ountry.

What Hakon loved above all things to study--nay, the only thing he loved
to study--was the old Sagas, which are tales, poems, and histories
of the deeds of the Norsemen in ancient times. With eleven of his
classmates, who were about his own age and as Norse as himself, he
formed a brotherhood which was called "The Sons of the Vikings." They
gave each other tremendously bloody surnames, in the style of the
Sagas--names that reeked with gore and heroism. Hakon himself assumed
the pleasing appellation "Skull-splitter," and his classmate Frithjof
Ronning was dubbed Vargr-i-Veum, which means Wolf-in-the-Temple. One Son
of the Vikings was known as Ironbeard, another as Erling the Lop-Sided,
a third as Thore the Hound, a fourth as Aslak Stone-Skull. But a serious
difficulty, which came near disrupting the brotherhood, arose over these
very names. It was felt that Hakon had taken an unfair advantage of the
rest in selecting the bloodiest name at the outset (before anyone else
had had an opportunity to choose), and there was a general demand that
he should give it up and allow all to draw lots for it. But this Hakon
stoutly refused to do; and declared that if anyone wanted his name he
would have to fight for it, in good old Norse fashion.

A holm-gang or duel was then arranged; that is, a ring was marked out
with stones; the combatants stepped within it, and he who could drive
his antagonist outside of the stone ring was declared to be the victor.
Frithjof, who felt that he had a better claim to be named Skull-Splitter
than Hakon, was the first to accept the challenge; but after a terrible
combat was forced to bite the dust. His conqueror was, however, filled
with such a glowing admiration of his valor (as combatants in the
Sagas frequently are), that he proposed that they should swear eternal
friendship and foster-brotherhood, and seal their compact, according to
Norse custom, by the ceremony called "Mingling of Blood." It is needless
to say that this seemed to all the boys a most delightful proposition;
and they entered upon the august rite with a deep sense of its
solemnity.

First a piece of sod, about twelve feet square, was carefully raised
upon wooden stakes representing spears, so as to form a green roof over
the foster-brothers. Then, sitting upon the black earth, where the turf
had been removed, they bared their arms to the shoulder, and in the
presence of his ten brethren, as witnesses, each swore that he w