Old Skapti

The horn went round the hearth once, hesitated at one seat, and skipped straight past it. The jarl just watched, chin in hand, and no one yet knows that watching is going to become a song.

• HalfridaA song costs half a cup, elder.
  Old SkaptiHalf a cup, half a song, then. I'll sing up to the skipped seat and close my mouth.
• BrynjaThat song isn't finished yet. Don't put a price on it before it ends.
  Old SkaptiI'll take that to mean even the jarl doesn't know how it ends.

I've sat in this hall forty years, and this is the first time I've seen the jarl start pricing something and stop halfway. A price left unfinished can only be paid back in song.

• Seidkona GrimhildOld man, that song's ending hasn't shown itself in the bones yet.
  Old SkaptiAll the more reason to drink slowly. A song with no known ending is the one that lasts longest.
• HelgiElder, couldn't you tell just me, a little ahead of everyone else?