"Waken, Frodi! waken, Frodi! if thou wilt hear our songs.... I see
fire burn at the east of the citadel, the voice of war awakes, the
signal is given. A host will come hither in speed, and burn the hall
over the king."

So the bondmaids ground on in giant-wrath, while the sea-king Mysing
sailed nearer with his host, until the quern-stones split; and then
the daughters of the mountain-giants spoke once more: "We have ground
to our pleasure, Frodi; we maids have stood long at the mill."

A Norseman was rarely content to allow a fortunate ending to any
hero, and a continuation of the story therefore makes the mill bring
disaster on Mysing also. After slaying Frodi and burning his hall,
he took the stones and the bondmaids on board his ship, and bade them
grind salt. They ground till the weight sank the ship to the bottom
of the sea, where the mill is grinding still. This is not in the song,
though it has lived longer popularly than the earlier part. Dr. Rydberg
identities Frodi with Frey, the God of fertility.

_The Everlasting Battle_.--No Eddic poem survives on the battle of the
Hjathnings, the story of which is told in prose by Snorri. It must,
however, be an ancient legend; and the hero Hedin belongs to one of
the old Germanic heroic races, for the minstrel Deor is a dependent of
the Heodenings in the Old English poem to which reference will be made
later. The legend is that Hild, daughter of Högni, was carried away by
Hedin the Hjathning, Hjarrandi's son. Högni pursued, and overtook them
near the Orkneys. Then Hild went to her father and offered atonement
from Hedin, but said also that he was quite ready to fight, and Högni
need expect no mercy. Högni answered shortly, and Hild returning told
Hedin that her father would accept no atonement but bade him prepare