At this Grep, shorn of his glibness of rejoinder, set spurs to his horse and rode away.  Now when he reached home, he filled the palace with uproarious and vehement clamour; and shouting that he had been worsted in words, roused all his soldiers to fight, as though he would avenge by main force his luckless warfare of tongues.  For he swore that he would lay the host of the foreigners under the claws of eagles.  But the king warned him that he should give his frenzy pause for counsel, that blind plans were commonly hurtful; that nothing could be done both cautiously and quickly at once; that headstrong efforts were the worst obstacle; and lastly, that it was unseemly to attack a handful with a host.  Also, said he, the sagacious man was he who could bridle a raging spirit, and stop his frantic empetuosity in time.  Thus the king forced the headlong rage of the young man to yield to reflection.  But he could not wholly recall to self-control the frenzy of his heated mind, or prevent the champion of wrangles, abashed by his hapless debate, and finding armed vengeance refused him, from asking leave at least to try his sorceries by way of revenge.  He gained his request, and prepared to go back to the shore with a chosen troop of wizards.  So he first put on a pole the severed head of a horse that had been sacrificed to the gods, and setting sticks beneath displayed the jaws grinning agape; hoping that he would foil the first efforts of Erik by the horror of this wild spectacle.  For he supposed that the silly souls of the barbarians would give away at the bogey of a protruding neck.

Erik was already on his road to meet them, and saw the head from afar off, and, understanding the whole foul contrivance, he bade his men keep silent and behave warily; no man was to be rash or hasty of speech, lest by some careless outburst they might give some opening to the sorceries; adding that if talking happened to be needed, he would speak for all.  And they were now parted by a river; when the wizards, in order to dislodge Erik from the approach to the bridge, set up close to the river, on their own side, the pole on which they had fixed the horse’s head.  Nevertheless Erik made dauntlessly for the bridge, and said:  “On the bearer fall the ill-luck of what he bears!  May a better issue attend our steps!  Evil befall the evil-workers!  Let the weight of the ominous burden crush the carrier!  Let the better auguries bring us safety!” And it happened according to his prayer.  For straightway the head was shaken off, the stick fell and crushed the bearer.  And so all that array of sorceries was baffled at the bidding of a single curse, and extinguished.