was it altogether slander? To the latter question probably the answer is yes. For when years afterwards Arinbjorn speaks of Thorolf as 'slain by the slander of wicked men, and for no crime,' Eric does not gainsay him.
in partnership] The king had by his act declared open war against Thorolf: Thorolf therefore would play the same game and get what share he could.
Ch. XIX.—ice loosed] Norsemen's movements depended on the seasons: in winter they 'sat at home.' In 'Head-ransom' st. i. Egil says he launched his bark vid isa brot.
Eyrar] By meaning 'banks': but used especially of the shores about Copenhagen. Eyrar-sund 'the Sound.' The word is still seen in 'Elsinore.' Elbe] Not the well-known river, but a Norwegian one.
Ch. XX.—like his father] Kveldulf, Skallagrim, Egil were alike in much. Both the Thorolfs and probably Bodvar were of another type. Thorolf the elder, we are told, was like his mother's kin. There continued to be these two types in Skallagrim's posterity. See ch. xcii. Kveldulf seems to have loved most the cheerful Thorolf, his opposite. And Skallagrim did not much love Egil, who was rather on his own pattern.
Ch. XXI.—sail and row] i.e., you will make double haste back. Harold says it with malicious humour.
two hundred men] One hundred to each ship seems to have been the usual complement. In next chapter one edition puts Harold's four hundred in four ships, though afterwards in six when the bonders' ships are used, which were perhaps smaller than the king's.
Ch. XXII.—brew the ale] They brewed ale for each occasion, and drank it new. The original here has one word, 'farar-mungat, journey-beer.'
shield-wall] 'Alfred . . . made his men hold close together with their shields' (Freeman). We constantly hear of this array. Asser calls it a testudo or tortoise, the Roman term for the same or nearly the same array.
Ch. XXIII.—Kettle Haing] Dasent, p. xliii. of Introd., gives the origin of the by-name 'Trout' of this Kettle. The elder Kettle Hæing was son of Hallbjorn Half-troll whose sister Hallbera was Kveldulf's mother. Therefore he was first cousin to Kveldulf. Hrafnilda was thus Thorolf's second cousin. But her son may not have been much older than Thorolf, as Kveldulf married rather late in life.
Ch. XXIV.—Thorolf in] Jónsson thinks this verse not genuine.
such good fortune] He means that Harold himself will not fall. Nor did he.
Ch. XXV.—A vigorous chapter is this: Skallagrim's character comes out.
coal-biter] Explained by lexicon as 'an idle youth always sitting by the fireside.' How one of Skallagrim's chosen twelve could be this is not clear.
Thorir Hroaldsson] This foster-brother of Skallagrim, we shall see, is of some importance in the story. The younger Thorolf comes to him afterwards, and marries his sister's daughter. And Egil becomes a fast friend of his son Arinbjorn.
Ch. XXVII.—shape-strength] One of the chief passages about the fits of shape-strength, and the after weakness.
vengeance] This verse Jónsson rejects as spurious.
coffin] We are told that with these emigrants it was a custom to cast overboard the pillars of the high seat, and, wherever they drifted ashore, there to take land: Kveldulf's coffin is to be in the place of these.
Borgarhraun] 'Hraun' in Iceland is 'lava field': it enters into many local names: naturally so, looking to the character of the country.
Duck-kyle] 'Kyle' appears in the North of Scotland in many places of a
