ithiof
raised his invincible sword; but, remembering that he stood on a
consecrated spot, he spared the king, only cutting the royal shield in two
to show the strength of his blade, and striding back to his ship, he
embarked and sailed away in sullen silence.

"And lo! cloven in twain at a stroke
Fell King Helge's gold shield from its pillar of oak:
At the clang of the blow,
The live started above, the dead started below."
TEGNER, _Frithiof Saga_ (Longfellow's tr.).

[Sidenote: Sigurd Ring a suitor.] Just after his departure came messengers
from Sigurd Ring, the aged King of Ringric, in Norway, who, having lost his
wife, sent to Helge and Halfdan to ask Ingeborg's hand in marriage. Before
answering this royal suitor, Helge consulted the Vala, or prophetess, and
the priests, and as they all declared that the omens were not in favor of
this marriage, he gave an insolent refusal to the messengers. This
impolitic conduct so offended the would-be suitor that he immediately
collected an army and prepared to march against the Kings of Sogn to avenge
the insult with his sword. When the rumor of his approach reached the
cowardly brothers they were terrified, and fearing to encounter the foe
alone, they sent Hilding to Frithiof to implore his aid.

Hilding gladly undertook the mission, although he had not much hope of its
success. He found Frithiof playing chess with a friend, Bjoern, and
immediately made known his errand.

"'From Bele's high heirs
I come with courteous words and prayers:
Disastrous tidings rouse the brave;
On thee a nation's hope relies.

* * * * *

In Balder's fane, grief's loveliest prey,
Sweet Ing'borg weeps the livelong day:
Say, can her tears unheeded fall,
Nor call her champion to her side?'"
TEGNER, _Frithiof Saga_ (Longfellow's tr.).

But Frithiof was so deeply offended that even this appeal in the name of
his beloved could not move him. Quietly he continued his game of chess,
and, when it was ended, told Hilding that he had no answer to give. Rightly
concluding that Frithiof would lend the kings no aid, Hilding returned to
Helge and Halfdan, who, forced to fight without their bravest leader,
preferred to make a treaty with Sigurd Ring, promising to give him not only
their sister Ingeborg, but also a yearly tribute.

[Sidenote: At Balder'