384 IDROTTIR. 



stood before the king, when he came upon the ship, and looked 

 at him in silence. The king said : ' Why dost thou stand, and 

 not try after me ? ' Eindridi replied : ' You, lord, could by no 

 means do this with your idrott alone, without the power of that 

 God in whom you believe ; and from this I see that he is all- 

 powerful, and therefore I shall henceforth believe that he and 

 no one else is the only God' ' (Olaf Tryggvason's Saga; 

 Fornmanna Sogur). 



Among such warlike and Spartan-like people the chiefs had 

 to be the foremost in all athletic and gymnastic exercises if 

 they wished to enjoy the respect and confidence of the people, 

 and have rule over them. To talk of what their forefathers 

 had done was not sufficient ; they had to show themselves 

 worthy of them, and if incapable of ruling, they were deposed 

 by the people in Thing assembled. 



There are several examples in the Sagas of powerful chiefs 

 showing their anger and jealousy when any man excelled 

 them. 



" King Olaf was in every respect, of all the men who have 

 been spoken of, the greatest man of idrottir in Norway ; he 

 was the strongest and most skilled of all, and many accounts 

 of this have been written. One is about how he climbed 

 Smalsarhorn and fastened his shield on the top of the rock ; 

 he helped his hirdman who had climbed the rock and could 

 neither get up nor down again ; the king walked up to him 

 and carried him under his arm down to the level plain. . . . 

 He could fight equally well with both hands, and shoot two 

 spears at once " (Olaf Tryggvason's Saga, ch. 92 (Heim- 

 skringla)). 



" Magnus (the king) exercised himself and was skilled in many 

 games and idrottir even in his youth ; he walked along the 

 gunwales as young men used to at that time, and he did it with 

 great nimbleness, and showed his accomplishments in this as in 

 other things " (Magnus the Good's Saga ; Fornmanna Sogur, 

 vi. o). 



" Olaf was a great man of idrottir in many respects, highly 

 skilled in the use of the bow and spear, a good swimmer, expert 

 and of good judgment in all handicrafts, whether his own or 

 others. Olaf Haraldsson was eager in games and wanted to be 

 the first, as was fitting for his rank and birth " (St. Olaf's Saga, 

 ch. 3 (Heimskringla)). 



" One day King Olaf talked to Sigrnund in the spring, and 



