So Havelok's plan was to be carried out, and he and I were to set forth
next morning. Arngeir was yet uneasy about it, nevertheless, as one
could see; but I did not at that time know why it should be so doubtful
a matter that two strong men should go forth and seek their fortune but
thirty miles away. So we laughed at him.
"Well," he said, "every one knows Radbard; but they will want to know
who his tall comrade may be. Old foes has Havelok, as Radbard knows, and
therefore it may be well to find a new name for him."
"No need to go far for that," Withelm said. "The marsh folk call him Curan."
"Curan, the wonder, is good," Arngeir said, after a little thought, for
we all knew Welsh enough by this time. "Or if you like a Danish name
better, brother, call it 'Kwaran,' but silent about yourself you must
surely be."
We used to call him that at times--for it means "the quiet" in our old
tongue--seeing how gentle and courtly he was in all his ways. So the
name was well fitting in either way.
"Silent and thoughtful should the son of a king be," says the Havamal,
and so it was with Havelok, son of Gunnar.
Now when I came to think, it was plain that we three stood in the mind
of our brother in the place which my father had boded for us, and I was
glad. Well I knew that Raven, the watchful, and Withelm, the wise and
thoughtful, would do their parts; and I thought that whether I could do
mine was to be seen very shortly.
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