suer; and they generally fling their lances behind their
back, being more skilled at conquering by flight than by fighting.
Hence, when you fancy that the victory is yours, then is the moment of
danger. But Frode was wary and not rash in his pursuit of the foe who
fled so treacherously, and he routed Kerwil (Cearbal), the leader of
the nation, in battle. Kerwil's brother survived, but lost heart
for resistance, and surrendered his country to the king (Frode), who
distributed among his soldiers the booty he had won, to show himself
free from all covetousness and excessive love of wealth, and only
ambitious to gain honour.

After the triumphs in Britain and the spoiling of the Irish they
went back to Denmark; and for thirty years there was a pause from all
warfare. At this time the Danish name became famous over the whole
world almost for its extraordinary valour. Frode, therefore, desired to
prolong and establish for ever the lustre of his empire, and made it
his first object to inflict severe treatment upon thefts and brigandage,
feeling these were domestic evils and intestine plagues, and that if the
nations were rid of them they would come to enjoy a more tranquil life;
so that no ill-will should mar and hinder the continual extention of
peace. He also took care that the land should not be devoured by any
plague at home when the enemy was at rest, and that intestine wickedness
should not encroach when there was peace abroad. At last he ordered that
in Jutland, the chief district of his realm, a golden bracelet, very
heavy, should be set up on the highways (as he had done before in the
district of Wik), wishing by this magnificent price to test the honesty
which he had enacted. Now, though the minds of the dishonest were vexed
with the provocation it furnished, and the souls of the evil tempted,
yet the unquestioned dread of danger prevailed. For so potent was the
majesty of Frode, that it guarded even gold that was thus exposed to
pillage, as though it were fast with bolts and bars. The strange
device brought great glory upon its inventor. After dealing destruction
everywhere, and gaining famous victories far and wide, he resolved
to bestow quiet on all men, that the cheer of peace should follow the
horrors of war, and the end of slaughter might be the beginning of
safety. He further thought that for the same reason all men's property
should be secured to them by a protective decree, so that what had been
saved from a