and coats-of-mail. Between
them flashed swords and sparkling shields. Round the table sat the
warriors, and as often as the drinking-horn needed filling fair maidens
came with the joyous mead.

All this and other vast treasures did Frithiof receive from
his father,
Scarce was there found in the Northland any with richer
possessions,
Save were he heir to a kingdom, for of kings is the wealth
always greatest.
Though from no king he descended, yet was his mind
truly royal,
Courteous, noble, and kind. Daily became he more famous.

Rich was the house of Framness. Everywhere plenty and beauty, gleaming
jewels, gold and silver, met the eye of the stranger. But three things
in Framness were most prized by Frithiof and his brave men. First of
the three was a sword which had descended from father to son. The
sword was called Angurvadel, grief-wader, and brother of lightning.
Made in the far east, it had finally come into the hands of Viking, the
father of Thorsten.

When Viking was a youth of fifteen he heard of a monster ferocious and
shaggy, misshapen and higher in stature than man, who came from the
wood to the palace of a weak old king. This king had a lovely
daughter, and the monster boldly demanded her hand and the kingdom,
offering to meet in hand-to-hand combat any who would say him nay. No
one dared to meet him, for no one had a weapon that could pierce his
hard skull.

Then came Viking gladly to the combat with Ironskull, and with one blow
of his good sword Angurvadel cleft the head of the monster and rescued
the maiden. Viking gave the sword to his son Thorsten, and Thorsten
gave it to Frithiof. The hilt was of hammered gold, covered with
mystic red letters. Whenever he drew the sword light filled the hall,
as when the northern lights gleam or the bright lightning flashes.

Lost was the warrior
Who met, on the field of encounter, the blade with its red
letters glowing.
Widely renowned was that sword, and of swords was the
chief in the Northland.

The second prize in Framness was the wonderful arm-ring forged by
Volund, the lame blacksmith. This ring was made of gold and was very
heavy, and upon it Volund had carved pictures. First he showed the
house of the gods, with twelve high castles. In one was the sun rising
over the ocean. In the second castle were Odin and Saga, drinking
together from a golden shell. That shell is the o