ile Fridleif was besieging Dublin, a town in Ireland, and saw from
the strength of the walls that there was no chance of storming them, he
imitated the shrewd wit of Hadding, and ordered fire to be shut up in
wicks and fastened to the wings of swallows. When the birds got back in
their own nesting-place, the dwellings suddenly flared up; and while the
citizens all ran up to quench them, and paid more heed to abating the
fire than to looking after the enemy, Fridleif took Dublin. After this
he lost his soldiers in Britain, and, thinking that he would find
it hard to get back to the coast, he set up the corpses of the slain
(Amleth's device) and stationed them in line, thus producing so nearly
the look of his original host that its great reverse seemed not to have
lessened the show of it a whit. By this deed he not only took out of the
enemy all heart for fighting, but inspired them with the desire to make
their escape.

ENDNOTES:
(1) Jellinge. Lat. "Ialunga", Icel. "Jalangr".
(2) General usage. "publicus consuetudini": namely, the rule of
combat that two should not fight against one.

BOOK FIVE.

After the death of Fridleif, his son FRODE, aged seven, was elected
in his stead by the unanimous decision of the Danes. But they held an
assembly first, and judged that the minority of the king should be taken
in charge by guardians, lest the sovereignty should pass away owing to
the boyishness of the ruler. For one and all paid such respect to the
name and memory of Fridleif, that the royalty was bestowed on his son
despite his tender years. So a selection was made, and the brothers
Westmar and Koll were summoned to the charge of bringing up the king.
Isulf, also, and Agg and eight other men of mark were not only entrusted
with the guardianship of the king, but also granted authority to
administer the realm under him. These men were rich in strength and
courage, and endowed with ample gifts of mind as well as of body. Thus
the state of the Danes was governed with the aid of regents until the
time when the king should be a man.

The wife of Koll was Gotwar, who used to paralyse the most eloquent and
fluent men by her glib and extraordinary insolence; for she was potent
in wrangling, and full of resource in all kinds of disputation. Words
were her weapons; and she not only trusted in questions, but was armed
with stubborn answers. No man could subdue this woman, who could not
fight, but who f