when they two were alone together--

"Art thou sick at heart?"

"So it is," said Hrut, "as the saying runs--'Ill goes it with those who
are born on a barren land'."

"Wilt thou to Iceland?" she asks.

"Yes," he answered.

"Hast thou a wife out there?" she asked; and he answers, "No".

"But I am sure that is true," she says; and so they ceased talking about
the matter.

[Shortly after] Hrut went before the king and bade him "good day"; and
the king said, "What dost thou want now, Hrut?"

"I am come to ask, lord, that you give me leave to go to Iceland."

"Will thine honour be greater there than here?" asks the king.

"No, it will not," said Hrut; "but every one must win the work that is
set before him."

"It is pulling a rope against a strong man," said Gunnhillda, "so give
him leave to go as best suits him."

There was a bad harvest that year in the land, yet Gunnhillda gave Hrut