e when the breath left
his limbs, or what reward was earned by zealous adoration of the gods.

While he was thus inclined, certain men who wished ill to Thorkill
came and told Gorm that it was needful to consult the gods, and that
assurance about so great a matter must be sought of the oracles of
heaven, since it was too deep for human wit and hard for mortals to
discover.

Therefore, they said, Utgarda-Loki must be appeased, and no man
would accomplish this more fitly than Thorkill. Others, again, laid
information against him as guilty of treachery and an enemy of the
king's life. Thorkill, seeing himself doomed to extreme peril, demanded
that his accusers should share his journey. Then they who had aspersed
an innocent man saw that the peril they had designed against the life of
another had recoiled upon themselves, and tried to take back their plan.
But vainly did they pester the ears of the king; he forced them to sail
under the command of Thorkill, and even upbraided them with cowardice.
Thus, when a mischief is designed against another, it is commonly sure
to strike home to its author. And when these men saw that they were
constrained, and could not possibly avoid the peril, they covered their
ship with ox-hides, and filled it with abundant store of provision.

In this ship they sailed away, and came to a sunless land, which knew
not the stars, was void of daylight, and seemed to overshadow them with
eternal night. Long they sailed under this strange sky; at last their
timber fell short, and they lacked fuel; and, having no place to boil
their meat in, they staved off their hunger with raw viands. But most of
those who ate contracted extreme disease, being glutted with undigested
food. For the unusual diet first made a faintness steal gradually
upon their stomachs; then the infection spread further, and the malady
reached the vital parts. Thus there was danger in either extreme, which
made it hurtful not to eat, and perilous to indulge; for it was found
both unsafe to feed and bad for them to abstain. Then, when they were
beginning to be in utter despair, a gleam of unexpected help relieved
them, even as the string breaks most easily when it is stretched
tightest. For suddenly the weary men saw the twinkle of a fire at no
great distance, and conceived a hope of prolonging their lives. Thorkill
thought this fire a heaven-sent relief, and resolved to go and take some
of it.

To be surer of getting back to his fr