The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-24


plunged in barren soil which yields the
sap but grudgingly to the trunk. Be
never a hard kind, Hedge, only firm. Ora
ciousness becomes king as wreaths or
flowers a shield A friendless man, how
ever strong, dies as the lonely tree bereft
of its bark. But in the midst of friends
thou art as safe as the forest tree smell
tered from the storms whose roots drink
from the living brook.
And, thou, Haitian, remember that
honey alone makes not the mead 1t needs
the hitter hops. A sword should be of
steel and king earnest, even in his play.
The way to a friend is short, however
distant his home, but is Ions to foes
house though it lay close to the road. Do
not place confidence in every one un-
thinkingly Choose one to trust and look
not for another. for what is known to
three will soon be known to ALL
Then spoke Thorsten 1T is not meet,
o King, that thou shouldst go to the halls
of Odin alone We shared alike the
changeful gifts of life, methinks the
Then he told his sons to honor the gods
and obey the King-one hand should WELD
the royal power. Envy not him." said
he, whose place is above thine. The
good sword needs hilt as well as blade
The day should not be praised before It's
done nor mead before tits drunk nor
mems advice before the event has proved
1t good. Put not thy trust in ice of one
nights freezing nor in spring snow nor
in ha Of al mr. n q n
uncertain mind. Thyself must surely die
and all that is thine pass away. But one
thing must as certainly endure-it is the
name which thou shalt leave behind.
Turn thee from evil, bend thy will to
what is good and noble and do right.
Thus wilt thou not have lived in VAIN"
Then King Belle charged Hedge to cherish
and care for his sister, Ingeborg, to take
to her her fathers last blessing, and end
ed with: And now. my sons. go back
to your work and your play. For us our
way lies to All-Father's halls--the place
of rest for which we long as the weary
rivers for the sea-"
Soon after Belle and Thorsten died
and were laid, as they had directed,
under two mounds erected on either
side of the bay, while Hedge and Half
dan were elected joint kings by the
people at a great meeting of all the
freemen of the realm. Frithjof, as an
only child, entered at once upon I'M
divided proprietorship of his fathers
rich farmstead of Framnas-hills and
valleys and woods, three miles each
way, with the sea as boundary on one
side. There were great fields of rye and
barley and all else that the northern
cline would allow to come to maturity
while the woods were filled with game
and the streams with fish. Herds of
kline and focks of sheep he had many
and in the stables were twenty four
steeds, swift as winds in harness, their
names braided with red ribbons and
their hoofs glistening with polished
shoes. His farmhouse was a palace and
the wonder of 1t was the great banquet
hall. At the Yuletide feast six hundred
guests scarce filled 1t. The board of
oak which stretched from end to end
was polished as bright as steel. At the
hosts end was a dais adorned with the
statues of two gods carved out of elm
wood-Odin with royal mien and Frey
with the sun on his brow. Between the
two was the hosts seat, covered with
huge bearskin, black, with scarlet
mouth and claws silver mounted.
Great wealth was stored away in the
house. The cellars, garrets, closets and
storerooms overf1owed with substances.
Many were the precious things taken in
war or given in pledge of friendship.
First and foremost Of the family heir
looms was the sword Angurwadd,
forged and rendered by wizard dwarfs,
the legend said, and around which
chung the tales of many daring deeds
of Frithjofs ancestors. The hilt was
gold and the blade was craven with
runes, which showed dull in times of
peace, but which became bright and
fiery red when In battle, or when the
owners heart was moved to anger.
Great was the fame of the sword-it
was known throughout all the north
land. Second in value was great arm
ring of purest gold. the work of lame
Waulund, the divine smith of the north
On 1t the heavens were depicted, the
halls of O6in, Balder on his throne and
the whole story Of Balder. In a cove
nearby lay the wonderful ship Ellide,
which, legend said, had been sent to
Thorsten by the god Aegir, ruler of
the sea. In her shapely sides the oak
en- timbers were not Joined together
as in ordinary vessels, but grown to-
gether as In living body. She was
long like a sea serpent. The
neck arose in high and graceful
curve. crowned with a head having a
red mouth wide open. The sides were
blue, spotted with gold and at the
stern a tall uncoiled, with silver
scales. Her sails We're black, topped
them she could keep pace with the
storm wind and far exceed in swiftness
the eagles flight When filled with men
in armor she seemed like a swimming
castle or a royal fortress well gar
risoned. Far and wide was the Ellide
known as peerless in the north. Twelve
gray haired counselors did FIRTH of
have among his men, the companions
of his father and the youth Bjorn. his
own companion, who with boys joy
fulness combined the wisdom of age.
The young kings were Frlthjof's guests
at the funeral feast of Thorsten, and
they had come bringing the fair Ingeborg
with them. Frithjof and Tngeborg had
sat together hand in hand, and talked
of their childhood. They had wandered
about the estate, and Frithjof had shown
Ingeborg the birches where he had cut
her name in the bark. But now May