:--

(80)
"They came at me yonder in crowds,
O kemp of the shield-serpents' wrangle!
When I fared on my way through the flood,
That flock of the wights of the water.
And ne'er to the gate of the gods
Had I got me, if there had I perished;
Yet once and again have I won,
Little woman, thy safety in peril!"

So he swam ashore and brought Steingerd back to her husband.

Thorvald bade Steingerd to go, at last, along with Cormac, for he had
fairly won her, and manfully. That was what he, too, desired, said
Cormac; but "Nay," said Steingerd, "she would not change knives."

"Well," said Cormac, "it was plain that this was not to be. Evil
beings," he said, "ill luck, had parted them long ago." And he made this
song:--

(81)
"Nay, count not the comfort had brought me,
Fair queen of the ring, thy embrace!
Go, mate with the man of thy choosing,
Scant mirth will he get of thy grace!
Be dearer henceforth to thy dastard,
False dame of the coif, than to me;--
I have spoken the word; I have sung it;--
I have said my last farewell to thee."

And so he bade her begone with her husband.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN. The Swan-Songs of Cormac.

After these things the brothers turned back to Norway, and Thorvald the
Tinker made his way to Iceland. But the brothers went warfaring round
about Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland, and they were reckoned to
be the most famous of men. It was they who first built the castle of
Scarborough; they made raids into Scotland, and achieved many great
feats, and led a mighty host; and in all that host none was like Cormac
in strength and courage.

Once upon a time, after a battle, Cormac was driving the flying foe
before him while the rest of his host had gone back aboard ship. Out of
the woods there rushed against him one as monstrous big as an idol--a
Scot; and a fierce struggle began. Cormac felt for his sword, but it
had slipped out of the sheath; he was over-matched, for the giant was
possessed; but yet he reached out, caught his sword, and struck the
giant his death-blow. Then the giant cast his hands about Cormac, and
gripped his sides so hard that the ribs cracked, and he fell over, and
the dead giant on top of him, so that he could not stir. Far and wide
his folk were looking for him, but at last they found him and carried
him aboard ship. Then he made this song:-