The Emperor Otto, i.e. Otto II, 973-983.
Dane-work, i.e. the Danish Wall still partially preserved, which divided Jutland from the land of the Saxons and stretched from near the city of Slesvig to the marsh-land along the River Treene.
King Harold Gormsson appears to have reigned for about fifty years and to have died probably in 986. He was nick-named Harold 'Bluetooth' (or perhaps 'Blacktooth'). About 974 he fought the Emperor Otto II, and Earl Haakon of Norway aided him. Both Harold and Haakon were forced to accept Christianity, but Haakon afterwards renounced it.
Earl Haakon the Heathen, i.e. Earl Haakon the Great, or the Bad, who ruled over Norway, 975-995.
Guthmund. Cf. the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, ch. 1. See also Saxo Grammaticus, Dan. Hist., pp. 346-349, where Guthmund is described as a magician dwelling in the land of the Perms. But see Glasisvellir, below.
Glasisvellir. Cf. the Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, ch. 1. For the name of the tree or grove called Glasir beside Othin's abode in Valhalla, see Skáldskaparmál, ch. 34: "Glasir stands with golden foliage before the halls of the God of Victory." See also Bjarkamál in Forna, str. 3.
II.[°] Ulf the Red was standard-bearer to Olaf Tryggvason at the Battle of Svöld (cf. the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason, Heimskringla, ch. 56), where he slew great numbers of the enemy.
The Bay, i.e. Christiania Fjord and the adjacent coasts.
King Half. See Hálfssaga, ch. 10; and Flateyjarbók, 11, pp. 136, 137. King Half had a chosen band of warriors numbering about sixty, who were subject to strict discipline and rules which Professor Craigie (The Icelandic Sagas, p. 94) suggests were modelled on those of the Jómsvíkings. For instance, "It was one of their customs always to lie off the ends of promontories. Secondly, they made a rule of never pitching tents on their ships and never clewing up the sail on account of bad weather." The incident referred to in the text is not mentioned in the Saga.