“One day the king (Olaf of Sweden) rode out early with his hawks and dogs[246] and men with him. When they let loose the hawks the king’s hawk in one flight killed two heathcocks (_Tetrao tetrix_), and at once he again flew forward and killed three more. The dogs ran underneath and took every bird that fell down on the ground. The king galloped after, and picked up the game himself, and boasted much. He said: ‘Long will it be before you hunt like this.’ They assented, and answered that they thought no king had such luck in hunting. Then they all rode home, and the king was very glad” (Heimskringla, St. Olaf, c. 90). Hawks were protected by the laws. “If a man kills a hawk on a man’s hand he shall pay a mark valued in silver, and damages for the outrage, but half a mark if he kills one in another place, all valued in silver” (Earlier Frostathing’s Law, xi. 25). Besides hunting-dogs there were other kinds, among which were shepherd and watch-dogs. “When Olaf was in Ireland he went on a coast-raid.[247] As they needed provisions they went ashore and drove down many cattle. A bondi came there and asked Olaf to give him back his cows. Olaf replied that he might take them if he could recognise them and not delay their journey. The bondi had with him a large sheep-dog. He pointed out to it the herd of cattle, which numbered many hundreds. The dog ran through all the herds, and took away as many cows as the bondi had said belonged to him, and they were all marked with the same mark. Then they acknowledged that the dog had found out the right cattle. They thought it a wonderfully wise dog. Olaf asked if the bondi would give him the dog. ‘Willingly,’ answered the bondi. Olaf at once gave him a gold ring, and promised to be his friend. The dog’s name was Vigi, and it was the best of all dogs. Olaf owned it long after this” (Olaf Tryggvason’s Saga, c. 35). “If a man kills a lapdog of another he must pay 12 aurar if the dog is a lapdog whose neck one can embrace with one hand, the fingers touching each other; 6 aurar are to be paid for a greyhound (mjóhund), and for a hunting-dog half a mark, and also for a sheep-dog, if it is tied by the innermost ox,[248] or untied by the outermost ox, and also at the gate. One aurar is to be paid for a dog guarding the house, if it is killed” (Frostath., xi. 24). Chess, among house pastimes, was included in the Idrotter, as was gambling with dice, music, &c. From an early period the game of chess, or at least a game resembling it, was known in the North; skill in playing it was held to be an accomplishment worthy of powerful chiefs. Judging from the numerous finds, the game must have been very common. It must have been of very great antiquity, for it is mentioned in Voluspa. The game, of which there were several varieties, though in what they differed we do not know, was called _tafl_,[249] and the pieces _toflur_. In _Hnot-tafl_, the pieces were called “_hunar_” (sing. _hunn_, or _huni_).