considering how she had come by it she should never
get it back:

"--Unless you bring about a quarrel between two kings, each of whom
has twenty kings subject to him; so that they shall fight under the
influence of such spells and charms that as fast as they fall they
shall start up again and fight on--unless there be some Christian man
so brave and so much favoured by the great good fortune of his liege
lord that he shall dare to take arms and enter among the combatants
and slay them. Then and not till then shall the labours of those
princes be brought to an end--whoever may be the chief who is destined
to free them from the oppression and toil of their disastrous lot."

Freyja agreed to this and recovered the necklace.

III. Four and twenty years after the death of Frithfrothi a King
called Erling ruled over the Highlands of Norway. He had a wife and
two sons, of whom the elder was called Soerli the Strong, and the
younger Erlend. They were promising young men. Soerli was the stronger
of the two. As soon as they were old enough they took to raiding, and
fought against the viking Sindri, the son of Sveigir, the son of Haki,
a sea-king in the Skerries of the Elf. There fell Sindri the viking,
and with him all his host; and Erlend the son of Erling also fell
in that battle. After that Soerli sailed into the Baltic and harried
there, and performed so many great deeds that it would take too long
to recount them all.

IV. There was a King called Halfdan who ruled Denmark; and his capital
was at Roskilde. He married Hvethna the elder, and their sons were
Hoegni and Haakon. They were distinguished for their stature, strength
and ability. As soon as they were old enough they took to piracy.

Now we must return to Soerli and relate how one autumn he set sail
for Denmark. King Halfdan had been intending to go to a gathering
of kings. He was far advanced in years at the time when the events
related here took place. He had such a fine warship that for strength
and excellence of every kind it had no equal in all the countries of
the North. It was riding at anchor in the harbour, but King Halfdan
had gone ashore to give orders for a carousal before starting on his
voyage. And when Soerli saw the warship his heart was consumed with a
burning desire to possess it at all possible hazards. And indeed it is
generally agreed that there never was a greater treasure of a warship
than this in all the countries of the North, except the