_Hˆgni ... went raiding in the Baltic_, etc. In _Widsi_ l. 21, Hˆgni is said to have ruled the _Holmryge_, i.e., no doubt, the Rugii on the coast of Pomerania. V. _Hjarrandi_ is the name of Hethin's father in all the Norse forms of the story; but originally this would seem to have been the name of Hethin's minstrel--the _HÙrant_ of _Kudrun_, and the _Heorrenda_ of _Deor_. _Serkland_, i.e. Africa, 'Saracen Land.' It is only in this story that Hethin is said to come from here. Saxo Grammaticus calls him a Norwegian. Cf. also _Widsi˛_, l. 21, which gives the name of an unknown people. _Gˆndul_, the name of one of the Valkyries. See _Vˆlusp·_, str. 31; _H·konarm·l_, passim; _Sk·ldskaparm·l_, chs. 2 and 47. VI. _Heithrek Ulfham._ For Heithrek Ulfham see the _Saga of Hervˆr and Heithrek_, ch. 16. VII. _She asked him._ I have followed Rafn's text. The ReykjavÌk ed. apparently has a misprint here--_hann_ for _hÛn_. _He thrust the Queen down in front of the prow_, etc. The murder of the Queen is peculiar to this saga. VIII. _This harrowing torment continued_, etc. A good deal has been written on the subject of the Unending Battle, which many writers believe to have been of mythological origin. Very often, however, it appears in local traditions. See Frazer's _Pausanias_, vol. II, p. 443 (the reference to the Battle of Marathon), where a considerable number of parallels are given. See also Panzer, _Hilde-Gudrun_, p. 328. Cf. p. 43, note I above. _Olaf Tryggvason._ See the _Th·ttr of Nornagest_, ch. 1 and note. IX. _Jarnskjˆld._ Cf. _Fornmanna Sˆgur_, vol. III, p. 125 ff. (_Saga of Olaf Tryggvason_). _Glance of his eye_, etc. Literally, "He has the _Êgishj·lmr_." This is a poetical expression for a glance inspiring terror. THE SAGA OF HROMUND GREIPSSON I. _Gnothar-Asmund_, i.e. Asmund of the Gnoth, who was so called from his ship 'Gnoth' (cf. p. 230 above). For an account of him see the _Saga of Egil and Asmund_ (in _Fornaldar Sˆgur_, vol. III), especially ch. 17. He is mentioned also in the _Saga of GrÌm Loinkinni_, ch. 2. A different account of Olaf's family is given in _Gˆngu-HrÛlfs Saga_, ch. 38. _Garthar in Denmark._ The geography of the story is by no means clear. Elsewhere in this saga Olaf's realm would seem to be situated in Sweden, while references in other works, e.g. _Landn·mabÛk_, I, ch. 3, _Hversu Noregr Bygthist_, ch. 2 (_Fornaldar Sˆgur_, II, p. 7) etc., point to Norway, especially the provinces of Thelamˆrk and Hˆrthaland, as the home of Hromund and his family. _Hromund._ According to _Landn·mabÛk_, I, ch. 3, Ingolf and Leif, the first settlers in Iceland (A.D. 874) were the great grandsons of Hromund Greipsson. This would seem to show that he lived in the second half of the eighth century. See also the _Saga of Halfdan Eysteinsson_, ch. 1. _Bild and Voli._ For these names, see Introduction to this saga, p. 59, and the note to _Mistletoe_ below.