Charles Kingsley

“ I spoilt his dinner, eh, Wulf?'
'Yes,' said the old grumbler, mollified, 'that was a right good fight.'
'Why don't you make a saga about it, then, instead of about right and wrong, and such things?'
'Because I am turned philosopher. I shall go and hear that Alruna-maiden this afternoon.'
'Well said. Let us go too, young men: it will pass the time, at all events.'
'Oh, no! no! no! do not! you shall not!' almost shrieked Pelagia.
'Why not, then, pretty one?'
'She is a witch—she—I will never love you again if you dare to go. Your only reason is that Agilmund's report of her beauty.'
'So? ”

“ Wulf and I galloped and galloped over those accursed sand-heaps till the horses stuck fast; and when they got their wind again, we found each pair of dogs with a deer down between them—and what can man want more, if he cannot get fighting? ”

“ On the opposite brink of the basin, tended each by a dark-eyed Hebe, who filled the wine-cups, and helped now and then to empty them, lay the especial friends and companions in arms of the Amal, Goderic the son of Ermenric, and Agilmund the son of Cniva, who both, like the Amal, boasted a descent from gods; and last, but not least, that most important and all but sacred personage, Smid the son of Troll, reverenced for cunning beyond the sons of men ”

“ XII. The Bower of Acrasia The house which Pelagia and the Amal had hired after their return to Alexandria, was one of the most splendid in the city. They had been now living there three months or more, and in that time Pelagia's taste had supplied the little which it needed to convert it into a paradise of lazy luxury. She herself was wealthy; and her Gothic guests, overburdened with Roman spoils, the very use of which they could not understand, freely allowed her and her nymphs to throw away for them the treasures which they had won in many a fearful fight. What matter? ”

“ Afraid?' And she leapt up, panting with pretty rage. 'Come, we will go too—at once—and brave this nun, who fancies herself too wise to speak to a woman, and too pure to love a man! Lookout my jewels! Saddle my white mule! We will go royally. ”

“ We can afford to pay like men, if we earn like men.'
'We shan't afford it long, at this rate,' growled Wulf.
'Then we'll go and earn more. I am tired of doing nothing.'
'People need not do nothing, unless they choose,' said Goderic. 'Wulf and I had coursing fit for a king, the other morning on the sand-hills. ”

“ Ravens shall thank them:
Where the women are heroes,
What must the men be like?
Theirs is the victory;
No need of me!'
[Footnote: This punning legend may be seen in Paul Warnéfrid's Gesta Langobardorum. Unfortunately, however, for the story, Långbardr is said by the learned to have nothing to do with beards at all, but probably to mean 'Longswords.' The metre and language are intended as imitations of those of the earlier Eddaic poems.]
'There!' said Wulf, when the song was ended; 'is that cool enough for you?'
'Rather too cool; eh, Pelagia?' said the Amal, laughing. ”