So war beasts full-bearded
King Odin shall deem you,
When off the gray sea-beach
At sunrise ye greet him.”
The Longbeards’ Saga (Charles Kingsley).
These instructions were carried out with scrupulous exactness by the Winiler women, and when Odin awoke and sat up in bed early the next morning, his first conscious glance fell upon their armed host, and he exclaimed in surprise, “What Longbeards are those?” (In German the ancient word for long beards was Langobarden, which was the name used to designate the Lombards.) Frigga, upon hearing this exclamation, which she had foreseen, immediately cried out in triumph that Allfather had given them a new name, and was in honor bound to follow the usual Northern custom and give them also a baptismal gift.
“‘A name thou hast given them,
Shames neither thee nor them,
Well can they wear it.
Give them the victory,