known there goes a spice of lying to every skald-work, and yours was not without it.
Jatgeir.
Lying, Sir Marshal?
Paul Flida.
Ay; you say no man knows where King Håkon is hiding; that is not true; we have certain tidings that Håkon is at Nidaros.
King Skule.
[Smiling.] He has claimed homage for the King-child, and given it the kingly title.
Jatgeir.
That have I heard; but I knew not that any man could give away that which he himself does not possess.
King Skule.
'Tis easiest to give what you yourself do not possess.
Bård Bratte.
But it can scarce be easy to beg your way in midwinter from Bergen to Nidaros.
Jatgeir.
The fortunes of the Birchlegs move in a ring; they began hungry and frozen, and now they end in like case.
Paul Flida.
'Tis rumoured in Bergen that Håkon has forsworn the Church and all that is holy; he heard not mass on New Year's day.
