Frithiof waxed ever in riches and renown whithersoever he went: evil men
he slew, and grimly strong-thieves, but husbandmen and chapmen he let
abide in peace; and now was he called anew Frithiof the Bold; he had
gotten to him by now a great company well arrayed, and was become
exceeding wealthy of chattels.
But when Frithiof had been three winters a-warring he sailed west, and
made the Wick; then he said that he would go a-land: “But ye shall fare
a-warring without me this winter; for I begin to weary of warfare, and
would fain go to the Uplands, and get speech of King Ring: but hither
shall ye come to meet me in the summer, and I will be here the first day
of summer.”
Biorn said: “This counsel is naught wise, though thou must needs rule;
rather would I that we fare north to Sogn, and slay both those kings,
Helgi and Halfdan.”
“It is all naught,” said Frithiof; “I must needs go see King Ring and
Ingibiorg.”
Says Biorn: “Loth am I hereto that thou shouldst risk thyself alone in
his hands; for this Ring is a wise man and of great kin, though he be
somewhat old.”
But Frithiof said he would have his own way: “And thou, Biorn, shalt be
captain of our company meanwhile.”
So they did as he bade, and Frithiof fared to the Uplands in the autumn,
for he desired sore to look upon the love of King Ring and Ingibiorg.
But or ever he came there he did on him, over his clothes, a great cloak
all shaggy; two staves he had in his hand, and a mask over his face, and
he made as if he were exceeding old.
So he met certain herdsmen, and, going heavily, he asked them: “Whence
are ye?” They answered and said: “We are of Streitaland, whereas the
king dwelleth.”
Quoth the carle: “Is King Ring a mighty king, then?”
They answered: “Thou lookest to us old enough to have cunning to know
what manner of man is King Ring in all wise.”
The carle said that he had heeded salt-boiling more than the ways of
kings; and therewith he goes up to the king's house.
So when the day was well worn he came into the hall, blinking about as a
dotard, and took an outward place, pulling his hood over him to hide his
visage.
Then spake King Ring to Ingibiorg: “There is come into the hall a man
far bigger than other men.”
The queen answered: “That is no such great tidings here.”
But the king spake to a serving-man who stood before the board, and
said: “Go thou, and ask yon cowled man who he is, whence he cometh, and
of what kin he is.”
So the lad ran down the hall to the new-comer and said: “What art thou
called, thou man? Where wert thou last night? Of what kin art thou?”
Said the cowled man: “Quick come thy questions, good fellow! but hast
thou skill to understand if I shall tell thee hereof?”
“Yea, certes,” said the lad.
“Well,” said the cowl-bearer, “Thief is my name, with Wolf was I last
night, and in Grief-ham was I reared.”
Then ran the lad back to the king, and told him the answer of the
new-comer.
“Well told, lad,” said the king; “but for that land of Grief-ham, I know
it well: it may well be that the man is of no light heart, and yet a
wise man shall he be, and of great worth I account him.”
Said the queen: “A marvellous fashion of thine, that thou must needs
talk so freely with every carle that cometh hither! Yea, what is the
worth of him, then?”
“That wottest thou no clearer than I,” said the king; “but I see that he
thinketh more than he talketh, and is peering all about him.”
Therewith the king sent a man after him, and so the cowl-bearer went up
before the king, going somewhat bent, and greeted him in a low voice.
Then said the king: “What art thou called, thou big man?”
And the cowl-bearer answered and sang:
“Peace-thief they called me
On the prow with the Vikings;
But War-thief whenas
I set widows a-weeping;
Spear-thief when I
Sent forth the barbed shafts;
Battle-thief when I
Burst forth on the king;
Hel-thief when I
Tossed up the small babies:
Isle-thief when I
In the outer isles harried;
Slaws-thief when I
Sat aloft over men:
Yet since have I drifted
With salt-boiling carls,
Needy of help
'Ere hither I came.”
Said the king: “Thou hast gotten thy name of Thief from many a matter,
then; but where wert thou last night, and what is thy home?”
The cowl-bearer said: “In Grief-ham I grew up; but heart drave me
hither, and home have I nowhere.”
The king said: “Maybe indeed that thou hast been nourished in Grief-ham
a certain while; yet also maybe that thou wert born in a place of peace.
But in the wild-wood must thou have lain last night, for no goodman
dwelleth anigh named Wolf; but whereas thou sayest thou hast no home,
so is it, that thou belike deemest thy home nought, because of thy heart
that drave thee hither.”
Then spake Ingibiorg: “Go, Thief, get thee to some other harbour, or in
to the guest-hall.”
“Nay,” said the king, “I am old enow to know how to marshal guests; so
do off thy cowl, new-comer, and sit down on my other hand.”
“Yea, old, and over old,” said the queen, “when thou settest
staff-carles by thy side.”
“Nay, lord, it beseemeth not,” said Thief; “better it were as the
queen sayeth. I have been more used to boiling salt than sitting beside
lords.”
“Do thou my will,” said the king, “for I will rule this time.”
So Thief cast his cowl from him, and was clad thereunder in a dark blue
kirtle; on his arm, moreover, was the goodly gold ring, and a thick
silver belt was round about him, with a great purse on it, and therein
silver pennies glittering; a sword was girt to his side, and he had a
great fur hood on his head, for his eyes were bleared, and his face all
wrinkled.
“Ah! now we fare better, say I,” quoth the king; “but do thou, queen,
give him a goodly mantle, well shapen for him.”
“Thou shalt rule, my lord,” said the queen; “but in small account do I
hold this Thief of thine.”
So then he gat a good mantle over him, and sat down in the high-seat
beside the king.
The queen waxed red as blood when she saw the goodly ring, yet would she
give him never a word; but the king was exceeding blithe with him and
said: “A goodly ring hast thou on thine arm there; thou must have boiled
salt long enough to get it.”
Says he, “That is all the heritage of my father.”
“Ah!” says the king, “maybe thou hast more than that; well, few
salt-boiling carles are thy peers, I deem, unless eld is deep in mine
eyes now.”
So Thief was there through the winter amid good entertainment, and well
accounted of by all men; he was bounteous of his wealth, and joyous with
all men: the queen held but little converse with him; but the king and
he were ever blithe together.