from the
following account, translated from the old saga, the players were often
left in as sorry a condition as after a modern game.

"The next morning the brothers went to the games, and generally had the
ball during the day; they pushed men and let them fall roughly, and beat
others. At night three men had their arms broken, and many were bruised or
maimed."

The game between Njorfe's and Viking's sons culminated in a disagreement,
and one of the former nine struck one of the latter a dangerous and
treacherous blow. Prevented from taking his revenge then and there by the
interference of the spectators, the injured man made a trivial excuse to
return to the ball ground alone; and, meeting his assailant there, he
killed him.

When Viking heard that one of his sons had slain one of his friend's
children, he was very indignant, and, mindful of his oath to avenge all
Njorfe's wrongs, he banished the young murderer. The other brothers, on
hearing this sentence, all vowed that they would accompany the exile, and
so Viking sorrowfully bade them farewell, giving his sword Angurvadel to
Thorsten, the eldest, and cautioning him to remain quietly on an island in
Lake Wener until all danger of retaliation on the part of Njorfe's
remaining sons was over.

The young men obeyed; but Njorfe's sons, who had no boats to take them
across the lake, soon made use of a conjuror's art to bring about a great
frost, and, accompanied by many armed men, stole noiselessly over the ice
to attack Thorsten and his brothers. A terrible carnage ensued, and only
two of the attacking party managed to escape, leaving, as they fancied, all
their foes among the dead.

But when Viking came to bury his sons, he found that two of them, Thorsten
and Thorer, were still alive, and he secretly conveyed them to a cellar
beneath his dwelling, where they recovered from their wounds.

By magic arts Njorfe's two sons discovered that their opponents were not
dead, and soon made a second desperate but vain attempt to kill them.
Viking saw that the quarrel would be incessantly renewed if his sons
remained at home; so he now sent them to Halfdan, whose court they reached
after a series of adventures which in many points resemble those of Theseus
on his way to Athens.

When spring came Thorsten embarked on a piratical excursion, and
encountered Jokul, Njorfe's eldest son, who, in the mean while, had taken
forcible possession of the kingdom of Sogn, after killing t