To arm them with spear and with shield.--
They shall march to the fight
Right royally dight,
And conquer their foes in the field.

Then he added:

We will summon a mighty host, Hloeth,
And shield on shield will clang,
As the warriors arm them from twelve years old,
And the wild colts gallop along.
And the Huns shall mass
Ere the winter pass,
And assemble a countless throng.

That winter, King Humli and Hloeth remained quiet, but the following
spring they collected such a large army that the land of the Huns was
swept bare of fighting men. All those of twelve years old and upwards,
who were fit for military service and could carry arms, joined the
army, and all the horses of two years old and upwards. The host was
now so big that thousands and nothing less than thousands could be
counted in the legions. And a commander was set over every 'thousand,'
and a standard was set up over every legion. And there were five
'thousand' in each legion, each 'thousand' containing thirteen
'hundreds,' and each 'hundred' four times forty men; and these legions
were thirty three in number.

When these troops had assembled, they rode through the forest which
was called Myrkvith, and which separated the land of the Huns from
that of the Goths. And when they emerged from the forest, they came
upon a thickly inhabited country with level fields; and on these
plains there was a fine fortress. It was under the command of Hervoer,
the sister of Angantyr and Hloeth, and Ormar, her foster-father was
with her. They had been appointed to defend the land against the
Hunnish host, and they had a large army there.

XIV. It happened one morning at sunrise that as Hervoer was standing
on the summit of a tower over the gate of the fortress, she looked
southwards towards the forest, and saw clouds of dust arising from a
great body of horse, by which the sun was hidden for a long time. Next
she saw a gleam beneath the dust, as though she were gazing on a mass
of gold--fair shields overlaid with gold, gilded helmets and white
corslets. Then she perceived that it was the Hunnish host coming on in
vast numbers. She descended hastily and called her trumpeter, and bade
him sound the assembly.

Then said Hervoer: "Take your weapons and arm for battle; and do thou,
Ormar, ride against the Huns and offer them battle before the Southern
Gate."

Ormar replied: "I will certainly take my shield and ride with the