ng, and he thought it well to
go and speak with him. Then he and I must part, and that was hard.

"Now must you go your own way, son Ranald, for Harald is too strong
for us. Maybe that is best for you, for here shall I bide in peace
in Orkney; and that is not a life for a king's son--to sit at a
jarl's table in idleness, or fight petty fights for scatt
withholden and the like. Better for you the wide seas and the lands
where you may make a name, and maybe a kingdom, for yourself. Yet I
shall miss you sorely."

So he said, and I knew that he was right. Maybe the spirit of the
sword I had won got hold of me, as they say will happen; for I had
waxed restless of late, and I had tried to keep it from Einar. Now
I hated myself for it, seeing at hand what I had longed for.

So he went north to meet Harald, and of our parting I will not say
more. I could not then tell that I should not see him again, and
that was well: but I know that when I saw the last flicker of his
sails against the sky, I felt more lonely even than at the
graveside in Southmere.

Yet I was in no worse case than were many nobly-born men at that
time; for whosoever would not bow to Harald and his new laws must
leave Norway, and her bravest were seeking new homes everywhere.
Some had gone to far-off Iceland, and some to East Anglia; some to
the Greek emperor, or Gardariki, and more yet to Ireland. But the
greatest viking of all, Rolf, the son of Rognvald, Einar's young
brother, had gone to France or England, with a mighty following;
for Harald had outlawed him among the first who broke his law by
plundering on the Norway coasts. A good law it was, but it was new,
and so went against the grain at first. Rolf had sworn to make a
new kingdom for himself, and why should not I do the same?

So when I was in the open sea again, with all the world before me,
as the long sea-miles passed I grew lighthearted, and many were the
thoughts of great deeds to come that filled my mind.

Chapter III. Odda, the Ealdorman of Devon.

Now I steered eastward from Sutherland, and sailed down the east
coasts of Scotland and England; and there is nothing to say about
such a cruise, that had nought more wonderful in it than the
scaring of the folk when we put in for food. I had made up my mind
to go to Ireland for the winter, where, as every Northman knew,
there were kingdoms to be won--having no wish to be Rolf's
follower, seeing he was but a jarl's son; and finding th