Then to Frithiof his son, he said: “The years have whispered many a counsel in my ear for thee, my son. As Odin’s birds hover about the burial mound, so do the teachings of experience linger on the lips of age. This above all else lay thou to heart: honor the gods. From them alone spring all blessing and prosperity, even as it is they who send the storm-wind and the life-giving sun-rays. They gaze into the heart’s most secret depths, whither no man’s eye can penetrate. Avoid evil: long years must oft do penance for one hour’s sin. Obey the King: one must be lord over all if the land would prosper; the night hath many lights; the day but one; willingly should the better man do homage to the best. “One handle only hath the sword; he who grasps it elsewhere wounds his hand. Strength is a gift of the gods; but without judgment, force is of small avail. The bear has the strength of twelve men, yet he is slain by one. Against the sword-thrust hold the shield; against violence, the law. Guard thy heart from pride; few are moved to fear thereby, but all to hate. The more arrogant thou growest, the nearer is thy fall. Many have I seen soar high, who now must go on crutches. Praise not the day before its end, the mead before ’tis drunk, nor the counsel before ’tis proved. Youth is prone to trust the lightest word; but battle tests the value of a blade, and friendship is tried by need. “Trust neither the ice of a night nor the snows of Spring. It is true of all men that strength of body and mind must pass away, but the fame of an upright man lives on forever. Therefore, O my son, resolve only what is noble, do only what is right.” So spake the aged heroes, whose sage warnings are still passed from mouth to mouth in the Northland. They further charged their sons to perpetuate the friendship that had bound them together, through life, in weal and woe.