Book Two opens with a soliloquy by Jaronne. He's been feeling down lately, and his mother scolds him for counting his sorrows. She tells him that if he can't keep track of his sorrows, he'll end up in trouble. Jaronne says that if they had a battle with the dwarfs, they'd have to drink a lot of potions to stay strong. He also says that they've lost some potions to the beasts, and that's a sign that the gods have told them to drink more potions before they meet the wedding-bane. He says that he doesn't have any potions, but he does have ten gold that Jaronne fell on the day of the battle. He tells Jaronne that he's pledged to be Jaronne, and he asks his aunt to stop this " farce" .