and he
did not for a moment think of doing so.

"I am ready to fight Sweyn," he said. "I have no great cause of quarrel
with him; but if he conceives that he has grounds of quarrel with me,
that is enough. As to championship of the Saxons, we have no champions;
we fight not for personal honour or glory, but for our homes, our
countries, and our religion, each doing his best according to the
strength God has given him, and without thought of pride on the one
hand or envy on the other because the strength or courage of one may be
somewhat greater than that of another. Still, as a Saxon standing here
as the only representative of my nation in an assembly of Northmen, I
cannot refuse such a challenge, for to do so would be to infer that we
Saxons are less brave than you. Therefore I am ready for the combat."

The Northmen clashed their weapons against their shields in token of
their approval of the young Saxon's words, and the young champions
prepared for the combat. They were naked to the waist save for shield
and helmet; below the waist each wore a short and tightly-fitting
garment covered with plates of brass; the legs were naked, and each
wore a pair of light sandals; their weapons were long straight swords.
The weapon Edmund had chosen was considerably lighter than that of his
opponent, but was of toughest steel, on which were engraved in rough
characters, "Prayers to Woden for victory."

The difference in height between the combatants was considerable.
Edmund stood five feet ten, but looked shorter from the squareness and
width of his shoulders. Sweyn was nearly four inches taller, and he too
was very strongly built. His muscles indeed stood out in stronger
development than did those of Edmund, and if pure strength was to win
the day few of those who looked on doubted that the Dane would be the
victor.

The combat was a long one. For some time Edmund contented himself with
standing upon the defensive and guarding the tremendous blows which
Sweyn rained upon him. In spite of the efforts of the Northman, he
could neither beat down the Saxon's guard nor force him to fall back a
single step.

Again and again the rattle of the spectators' arms clashed an approval
of Edmund's steady resistance to his opponent's assaults. The Norsemen
delighted beyond all things in a well-fought encounter. Each man,
himself a warrior, was able to appreciate the value of the strokes and
parries. The betting at the commencement had run