But the earl was most loyal.
"What!" he said in a great voice, "am I not earl?
And shall the king be troubled with common manslayers while I sit in his seat of justice?
Go to! I am judge, and will answer to the king for what I do." So I was silent, waiting for what should come next.
But he forgot me in a minute, and seemed to be thinking.
At last he said: "One of these men is guilty, but I know not which." And so he summed up all that he had heard, and as he did so it seemed, even to me, that proofs of guilt were evenly balanced, so that once again I half thought that Beorn might be wronged in the accusation, as I was.
"So," he ended, "friend has slain friend, and friends have fought, and there is no question of a third man in the matter." He looked round on the honest faces with him, and saw that they were puzzled and had naught to say, and went on: "Wherefore, seeing that these men have had trial by battle already, which was stopped, and that the slain man was a foreigner from over seas and has no friends to speak concerning him, I have a mind to put the judgment into the hands of the greatest Judge of all.

As Lodbrok the Dane came by sea, these men shall be judged upon the sea by Him who is over all.

And surely the innocent shall escape, and the guilty shall be punished in such sort that he shall wish that I had been wise enough to see his guilt plainly and to hang him for treachery to his friend and the king's, or else to put him into ward until some good bishop asks for pardon for ill doing." And with that half promise he looked sharply at us to see if any sign would come from the murderer.
But I had naught to say, nor did I seem to care just now what befell me, while Beorn was doubtless fearful lest the wrath of Eadmund the King should prevail in the end were he to be imprisoned only.

So he answered not, and the earl frowned heavily.
Now one of the franklins there, who knew me well enough, said: "Wulfric, be not ashamed to confess it, if for once you shot ill--if your arrow went by chance to Lodbrok's heart, I pray you, say so.

It may well be forgiven." Very grateful was I for that kind word, but I would not plead falsely, nor, indeed, would it have told aught of the other wound that had been made.