ing the sail. Cf. Orkn. 356 undu their segl sín ok beittu út, 'they set their sails slantwise and beat out.' The phrase often occurs when capes have to be weathered on which the wind is blowing. E.g., in this Saga, ch. lxii., fengu their beitt fyrir Skotland, translated by Petersen 'de havde ondt nok med at krydse forbi kysten,' 'they had trouble enough to weather the coast.' The word 'krydse' is given in Danish dictionary 'to cross, to lay crosswise, to cruise, to laver.' We do not use 'cruise' now just in this sense; 'to laver' is (I suppose) the French louvoyer 'to tack.' Is it not possible that the English nautical 'beat' comes from the Iceland beita 'to bite,' not from 'to beat' in the sense of 'strike'? If the head or nose (or mouth) of the ship points against, or partly against, the wind, the ship may be said to be 'biting' the wind.
Ch. XXXVI.—fostered] A common practice was this, for a son of king or chief to be fostered away from home. Hacon, Eric's brother, was fostered in England with king Athelstan; a son of Eric was fostered with Arinbjorn. Why ever does Freeman (p. 159 of his small history) suppose that Hacon was fostered not with king Athelstan, but with Guthorm Athelstan of East Anglia, who died in 890 (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle)? His death surely falls before Hacon was born. For Eric Bloodaxe was born in or near 894, and Hacon was almost certainly younger. He goes from England to be king in Norway in 934, and dies, not an old man, in 960. This sending young princes or nobles abroad for part of their boyhood doubtless was on the principle that 'home-staying youths have ever homely wits.'
Ch. XXXVII.—Bjarmaland] Eric's journey to Bjarmaland must have been later in date than it appears in the Saga. Probably it was in 919, as Jónsson puts it. This would be during Thorolf's second outing with Egil. Jónsson thinks it may be an error to make Thorolf accompany Eric at all on this journey. For Eric's meeting with Gunnhilda and her up-bringing among Finnish wizards, the curious may consult vol. ii. of 'Burnt Njal,' p. 378.
Bergonund] He marries Bjorn's second daughter, and he, and after him Atli, keep back property from Asgerdr, Egil's wife.
heathen worshipper] So were all in Norway and Iceland then. But Christianity was, as it were, throwing its shadow before: hence those prominent in heathen worship are noticed.
Ch. XXXVIII.—an axe] Skallagrim puts this presentation axe to a hard test. Doubtless he was not inclined to receive favourably anything from the son of Harold his old foe.
'tis good] Best to leave off in time. The two proverbs both express much the same. Petersen gives for the second 'megen færd kan blive ukær,' which perhaps is meant to be a sort of rhyme: 'too much travel makes trouble.'
Ch. XXXIX.—Kettle Blund] His grandson, Thorgeir Blund, comes into the story in ch. lxxxviii.
Ch. XL.—Ball-play] There is a description of this in the story of Gisli, ch. viii. : but in spite of the details given, it is not easy to understand exactly the rules of the game. It was played on the ice in Gisli's story: the ball was large, for a blow with it knocked down Thorgrim; the players ran with the ball, and tried to prevent their adversaries from getting it; a bat was used for striking it. Sides were chosen; yet (we see from this Saga) that they were somehow matched in pairs, as in this chapter Egil against Grim. Some points the game has like Rugby football, some like hockey perhaps Dasent pronounces it 'something between hockey and football.' Plainly it was a rough game, and led to excitement and sometimes quarrel.
father and son] Skallagrim and Egil were too much alike to bear and
