Page:The book of wonder voyages (1919).djvu/220

 his days were prolonged in peace and quietness. Towards the end thereof, some learned men told him that after death, that is the death of the body, the soul lived on, and went to dwell in some other land. And he thought deeply about all this, and was continually wondering where his soul would go when his body died.

"Now, at this time certain men who wished me ill came and told Gorm that he should ask the gods about such matters, as they were questions too difficult for human minds to answer, and too hard for mortals to find out. And to do this they said that Utgarda-Loki must be appeased, and that none could appease him better than I. Others spoke evil about me and declared I was guilty of treachery and wished to take the king's life. So, seeing that I was obliged to suffer in some way, I asked that my accusers should accompany me on my journey. And when they saw that the dangers they had put in my way had fallen upon them they were exceedingly afraid and tried to alter their plans. But the king would not listen to them, accused them of being cowardly, and forced them to sail with me. It is often, indeed, so, that when one wishes to do another a wrong, the evil one would do falls upon oneself. When the men saw they were obliged to obey the king, and could not in any way get out of it, they covered their ship with ox hides and filled it with provisions.

"In this ship we all sailed away till we came to a land where there was no sun, no stars, no daylight, and over which hung a black cloud that made it like one dark,