JUGGLEBS. HORSE-FIGHTS. 357 



gygjarslag (air of jotun-woman), and drawnbut (dream-piece), 

 and HjarrandaliljoiL (air of Hjarrandi). When the horn con- 

 secrated to Odin came, Sigurd opened the harp, which was so 

 large that a man could stand upright in it ; it shone all over 

 like red gold ; he took from it white gloves embroidered with 

 gold, and played the air called faldafeykir (the head-dress 

 blower). At this the head-dresses flew off the women, and 

 moved above the crossbeams ; the women jumped up, the 

 men sprang to their feet, and nothing could be kept quiet. 

 When this toast was finished, the toast consecrated to Freyja, 

 which was to be the last, came in ; Sigurd touched the string 

 which lay across all the others, and which he had not struck 

 before, and told the king to expect hard playing; the king 

 was so startled that he, as well as the bride and bridegroom, 

 jumped up, and none were more lively than they, and this 

 continued for a long while" (Herraud and Bosi's Saga, 

 ch. 12). 



Some of the chiefs or kings had jugglers or buffoons and 

 performing dogs to amuse them and their guests. It seems to 

 have been customary to exercise dogs in jumping over poles. 

 A beggar came to King Magnus Erlingsson. 



" The king asked who he was. He answered he was an Ice- 

 lander of the name Mani, who had come northward from l\um 

 (Rome). The king said : ' Thou must know some wisdom, 

 Tungli ; l sit down and sing.' He then sang the Utfarardra^i 

 (poem on a voyage to the Holy Land) which Haldor Skvaldri 

 made about King Sigurd Jorsalafari, and the poem was much 

 liked and thought amusing. Two players 2 were in the stofa, 

 who made small dogs jump over high poles in front of high- 

 born men, and the more high-born they were the higher they 

 jumped " (Fornmanna Sogur, viii. ; Sverri's Saga). 



" Tuta, a Frisian, was with King Harald ; he was sent to him 

 for show, for he was short and stout, in every respect shaped 

 like a dwarf" (Harald Hardradi's Saga). 



Horse-fights were a favourite amusement with the people. 

 Several mares were kept near in order to make the horses 

 fight more fiercely : each horse was led by the owner or the 

 trainer. When they rose on their hind feet and began to bite 

 each other, the men who followed supported and urged them 



1 Tungli has the same meaning as 

 Mani, namely moony ; tungl = mani = 



moon. 



2 "Players" seems to mean jesters, 

 fools. 



