made
the most of their short summer, and tilled the ground so well that they
generally reaped a golden harvest. Many of the families were akin, and
had fled some sixty years earlier from Norway and the islands of the sea
because the king, Harald Fairhair, had introduced new laws, which
displeased them. They were soon joined, for one reason and another, by
dwellers in Orkney and Shetland and the Faroe Islands and the Hebrides,
and, being men of one race, they easily adopted the same customs and
obeyed the same laws.

Now the Northmen had many good qualities and many very troublesome ones.
The father of every household had absolute power over all his children;
he fixed the amount of money that should be paid in exchange for his
daughter at her marriage, and the sum that was due for the wounded slave
or 'thrall' as he was called, or even for his murdered son; or, if he
thought better, he could refuse to take any money at all as the price of
his injuries, and could then avenge blood by blood.

But once he had declared his purpose he was bound to abide by his word.

Fond though they were of fighting, the Northmen had their own notions of
fair dealing. If you had killed a man, you had to confess it; if you
slew him at night, or when he was sleeping, you were guilty of murder,
and if you refused to throw gravel or sand over his body, thus denying
your enemy the rights of burial, you were considered a dastard even by
your friends.

[Illustration: HAUSKULD'S PRIDE IN HALLGERDA]

Now in the valley or dale of the river Laxa dwelt two brothers, each in
his own house. One was named Hauskuld, and the other Hrut. This Hrut was
much younger than Hauskuld, and was handsome, brave, and, like so many
of the Northmen, very gentle when not engaged in war. Like many of them
also, the gift was given him of reading the future.

One day Hauskuld made a feast, and Hrut came with many of his kinsmen,
and took his place next his brother Hauskuld. They were all seated in
the great hall of the house and near the fire Hauskuld's little
daughter, Hallgerda, was playing with some other children. Fair and blue
eyed were they all, but Hallgerda was taller and more beautiful than
any, and her hair fell in long bright curls far below her waist. 'Come
hither,' said Hauskuld, holding out his hand, and, taking her by the
chin, he kissed her and bade her go back to her companions. Then,
turning to his brother he asked:

'Well, is she not fair to look u