,392 POETRY OR SCALDSHIP, MUSIC AND MENTAL EXERCISES. 



traders north to Dublin. At that time King Sigtrygg Silkiskegg 

 (silkbeard), son of Olaf K varan and Queen Kormlod, ruled Ire- 

 land ; he had then ruled only a short time Gunnlaug went before 

 him and greeted him well and honourably. The king received 

 him well. Gunnlaug said : ' I have made a song about you, 

 and I want to get a hearing.' The king answered : ' No man 

 has before delivered a poem to me, and I shall certainly listen 

 to it.' Gunnlaug then sang the drapa, and this is the refrain : 



Sigtrygg feeds The king will not to me 



The horse of Svara (the wolf) (He is wont to be liberal, 



with corpses. The champion knows it) 



Spare the gold rings ; 



I know distinctly Let the king tell me 



Whom I will praise, If he has heard made 



The kinsman of kings, A more glorious song ; 



He is the son of K varan ; This is the lay of drapa. 



" The king thanked him for the song, and asked his treasurer 

 with what it should be rewarded. He answered : ' With what 

 will you reward it, lord ? ' The king said : ' How will it be 

 rewarded, if I give him two knerrir (trading-ships) ? ' The 

 treasurer replied : ' That is too much, lord ; other kings give 

 costly things, good swords or good gold-rings, as rewards for 

 a song.' The king gave him his own clothes of new scarlet, 

 a lace-ornamented kirtle, a cloak with the finest furs on it, 

 and a gold ring which weighed a mark. Gunulaug thanked 

 him, and stayed there for a short time, and went thence to the 

 Orkneys " (Gunnlaug Orrnstunga's Saga, ch. 8). 



The moral power of a renowned poet was often very great. 



" Sindri, a high-born man, was renowned among Halfdan 

 the Black's warriors ; formerly he had been with King Harald, 

 and was the greatest friend of both. Guthorm was a great 

 scald, and had made a song about each. They had offered him 

 a reward, but he refused it, saying that they must grant him one 

 request, and this they promised. He went to King Harald (to 

 reconcile him and Halfdan), and so much did the kings honour 

 him that they were reconciled at his request " (Olaf Trygg- 

 vason, Fms., vol. i. c. 12). 



The scalds were always on the battlefield near the shield- 

 'burgh, in order to witness the heroism of the combatants, and 

 sing their victory or glorious death. With their vapnasong 

 (weapon-song) they encouraged the champions in battle, or 



