Page:The Early Kings of Norway.djvu/175

MAGNUS THE GOOD AND OTHERS. 165 Norsemen, with sometimes a few English among them. Harald had innumerable adventures, nearly always successful, sing the Skalds; gained a great deal of wealth, gold ornaments, and gold coin ; had even Queen Zoe (so they sing, though falsely) enamoured of him at one time ; and was himself a Skald of eminence ; some of whose verses, by no means the worst of their kind, remain to this day. This character of Waring much distinguishes Harald to me ; the only Yaeringer of whom I could ever get the least biography, true or half-true. It seems the Greek History-books but indifferently correspond with these Saga records ; and scholars say there could have been no considerable romance be- tween Zoe and him, Zoe at that date being 60 years of age ! Harald's own lays say nothing of any Zoe, but are still full of longing for his Eussian Princess far away. At last, what with Zoes, what with Greek per- versities and perfidies, and troubles that could not fail, he determined on quitting Greece; packed up his immensities of wealth in succinct shape, and actually returned to Eussia, where new honoui's