King Angantyr is generous, And royal his offering! For thy mother was merely a bondmaid Though thou hadst for thy father a King. And though thou art only an outcast, Yet a seat of honour was thine, When the Prince was dividing his treasure and land, And his portion to each did assign. Hlˆth grew very angry at being called an outcast and the child of a bondwoman, if he accepted his brother's offer; so he departed at once with all his men and returned home to King Humli, his mother's father, in the land of the Huns. And he told Humli that Angantyr his brother had not granted him an equal share. King Humli enquired as to all that had passed between them, and was very angry that Hlˆth, the son of his daughter, should be called the son of a bondmaid, and he cried: We will stay in our homes for the winter, And as princes are wont when they dine, We will hold high converse together, Quaffing the costly wine. We will call on the Hunnish people To arm them with spear and with shield.-- They shall march to the fight Right royally dight, And conquer their foes in the field. Then he added: We will summon a mighty host, Hlˆth, And shield on shield will clang, As the warriors arm them from twelve years old, And the wild colts gallop along. And the Huns shall mass Ere the winter pass, And assemble a countless throng. That winter, King Humli and Hlˆth remained quiet, but the following spring they collected such a large army that the land of the Huns was swept bare of fighting men. All those of twelve years old and upwards, who were fit for military service and could carry arms, joined the army, and all the horses of two years old and upwards. The host was now so big that thousands and nothing less than thousands could be counted in the legions. And a commander was set over every 'thousand,' and a standard was set up over every legion. And there were five 'thousand' in each legion, each 'thousand' containing thirteen 'hundreds,' and each 'hundred' four times forty men; and these legions were thirty three in number. When these troops had assembled, they rode through the forest which was called Myrkvith, and which separated the land of the Huns from that of the Goths. And when they emerged from the forest, they came upon a thickly inhabited country with level fields; and on these plains there was a fine fortress. It was under the command of Hervˆr, the sister of Angantyr and Hlˆth, and Ormar, her foster-father was with her. They had been appointed to defend the land against the Hunnish host, and they had a large army there.