easting; and when the ale began to mount to the brains of the
revellers, many of them stood up, and raising aloft the "braga goblet"--
that over which vows were wont to be made--began, in more or less
bombastic strains, to boast of what they meant to do in the future.
Having exhausted all other sentiments, the guests then emptied the
"remembrance goblet" to the memory of departed friends.

Soon the desire for song and story began to be felt, and there was a
loud call for the scald. Whereupon, clearing his throat and glancing
round on the audience with a deprecatory air--just as amateur scalds of
the present day are wont to do--Thiodolph hinn Frode of Huina stood up
to sing. His voice was mellow, and his music wild. The subject chosen
showed that he understood how to humour both King and people, and if the
song was short it was much to the point.

Song of the Scald.

Of cup and platter need has none,
The guest who seeks the generous one--
Harald the bounteous--who can trace
His lineage from the giant race;
For Harald's hand is liberal, free.
The guardian of the temple he.
He loves the gods, his open hand
Scatters his sword's gains o'er the land.

The scald sat down with the prompt energy of a man who believes he has
said a good thing, and expects that it will be well received. He was
not disappointed, for the rafters rang with the wild huzzas of the
revellers as they leaped to their feet and shouted "Victory to the
King!"

This was just what the King wanted, and he carefully fanned the flame
which the scald had so judiciously kindled. The result was that when he
afterwards called for men to go forth with him to do battle with the
turbulent spirits of Horlingdal, hundreds of those who would otherwise
have been malcontent, or lukewarm followers, busked themselves eagerly
for the fight, and flocked to his standard. His longships were crowded
with picked men, and war vessels of all sizes--from little boats to
dragons with thirty banks of rowers--augmented his fleet. At length he
sailed from Drontheim with perhaps the strongest armament that had ever
swept over the northern sea.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

TELLS SOMETHING OF THE DOINGS OF SOLVE KLOFE AND OTHERS, AND TREATS OF A
FEW OF THE MARVELLOUS ADVENTURES OF GUTTORM STOUTHEART.

The scene is changed. It is night; yet how different from night in most
other inhabited parts of the earth! The midnight sun is just sinking
beneath the horizo