The men assembled in the Frosta-field for the thing. Before them loomed the Speaking Stone, an ancient monolith said to have been lodged in the ground by the hand of giants in the time before man. Beneath that stone stood their king, a man whose reputation was now as large as any giant who had once walked the earth and who deserved the quiet respect they now afforded him as they gathered.
Hakon gazed out over the crowd, which stood in nine groups representing the nine areas of the Trondelag. It had been eight, but the death of Tore and the appointment of Tosti to his place now made it nine. Long ago, as a young teenager, Hakon had spoken on this very spot to win the Tronds" support in his fight against Erik. The following summer, he had gathered the Tronds again at Frosta to seek their su
