The Golden Ball and Other Stories

However, he escaped death at the hands of King Radbod, because three times lots were drawn, and each time he avoided the death sentence, although one of his party was killed. This island was said to be called Fositesland after the god worshipped there. The name Forsetlund is also found near Oslo fiord, so that it is possible that at one time the cult of this god spread northward to Norway from the Frisian coast. The other story is a Frisian saga1 telling how Frisian law came to be recorded. Charles the Great had demanded of twelve representatives from Frisia that they should tell him their laws, and when they could not obey, he offered them the gloomy alternatives of death, slavery, or being set adrift in a rudderless boat. They chose the last of these punishments, and called on God to help them. Their prayer was answered, for a thirteenth man appeared among their company with a golden axe on his shoulder. He steered the ship with his axe, and as they drew near land, he threw it ashore, and a spring gushed up in the place where it touched the earth ...»