t beds on page 196.

[Illustration]

Foes'-fear

Every day the boy Harald heard some such story of war or of the gods,
until he could see Thor riding among the storm-clouds and throwing his
hammer, until he knew that a brave man has many wounds, but never a one
on his back. Many nights he dreamed that he himself walked into
Valhalla, and that all the heroes stood up and shouted:

"Welcome! Harald Halfdanson!"

"Ah! the bite of the sword is sweeter than the kiss of your mother," he
said to Olaf one day. "When shall I stand in the prow of a dragon and
feast on the fight? I am hungry to see the world. Ivar the Far-goer
tells me of the strange countries he has seen. Ah! we vikings are great
folk. There is no water that has not licked our boats' sides. This cape
of mine came in a viking boat from France. These cloak-pins came from a
far country called Greece. In my father's house are golden cups from
Rome, away on the southern sea. Every land pours rich things into our
treasure-chest. Ivar has been to a strange country where it is all sand
and is very hot. The people call their country Arabia. They have never
heard of Thor or Odin. Ivar brought beautiful striped cloth from there,
and wonderful, sweet-smelling waters. Oh! when shall the white horses of
the sea lead me out to strange lands and glorious battles?"

But Harald did something besides listen to stories. Every morning he was
up at sunrise and went with a thrall to feed the hunting dogs. Thorstein
taught him to swim in the rough waters of the fiord. Often he went with
the men a-hunting in the woods and learned to ride a horse and pull a
bow and throw a lance. Ivar taught him to play the harp and to make up
songs. He went much to the smithy, where the warriors mended their
helmets and made their spears and swords of iron and bronze. At first he
only watched the men or worked the bellows, but soon he could handle the
tongs and hold the red-hot iron, and after a long time he learned to
use the hammer and to shape metal. One day he made himself a spear-head.
It was two feet long and sharp on both edges. While the iron was hot he
beat into it some runes. When the men in the smithy saw the runes they
opened their eyes wide and looked at the boy, for few Norsemen could
read.

"What does it say?" they asked.

"It is the name of my spear-point, and it says, 'Foes'-fear,'" Harald
said. "But now for a handle."

It was winter and the snow was very deep. So Hara