loyalty to his friend, who probably is equal to this occasion, as he has
been to every other, impels him to do as requested and assist in playing
the game to the end. So he says to the king, "Give me your sword
Gullinhjalti, which you are bearing, and I will kill the beast or die in
the attempt."

Whether Hott has a sword of his own the saga does not tell, and it is
quite immaterial. That such a coward as Hott has been has no business
carrying a sword, would be sufficient justification for his being
without one. But whether he has a weapon or no, if he is going to
attack the monster he ought to be armed with the best sword available;
and whose would that be but the king's sword? If the king expects any
one to run the risk of attacking the beast, he ought to be willing to do
what he can to assure success in the undertaking. He feels the force of
the argument implied in Hott's request, and hands him his sword; but he
says, "This sword can only be borne by a man who is both brave and
daring." Hott answers, "You shall be convinced that I am such a man." He
then goes up to the beast and knocks it over. But a beast that has shown
itself to be so terrible on former occasions cannot be alive and yet
stand stock still and allow itself to be killed and tumbled over in this
manner. It must have been killed before, and now the king strongly
suspects that the reason why Bjarki has urged Hott to attack it was that
Bjarki, having killed the monster himself, knew that it was dead; and
when he is charged with the deed he does not deny it. Thus Bjarki gets
the credit for his achievement.

It is true, as Müllenhoff,[77] ten Brink,[78] and Olrik[79] have said,
that the main object of the whole story of Bjarki and the dragon is to
motivate Hott's newly acquired courage. Bjarki compels Hott to go with
him when the dragon is to be attacked; he compels him to eat and drink