“‘I think it right, Angantýr, that you should stop fighting, for I see that Beli is exhausted, and I will not be so mean as to help him against thee, but if thou becomest his slayer I will challenge thee to a hólmganga, and I think we are not less unequal than thou and Beli; I would kill thee in that hólmganga, and it would be a great loss if both of you were to die. Now will I offer thee this condition, if thou givest Beli his life, that we swear each other foster-brotherhood.’ Angantýr said: ‘It seems to me a fair offer, that I become the foster-brother of Beli, but it is a great boon for me to become thy foster-brother.’ This was then agreed upon. They let blood flow from the hollow of their hands, and went under a sod, and swore oaths that each one should avenge the other, if any one of them was slain with weapons” (Thorstein Vikingsson, c. 21). It was usual to swear an oath that whoever survived his foster-brother should avenge him by weapons if he died, not sparing even his own relatives. Orm Storólfsson, an Icelander, went to Norway, and there met Ásbjörn Prudi, from Vendilskagi in Jutland. “They soon became friends, and tried many idróttir; they swore each other _föstbrœdralag_ (foster-brotherhood) according to ancient custom, that the one who lived the longest should avenge the other, if he was slain in battle” (Thatt of Orm Storólfsson, Fornmanna Sögur 111). In order that there should not be anything that might awaken the temptation of ill-feeling or jealousy, foster-brothers owned jointly and equally all their property, or any which might come into their possession during their Viking expeditions, so that all either of them owned or acquired was considered as belonging in equal shares to the other. “The two kings Högni and Hédin vied with one another in all idróttir; they tried swimming and shooting, tournaments and skill with weapons, and were equal in all. “After this they swore themselves into foster-brotherhood, and to own everything by halves” (Sörla Thátt, c. 6). In very rare instances we see that foster-brotherhood could be dissolved. “Thorgeir and Thormod, after having performed many a deed of valour, one day had a talk, and the former said to the latter: ‘Knowest thou anywhere two foster-brothers who are our equals in courage and manliness?’ Thormod replied: ‘They might perhaps be found, if we were to look for them far and wide.’ ‘Nowhere in Iceland, I think; but which of us two, dost thou think, would be the winner, if we were to try each other?’ Thorgeir inquired. ‘That I do not know,’ Thormod answered; ‘but this I know, that thy question puts an end to our fellowship and foster-brotherhood’”[91] (Fostbrædra Saga). This shows the proud spirit of the men of that period. Thormod felt deeply wounded that such a thought should have entered the heart of one with whom he had shared so many dangers.