Then he handled the hilt and laid the point on the Boar,
and cried:
'Hereby I swear to wed the fairest woman of the Earth before the year
is worn to an end; and that whether the Dalesmen gainsay me or the
men beyond the Dale. So help me the Warrior, and the God of the Face
and the Holy Earth!'
Therewith he sat down; and once more men shouted for the love of him
and of the Bride, and they said he had sworn well and like a
chieftain.
But the Bride noted him that neither were his eyes nor his voice like
to their wont as he swore, for she knew him well; and thereat was she
ill at ease, for now whatever was new in him was to her a threat of
evil to come.
Stone-face also noted him, and he knew the young man better than all
others save the Bride, and he saw withal that she was ill-pleased,
and he said to himself: 'I will speak to my fosterling to-morrow if
I may find him alone.'
So came the swearing to an end, and they fell to on their meat and
feasted on the Boar of Atonement after they had duly given the Gods
their due share, and the wine went about the hall and men were merry
till they drank the parting cup and fared to rest in the shut-beds,
and whereso else they might in the Hall and the House, for there were
many men there.
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