all thinking. At last one said:

"How shall we give this message to the king?"

"I have been thinking of that," Guthorm said; "his anger is no little
thing."

It was late when they rode into the king's yard; for they had ridden
slowly, trying to make some plan for softening the message, but they had
thought of none.

"I see light through the wind's-eyes of the feast hall," one said.

"Yes, the king keeps feast," Guthorm said. "We must give our message
before all his guests."

So they went in with very heavy hearts. There sat King Harald in the
high seat. The benches on both sides were full of men. The tables had
been taken out, and the mead-horns were going round.

"Oh, ho!" cried King Harald. "Our messengers! What news?"

Then Guthorm said:

"This Gyda is a bold and saucy girl, King Harald. My tongue refuses to
give her message."

The king stamped his foot.

"Out with it!" he cried. "What does she say?"

"She says that she will not marry so little a king," Guthorm answered.

Harald jumped to his feet. His face flushed red. Guthorm stretched out
his hand.

"They are not my words, O King; they are the words of a silly girl."

"Is there any more?" the king shouted. "Go on!"

"She said: 'There is one king in Denmark and one king in Sweden. Is
there no man brave enough to make himself king of all Norway? Tell King
Harald that I will not marry him unless he puts all of Norway under him
for my sake.'"

The guests sat speechless, staring at Guthorm. All at once the king
broke into a roar of laughter.

"By the hammer of Thor!" he cried, "that is a good message. I thank you,
Gyda. Did you hear it, friends? King of all Norway! Why, we are all
stupids. Why did we not think of that?"

Then he raised his horn high.

"Now hear my vow. I say that I will not cut my hair or comb it until I
am king of all Norway. That I will be or I will die."

Then he drank off the horn of mead, and while he drank it, all the men
in the hall stood up and waved their swords and shouted and shouted.
That old hall in all its two hundred years of feasts had not heard such
a noise before.

"Ah, Harald!" Guthorm cried, "surely Thor in Valhalla smiled when he
heard that vow."

The men sat all night talking of that wonderful vow.

On the very next day King Harald sent out his war-arrows. Soon a great
army was gathered. They marched through the country north and south and
east and west, burning houses and fighting battles as they