
. That would have been a poor revenge; — nay, I have cut deeper now! Hm; it is hard to die, but sometimes it is harder still to live!

[Sigurd enters from the back.]

Hiördis. Doubtless thou seekest Gunnar; be seated, he will be here even now.

[Is going.]

Sigurd. Nay, stay; it is thee I seek, rather than him.

Hiördis. Me?

Sigurd. And ‘tis well I find thee alone.

Hiördis. If thou comest to mock me, it would sure be no hindrance to thee though the hall were full of men and women.

Sigurd. Ay, ay, well I know what thoughts thou hast of me.

Hiördis
[bitterly]
. I do thee wrong mayhap! Nay, nay, Sigurd, thou hast been as a poison to all my days. Bethink thee who it was that wrought that shameful guile; who it was that lay by my side in the bower, feigning love with the laugh of cunning in his heart; who it was that flung me forth to Gunnar, since for him I was good enough, forsooth — and then sailed away with the woman he held dear!

Sigurd. Man’s will can do this and that; but fate rules in the deeds that shape our lives — so has it gone with us twain.

Hiördis. True enough; evil Norns hold sway over the world; but their might is little if they find not helpers in our own heart. Happy is he who has strength to battle with the Norn — and it is that I have now in hand.

Sigurd. What mean’st thou?

Hiördis. I will essay a trial of strength against those — those who are over me. But let us not talk more of this; I have much to do today.
[She seats herself at the table.]

Sigurd
[after a pause]
. Thou makest good weapons for Gunnar.

Hiördis
[with a quiet smile]
. Not for Gunnar, but against thee.

Sigurd. Most like it is the same thing.

Hiördis. Ay, most like it is; for if I be a match for the Norn, then sooner or later shalt thou and Gunnar ——
[breaks off, leans backwards against the table, and says with an altered ring in her voice:]
Hm; knowest thou what I sometimes dream? I have often made it my pastime to limn pleasant pictures in my mind; I sit and close my eyes and think: Now comes Sigurd the Strong to the isle; — he will burn us in our house, me and my husband. All Gunnar’s men have fallen; only he and I are left; they set light to the roof from without:—”A bow-shot,” cries Gunnar, “one bow-shot may save us;” — then the bow-string breaks—”Hiördis, cut a tress of thy hair and make a bow-string of it, — our life is at stake.” But then I laugh—”Let it burn, let it burn — to me, life is not worth a handful of hair!”

Sigurd. There is a strange might in all thy speech.
[Approaches her.]

Hiördis
[looks coldly at him]
. Wouldst sit beside me?

Sigurd. Thou deemest my heart is bitter towards thee. Hiördis, this is the last time we shall have speech together; there is something that gnaws me like a sore sickness, and thus I cannot part from thee; thou must know me better.

Hiördis. What wouldst thou?

Sigurd. Tell thee a saga.

Hiördis. Is it sad?

Sigurd. Sad, as life itself.

Hiördis
[bitterly]
. What knowest thou of the sadness of life?

Sigurd. Judge when my saga is over.

Hiördis. Then tell it me; I shall work the while.

[He sits on a low stool to her right.]

Sigurd. Once upon a time there were two young vikings, who set forth from Norway to win wealth and honour; they had sworn each other friendship; and held truly together, how far soever thy might fare.

Hiördis. And the two young vikings hight Sigurd and Gunnar?

Sigurd. Ay, we may call them so. At last they came to Iceland; and there dwelt an old chieftain, who had come forth from Norway in King Harald’s days. He had two fair women in his house; but one, his foster-daughter, was the noblest, for she was wise and strong of soul; and the vikings spoke of her between themselves, and never had they seen a fairer woman, so deemed they both.

Hiördis
[in suspense]
. Both? Wilt thou mock me?

Sigurd. Gunnar thought of her night and day, and that did Sigurd no less; but both held their peace, and no man could say from her bearing whether Gunnar found favour in her eyes; but that Sigurd misliked her, that was easy to discern.

Hiördis
[breathlessly]
. Go on, go on —— !

Sigurd. Yet ever the more must Sigurd dream of her; but of that wist no man. Now it befell one evening that there was a drinking-feast; and then swore that proud woman that no man should possess her save he who wrought a mighty deed, which she named. High beat Sigurd’s heart for joy; for he felt within him the strength to do that deed; but Gunnar took him apart and told him of his love; — Sigurd said naught of his, but went to the ——

Hiördis
[vehemently]
. Sigurd, Sigurd!
[Controlling herself.]
And this saga — is it true?

Sigurd. True it is. One of us had to yield; Gunnar was my friend; I could do aught else. So thou becamest Gunnar’s wife, and I wedded another woman.

Hiördis. And came to love her!

Sigurd. I learned to prize her; but one woman only has Sigurd loved, and that is she who frowned upon him from the first day they met. Here ends my saga; and now let us part. — Farewell, Gunnar’s wife; never shall we meet again.

Hiördis
[springing up]
. Stay, stay! Woe to us both; Sigurd, what hast thou done?

Sigurd
[starting]
. I, done? What ails thee?

Hiördis. And all this dost thou tell me now! But no — it cannot be true!

Sigurd. These are my last words to thee, and every word is true. I would not thou shouldst think hardly of me, therefore I needs must speak.

Hiördis
[involuntarily clasps her hands together and gazes at him in voiceless astonishment]
. Loved — loved me — thou!
[Vehemently, coming close up to him.]
I will not believe thee!
[Looks hard at him.]
Yes, it is true, and — baleful for us both!

[Hides her face in her hands, and turns away from him.]

Sigurd
[terror-stricken]
. Hiördis!

Hiördis
[softly, struggling with tears and laughter]
. Nay, heed me not! This was all I meant, that ——
[Lays her hand on his arm.]
Sigurd, thou hast not told thy saga to the end; that proud woman thou didst tell of — she returned thy love!

Sigurd
[starts backwards]
. Thou?

Hiördis
[with composure]
. Yes, Sigurd, I have loved thee, at last I understand it. Thou sayest I was ungentle and short of speech towards thee; what wouldst thou have a woman do? I could not offer thee my love, for then had I been little worthy of thee. I deemed thee ever the noblest man of men; and then to know thee another’s husband—’twas that caused me the bitter pain, that myself I could not understand!

Sigurd
[much moved]
. A baleful web has the Norn woven around us twain.

Hiördis. The blame is thine own; bravely and firmly it becomes a man to act. When I set that hard proof for him who should win me, my thought was of thee; — yet could’st thou —— !

Sigurd. I knew Gunnar’s soul-sickness; I alone could heal it; — was there aught for me to choose? And yet, had I known what I now know, I scarce dare answer for myself; for great is the might of love.

Hiördis
[with animation]
. But now, Sigurd! — A baleful hap has held us apart all these years; now the knot is loosed; the days to come shall make good the past to us.

Sigurd
[shaking his head]
. It cannot be; we must part again.

Hiördis. Nay, we must not. I love thee, that may I now say unashamed; for my love is no mere dalliance, like a weak woman’s; were I a man — by all the Mighty Ones, I could still love thee, even as now I do! Up then, Sigurd! Happiness is worth a daring deed; we are both free if we but will it, and then the game is won.

Sigurd. Free? What meanest thou?

Hiördis. What is Dagny to thee? What can she be to thee? No more than I count Gunnar in my secret heart. What matters it though two worthless lives be wrecked?

Sigurd. Hiördis, Hiördis!

Hiördis. Let Gunnar stay where he is; let Dagny fare with her father to Iceland; I will follow thee in harness of steel, withersoever thou wendest.
[Sigurd makes a movement.]
Not as thy wife will I follow thee; for I have belonged to another, and the woman lives that has lain by thy side. No, Sigurd, not as they wife, but like those mighty women, like Hilde’s sisters,
⁸
will I follow thee, and fire thee to strife and to manly deeds, so that thy name shall be heard over every land. In the sword-game will I stand by thy side; I will fare forth among thy warriors on the stormy viking-raids; and when the death-song is sung, it shall tell of Sigurd and Hiördis in one!

⁸
The Valkyries.

Sigurd. Once was that my fairest dream; now, it is too late. Gunnar and Dagny stand between us, and that by right. I crushed my love for Gunnar’s sake; — how great soever my suffering, I cannot undo my deed. And Dagny — full of faith and trust she left her home and kindred; never must she dream that I longed for Hiördis as often as she took me to her breast.

Hiördis. And for such a cause wilt thou lay a burden on thy life! To what end hast thou strength and might, and therewith all noble gifts of the mind? And deemest thou it can now beseem me to dwell beneath Gunnar’s roof? Nay, Sigurd, trust me, there are many tasks awaiting such a man as thou. Erik is king of Norway — do thou rise against him! Many goodly warriors will join thee and swear thee fealty; with unconquerable might will we press onward, and fight and toil unresting until thou art seated on the throne of Harfager!