uted the king. The king asked the man his name,
and he called himself Halfred.

"Art thou the skald?" said the king.

"I can compose poetry," replied he.

"Wilt thou then adopt Christianity, and come into my service?" asked the
king.

"If I am baptized," replies he, "it must be on one condition,--that thou
thyself art my godfather; for no other will I have."

The king replies, "That I will do." And Halfred was baptized, the king
holding him during the baptism.

Afterwards the king said, "Wilt thou enter into my service?"

Halfred replied, "I was formerly in Earl Hakon's court; but now I will
neither enter into thine nor into any other service, unless thou promise
me it shall never be my lot to be driven away from thee."

"It has been reported to me," said the king, "that thou are neither so
prudent nor so obedient as to fulfil my commands."

"In that case," replied Halfred, "put me to death."

"Thou art a skald who composes difficulties," says the king; "but into
my service, Halfred, thou shalt be received."

Halfred says, "if I am to be named the composer of difficulties, what
cost thou give me, king, on my name-day?"

The king gave him a sword without a scabbard, and said, "Now compose me
a song upon this sword, and let the word sword be in every line of the
strophe." Halfred sang thus:

"This sword of swords is my reward.
For him who knows to wield a sword,
And with his sword to serve his lord,
Yet wants a sword, his lot is hard.
I would I had my good lord's leave
For this good sword a sheath to choose:
I'm worth three swords when men use,
But for the sword-sheath now I grieve."

Then the king gave him the scabbard, observing that the word sword was
wanting in one line of his strophe. "But there instead are three
swords in one of the lines," says Halfred. "That is true," replies the
king.--Out of Halfred's lays we have taken the most of the true and
faithful accounts that are here related about Olaf Trygvason.

91. THANGBRAND RETURNS FROM ICELAND.

The same harvest (A.D. 999) Thangbrand the priest came back from Iceland
to King Olaf, and told the ill success of his journey; namely, that the
Icelanders had made lampoons about him; and that some even sought to
kill him, and there was little hope of that country ever being made
Christian. King Olaf was so enraged at this, that he ordered all the
Icelanders to be assembled by sound of horn, and was going