favorable issue, and I shall reward thee to the full of my friendship, if
I am successful. It may be that Thorbiorn will regard the connection as
being to our mutual advantage, for [while] he is a most honorable man and
has a goodly home, his personal effects, I am told, are somewhat on the
wane; but neither I nor my father are lacking in lands or chattels, and
Thorbiorn would be greatly aided thereby, if this match should be brought
about." "Surely I believe myself to be thy friend," replies Orm, "and yet
I am by no means disposed to act in this matter, for Thorbiorn hath a
very haughty spirit, and is moreover a most ambitious man." Einar replied
that he wished for nought else than that his suit should be broached; Orm
replied, that he should have his will. Einar fared again to the South
until he reached his home. Sometime after this, Thorbiorn had an autumn
feast, as was his custom, for he was a man of high position. Hither came
Orm of Arnarstapi, and many other of Thorbiorn's friends. Orm came to
speech with Thorbiorn, and said, that Einar of Thorgeirsfell had visited
him not long before, and that he was become a very promising man. Orm now
makes known the proposal of marriage in Einar's behalf, and added that
for some persons and for some reasons it might be regarded as a very
appropriate match: "thou mayest greatly strengthen thyself thereby,
master, by reason of the property." Thorbiorn answers: "Little did I
expect to hear such words from thee, that I should marry my daughter to
the son of a thrall; and that, because it seems to thee that my means are
diminishing, wherefore she shall not remain longer with thee since thou
deemest so mean a match as this suitable for her." Orm afterward returned
to his home, and all of the invited guests to their respective
households, while Gudrid remained behind with her father, and tarried at
home that winter. But in the spring Thorbiorn gave an entertainment to
his friends, to which many came, and it was a noble feast, and at the
banquet Thorbiorn called for silence, and spoke: "Here have I passed a
goodly lifetime, and have experienced the good-will of men toward me, and
their affection; and, methinks, our relations together have been
pleasant; but now I begin to find myself in straitened circumstances,
although my estate has hitherto been accounted a respectable one. Now
will I rather abandon my farming, than lose my honor, and rather leave
the country, than bring disgrace up