noon
Yet all asked that question ; and more than once , when they heard the reply , there would be a halt and a talk , and then the men would turn and cast in their lot with the son of Gunnar , hastening to him with more eager steps than had taken them to Hodulf . It seemed only the other day that I had passed over the well-known ways , and I showed Withelm the hollow where Grim had met with the king and taken his precious burden from him . Then we passed along the wild shore , and the linnets were singing and the whinchats were calling as ever , and the old mounds of the heroes of the bygone were awesome to me now as long ago , when I looked at them standing lonesome along the shore with only the wash of the waves to disturb them . And so we came to the town at high noon , and already there was the bustle of a gathering host in the place , for the news had fled before us . They had built a new and greater hall in place of that which had been burned ; and there sat Hodulf with his chiefs , wondering and planning , and maybe waiting for more certain news of what had happened . Not long would they wait for that now . We rode to the door , and one came to meet us with words of welcome , thinking that we were men who came to the levy that was gathering ; but his words stayed when I asked to be taken to the presence of Hodulf , as I came with a message from Havelok Gunnarsson the king .