[The Danish History Books I-IX by Saxo Grammaticus (Saxo the Learned)]@TWC D-Link bookThe Danish History Books I-IX INTRODUCTION 62/114
In Harald Hardrede's Life the Norwegians dread those English house-carles, "each of whom is a match for four," who formed the famous guard that won Stamford Bridge and fell about their lord, a sadly shrunken band, at Senlake.) (f) The house-carles to have winter-pay.
The house-carle three pieces of silver, a hired soldier two pieces, a soldier who had finished his service one piece. (The treatment of the house-carles gave Harald Harefoot a reputation long remembered for generosity, and several old Northern kings have won their nicknames by their good or ill feeding and rewarding their comitatus.) D.Again a civil code, dealing chiefly with the rights of travellers. (a) Seafarers may use what gear they find (the "remis" of the text may include boat or tackle). (b) No house is to be locked, nor coffer, but all thefts to be compensated threefold.
(This, like A, b, which it resembles, seems a popular tradition intended to show the absolute security of Frode's reign of seven or three hundred years.
It is probably a gloss wrongly repeated.) (c) A traveller may claim a single supper; if he take more he is a thief (the mark of a prae-tabernal era when hospitality was waxing cold through misuse). (d) Thief and accomplices are to be punished alike, being hung up by a line through the sinews and a wolf fastened beside.
(This, which contradicts A, i, k, and allots to theft the punishment proper for parricide, seems a mere distorted tradition.) But beside just Frode, tradition spoke of the unjust Kinge HELGE, whose laws represent ill-judged harshness.
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