"On the next morning we got into my dragon and started. I sat high in the pilot's seat. As our boat flashed down the rollers into the water I made this song and sang it:
"'The dragon runs.
Where will she steer?
Where swords will sing,
Where spears will bite,
Where I shall laugh.'
"So we harried the coast of Norway. We ate at many men's tables uninvited. Many men we found overburdened with gold. Then I said:
"'My dragon's belly is never full,' and on board went the gold.
"Oh! it is better to live on the sea and let other men raise your crops and cook your meals. A house smells of smoke, a ship smells of frolic. From a house you see a sooty roof, from a ship you see Valhalla.
"Up and down the water we went to get much wealth and much frolic. After a while my men said:
"'What of the farm, Olaf?'
"'Not yet,' I answered. 'Viking is better for summer. When the ice comes, and our dragon cannot play, then we will get our farm and sit down.'
"At last the winter came, and I said to my men:
"'Now for the farm. I have my eye on one up the coast a way in King Halfdan's country.'