22 DRAGONS 



Fridleif seems to have lain in ambush, as it were, in this 

 hollow channel, and to have attacked the creature from 

 beneath, where its armour was less proof against assault ; 

 in this way he slew it, unearthed the money, and had it 

 taken off in his ships. 



The second story concerns another King, called Eagnar 

 Lodbrog, which means Eagnar ' Shaggy-Breeches.' This 

 is how he came to be known by his nickname, which was 

 bestowed upon him by Herodd, King of the Swedes : 

 Eagnar was in love with Thora, Herodd's daughter, who 

 had received from her father two snakes to rear as pets. 

 They had given to them daily a whole ox upon which to 

 gorge themselves, so they ate and ate, and grew and grew, 

 until at length they became a public nuisance, so huge 

 were they, and so venomous withal that they poisoned the 

 whole country-side with their breath. The Swedish King 

 repented his unlucky gift, and proclaimed that whosoever 

 should remove the pests should marry his daughter. 

 Many tried and perished ; but Eagnar was now to prove 

 himself the hero. He asked his nurse for a woollen 

 mantle, and for some thigh-guards that were very hairy ; 

 he also put on a dress stuffed with hair, not too cumber- 

 some, but one in which he could easily move about. He 

 took a sword and spear, and, thus accoutred, fared forth 

 to Sweden. When he arrived, he plunged into some 

 water, clothes and all, and allowed the frost to fashion for 

 him, as it were, a coat of mail, impervious to the venom 

 of the sn»ikes. Leaving his companions, be went on to 

 the palace alone ; then the combat began. An enormous 

 snake met him, and another, as big, crawled up to help 

 its companion ; they belaboured Eagnar witli their tails, 

 and spat venom at him from poisonous jaws. Meantime, 

 the King and his courtiers ' betook themselves to safer 

 hiding, watching the struggle from afar, like affrighted 

 little girls.' Eagnar, however, persevered, his frozen dress 

 protecting him from the poison, and with his shield he 

 repelled the attacks of the snakes' teeth ; at last, though 



