ldislandske Litteraturs Historie_,
Vol. II, p. 837.]

[Footnote 2: The life of this prince is told at length in
another saga--_Soerla Saga Sterka_ which is published in Vol.
III of Asmundarson's edition of the _Fornaldarsoegur_.]

[Footnote 3: Cf. Finnur Jonsson, _op. cit._, Vol. II, pp. 34,
35.]

[Footnote 4: Cf. _A Tour through the Islands of Orkney and
Schetland_, by George Low, edited by J. A. Anderson (Kirkwall,
1879), p. 108 ff.]

[Footnote 5: On p. 217 ff. below I have attempted a
translation of the first twelve stanzas from Haegstad's
corrected text.]

[Footnote 6: _Op. cit._, p. 113.]

[Footnote 7: Cf. The _Saga of Hervoer and Heithrek_ translated
below, p. 87 ff.]

[Footnote 8: Cf. Panzer, _Hilde-Gudrun_ (Halle, 1901),
_passim_; Frazer, _Pausanias's Description of Greece_ (London,
1898), Vol. II, p. 443 ff.; etc.]

THE THATTR OF SOeRLI

I. To the East of Vanakvisl in Asia was a country called Asialand or
Asiaheim. Its inhabitants were called AEsir and the chief city they
called Asgarth. Othin was the name of their King, and it was a great
place for heathen sacrifices. Othin appointed Njoerth and Frey as
priests. Njoerth had a daughter called Freyja who accompanied Othin and
was his mistress. There were four men in Asia called Alfregg, Dvalin,
Berling and Grer, who dwelt not far from the King's hall, and who were
so clever that they could turn their hands to anything. Men of this
kind were called dwarfs. They dwelt in a rock, but at that time they
mixed more with men than they do now. Othin loved Freyja very much,
and she was the fairest of all women in her day. She had a bower of
her own which was beautiful and strong, and it was said that if the
door was closed and bolted, no-one could enter the bower against her
will.

It chanced one day that Freyja went to the rock and found it open, and
the dwarfs were forging a gold necklace, which was almost finished.
Freyja was charmed with the necklace, and the dwarfs with Freyja.
She asked them to sell it, offering gold and silver and other costly
treasures in exchange for it. The dwarfs replied that they were not
in need of money, but each one said that he would give up his share
in the necklace.... And at the end of four nights they handed it to
Freyja. She went home to her bower and kept silence about it as if
nothing had happened.

II. There was a man called Farbauti who was