Some of the chiefs or kings had jugglers or buffoons and performing dogs to amuse them and their guests. It seems to have been customary to exercise dogs in jumping over poles. A beggar came to King Magnus Erlingsson. “The king asked who he was. He answered he was an Icelander of the name Mani, who had come northward from Rúm (Rome). The king said: ‘Thou must know some wisdom, Tungli;[252] sit down and sing.’ He then sang the _Útfarardrápa_ (poem on a voyage to the Holy Land) which Haldór Skvaldri made about King Sigurd Jorsalafari, and the poem was much liked and thought amusing. Two players[253] were in the stofa, who made small dogs jump over high poles in front of high-born men, and the more high-born they were the higher they jumped” (Fornmanna Sögur, viii.; Sverri’s Saga). “Tuta, a Frisian, was with King Harald; he was sent to him for show, for he was short and stout, in every respect shaped like a dwarf” (Harald Hardradi’s Saga). Horse-fights were a favourite amusement with the people. Several mares were kept near in order to make the horses fight more fiercely: each horse was led by the owner or the trainer. When they rose on their hind feet and began to bite each other, the men who followed supported and urged them on, partly by inciting them with a stick. Great chiefs often followed their stallions, and sometimes umpires were chosen, who in doubtful cases decided which horse had the best of it; to own the best horse was a great honour, and in such horse-fights many stallions were often led against each other.