Of _Skiold_, the reputed founder of the monarchy, who was probably king of Zealand only, though he might have a nominal superiority over the rest, we have little even in the way of fable. To his great bodily strength and indomitable courage, which are communicated by Saxo, we have before alluded[66]; and in the same manner we have alluded to the deeds, real or fabulous, of his more immediate successors. _Frode I._, whom Saxo calls Frode III., was no less valiant than Skiold, since he conquered from Hungary to Iceland, and from Sweden to the south of Germany. The truth probably is, that he joined some one of the warlike confederations, then so common, against the power of Rome; and that the expedition into Germany, being undertaken rather for plunder than for glory, was successful. But this prince deserves greater praise, from the zeal with which he destroyed the numerous banditti, humbled the tyrannical nobles, protected the poor, and reformed the tribunals of his kingdom. Some of his edicts were severe. He who suffered a thief to escape should himself suffer the punishment of one. He who fled in battle should be accounted a public enemy. If one Dane robbed another, he was to return twofold, and at the same time suffer public chastisement. If a man gave refuge to a thief, with the stolen property about him, he was to be whipped in a public assembly of the people, and regarded as _criminis particeps_. If any one banished for his crimes fought against his native country, he forfeited both property and life. In some of his other regulations there was more humanity. To females he gave the power of marrying whomsoever they wished, provided they chose a mate in an equal condition of life; for the free woman who married or sinned with a slave, became a slave herself. If a man forced a woman, he was compelled to marry her. In other respects the laws which he promulgated, or rather confirmed, were nearly identical with those of the Germanic tribes, that, in a former publication, occupied so much of our attention.[67] If there be any truth in history, they were eminently successful; for it is recorded of Frode I., as of a few other sovereigns, that when articles of value were left on the highway, no man presumed to touch them. He was the great patron of valour: slaves were not, as in other Germanic tribes, forbidden the use of arms; nor were they deprived of the hope of liberty, since a single act of valour would elevate them in the social grade. The real actions, however, of this prince are so mingled with fable,—fable at once grotesque and imaginative,—that we know not what to believe respecting him. That he once lived; that he was a great warrior; that he was generally victorious; that his internal administration was vigorous; that he was an unrivalled pirate,—his fleets committing depredations on all the coasts of the Baltic,—cannot be disputed with much reason. His was the heroic age. The north swarmed with kings. On one occasion, alone, thirty