[Sidenote: Thorsten and Belé.] Every spring Thorsten and Belé now set out together in their ships; and, joining forces with Angantyr, a foe whose mettle they had duly tested, they proceeded to recover possession of a priceless treasure, a magic dragon ship named Ellida, which Aegir, god of the sea, had once given to Viking in reward for hospitable treatment, and which had been stolen from him. "A royal gift to behold, for the swelling planks of its framework Were not fastened with nails, as is wont, but _grown_ in together. Its shape was that of a dragon when swimming, but forward Its head rose proudly on high, the throat with yellow gold flaming; Its belly was spotted with red and yellow, but back by the rudder Coiled out its mighty tail in circles, all scaly with silver; Black wings with edges of red; when all were expanded Ellida raced with the whistling storm, but outstript the eagle. When filled to the edge with warriors, it sailed o'er the waters, You'd deem it a floating fortress, or warlike abode of a monarch. The ship was famed far and wide, and of ships was first in the North." TEGNÉR, _Frithiof Saga_ (Spalding's tr.). The next season, Thorsten, Belé, and Angantyr conquered the Orkney Islands, which were given as kingdom to the latter, he voluntarily pledging himself to pay a yearly tribute to Belé. Next Thorsten and Belé went in quest of a magic ring, or armlet, once forged by Völund, the smith, and stolen by Soté, a famous pirate. This bold robber was so afraid lest some one should gain possession of the magic ring, that he had buried himself alive with it in a mound in Bretland. Here his ghost was said to keep constant watch over it, and when Thorsten entered his tomb, Belé heard the frightful blows given and received, and saw lurid gleams of supernatural fire. When Thorsten finally staggered out of the mound, pale and bloody, but triumphant, he refused to speak of the horrors he had encountered to win the coveted treasure, nor would he ever vouchsafe further information than this: "'Dearly bought is the prize,' said he often, 'For I trembled but once in my life, and 'twas when I seized it!'" TEGNÉR, _Frithiof Saga_ (Spalding's tr.). [Sidenote: Birth of Frithiof and Ingeborg.] Thus owner of the three greatest treasures in the North, Thorsten returned home to Framnäs, where Ingeborg bore him a fine boy, Frithiof, the playmate of Halfdan and Helgé, Belé's sons. The three youths were already well grown when Ingeborg, Belé's little daughter, was born, and as she was intrusted to the care of Hilding, Frithiof's foster father, the children grew up in perfect amity. "Jocund they grew, in guileless glee; Young Frithiof was the sapling tree; In budding beauty by his side, Sweet Ingeborg, the garden's pride." TEGNÉR, _Frithiof Saga_ (Longfellow's tr.).