[Sidenote: Frithiof an exile.] Helgé's men started in pursuit, hoping to overtake and punish him; but when they reached the harbor they could not find a single seaworthy craft, and were forced to stand on the shore in helpless inactivity while Ellida's great sails slowly sank beneath the horizon. It was thus that Frithiof sadly saw his native land vanish from sight; and as it disappeared he breathed a tender farewell to the beloved country which he never expected to see again.
"'World-circle's brow,
Thou mighty North!
I may not go
Upon thine earth;
But in no other
I love to dwell;
Now, hero-mother,
Farewell, farewell!
"'Farewell, thou high
And heavenly one,
Night's sleeping eye,
Midsummer sun.
Thou clear blue sky,
Like hero's soul,
Ye stars on high,
Farewell, farewell!
"'Farewell, ye mounts
Where Honour thrives,
And Thor recounts
Good warriors' lives.
Ye azure lakes,
I know so well,
Ye woods and brakes,
Farewell, farewell!
"'Farewell, ye tombs,
By billows blue,
The lime tree blooms
Its snow on you.
The Saga sets
In judgment-veil
What earth forgets;
Farewell, farewell!
"'Farewell the heath,
The forest hoar
I played beneath,
By streamlet's roar.
To childhood's friends
Who loved me well,
Remembrance sends
A fond farewell!
"'My love is foiled,
My rooftree rent,
Mine honour soiled,
In exile sent!
We turn from earth,
On ocean dwell,
But, joy and mirth,
Farewell, farewell!'"
TEGNÉR, Frithiof Saga (Spalding's tr.).
After thus parting from his native land, Frithiof took up the life of a pirate, rover, or viking, whose code was never to settle anywhere, to sleep on his shield, to fight and neither give nor take quarter, to protect the ships which paid him tribute and sack the others, and to distribute all the booty to his men, reserving for himself nothing but the glory of the enterprise. Sailing and fighting thus, Frithiof visited many lands, and came to the sunny isles of Greece, whither he would fain have carried Ingeborg as his bride; but wherever he went and whatever he did, he was always haunted by the recollection of his beloved and of his native land.
[Sidenote: At the court of Sigurd Ring.] Overcome at last by homesickness, Frithiof returned northward, determined to visit Sigurd Ring's court and ascertain whether Ingeborg was really well and happy. Steering his vessel up the Vik (the main part of the Christiania-Fiord), he intrusted it to Björn's care, and alone, on foot, and enveloped in a tattered mantle, which he used as disguise, he went to the court of Sigurd Ring, arriving there just as the Yuletide festivities were being held. As if in reality nothing more than the aged beggar he appeared, Frithiof sat down upon the bench near the door, where he became the butt of the courtiers' rough jokes; but when one of his tormentors approached too closely he caught him in his powerful grasp and swung him high above his head.
Terrified by this proof of great strength, the courtiers silently withdrew, while Sigurd Ring invited the old man to remove his mantle, take a seat beside him, and share his good cheer. Frithiof accepted the invitation thus cordially given, and when he had laid aside his squalid outward apparel all started with surprise to see a handsome warrior, richly clad, and adorned with a beautiful ring.