ut one day's journey from the fjord
Was all the more those two would fare
Ere gaining hall of Norway's lord,
Where audience was soon prepared.

King Thorgeir reigned o'er Norway then;
In counsel, wise and always fair.
In battle, he was first of men,
His head unbowed by hoary hair.

The king heard Signar tell his tale
From island home to sea to shore.
He heard of wolf and deer and whale,
He heard how Signar killed the four.

Though thoughts are oft-best left for time
To intermix and mellow slowly,
These grapes were filled with fragrant wine,
For Thorgeir saw the answer wholly.

The king asked Signar, "Do you know
The laws set down by kings of old?
Young man, the wergild¹ that you owe
Must be made good through blood or gold."

As Signar sensed no vengeful ire
Within the king, he said, "As yet,
These laws I do not know, good sire.
I'll pay, in blood or gold, my debt."

"Now captain," Thorgeir asked his man,
"Can you describe these men he killed?"
The captain answered, "Yes, I can,"
And told him all, both fair and ill.

"And captain," Thorgeir further asked,
"Did Signar give unfair account
Of how he took those four to task?"
He answered, "Not the least amount."

"Surpassing strange," the king allowed,
"This young man: honest, strong and bold,
With confidence that's none too proud,
And ice-filled veins that ne'er run cold.

"Portentous signs hung o'er this throne
E'er since I woke upon this day.
Some yen I felt to see, alone,
The trove wherein my treasures lay.

"'Tis known I rarely visit there --
The arm, not greed, makes warriors strong.
But, yet, this urge I could not bear
Propelled me to that hall ere long.

"I gazed upon the prizes won
On battlefields both far and near.
The heaps of gold shone like the sun
'Midst arms arrayed in marshaled tiers.

"The Hamingja, once Skallir's blade --
He led his men against our host.
His army scattered and dismayed,
I felled him ere he left our coast.

"Once Aldri armored Lapland's lord,
Impervious to weapon's edges.
Since it could not be harmed by sword
I cleaved his neck from off its ledges.

"I saw the shield, which ousted fear,
That Fylgth, bane of Bogi's foes
Near Aukafr, old Thorbjorn's spear,
And Draups, the Prince of Flanders' bow.

"I spent a little time within,
Too much, I thought; I'd spend no more.
But then I chanced to see therein
A thing I had not seen before.

"Behind old trophies I descried
A modest drape of sullen black.
With strange excitement in my stride
I gained the cloth and pulled it back.

"I knew I never faced the man
Who'd bear such armaments to war.
The sword's blade measured seven spans,
The spearhead's length was, fully, four.

"The armor was the greatest prize
And cunning in most every part.
Though mammoth in its scope and size
'Twas inlaid with most subtle art.

"I cannot read the stars and signs,
I reckon naught from birds in flight,
But even I can see designs
The gods have thrown in plainest sight.

"Those arms of which I lately spoke
Will not be handed to this youth.
Can this boy be a battle-oak?
We'll test that postulate for truth.

"My judgment, Signar, shall be thus:
Your wergild will not be ignored.
With deeds surpassing valorous
You'll right arrears on foreign shores.

"Your skills, though great, must be enlarged
Toward the weapons warriors wield.
Our captain, though, will not be charged
With teaching you of sword and shield.

"Return now, Signar, with my man,
You'll join him on his raiding tour.
Prince Thorvald shall lend able hand
In teaching you the arts of war.