Page:Stories of Norse Gods and Heroes.djvu/75

Rh ship close by the waves as the dead heroes had commanded.

Helge and Half den became kings of the Northland and Frithiof went to his father's house. There he found many treasures.

One was a sword with a hilt of beaten gold. On the blade were magic runes. In time of peace the runes were dull, but in battle they glowed like fire. No man might meet this sword in fight and live.

Another treasure was a golden arm-ring. The ring had once been stolen by a pirate. He carried it away to his own country. There, when he grew old, he had himself and his comrades buried alive with his dragon-ship in a great tomb.

King Bele and Thorsten Vikingsson followed him and looked into the tomb. There they saw the dragon-ship with the sails set for sailing and the spirit of the dead pirate on the deck. Thorsten Vikingsson entered and fought with the spirit and took away the arm-ring.

The greatest treasure of all was the dragon-ship Ellida. The prow was a dragon's head with golden jaws, and the stern a dragon's tail with silver scales. The dragon's wings were the sails.

The ship could sail so fast that the swiftest bird was left behind.