Then the king, when an interpreter was brought, asked what work Frode was about.

Erik replied, "Frode never waits at home for a hostile army, nor tarries in his house for his foe.
For he who covets the pinnacle of another's power must watch and wake all night.

No man has ever won a victory by snoring, and no wolf has ever found a carcase by lying asleep." The king, perceiving that he was a cunning speaker of choice maxims, said: "Here, perchance, is that Erik who, as I have heard, accused my daughter falsely." But Erik, when they were bidden to seize him instantly, said that it was unseemly for one man to be dragged off by really; and by this saying he not only appeased the mind of the king, but even inclined him to be willing to pardon him.

But it was clear that this impunity came more from cunning than kindness; for the chief reason why he was let go was that he might terrify Frode by the report of their vast numbers.

When he returned, Frode bad him relate what he had discovered, and he said that he had seen six kings each with his fleet; and that each of these fleets contained five thousand ships, each ship being known to hold three hundred rowers.