{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_24420/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_24420","id":"gutenberg_24420","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24420","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: Historical Novels","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore","Legends -- Iceland","Mythology, Norse","Sagas -- Translations into English"],"text":"Produced by David Widger\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF FRITHIOF THE BOLD.\n\nTranslated From The  Icelandic By Eirikr Magnusson And William Morris\n\n1875\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.     Of King Belt and Thorstein Vikingson and their Children.\n\nThus beginneth the tale, telling how that King Beli ruled over\nSogn-land; three children had he, whereof Helgi was his first son, and\nHalfdan his second, but Ingibiorg his daughter. Ingibiorg was fair of\nface and wise of mind, and she was ever accounted the foremost of the\nking's children.\n\nNow a certain strand went west of the firth, and a great stead was\nthereon, which was called Baldur's Meads; a Place of Peace was there,\nand a great temple, and round about it a great garth of pales: many\ngods were there, but amidst them all was Baldur held of most account. So\njealous were the heathen men of this stead, that they would have no hurt\ndone therein to man nor beast, nor might any man have dealings with a\nwoman there.\n\nSowstrand was the name of that stead whereas the king dwelt; but on\nthe other side the firth was an abode named Foreness, where dwelt a man\ncalled Thorstein, the son of Viking; and his stead was over against the\nking's dwelling.\n\nThorstein had a son by his wife called Frithiof: he was the tallest and\nstrongest of men, and more furnished of all prowess than any other man,\neven from his youth up. Frithiof the Bold was he called, and so well\nbeloved was he, that all prayed for good things for him.\n\nNow the king's children were but young when their mother died; but a\ngoodman of Sogn, named Hilding, prayed to have the king's daughter to\nfoster: so there was she reared well and needfully: and she was called\nIngibiorg the Fair. Frithiof also was fostered of goodman Hilding,\nwherefore was he foster-brother to the king's daughter, and they two\nwere peerless among children.\n\nNow King Beli's chattels began to ebb fast away from his hands, for he\nwas grown old.\n\nThorstein had rule over the third part of the realm, and in him lay the\nking's greatest strength.\n\nEvery third year Thorstein feasted the king at exceeding great cost, and\nthe king feasted Thorstein the two years between.\n\nHelgi, Beli's son, from his youth up turned much to blood-offering:\nneither were those brethren well-beloved.\n\nThorstein had a ship called Ellidi, which pulled fifteen oars on either\nboard; it ran up high stem and stern, and was strong-built like an\nocean-going ship, and its bulwarks were clamped with iron.\n\nSo strong was Frithiof that he pulled the two bow oars of Ellidi;\nbut either oar was thirteen ells long, and two men pulled every oar\notherwhere.\n\nFrithiof was deemed peerless amid the young men of that time, and the\nking's sons envied him, whereas he was more praised than they.\n\nNow King Beli fell sick; and when the sickness lay heavy on him he\ncalled his sons to him and said to them: \u201cThis sickness will bring me to\nmine end, therefore will I bid you this, that ye hold fast to those old\nfriends that I have had; for meseems in all things ye fall short of that\nfather and son, Thorstein and Frithiof, yea, both in good counsel and in\nhardihood. A mound ye shall raise over me.\u201d\n\nSo with that Beli died.\n\nThereafter Thorstein fell sick; so he spake to Frithiof: \u201cKinsman,\u201d says\nhe, \u201cI will crave this of thee, that thou bow thy will before the king's\nsons, for their dignity's sake; yet doth my heart speak goodly things to\nme concerning thy fortune. Now would I be laid in my mound over against\nKing Beli's mound, down by the sea on this side the firth, whereas it\nmay be easiest for us to cry out each to each of tidings drawing nigh.\u201d\n\nA little after this Thorstein departed, and was laid in mound even as he\nhad bidden; but Frithiof took the land and chattels after him. Biorn\nand Asmund were Frithiof s foster-brethren; they were big and strong men\nboth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.     Frithiof wooeth Ingibiorg of those Brethren.\n\nSo Frithiof became the most famed of men, and the bravest in all things\nthat may try a man.\n\nBiorn, his foster-brother, he held in most account of all, but Asmund\nserved the twain of them.\n\nThe ship Ellidi, he gat, the best of good things, of his father's\nheritage, and another possession therewith--a gold ring; no dearer was\nin Norway.\n\nSo bounteous a man was Frithiof withal, that it was the talk of most,\nthat he was a man of no less honour than those brethren, but it were\nfor the name of king; and for this cause they held Frithiof in hate and\nenmity, and it was a heavy thing to them that he was called greater\nthan they: furthermore they thought they could see that Ingibiorg, their\nsister, and Frithiof were of one mind together.\n\nIt befell hereon that the kings had to go to a feast to Frithiof s house\nat Foreness; and there it happened according to wont that he gave to all\nmen beyond that they were worthy of. Now Ingibiorg was there, and she\nand Frithiof talked long together; and the king's daughter said to\nhim:--\n\n          \u201cA goodly gold ring hast thou.\u201d\n           \u201cYea, in good sooth,\u201d said he.\n\nThereafter went those brethren to their own home, and greater grew their\nenmity of Frithiof.\n\nA little after grew Frithiof heavy of mood, and Biorn, his\nfoster-brother, asked him why he fared so.\n\nHe said he had it in his mind to woo Ingibiorg. \u201cFor though I be named\nby a lesser name than those brethren, yet am I not fashioned lesser.\u201d\n\n\u201cEven so let us do then,\u201d quoth Biorn. So Frithiof fared with certain\nmen unto those brethren; and the kings were sitting on their father's\nmound when Frithiof greeted them well, and then set forth his wooing,\nand prayed for their sister Ingibiorg, the daughter of Beli.\n\nThe kings said: \u201cNot overwise is this thine asking, whereas thou wouldst\nhave us give her to one who lacketh dignity; wherefore we gainsay thee\nthis utterly.\u201d\n\nSaid Frithiof: \u201cThen is mine errand soon sped; but in return never will\nI give help to you henceforward, nay, though ye need it ever so much.\u201d\n\nThey said they heeded it nought: so Frithiof went home, and was joyous\nonce more.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.     Of King Ring and those Brethren.\n\nThere was a king named Ring, who ruled over Ringrealm, which also was in\nNorway: a mighty folk-king he was, and a great man, but come by now unto\nhis latter days.\n\nNow he spake to his men: \u201cLo, I have heard that the sons of King Beli\nhave brought to nought their friendship with Frithiof, who is the\nnoblest of men; wherefore will I send men to these kings, and bid them\nchoose whether they will submit them to me and pay me tribute, or else\nthat I bring war on them: and all things then shall lie ready to my hand\nto take, for they have neither might nor wisdom to withstand me; yet\ngreat fame were it to my old age to overcome them.\u201d\n\nAfter that fared the messengers of King Ring, and found those brethren,\nHelgi and Halfdan, in Sogn, and spake to them thus: \u201cKing Ring sends\nbidding to you to send him tribute, or else will he war against your\nrealm.\u201d\n\nThey answered and said that they would not learn in the days of their\nyouth what they would be loth to know in their old age, even how to\nserve King Ring with shame. \u201cNay, now shall we draw together all the\nfolk that we may.\u201d\n\nEven so they did; but now, when they beheld their force that it was but\nlittle, they sent Hilding their fosterer to Frithiof to bid him come\nhelp them against King Ring. Now Frithiof sat at the knave-play when\nHilding came thither, who spake thus: \u201cOur kings send thee greeting,\nFrithiof, and would have thy help in battle against King Ring, who\ncometh against their realm with violence and wrong.\u201d\n\nFrithiof answered him nought, but said to Biorn, with whom he was\nplaying: \u201cA bare place in thy board, foster-brother, and nowise mayst\nthou amend it; nay, for my part I shall beset thy red piece there, and\nwot whether it be safe.\u201d\n\nThen Hilding spake again:\n\n\u201cKing Helgi bade me say thus much, Frithiof, that thou shouldst go on\nthis journey with them, or else look for ill at their hands when they at\nthe last come back.\u201d\n\n\u201cA double game, foster-brother,\u201d said Biorn; \u201cand two ways to meet thy\nplay.\u201d\n\nFrithiof said: \u201cThy play is to fall first on the knave, yet the double\ngame is sure to be.\u201d\n\nNo other outcome of his errand had Hilding: he went back speedily to the\nkings, and told them Frithiof's answer.\n\nThey asked Hilding what he made out of those words. He said:\n\n\u201cWhereas he spake of the bare place he will have been thinking of the\nlack in this journey of yours; but when he said he would beset the red\npiece, that will mean Ingibiorg, your sister; so give ye all the heed ye\nmay to her. But whereas I threatened him with ill from you, Biorn deemed\nthe game a double one; but Frithiof said that the knave must be set on\nfirst, speaking thereby of King Ring.\u201d\n\nSo then the brethren arrayed them for departing; but, ere they went,\nthey let bring Ingibioig and eight women with her to Baldur's Meads,\nsaying that Frithiof would not be so mad rash as to go see her thither,\nsince there was none who durst make riot there.\n\nThen fared those brethren south to Jadar, and met King Ring in\nSogn-Sound.\n\nNow, herewith was King Ring most of all wroth that the brothers had said\nthat they accounted it a shame to fight with a man so old that he might\nnot get a-horseback unholpen.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.     Frithiof goes to Baldur's Meads.\n\nStraightway whenas the kings were gone away Frithiof took his raiment\nof state and set the goodly gold ring on his arm; then went the\nfoster-brethren down to the sea and launched Ellidi. Then said Biorn:\n\u201cWhither away, foster-brother?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo Baldur's Meads,\u201d said Frithiof, \u201cto be glad with Ingibiorg.\u201d,\n\nBiorn said: \u201cA thing unmeet to do, to make the gods wroth with us.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, it shall be risked this time,\u201d said Frithiof; \u201cand withal, more\nto me is Ingibiorg's grace than Baldur's grame.\u201d\n\nTherewith they rowed over the firth, and went up to Baldur's Meads and\nto Ingibiorg's bower, and there she sat with eight maidens, and the new\ncomers were eight also.\n\nBut when they came there, lo, all the place was hung with cloth of pall\nand precious webs.\n\nThen Ingibiorg arose and said:\n\n\u201cWhy art thou so overbold, Frithiof, that thou art come here without the\nleave of my brethren to make the gods angry with thee?\u201d\n\nFrithiof says: \u201cHowsoever that may be, I hold thy love of more account\nthan the gods' hate.\u201d\n\nIngibiorg answered: \u201cWelcome art thou here, thou and thy men!\u201d\n\nThen she made place for him to sit beside her, and drank to him in the\nbest of wine; and thus they sat and were merry together.\n\nThen beheld Ingibiorg the goodly ring on his arm, and asked him if that\nprecious thing were his own.\n\nFrithiof said Yea, and she praised the ring much. Then Frithiof said:\n\n\u201cI will give thee the ring if thou wilt promise to give it to no one,\nbut to send it to me when thou no longer shalt have will to keep it: and\nhereon shall we plight troth each to other.\u201d\n\nSo with this troth-plighting they exchanged rings.\n\nFrithiof was oft at Baldur's Meads a-night time, and every day between\nwhiles would he go thither to be glad with Ingibiorg.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.     Those Brethren come Home again.\n\nNow tells the tale of those brethren, that they met King Ring, and he\nhad more folk than they: then went men betwixt them, and sought to make\npeace, so that no battle should be: thereto King Ring assented on such\nterms that the brethren should submit them to him, and give him in\nmarriage Ingibiorg their sister, with the third part of all their\npossessions.\n\nThe kings said Yea thereto, for they saw that they had to do with\noverwhelming might: so the peace was fast bound by oaths, and the\nwedding was to be at Sogn whenas King Ring should go see his betrothed.\n\nSo those brethren fare home with their folk, right ill content with\nthings. But Frithiof, when he deemed that the brethren might be looked\nfor home again, spake to the king's daughter:\n\n\u201cSweetly and well have ye done to us, neither has goodman Baldur been\nwroth with us; but now as soon as ye wot of the kings' coming home,\nspread the sheets of your beds abroad on the Hall of the Goddesses, for\nthat is the highest of all the garth, and we may see it from our stead.\u201d\n\nThe king's daughter said: \u201cThou dost not after the like of any other:\nbut certes, we welcome dear friends whenas ye come to us.\u201d\n\nSo Frithiof went home; and the next morning he went out early, and when\nhe came in then he spake and sang:\n\n          \u201cNow must I tell\n          To our good men\n          That over and done\n          Are our fair journeys;\n          No more a-shipboard\n          Shall we be going,\n          For there are the sheets\n          Spread out a-bleaching.\u201d\n\nThen they went out, and saw that the Hall of the Goddesses was all\nthatched with white linen. Biorn spake and said: \u201cNow are the kings come\nhome, and but a little while have we to sit in peace, and good were it,\nmeseems, to gather folk together.\u201d\n\nSo did they, and men came flocking thither.\n\nNow the brethren soon heard of the ways of Frithiof and Ingibiorg, and\nof the gathering of men. So King Helgi spake:\n\n\u201cA wondrous thing how Baldur will bear what shame soever Frithiof and\nshe will lay on him! Now will I send men to him, and wot what atonement\nhe will offer us, or else will I drive him from the land, for our\nstrength seemeth to me not enough that we should fight with him as now.\u201d\n\nSo Hilding, their fosterer, bare the king's errand to Frithiof and his\nfriends, and spake in such wise: \u201cThis atonement the kings will have of\nthee, Frithiof, that thou go gather the tribute of the Orkneys, which\nhas not been paid since Beli died, for they need money, whereas they are\ngiving Ingibiorg their sister in marriage, and much of wealth with her.\u201d\n\nFrithiof said: \u201cThis thing only somewhat urges us to peace, the good\nwill of our kin departed; but no trustiness will those brethren show\nherein. But this condition I make, that our lands be in good peace while\nwe are away.\u201d So this was promised and all bound by oaths.\n\nThen Frithiof arrays him for departing, and is captain of men brave and\nof good help, eighteen in company.\n\nNow his men asked him if he would not go to King Helgi and make peace\nwith him, and pray himself free from Baldur's wrath.\n\nBut he answered: \u201cHereby I swear that I will never pray Helgi for\npeace.\u201d\n\nThen he went aboard Ellidi, and they sailed out along the Sognnrth.\n\nBut when Frithiof was gone from home, King Halfdan spake to Helgi his\nbrother: \u201cBetter lordship and more had we if Frithiof had payment for\nhis masterful deed: now therefore let us burn his stead, and bring on\nhim and his men such a storm on the sea as shall make an end of them.\u201d\n\nHelgi said it was a thing meet to be done.\n\nSo then they burned up clean all the stead at Foreness and robbed it of\nall goods; and after that sent for two witch-wives, Heidi and Hamglom,\nand gave them money to raise against Frithiof and his men so mighty a\nstorm that they should all be lost at sea. So they sped the witch-song,\nand went up on the witch-mount with spells and sorcery.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.     Frithiof Sails for the Orkneys.\n\nSO when Frithiof and his men were come out of the Sognfirth there fell\non them great wind and storm, and an exceeding heavy sea: but the ship\ndrave on swiftly, for sharp built she was, and the best to breast the\nsea.\n\nSo now Frithiof sang:--\n\n          \u201cOft let I swim from Sogn\n          My tarred ship sooty-sided,\n          When maids sat o'er the mead-horn\n          Amidst of Baldur's Meadows;\n          Now while the storm is wailing\n          Farewell I bid you maidens,\n          Still shall ye love us, sweet ones,\n          Though Ellidi the sea fill.\u201d\n\nSaid Biorn: \u201cThou mightest well find other work to do than singing songs\nover the maids of Baldur's Meadows.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf such work shall I not speedily run dry, though,\u201d said Frithiof.\nThen they bore up north to the sounds nigh those isles that are called\nSolundir, and therewith was the gale at its hardest.\n\nThen sang Frithiof:\n\n          \u201cNow is the sea a-swelling,\n          And sweepeth the rack onward;\n          Spells of old days cast o'er us\n          Make ocean all unquiet;\n          No more shall we be striving\n          Mid storm with wash of billows,\n          But Solundir shall shelter\n          Our ship with ice-beat rock-walls.\u201d\n\nSo they lay to under the lee of the isles hight Solundir, and were\nminded to abide there; but straightway thereon the wind fell: then they\nturned away from under the lee of the islands, and now their voyage\nseemed hopeful to them, because the wind was fair awhile: but soon it\nbegan to freshen again.\n\nThen sang Frithiof:\n\n          \u201cIn days foredone\n          From Foreness strand\n          I rowed to meet\n          Maid Ingibiorg;\n          But now I sail\n          Through chilly storm\n          And wide away\n          My long-worm driveth.\u201d\n\nAnd now when they were come far out into the main, once more the sea\nwaxed wondrous troubled, and a storm arose with so great drift of snow,\nthat none might see the stem from the stern; and they shipped seas, so\nthat they must be ever a-baling. So Frithiof sang:\n\n          \u201cThe salt waves see we nought\n          As seaward drive we ever\n          Before the witch-wrought weather,\n          We well-famed kings'-defenders:\n          Here are we all a-standing,\n          With all Solundir hull-down,\n          Eighteen brave lads a-baling\n          Black Ellidi to bring home.\u201d\n\nSaid Biorn: \u201cNeeds must he who fareth far fall in with diverse hap.\u201d\n\n\u201cYea, certes, foster-brother,\u201d said Frithiof. And he sang withal:\n\n          \u201cHelgi it is that helpeth\n          The white-head billows' waxing;\n          Cold time unlike the kissing\n          In the close of Baldut's Meadow!\n          So is the hate of Helgi\n          To that heart's love she giveth.\n          O would that here I held her,\n          Gift high above all giving!\u201d\n\n\u201cMaybe,\u201d said Biorn, \u201cshe is looking higher than thou now art: what\nmatter when all is said?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says Frithiof, \u201cnow is the time to show ourselves to be men of\navail, though blither tide it was at Baldur's Meadows.\u201d\n\nSo they turned to in manly wise, for there were the bravest of men come\ntogether in the best ship of the Northlands. But Frithiof sang a stave:\n\n          \u201cSo come in the West-sea,\n          Nought see I the billows,\n          The sea-water seemeth\n          As sweeping of wild-fire.\n          Topple the rollers,\n          Toss the hills swan-white,\n          Ellidi wallows\n          O'er steep of the wave-hills.\u201d\n\nThen they shipped a huge sea, so that all stood a-baling. But Frithiof\nsang:\n\n          \u201cWith love-moved mouth the maiden\n          Mepledgeth though I founder.\n          Ah! bright sheets lay a-bleaching,\n          East there on brents the swan loves.\u201d\n\nBiorn said: \u201cArt thou of mind belike that the maids of Sogn will weep\nmany tears over thee?\u201d\n\nSaid Frithiof: \u201cSurely that was in my mind.\u201d\n\nTherewith so great a sea broke over the bows, that the water came in\nlike the in-falling of a river; but it availed them much that the ship\nwas so good, and the crew aboard her so hardy.\n\nNow sang Biorn:\n\n          \u201cNo widow, methinks,\n          To thee or me drinks;\n          No ring-bearer fair\n          Biddeth draw near;\n          Salt are our eyne\n          Soaked in the brine;\n          Strong our arms are no more,\n          And our eyelids smart sore.\u201d\n\nQuoth Asmund: \u201cSmall harm though your arms be tried somewhat, for no\npity we had from you when we rubbed our eyes whenas ye must needs rise\nearly a-mornings to go to Baldu's Meadows.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Frithiof, \u201cwhy singest thou not, Asmund?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot I,\u201d said Asmund; yet sang a ditty straightway:\n\n\n          \u201cSharp work about the sail was\n          When o'er the ship seas tumbled,\n          And there was I a-working\n          Within-board 'gainst eight balers;\n          Better it was to bower,\n          Bringing the women breakfast,\n          Than here to be 'mid billows\n          Black Ellidi a-baling.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou accountest thy help of no less worth than it is?\u201d said Frithiof,\nlaughing therewith; \u201cbut sure it showeth the thrall's blood in thee that\nthou wouldst fain be awaiting at table.\u201d\n\nNow it blew harder and harder yet, so that to those who were aboard\nliker to huge peaks and mountains than to waves seemed the sea-breakers\nthat crashed on all sides against the ship.\n\nThen Frithiof sang:\n\n          \u201cOn bolster I sat.\n          In Baldur's Mead erst,\n          And all songs that I could\n          To the king's daughter sang;\n          Now on Ran's bed belike\n          Must I soon be a-lying,\n          And another shall be\n          By Ingibiorg's side.\u201d\n\nBiorn said: \u201cGreat fear lieth ahead of us, foster-brother, and now dread\nhath crept into thy words, which is ill with such a good man as thou.\u201d\n\nSays Frithiof: \u201cNeither fear nor fainting is it, though I sing now of\nthose our merry journeys; yet perchance more hath been said of them than\nneed was: but most men would think death surer than life, if they were\nso bested as we be.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet shall I answer thee somewhat,\u201d said Biorn, and sang:\n\n          \u201cYet one gain have I gotten\n          Thou gatst not 'mid thy fortune,\n          For meet play did I make me\n          With Ingibiorgs eight maidens;\n          Red rings we laid together\n          Aright in Baldur's Meadow,\n          When far off was the warder\n          Of the wide land of Halfdan.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said he, \u201cwe must be content with things as they are,\nfoster-brother.\u201d\n\nTherewith so great a sea smote them, that the bulwark was broken and\nboth the sheets, and four men were washed overboard and all lost.\n\nThen sang Frithiof:\n\n          \u201cBoth sheets are bursten\n          Amid the great billows,\n          Four swains are sunk\n          In the fathomless sea?\n\n\u201cNow, meseems,\u201d said Frithiof, \u201cit may well be that some of us will\ngo to the house of Ran, nor shall we deem us well sped if we come not\nthither in glorious array; wherefore it seems good to me that each man\nof us here should have somewhat of gold on him.\u201d\n\nThen he smote asunder the ring, Ingibiorg's gift, and shared it between\nall his men, and sang a stave withal:\n\n          \u201cThe red ring here I hew me\n          Once owned of Halfdan's father,\n          The wealthy lord of erewhile,\n          Or the sea waves undo us,\n          So on the guests shall gold be,\n          If we have need of guesting;\n          Meet so for mighty men-folk\n          Amid Ran's hall to hold them.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot all so sure is it that we come there,\u201d said Biorn; \u201cand yet it may\nwell be so.\u201d\n\nNow Frithiof and his folk found that the ship had great way on her, and\nthey knew not what lay ahead, for all was mirk on either board, so that\nnone might see the stem or stern from amidships; and therewith was there\ngreat drift of spray amid the furious wind, and frost, and snow, and\ndeadly cold.\n\nNow Frithiof went up to the masthead, and when he came down he said to\nhis fellows: \u201cA sight exceeding wondrous have I seen, for a great whale\nwent in a ring about the ship, and I misdoubt me that we come nigh to\nsome land, and that he is keeping the shore against us; for certes\nKing Helgi has dealt with us in no friendly wise, neither will this\nhis messenger be friendly. Moreover I saw two women on the back of the\nwhale, and they it is who will have brought this great storm on us\nwith the worst of spells and witchcraft; but now we shall try which may\nprevail, my fortune or their devilry, so steer ye at your straightest,\nand I will smite these evil things with beams.\u201d\n\n          Therewith he sang a stave:\n          \u201cSee I troll women\n          Twain on the billows,\n          Een they whom Helgi\n          Hither hath sent.\n          Ellidi now\n          Or ever her way stop\n          Shall smile the backs\n          Of these asunder.\u201d\n\nSo tells the tale that this wonder went with the good ship Ellidi, that\nshe knew the speech of man.\n\nBut Biorn said: \u201cNow may we see the treason of those brethren against\nus.\u201d Therewith he took the tiller, but Frithiof caught up a forked beam,\nand ran into the prow, and sang a stave:\n\n          \u201cEllidi, hail!\n          Leap high o'er the billows!\n          Break of the troll wives\n          Brow or teeth now!\n          Break cheek or jaw\n          Of the cursed woman,\n          One foot or twain\n          Of the ogress filthy.\u201d\n\nTherewith he drave his fork at one of the skin-changers, and the beak of\nEllidi smote the other on the back, and the backs of both were broken;\nbut the whale took the deep, and gat him gone, and they never saw him\nafter.\n\nThen the wind fell, but the ship lay waterlogged; so Frithiof called out\nto his men, and bade bale out the ship, but Biorn said:\n\n\u201cNo need to work now, verily!\u201d\n\n\u201cBe thou not afeard, foster-brother,\u201d said Frithiof, \u201cever was it the\nwont of good men of old time to be helpful while they might, whatsoever\nshould come after.\u201d And therewith he sang a stave:\n\n          \u201cNo need, fairfellows,\n          To fear the death-day;\n          Rather be glad,\n          Good men of mine:\n          For if dreams wot aught\n          All nights they say\n          I yet shall have\n          My Ingibiorg.\u201d\n\nThen they baled out the ship; and they were now come nigh unto land; but\nthere was yet a flaw of wind in their teeth. So then did Frithiof take\nthe two bow oars again, and rowed full mightily. Therewith the weather\nbrightened, and they saw that they were come out to Effia Sound, and so\nthere they made land.\n\nThe crew were exceeding weary; but so stout a man was Frithiof that he\nbore eight men a-land over the foreshore, but Biorn bore two, and Asmund\none. Then sang Frithiof:\n\n          \u201cFast bare I up\n          To the fire-lit house\n          My men all dazed\n          With the drift of the storm;\n          And the sail moreover\n          To the sand I carried;\n          With the might of the sea\n          Is there no more to do.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.     Frithiof at the Orkneys.\n\nNow Earl Angantyr was at Effia whenas Frithiof and his folk came a-land\nthere. But his way it was, when he was sitting at the drink, that one\nof his men should sit at the watch-window, looking weatherward from the\ndrinking hall, and keep watch there. From a great horn drank he ever:\nand still as one was emptied another was filled for him. And he who held\nthe watch when Frithiof came a-land was called Hallward; and now he saw\nwhere Frithiof and his men went, and sang a stave:\n\n          \u201cMen see I a-baling\n          Amid the storm's might;\n          Six bale on Ellidi\n          Seven are a-rowing;\n          Like is he in the stem,\n          Straining hard at the oars,\n          To Frithiof the bold,\n          The brisk in the battle.\u201d\n\nSo when he had drunk out the horn, he cast it in through the window, and\nspake to the woman who gave him drink:\n\n          \u201cTake up from the floor,\n          O fair-going woman,\n          The horn cast adown\n          Drunk out to the end!\n          I behold men at sea\n          Who, storm-beaten, shall need\n          Help at our hands\n          Ere the haven they make.\u201d\n\nNow the Earl heard what Hallward sang; so he asked for tidings, and\nHallward said: \u201cMen are come a-land here, much forewearied, yet brave\nlads belike: but one of them is so hardy that he beareth the others.\nashore.\u201d\n\nThen said the Earl, \u201cGo ye, and meet them, and welcome them in seemly\nwise; if this be Frithiof, the son of Hersir Thorstein, my friend, he is\na man famed far and wide for all prowess.\u201d\n\nThen there took up the word a man named Atli, a great viking, and he\nspake: \u201cNow shall that be proven which is told of, that Frithiof hath\nsworn never to be first in the craving of peace.\u201d\n\nThere were ten men in company with him, all evil and outrageous, who\noften wrought berserksgang.\n\nSo when they met Frithiof they took to their weapons.\n\nBut Atli said:\n\n\u201cGood to turn hither, Frithiof! Clutching ernes should claw; and we no\nless, Frithiof! Yea, and now may'st thou hold to thy word, and not crave\nfirst for peace.\u201d\n\nSo Frithiof turned to meet them, and sang a stave:\n\n          \u201cNay, nay, in nought\n          Now shall ye cow us.\n          Blenching hearts\n          Isle-abiders!\n          Alone with you ten\n          The fight will I try,\n          Rather than pray\n          For peace at your hands.\u201d\n\nThen came Hallward thereto, and spake: \u201cThe Earl wills that ye all be\nmade welcome here: neither shall any set on you.\u201d\n\nFrithiof said he would take that with a good heart; howsoever he was\nready for either peace or war.\n\nSo thereon they went to the Earl, and he made Frithiof and all his men\nright welcome, and they abode with him, in great honour holden, through\nthe wintertide; and oft would the Earl ask of their voyage: so Biorn\nsang:\n\n          \u201cThere baled we, wight fellows,\n          Washed over and over\n          On both boards\n          By billows;\n          For ten days we baled there,\n          And eight thereunto.\u201d\n\nThe Earl said: \u201cWell nigh did the king undo you; it is ill seen of\nsuch-like kings as are meet for nought but to overcome men by wizardry.\nBut now I wot,\u201d says Angantyr, \u201cof thine errand hither, Frithiof, that\nthou art sent after the scat: whereto I give thee a speedy answer, that\nnever shall King Helgi get scat of me, but to thee will I give money,\neven as much as thou wilt; and thou mayest call it scat if thou hast a\nmind to, or whatso else thou wilt.\u201d\n\nSo Frithiof said that he would take the money.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.     King Ring weddeth Ingibiorg.\n\nNow shall it be told of what came to pass in Norway the while Frithiof\nwas away: for those brethren let burn up all the stead at Foreness.\nMoreover, while the weird sisters were at their spells they tumbled down\nfrom off their high witch-mount, and brake both their backs.\n\nThat autumn came King Ring north to Sogn to his wedding, and there at a\nnoble feast drank his bridal with Ingibiorg.\n\n\u201cWhence came that goodly ring which thou hast on thine arm?\u201d said King\nRing to Ingibiorg.\n\nShe said her father had owned it, but he answered and said:\n\n\u201cNay, for Frithiof s gift it is: so take it off thine arm straightway;\nfor no gold shalt thou lack whenas thou comest to Elfhome.\u201d\n\nSo she gave the ring to King Helgi's wife, and bade her give it to\nFrithiof when he came back.\n\nThen King Ring wended home with his wife, and loved her with exceeding\ngreat love.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.     Frithiof brings the Tribute to the Kings.\n\nThe spring after these things Frithiof departed from the Orkneys and\nEarl Angantyr in all good liking; and Hallward went with Frithiof.\n\nBut when they came to Norway they heard tell of the burning of\nFrithiof's stead.\n\nSo when he was gotten to Foreness, Frithiof said: \u201cBlack is my house\nwaxen now; no friends have been at work here.\u201d And he sang withal:\n\n          \u201cFrank and free,\n          With my father dead,\n          In Foreness old\n          We drank aforetime.\n          Now my abode\n          Behold I burned;\n          For many ill deeds\n          The kings must I pay.\u201d\n\nThen he sought rede of his men what was to be done; but they bade him\nlook to it: then he said that the scat must first be paid out of hand.\nSo they rowed over the Firth to Sowstrand; and there they heard that the\nkings were gone to Baldur's Meads to sacrifice to the gods; so Frithiof\nand Biorn went up thither, and bade Hallward and Asmund break up\nmeanwhile all ships, both great and small, that were anigh; and they did\nso. Then went Frithiof and his fellow to the door at Baldur's Meads, and\nFrithiof would go in. Biorn bade him fare warily, since he must needs go\nin alone; but Frithiof charged him to abide without, and keep watch; and\nhe sang a stave:\n\n          \u201cAll alone go I\n          Unto the stead;\n          No folk I need\n          For the finding of kings;\n          But cast ye the fire\n          O'er the kings' dwellingly\n          If I come not again\n          In the cool of the even.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d said Biorn, \u201ca goodly singing!\u201d\n\nThen went Frithiof in, and saw but few folk in the Hall of the\nGoddesses; there were the kings at their blood-offering, sitting\na-drinking; a fire was there on the floor, and the wives of the kings\nsat thereby, a-warming the gods, while others anointed them, and wiped\nthem with napkins.\n\nSo Frithiof went up to King Helgi and said: \u201cHave here thy scat!\u201d\n\nAnd therewith he heaved up the purse wherein was the silver, and drave\nit on to the face of the king; whereby were two of his teeth knocked\nout, and he fell down stunned in his high seat; but Halfdan got hold of\nhim, so that he fell not into the fire. Then sang Frithiof:\n\n          \u201cHave here thy scat,\n          High lord of the warriors!\n          Heed that and thy teeth,\n          Lest all tumble about thee!\n          Lo the silver abideth\n          At the bight of this bag here,\n          That Biorn and I\n          Betwixt us have borne thee.\u201d\n\nNow there were but few folk in the chamber, because the drinking was\nin another place; so Frithiof went out straightway along the floor, and\nbeheld therewith that goodly ring of his on the arm of Helgi's wife as\nshe warmed Baldur at the fire; so he took hold of the ring, but it was\nfast to her arm, and he dragged her by it over the pavement toward the\ndoor, and Baldur fell from her into the fire; then Halfdan's wife caught\nhastily at Baldur, whereby the god that she was warming fell likewise\ninto the fire, and the fire caught both the gods, for they had been\nanointed, and ran up thence into the roof, so that the house was all\nablaze: but Frithiof got the ring to him ere he came out. So then Biorn\nasked him what had come of his going in there; but Frithiof held up the\nring and sang a stave:\n\n          \u201cThe heavy purse smote Helgi\n          Hard 'midst his scoundrel's visage:\n          Lowly bowed Halfdan's brother,\n          Fell bundling 'mid the high seat;\n          There Baldur fell a-burning.\n          But first my bright ring gat I.\n          Fast from the roaring fire\n          I dragged the bent crone forward.\u201d\n\nMen say that Frithiof cast a firebrand up on to the roof, so that the\nhall was all ablaze, and therewith sang a stave:\n\n          \u201cDown stride we toward the sea-strand,\n          And strong deeds set a-going,\n          For now the blue flame bickers\n          Amidst of Baldur's Meadow.\u201d\n\nAnd therewith they went down to the sea.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.     Frithiof made an Outlaw.\n\nBut as soon as King Helgi had come to himself he bade follow after\nFrithiof speedily, and slay them all, him and his fellows: \u201cA man of\nforfeit life, who spareth no Place of Peace!\u201d\n\nSo they blew the gathering for the kings' men, and when they came out to\nthe hall they saw that it was afire; so King Halfdan went thereto with\nsome of the folk, but King Helgi followed after Frithiof and his men,\nwho were by then gotten a-shipboard and were lying on their oars.\n\nNow King Helgi and his men find that all the ships are scuttled, and\nthey have to turn back to shore, and have lost some men: then waxed King\nHelgi so wroth that he grew mad, and he bent his bow, and laid an arrow\non the string, and drew at Frithiof so mightily that the bow brake\nasunder in the midst.\n\nBut when Frithiof saw that, then he gat him to the two bow oars of\nEllidi, and laid so hard on them that they both brake, and with that he\nsang a stave:\n\n          \u201cYoung Ingibiorg\n          Kissed I aforetime,\n          Kissed Beli's daughter\n          In Baldur's Meadow.\n          So shall the oars\n          Of Ellidi\n          Break both together\n          As Helgi's bow breaks.\u201d\n\nThen the land-wind ran down the firth and they hoisted sail and sailed;\nbut Frithiof bade them look to it that they might have no long abiding\nthere. And so withal they sailed out of the Sognfirth, and Frithiof\nsang:\n\n          \u201cSail we away from Sogn,\n          E'en as we sailed aforetime,\n          When flared the fire all over\n          The house that was my fathers'.\n          Now is the bale a-burning\n          Amidst of Baldur's Meadow:\n          But wend I as a wild-wolf,\n          Well wot I they have sworn it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat shall we turn to now, foster-brother?\u201d said Biorn.\n\n\u201cI may not abide here in Norway,\u201d said Frithiof: \u201cI will learn the ways\nof warriors, and sail a-warring.\u201d\n\nSo they searched the isles and out-skerries the summer long, and\ngathered thereby riches and renown; but in autumn-tide they made for\nthe Orkneys, and Angantyr gave them good welcome, and they abode there\nthrough the winter-tide.\n\nBut when Frithiof was gone from Norway the kings held a Thing, whereat\nwas Frithiof made an outlaw throughout their realm: they took his lands\nto them, moreover, and King Halfdan took up his abode at Foreness, and\nbuilt up again all Baldur's Meadow, though it was long ere the fire\nwas slaked there. This misliked King Helgi most, that the gods were all\nburned up, and great was the cost or ever Baldur's Meadow was built anew\nfully equal to its first estate.\n\nSo King Helgi abode still at Sowstrand.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.     Frithiof fareth to see King Ring and Ingibiorg.\n\nFrithiof waxed ever in riches and renown whithersoever he went: evil men\nhe slew, and grimly strong-thieves, but husbandmen and chapmen he let\nabide in peace; and now was he called anew Frithiof the Bold; he had\ngotten to him by now a great company well arrayed, and was become\nexceeding wealthy of chattels.\n\nBut when Frithiof had been three winters a-warring he sailed west, and\nmade the Wick; then he said that he would go a-land: \u201cBut ye shall fare\na-warring without me this winter; for I begin to weary of warfare, and\nwould fain go to the Uplands, and get speech of King Ring: but hither\nshall ye come to meet me in the summer, and I will be here the first day\nof summer.\u201d\n\nBiorn said: \u201cThis counsel is naught wise, though thou must needs rule;\nrather would I that we fare north to Sogn, and slay both those kings,\nHelgi and Halfdan.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is all naught,\u201d said Frithiof; \u201cI must needs go see King Ring and\nIngibiorg.\u201d\n\nSays Biorn: \u201cLoth am I hereto that thou shouldst risk thyself alone in\nhis hands; for this Ring is a wise man and of great kin, though he be\nsomewhat old.\u201d\n\nBut Frithiof said he would have his own way: \u201cAnd thou, Biorn, shalt be\ncaptain of our company meanwhile.\u201d\n\nSo they did as he bade, and Frithiof fared to the Uplands in the autumn,\nfor he desired sore to look upon the love of King Ring and Ingibiorg.\nBut or ever he came there he did on him, over his clothes, a great cloak\nall shaggy; two staves he had in his hand, and a mask over his face, and\nhe made as if he were exceeding old.\n\nSo he met certain herdsmen, and, going heavily, he asked them: \u201cWhence\nare ye?\u201d They answered and said: \u201cWe are of Streitaland, whereas the\nking dwelleth.\u201d\n\nQuoth the carle: \u201cIs King Ring a mighty king, then?\u201d\n\nThey answered: \u201cThou lookest to us old enough to have cunning to know\nwhat manner of man is King Ring in all wise.\u201d\n\nThe carle said that he had heeded salt-boiling more than the ways of\nkings; and therewith he goes up to the king's house.\n\nSo when the day was well worn he came into the hall, blinking about as a\ndotard, and took an outward place, pulling his hood over him to hide his\nvisage.\n\nThen spake King Ring to Ingibiorg: \u201cThere is come into the hall a man\nfar bigger than other men.\u201d\n\nThe queen answered: \u201cThat is no such great tidings here.\u201d\n\nBut the king spake to a serving-man who stood before the board, and\nsaid: \u201cGo thou, and ask yon cowled man who he is, whence he cometh, and\nof what kin he is.\u201d\n\nSo the lad ran down the hall to the new-comer and said: \u201cWhat art thou\ncalled, thou man? Where wert thou last night? Of what kin art thou?\u201d\n\nSaid the cowled man: \u201cQuick come thy questions, good fellow! but hast\nthou skill to understand if I shall tell thee hereof?\u201d\n\n\u201cYea, certes,\u201d said the lad.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the cowl-bearer, \u201cThief is my name, with Wolf was I last\nnight, and in Grief-ham was I reared.\u201d\n\nThen ran the lad back to the king, and told him the answer of the\nnew-comer.\n\n\u201cWell told, lad,\u201d said the king; \u201cbut for that land of Grief-ham, I know\nit well: it may well be that the man is of no light heart, and yet a\nwise man shall he be, and of great worth I account him.\u201d\n\nSaid the queen: \u201cA marvellous fashion of thine, that thou must needs\ntalk so freely with every carle that cometh hither! Yea, what is the\nworth of him, then?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat wottest thou no clearer than I,\u201d said the king; \u201cbut I see that he\nthinketh more than he talketh, and is peering all about him.\u201d\n\nTherewith the king sent a man after him, and so the cowl-bearer went up\nbefore the king, going somewhat bent, and greeted him in a low voice.\nThen said the king: \u201cWhat art thou called, thou big man?\u201d\n\nAnd the cowl-bearer answered and sang:\n\n          \u201cPeace-thief they called me\n          On the prow with the Vikings;\n          But War-thief whenas\n          I set widows a-weeping;\n          Spear-thief when I\n          Sent forth the barbed shafts;\n          Battle-thief when I\n          Burst forth on the king;\n          Hel-thief when I\n          Tossed up the small babies:\n          Isle-thief when I\n          In the outer isles harried;\n          Slaws-thief when I\n          Sat aloft over men:\n          Yet since have I drifted\n          With salt-boiling carls,\n          Needy of help\n          'Ere hither I came.\u201d\n\nSaid the king: \u201cThou hast gotten thy name of Thief from many a matter,\nthen; but where wert thou last night, and what is thy home?\u201d\n\nThe cowl-bearer said: \u201cIn Grief-ham I grew up; but heart drave me\nhither, and home have I nowhere.\u201d\n\nThe king said: \u201cMaybe indeed that thou hast been nourished in Grief-ham\na certain while; yet also maybe that thou wert born in a place of peace.\nBut in the wild-wood must thou have lain last night, for no goodman\ndwelleth anigh named Wolf; but whereas thou sayest thou hast no home,\nso is it, that thou belike deemest thy home nought, because of thy heart\nthat drave thee hither.\u201d\n\nThen spake Ingibiorg: \u201cGo, Thief, get thee to some other harbour, or in\nto the guest-hall.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said the king, \u201cI am old enow to know how to marshal guests; so\ndo off thy cowl, new-comer, and sit down on my other hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cYea, old, and over old,\u201d said the queen, \u201cwhen thou settest\nstaff-carles by thy side.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, lord, it beseemeth not,\u201d said Thief; \u201cbetter it were as the\nqueen sayeth. I have been more used to boiling salt than sitting beside\nlords.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo thou my will,\u201d said the king, \u201cfor I will rule this time.\u201d\n\nSo Thief cast his cowl from him, and was clad thereunder in a dark blue\nkirtle; on his arm, moreover, was the goodly gold ring, and a thick\nsilver belt was round about him, with a great purse on it, and therein\nsilver pennies glittering; a sword was girt to his side, and he had a\ngreat fur hood on his head, for his eyes were bleared, and his face all\nwrinkled.\n\n\u201cAh! now we fare better, say I,\u201d quoth the king; \u201cbut do thou, queen,\ngive him a goodly mantle, well shapen for him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou shalt rule, my lord,\u201d said the queen; \u201cbut in small account do I\nhold this Thief of thine.\u201d\n\nSo then he gat a good mantle over him, and sat down in the high-seat\nbeside the king.\n\nThe queen waxed red as blood when she saw the goodly ring, yet would she\ngive him never a word; but the king was exceeding blithe with him and\nsaid: \u201cA goodly ring hast thou on thine arm there; thou must have boiled\nsalt long enough to get it.\u201d\n\nSays he, \u201cThat is all the heritage of my father.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d says the king, \u201cmaybe thou hast more than that; well, few\nsalt-boiling carles are thy peers, I deem, unless eld is deep in mine\neyes now.\u201d\n\nSo Thief was there through the winter amid good entertainment, and well\naccounted of by all men; he was bounteous of his wealth, and joyous with\nall men: the queen held but little converse with him; but the king and\nhe were ever blithe together.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.     Frithiof saves the King and Queen on the Ice.\n\nThe tale tells that on a time King Ring and the queen, and a great\ncompany, would go to a feast. So the king spake to Thief: \u201cWilt thou\nfare with us, or abide at home?\u201d\n\nHe said he had liefer go; and the king said: \u201cThen am I the more\ncontent.\u201d\n\nSo they went on their ways, and had to cross a certain frozen water.\nThen said Thief: \u201cI deem this ice untrustworthy; meseemeth ye fare\nunwarily.\u201d\n\nQuoth the king: \u201cIt is often shown how heedful in thine heart thou wilt\nbe to us.\u201d\n\nSo a little after the ice broke in beneath them, and Thief ran thereto,\nand dragged the wain to him, with all that was therein; and the king and\nthe queen both sat in the same: so Thief drew it all up on to the ice,\nwith the horses that were yoked to the wain.\n\nThen spake King Ring: \u201cRight well drawn, Thief! Frithiof the Bold\nhimself would have drawn no stronger had he been here; doughty followers\nare such as thou!\u201d\n\nSo they came to the feast, and there is nought to tell thereof, and the\nking went back again with seemly gifts.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.     The King sleeps before Frithiof.\n\nNow weareth away the mid-winter, and when spring cometh, the weather\ngroweth fair, the wood bloometh, the grass groweth, and ships may glide\nbetwixt land and land. So on a day the king says to his folk: \u201cI will\nthat ye come with us for our disport out into the woods, that we may\nlook upon the fairness of the earth.\u201d\n\nSo did they, and went flock-meal with the king into the woods; but so it\nbefell, that the king and Frithiof were gotten alone together afar from\nother men, and the king said he was heavy, and would fain sleep. Then\nsaid Thief: \u201cGet thee home, then, lord, for it better beseemeth men of\nhigh estate to lie at home than abroad.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said the king, \u201cso will I not do.\u201d And he laid him down\ntherewith, and slept fast, snoring loud.\n\nThief sat close by him, and presently drew his sword from his sheath and\ncast it far away from him.\n\nA little while after the king woke up, and said: \u201cWas it not so,\nFrithiof, that a many things came into thy mind e'en now? But well hast\nthou dealt with them, and great honour shalt thou have of me. Lo, now, I\nknew thee straightway that first evening thou earnest into our hall: now\nnowise speedily shalt thou depart from us; and somewhat great abideth\nthee.\u201d\n\nSaid Frithiof: \u201cLord king, thou hast done to me well, and in friendly\nwise; but yet must I get me gone soon, because my company cometh\nspeedily to meet me, as I have given them charge to do.\u201d\n\nSo then they rode home from the wood, and the king's folk came flocking\nto him, and home they fared to the hall and drank joyously; and it was\nmade known to all folk that Frithiof the Bold had been abiding there\nthrough the winter-tide.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.     King Ring's Gift to Frithiof.\n\nEarly of a morning-tide one smote on the door of that hall, wherein\nslept the king and queen, and many others: then the king asked who it\nwas that called at the hall door; and so he who was without said: \u201cHere\nam I, Frithiof; and I am arrayed for my departure.\u201d\n\nThen was the door opened, and Frithiof came in, and sang a stave:\n\n          \u201cHave great thanks for the guesting\n          Thou gavest with all bounty;\n          Dight fully for wayfaring\n          Is the feeder of the eagle;\n          But, Ingidiorg, I mind thee\n          While yet on earth we tarry;\n          Live gloriously! I give thee\n          This gift for many kisses.\u201d\n\nAnd therewith he cast the goodly ring towards Ingibiorg, and bade her\ntake it.\n\nThe king smiled at this stave of his, and said: \u201cYea, forsooth, she hath\nmore thanks for thy winter quarters than I; yet hath she not been more\nfriendly to thee than I.\u201d\n\nThen sent the king his serving-folk to fetch victuals and drink, and\nsaith that they must eat and drink before Frithiof departed. \u201cSo arise,\nqueen, and be joyful!\u201d But she said she was loth to fall a-feasting so\nearly.\n\n\u201cNay, we will eat all together,\u201d said King Ring; and they did so.\n\nBut when they had drank a while King Ring spake: \u201cI would that thou\nabide here, Frithiof; for my sons are but children and I am old, and\nunmeet for the warding of my realm, if any should bring war against it.\u201d\n Frithiof said: \u201cSpeedily must I be gone, lord.\u201d And he sang:\n\n          \u201cOh, live, King Ring,\n          Both long and hale!\n          The highest king\n          Neath heaven's skirt!\n          Ward well, O king,\n          Thy wife and land,\n          For Ingibiorg now\n          Never more shall I meet.\u201d\n\nThen quoth King Ring:\n\n          \u201cFare not away,\n          O Frithiof, thus,\n          With downcast heart,\n          O dearest of chieftains!\n          For now will I give thee\n          For all thy good gifts,\n          Far better things\n          Than thou wottest thyself.\u201d\n\nAnd again he sang:\n\n          \u201cTo Frithiof the famous\n          My fair wife I give,\n          And all things therewith\n          That are unto me.\u201d\n\nThen Frithiof took up the word and sang:\n\n          \u201cNay, how from thine hands\n          These gifts may I have,\n          But if thou hast fared\n          By the last way of fate.\u201d\n\nThe king said: \u201cI would not give thee this, but that I deem it will soon\nbe so, for I sicken now. But of all men I would that thou shouldst have\nthe joy of this; for thou art the crown of all Norway. The name of king\nwill I give thee also; and all this, because Ingibiorg's brethren would\nbegrudge thee any honour; and would be slower in getting thee a wife\nthan I am.\u201d\n\nSaid Frithiof: \u201cHave all thanks, lord, for thy goodwill beyond that I\nlooked for! but I will have no higher dignity than to be called earl.\u201d\n\nThen King Ring gave Frithiof rule over all his realm in due wise, and\nthe name of earl therewith; and Frithiof was to rule it until such time\nas the sons of King Ring were of age to rule their own realm. So King\nRing lay sick a little while, and then died; and great mourning was\nmade for him; then was there a mound cast over him, and much wealth laid\ntherein, according to his bidding.\n\nThereafter Frithiof made a noble feast, whereunto his folk came; and\nthereat was drunken at one and the same time the heritage feast after\nKing Ring, and the bridal of Frithiof and Ingibiorg.\n\nAfter these things Frithiof abode in his realm, and was deemed therein a\nmost noble man; he and Ingibiorg had many children.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.     Frithiof King in Sogn.\n\nNow those kings of Sogn, the brethren of Ingibiorg, heard these tidings,\nhow that Frithiof had gotten a king's rule in Ringrealm, and had wedded\nIngibiorg their sister. Then says Helgi to Halfdan, his brother, that\nunheard of it was, and a deed over-bold, that a mere hersir's son should\nhave her to wife: and so thereat they gather together a mighty army, and\ngo their ways therewith to Ringrealm, with the mind to slay Frithiof,\nand lay all his realm under them.\n\nBut when Frithiof was ware of this, he gathered folk, and spake to the\nqueen moreover: \u201cNew war is come upon our realm; and now, in whatso wise\nthe dealings go, fain am I that thy ways to me grow no colder.\u201d\n\nShe said: \u201cIn such wise have matters gone that I must needs let thee be\nthe highest.\u201d\n\nNow was Biorn come from the east to help Frithiof; so they fared to the\nfight, and it befell, as ever erst, that Frithiof was the foremost in\nthe peril: King Helgi and he came to handy-blows, and there he slew King\nHelgi.\n\nThen bade Frithiof raise up the Shield of Peace, and the battle was\nstayed; and therewith he cried to King Halfdan: \u201cTwo choices are in\nthine hands now, either that thou give up all to my will, or else\ngettest thou thy bane like thy brother; for now may men see that mine is\nthe better part.\u201d\n\nSo Halfdan chose to lay himself and his realm under Frithiof's sway;\nand so now Frithiof became ruler over Sogn-folk, and Halfdan was to be\nHersir in Sogn and pay Frithiof tribute, while Frithiof ruled Ringrealm.\nSo Frithiof had the name of King of Sogn-folk from the time that he gave\nup Ringrealm to the sons of King Ring, and thereafter he won Hordaland\nalso. He and Ingibiorg had two sons, called Gunnthiof and Hunthiof, men\nof might, both of them.\n\n\nAND SO HERE ENDETH THE STORY OF FRITHIOF THE BOLD.","title":"The Story of Frithiof the Bold: 1875","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":9144}