“The jarl (Hakon) asked (Hallfred) who he was? He said: ‘I am an Icelander; but my errand is, lord, that I have composed a song about you, and wish you to listen to it.’ The jarl replied: ‘Thou lookest to be a man who would be bold in the presence of chiefs, and thou shalt have a hearing.’ Hallfred recited the poem; it was a _drápa_ (laudatory poem); he delivered it with skill. The jarl thanked him, gave him a large silver ornamented axe, and good clothes, and invited him to remain with him over winter; and this Hallfred accepted” (Hallfred’s Saga, ch. 5). “As they parted, the jarl (Hakon) gave him (Olaf Höskuldsson) a most costly gold ornamented axe” (Laxdæla, ch. 29). [Illustration: Fig. 873.—Iron axe. ¼ real size. Found in a field with another axe, &c.—Karleby, Upland, Sweden. ] [Illustration: Fig. 874.—Small axe. ½ real size. Found with double-edged sword, 10 arrow-points, &c.—Forneby, Vestmanlan. ] The bow (_bogi_) and the arrow (_ör_) were among the most important weapons for war. The bows discovered are generally about six feet long. Arrows were called by the poets— The bird of the string. The swift-flyer. The hail of the battle. The hail of the wound. The herrings of the corpse. The ice of the bow. The rain of the string. The twigs of the corpse. The clutching one (one of three arrows of Orvar Odd). The glad flyer. The weapon of the Finns. The work of Gusi (king of the Finns). The followers of Gusi. The flowing streams of the bow. The rain of the bow. The quick one of the shaft. The fire of the bow, &c. The quivers from the earlier iron age were occasionally of wood, sometimes with bronze mountings, and were made to hold a score of arrows. Some arrows were ornamented with gold, were long, and often barbed with iron or bone. The arrow-shafts, of wood, were two or three feet long, with four rows of feathers, fastened into pitched thread; they, as well as the spears, often bore the marks of ownership; while some were engraved with runes. Svein (England’s conqueror), King Harald’s son, Pálnatóki’s foster-son, went on warfare in his father’s realm and fought a battle at sea against him near Bornholm. He was defeated and shut up in a bay, Harald’s ships lying across it, each stem being fastened to the other. [Illustration: Fig. 875. ] [Illustration: Fig. 876. ] Arrow-heads. ⅔ real size.—Norway.