wished to cross a river he
granted free use of the horse which they found nearest to the ford. He
decreed that they must dismount from this horse when its fore feet only
touched land and its hind feet were still washed by the waters. For he
thought that services such as these should rather be accounted kindness
than wrongdoing. Moreover, he ordained that whosoever durst try and
make further use of the horse after he had crossed the river should
be condemned to death. (b) He also ordered that no man should hold his
house or his coffer under lock and key, or should keep anything guarded
by bolts, promising that all losses should be made good threefold. Also,
he appointed that it was lawful to claim as much of another man's food
for provision as would suffice for a single supper. If anyone exceeded
this measure in his takings, he was to be held guilty of theft. Now, a
thief (so he enacted) was to be hung up with a sword passed through his
sinews, with a wolf fastened by his side, so that the wicked man might
look like the savage beast, both being punished alike. He also had the
same penalty extended to accomplices in thefts. Here he passed seven
most happy years of peace, begetting a son Alf and a daughter Eyfura.

It chanced that in these days Arngrim, a champion of Sweden, who had
challenged, attacked, and slain Skalk the Skanian because he had once
robbed him of a vessel, came to Frode. Elated beyond measure with his
deed, he ventured to sue for Frode's daughter; but, finding the king
deaf to him, he asked Erik, who was ruling Sweden, to help him. Erik
advised him to win Frode's goodwill by some illustrious service, and
to fight against Egther, the King of Permland, and Thengil, the King of
Finmark, since they alone seemed to repudiate the Danish rule, while all
men else submitted. Without delay he led his army to that country.
Now, the Finns are the uttermost peoples of the North, who have taken a
portion of the world that is barely habitable to till and dwell in. They
are very keen spearmen, and no nation has a readier skill in throwing
the javelin. They fight with large, broad arrows; they are addicted to
the study of spells; they are skilled hunters. Their habitation is not
fixed, and their dwellings are migratory; they pitch and settle wherever
they have caught game. Riding on curved boards (skees or snow-skates),
they run over ridges thick with snow. These men Arngrim attacked, in
order to win renown, and he crush