One Door Opens, Another Closes
”Reynir, come sit with me.” Unndís seemed serious, almost sad.
“What is it, dear?” Reynir followed his wife to the bench just outside their door. The children were in bed, so when they left the door ajar they could enjoy the rare warm-ish evening.
“Reynir, I… I have come to a conclusion. We can’t go on.”
“What? I don’t understand you, Unndís. What do you mean?”
“This…” she was vaguely gesturing at both of them, as well as towards their home. “This is not your destiny, Reynir. Not for ever.”
“Not my…? But… you are my wife! Of course you are my destiny forever!”
“No, love. You are not one for such domestic comfort. I know you crave adventure.”
“No, Unndís! You are wrong! I promised to stay with you. Have I ever complained about our life?”
“No you haven’t. But I know you. I can tell you feel diminished. You cannot be stuck to this village. This island. And I cannot be stuck waiting for you.”
“Unndís, I would never ever leave you! And the children!”
“I know that, Reynir. That’s why I have to do it.”
“Are you… let me get this straight. Are you telling me that we should divorce?”
“No. I’m telling you we will divorce. You have to go find your purpose, and I have to be free to look for mine.”
“But… I want to stay here! Stay home with you.”
”But you don’t. Not fully. Staying would not be right, not for either of us.”
“But the children…”
“They are always your children. You will always be welcome here, as their father, as a beloved friend. Just not my husband anymore.”
“We made a promise! Asked for Freya’s blessing!”
“Yes we did. And she did bless us! What else do you call three healthy, wonderful children? We have received our boon!”
“I… can I… can we at least consider this for a while?”
“Of course. There is no hurry. But my mind is made up, as this is what my heart tells me.”
That night, sleeping next to the woman who had been his (admittedly, on and off) sweetheart since their teenage years, Reynir had his first omen dream in several years. He saw different landscapes, mountains and lava fields of his native Iceland as well as hills covered in mighty forests and great lakes studded with green islands. He saw roaring rivers and stormy seas, warm sun and fields blanketed in snow. And galdastrafir, staves everywhere. They were glowing, growing, forming and etching everywhere in all the lands and seas he saw. And he felt the life in all that land, and somehow touched it, and was touched by it. And death too, disease and healing, hurt and happiness of all things that were still alive in the wounded world. Sometimes it was awesome, sometimes scary, sometimes outright horrible. And all through these visions, he felt another with him, a presence and support of a companion. He didn’t see, who it was, but he felt familiar.
