Hereupon Sir Otto looked with aversion and terror on the weapon which he had before held so dear; it seemed as if he would tear it from his side, and cast it away; but then said Hildiridur, “Fear not, dear son; by that good sword I have never been injured; although by my disobedience I had deserved that my life should thereby have been taken away. For as I kneeled on the ground, and even bared my bosom as a self-condemned criminal to receive the blow, suddenly the heart of the stern Hugur was melted; and he said, ‘Nay, Heaven forbid that thou should’st ever be wounded by my hand. But I must separate myself from thee, for now thou hast discovered the fearful crimes which I committed against thy sister, Astrid; nor have I humility or fortitude enough (whichsoever it should be called) to beg thy forgiveness. Nor, to say the truth, could I confide longer in one who is thus given up to sorcery; therefore hasten thou from my sight, and never let us meet again. But as for the boy, I must detain him with me, and will tell him that thou art dead.’ To these commands I was forced to submit; but I desisted not from entreaties, till I had been permitted to take leave of thee, dearest Otto. The by-standers told thee that I was then dying; and, truly, I must have seemed at last more like one of the dead than of the living; for, quite overcome by my affliction at parting with thee, and my regret at the disobedience of which I had so rashly been guilty, I sank back, fainting and insensible, on the grassy turf.” Once more the lady heartily embraced her beloved son; and they felt that their long sufferings were more than compensated by the happiness which they now enjoyed. CHAPTER XXVII. How Sir Otto broke the Mirror, and the Castle was consumed by Fire. After this time all the three knights came almost every evening to the watch-tower of Hildiridur; and meanwhile the pagans never ventured any new attack. Sir Otto had not met again with his half-brother, Ottur, whom he would now have gladly seen; nor could the sea-monarch obtain any intelligence of his cousin, Sir Kolbein. They could almost have wished that Gerda’s enchantments had incited the people to some new conflict, in order that they might have beheld again these two deluded and unfortunate youths; but it seemed as if the fires both of love and hatred were now quite extinguished among the inhabitants beyond the Finland frontiers. Meanwhile the brave Swerker listened with deep attention to all the lessons of Sir Otto; and after maintaining as well as he could the doctrines of Odin and Valhalla, he became at last a sincere convert to the Christian faith, confessing that this afforded the only path to happiness both for this world and the next. Hereupon the knights consoled themselves for the loss of Ottur and Sir Kolbein, and rejoiced that they had won at last one brave and heroic heart for the true and only religion.