been, who came from Helsingland, gloried in
kidnapping and ravishing princesses, and used to kill any man who
hindered him in his lusts. He preferred high matches to those that were
lowly; and the more illustrious the victims he could violate, the more
noble he thought himself. No man escaped unpunished who durst measure
himself with Hardbeen in valour. He was so huge, that his stature
reached the measure of nine ells. He had twelve champions dwelling with
him, whose business it was to rise up and to restrain his fury with the
aid of bonds, whenever the rage came on him that foreboded of battle.
These men asked Halfdan to attack Hardbeen and his champions man by man;
and he not only promised to fight, but assured himself the victory with
most confident words. When Hardbeen heard this, a demoniacal frenzy
suddenly took him; he furiously bit and devoured the edges of his
shield; he kept gulping down fiery coals; he snatched live embers in his
mouth and let them pass down into his entrails; he rushed through the
perils of crackling fires; and at last, when he had raved through every
sort of madness, he turned his sword with raging hand against the hearts
of six of his champions. It is doubtful whether this madness came from
thirst for battle or natural ferocity. Then with the remaining band
of his champions he attacked Halfdan, who crushed him with a hammer of
wondrous size, so that he lost both victory and life; paying the
penalty both to Halfdan, whom he had challenged, and to the kings whose
offspring he had violently ravished.

Fortune never seemed satisfied with the trying of Halfdan's strength,
and used to offer him unexpected occasions for fighting. It so happened
that Egther, a Finlander, was harrying the Swedes on a roving raid.
Halfdan, having found that he had three ships, attacked him with the
same number. Night closed the battle, so that he could not conquer him;
but he challenged Egther next day, fought with and overthrew him. He
next heard that Grim, a champion of immense strength, was suing, under
threats of a duel, for Thorhild, the daughter of the chief Hather, and
that her father had proclaimed that he who put the champion out of the
way should have her. Halfdan, though he had reached old age a bachelor,
was stirred by the promise of the chief as much as by the insolence of
the champion, and went to Norway. When he entered it, he blotted out
every mark by which he could be recognized, disguising his face