第91章

(e) But when he had returned into Denmark he wished to amend by good measures any corruption caused by the evil practices of Grep; and therefore granted women free choice in marriage, so that there might be no compulsory wedlock.And so he provided by law that women should be held duly married to those whom they had wedded without consulting their fathers.(f) But if a free woman agreed to marry a slave, she must fall to his rank, lose the blessing of freedom, and adopt the standing of a slave.(g) He also imposed on men the statute that they must marry any woman whom they had seduced.(h) He ordained that adulterers should be deprived of a member by the lawful husbands, so that continence might not be destroyed by shameful sins.(I) Also he ordained that if a Dane plundered another Dane, he should repay double, and be held guilty of a breach of the peace.(k) And if any man were to take to the house of another anything which he had got by thieving, his host, if he shut the door of his house behind the man, should incur forfeiture of all his goods, and should be beaten in full assembly, being regarded as having made himself guilty of the same crime.(l) Also, whatsoever exile should turn enemy to his country, or bear a shield against his countrymen, should be punished with the loss of life and goods.(m) But if any man, from a contumacious spirit, were slack in fulfilling the orders of the king, he should be punished with exile.For, on all occasion of any sudden and urgent war, an arrow of wood, looking like iron, used to be passed on everywhere from man to man as a messenger.(n) But if any one of the commons went in front of the vanguard in battle, he was to rise from a slave into a freeman, and from a peasant into a nobleman; but if he were nobly-born already, he should be created a governor.So great a guerdon did valiant men earn of old; and thus did the ancients think noble rank the due of bravery.For it was thought that the luck a man had should be set down to his valour, and not his valour to his luck.(o) He also enacted that no dispute should be entered on with a promise made under oath and a gage deposited; but whosoever requested another man to deposit a gage against him should pay that man half a gold mark, on pain of severe bodily chastisement.For the king had foreseen that the greatest occasions of strife might arise from the depositing of gages.(p) But he decided that any quarrel whatsoever should be decided by the sword, thinking a combat of weapons more honourable than one of words.But if either of the combatants drew back his foot, and stepped out of the ring of the circle previously marked, he was to consider himself conquered, and suffer the loss of his case.But a man of the people, if he attacked a champion on any score, should be armed to meet him;but the champion should only fight with a truncheon an ell long.

(q) Further, he appointed that if an alien killed a Dane, his death should be redressed by the slaying of two foreigners.

Meanwhile, Gotar, in order to punish Erik, equipped his army for war: and Frode, on the other side, equipped a great fleet to go against Norway.When both alike had put into Rennes-Isle, Gotar, terrified by the greatness of Frode's name, sent ambassadors to pray for peace.Erik said to them, "Shameless is the robber who is the first to seek peace, or ventures to offer it to the good.

He who longs to win must struggle: blow must counter blow, malice repel malice."Gotar listened attentively to this from a distance, and then said, as loudly as he could: "Each man fights for valour according as he remembers kindness." Erik said to him: "I have requited thy kindness by giving thee back counsel." By this speech he meant that his excellent advice was worth more than all manner of gifts.And, in order to show that Gotar was ungrateful for the counsel he had received, he said: "When thou desiredst to take my life and my wife, thou didst mar the look of thy fair example.Only the sword has the right to decide between us."Then Gotar attacked the fleet of the Danes; he was unsuccessful in the engagement, and slain.

Afterwards Roller received his realm from Frode as a gift; it stretched over seven provinces.Erik likewise presented Roller with the province which Gotar had once bestowed upon him.After these exploits Frode passed three years in complete and tranquil peace.

Meanwhile the King of the Huns, when he heard that his daughter had been put away, allied himself with Olmar, King of the Easterlings, and in two years equipped an armament against the Danes.So Frode levied an army not only of native Danes, but also of Norwegians and Sclavs.Erik, whom he had sent to spy out the array of the enemy, found Olmar, who had received the command of the fleet, not far from Russia; while the King of the Huns led the land forces.He addressed Olmar thus: