ABSTRACT
I must not forget to insert here the story of how a most mighty prince of Sweden and Götaland, Svante by name, suffering excessive agony from the gout, applied remedies that had been sought from every region. 1 But among all these other cures he found none more health-giving than the comforting conversation he heard from the finest men, who stayed close to him honestly and loyally, and performed all the services of human kindness, because the prince, too, was himself noble-hearted and generous, showing a mild countenance to all those he had summoned or who had met him by chance. When this man was going out to battle and rode in the van, then, in spite of his sufferings from the gout, he gave signs of eagerness to all his troops by word of mouth or with his hand, and inspired them with such courage that you would not have discovered one soldier who did not marvel at his royal, heroic valour, which was ready and willing to meet death or any perilous hazard that was bitterer than death. 2
