"So it shall be," she answered, and sang two songs, in which she
revealed the cause of their misunderstanding; and when Mord pressed her
to speak out, she told him how she and Hrut could not live together,
because he was spell-bound, and that she wished to leave him.

"Thou didst right to tell me all this," said Mord, "and now I will give
thee a piece of advice, which will stand thee in good stead, if thou
canst carry it out to the letter. First of all, thou must ride home from
the Thing, and by that time thy husband will have come back, and will be
glad to see thee; thou must he blithe and buxom to him, and he will
think a good change has come over thee, and thou must show no signs of
coldness or ill-temper, but when spring comes thou must sham sickness,
and take to thy bed. Hrut will not lose time in guessing what thy
sickness can be, nor will he scold thee at all, but he will rather beg
every one to take all the care they can of thee. After that he will set
off west to the Firths, and Sigmund with him, for he will have to flit
all his goods home from the Firths west, and he will be away till the
summer is far spent. But when men ride to the Thing, and after all have
ridden from the Dales that mean to ride thither, then thou must rise
from thy bed and summon men to go along with thee to the Thing; and when
thou art all-boun, then shalt thou go to thy bed, and the men with thee
who are to bear thee company, and thou shalt take witness before thy
husband's bed, and declare thyself separated from him by such a lawful
separation as may hold good according to the judgment of the Great
Thing, and the laws of the land; and at the man's door [the main door of
the house] thou shalt take the same witness. After that ride away, and
ride over Laxriverdale Heath, and so on over Holtbeacon Heath; for they
will look for thee by way of Hrutfirth. And so ride on till thou comest
to me; then I will see after the matter. But into his hands thou shalt