“Björn sent for the stud-horses which were near the hay-house, for fodder was given to them while the bad weather lasted. The stallion was a son of _Hvíting_ (some famous stallion) and was white, but the mares were chestnut. Another son of Hvíting, also white, was in Thórarinsdal; but the mares (with him) were black. Björn had the stud-horses led to Thorstein, and said he wished to give them to him. Thorstein said he would not take them; ‘for I am not yet worthy of gifts from thee, and if I reward thee not for this entertainment which I have now received from thee then I shall probably not reward thee for further benefits, but, if I reward the entertainment as well as thou deservest, then I will receive the horse, and see that thou gettest something in return’” (Björn Hitdælakappi’s Saga, p. 55). An Icelander, Odd Úfeigsson, had traded with the Finns, which no man was allowed to do without the king’s leave. Thorstein, one of Harald Hardrádi’s hirdmen, saved him from Harald, who wanted to slay him, and Odd escaped to Iceland. On one occasion, when Hárek, Thorstein’s kinsman came to Iceland: “Odd sent with him to Norway a good stud of horses as a gift to Thorstein, and said, as was true, that Thorstein had saved the lives of him and his crew. Hárek came to Norway to his kinsman Thorstein, who was still with the king. He brought him the horses and said they were sent to him by Odd. Thorstein said: ‘This is very unfortunate for me as but for this the help that I gave Odd and his men would not have been known; now I cannot hide it, and it is somewhat difficult to escape.’ Thorstein showed the horses to the king, and said, ‘they were a gift sent by Odd.’ The king answered: ‘I was not worthy of gifts from Odd; he has sent them to thee and not to me’”[180] (Fornmanna Sögur, vi. 383–384). The magnificence with which the harness used by these people was ornamented is shown by their horse-collars, several of which, made of wood and richly decorated, are now in the Museum of Northern Antiquities in Copenhagen. The fact that such collars have always been found in pairs shows that two horses were generally harnessed to the waggons used; the pair is always similar, and the ornamentation at the ends, often of bronze gilt, or silver, or gold, generally consists of animals’ heads such as are so commonly represented on fibulæ. At the top of the collars is a hole, through which the rein passed, and the wood is decorated with representations of human heads of metal, the triskele, and birds, &c., riveted on. [Illustration: Fig. 664.—Collar for driving of gilt bronze, grave mound, Jutland. ¼ real size. ] [Illustration: Fig. 665.—2/9 real size. ] [Illustration: Fig. 666. ] [Illustration: Fig. 667. Front view. ⅓ real size.